Joseon Military Officer, Establishing Balhae - Chapter 330



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Episode 330

Collapsing Joseon

After the summer and fall of the past, winter finally came. The southern advance of Balhae stopped at the upper towns of Gongju, namely Yesan, Hongju (the future Hongseong), Onyang, Cheonan, and Cheongju in the northwestern and northern parts of Chungcheong Province. Because of this, the king of Joseon could barely catch his breath.

When the King of Joseon came to stay, the princess’s Chungcheong Gamyeong became a temporary palace. The King walked around the temporary palace yard with his eunuchs. He felt so stuffy inside that he thought it would be better to take a walk, even if it was cold. So the King would go out whenever he had the chance.

The king felt his heart ache every time he saw the cramped military camp compared to Changdeokgung Palace. He now felt like a local governor rather than a king.

“Your Majesty! The air is cold. Please come inside now.”

The merchant urged him to go in.

“No. Let’s go in a little later.”

The king stopped walking and looked towards Mt. Bonghwang to the west. The leaves on the trees had already fallen and Mt. Bonghwang was bare.

Certainly, the princess was a natural fortress. Surrounded by rugged mountains including Gyeryongsan Mountain, and to the east of the Chungcheong Gamyeong, there was also Gongsanseong Fortress, so if necessary, she could take refuge in the mountain fortress.

“Your Majesty! Your courtiers have heard.”

The merchant broke his thoughts.

The king turned his head and looked toward the main gate. Courtiers in official attire were coming in one after another. He could see at a glance who was coming and going without the merchant ship having to notify him.

As soon as the king entered the government office, Yi I-cheom began to organize and report the news he had received up until the previous night.

“Your Majesty! I have tried contacting some local magistrates in Gyeongsang Province, which is close to Chungcheong Province, but I have received word that it is difficult to send troops due to the boiling public sentiment. Given these circumstances, it seems that recruiting volunteer troops will be even more difficult. Therefore…….”

The king raised his hand to stop Lee I-cheom from speaking.

“Okay. Gyeongsang Province seems to be finished already, so I don’t think there’s any need to send anyone.”

“majesty…….”

Lee Yi-cheom trailed off with a regretful expression.

“What is the situation with the Balhae army? That is more important now. It will not be easy to gather volunteer troops in this cold winter.”

Now the king and his subjects no longer called him ‘Hubalhae’.

“They also stopped moving, perhaps because of the winter cold. So in Honam, they stopped advancing northward in Gochang and Jangseong, and in the east, well, that is…….”

When Lee Yi-cheom stopped reporting, the king looked at him with a puzzled expression.

“It is chaos itself. All the towns that the Balhae army entered follow Balhae, but the places that did not yet follow remain unaffiliated with either camp. Even after receiving the abstract shouts of our propaganda officer, they are afraid of the nearby Balhae army and do not respond to the call.”

In a word, it meant a state of anarchy. Even the local officials who were Joseon’s subjects were hesitating, and their spirits could not properly reach the region.

As the king’s expression distorted, Lee I-cheom hurriedly added.

“We are still in good contact with the southern Chungcheong and northern Honam counties, including Buyeo, Iksan, and Jeonju, and we are even sending some military supplies.”

“So, does that mean that only half of Chungcheong Province and half of Jeolla Province follow the law?”

“Ah, as of now, the current situation is like this. I guess it’s because it’s winter…….”

Lee I-cheom, who had always been confident, became quite pessimistic. So he was very careful not to upset the king.

“Haha! Then I’m an observer.”

“majesty!”

“Your Majesty, how…….”

When the subjects saw the king’s sorrowful expression, they each tried to offer a word of comfort, but the king again raised his hand to stop them.

“Speaking of food supplies, is the number of deserters still the same?”

“I’m sorry to say this, but I haven’t gotten any better.”

Now, only 5,000 royal troops remained. As the weather grew colder and food supplies ran low, soldiers continued to leave their camps. Food supplies were coming from the surrounding towns, but the amount was so small that everyone was worried about whether they would be able to survive the winter.

“What happens if it decreases by more than 500?”

“I am so sorry, Your Majesty.”

The ministers shouted and bowed their heads. The number of ministers was reduced to only 20% of what it had been before. The majority had joined the group of traitors, and some had deserted when the situation became very unfavorable.

“They say that even Nochu of the Later Jin Dynasty eventually knelt before Taegeon of Balhae.”

It was news that had just come in. It had already spread within Balhae, but there was quite a bit of time difference before it reached the king’s ears.

“Furthermore, it is said that Ming was defeated by the Balhae army and lost all of Liaodong territory.”

His tone was no different from that of a babbler.

“There is not a single country left to ask for help.”

“I am sorry, Your Majesty.”

Jeong In-hong answered, nodding his head.

“What about the place that Balhae occupied?”

“yes?”

Jeong In-hong tilted his head at the king’s unexpected question.

“I asked what was going on there.”

“Oh, yes, Your Majesty.”

Kijaheon stepped forward.

“It’s no different from what we knew. Hundreds of soldiers are in each town to maintain order, and the leader of the Balhae army is administering military affairs on behalf of the town magistrate.”

“Yes, military rule. Balhae was always like that. The military ruled until the local officials were officially appointed. Aren’t military rule usually harsh? There must be some corrupt people among them. Then the people’s hearts would become hostile.”

