Chapter 228
Chapter 228
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 228
Chapter Title: Liberator (3)
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The activation condition for the 'Hannibal Barca's Tactics' skill, which allows me to pinpoint the positions of soldiers, is that they must be 'under my command.'
And from what I've figured out so far, there are at least two criteria for determining who counts as 'under my command.'
First, official permission from the King of Joseon, who has the authority to assign troops to me.
Second, the consent of the 'representative' of those troops. In this case, the representative is whoever the troops themselves recognize as their leader.
For the Joseon army, it's straightforward. The same person satisfies both conditions. I just need the king's approval.
But if it's not the Joseon army, things get trickier. I have to fulfill the two requirements separately.
I learned this fact by rewinding time a bit to right after detaining the envoy Wang Danmang, during an experiment with the skill on the attendants who'd come with him.
"There are about twenty people who followed the envoy, and they should know the layout of the capital (Beijing) well enough, so putting them to military service would be useful."
By the way, this military service—conscription as reinforcements—is a brilliant system.
Originally, since Joseon lacked both prisons and troops, it was a merciful punishment that combined hard labor and exile as a 'comprehensive gift set' instead of execution.
Yangban rarely received it. But His Retired Majesty the King established the system perfectly by practicing equality before the law for offenses like 'displeasing the king'—sending even scholars who sneaked into exam halls and high officials who refused remote postings to conscripted exile. As a descendant, all I have to do is follow suit.
Now, I can truly conscript anyone I point at into the ranks under me, the Supreme Commander of the Joseon forces.
Even Zhu Zhuwang readily approved.
"Do as you will."
Yet the envoy's entourage didn't show up on the Hannibal minimap.
It couldn't be because they were foreigners, since Kazakh soldiers appeared just fine. Not real soldiers? As I said before, any group of two or more working for the state counts as troops.
By process of elimination, I reviewed a few possibilities and went to see Wang Danmang.
And he promptly sold out his men.
"My loyalty is already to His Majesty the King of Joseon, so how could they dare refuse?"
Once he said that, most of the envoy's group appeared on the map.
But not everyone. Fortunately, pinpointing the reason wasn't hard—some of the attendants (those following the envoy for protocol) actually scolded me instead.
"Pretending to submit to the Emperor in front while bullying the envoy behind—what kind of 'Way' exists in this backwater of the east? Wang Danmang rose through the ranks solely thanks to that child (the incarnation) playing favorite consort, but we're different. Would we betray our country even unto death?!"
Jurchens, whose genes lack the civilized base sequence from birth, lecturing on morality? Clearly a circuit error.
I first used my Chun-sik armor for an EMP shock to wipe their corrupted mainboards, then began reasoning.
Those aligned with Wang Danmang or mindless servants indifferent to politics showed up readily, but the loyalists did not.
That led to a simple conclusion.
To become part of my Joseon army, the king—the supreme commander—must first order it.
And the troops in question need the consent of the person they recognize as their commander.
The trickiest part here is the 'recognition.'
This isn't something I can solve with 'condition fulfillment' like before.
Unlike visual novels where nailing the right dialogue at the branch point sets the flag, reality doesn't work that way. People's hearts aren't bound by digital cause and effect—you can't just clear conditions to win love.
In fact, Meng Chan received a military post as Shandong Colonel (a new office I created) on my recommendation, but fewer than half the markers appeared in Shandong compared to what he claimed.
I doubt Meng Chan lost the White Lotus Sect's trust. It's probably that the sect maintains a decentralized structure run by those suspicious Eighteen Protectors or whatever they're called.
I don't have a personal attachment to the White Lotus bunch, but saving as many as possible to build trust and secure manpower will make things easier later. Puppets are easiest to control when there are plenty.
Engineering and electrical knowledge have their limits here. Time to use my liberal arts specialty.
I summoned Meng Chan to the seaside at Samhwa County. Standing with hands clasped behind my back, gazing wistfully at the horizon, I said,
"As one who has cultivated the Way, you know this well: Heaven and Earth respond to human affairs through sincerity alone."
