Joseon Military Officer, Establishing Balhae - Chapter 288



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Episode 288

The outbreak of the second civil war in the country (1)

The 14th year of Jianxing, spring of 1609 AD.

After much deliberation, Taegeon approved the bill submitted by the Privy Council. The Privy Council, which performs its parliamentary functions to a limited extent, often created several bills like this and asked Taegeon to do so. As such cases accumulated, the number of cases in which those who desperately wanted to introduce a new system lobbied the Privy Council members increased day by day. This time, the bill that Taegeon approved was a labor-related bill.

In the secret room of Hamhwajeon in Geonheung Palace, Taegeon and Lee Ha-ryun were discussing with serious expressions.

“Is it okay?”

“There’s nothing we can do about it. Let’s think of it as a necessary evil.”

“A necessary evil… Yes, a necessary evil. It is a problem that must be solved and overcome.”

As Balhae’s mining industry grew rapidly, several problems began to appear. The first of these was the labor shortage in the mining industry. No matter how quickly Balhae’s industrialization progressed, Balhae was still an agricultural country. Most of the newly acquired land was distributed with agricultural policies as a priority. In addition, in order to fill the empty land, immigrants were scattered everywhere, resulting in a severe shortage of workers for the factories, mines, and commercial sectors.

Increasingly, one or two family members from each farming household are choosing to move to the city, but that alone is not enough. After all, most of the population lives in rural areas.

Businessmen who had to find answers focused on the youth population that had increased significantly due to the population explosion trend. Due to the baby boom effect, the population between the ages of 10 and 18 was quite large. However, the Balhae government prohibited employment of youth under the age of 17. This was because they were still immature and would have difficulty handling hard factory and mine work, and it was clear that they would have problems with growth. However, this time, businessmen have petitioned to lower the age limit for employment ban to under 15.

“Don’t worry too much. I’ve put some restrictions on this and that, so it’ll be okay.”

“Is that really so? Do you think the business owners will follow the law?”

“Whew! That’s the problem. Anyway, I think we need to increase the number of labor inspectors.”

“Of course it should be like that.”

“And anyway, even if the youth live in rural areas, they are bound to do hard farm work, right?”

“But that doesn’t mean your parents treat you like a slave, right?”

“Wow! I see.”

Lee Ha-ryun hit his forehead.

Instead of accepting the business owners’ request to drastically lower the age limit for factory employment, the Balhae government set several conditions. First, mining work was still prohibited. They also said that working hours should be reduced to about 60% of adult hours. Of course, wages could be reduced accordingly. In addition, they made it mandatory for workplaces to provide basic elementary school education. In fact, it was a very difficult condition to meet. However, business representatives readily accepted it. That was because there was such a shortage of labor.

The reason Taegeon set this condition was because there was a severe shortage of elementary schools. Of course, it was not because it was difficult to establish elementary schools, but because there was a shortage of teachers.

Normal schools were established in Hwanghae-bu and Pyeongan-bu, so that now every governor-general prefecture except Hongje-bu and Bukhae-bu had at least one normal school, but it was difficult to meet the demand for all elementary school teachers with only the instructors produced by these normal schools.

Considering the distance of school for young students, elementary schools should be established in each of the sub-district offices, not in the county office. And each sub-district needed at least two. This is because there are so many sub-districts with large areas. However, it took a lot of time to achieve this goal. Currently, only one school has been established in each county, and only a few counties with large populations have multiple elementary schools. In regions with small populations, one school was established in each county, and in regions with large populations, one school was established in each sub-district.

So, while the restrictions on youth labor were lifted, they encouraged elementary school education to be implemented in the workplace. Of course, it is not a regular course, but it is enough to teach only the level of mathematics and liberal arts necessary for life to avoid illiteracy.

“Brother, how about we take this opportunity to significantly increase employment opportunities for women?”

“So, you’re saying we should add that to the youth labor related bill?”

“Yes. They’re adult women anyway, and they work without restrictions, so it doesn’t matter.”

Currently, women are mainly working in the textile and clothing industry, food, and medicine. However, their number is not that large. This is because they have to take care of childbirth and childcare, as well as housework and farming. Therefore, only in households where there are spare workers, adult women go to the city to work.

So, Lee Ha-ryun took this opportunity to propose that the same law be applied to young females as well.

“That would be good. That way, girls can also have educational opportunities.”

“What I’m saying is.”

“And one way would be to find the necessary manpower among the Japanese residents who decided to remain in the Northern Territory. Even so, there wouldn’t be many. Farming is the main business there, after all.”

“But I guess it’ll be more than the mainland.”

“That’s true.”

“And speaking of mining work, how about hiring people from Waeguk, Kuma, and Taizan in that field?”

“Are we already going to hire foreign workers?”

“Yes. I’ll put a limit of about 3 years.”

“Hmm, that might be a way to supplement the labor force.”

“Just a moment.”

The two stopped talking when they heard hurried footsteps outside the door.

“Giha! This is Shin Woo Jung-eon.”

“Listen.”

Only Woo Jeong-eon, the chief secretary of the Taewangbu, can enter the secret room of the Hamhwajeon.

“Giha! Urgent news has arrived. First, the report from Namhaebu…….”

Woo Jung-eon first submitted the report. But there were two reports. Two urgent reports came in at the same time.

“Right now, Minister of State Kwon Hyung, Minister of State Cho Kyung-rin, and Minister of the Military Hwang Jin are also diligently coming to the palace.”

The position of Minister of Justice that Heo Gyun had given up went to Jo Gyeong-rin, and Jeong Mun-bu was appointed as the new Minister of Justice. Hwang Jin, the Minister of Military Affairs, was retained in his position.

Taegeon unfolded the first report.

