Chapter 219
Chapter 219
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 219
Chapter Title: Continental Dash Breakdown Overdrive (2)
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Even if they wanted to bury the incident, it wasn't something that could be hidden just among the Kim clan of Jangdong.
To cover it up, they had to report it to the very top echelons.
And that 'very top' certainly wasn't the State Council or the Border Defense Council.
'Factional politics' didn't work that way. Turning the affairs of the state into family matters—that was how they built the kingdom of the people (me) that Kim Unhaeng always advocated for. That was factional politics.
Sehwa contacted her daughter, and Kim Sukyeong reported to her mother-in-law. Then, Queen Hong erupted in righteous fury upon discovering the recorded file of her sister-in-law's scheme to scam her into inheriting the family fortune.
"Since His Majesty entrusted the palace affairs to me, I will decide the royal family's matters. Princess Hwa-wan will not set foot outside her home from now on!"
Hye-gyeonggung Hong, who had lived a life full of grievances, battered from all sides, was still a woman of the royal house when wielding power in anger. Having confined her enemy sister-in-law after her husband's vengeful father-in-law, she probably wouldn't need to write something like the Memoirs of the Sado Crown Prince to vent her stress later.
Naturally, all the servants were confiscated. Kaoru was 'returned righteously to his original owner, the Kim clan of Jangdong, after appealing that Princess Hwa-wan had seized him through her influence.' He returned triumphantly, laden with all sorts of trinkets she had bestowed upon him over time.
By this point, the officials left in Seoul had caught wind that something was amiss in the royal palace.
Even if they were dizzy from handling the aftermath of the departed king's affairs, preparing for the publicly secret expedition, and supporting the envoy reception, the court wasn't entirely empty.
However, the head of those officials—Chief State Councillor Hong Bonghan, promoted by Yi Hwon before leaving to lend him authority—was the queen's father.
He sent a stern warning to the ministers not to dig any deeper.
"It seems Princess Hwa-wan was in communication with Namhansanseong. All matters will be brightly resolved by His Majesty once the envoy returns."
In that case, house arrest was a perfectly fitting punishment.
With the envoy arriving soon, causing a fuss would benefit neither the Northern Expedition faction nor its opponents. The court collectively sealed their lips.
The queen, Hong, was the most desperate to ensure Yongdudaegun wasn't implicated. Having secured the court's silence from her father, she took the lead in sealing the incident.
In other words, she granted Kim I-hwan near-unlimited covert authority—by turning a blind eye to everything he did.
Jung Hu-gyeom and Hong Gukyeong were neatly 'processed as fallen in battle.' Having commanded the Namhansanseong and Jangdong raids respectively, it was plausible they'd died in the process.
However, given their statuses, simply hacking them with swords or axes wouldn't do. Having learned how to chop vegetables from tests at Namhansanseong, Kim I-hwan let them dream sweet dreams and sent them off painlessly.
Meanwhile, rewards went to Chunsikjo, Dalmun's gang, and others from the Chunsik Group involved in the affair.
Banchon, which had cooperated with Hong Gukyeong, was thoroughly destroyed and plundered, gems and rubble alike.
Chunsikjo, having suffered the most damage, received the largest share, leaving Banchon's residents suspecting war had broken out again.
Since it wasn't a state-ordered military deployment but a 'private brawl among thugs,' the Capital Patrol didn't intervene this time either.
Hasn't Sungkyunkwan always been barred from Banchon since ancient times? Some patrol officers were downright delighted.
From the start, Joseon's constables weren't a public safety force. Public safety policing was a 'new auxiliary duty' of police established only in 19th-century Europe, and police were always a political security apparatus, before or after.
In other words, police catch not 'criminals' but those 'who displease the high and mighty.' Contrary to common belief, the interests of superiors and subordinates often align, so the people mistakenly think police catch criminals.
And the queen and her aides judged the Banchon great plunder wasn't a matter for crackdown.
Even Sungkyunkwan students, whose entertainment and boarding houses from Banchon were all going up in smoke, foamed at the mouth. They declared a self-imposed suspension and demanded 'search and punishment of the perpetrators.'
However, those clever Sungkyunkwan scholars had made one miscalculation.
The chancellor equivalent, current Grand Minister of Personnel Jo Myeongjeong, was—in modern terms—the type who valued his city connections immensely. He'd never gone anywhere without getting tangled in private personnel recommendations.
Being Jo Myeongjeong, he grasped the incident's sensitivity. To the protesting students swarming him, he feigned difficulty and said,
"In the old days, no one rose through the Three Departments without passing Sungkyunkwan, so a league strike could claim to represent the scholars' will. But now, half the court's officials hail from Gangnam Great Academy, don't they? I'm saying this for your own good—don't court disaster; go back quietly and study. Do you intend to tarnish your names for sword-wielding ruffians?"
The students, believing their ivory tower purity would garner public support, crashed into harsh reality.
