Chapter 145
Chapter 145
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 145
Chapter Title: Arquebuses and the Northern Expedition (8)
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My prediction struck true without the slightest margin for error.
Right from the moment I arrived, I was subjected to outrageous mistreatment at the hands of the junior officers.
"Hey, newbie!"
"Clap! Kim! Jong! Shin!"
"Where the hell did you leave your damn common sense? Did you drop it down some shithole sewer?"
"I'm sorry!"
"Sorry gonna end your officer career? Even if we're in wartime and the court's budget is generous, this is right near Hanyang. Don't you think you should've at least prepared properly for your initiation rite? But what do you do?"
A mid-forties officer lashed out with a brutal kick to my shin.
It was the first time in my life I'd ever felt a joint lock like that.
Even a top martial exam graduate couldn't kick that hard without making me wonder if my shin had actually snapped.
"No money to prepare your initiation rite?"
"I'm sorry!"
"Ha, what the hell kind of guy are you? If you had no money, you should've borrowed from a loan shark. Even at a hundred percent interest, treating your seniors right is the proper way. Because of you, I can't even show my face in front of the brigade commander! If I miss promotion again this time, it's all your fault..."
No, if you've been stuck at junior rank nine for ten years since passing the martial exam, anyone can see it's because you're incompetent and your performance reviews suck.
Don't blame others for that.
Venting your frustrations by beating on your juniors—what kind of rotten mindset is that?
This is the kind of insanity that's only possible in the military.
I was absolutely right to come here incognito.
If I hadn't, this injustice would've continued unchecked because no one would've known.
"Jeong Sa-maeng, after today's duties, gather all the officers under me from the battalion to console that bastard. The standards of the Joseon army have fallen to the dirt—how can we just let that slide?"
Sir Kim Jeong, why should we suffer because of that clueless bastard?"
"With war looming and discipline in the gutter, I have no choice but to take the rod myself and teach these kids a lesson! Strictly speaking, isn't it all your fault that this clueless punk can't even act human?"
Just listening to him made my temples throb and my head pound.
This 'you above, me below' hierarchy was in full effect among the officers.
And the reason for the assembly wasn't some actual wrongdoing—it was because the new guy didn't prepare an initiation rite or offer bribes...
Well, the kingdom of Joseon always had this side to it.
There are even records from King Seongjong's reign of a Supreme Army Commander (senior rank two) being addressed by name and ostracized by a mere acting junior clerk from the Ministry of Military Affairs just because he skipped the initiation rite.
So a lowly rank-nine newbie refusing bribes and skipping the rite? Not really surprising they'd react like this.
And if the injustice among officers is this bad, it must be even worse among the rank-and-file soldiers.
"Hey, and honestly, do I look like I have time to babysit that clueless rice-slurper who screwed us over? You lot are supposed to shape him up yourselves. And until he does a proper initiation rite, no one treat him like an officer—make that crystal clear. Got it?"
"Yes, sir."
"Pass it on to the soldiers too. Anyone who follows that punk's orders, I'll beat half to death."
With that, Kim Jeong stormed off.
The moment he was gone, the other martial exam grads started hazing me mercilessly.
None of them resorted to outright violence except that scumbag, but they made it blatantly clear they didn't see me as human.
Could an army rife with this kind of abuse really conquer the Jurchens properly?
"Hey, newbie. Until your initiation rite's done, you won't get any duties. What you need to do right now is hit up the Hanyang merchant guilds and borrow money at a hundred percent interest if you have to. Get that rite done properly. If you don't secure a brothel by tonight, we might do who knows what. Figure it out."
"Yes, sir."
They didn't even respond to me and just left.
No duties were assigned to me at all, and after about half an hour, even passing slaves stopped greeting me.
"What a total mess."
Deep in my heart, Yi Bang-won—no, the axe—cried out.
Should I just go beat the crap out of Yi Sun-mong, the supreme commander here and my disguised ally in the friendly forces?
He's senior rank two, but with problems this bad, I could probably march on Gwanghwamun with an axe and it'd be justified.
"No. I can't just flip the whole thing over just because it rubs me the wrong way."
If I filed a direct appeal from here and ruined someone completely, it wouldn't clean up the barracks abuse—it'd just make them better at covering up brutality.