“Well, why do you think a civil war will break out in that country?”

“Huh? Why the civil war?”

Last year, there were rumors that a civil war might break out in the country, but as nothing happened, everyone completely forgot about it. But then, skipping a year, it finally broke out this year.

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“Both sides have gathered quite a lot of troops, and it seems like a decisive battle will take place soon. What if the land of Wae is in trouble again? There will definitely be a chain reaction.”

“What is the other one?”

“wait for a sec.”

Taegeon quickly unfolded the other report again.

“In the end, the Later Jin won.”

“It went as expected.”

“Haha! That’s right.”

Taegeon burst out laughing. Certainly, the events related to the Later Jin were unfolding completely differently from Taegeon’s knowledge. The Later Jin’s victory over Chahar was something that would happen much later, and that too after Nurhachi’s death, during the reign of his eighth son, the Chongde Emperor Hong Taiji.

* * *

The capital of the Later Jin Dynasty, Golminala.

Hurhan and Shurhachi came to see Nurhachi in a hurry.

“Your Majesty! We congratulate you. Our army has finally driven the Likdan Khan army out of Guihua City and taken Hohhot.”

Hurunhan reported in a trembling voice.

“Oh! You took over Guiwha Castle? Hehehe! I had a really good dream last night.”

Hohhot (Hohhot) is also called Guihua City, a nickname given to it because the Khan of the Northern Yuan Dynasty of the former Mongolia brought in Han Chinese and naturalized them.

“Your nephew Chewing has done a great job. Congratulations, brother.”

“Haha! Thanks.”

Nurhachi’s eldest son, Chu Ying, led the large army of the Later Jin and continued to fight against the Ligdan Khan army of Chahar.

First, he crossed the Greater Khingan Range and seized the initiative by occupying Chagan, the capital of the Chahar, located in the eastern Avaga region of the Xilin Gol grassland. After being defeated here, Ligdan Khan quickly moved the capital to Hohhot (Guihua City), and the tedious battles continued from then on.

In the process, he was able to win over not only the Dongtumed tribe, but also the Haraqin tribe living near the northern part of Shanhaiguan, which can be said to be the eastern starting point of the Great Wall. When the Dongtumed and Haraqin joined the Later Jin, the Chahar forces could not help but shrink further.

In the end, the Later Jin army led by Chewing fought a fierce battle in the Yinshan Mountains, a mountainous area north of Hohhot, and won, and while they were at it, they also achieved the feat of occupying Hohhot.

“Then what about Rick Dankan?”

“They fled to the southwest. It has been confirmed that they entered the Ordos region.”

“Well, you went to Ordos, right?”

Nurhachi thought for a moment.

“What are you worried about?”

Shurhachi, unable to bear the silence, asked.

“I thought it might be better to stop the chase. What do you think, brother?”

“I agree with you. If we occupy Ordos, our territory will be too long from east to west. Furthermore, Ordos is not very populated. We have absorbed most of the Eastern Mongolian tribes, so I think we can stop the expedition now.”

With the conquest of Hohhot this time, the territory of the Later Jin was doubled compared to before the Chahar War. In addition, the population that Nurhachi was most concerned about also increased significantly. Moreover, since all the tribes conquered or surrendered this time were brave Mongol tribes, the Later Jin’s power also more than doubled.

As the territory stretched out to the west, it came to share a border of over 1,500 ridges with the Ming Dynasty, including the Liaodong region. No matter how good the current relationship between the two countries was, this was something that could not help but be a cause for concern.

“Yes, let’s do that. Now we need to strengthen our internal structure. Another big war awaits us.”

The joy on Nurhachi’s face suddenly disappeared. It was because of Balhae. Even though his power had doubled, whenever he thought of Balhae, his confidence dropped.

“What is Hubalhae doing these days?”

Since Shurhachi was in charge of all information related to Balhae, I asked him.

“Well, according to the spies’ reports, there doesn’t seem to be anything special about our gold. And they seem to be somewhat focused on the affairs of Wa and Namman.”

“Any moves to increase military power?”

“I only heard that the number of troops is increasing little by little in proportion to the population.”

“Hmm, you’re really confident.”

“By the way, it seems that Ming is really afraid of being late. Considering how he is just sitting tight while we fight the Chahar.”

“I think the same. If it was the old Ming, he would have supported Chahar to keep us in check. He would have fought Chahar and destroyed us together. But the fact that he stayed still means that he must have intended to conquer Balhae together with us. Seriously.”

The Ming initially provided a large amount of military funds to Li Dan Khan, but when it had no effect, they simply took a passive stance in this war. The Later Jin took this as a signal.

“Didn’t you actually make that suggestion? Let’s do it together with Joseon. But Joseon is still hesitating, so it seems even more difficult.”

“Joseon has no choice. If we rush in recklessly, we could lose our country.”

Nurhachi sighed softly after saying this. He was already worried about the future clash with Balhae. Moreover, he was also afraid when he thought of the previous battle. However, he could not just leave Balhae alone. The two tigers could not coexist in the same mountain village called Manchuria.

In fact, for Nurhachi, who was dreaming of conquering the Central Plains, it was impossible to undertake that great undertaking as long as Balhae existed as a threat from behind.

“It would be nice to have a cannon.”

Nurhachi saw the acquisition of firearms as the solution.

“That’s right. If there’s even a sea route open, I might try to make contact with the Namman people.”

At present, the route from the Later Jin to the sea was completely blocked. The east was occupied by Balhae, and the southern Liaodong region was occupied by both Ming and Balhae.

Shurhachi also had no choice but to let out a deep sigh. This was because he believed that the only way for the Later Jin to obtain firearms was to buy them from the Nanman people.

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