The unscientific nature of religion isn't a flaw.
It's a feature and an advantage.
Faith is the evidence of things unseen and the substance of things hoped for. In other words, if it's 'objectively visible' and 'an inevitable result regardless of desire,' it's not religion. Gods in fantasy games who grant holy power for belief are just 'faith vendors.'
The harsh math that it takes thirty years of work to earn a billion is so despairing and dull. But the temptation of 'maybe'—that devotion could spike land prices or win the lottery—is irresistible.
That's why coins, lotteries, gachas, and religions are always popular. It's that 'uncertainty' that captivates. Like rats pressing irregular food-dispensing buttons more frantically.
"...? I know it well. We devote our sincerity to the Way of No Death for All Beings..."
As Meng Chan hesitated in response, I shook my head firmly.
"No, you don't know. Your lack of sincerity is why you're cornered like this. You faithless generation—how long must I bear with you?"
Meng Chan's expression wavered. Having gaslit him into weakness, I immediately planted a powerful suggestion.
"Truly I tell you: If your congregation had faith as small as a mustard seed, it would move mountains or dry up seas at your word. Do you have such faith and sincerity?"
In short, if I can't detect them, it's not because my ability is fake—it's their lack of sincerity.
This isn't a cult excuse. Per the Status Window system rules, it's literally true.
And truth always carries power. Tears streaming, Meng Chan knelt.
"Oh, I believe!"
I placed my hand on his head and blessed him.
"You are my first apostle. Cross the sea with me to spread the Way of Mount Penglai to the western lands. All who follow you, I will exalt."
Meng Chan vowed he would and rose.
Good. Now, if I can't save them all, it's not on me.
It's your fault for failing to gather faith because they don't recognize you as commander.
Using Wang Danmang as a puppet, Joseon pledged to send ten thousand liberators and righteous rebels as a show of 'Hyojong's Hundredfold Loyalty,' while the Qing promised to supply most of the White Lotus suppression army's provisions. With that, preparations for departure were complete.
Joseon's ten-thousand-strong expedition would bankrupt the national treasury, but for the Qing, it was no burden. Already feeding three hundred thousand troops, skimping a teaspoon of rice per soldier covers ten thousand easily. Terrifying, this continent.
In the process, I felt a slight unease.
Perhaps because the incarnation is proxying most court decisions now, reactions seem softer than Kangxi Emperor style.
Or maybe they truly lack leeway.
And shortly after departing Samhwa County, my thoughts began tilting toward the latter.
While White Lotus 'illegal fishing boats' plied between Joseon and here, the liberators had advanced that way too.
A bit too far—enough for rumors of 'Western pirates in Shandong'—so I reined them in, but it helped immensely acquiring maritime intel absent from priests' maps.
Thus, sea route scouting posed no issues. Han Jung-ryang expertly guided the fleet to the key naval base of Weihaiwei, a Ming holdover.
I glanced at Wang Danmang. His nerves had been neatly severed along with his past sins.
"With your chief's orders, Dengzhou's navy (guarding the Bohai Gulf) won't block us, but it's odd that not a single ship has appeared."
"I'm no military man, so I wouldn't kn—"
"Brother, is the Chun-sik armor still there?"
Hong Daeyong, thrilled at any chance for a China trip regardless of form, had come along again. As he grinned and raised the copper wire, Wang Danmang hurriedly answered.
"Since the English pirates first raided Yeonggil-ri three or four years ago, the Ordnance Office ordered all warships south. Troops guarding the capital region naturally stay, but they're probably all mustered in Tianjin."
Are they idiots? Facing a European navy with a navy? I'd issue a total territory superfusion decree, dismantle every ship for palisades.
Anyway, the Qing's remaining navy seems holed up deep in the Bohai Gulf at Tianjin, not venturing out.
Suits us fine. Hmm. How to exploit this?
As land came into view, Hong Daeyong beckoned me over.
