Chapter 141
Chapter 141
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 141
Chapter Title: Muskets and the Northern Expedition (4)
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The news that the subjugation of the Jurchens had been finalized was shocking enough, but the information about me that came with it was even more earth-shattering.
The way of the world is to pile all the work on the guy who does it best... but honestly, isn't this just way too much?
I'm pretty sure I lived a good life in my previous one, so why on earth did I have to get saddled with a position like this in a situation like this...
"Lord Right Deputy Prime Minister, is what was written in the decree I received really accurate? Wasn't there some mix-up when the Office of Special Counsels drafted it?"
"Haha, are you grumbling because a new opportunity has arisen to serve the ancestral temple and state altar? His Highness must have seen no suitable position for our General Kim in the Ministry of Defense and temporarily appointed you as Protector of the Five Armies instead. It's because His Highness places such great trust in you that he's put you in charge of all the ministry's practical affairs. That's no small honor."
"Handing all the Ministry of Defense's operations over to a mere Junior 4th Rank? Don't we have Senior Counselors, Counselors, and Junior Counselors there?"
"The Junior Counselor position in the Ministry of Defense is vacant. That's all you need to know, General Kim."
Jo Mal-saeng wasn't even listening to me; he was just spouting nonsense.
Assigning a low-ranking junior official like me—Junior 4th Rank—duties fit for a senior minister?
This was on the level of leaving a division commander post empty in a staff headquarters because a regimental commander was good at his job, then making that regimental commander run the entire division.
That's why I'd protested properly, but Jo Mal-saeng had responded with the kind of twisted logic that amounted to "If you don't like the rank insignia on your head, I'll swap it for two stars."
Oh God, this is all the scheme of the ultimate work demon, King Sejong the Great.
Sima Yi must have exploded inside just like this after getting outmaneuvered by Zhuge Liang.
"Are you telling me to handle the Junior Counselor's duties in the Ministry of Defense right now?"
Jo Mal-saeng smirked as he watched the slaves clear away the clutter from his desk.
"If our General Kim wishes it, I'll specially submit a memorial on the matter. And since I've also been appointed to concurrently serve as Minister of Defense this time, we'll be working together in the ministry. Surely that's another vast benevolence from His Highness?"
Mobilizing 25,000 troops to subjugate the Jurchens was no everyday affair.
So it made perfect sense to have the Right Deputy Prime Minister, Jo Mal-saeng, take on the role of Minister of Defense to oversee the ministry.
After all, when war breaks out, every department from the Six Ministries revolves around the Ministry of Defense.
And it was even better for someone of Jo Mal-saeng's stature, far above the ministers of the Six Ministries, to step up.
But there was one problem here, judging by how our Lord Right Deputy Prime Minister went out of his way to emphasize that he'd be working with a fragile soul like me in the ministry.
He was revealing his intent to dump his own workload on me too.
"Lord Chief State Councillor, that's how things have turned out."
Hwang Hui spoke with irritation.
"The Minister of Finance is your younger brother, so he's taking awfully good care of his big brother, huh? I'm buried under paperwork to the point of death, but you seem to have gotten off a bit easier."
Jo Mal-saeng, perhaps feeling sorry for Hwang Hui, set a precious box of medicinal herbs on his desk, then shrugged with a chuckle.
"It's all His Highness's will, so what can we do? And this is a specially prepared batch of fine herbs for you, Lord Chief State Councillor—please accept it as a token of my esteem."
With that, he dragged me off to the Ministry of Defense.
"The reason I can't resign is solely because of the sins I've committed, but Lord Chief State Councillor isn't exactly spotless either."
"Yes, I'm well aware."
The Saedal incident hadn't broken yet, but when it did, Maeng Sa-seong and Hwang Hui would almost certainly suffer the same fate as Jo Mal-saeng.
"And yet that man drills into my ears endlessly that even though I'll serve for life without resigning, I should just work hard. So in turn, I gave him those precious herbs wishing him long life and health in his service. He'll surely appreciate it."
This wasn't a gift—it was a jab.
'You're not so clean yourself, so someday you'll pay for your crimes with lifelong service too. Live long and prosper.'
That's what it amounted to.
But intentions aside, it was tempting.
Thanks to Hwang Hui, I'd been saddled with over five times the workload of everyone else in the State Council.
Five times the paperwork the prime ministers handled—or at least six to eight times by ordinary officials' standards.
He'd offloaded work scaled to their ranks onto me.
Thanks to that, the State Council had turned into an office with lunch breaks stretching up to an hour and a half—three hours on long days.
So why would I object to their ringleader getting teased with "You too, lifelong service!"?
"Lord Chief State Councillor may be advanced in years, but his health is robust enough to continue serving the ancestral temple and state altar for many years to come."
Yeah, go ahead and stay Chief State Councillor until you're a solid 90.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ When we arrived at the Ministry of Defense, I was greeted by a towering mountain of documents.
