The brave poet Pyeongkang was a mentor to King Gaero, the twenty-first ruler of Baekje. When Gaero was a young prince, his father died but did not receive a proper burial as befitted a monarch, not for twenty years. Bereft of his father’s love from an early age, Gaero found little love from the ministers who had risen to power in his father’s absence. When Gaero finally ascended to power, he ousted those who had wronged his family, and he chose to be advised by his mentor Pyeongkang instead. Pyeongkang sensed in the king two great desires. One was the wish to see his people prosper. The other was the ambition to pursue glory through war. Pyeongkang too was courageous of heart and urged the royal disciple to seek prosperity for his kingdom through conquest.

In the coming years, the king would launch a great many construction projects aiming to strengthen the nation. But at the same time, he would develop a taste for the pleasures found in various games of strategy and leisure. He would invite masters of these games from far and wide into his court. One such master was a foreign monk named Dorim who was skilled in the game of Baduk. King Gaero and Dorim would play for hours, and in that time Dorim would plant the seeds of strange thoughts in the king’s heart, swaying his decisions this way and that. Soon it became known to all but the king himself that this foreigner held undue influence in the king’s court. The monk’s subtle words moved the king to order even more construction projects which would deplete the crown’s coffers and sow resentment among the people.

In this time, Pyeongkang went out into the world to better understand the hearts of the people under King Gaero’s reign. It was then that the poet encountered a farmer named Yuhwa. This humble farmer was the leader of a growing movement among the people whose discontent at the king’s decrees could no longer be contained and spilled into rebellion. It was during this time of popular revolt and national upheaval that Dorim the monk showed his true colors. In reality, he was an agent sent by King Jangsu of the rival kingdom of Goguryeo to spy upon the happenings in Baekje and to plant ideas in King Gaero’s mind that would ultimately lead to his own undoing.

Now, Dorim and King Jangsu deemed the time to be right for an invasion of Baekje. Therefore, a mighty army some 30,000 strong set out from Goguryeo and marched upon the Baekje capital of Hanseong. The army of Goguryeo was led by a former Baekje commander who had been ousted when King Gaero rose to power. Hanseong was ill prepared to defend against a direct assault by such a large enemy force, and the city was sacked. Upon the slopes of Achasan Mountain, King Gaero was captured by Goguryeo soldiers. In the shadow of a fortress that overlooked the mountain, the traitor commander spat upon the face of the king shortly before his ignoble execution. 

So ended King Gaero of Baekje. His life was recorded by his erstwhile mentor Pyeongkang in melancholy poems whose words lamented the fall of Hanseong, the city that had once been home. It was a bitter lesson indeed. Had it not been Pyeongkang’s own words that had set the young king on a path which would inexorably lead to war? Still, the nation of Baekje did not fall but went on, and through much trial and tumult would one day rise again. And brave heroes such as Pyeongkang would yet be needed to inspire both the crown and the people in the wars to come.