Joseon Military Officer, Establishing Balhae - Chapter 340



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Episode 340

The ambition of the later Jin Dynasty

Two years later, in the 20th year of Geonheung, 1615 AD, spring. Sungeui-hyeon, Haeyobu, Balhae.

Sungyi County is a border area located west of Tianping (Shenyang) and east of the Liao River. Since it was a postal route connecting Tianping to the capital of the Later Jin Dynasty, Wuluhecheon (Yizhou), a bridge across the Liao River was naturally built and road maintenance was completed to a certain extent. As a result, it soon became a strategic border area.

The 3rd Division Commander, Major General Min Seon-hyul, climbed up a fairly high watchtower built on the banks of the Yoha River and looked out over the surrounding area.

“The prisoners are having a hard time today too.”

As always, whenever I patrol this place, I always come across scenes of Ming prisoners of war working. In particular, Cheonpyeong and its surrounding towns were designated as the center of the western Manchurian region of Balhae, so the prisoners were sent there first.

The prisoners were working on the construction of the main stream of the Yoha River, which flows through this region, as well as the Pyeongjeongha (Honha) and Poha, which are its tributaries. Since Balhae had previously carried out such construction projects in the Solbin River basin, Mitaho Plain, and Hyemin Plain, a precise development plan was established, and the construction was progressing very quickly. It was a natural result, since so many Ming prisoners were working on the project.

“Thanks to them, things here have improved a lot, haven’t they? Still, from Yang Ha-hyeon to here, the land is less humid than the south, so it seems like things are starting to get better.”

Division Command Deputy Commander Yeom Gyeong-pil answered.

Yangha County is the area where the Dongyo River and the Seoyo River meet, and is equivalent to the future Shuangliao River of China.

“That’s right. The south is the problem. It’s mostly pearls there.”

The first place where immigrants who entered the Liaodong region settled was the area adjacent to the Tian Shan Mountains, where land was readily available. Starting from Gaeju, which is located at the southernmost tip, and moving northward, these were Haeju, Ansan, Liaoyang, Cheonpyeong, Cheoryeong, and Gaewon.

And as the irrigation work of the prisoners progressed, a resettlement policy was implemented in which the newly arrived immigrants were settled in these developed lands.

Meanwhile, the migration of the Goryeo people living in the western Liaodong region of the Later Jin Dynasty was also completed. Because they could not trust the greedy Nurhachi, the Balhae surveillance team went into the Later Jin territory and directly took care of those who would become Balhae citizens. Of course, the migration of all the Later Jin people living in Balhae territory, namely the Jurchen, Mongolian, and Han people, into the Later Jin territory was also completed, so now the only task left was to settle the people coming from the south.

“It looks like construction will have to continue even after those prisoners are released.”

“That’s right. It’s not something that will end quickly.”

“By the way, don’t you think that a lot of rice will be produced here? The plains stretch out endlessly. I heard from the people in the Ministry of Agriculture that there are a lot of wetlands, so they will probably reclaim the land for rice paddies.”

“I heard it too. It is possible to grow rice using seeds planted in the old Yukjin land along the Tuman River. There is also talk that corn is promising in areas where there is a shortage of farmers.”

The Balhae Ministry of Agriculture predicted that since rice cultivation was possible on the Liaodong Plain, all types of grain farming would be possible. Therefore, wheat and barley were also possible.

“But it seems that there are quite a few settlers who cannot adapt to the terrain here.”

“Have you heard that? Why is that so?”

“We have always lived with the mountains, right? But this place is all plains and there are no mountains, so it is hard to adapt to that. And we can’t get the resources from the mountains either.”

“Well, I guess that’s true. Nana and our soldiers are doing that too.”

When Chief Yeom Gyeong-pil discovered a group of soldiers coming from the south, he quickly picked up the Cheonri-gyeong and checked.

“Commander, the supply unit is coming.”

“Oh my! Those people must be having a hard time too. Carrying those heavy loads.”

The military personnel and officials currently stationed in Haeyobu, as well as supplies for prisoners, were transported by sea. A port was established in Ungak-hyeon, south of Gaeju, but the sea depth was not very deep, so they had to be transported by small boats from the sea. However, since it was much faster and easier than transport by land, both sea and land routes were used.

“The Cheonpyeong Line railroad should be built quickly. Only then can we properly develop the Liaodong land.”

The Cheonpyeong Line is an extension of the Cheonbu Line. The Cheonbu Line has already been completed, and construction is now underway on the section connecting Inan County Buheungjin to Cheonpyeong. However, the distance between the sections is so long that it is difficult to predict when it will be completed. Therefore, for the time being, the sea route through Ungak Port must be used as a supply route. And in winter, Ungak Port freezes over, so Yeosun Port or Samsanpo (the future Dalian Port) located at the tip of Yodong Han Cape (Yodong Peninsula) were used.

“Commander, the people from the Later Jin who want to trade weapons are coming.”

“Haha! You’re really strict about the day of the arms trade. You were hesitant when it came to demarcating the border.”

The main stream of the Yoha River is a meandering stream, and because irrigation work has not been done for generations, the shape of the stream is very complicated. There are many cases where it branches off into several branches in the middle, so Balhae and Later Jin officials regularly met to inspect the site and confirm the border. If there were multiple streams, the border was determined by the middle stream, and the ownership of Hajungdo in the middle of the river was also a subject of discussion.

The unit in charge of Balhae’s supply also steadily brought in weapons to be provided to the Later Jin in addition to the existing supplies.

* * *

Although only three years had passed since the end of the war, Uruhecheon had already begun to take on the appearance of a capital city. This was possible because all the residents of Golminala and its surrounding areas had been brought here.

