Chapter 127
Chapter 127
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 127
Chapter Title: Crab Roe's Counterattack (1)
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The main rebel force of the Hyeungcham Faction had fallen into quite a precarious position.
When they had captured Cheongju like Yi Inju and beheaded Jo Myeongjeong, the staunch Noron governor of Chungcheong, Grand Marshal Yunji of the Yangho Army had nothing to fear.
However, the Hyeungcham Faction hadn't garnered the response they'd hoped for in Chungcheong Province.
To bolster the ranks of the rebels, cooperation from local influential clans was essential. But when the Namyang Hong Clan of the Tohong branch—one of Chungcheong's premier native gentry—fled outright, people began to waver.
The most active figure was the returning Chungcheong investigator, Lee Juguk.
Even if the Training Command was advancing south, the Chungcheong investigator couldn't just sit idle.
Deeply inspired by Kim Unhaeng from the old Wangsimni Saho Palace incident and the recent Dutch subjugation, Lee Juguk pondered deeply.
'What would Kim Chunsik do in a situation like this?'
A good idea soon struck him.
Just as Kim Unhaeng often did, Lee Juguk embedded a subliminal message in his orders to the Liberation Squadron members—one that was never overt, yet impossible to misinterpret.
'The rebel warehouses in Chungcheong Province are legitimate targets for plunder!'
In a time of national crisis, who could call themselves a loyal subject if they didn't rise up? Emboldened, the marines launched assaults across Chungcheong Province.
And the rebels were greatly shocked.
These were like wako pirates who knew Joseon's geography, language, and weaknesses inside out. In short, there was no way to counter them.
Yunji tried splitting off part of his army westward to seize the Chungcheong Naval Station at Boreong by land, even if it strained his forces, but even that proved impossible.
It was because Oh Hyeok, the famed Jeolla naval commander known as a master tactician, had belatedly burst out from Gangjin, rallying the remaining forces in Honam to pursue them.
The Hyeungcham Faction, which had sporadically risen village by village and raced north, had failed to secure their rear properly. While such uprisings offered the advantage of concealment in the rebellion's early stages, now they were shackling their own ankles.
And right in the path of this Hyeungcham Faction force came the allied army of roughly 4,000 from the Training Command and the Royal Guard Command.
Judging that they had ample leeway in the battle, Training Command leader Kim Seong-eung considered secondary objectives.
These days, no matter what anyone said, Kim Seong-eung was firmly in the Crown Prince faction—and specifically, the Noron Chundang branch of it.
So, naturally, he needed to rack up merits that would benefit Kim Chunsik and the Crown Prince indirectly.
At this point, the Hyeungcham main force was poorly controlled, with scattered detachments numbering in the dozens or hundreds.
Near Cheonan, Kim Seong-eung herded one such unit into favorable terrain and bellowed commandingly.
"Send the Chun-sik Carts out in front of those rebels!"
The military instructors looked puzzled.
"Sir, the enemy is cornered. No need to bother with the volley guns—a single squad would make them surrender on their own."
"Do as I say!"
That's the army for you. In the end, the instructors and soldiers cursed under their breath as they pushed the heavy volley guns forward.
Panting alongside the soldiers, three ten-barrel volley guns rolled into view before the pitiful rebels.
The fact that these Chun-sik Carts had subdued the fearsome Redhairs was widely known thanks to the court's aggressive propaganda. The rebels, already primed to surrender no matter what, immediately raised their hands.
And thus, Kim Seong-eung could report the undeniable practical utility of the Chun-sik Carts.
The replicated Dutch flintlock muskets, dubbed Chun-sik Guns, were the same story.
In truth, given Joseon's climate and conditions, flintlocks didn't offer many advantages over matchlocks.
Both were useless in the rain, and flintlocks were more expensive to boot. If anything, they boasted better firing rate and ease of use.
But fixating on such minor details disqualified one as Training Command leader.
Anyone could evaluate a weapon's cost-performance or raw power mechanically. Someone of Oh Gun-yeong's caliber had to consider the bigger harmony—the political and social consensus.
