Chapter 76
Even the people of Wa, who claimed to believe in everything that existed, were strangely reluctant to believe anything they heard about Joseon.
After all, the Japanese pirates had always said the Joseon people were cowards who didn't even know how to fight.
Yet rumors began spreading in Shimonoseki that a Joseon envoy had arrived—along with wild tales of the enormous warship that had carried him.
"Hiroshi, that's ridiculous. How could Joseon possibly build a ship that big? We can't even do it, and they say it's made entirely of iron. Who would believe such nonsense?"
"Gensei, are you calling me a liar? I saw it with my own two eyes!"
"You could have seen it wrong. You admitted you were far away and only caught its shape, right?"
"That's true. But the uncle from the tofu shop said exactly the same thing. You don't believe him either?"
"Well... maybe not. That uncle goes down to the shore every single day to collect seawater, doesn't he?"
"Exactly. I might make a mistake, but he wouldn't."
"What if it's a ghost ship? They say it sails with lights burning even at night."
"D-do you think they're really taming ghosts and riding them around?"
"M-maybe. From now on, I'm staying away from the sea."
"Me too. I don't want to go anywhere near it."
Thanks to conversations like these, fishing boats became a rare sight around the Kanmon Strait.
All anyone talked about was how war would break out any day.
The Chugoku region once ruled by the Ouchi clan referred to the western part of the main islands. Though mostly mountainous and unable to support a large population, the Iwami silver mines and the Kanmon Strait kept their finances afloat.
But that was all they had.
The Ouchi had claimed descent from Prince Imseong of Baekje and built up their power, only to collapse overnight from internal strife. The clan that seized their place was one of their own vassal families—the Mori.
Once he became clan head, Mori Motonari proved a cunning man. Through strategic marriages and clever maneuvering, he swallowed rival families and completely conquered the Chugoku region in the name of the Mori instead of the Ouchi.
Then, without warning, Joseon picked a fight.
They demanded the lands once ruled by the Ouchi be handed over.
Mori Motonari called it absurd, but it made no difference. The envoys produced ancient texts claiming the Ouchi had been vassals of Joseon and declared they had come to settle the old score.
So he spread word that Joseon was invading Wa. After all, while the various factions fought among themselves for power, an outside invasion was another matter entirely.
It didn't work.
Because he had been presenting himself as a supporter of the Ouchi, he had showered other daimyo with lavish gifts in Joseon's name. As a result, some daimyo now openly declared they would swear loyalty to Joseon instead.
When Mori himself offered to serve Joseon, the response was immediate: he must acknowledge that all minerals beneath the earth belonged to the Joseon royal family. Such was Joseon's law.
When he refused, the envoy simply said "I understand" and left.
Aboard a ship made of iron far larger than any atakebune, with neither sails nor oars, belching only white steam as it moved. They even claimed it carried lights that never went out, no matter how hard the wind blew.
"So you're saying you won't help me?"
"My lord, I am sorry. We cannot fight a monster sent by the gods."
"How is that a monster sent by the gods?"
"Then you deny it? Countless people have seen it moving day and night like a sea monster, even without wind. What else could it be?"
"Hmph! Isn't that just because it's a ship shaped like a turtle?"
"It might be. But we cannot help you. I am truly sorry, my lord."
Mori Motonari, who had once dreamed of becoming the ruler of all the land, shook with betrayal. The same men who had flattered him when times were good now wanted nothing to do with him.
"Fine," he spat. "Don't help me. Your turn is coming."
With those words, Mori Motonari sent an envoy to Tsushima. He would surrender unconditionally to Joseon.
Kim Seong-il simply smiled and sent the messenger back.
"Tell your lord it is far too late."
The envoy turned pale and begged desperately, but Kim Seong-il would not change his decision.
He had his reasons.
Iki Island, once a playground for Japanese pirates, had been transformed into a supply base for the Hwaryeokgun.
Because the pirates had lived there in luxury, simply pouring concrete created a perfectly usable harbor. Wooden pillars with tin sheets for walls and roofs produced warehouses in no time. Planks fitted with legs became rows of bunks, and just like that, barracks appeared. They had even built a road circling the fifty-kilometer island.
What began as busywork to keep suspected pirates occupied ended up flushing out many who had been hiding. They too were drafted into paid forced labor.
Until now, Kim Seong-il had been waiting—pretending to negotiate with the Mori clan head, Motonari. In the process, he had learned a great deal.
The difference between being the strong one and the weak one. That he himself had pretended to be strong while weak. How vastly different the mindsets of those who take and those who defend truly were. Yet how one must still take. That one should seize what could be seized, even under false pretenses. That even if it pricked one's conscience, it must never show—and if it became too hard to bear...
He told me to fool myself that it was work for the country.
Following the king's teaching, he had stopped getting angry and started studying those who did. In doing so, he had gained the eye to see what his opponents wanted and what they were trying to hide.
And so he had reached a decision.
Mori Motonari! The only answer is to eliminate that man!
It was a conclusion reached after long and careful deliberation, not an impulsive one like before. Of course, this was also because the king had taken a negative view of allowing Motonari to live.
The king had said the man would refuse now, claiming it was absolutely impossible, but the moment he calculated it was disadvantageous, he would immediately submit. Therefore...
"A man like that will only cause headaches if left alive. It is better to create the right situation and deal with him."
But it turned out to be no easy task. If the order was simply to kill, he could do so anytime. He need only take one of the special-grade snipers scattered throughout the Hwaryeokgun. Yet he had to handle it in a way that provided proper justification—and set an example for the other daimyo.
So he said the only way is war.