“I have heard that it is not true. The military discipline of the Balhae army is so fearsome that it is rumored that they carry out their work more cleanly than the local officials appointed by the central government.”

“Balhae truly has many surprising aspects.”

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“What’s even more surprising is that the people in charge of military affairs are usually company commanders or battalion commanders.”

“What position do they hold in Joseon?”

“The company commander is a rank called Jeongwi, which is not much different from Joseon. It is a 6th-rank official, similar to a county magistrate, a sergeant, or a military officer. The rank of a battalion commander is Buyeong, and is equivalent to a 4th-rank official, Manho.”

“But what’s surprising?”

“It’s because there are too many company commanders and battalion commanders.”

“That’s right. They said the Balhae army had over 300,000 soldiers.”

When the number 300,000 came out of the king’s mouth, his subjects shook their heads and sighed. In short, it was not a country that could dare to deal with.

“Those traitors who wanted to fight Balhae are the ones who ended up ruining this country.”

“I am so grateful! Your Majesty!”

Jeong In-hong spoke in a voice full of resentment. He, too, was filled with anger, just like the king.

“Go on.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. The first thing the Balhae army does when it begins its military rule is to release slaves. They thoroughly investigate the conditions of each local government and release slaves. Now, they don’t even search for and burn slave documents. Since they have already been declared ineffective, shaking them around will only cause them to be laughed at.”

“What next?”

“I heard that they are also distributing food. There are many starving people in every town, so they should be saved first…….”

When it came to releasing food, Kijaheon couldn’t help but trail off. This was because it was a very different comparison to Joseon, which even had a shortage of military provisions.

“and?”

“Yes, there was also a message that they were recruiting people who wanted to move to another place. This time, we have acquired the fertile land of Liaodong, and we are recruiting people to settle there. Of course, the conditions are the same as before. If you pay 50% of your crops as taxes for five years, you will be recognized as the owner of the land.”

“It’s nice that the land is wide. How is Hanyang?”

“It’s no different from anywhere else.”

“Since there are many merchants and artisans here, I think they would have welcomed the Balhae army quite well. Isn’t that right?”

Gijaheon could only nod his head and could not answer. The king’s words were true. Gijaheon already knew that the people of Hanseongbu had welcomed Balhae more enthusiastically than any other region and were cooperative with Balhae.

“What should we do now?”

Everyone became dumbfounded by the king’s question.

* * *

Tae-Gun asked with a smile.

“What has changed?”

“The range has become somewhat longer and the weight somewhat lighter.”

The head of the Arms Bureau, Lee Jang-gon, answered.

What he brought was a new matchlock gun.

“I’m sorry for the inconvenience. In fact, in Balhae, we are gradually losing production, so I asked you to produce more.”

“Of course, that’s what a weaponsmith would do. It was also fun to work on a matchlock gun after a long time. I wasn’t satisfied with the products I made in the beginning. Since I was going to produce a lot of them anyway, I thought it would be better to improve the parts that bothered me. Since we can now produce stronger and tougher steel, there’s no need to make them the old way.”

Tae-Gun nodded after hearing Lee Jang-Gon’s explanation.

It was not the case that Balhae did not use matchlock guns. Until the new rifles were distributed to the entire army, some had no choice but to use matchlock guns. Also, all police officers were required to use matchlock guns. In addition, since there were now at least a few people who had served in the army in every village, matchlock guns were distributed to villages in areas where wild animals appeared.

The reason Taegeon ordered the military to mass-produce matchlock guns was, of course, because of the Later Jin.

“I’ve also made some improvements to the gun, and I’ll show you later when it’s finished.”

“Yes, I will definitely go and see.”

“I, as a weapons maker, I shouldn’t be curious about this, but I wanted to ask you whether it’s okay to sell these weapons to foreign countries. Everyone in the weapons maker is curious about this.”

“The armorers are obviously worried. But no one in the military is worried.”

When Lee Jang-gon tilted his head, Lee Ha-ryun explained on his behalf.

“Didn’t we make full use of new weapons in this war? We learned it after using them. We felt that we had no enemies to fear with the weapons we had. Large iron balls, old cannons that spit out empty bullets, matchlock guns that blow on matchlocks and can’t be used when it rains, they’re not even weapons.”

“Oh! Now I understand. In fact, we felt that way too.”

“So, we just need to make sure that our new weapon technology doesn’t leak out.”

“Okay, I understand.”

“Even if they get their hands on our guns, I don’t know if they’ll be able to make them.”

Lee Ha-ryun said with a smile. Then Lee Jang-gon laughed along.

“That’s true. If we can’t make smokeless gunpowder and detonators, we’re just a bunch of iron.”

“We also need to increase the production of black gunpowder a lot. Is that okay?”

Taegeon asked.

“It’s easier than before. Aren’t there a lot of cornerstones coming in?”

The saltpeter that had been imported from European merchants was now being mined in Goun Island, the new name for Daedong Island.

“Thank goodness.”

“Oh my! When I think back to when I used to make salt, I really like it so much.”

“That’s true. Anyway, it looks like we have another export product that will sell for a very high price. Hehe!”

Lee Ha-ryun said with a playful smile. He continued speaking.

“Now that the Later Jin has gotten a taste for gunpowder weapons, they will probably try to buy it even if it means uprooting and selling the very pillars of the country.”

“Huh? Hahaha! That’s right. Then the Ming Dynasty will suffer that much.”

Lee Jang-gon also responded with a bright smile.

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