"The Military Armory's new guns truly inherit King Hyeonjong's legacy, fulfilling the three clans' long-cherished wish... (excerpted)... their advantages rival three matchlocks. This time too, while the rebels fumbled with their slow matches, we fired relentlessly and won."
Kim Seong-eung smiled contentedly, envisioning how the Noron Crown Prince faction would acknowledge his major contribution.
This view was endorsed not just by the Crown Prince faction, but even non-Crown Prince Noron ministers.
It wasn't just these rebels—threats to national defense like the Japanese and Redhairs were intensifying by the day.
For a Joseon with fixed population, upgrading weaponry was the most rational policy.
"Originally, no weapon surpasses the matchlock. Moreover, the cannons and bows in each garrison are rusted and decayed in great numbers, so they should all be collected, repaired where possible, and melted down to forge new ones. Also, decree the production of the short swords (cutlasses) used by the Redhairs—they look highly practical on a rocking ship."
Only Kim Unhaeng, back at the Military Armory after relinquishing his Jangyongyeong deputy post (and now screaming his lungs out over budgets diverted to useless weapons), suffered.
The news that the Training Command was leisurely crushing the rebels while even promoting new weapons meant Grand Marshal Yunji's situation had been pushed to the brink.
The battle was a rout. Sympathizers in Seoul were done for.
His son Yun Gwangcheol had been beheaded in Seoul during the Hoon-guk raid. His remaining comrades languished in the Royal House of Investigation, awaiting death.
Their side was hanging by a thread too. The main force's front line had been pushed back to the Geumgang River area, where they'd scored their initial victory. Most subordinates had fled.
It was truly the edge of a cliff.
But they hadn't fallen off yet.
As Yunji tore at his hair in the command tent, a scholar slipped in cautiously.
"What is it!"
"I have tidings for you, Grand Marshal."
Focusing after his sharp shout, Yunji recognized Park Chansin, the comrade who'd helped capture Jeonju.
For a moment, Yunji wondered if this man planned to kill him and offer his head to the court—a clichéd end for traitors. He glanced at his own hands.
But Park Chansin hadn't betrayed him yet. In his hand wasn't a dagger, but a letter.
"News from Gyeongsang Province."
Yunji shot to his feet.
"Ah, the Three Provinces Naval Commander!"
Kim Yun, Three Provinces Naval Commander and Gyeongsang Right Investigator, was one of the rebellion's three pillars alongside Northern Garrison Commander Jo Dongha. Contact had been severed only because Kim Unhaeng had too quickly killed Hoon-guk's central liaison, Jo Dongjeong.
Hamgyeong Province was too far—messengers had to pass through Seoul—but Gyeongsang was still feasible.
Gyeongsang had resisted most fiercely and longest during Yi Inju's rebellion, thus suffering the harshest reprisals.
Moreover, Kim Yun—then in the Yanghyang Bureau (Training Command logistics)—had nearly been executed as a rebel suspect during that uprising. Without Park Mun-su's protection, he wouldn't be commander now.
Two grudges combined could overturn this unfavorable board.
Ripping open the letter, Yunji found it matched his hopes.
If they held out until spring's ice thaw, Kim Yun would cite the Redhairs' return as pretext, rally the fleets of Gyeongsang, Jeolla, and Chungcheong en route, and strike the Han River.
Yunji clutched the letter.
"Good. Tell the comrades to scatter into nearby mountain forts and hold out somehow. In one or two months, the Han River ice will melt. Then we win!"
A new spark of hope ignited in the Hyeungcham Faction.
The Three Provinces Naval Commander literally oversaw the navies of the three southern provinces.
However, it was hard to say he had strict direct command over the subordinate investigators. Personnel and reports went through the Ministry of Military Affairs and State Tribunal, bypassing the commander.
Naturally so. If the commander could seize all three provinces' navies at will, Joseon would have faced endless naval rebellions.
Moreover, the Liberation Squadron had further strengthened each naval station's independence.
Thus, current commander Kim Yun had no choice but to persuade each investigator personally.
And sometimes, even their company commanders.
For instance, the Wolsong company commander, who dominated smuggling to Japan from Ulleungdo base, wielded influence rivaling an investigator.
