As Prophet - Chapter 184



Only Noblemtl

Episode 184. The True Man’s Strategy

“Mr. Baek and his wife are my schoolmates. How could I ignore them? I will deal with the situation based on the severity of the situation, but I will never take lightly the merits of the Japanese invasion and the weight of our relationship, so don’t worry too much.”

At the king’s words, Baek I-jeong hit his head on the ground.

“Your Majesty! Your kindness is greatly appreciated!”

“So don’t say anything like you’re going to the battlefield. When the war is over, won’t you go back to teaching and taking care of the children?”

“Your Majesty! Your kindness is greatly appreciated!”

The king smiled broadly. In fact, he was in a position where he could not say no. If Dalcheon were to abandon his work and disappear now, Hanyang Joseon would face a crisis of ruin. The king nodded and the attendant took Baek I-jeong out.

“Okay, let’s talk. This is a good place to sit.”

“majesty.”

“Come here and sit down. I will have the owner serve you some tea.”

“majesty.”

“It’s better not to follow formalities on the battlefield. Everyone else, please take a seat.”

When did you come? The generals who had succeeded in the mission sat around the place where the two had sat. The king asked without waiting.

“I couldn’t sleep at all because of the news of last night’s victory. They went out to intercept and destroyed everything.”

“It was a stroke of luck. I knew exactly where the enemy was camping, and I knew the terrain well, so I went around and crossed the mountain.”

“It is truly amazing that they crossed the mountain with cavalry. The enemy was helpless in this unexpected surprise attack.”

“I was lucky. In fact, victory on the battlefield depends on luck.”

The king stroked his chin and asked again.

“Should I still move to Cheondo? Even though I won?”

I know your heart. You don’t want to move. I know you want to defend it here. You don’t have the power to compensate for the difference in troops, which is more than four or five times, but you hope that if you fight against the wall, you can win. You want to hold on to even a sliver of hope.

“The difference in military power is severe. We cannot win even with simple arithmetic calculations. And they have joined forces with a large force. They must know of other openings to enter Hanyang. We will guard the gates tightly, but if they bypass, we will be helpless. And the walls are nothing more than low walls in the face of superior troops and firepower. We will simply charge in with our small number of troops, and taking advantage of this opportunity to reduce their forces is the key to the Battle of Heunginjimun that will take place today or tomorrow. Even if they retreat, we plan to make it take at least 30 years for them to recover their original strength. The Jin army led by So Bae-ap was defeated by 100,000 men, and only a few thousand returned. After that, peace came. A whole hundred years of peace.”

“If they take the castle… … .”

“They will try to ascend the throne in an empty city. However, the Jurchen army will soon withdraw, and it will not take more than ten days. It is the busy farming season and the damage is great, so they will want to return quickly. After they return, we will reclaim Hanyang. Emptying Hanyang is the second key point of this operation.”

“Whew. Are you saying that if we just fight, we’ll lose?”

“They are bypassing. They come in through holes we don’t know about. They can’t necessarily overcome the military difference.”

“okay.”

The king looked around at the generals present. It seemed that some of them had wanted to fight back. But now no one raised an objection.

“When the royalist forces from each region that have already been called together gather, we will attack them with those troops. Ah! The defense of Namhansanseong and Bukhansanseong must be secure. We must defend them without fail. The people of Hanyangseong are Your Majesty’s people who will lead the future era.”

“Yes, of course.”

“When the battle reaches its peak, we will escape through Namdaemun and cross the Han River. Some will go to Namhansanseong to wait for the royalist army, and some will go to Ganghwado to build a fortress and wait for the enemy. All the ships near the Han River will gather at Yongsan and then board the soldiers and leave.”

“Ahem. I know this is something you have already mentioned. Let me ask you. How much do you plan on destroying the enemy in the battles today or tomorrow?”

“We must destroy 10,000 before they bypass. And we must thoroughly scorch the land so that they have nothing to take. They depend on trade for many things. They increase production and increase their family size by obtaining what they need through trade. So they will try to take advantage of the decrease in production caused by dispatching troops during the busy farming season in Joseon. There must be some kind of agreement with Il-dae-gye. Nothing must remain in Hanyang. Everything from Gwanghungchang to the temporary warehouse at Songpa Naru must be transported to Ganghwa Island. There is no time to do this now. Training the soldiers we have called up is urgent. Untrained soldiers are like a candle in the wind.”

“Okay.”

The king groaned. The other generals did the same. The commander-in-chief and the training center commander looked at each other.

“Let’s do it, us.”

“Yes! I can! I was really sorry to leave Hanyangseong, but after hearing the words of the true man, I can’t help it.”

Yoo Seok-do asked.

“Then when will you go to Ganghwa Island?”

“I hope it’s just before their attack begins. I could set up another fake, but if I make it seem like Your Majesty is here, they’ll attack hard. Oh, and the cavalry should intercept the enemy who returns from another route.”

When I heard Dalcheon’s words, I could clearly imagine the order in which events would unfold from then on.

“Lastly, we must secure a secret passage for us to sneak in later and hide it thoroughly. We must come in just as they came in. Make a secret passage!”

“Loyalty!”

“Loyalty!”

“Loyalty!”

“Loyalty!”