Without senpai support from the Three Departments, Sungkyunkwan was just a school, not a political force. With no king to receive petitions anyway, they had no leverage.
With Jo Myeongjeong's parting advice—"If you want to grab axes and charge to Pyongyang, I won't stop you"—they dispersed dejectedly. Spotting that they'd just end up joining the Northern Expedition army as axe-wielding fodder showed they were indeed promising talents.
Even An Gwang-su, Banchon's near-sole intellectual who devoted his life to civilizing them through marriage and funeral rites, scurried about to no avail against power. Banchon, which would later serve as a secret Catholic meeting spot, was utterly destroyed.
The key insight here was that Kim I-hwan, who had effectively directed the operation from outside, held no fitting official post. His title as initial officer of the Retired Emperor's allied army was nominal military, closer to an errand boy on dispatch.
If you need a good university degree and professional job to make money, you're not true upper class.
If you need legal office and administrative power to wield influence, you're not a true power broker.
The nobility are 'simply' noble. The class system hinges on 'no reason for status.' If there were reasons, others could climb the ladder by fulfilling them too.
Now, the highest echelons and their associates clearly realized the Kim clan of Jangdong wasn't a one-man show reliant on Kim Unhaeng's talents alone.
Kim I-hwan gazed wistfully northward.
Memories surfaced of baking sweet potatoes together with his father using some book as fuel in their childhood.
That young eldest son had grown splendidly, elevating the family honor and supporting his father. His father in Pyongyang would surely be moved to tears by his son's growth.
Tears welled up.
With the king so close, the Pyeongan Governor rolling on the ground wailing in the Seunghwadang would look like a madman, so he held back.
His provincial office warehouse was already being depleted for the envoy and king reception preparations—that was grievance enough—but now his son had ruined everything. At this rate, he could claim to have worse luck with sons than even Yeongjo.
How, how did the rebellion end in just one day? That idiot Jeong Hu-gyeom. With all the rebellions during Yeongjo's reign—including mine—didn't he even review them?
He decided to lock I-hwan in the rice chest upon return and began salvaging the situation. First, finish the Qing envoy business, then fabricate another suitable incident.
"Th-then, next time there's a chance..."
"Yes?"
Not an unforeseen point.
That's why he staged the rebellion to chain into various political tasks, aiming to pay that damned tuition first.
For example, defying ministers' demands to execute Yi San (gaining more royal trust thereby) was one such plan.
But this rascal I-hwan learned paparazzi camouflage tricks and... No, no. Useless anger now.
I exploded.
"Easier? Easy? Are you sane? In current Joseon-Qing relations, the Northern Expedition is unwinnable—even if this were a game!"
I finally regained reason at the last moment.
Status Window folks resemble demons.
Not just in wickedness, but because they can't break contracts. They don't lie.
I racked my brains. Soon, I recalled a remaining means.
The last skill or item for this core objective.
If it's a nuke, it could surely reverse the tide.
But it probably wouldn't go that way... To judge, I needed info first. Cautiously, I spoke.
"Fine. Might be the last chance, so one question."
"What's your purpose? I first thought you were using me for some historical Truman Show. So I figured you'd hate major history changes. But a Northern Expedition? That obliterates predictability entirely."
The Status Window didn't evade or gloss over like before. She answered readily.
Status Window smiled brightly.
Upon receiving word that the envoy had just reached Seogyeongbu that year on the 15th of the twelfth lunar month, King Yi Hwon arrived in Pyongyang. Good thing he wasn't late.
The temporary palace in Pyeongyangbu was the Daedonggwan. The same place King Seonjo stayed during the Imjin War.
But Yi Hwon wasn't fleeing here.
If anyone was fleeing, it'd be someone else—that was Yi Hwon's thought.
Still, no time to inspect troops now. Even if he did, it'd be after the envoy returned, unaware of Joseon's betrayal.
Kim Unhaeng welcomed the king at the temporary palace with an unprecedentedly resolute expression. Satisfied with the freer air than Seoul, Yi Hwon casually dismissed his attendants.
"You seem to have urgent news."
"You see through it, Your Highness."
Kim Unhaeng exhaled quietly.
"I wish to present a strategy for the Northern Expedition."
As Kim Unhaeng thought, the Status Window wasn't suggesting one skill to wrap it all up in convenience.
In truth, the current international situation was progressing to significantly lower the Northern Expedition's difficulty.
Qing's military was ample enough. The Dzungars were more insurgents than enemies, and the Red Banner Army, forged by Qianlong Emperor even at the cost of shattering the state structure, numbered hundreds of thousands across the realm.
But that structural shatter was the problem.
When the European coalition's declaration of war was just received—like rewinding time—Qianlong revived his grandfather's defensive strategy.
"Burn all people, offices, and property within fifty li (25 kilometers) of Binhae."
Qianlong didn't repeat the late Qing emperors' mistakes.
