Qing Intervention (1)
The messenger's dispatch passed from palm to palm in an instant on its way to the Daewongun. Sweat and fingerprints—a soldier's, by the look of them—had soaked through the paper along the way, and black ink dripped from the dampened sheet.
"Hmph."
Undeterred, the Daewongun took it, unfolded it, and fell silent for a long while. The lines of text were few, but the weight they carried was heavier than a cartload of books.
"..."
"What on earth is going on?"
"I haven't the faintest idea."
The longer his silence stretched, the heavier the atmosphere grew among those gathered to discuss the nation's affairs—a stark contrast to the clamor beyond Unhyeongung's walls, where commoners noisily collected noodles and rice.
The chilled wine cups and uneaten dishes tickled the nostrils. The longer the silence lasted, the more restless the majority of officials became.
...So it comes even without striking the head directly.
In that brief interval, I caught from the Daewongun's face as he read the dispatch a simultaneous flash of bewilderment, contempt, and rage. The contents, then, were obvious.
The Qing army.
The wounded dragon, having paused to catch its breath, was finally on the move.
It could be nothing else. Nothing else in this world could so thoroughly confound and enrage the Daewongun.
Well then—who summoned them?
And I had a fair idea of who the author of this particular work might be. There was only one culprit.
Gojong.
Not Queen Consort Min Ja-yeong. King Yi Hyeong.
I tried so hard not to provoke the royal house. Is this the natural course of history? Or its restorative force? No. From the beginning, Gojong despised the Daewongun's restoration—despised his very existence.
It couldn't be otherwise. How many Min clan relatives had we kept alive as hostages rather than killing? How many of her family had survived the attack thanks to my consideration?
Min Yeong-hwan and Min Young-ik persuaded more of the clan than I expected.
The Daewongun had accepted them all—in exchange for publicly executing the most vicious among them before the people.
And given that the palace was surrounded inside and out by our forces, where would Queen Min find the capacity or the means to summon Qing troops to the capital as a wild card? She was not yet a woman of such political maturity, nor of such power within the court.
Which means only one person has unobstructed communication with the outside.
Having rapidly scanned the dispatch, the Daewongun drummed his fingers on his wine table with a sullen expression, then drew a ragged breath and addressed the prostrate messenger.
"...From this moment, you will answer every question I ask without addition or omission."
That voice.
It sent a chill down the spine of anyone within earshot. In the command directed at the soldier who had brought the news, the Daewongun's voice held not a trace of rise or fall.
His eyes had gone as slit-narrow as a serpent's as he regarded the soldier.
"Should there be any falsehood in you, I shall have no choice but to punish you severely."
His manner suggested a man who was truly furious, yet who, as the head of a faction—or because the fate of the nation hung in the balance—intended first to establish the facts clearly, and only then to act. The posture of an intelligent man.
"Do you understand?"
Overwhelmed by the Daewongun's grave expression and voice, the messenger trembled finely and bowed low.
"Y-yes. Your Highness."
"Good."
Gazing down in silence at the soldier's crown, the Daewongun asked:
"Who sent what is written here?"
"Jeong Ji-yong, the Magistrate of Incheon."
"Did he write it himself?"
"He did, Your Highness."
"It says three unidentified warships. Why did the magistrate so quickly conclude they were Qing forces?"
"On the first day, when the regional commander went out with a military escort to inquire, they requested an interpreter and, with not the slightest breach of courtesy, formally asked permission to land at Jemulpo."
"Why Jemulpo?"
"They said they were a unit under the direct command of the Beiyang Minister, following orders from above."
"Besides you and the magistrate, does anyone else know the contents of this dispatch?"
"The Governor of Ganghwa and the soldiers and commanders charged with the garrison's defense went out to assist the magistrate. Moreover, the Qing troops, who had initially maintained perfect military order, caused no small disturbance among both officials and civilians upon landing at Jemulpo. Word from Incheon will likely spread through the capital as early as this evening."
"I see. What is their number?"
"I was told two large ships carried eight hundred men each, and a smaller vessel, though heavily gunned, carried three hundred soldiers."
"Is that all?"
"No, Your Highness. Admiral Ding Ruchang, acting under the Beiyang Minister's orders, conveyed that following these three vanguard ships, some three thousand Qing troops will arrive in Joseon aboard the Beiyang Fleet."
"Understood."
The Daewongun nodded at the soldier's unhesitating answers, and only then passed the dispatch he had been clutching to Chief State Councillor Hong Sun-mok.
"Read it."
Having listened quietly to the exchange, the Chief State Councillor took the sweat-dampened dispatch, wondering what it could possibly be—then went pale, trembled violently, and whirled toward the Daewongun.
"Good heavens!"
The contents were something he had never imagined even in his dreams—a story of utter shock.
The Qing army had landed at Jemulpo.
"Y-Your Highness! This is...!"
The Daewongun frowned at the Chief State Councillor and issued a calm command.
"Tsk. A man who calls himself the premier of a nation. If you've finished reading, pass it along."
"..."
"And hold your tongue."
