Formation of the Red Team (1)
With the unofficial talks of that late hour behind us, I invited the two of them, two days later, to observe a session of the Supreme People's Committee — the Committee of Thirteen that served as both the provisional deliberative organ and the governing apparatus of the political tutelage.
"Will you attend?"
"It would be an honor, Your Excellency!"
"If you would only grant us the opportunity!"
And they welcomed it with both hands raised, without a single flourish of rhetoric, in nothing but earnest sincerity.
Well — an opportunity to observe another nation's highest decision-making body? And for an Eastern country, among nations that typically met the world with inscrutable reserve, to extend that kind of trust to the West first?
It's on the level of a gold ingot dropping on your head while you sleep.
Ah — would it hurt if it actually hit you? Anyway.
If the two diplomats called to mind the hostile, arrogant postures and armed clashes of Japan and Qing — countries that had long since opened relations with the West — then the new Korean government's unprecedented hospitality was, quite literally, something close to a revolution.
Or since we are a nation that actually staged a revolution, we could just package the whole approach as revolutionary.
And it was not so different from declaring that Korea's new government intended to share everything with the Western powers that were themselves republics: the United States and France.
Knowing well what that meant, I set the tone by introducing my key people to the two foreign diplomats.
"From this side: the Vice Minister of War, the Minister of the Interior, the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, and from the Treasury, Eo Yun-jung and Yi Sang-jae."
Seo Jae-pil, Park Yung-hyo, Bak Jeong-yang, Eo Yun-jung, Yi Sang-jae.
Having first presented the Enlightenment Party ministers seated to the left of the office, I turned to the Alliance Association ministers arrayed on the right.
"The Minister of Agriculture, the Minister of Public Works, the Minister of Military Affairs, Vice Minister of the Interior Kim Hong-jip, and Director Yun Chi-ho of the Public Security Committee."
At the calling of their names, Choe Ik-hyeon, Yu In-seok, Yang Heon-su, Kim Hong-jip, and Yun Chi-ho rose briefly from their seats to offer their greetings.
As an aside, Shin Heon — who during the revolution had persuaded the officers and soldiers of the old royal garrisons — had burned his last flame in spectacular fashion and then passed into rest. May peace settle upon him.
I let Shin Heon's dying words — that it had been an honor to be given one last chance to set his mistakes right — slip behind my thoughts, and spoke.
The men around the table brightened at the explanation. Yun Chi-ho in particular, whose name had lately begun to carry weight as a member of the Public Security Committee, looked ready to burst into tears again the moment I singled him out — unable, as ever, to master his feelings.
In any case, the two diplomats, having grasped that the men I had named and introduced in turn would be the core of the newborn republic, offered courteous greetings to all present.
"We are truly grateful that you have permitted today's observation, Ministers. To share this occasion is, quite honestly, an honor to our houses."
"We can only thank you for a consideration we never dared expect. We shall conduct ourselves with the utmost care, so as not to disturb your deliberations."
Fortunately — and unsurprisingly — the thirteen ministers and officials to whom I had previously given a quiet word of notice merely nodded toward the two outsiders, offering no particular reaction.
The younger ministers from the Enlightenment Party sincerely longed for this chance: for Korea to receive equal treatment not as a mere vassal of Qing, but as a fully independent nation, and a civilized one at that.
And then—
"Ahem."
The conservative Confucian literati.
Among them, I recalled my previous conversation with Choe Ik-hyeon, the man I had expected to resist my plans most fiercely. Watching him maintain that quiet composure, I shrugged.
You, too, are probably quite curious why the Alliance Association ministers of scholar-gentry origin — Choe Ik-hyeon and Yu In-seok foremost among them, men once synonymous with the Wijongcheoksa school — were so quiet. There was a reason, and it was not a complicated one.
Good heavens. A golden opportunity to display to Western diplomats the greatness of our sages' history and the superiority of Neo-Confucianism...