Han Jungnyang spoke in a weary tone.
"—So, you summoned me to Tongyeong with this foreign ship (duynisbelts) for that?"
An insolence unfit for the commander's presence. But Kim Yun, in a needy position, tolerated it.
"Indeed. To repel the Redhairs, don't we need their ships?"
"Will the badly defeated, captured Redhairs return in mere days? Something's off..."
"Nonsense. It's certain. So we must hurry to Ganghwa Island with this as flagship. You could rack up merits like the Chungcheong or Jeolla Left investigators!"
Han Jungnyang lazily lifted his liquor bottle, his expression bored.
He said nothing, but every motion—pouring, sipping—reeked of drop the smokescreen.
Setting down his cup, Han Jungnyang spoke meaningfully.
"I'm aiming higher than a mere investigator's merit."
Kim Yun's face changed. Han Jungnyang pressed on.
"Come aboard my flagship. These Western ships have clever interiors—like Zhuge Liang's Stone Soldier Eight Formations. No one will overhear."
Once seated in the duynisbelt's panic room with one aide each, Kim Yun thought he grasped Han Jungnyang's intent.
So he unleashed his fervor.
"It's not about my old conviction in the Musin year. This tyrant feigns generosity but harbors suspicions, pretends favor while turning men into wooden puppets.
After demotion to county magistrate, I wasn't reappointed for over a decade—and only shuffled through outer posts. I know your dealings roughly; stay put, and you'll be branded a Japanese collaborator and dragged off."
'Not branded—guilty.' Unaware of Han Jungnyang's thought, Kim Yun continued.
"With the three essentials of governance, garrison troops have shrunk while the Liberation Squadron grows. Combined southern Liberation Squadrons outnumber half Joseon's soldiers. We can sweep aside those weary capital troops like grass."
No troops were weary from Redhair fights—they hadn't fought.
But Kim Yun dismissed Jangyongyeong's victory reports as political exaggeration for the king.
"Seoul lacks true generals now. Jang Bungik is dead, Yeongsung-gun is old. The people are too weak. Sending that pup Kim Unhaeng to plug a foreign invasion at Ganghwa proves it."
Han Jungnyang feigned deep thought, then nodded.
"You're right. Better follow the commander's orders."
"Wise choice. This is Grand Marshal Yangho's letter. Add your blood oath to this joint pledge, alongside mine."
Kim Unhaeng would've scoffed at 18th-century blood oaths, but Han Jungnyang guilelessly took the dagger reverse-grip.
Then he pierced the commander's hand to the table.
"Gah, aaaargh!"
Han Jungnyang, a vigorous 30s warrior, fused the elderly Kim Yun's hand to the desk.
The aide beside Kim Yun shouted in horror.
"What treachery is this!"
He yelled without drawing—many Joseon officers carried lightsabers.
To be fair, maintaining steel-free blades in sea spray was a hassle.
But the wealthy, battle-hardened Wolsong Liberation Squadron differed.
Thus, Han Jungnyang's aide, vanguard captain Kim Eungseok, slit the officer's throat with a sharp smuggled Japanese sword. The Force wasn't with him.
Han Jungnyang whistled, pocketing the pledge and letter. The gagged commander's groans meant nothing.
"Just following Kim Chunsik's stratagems, and it works like a charm! When I reach Seoul, should I recommend he authors a Chunsik Art of War?"
Thanks to Han Jungnyang's unexpected prowess—beyond even my foresight—Commander Kim Yun was pathetically captured, and Northern Garrison Commander Jo Dongha fled, leaving the Hyeungcham Faction like a drowned hearth.
As reward, I spoke to the Crown Prince, mobilizing the Noron Cheokdang faction.
The current military affairs judge was Hong Bonghan's brother, Hong Sanghan. He petitioned the king.
"Wolsong company commander Han Jungnyang's merits are immense; he merits summons to court for reward. Yet the rebels aren't fully quelled, and border tensions persist. Though it transcends rank, urgency demands setting precedent—temporarily entrust him with the Right Naval Station to pacify the area and rally the troops."