"Yes..."
As the dispatch of catastrophe made its way from one end of the hall to the other, gasps of horror erupted from every direction.
"Ugh."
"Hah!"
"Th-this is... what a disgraceful hour..."
"The lawless brutes...! How dare they treat our country as—!"
The expressions and reactions of those who received it were as varied as their faces.
The older ministers clicked their tongues or swallowed heavy sighs, while the younger officials—those whose faces still suited the word "hot-blooded"—could not contain their fury, showing it in their expressions and gestures.
Then the most aggressive and radical among them struck their own chests and cried out, and those who contradicted or tried to restrain them raised their voices in turn.
"We must convene the Three Armies Command at once and mobilize the troops to reinforce Ganghwa Island's defenses, Your Highness!"
"Mobilize the army just like that? Are you proposing we go to war this instant?"
"P-perhaps we should first send an interpreter to determine for what purpose the suzerain has dispatched a general to its tributary?"
"What complacent nonsense! Search the laws of every nation and the histories of every age—never has a suzerain sent troops into a tributary without any prior notice. This is thuggery without excuse, a blatant outrage by the suzerain, Your Highness!"
"But if we mobilize troops and haul out the cannons, might that not provoke the suzerain's army?"
"Good God! So you would have us sit on our hands and let them land in our country? Jemulpo is a stone's throw from Hanseong! What country do you even belong to, my lord?!"
"That is not what I meant!"
"P-perhaps we should inform the ministers and consuls of every nation and request their aid—"
It was chaos. Not a single man responded to the situation with coherent logic or a prepared plan. Driven by the terror of the Qing army before their eyes, not one of them was thinking rationally.
Tsk. This is why they said there was no one in the court who could handle the Imo Incident.
If the Daewongun were kidnapped as in the original history, these men would fall into infighting and be picked off one by one.
I should keep the worst-case scenario in mind as well.
"Mobilize the army and send down the generals!"
"Selecting interpreters and envoys to ascertain the circumstances must come first, Your Highness!"
To summarize: the elder ministers, seasoned in statecraft and diplomacy, urged the Daewongun to follow government procedure and first open a diplomatic channel with Qing. The younger officials, along with the northwestern officers and generals appointed during the Daewongun's previous administration, demanded that the army be mobilized first and Gyeonggi Province's defensive posture elevated.
And in this era, issuing military orders to the provincial armies, mustering troops, and posting garrisons on the fortress walls meant war. Chaos would spread across all eight provinces.
And so, before the cabinet had even been formed, it split in two and began to fight.
"If we wait until we know their intentions before mobilizing, it will be too late!"
"On the contrary, such action would fan a small flame into a wildfire that consumes the mountain!"
Then, for some reason, the Daewongun let them chatter on and turned his head toward me.
"...What is your thinking?"
"Pardon?"
"Ah, I asked too broadly. Let me put it again. In your estimation—can our Joseon stop three Qing warships and the troops they have sent?"
"Your Highness?"
"Baek-won, I was not asking you."
The Daewongun waved aside Shin Jae-hyo, who had been about to protest that this was far too unreasonable a question, and began to stare at me intently.
"That is..."
Every gaze in the room turned toward me.
In that moment, I clenched and unclenched my palms a few times, trying to shake off the pressure, then drew a deep breath.
"It would be difficult, Your Highness."
The reactions split to opposite extremes. One of the younger officials jabbed a finger at me.
"You brat! What did you just say?!"
"The child has seen it clearly. Even a boy who has yet to turn seven understands the way of the world, does he not? Come, let the Ministry of Rites first select men to serve as interpreters—"
"Interpreters, my ass! What business does a brat like that have discussing affairs of state? Why bring him to a place like this just to let him spout demented nonsense and jinx us all?"
"Watch your tongue! That child is one His Highness trusts deeply and keeps close!"
"You Qing-serving sycophant!"
"Silence."
The hall, which until a moment ago had been even louder than a marketplace, fell instantly quiet. It was the Daewongun.
"I am in the middle of a conversation."
Having slammed his palm on the table and brought the situation to heel in a single stroke, the Daewongun swept his eyes over the officials, then asked me again.
"Why would it be difficult?"
"Since the twelfth year of Tongzhi—the tenth year of His Majesty's reign—our army, unlike in the Gapja year, has forgotten its former elite discipline as a result of thorough neglect and indolence, Your Highness. Moreover, after two Western invasions and the recent upheaval, the various garrisons remain in disarray, lacking not only the officers to command them but even sufficient military officials. They are in a worse state than a rabble. Even if we were to inspect the military registers and call up the troops this instant, many would fail to respond, and those capable of leading them safely to Hanseong are few."
"Military Commander Heo Jeong, as well as Geumdang and Hageo seated here, are all generals of outstanding martial talent. Still difficult?"
"I am infinitely sorry, but I learned from the military texts that even if a constellation of great generals stands at Your Highness's side, the outcome of a war is not changed by a handful of men alone."
"Hmph."
"First observe the situation, and wait for your opportunity."