To someone who had lived as a citizen of twenty-first-century Korea, this was utterly absurd. But to the Korean people of this moment — who had at last seized, in blood and tears, a victory over a tyrant — today's revolution seemed to mean something quite different from what it meant to me.
A victory of justice, is it?
I remembered how the Confucian literati, without anyone's help and especially without the help of any foreign power, were trying to sublimate their own victory into a triumph of long tradition — to understand the revolution on their own terms. And I thought:
Yes. This, too, is a great wave. All the more so if it can give the Korean people themselves a mission to weather hardship.
There was no need to overthink it.
It was the same as the Enlightenment Party ministers of the radical reformist camp recovering their confidence from the fact that our own people had created a government through revolution and established a republic much like those of the Western powers. The conservative Confucian literati, for their part, had begun to regard the revolution as a matter of pride: the superiority of Korean Neo-Confucianism itself, and the very image of driving out a tyrant and seeking righteous government for the people, all within the Way of Confucius and Mencius.
In a word, their verdict was this: just as the sages and the classics prescribed, we Korean Confucian scholars had performed a self-correcting function against an incompetent, runaway tyrant.
If I were to add a footnote — some of the local scholar-gentry, including former Wijongcheoksa adherents, were even quietly reinterpreting Joseon's two great restorations, the Jungjong Restoration and the Injo Restoration, as part of the revolutionary tradition, and working to recast those earlier upheavals as a Korean version of constitutional revolution.
Whether that would work, I had no idea. Anyway.
To cut off the chain of stray thoughts, I gave my head a slight shake, took the seat of honor, and convened the meeting.
The subject was revolution itself.
"At last, the beacon of revolution has been lit in our Eastern land as well. I ask that the ministers, officials, and generals seated here offer a sincere welcome to the two diplomats attending today's session."
A round of applause burst from both sides of the table. As Plancy and Foote bowed once more at the waist, the atmosphere warmed.
Having thus loosened the room, I first caught the eyes of Minister of Military Affairs Yang Heon-su and Vice Minister of War Seo Jae-pil, and began the discussion in earnest.
"What is the current state of the Republic's military reorganization?"
"This subordinate will deliver the report."
At my question, Vice Minister Seo Jae-pil, speaking in Yang Heon-su's place, distributed condensed bundles of reports before each official and began his explanation.
The first thing the newborn Republic's military establishment denounced was Yi Hyeong, the tyrant who had wrecked Joseon's national defense.
"First, I must ask you all to bear firmly in mind that the old monarchy's force structure was an extremely inefficient system — the product of the tyrant's suspicions, of internal strife, and of the loyalty contests he deliberately fostered. Accordingly, the Ministry of Military Affairs has reorganized that inefficient, corruption-breeding structure along two principal lines."
Having laid bare the tyrant's legacy with an expression of utmost contempt, Seo Jae-pil cleared his throat several times and gestured for the officials to turn the page.
Two sentences came into view.
"The Ministry has, as of now, completed a nominal reorganization of all forces in Hanseong Prefecture charged with capital defense, as well as every formation throughout Gyeonggi Province, centered on the Front and Rear Camps of the Household Army."
"Does that include the Ganghwa garrison's defensive troops?"
"Yes, Your Excellency. The New Army units stationed in Pyongyang and Kaesong Prefecture have also all been reorganized under the Household Army and converted to a modern military structure."
"Then how many fully reorganized combat troops do we have?"
"The Household Army, our capital defense force, numbers 8,750 in all. Troops stationed at the batteries and treaty ports along Ganghwa Island and the Gyeonggi coast number 3,270. Combined, that is 12,020 men."
As Seo Jae-pil answered my questions with ramrod posture, Yang Heon-su hurriedly added:
"On paper, that is."
At Yang Heon-su's reply, I found myself making a complicated face, and then stopped.