That's Noron Chundang loyalty. Han Jungnyang could swap ships and siphon supplies until a new commander arrived.
Meanwhile, the Hyeungcham Faction's dissolution accelerated.
Faint hope flickering out hurts more than none at all.
More fled by night than were crushed by government forces. The troops felt an uncanny familiarity pushing the Hyeungcham back.
The rebellion was effectively over.
Now it was politicians' stage, not soldiers'.
To counter King Yeongjo's desire to claim it as General Gejang's victory, we had to restore the truth: our National Salvation Army's triumph.
To shield the Hong clan—who'd only evacuated kin to Seoul—from impeachment, I handed Hong Daeyong's family some spears and marched them back home.
No rebels remained near Cheonan anyway. But not fully pacified nominally, the "righteous army mobilization" pretext held.
To Hong Daeyong, who'd resigned in righteous resolve, I said.
"Rest easy, brother. After the Cheonan righteous army earns merits, you'll be reinstated higher up."
"No, I don't need it. Now I can relax in my hometown—"
"—With the nation's fate hanging by a thread, abandoning office? It might raise suspicions about fleeing Chungcheong to Seoul. You wouldn't endanger the clan, would you?"
Hong Daeyong eyed the spear in his hand, then me. You wouldn't stab me with that, right? Touch a finger—I'll make the annals as Hong the traitor.
Anyway, with Hong Daeyong gone, rebel processing began.
Excluding on-site beheadings like Yun Gwangcheol, most were in the Royal House of Investigation.
Several suspect assassinations—likely Soron foot-draggers—were attempted, but Noron core Hong Sanghan, concurrent military judge and investigation overseer, guarded it well.
Not hard. Our Samhwadam supplied all investigation food exclusively and premium; no poison worry, just skip pointless beatings.
Thus, the treason trial of chief traitor Sin Chi-un proceeded smoothly.
I was summoned too—as former Jangyongyeong deputy who'd quelled the uprising.
Years ago, at Jedi Knight Kim Jeong-gu's ravings of palace rebellion, I'd been acting grand justice proxy; now I was regular.
In the House's own interrogation, Sin Chi-un insisted he'd merely been abducted by the Dutch ship raiding Kimhae.
An obvious lie no one believed—including him.
What Sin Chi-un wanted was the king's personal audience.
And Yeongjo quite liked intimate inquisitions.
He had Sin Chi-un dragged in, personally deploying banned torture tools nearby, and asked.
"Your house received generational grace, and I saved you—Kim Il-gyeong's lackey, impeached repeatedly—from ruin. How could you don the iron mask and betray that grace? As a subject, how conspire with foreigners to topple the state?"
Interviews by Lawyer Jang, Priest Juri, and top advisors left Sin Chi-un worse than rags—except one point.
Rags can't speak; Sin Chi-un could.
Sin Chi-un slowly raised his head. Matted hair spilled through his torn hood.
"Since Your Majesty suspects me thus, I confess."
His feeble words screamed torture-broken loser to all.
I half-hoped the legendary Hyeungcham drip might skip this time—for my career's sake.
But no twist of history could break a Joseon scholar's grit.
"I haven't eaten crab roe since the Gapjin year! That's my treason—and scheming with Redhairs to seize the capital! All my doing!"
His bellow split swollen lips, blood trickling.
After a breath, Sin Chi-un roared what annals would never record.
"You fratricidal bastard who killed this brother!"
I wasn't the only one gasping.
Even history-savvy me felt my liver drop; the other ministers must've soiled themselves.
As I recalled, Yeongjo would weep and wail here (honestly, kinda wanna see it), and guards twist Sin barehanded.
But from here, history diverged.
Yeongjo propped his chin, face askew.
That face he makes at his son...
Author's Note
1. All details on Three Provinces Naval Commander Kim Yun are factual. During Yi Inju's rebellion, his cousin Kim Ok was implicated, and a rebel spy used Kim Yun's pass—suspicious even by modern standards.
2. During the Naju prophecy case, pre-interrogation deaths in custody were rampant—beaten or poisoned. Circumstances suggest ministers pressured guards and clerks to silence prisoners.