“Loyalty!”

The slogan of loyalty came out without him knowing it. The king praised it.

“How can everything come out of one thought? To our eyes, the battle situation is only uncertain.”

“If you look with bright eyes, you can see everything.”

“How can I have bright eyes?”

“You just have to not be entangled in greed. If you don’t have the desire to do something, you can see it clearly. You have to be able to break away from everything that is commonly called ‘my’, such as my position, my property, my people. There is a difference between recognizing its importance and being entangled in it. That’s why people risk their lives for insignificant things. If you live like that, you will feel empty when you leave. What is truly important is your true heart.”

This is truly worthy of a king. It makes us recall things we have forgotten in our daily lives. The audience applauded and the king nodded.

Dalcheon divided up the roles right there. He divided up the roles of those who would go to the mountain fortress and command it, and those who would conscript all the ships floating on the Han River, open up the dark path, and find the enemy’s dark path to respond with cavalry.

“Hold the Ian Goyuje simply and transport the ancestral tablets of the royal shrine to Ganghwa Island in a palanquin.”

* Ian Goyuje: A ceremony to explain the reason for moving the ancestral tablet outside.

The king nodded. He was grateful that he had thought about that, not just the battle. Who would take care of the royal shrine and temple in wartime while talking about it? There are countless officials who run away without taking care of their defeat.

The Jeonpae (殿牌) is a memorial tablet engraved with the character ‘Jeon’, which symbolizes the king. The one stored in the guest house symbolized the king of Joseon.

“After returning the color of Sajikdan* to the five directions, it is restored before and after.”

* Sajikdan: An altar to offer sacrifices to Sa (社), the god who governs the land, and Jik (稷), the god who governs the five grains. On Sajikdan, five colored soils called O-saek-to (五色土) were sprinkled, offered from each direction. Based on the five cardinal directions, the center was yellow, the east blue, the south red, the west white, and the north black. According to the theory of yin-yang and the five elements (陰陽五行), the five colors represent all things, that is, all the land under the heavens, meaning that “there is no place under the heaven that is not the land of the king [普天之下 莫非王土].”

Things that needed to be done came out of Dalcheon’s mouth in a flurry. Every time, he sent someone to handle the work immediately. Civil servants came running in large numbers, received the order, and ran out. When he heard someone being called, an official who had been waiting nearby would come running in a hurry.

Dalcheon smiled faintly and advised the king.

“When we reclaim Hanyangseong and re-establish Sajikdan, how about bringing in black soil from Liaodong in the north?”

The king’s expression became cautious. Although it was a passing remark, it sounded like he was telling them to pursue a northern policy.

“Does the true man think so?”

“Isn’t it difficult for them to make a living and uncomfortable for each other? Since they were originally one color, it would be good to consider incorporating them on this occasion. Of course, it is not an easy choice as long as there are 25 ranks of the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty, which was founded not long ago, is still strong. However, let’s look back at history. Our dynasty lasted 500 years, even 1,000 years, but the empire of the Central Plains did not last even half that, 250 years. That seems to be the limit. It hasn’t even been a hundred years yet, but it is time for its momentum to be broken. Of course, I am not saying that it will fall now. However, for whatever reason, an advance strategy that externally displays power will no longer be possible.”

“Are you saying that you can do it when it’s not the time?”

“There is no chance after they are ruined. Someone else will trample them and take over. When the signs of that have died down, how about sneaking in? Of course, we should never go to war with the Ming. It is a great nation, and it is a country that can mobilize an army of over a million. Of course, even if we mobilize a million, we will not be able to airlift the food to feed that million, so it is not like we will get more than a million. Ahaha.”

The soil of the northern land! The meaningful words left while finishing the ancestral shrine and the shrine rekindled the dream of pioneering the northern lands that had been forgotten. The eyes of the generals seemed to be burning. In the past, it was something that could not even be mentioned. Just because the king had changed, they were filled with hope that it might be possible and that they might be able to start. Dalcheon recommended that they end the meeting.

Hanyangseong became busy from dawn. The conscripted soldiers trained on the main street, and the main street was bustling with the transport of refugees who had not yet left. Boats from all directions were gathered. The palace relocation began immediately, and the concubine was the first to go to Ganghwado. The military was sent to inspect the defenses of the two mountain fortresses and mobilize the people to repair them. Grain and hay from Hanyang and Geungi were moved. An additional order was given to assemble local troops in the name of the royal army. Several devices were added for the battle of Hanyangseong, and several instructions were given to secure a retreat route. Since the king himself came out and commanded, they could not help but move quickly. They went to the places where orders were given, and they followed on horseback, not in a palanquin.

Dalcheon went to Ttukseom and checked the ships he had gathered. He called the palace guards stationed at Heunginjimun. Yu Seok-do came running.

“What’s going on?”

“What are you doing, Noni? Let’s go beat up those guys.”

“You’re going to scold me?”

“Let’s move to the ship. Load it with shields, block the front with planks, and wet it with water. Load it with as many arrows as we have and let’s go to Yanggeun.”

“It was a surprise attack.”

“It’s just harassing. I’ll try reducing the number of troops again.”

Dalcheon entrusted one ship to each of the generals who arrived late and had them load the archers.