Joseon Military Officer, Establishing Balhae - Chapter 293



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Episode 293

The Hani System and the Situation in Southeast Asia (2)

Lee Wan asked Song Hee-rip.

“Then are foreign merchants taking the profits that should have been ours?”

“I guess that’s how it is. That’s why I opened the case here because I was anxious.”

“Once this place opens, even the top foreign companies will come in.”

“I’m so excited to come in. It would be so convenient if we built a big warehouse here and just stored our stuff there.”

“And Namman people too?”

“I guess so.”

“Why is the situation in the Three Kingdoms like this?”

Kim Wan found out that Captain Song Hee-rip was obtaining quite detailed information about the Japanese through Samjeong Shipping, and asked him about it.

“They say that the Kingdom of Guma has discovered a fairly large gold mine. The royal family is overjoyed.”

“Oh! Have you heard that news too?”

“Haha! If you stay here, you’ll hear all sorts of stories. When trade with Balhae began in earnest, all three countries in the Wa lineage became desperate to find gold and silver mines to use as capital. Taesan-guk is okay because it has the Iwami Silver Mine, but it seems that Kuma and Wa are not. However, a large gold mine was recently discovered in Kuma-guk.”

The Taiwo gold mine recently discovered in Kuma-koku was once a large gold mine that rivaled the mining volume of the Sado mine. It was originally discovered in the 19th century, but thanks to the Kuma-koku government’s efforts to secure finances, it was discovered early.

“Why, it seems that the internal situation has stabilized a lot. Of course, the local lords of Taesan are also getting along well, perhaps because they are tired of war. Thanks to that, the development of Eunjedo has accelerated significantly.”

When diplomatic relations were normalized, the Balhae government decided to officially refer to Wa, which was ruled by the shogunate, as “Japan.” Since the three Wa countries were established, there were cases where “Wa” could be confusing, so they decided to refer to it by its national title. However, the Balhae people still preferred the national title “Wa.”

“Oh, I know that story too. Thanks to the opening of the Eunjedo Islands to foreign merchants, our merchants have also been entering the islands to do business. That’s why many merchant families have immigrated there.”

Taegeon’s strategy of opening the Eoun Islands (Oki Islands) worked out well. Japanese merchants frequently visited the Eoun Islands, which were not far from their country, and traded with them. In order to deal with them, more Balhae merchants established branches in the Eoun Islands.

Ewan asked the question he was most curious about.

“Didn’t there happen a clash with the Ming navy?”

“Haha! I didn’t even think about attacking you.”

The 34th Squadron ships led by Song Hee-rip frequently traveled to the eastern coast of the Ming Dynasty under the orders of Tae-geon. In particular, they stopped at the mouth of the Min River off the coast of Fuzhou (Fuzhou) every time they sailed. Fuzhou was the capital of Fujian Province and was a place where the Ming Zheng He fleet departed, so it was a place with active water transportation. Therefore, when the Balhae fleet frequently appeared here, the Ming court could not help but be very nervous.

“Even though you’re running around like that, Ming doesn’t react at all?”

“Instead of reacting, you were busy running away?”

“You’ve heard that story, right? The story of the Three Kingdoms Alliance.”

“Of course I know.”

“Then the Ming navy will certainly not sit still. They may be stockpiling their forces to deliver a fatal blow.”

“I know. That’s why we’re always on guard against surprise attacks by the Ming navy. We’ve set up guard posts and beacon towers on the islands on the western and northern outskirts, and our squadron’s heavy ships are constantly patrolling the coast. The Marines stationed here have also built coastal batteries at key strategic points.”

As the 3rd Marine Division was assigned to Hyangnam Island, Geumseongjin, and Daedong Island, the entire 1st Division was stationed in Formosa and Hani Islands. So two regiments were stationed in Hani Islands, and the remaining two regiments were stationed in Damsujin, Galanpyeong, and Giryong Port.

When Song Hee-rip was about to take Lee Wan to the headquarters, a merchant ship belonging to Samjeong Shipping entered Ansan Port. Lee Wan stopped walking and watched the merchant ship entering the port. Strangely, this ship was the same type as Wa’s main ship. It was a ship that was operated during the time it belonged to Wa and was still in use. Of course, Samjeong Shipping also had a new merchant ship equivalent to the Aoji class.

As soon as the Samjeong Shipping executive stepped onto the dock, he discovered Song Hee-rip and ran toward him.

“General! I have brought a guest.”

He spoke to Song Hee-rip in slightly broken Korean.

“A guest?”

“Yes, I am an envoy from the Kingdom of Darida.”

“Dalida? Aha! The kingdom of Dadu?”

“Yes.”

The original name of the Dadu Kingdom, located in the central western part of Formosa, was ‘Darida’. Dadu is a Chinese transliteration, and Darida was the word of the indigenous Papora tribe. The Darida Kingdom was a kingdom founded by the union of the Papora tribe, Babuja, Pajeh, Hoanya, Taocas, and Kahab tribes.

“By the way, didn’t Samjeong Shipping say they had a deal with Darida?”

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“Yes. I have been dealing with them since last year.”

There was little for the Samjeong Shipping Company to purchase from this native kingdom. Moreover, they had no means of payment, so it was difficult to sell their goods.

So, Samjeong Shipping took notice of Darida’s abundant labor force, had the local farmers work on sugarcane farming, and provided them with manufactured goods such as clothing and farm equipment in exchange for their wages. They also built a sugar refinery locally and carried out business by extracting sugar from sugarcane and taking it away.

“Can you communicate?”

“It’s still difficult, but basic communication is possible.”