I had laid it on thick, insisting we would shatter on first contact nine times out of ten—but in truth, it was not entirely without a chance of victory.
If the artillery troops and the Hobunwi—the predecessor of the Giyeongbyeong—along with the disbanded garrison forces south of Gyeonggi, could be properly mustered under the Daewongun's name, even the Qing army would find it hard to predict victory or defeat... but...
Even if we drove them back into the waters off Incheon for now, Joseon's military strength would drop to near zero. The Beiyang Army would later be broken by Japan, but it was still far closer to a modernized force than ours. And the exchange ratios of this era were absurd. Besides, how were we supposed to stop the naval guns of those ships sitting off Incheon?
Even if two of the Qing warships are mere transports, they still carry small-caliber cannon. To our side, which has nothing but obsolete war junks, they are a giant we dare not even look in the eye.
And soon the Japanese steamships, which had promised cooperation, would have to come up carrying the tribute grain bound in the three southern provinces. If the Qing fleet blockaded the coast in that situation?
We'd be showing them our throat, plain as day.
Then Qing would seize that leash and threaten us with it. With the famine they would drive into Hanseong.
It was brutal, but that was reality. Reality.
Meanwhile, as I kept listing only negative outcomes, the elder ministers' expressions gradually eased, while the faces of the radical reformers, the young officers, and the junior officials grew paler and paler.
But unexpectedly, the Daewongun made a choice entirely different from what I had anticipated.
"Very well."
A moment later, his decision made, the Daewongun swept the assembly with a sharp gaze and spoke.
"First, the Chief State Councillor will convene a meeting and urgently select interpreters, envoys, and the military aides to escort them."
"Yes, Your Highness."
At the order to select interpreters, relief lit the faces of the elder ministers and disappointment appeared on those of the younger officials—but this was a grave misreading.
For the commands that next flowed from the Daewongun's mouth all pointed toward a single objective.
The Daewongun addressed Shin Heon, who had been sitting throughout with the most composed bearing in the hall, his back straight.
"Geumdang."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Shin Heon's face took on a grim resolve, as if he had known this was coming.
"Come closer."
Having summoned Shin Heon near, the Daewongun had Shin Jae-hyo grind the ink and rapidly dashed off a letter of appointment with his brush.
"You will go at once to Pyongyang, secure a pledge of support from the Pyongyang Governor for his garrison troops, and first bring down the elite among them—the Hobunwi."
"The Hobunwi, Your Highness? They are a small unit that has only just filled out a hundred men..."
"I know. That is precisely why I need them."
When Shin Heon asked again, the Daewongun nodded in confirmation. Even as he spoke, his brush never paused.
"They are brave, and being cavalry to a man, they will display formidable power in the field. But a mere hundred riders cannot defeat thousands of Qing troops armed with rifles and cannon. I will reassign every one of them as military officers. The Gyeonggi garrison troops that Military Commander Heo Jeong is gathering are, for the most part, rabble. Until the artillery units are functioning properly and the garrison command can defend the batteries, we need a military spine to impose discipline. Are not most of those men veterans who have served as officers in various posts?"
"Ah!"
Handing Shin Heon the letter of appointment and the dispatch to the Pyongyang Governor, the Daewongun wrote out an identical set of orders for Yang Heon-su.
"And Hageo, you will remain here and unify the training battalions of the Office for Extraordinary State Affairs, the Chungyongcheong of Bukhansanseong Fortress, and the Byeolgigun—all of them."
"All of them, Your Highness?"
"Of course. If these are Qing troops handpicked by the Beiyang Minister, they will be the elite of the elite. I need a brave army that can stand against them head-on and not run. You are the man for it."
"Leave that matter to me!"
"Military Commander Heo will continue as he has been, verifying the military registers and ascertaining what regular troops can be mobilized. If things come to a head, the only thing we can ultimately rely on is numbers—that and nothing else."
"Yes, I shall keep that firmly in mind."
"Next, the senior officials of each office, for the measures needed to defend the Ganghwa garrison and protect the Han River—"
Here, too, the old tiger's charisma shone.
Before anyone noticed, a detailed map of Gyeonggi Province and Ganghwa Island had replaced the wine table, and the household of Unhyeongung brought out tea and sikhye to ease the ministers' lingering drunkenness.
"If they have already landed troops at Jemulpo, it means they have secured a beachhead, so we abandon that position for now..."
"I shall buy time by inquiring whether a formal imperial envoy accompanies the Qing fleet."
"Dongbyeolyeong suffered no damage in this upheaval, so we will first open its armory and issue the weapons."
And even the elder ministers who until now had voiced only their fears of armed conflict were too busy scribbling down the ceaseless stream of orders from the Daewongun's mouth, while the generals began from time to time to offer their own opinions, amending and advising on the Daewongun's plans.
Indeed.
I was genuinely in awe.
I understood now why the Daewongun's confidants gathered here, and so many of the officials, had so fervently wished for his return and his resumption of power.
But no one knew.
That a greater problem still remained for us.
I did not know either.
That a situation even worse than this could yet unfold.