As if he knew that, Mori Motonari had sent an envoy offering unconditional surrender. He had not come himself. Had he come in person, Kim Seong-il's heart might have softened. After all, his decision would cause countless people to die or be wounded.
But it had to be done. From now on they would begin the full-scale conquest of the islands. Before that, they needed to display overwhelming military force. Only then could they swallow Wa without a major war.
To choose the right moment, Kim Seong-il boarded one of the panokseon that regularly traveled between Busanpo and the islands.
After hearing what the envoy who returned from Tsushima had to say, Mori Motonari felt as if the sky had fallen.
Refusing an unconditional surrender meant they intended to kill him without question.
No one had yet faced Joseon's Hwaryeokgun in battle. Many therefore claimed they could not know the outcome until they actually fought. They said the multi-barreled guns the Hwaryeokgun used were probably no different from arquebuses. Mori Motonari had thought the same.
But after meeting the envoy from Joseon, he changed his mind. The man had not seemed to be there to negotiate. He had looked like someone waiting for something.
So Mori had tested him several times, hoping to discover what that something was. He had believed he could always surrender if necessary. Meanwhile, he had spread the rumor that this was not the Ouchi clan's revenge but a full invasion of Wa by Joseon.
"Damn it! I should never have said that."
That was probably why they had refused to accept his surrender. The rumor had been true, and dealing with it cleanly was simpler.
Then a terrible thought struck him.
It was going to end up like this from the very beginning...
He blamed himself, thinking that if he had surrendered immediately none of this would have happened, but he now realized the trap had been dug from the start.
Fear gripped him. They were truly coming to kill him.
Now seventy years old, Mori Motonari had watched with his own eyes as the Ouchi clan was wiped out. Survival, he believed, was the most important thing of all.
It seemed difficult now, but...
"What should I do?"
At over seventy, he had no personal regrets about dying. But his two sons and his grandson were another matter. Everyone praised him for raising them well, yet once he was gone they would surely meet the same fate as the Ouchi.
Motonari immediately summoned his eldest grandson—Mori Terumoto, son of his deceased first son—along with his second and third sons.
"It seems three arrows won't be enough after all."
"What do you mean, my lord?"
"Joseon intends to attack us."
"We already know that. So you are going to surrender?"
"I already offered to surrender. They refused."
"What?!"
Such things had happened before. Mortal enemies often refused each other's surrender.
"What grudge do they hold against us?"
"None. There is none. But Joseon has the justification that they once supported the Ouchi clan."
"Ah..."
"Which is why the five of us must leave for Joseon at once."
"What?"
"No matter how I look at it, Joseon seems determined to swallow all of Wa."
"Ah!"
"Then we should follow their lead."
"Let's join them immediately, my lord."
Putting into practice the importance of survival they had learned since childhood, the two brothers, their nephew, and the clan head—three generations in all—set out for Hanyang.
News of yet another bumper harvest poured in every day from all eight provinces.
Yet none of the ministers considered it important.
The king who had set out to punish the Japanese pirates had finally revealed his true intentions.
"I have no desire to hear that Japanese pirates caused an uprising. No—I intend to erase the very word 'Japanese pirate' from existence. Therefore, I have decided to conquer Wa."
Watching their king speak so boldly and shamelessly, the ministers could only sigh. They too, had they possessed the power, would have wanted to conquer Wa. But for them it had remained nothing more than a thought.
The king, however, had gone and done it. Without consulting anyone. Then, dropping one subtle remark after another, he had dragged them all into the quagmire of a war of conquest.
"It has been nearly two hundred years since our Joseon was founded, yet the only ruler who expanded our territory during that time was Sejong. And even he did not possess power like this."
The king praised Sejong the Great and said he wished to become like him. At the same time, he blatantly justified the invasion of Wa.
"Baekje was once part of our Joseon's territory, and its people became Joseon people. Therefore, we must resolve the grudge of Prince Imseong of Baekje, who founded the Ouchi clan. Especially when we possess such overwhelming strength."
"But Your Majesty, how will you possibly cover the war funds and military expenses?"
In response, he turned them all into accomplices.
"There are three methods."
The fund management methods the king described, along with their corresponding distributions, were simple.
One: the royal family would bear all costs and receive all distributions.
Two: the Joseon court would bear all costs and receive all distributions.
Three: the royal family and the Joseon court would each bear half the costs and each receive half the distributions.
Everyone wanted the third option. They had no idea how enormous the military expenses would be, nor what exactly would be distributed.
"Military expenses refer to all costs associated with the invasion of Wa."
"In that case the sum will be astronomical, Your Majesty. Our Joseon court cannot possibly bear such a burden."
"Can't we simply issue national bonds?"
"Even then, if no profit appears within five years, we won't even be able to pay the interest."
"Then we issue war bonds."
"War bonds? What do you mean by that, Your Majesty?"
"Certificates that promise no interest will be paid until the war ends, but once it does, the nation's gains will be shared with the holders."
"Ah...!"
The ministers marveled at the king's new idea, but they doubted war bonds would sell well. People disliked uncertainty, after all.
Yet rumors began to spread that the Hwaryeokgun soldiers actually fighting on the front lines were buying up every war bond they could get.
"Is that true? They say you can buy land in Wa with those bonds?"
"Of course. And the people there are gentle and easy to handle, I hear."
"No way. They're Japanese pirates, aren't they?"
"Then are we all Im Kkeok-jeong?"
In any case, thanks to the war bonds the conquest of the islands had turned into something like a festival. It also became the catalyst that lifted countless Joseon people into the middle and upper classes. In just a few years the price of war bonds—which even dogs wouldn't touch—had risen fiftyfold.