However completely the revolutionary government had been proclaimed, however thoroughly we had seized the army and co-opted the officer corps — these were the Hanseong defense troops who had fought several blood-soaked battles in the capital. There was surely lingering bitterness between the soldiers and officers who had stood with the Sadae faction and the tyrant, and the revolutionary forces who had opposed them. To say that, taking all of that into account, they had fully consolidated the capital army meant—
They did try.
Before we could even take them to task for having only just finished the organizational tables, we had to acknowledge that those two men had truly done everything they could.
Then Yun Chi-ho of the Public Security Committee, having spotted among the report the names of several officers who had guarded the tyrant — Hong Gye-hun among them — raised his hand to register a question.
"Vice Minister. Are these seven men, and former Royal Guard Commander Hong Gye-hun, not hostile elements and traitors to the nation? They are surely on our Public Security Committee's watch list."
His eyes and voice, once the question was out, carried unmistakable hostility. The other ministers and officials likewise expressed their agreement with Yun Chi-ho's view.
Seo Jae-pil, who had been answering so smoothly until now, began to flounder with a look of dismay. Yang Heon-su, head of the military, stepped in.
When a man of his years and reputation — esteemed not only in the army but among civilian officials as well — came forward, everyone held their breath.
"The concerns of the Public Security Committee and of you ministers of the cabinet are a subject our Ministry has long wrestled with as well. However, comrades: we are in a state of war. The Republic has no shortage of brave, loyal, and devoted soldiers in every quarter. What we desperately lack are officers who can command them with intelligence and carry out their objectives."
It came close to laying bare a clear weakness of our Republic, but most of the ministers understood Yang Heon-su's candor. No — it was a fact we all already knew.
The fighting in Hanseong lasted five days, but in the end the principal targets of the purge were the opposing officers. The rank-and-file of each unit, mobilized without any word of explanation, were not at fault.
As the ministers accepted the military's decision and its dilemma, the one who grew impatient was Yun Chi-ho. Sensing that I was quietly aligning myself with Yang Heon-su's view, he pushed back against it — whether to demonstrate his loyalty, or to carry out the orders I had previously hinted at — making a show of not simply going along with the prevailing current.
"So you propose to place command in the hands of men on the watch list? There is clearly an element of danger in this, Your Excellency!"
"Director, please do not misconstrue the army's situation. At present, the Republic's forces need officers more than they need even the finest Western firearms."
Yang Heon-su tried to soothe him, as if telling him to calm down. Yun Chi-ho snapped back.
"That is a cowardly and lazy excuse! Are there not excellent young men who have joined the Vanguard and the Youth Association under the Alliance Association? Have you not considered educating them in short order and committing them to the front?"
"You think we haven't considered that? Of course we have! But an officer who can command a body of troops and execute orders is not trained by that kind of slapdash method!"
"Let us all settle down."
Seeing the two men's argument about to catch fire, I immediately raised a hand and quieted them.
"I beg your pardon, Your Excellency."
"My apologies, Tongnyeong."
"It's all right, gentlemen. I take it that both of you expressed your views out of patriotic devotion."
The two bowed their heads at once, as if seeking my forgiveness, and sat back down.
I exchanged a glance with each of the ministers, then put a question to Seo Jae-pil, who was glued to his chair in a tense posture.
"I understand the Ministry's worries and concerns. But as Director Yun suggested, have you not considered a way to mobilize the Vanguard? If you have, can you briefly explain here how you plan to organize and employ them?"
"It is possible even immediately, Your Excellency."
Given the opening, Seo Jae-pil sprang to his feet and began talking again.
"First, among the Vanguard and the Youth Association, men of ability — or those who distinguished themselves in the recent revolutionary war — are currently receiving intensive instruction from graduates of the officer academies."
"How many of them have graduated as officers?"
"Thirty-two, Your Excellency."
"The timeline?"
"Ah — we are looking at roughly three months."
"Too few."
"E-even that is an extremely accelerated course, Your Excellency! They would be at a level to form ranks and issue fire commands—"
"I understand."
At Seo Jae-pil's answer, I rested my chin on my hand.