“But why did the Kingdom of Darida send an envoy?”

“Haven’t the Nanmans settled in the south of Formosa? Their ships occasionally come up the coastline and come up to the Darida coast, so they seem very uneasy.”

“Oh! So the country called England is the problem. I see. Well then, let’s meet up.”

Song Hui-rip immediately understood why the Kingdom of Darida had sent a delegation.

* * *

The 5th Army Corps Headquarters located in Dongbong-dong, Hyesan-si, Donghae-bu.

After finishing the meeting, Lieutenant General Park Min, newly appointed as the corps commander, went out to Dongbong Hill and enjoyed the breeze from the Yalu River.

“Oh! The small ship has already come up?”

Park Min was delighted to see a small boat coming up the Amnok River, belching black smoke. This small boat, which had been put into service on the Amnok River since last fall, is a small vessel with a capacity of about 15 people. It was a new type of boat, equipped with a steam engine specifically for going up the Amnok River. Since there were coal storage facilities in every town along the Amnok River, it was drawing attention as a very useful means of transportation since there was no need to carry large amounts of coal on board.

Park Min was delighted to see that the weather had finally come out, after having disappeared as winter came. With the weather getting warmer, the surface of the Yalu River was sure to be filled with boats like those small boats and rafts made of tied timber.

“Commander, a messenger has been sent from the 18th Division headquarters. He is expected to arrive tomorrow.”

The corps commander, Lieutenant Colonel Bu Ju-il, approached and told us the latest news.

“They say everything will arrive tomorrow.”

“Yes. Now, starting tomorrow, we can begin discussing the operation policy of the corps in earnest.”

As the movement for a tripartite alliance between the Ming, Later Jin, and Joseon became concrete, and the Later Jin’s absorption and annexation of Eastern Mongolia was completed, the Balhae military quickly united the five reserve divisions into one to create the 5th Corps. The reserve division headquarters, which consisted of about 2,000 active-duty soldiers, were now integrated into the 5th Corps. Therefore, to solve various tasks related to the creation of the Corps, the officers of each division gathered in Hyesan.

The reason the 5th Corps headquarters was located here in Hyesan is because Hyesan is geographically located in the middle of the 1st and 2nd Corps, which need support in case of emergency.

In addition, the fact that Hyesan emerged as one of Balhae’s strategic points also played a role in this selection. It was located in the middle of the transition from east to west, and its population was growing rapidly enough to be comparable to a major city in the Baekdu Mountain region.

The Hyesan copper mine and copper refinery grew day by day. The mine area also steadily increased. Thanks to the Hyesan mine, copper was now considered a common mineral in Balhae. Therefore, copper was widely used in daily necessities and facilities in addition to coin minting.

The same was true of Hyesan’s anthracite coal mine. Other than Hyesan’s coal mine, there was no place in Donghae-bu or Hyeonduk-bu that produced anthracite coal, so Hyesan’s anthracite coal was treated as precious. However, due to the lack of transportation, production exceeded consumption, and stockpiles were steadily increasing. However, since the Gyeonghye Line was scheduled to be completed within three years, it was decided to build a briquette factory and produce household briquettes by then. In other words, briquettes produced in Hyesan would be supplied to the metropolitan area as soon as the Gyeonghye Line was completed. Currently, the Gyeonghye Line has passed Gyeongwon and reached Hoeryong, and is about 30% complete.

Hyesan’s abundant timber also became a valuable resource for the western Pyeongan and Liaodong provinces. This timber was transported via the Yalu River.

As such, not only mines but also factories processing these resources were attracting a lot of manpower, and as it functioned as a transportation hub, Hyesan’s population quickly surpassed 30,000, and it was promoted to a city. In addition, the Sannamsa area of ​​Inanbu’s Noyeonhyeon (future Changbai County in China) across the Amnok River was also rapidly developing thanks to Hyesan. Most of the people who gathered in Hyesan and Sannamsa were young men, attracted by high wages.

“But I heard that in case of emergency, our corps will only be responsible for maintaining supply lines. Is that true?”

“That’s right. And that’s going to be a very important mission.”

“Well, I’m very curious to know what kind of strategy the military leadership is devising.”

“I don’t know yet. And I can’t know at this point.”

“It’s a top secret, so it will only be shared at the last minute.”

“Anyway, the Later Jin side is withdrawing troops from the west and reinforcing them in the east, and the Ming is also increasing its troops in the Liaodong Province, so I think a major incident will occur soon. Then, the 1st and 2nd Corps, and our 5th Corps will be mobilized. So we need to quickly establish a plan to organize a reserve force.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Hmm, but is the south okay?”

“The 3rd Army Corps?”

“Yes. If Joseon also steps in, we will have to block Joseon’s attack with just the 3rd Corps.”

“With four divisions deployed, it should be sufficient. They say that the North Korean army has also increased significantly, but considering our firepower, we can sufficiently defend the area.”

Joseon had also steadily increased its troops, and the number of troops belonging to the central army, the training office, reached approximately 30,000. In addition to these, there were also local troops and Sok-o troops of about 70,000, but they did not contribute much to the military power, so Balhae only paid attention to the central army. The central army of 30,000 was quite a large number. Considering that in actual history, only about 5,000 troops were maintained throughout the late Joseon Dynasty, it was quite an unreasonable amount.

“We have to overcome this difficult time.”

Park Min’s gaze turned away from the Amnok River and toward the northwest. The Balhae commanders, who were always confident when it came to war, were taking the coming war very seriously. This was because they had no idea how many enemies would attack if war actually broke out.

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