Nurhachi further strengthened the city walls and repaired several fortresses scattered around the area. He also added more buildings to the existing Uiju government office so that it could function as a palace.

Military power was also further expanded. Among the Han people living in Liaodong in the Balhae territories and western Liaodong in the Later Jin territories, troops were selected to form the Han Eight Banners. In addition, the troops of the Manchurian Eight Banners and the Mongolian Eight Banners were further increased. The Later Jin copied the military system of Balhae and changed each Eight Banners into a division system. Since the branches of the Balhae army were diversified, they adopted Balhae’s military system.

Today, Nurhaci visited the training ground located in the mountains west of Uruhecheon to observe military training.

“Are you ready?”

An Pi-yang-gu answered his question.

“Yes, we will begin immediately upon receiving the order.”

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“Okay! Let’s get started.”

An Pi-yang-gu immediately gave a signal to the artillery unit. Then the self-propelled guns opened fire first.

Phew! Phew phew!

The shells fired by the artillery exploded on the steep stone wall, leaving traces.

“Hahaha! Okay, very good.”

Nurhachi burst into laughter without realizing it.

Next, the siege artillery (Hongi-po) began firing.

Nurhachi was even more impressed by the power of the siege cannons. The siege cannons certainly left much deeper marks on the stone walls than the mortar cannons.

“I would also like to see a demonstration of a matchlock gun.”

“Okay.”

The Jin army riflemen skillfully carried out the loading procedure and soon got into the firing position.

Tata tang! Tata tang!

The shooting was quite accurate. Most of the shots hit their targets, thanks to the Balhae supply of improved matchlock guns.

When the firearm and musket training was over, Nurhachi was very happy and encouraged the officers and soldiers.

“Now you’re doing well even without the Balhae instructor.”

“That’s right. When I think back to when I first started training, I still laugh.”

Shurhachi, the younger brother who accompanied Nurhachi, said with a smile. When we first trained under the guidance of the Balhae military instructor, it was a total mess. Everyone was confused because they were not used to the heavy drinking, and they were so focused on firing successfully rather than hitting the target.

“It looks like everything is ready now. And the provisions too.”

“All the warriors are counting the days until they can go to battle.”

An Pi-yang-gu answered with a big smile.

Since they had been farming on the existing farmland scattered across the region of Liaodong and the newly reclaimed land, they had sufficiently stockpiled military supplies. This was also greatly aided by Balhae. Thanks to the radish provided by Balhae, radish farming was possible not only in the western Liaodong Plain but also in the hilly areas of eastern Mongolia.

“Now we need to stockpile as much shells and gunpowder as possible in Balhae. Once that is done, we will be able to attack Geumjuwi right away.”

Securing shells and gunpowder was actually a concern for the Later Jin. Thanks to Balhae’s cooperation, they were able to steadily increase the number of firearms and matchlock guns they possessed, but they also had to continue training, so they had to import iron bullets and gunpowder from time to time.

Of course, the Later Jin Dynasty could produce iron, but because of a lack of technology, the production volume was low, so they had to import iron rings and use them. Of course, they recycled iron rings and used them as shells by cutting stones, but in order to prepare for future wars, they had to secure as much as possible.

Gunpowder could not be produced at all, so it had no choice but to depend entirely on Balhae. Since most of the Han people living in the former Liaodong Taoist region were absorbed into the Later Jin people, gunpowder technicians could be found among them, but the problem was the raw materials. Balhae was also well aware of this situation in the Later Jin, so it adjusted the export volume of gunpowder to adjust the military power of the Later Jin.

In any case, the Later Jin had to develop gold and silver mines to purchase these Balhae weapons, and had to work hard to collect tiger skins and sable skins. Furthermore, since they had lost most of the land in Manchuria, they had lost not only the sable skins, which were their main export, but also ginseng, and had to be even busier in trading.

The Later Jin gradually accumulated wealth by trading with the northern Khalkha Mongol tribe. They also raised horses and cattle and worked hard to provide these livestock to Balhae, and received weapons in return. In fact, other than the gold and silver they had accumulated over time and these livestock, they had no other suitable goods to sell to Balhae.

Because the local specialties had disappeared, it was not easy for the Later Jin court to accumulate wealth. Therefore, the need to further conquer was raised.

“It’s not too late to start the expedition this week. For now, we should start by attacking Likdan Khan in Chahar.”

“That’s right, brother. In fact, I feel like I’m a little late because I’m busy organizing the capital and the Liaodong region.”

Shurhachi came out in full agreement.

“Then order the Hochhot garrison to go out immediately.”

“Haha! Alright. So are we going to Alsha as planned?”

An Pi-yang-gu also asked excitedly.

“Right. Alsha first.”

In this western expedition, Nurhachi set his sights on not only Chahar, but also Ordos, Western Tumed, and the Alsha tribal territory.

The eldest son, Chewing, was the leader of the Hochhot garrison. Chewing’s army also had artillery, but since they were in a situation where they had to fight more field battles than sieges, they planned to minimize the use of artillery.

“Brother, is it okay to continue to leave the Balhae border loose?”

Shurhachi asked.

“It’s okay. I have fully figured out Balhae’s intentions. They will definitely keep their promise and help us for the time being. Their target is not us, but Ming.”

“I know that, but.”

“Haha! Even if I were the King of Balhae, I wouldn’t make the foolish choice of attacking us. So all we have to do is follow their rhythm and attack the Central Plains.”

In fact, because the Later Jin did not deploy many troops on the border of Balhae, they were able to target the Western Mongolian expedition and the Ming border region in southwestern Liaodong. If they had deployed many troops on the border of Balhae out of fear of Balhae, there was a greater risk of collapsing under the joint attack of Ligdan Khan and the Ming. Therefore, they had no choice but to trust Balhae and go on a war of conquest.

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