The Blood of Goguryeo Awakens
The greater the national pride, the stronger it burns. *** Inside Fengtian Castle, a slaughter party was in full swing. The Sapodae soldiers attached to the Northern Army, having once tasted blood, mercilessly trampled the Qing troops and other soldiers who dared to resist. It was as if the long-dead blood of Goguryeo had awakened. As if the blood from the days when they shattered the skulls of the Central Plains dynasties that had invaded during the Goguryeo era had risen once more. They killed the Qing soldiers without mercy.
Standing atop the corpses of the Qing troops, my entire body drenched in blood, I declared,
Everyone stared at me as if entranced. This both raised morale further and framed the fight as a justified act. Unlike the white civilizations that spread across the world through colonial domination, ours was an attack with legitimate cause. I declared it boldly.
Let us once again place the Jurchens—who had once built the Jin and Qing dynasties and acted so arrogantly—back under our rule!
This massacre was a legitimate act of an elder brother correcting his younger sibling’s misbehavior. It was a declaration that we would cast off the appearance of the weak. If not now, when would I ever indulge in such raw national pride? This wasn’t the casual keyboard warrior nationalism from the internet—this was serious, sincere national pride. As one who had inherited the blood of Goguryeo, it was only right to expand our territory into Manchuria.
“He’s right. This is a just battle for our Korean Empire!”
“I’m Han Chinese—urk!”
“Shut up, you queue-wearing bug!”
I smashed the jaw of the man who had babbled in Chinese that he was Han with the butt of my rifle. How dare he thrust his queue-wearing head at me and claim to be Han Chinese? For queue-wearing bugs, castration was the only answer for that deranged mindset.
That was how we safely secured both Fengtian Castle and Jilin City. Of course, this was only a temporary occupation. The place we would truly solidify was Gando. First we would develop Gando, completely expel Japan through the Russo-Japanese War, and later, when revolution broke out, recover the entire region of Manchuria.
I went around Fengtian and Jilin, gathering the Han Chinese and Manchu people who had been Qing subjects. Those who resisted were whipped, while those who obeyed had to be fully accepted as new subjects of Korea.
We are the descendants of Goguryeo, the former masters of this land of Manchuria. Having inherited the Mandate of Heaven in place of the fallen Great Ming, we have become an empire. Since we have succeeded to the heavenly mandate of both Goguryeo and the Central Plains, is it not only natural that the Jurchens—descendants of the Malgal who were subjects of Goguryeo—and the Han Chinese—who were subjects of the Great Ming—should follow our Korean Empire?
Honestly, it was a bit of a stretch. Being descendants of Goguryeo was one thing, but claiming to be successors of the Great Ming as well? The Jurchens and Han Chinese would probably find it absurd. But so what? We were the strong ones here. And it wasn’t completely nonsensical. Joseon had recognized Goguryeo as part of its own history, and after the fall of the Ming, it had viewed itself as the inheritor of Chinese civilization through the concept of Sojunghwa. With a little rhetorical flourish, it wasn’t an impossible narrative.
Now then, let’s see how they react.
“Why should we become your vass—gaaah!”
I put a bullet through the head of a Qing soldier who had been holding his breath in surrender only to protest. To those who had been silently watching the process, I smiled brightly with a face still splattered in blood.
“Anyone else with objections?”
The Sapodae soldiers, who had half-reluctantly begun following me, also raised their rifles to execute any who might resist.
“Long live His Majesty the Emperor! Long live the Korean Empire!”
“We will follow Korea!”
“We were Jurchens who once followed Goryeo!”
Yes. This should be enough.
Of course, rather than just a small chunk of Gando, we had decided to firmly secure the entire region. The borders of Gando itself had always been ambiguous anyway. We could operate moderately in Manchuria, then withdraw to Gando, station troops in the occupied territories, and stabilize the area.
After the Battle of Fengtian ended, I was summoned by General Yi Beom-yun once again. The moment he saw me, his face lit up with joy, yet he also wore a somewhat uneasy, conflicted expression. I tilted my head, wondering what was wrong.
“His Majesty has said that the Great Powers are also closely watching our current maneuvers in Manchuria. What should we do?”
What should we do? This was exactly the time to stir up even more chaos.
“General. This is the perfect moment to drink deep of national pride.”
“National pride?”
“Yes. In other words, we must show ourselves praising the Korean Empire and acting with even greater loyalty to build a greater Korea.”
“Speak your mind.”
“In any case, aren’t we in the position of a warlord faction in Gando rather than the regular army of the Korean Empire? Let us raise the crow banner. It symbolizes that we are the descendants of Goguryeo, the rightful masters of Manchuria.”
It wasn’t entirely certain that the three-legged crow originally represented Goguryeo. After all, the symbol had been discussed not only in Korea but in China and Japan as well. Still, by putting forward such a symbolic figure, we could give the impression of an independent army fighting on its own.
“Hmm. I heard your contributions at Fengtian were immense. I didn’t realize it before, but you killed countless Qing soldiers with your rifle. I must report your achievements to His Majesty.”
Huh? That wouldn’t do. I shook my head desperately, as if in strong opposition.
“That won’t be necessary. I still have much work to do here in Manchuria.”
“But you cannot accomplish great things in a place like this.”
Great things? Unless I stopped cross-dressing, what could a woman’s body accomplish by going before Emperor Gojong? Besides, my appearance was so strikingly, overwhelmingly beautiful that even in men’s clothing, it would be obvious I was disguised. I couldn’t possibly hide my gender from the Emperor. Therefore, I absolutely could not go. At best, I might become a diplomat. Right now, I had to rebuild the Imperial Army from its very foundation—its spirit—to the level of the Japanese, so that later they would fight Japan fueled by national pride rather than defeatism. So I absolutely, positively could not go.