Even being generous, two fully manned regiments in three months would be a stretch.
Moreover, remembering that most of the officer cadets from Hosan Academy were infantry-school graduates, it was hard to expect artillery or cavalry branches of the Republic's army anytime soon. The thought struck me that we could not quickly assemble an expeditionary force from officers loyal to the newborn Republic alone. I fell silent.
It was a rather important problem. It might well be the moment that would determine the future history of the Republic's armed forces.
At last, after long deliberation, I put the same question to Yang Heon-su and Seo Jae-pil.
"Minister. Vice Minister."
"Yes, Tongnyeong."
"The former Royal Guard Commander and the other men on the watch list — can you control them with certainty?"
"Your Excellency!"
The ministers and Yun Chi-ho, realizing which way my mind had leaned, let out silent screams. I answered them in a serious voice.
"Quiet. I am speaking with the generals at the moment, am I not?"
"..."
"Answer me, General. Can you control them with certainty?"
Having sunk the anxious ministers in a single stroke, I pressed for an answer. Seo Jae-pil silently looked to his superior.
In the end, someone had to take responsibility.
Yang Heon-su let out a deep sigh, then answered me with a firmly tempered gaze.
"Yes, Your Excellency. I, who drafted the plan, will take responsibility."
"Good."
Having officially pinned his acceptance of responsibility, I gave a calm order to Yun Chi-ho, who was watching me with uneasy eyes.
"Burn every personnel file of the former Guard officers who were loyal to the tyrant."
"T-Tongnyeong! That is far too lenient a—"
I checked Yun Chi-ho with a hand as he tried to spring to his feet, and continued.
"If our Republic has resolved to take them in, Director, then by that fact their former crimes are washed clean. And select from among the young men of the Vanguard those who will be organized as volunteers. You would be the right man for that."
"...Understood, Your Excellency."
I turned my gaze from Yun Chi-ho, who sagged like a puppet with its strings cut, and asked the ministers of the Treasury.
"Do we presently have the capacity to support the expeditionary force of our sister republic, France?"
Eo Yun-jung, speaking for the Treasury, shook his head with a look of difficulty and opened his mouth.
"We are struggling even to secure tax revenue, Your Excellency, owing to the enormous settlement payments and loans the tyrant incurred, and the traces left by the corrupt officials who were loyal to him."
"We expect it will take some time. With the help of each Alliance Association branch, and through intelligence, we are tracking down and recovering the assets and bribes they concealed, but..."
"Moreover, the commercial districts of Jemulpo and Incheon Prefecture are under visible threat from the previous unequal treaties and the secret pacts concluded between the tyrant and Qing. We must expand the personnel to crack down on their illegal commercial activities and economic crimes."
"I see."
I was simultaneously interpreting the Treasury officials' views for the two diplomats seated with us. Having heard our discussion, Plancy and Foote each replied.
"That is a matter on which we, having discussed it in earnest with Your Excellency at the unofficial talks, may be able to offer some assistance."
"We two diplomats judge that there are grounds to interpret the diplomatic relations previously concluded between the tyrant and Qing as entirely null and void."
"So they say."
I interpreted this for both sides, and smiled faintly.
Friends really are a good thing. And all the more so when those friends, unlike ordinary men, have blown a king's head off!
"Well. You all heard that, didn't you? Time to get to work."
But our officials, still not having parsed the two men's true intent, wore expressions that said, So what exactly are we supposed to do?
In the end, taking this for a language barrier, I restated it in our own tongue.
The present government of the Republic has no treaty that officially stipulates any interest or diplomatic relationship with the Qing court. Therefore, from this moment, every Qing enterprise, merchant vessel, and shop existing on our national territory is illegal. I will confiscate their property. There will be no exceptions.
The scheduled date of enforcement is the instant this meeting adjourns.
It was the moment a six-sided club came crashing down on the skulls of some three hundred Qing merchants who had been anxiously watching the situation in Korea.