The Jurchens were earth-bound; no amount of money could buy back traditions.
Qing's navy was nearly destroyed in the last war. The remnants were worn down in prolonged attrition with the EIC holding out in Taiwan.
Rush-buying and building ships wouldn't yield more than wasting British gunpowder. Like the late Qing 'modern navy' that splurged on Western warships and cannons only to end up as trash.
Moreover, Tianjie Ling's effects went beyond extending enemy supply lines via coastal evacuation.
Forcibly conscripted civilians built defenses or served as soldiers at key inland canal junctions. It achieved both force augmentation and internal security simultaneously.
With White Lotus cultists rampaging in Shandong between Jiangnan and Beijing, a 'compressed' north-south defense could even starve them out.
In short, Qianlong's judgments were flawless in the current situation.
For original history's Qing, that is.
"Official order! Official order!"
A flag-bearing courier galloped through a Zhejiang village. The onlookers' gazes felt a bit hostile, but the messenger fulfilled his duty.
"Vicious barbarians approach. But fear not—His Majesty has issued an imperial edict to protect the myriad subjects. Burn your homes, and the state will ration food and clothing from your property. Pack up quickly..."
The messenger's words cut off. Someone—suspiciously Joseon-parented skilled—nailed his face with a stone.
The front-toothed courier flailed more in shock than pain.
"What is this! Kids, grab that bastard now!"
But the soldiers he led hesitated and retreated instead of charging. With a crowd of two to three hundred glaring, stones in hand, who wouldn't?
One unseen voice shouted as if rehearsed.
"Official order my ass—what cursed plague-ridden order. What did the state do when the English barbarians came? Dragged the hungry to sea, razed trade routes, forcing us onto the streets!"
Another voice rose.
"Right! And after all that, did you win? String of defeats, now surrender our fields, homes, and starve in exile? I'd rather be captured by barbarians than that. Die here or there, same difference!"
No more words needed. Stones rained like hail. Officials dispatched for Tianjie Ling enforcement faced immediate riots everywhere.
Of course, that's why the Red Banner Army existed. Reliant on central finances managed by the emperor's incarnations, they had no business with locals. Brutal massacres ensued.
But such 'Tianjie Ling' would empty coasts, yet achieve less than half the intended effect.
Moreover, the Heaven and Earth Society—originally organized crime from Jiangnan—employed their cunning ways. Rebel leader Gao Shan-hui gathered comrades' intents and issued policy.
"The ships we bought from Joseon's Jeju are safe in Dongning (Taiwan) with 'His Majesty.' Soon the English will bring them. Half of you lead elders and women there. Especially valiant knights—first 'obey the official order.'"
Thus, some Zhejiang areas complied with Tianjie Ling, but that was poison worse than riots.
The Society's 'knights' inflicted massive internal damage—stabbing magistrates covertly, torching warehouses.
Conscripted folk unable to riot or infiltrate had no zeal for labor anyway; at the first incident, they fled en masse or joined rebels like they'd been waiting.
The Jiangnan defense line, meant to be southern Great Wall, crumbled before formation. Meng Tian's tale of wall-building and suicide was heaven's warning against such—overlooking it was the downfall.
And the British wouldn't miss it.
Some places emptied, others lawless, some outright resisting Qing troops. No better timing.
Admiral Henry Potter tossed his hold-until-spring strategy in the trash.
No need for controlled mass fireships. No waiting for southeast winds [Expecto Patronum].
As his wand swung, the European coalition raised anchors instantly. Distance from Taiwan to Jiangnan was synonymous with landing.
Though treated as mincemeat, combining France, VOC, Taiwan natives with old Qing grudges, and nearby pirates starved of sea trade yielded about 40,000 combatants.
Rivaling Britain's full force in the French-Indian War. That was larger, counting rotations.
The day the envoy crossed the Yalu, the continental breakdown overdrive ignited in Jiangnan.
Author's Note
1. Grand Minister of Personnel Jo Myeongjeong was indeed in that post at the time. Not the declining Soron Fengyang Jo clan in-story, but the Noron Imcheon Jo. He faced issues multiple times for nepotistic recommendations but still served as Personnel Minister, the HR chief. As endlessly appears in-story, barring treason or grave crimes, Joseon nobles' careers don't permanently stall.
2. Per Howard C. Payne's manuscript, pre-modern policing was ad hoc, recruiting locals, ex-soldiers, even ex-cons as needed. It formalized as bureaucracy from France's First and Second Empires.
3. Kampurachi derives from 'camouflage'—20th-century slang for hiding or disguising to deceive.
4. Joseon lumped Qing documents as 'Qing envoys' or such out of distaste, but jo, chik, ryeong, je, chaek, yu each had distinct meanings. Chik includes chikyu, chikseo, chikmyeong subtypes; in-story 'chikyu' denotes imperial order for specific regional issues.