“Even if I went to the imperial capital, what could a woman like me possibly accomplish? I might receive a medal, but I would never obtain a high position.”
Most likely, what I could do would be severely limited. In that case, it would be better to remain in the shadows, like a hidden power behind the throne. Here, I truly needed to push Yi Beom-yun forward and secure him an important post somehow.
“Hmm. But you can speak European languages. Leaving you here feels like a waste.”
“His Majesty has already designated you, General, as the leader of a separate army—the Gando warlord faction—on the surface. This means that if the Western powers wish to know about us, they must come to us directly.”
By now, the Qing would know, and naturally the European Great Powers would know as well. Here, while dealing with those foreigners, I had to show that the Imperial Army was no longer the old Joseon army. At the very least, I had to demonstrate that we could now defeat even our former suzerain, the Qing.
“If that is truly your intention, I will not stop you. It is a shame, though. Had you been born a man, you would have grown into an outstanding general. Still, your father must be proud.”
“You flatter me, General.”
Even when he mentioned a father I knew nothing about, it stirred no particular emotion in me. In any case, I had planted the seed. The key now was how the Great Powers would react.
The Empress Dowager Cixi, who had been indulging in extravagance, suddenly clutched the back of her head upon hearing of the large-scale plunder and occupation the Joseon army was carrying out in Manchuria. It had not been long since she had been forced to submit to the Great Powers. To be struck in the ancestral lands of the Manchus by a former vassal state in such a situation—how utterly infuriating.
“The J-Joseon bastards dare to take Fengtian and Jilin? Have we lodged a protest with the Joseon government?”
“The Joseon government claims those individuals have no connection to them whatsoever.”
Does that even make sense! We already knew they had crossed into Gando and begun plundering long ago. Have these Joseon dogs, after mingling with the Japanese, been corrupted by them?
“This is absurd! They speak the Joseon language and wear Joseon military uniforms, yet you say they have no connection! Has that so-called Emperor of Joseon lost his mind?”
“If this continues, we will lose all of Manchuria to Joseon.”
“We must dispatch a large army!”
Losing Manchuria. They had already been torn apart by Russia, but being devoured by Joseon carried a completely different meaning. It meant losing the sacred ancestral lands of the Daicing Gurun—their very homeland—to a former vassal. They had already given so much to Russia; now they were being told to hand Manchuria over to Joseon. What kind of nightmare was this? It would mean war again. With Joseon forces in Manchuria growing day by day and establishing themselves, any conflict would inflict even greater damage on the Qing.
Wait. What about the reaction of the foreigners?
“What are the foreign diplomats saying?”
“They say that with our current army, we cannot stop the Korean forces.”
“Then lodge a protest with Japan. No matter how weakened our Qing has become, Joseon is in no position to challenge us!”
Even if we protested to Japan, would they listen? Joseon had already begun to look down on the Great Qing. Even the Japan that had helped Joseon gain independence from Qing might instead side with Joseon.
“They have come with clear intent. Stopping them will not be easy.”
And their numbers were no small matter. From what I heard, their forces increased day by day. An increase in numbers meant an increase in their capacity to seize control of Manchuria—and their willingness to challenge the Great Qing directly.
In the end, Empress Dowager Cixi summoned the diplomats of the Great Powers away from the extravagant banquets she so loved in order to discuss the current crisis.
“Korea is attacking Manchuria. We request assistance from the honorable envoys.”
The reactions of the Great Powers were, naturally, ice-cold.
“Well… we have no particular means to support the Qing at this time.”
“Are they not, after all, merely a militia of Koreans who crossed the border and settled in Qing territory, rather than the regular army of Korea?”
“Indeed. This does not appear to be a war between states.”
Although they spoke as politely as possible, the recent Boxer Rebellion had already left their impression of the Qing in tatters. To see a former vassal state now beating them senseless only made the situation all the more ridiculous. A weak border country. While not as bad as the Qing, Korea had also been exploited by the Great Powers in many ways. Watching the Qing cower and beg for mercy after being beaten by such a nation made the foreigners view the Qing as something less than a real country. A nation that could be beaten even by one of its former vassals—how comical an existence it was. There was simply no reason to help the Qing. It would be far better to help Korea and take another bite out of the Qing.
Naturally, this issue also caused division within the Qing imperial family.
“This is all because of Her Majesty the Empress Dowager!”
“Your Majesty!”
The Guangxu Emperor, Prince Qing, and others resented Empress Dowager Cixi for blocking reform. Even after signing the Boxer Protocol, she refused to change. Now even the ancestral lands of the Daicing Gurun in Manchuria were under attack by Joseon troops. All of it was because she had obstructed reform and indulged only in luxury.
Of course, Empress Dowager Cixi had her own excuses. Who could have predicted that the people who had been toyed with by Japan would suddenly go mad and attack Manchuria? How could she have known that the Joseon dogs—who couldn’t even properly protest when their own country became a battlefield—would rise up like this?
“Exactly! Because the Empress Dowager blocked reform and cast out talented officials, even a former vassal like Joseon is now trampling the Daicing Gurun! How can we face our ancestors in the afterlife?”
Prince QingYi Kuang also knelt and wailed. The Qing had essentially become a semi-colony after the Boxer Protocol. Not only had reform been blocked, but Empress Dowager Cixi’s extravagance continued, and the military saw no development. In contrast, thanks to Emperor Gojong’s keen interest, the Korean military—though small in scale—had been modernized. Although the Korean Imperial Army was still numerically inferior to the Qing, it held a massive qualitative advantage. It was impossible for the Qing to win.