As I pondered seriously how to resolve this grave issue, I spotted soldiers tormenting a new recruit right in front of me.
Among officers, they at least stopped at 'not treating him like a person' since they were yangban, but soldiers had no such restraint and just beat the poor kid senseless...
The level of abuse was tongue-wagging vicious.
They kicked his prone body in the back, stomped him mercilessly until he was a bloody pulp, then yanked him up and slapped him so hard his head nearly spun off.
"Hey, with discipline that loose, you think you can fight the Jurchens?"
"I'm sorry."
"Sorry gonna kill the Jurchens? Huh? Your parents never teach you not to do shit you have to apologize for? Your dad's a retard?"
"I'm sorry."
"Your parents drink seaweed soup after popping out trash like you? If it were me, I'd be so ashamed I'd want to die. Not sorry to them? Nah, no need. Trash birthing trash."
The beaten soldier was bleeding from everywhere, purple bruises blooming on exposed flesh, sniffling in pain, while his tormentors cackled on.
Even in 1980s military service, privates and privates first class couldn't sleep if they hadn't been beaten—it was that bad.
Joseon barracks abuse is truly staggering.
Crazy bastards, for real.
This shit needs to be rooted out minute by minute.
"I need to go see Supreme Commander Yi Sun-mong myself, right now."
This was already giving him a lot of leeway because he's a court heavy-hitter who's served Joseon loyally for years.
If I really wanted to blow it up, I'd have gone straight to Supreme Commander Choi Yun-deok.
***
I headed to the office where Yi Sun-mong was handling his duties.
There, soldiers who didn't know me blocked my entry.
"Who are you?"
"I'm Kim Dae-bung, General of the Five Garrisons. I've come to see the Right Army Supreme Commander. Could you pass that along?"
"The Supreme Commander is busy right now. If you have a message, I can relay it."
"Ah, even if I say Five Garrisons General, it's just a temporary post. Think about it—a regular officer would introduce himself as something like Loyal Guard General. I'm the Five Garrisons General overseeing three divisions in the Ministry of Military Affairs at once."
The officer gulped at the part about handling three divisions.
"I've come on very important business. But if you tell me to go because the Supreme Commander is busy, following your words might delay solving the problem. Then things could spiral out of control, so you need to act accordingly."
These soldiers were just enforcing the rule that not just anyone enters the Supreme Commander's office.
Threatening to throw them to the wolves if they didn't cooperate wasn't right.
"The Supreme Commander is inside. Follow me, sir."
The soldier who got the hint led me to Yi Sun-mong's office.
Several empty bottles littered the desk, and his face was slightly flushed.
As expected from a madman whose skills are top-notch but who openly flouts drinking bans and has done prison time more than once.
This wasn't the battlefield, but even so, not a rest day, drinking during office hours in wartime prep?
As I inwardly questioned it, Yi Sun-mong shot up from his seat.
"Aren't you General Kim?"
"You know me?"
"I watched you submit that direct appeal when His Highness the Supreme King was about to implement currency. And I kept tabs after hearing you tamed the Daimado lord with a few words. Thrilled to meet you like this."
He straightened his clothes while eyeing me.
"Ah, I have this bad habit of drinking while working, but I never get fully drunk."
"I know you're not that kind of person, sir."
Not true at all.
You strike me as the type who'd botch major work by boozing on the job.
But I didn't want to escalate, so I'd let it slide.
"Anyway, sir. Under imperial orders, I was just disguising myself as a rank-nine rookie officer to inspect the Right Army... and the state of things is appalling."
"What the hell?"
Punishing superiors whenever abuse happens just makes it worse.
The underlings let actual criminals off to avoid their bosses getting unfairly punished.
"When I set the drill regulations, His Highness the Supreme King decreed that anyone—officer, guard, or soldier—beating without cause would face strict military law... but they're beating for absurd reasons like 'boredom'?"
I hiked up my robe to show the bruised shin.
Yi Sun-mong recoiled in shock at the sight.
The slight drunkenness vanished completely.
"I have a duty to report this directly to His Highness right away... but if I do, he might reprimand even an innocent you, so I came to you first. Wouldn't it look so much better if you resolved everything, then I report to His Highness?"
Yi Sun-mong gripped my hand tightly.
"What do I need to do?"