Were those reports stacked over 60cm high? Was this wartime administration?
And beside the report pile were reference books and stacks of papers I had to organize into book form going forward.
"Is this hell?"
The Ministry's Senior Secretary and Junior Secretary nodded in unison at the word "hell."
But what could be done?
If I slacked off or made mistakes, the innocent soldiers who'd soon face the Jurchens would be the ones dying.
The lives of 25,000 household heads, dragged into military service against the Jurchens, hung on my shoulders.
No room for laziness or errors.
"Let's see here—what's this? Why is the soldiers' ration so paltry? Are they sane?"
A Joseon-era adult male needed at least 7 hop of rice per day.
Plus side dishes and soybean paste, of course.
In special circumstances like war, they'd move more and be under psychological stress, burning extra energy...
So rations should be at least double peacetime levels.
Yet they were allotting a mere 7 hop (1,050g) of rice per day?
The kingdom wasn't in dire straits, and war hadn't even started—7 hop? Factoring in losses (embezzlement) from clerks, public slaves, and such who skipped payments here and there, it'd probably be 4.5 to 5 hop actually reaching the troops.
The Nanjung Ilgi notes that naval soldiers got 5 hop daily rations, which the author called starving them into battle.
'Even if they don't want to starve, the soldiers would desert.'
"When I was Senior Secretary here, I couldn't touch the war plans, only streamline the food supply system a bit... but now with transport plans, it's a total mess."
No wonder Jo Mal-saeng said everything would be solved if I took the Junior Counselor post.
The old man had his flaws—like dumping everything on me—but he handled his own duties with real responsibility.
Otherwise, after getting deeply tangled in the Kim Do-ryeon incident, he would've gotten "Then die" instead of lifelong service.
"Who's in charge of the Transport Office?"
The mood turned hostile the instant I asked for the Transport Office overseer.
I hated doing this too, but what the hell had this guy been doing?
When reviewing operations, if he'd spotted issues in the war plans, especially since his 'logistics' routes were a disaster, he should've spoken up about fixing them.
"That's me, Lord Ho-gun."
"Ha, Secretary Kim."
A sigh escaped me.
"On land, relay stations dot the roads, so you can record the route taken. But doesn't Joseon now transport all logistics by sea?"
"Yes, that's right."
"With sea transport, shouldn't you just ship straight from departure port to destination? If sending 500 seom of white rice from Jinhae, go straight to Incheon from Jinhae."
"Yes, Lord Ho-gun. But traditionally in wartime, we follow the grain transport system, stopping at multiple ports en route to log records, don't we?"
If this were peacetime, I'd have said, 'The old precedents support you, but it wastes time and cargo (crew and clerks siphon off portions at each stop), so change it going forward.' Nicely admonished.
But this was wartime.
25,000 troops consumed over 200 seom of rice daily just breathing, and even one day of supply failure would tank combat effectiveness. An emergency.
In this situation, wasting time and losing materiel like that?
'Soldiers will die—really die.'
"After the Harbor Rotation Law, ocean voyages began, so even going from Pyeongan to Hamgyong Province around Joseon, ships can sail without stopping once. Surely you're aware? With navigation advanced, procedures must adapt. Just changing the system here could cut time by multiples and save up to 30% in transport losses."
Even after the Great Equalization Law, Joseon tacked on bizarre regulations for rice shipments.
For example, though ships could go straight from Busan to Incheon via ocean routes safely...
Government vessels had to stop at Geoje, Yeosu, Mokpo, Seosan, and countless others, filing reports each time.
Trips that should take 3 days via ocean took nearly half a month detouring.
Oh, and embezzlement was routine at each stop by local officials, clerks, public slaves—they'd skim grain claiming some got wet.
'I want salary realization. I want the Anti-Corruption Law.'
Even King Jeongjo raged in the annals about this inefficient system (government ships docking at countless ports) not being followed properly.
"Redo the food transport plan immediately. Calculate losses under the new routes, and above all, increase rations to 9 hop of rice daily per soldier."
"Lord, if we do that, the Ministry of Finance..."
...Yeah, the Ministry of Finance would flip out.
But any official serving the nation couldn't let soldiers—dragged into service and facing possible death in war—go hungry too, right?
You crazy bastard deserving a bullet to the head.
"Hey."
"Yes, Lord."
I whispered in his ear.
"Soldiers starving to death? If news reaches His Highness that troops are dying of hunger unrelated to battle, grievances mounting... think he'll let Secretary Kim off?"
Secretary Kim's face went sheet-white.
"Cao Cao beheaded Wang Hou, the grain officer, to quell starving troops' unrest at Shouchun Castle. Remember that."
"Understood. I'll find a solution as fast as possible. But the food..."
"Ah, there's ways around that."
Couldn't force merchants to enlist voluntarily...
But voluntary donations could be encouraged.
Ah, time to borrow Father-in-law's hand for once.
And dig into our family's rice stockpile to aid the northern expedition.