His gestures, polished from hanging with Westerners lately, seemed Westernized. I felt a twinge of worry for this nation's spirit and Neo-Confucian future, but followed.
Hong Daeyong whispered,
"I've prepared my Journal of the Sea Crossing and Manchu Subjugation. No shame standing in the ranks for this grand northern expedition, but to assist Brother Chun-sik, I can't afford scorn from the troops..."
Ah, right. He's unemployed.
That's why he doesn't know our ops plan.
Now I see—he boarded to make a fortune amid the war?
Probably ran dry writing weird books and buying odd machines while hobnobbing with foreigners sans office.
I tossed him a staff officer post as implied.
Then corrected his misconception.
"It's not a conquest."
"Pardon? Then... tricking the enemy, joining the White Lotus, and storming Beijing in one go?"
And he added unnecessary detail.
"Like Guan Yu drowning Wu Jin's seven armies at Jingzhou, rallying bandits, marching north to strike Cao Cao."
Dude, I get it without that. Why does the court's intellect keep regressing?
And even sans military background, do you really think that's feasible?
I considered boating Hong Daeyong back to Samhwa, but held off seeing Se-hwa's face. Who knows how many times this makes.
"No matter how many White Lotus there are, we can't beat the three hundred thousand Zhili troops in Shandong. If they could crush them, we wouldn't need rescuing. As Brother says, we deceive the Jurchens, but we won't fight them right away. His Majesty knows too."
Fortunately, Hong Daeyong wasn't military but wasn't dumb. He grasped the point.
"I see. 'Not right away.' Then when?"
Thinking I could appoint him a real staff officer, not honorary, I replied,
"That depends on news from the south by our brother Du-mu (Park Jiwon's pen name)."
After the Antangshan battle, the southern Heaven-Earth Society began moving covertly.
Li Shiyao's one hundred twenty thousand troops were utterly shattered. The Western army's destructive power was fearsome indeed.
But what thrilled Heaven-Earth most inwardly was the European expeditionary force suffering similarly.
With Washington stirring chaos behind and opium magic raining ahead, Li Shiyao gambled with a desperate ploy.
He pulled controllable units 'deeper inward' to retreat, mingling them with the chaotic rearguard rabble that had 'mixed themselves up.'
Soon, weapon superiority meant nothing in the mountainous melee.
Even if most Qing lacked fight, the Europeans had no way to distinguish—and too many targets to kill. Plenty of maddening cases where fleeing Qing took a bullet to the rear, turned furious, and counterattacked.
For Li Shiyao, just kill those without queue braids. He wielded the opium magic Henry Porter used as shield—via confused allies.
Ploys have limits, so Li Shiyao ultimately abandoned Antangshan and withdrew. But the Europeans, with nearly forty percent ground losses, lost momentum to pursue.
Thus, both letters Kim Unhaeng received were accurate.
First, the Europeans failed strategic goals—not seizing Ningbo or Hangzhou.
Same as military definitions of 'defeat.' Imjin War was Joseon's victory, Korean War South Korea's—regardless of details.
So Li Shiyao could proudly report victory.
Yet Qing casualties were nearly twenty times Europe's, a clear exchange-ratio win for them.
They did seize Antangshan, the battle objective. Can't blame Robert Clive for self-rationalizing that Ningbo and Hangzhou would fall 'by the time letters reach Joseon.'
Admiral Henry Porter looked as broken as his magic wand, dazed. Expedition brass hyped George Washington's narrow escape to boost morale while seeking solutions.
The adopted plan was sensible: Disembark idle sailors—who'd seen no naval action—and form them into army units.
But that clouds Britain's secret plan: Conquer China, then backstab European rivals for Asian monopoly.
And that's why Dreyne and David Bullen, seeing through it, fervently backed partial fleet disassembly.
"No need to keep a navy idle in peacetime otherwise."
"Our French and Dutch sailors are already army-integrated. We'll hold till command reorganizes swiftly."
Henry Porter groaned.
Britain's East Asian Grand Fleet—last joker to avert worst-case defeat—was slowly dismantled.
This trend emboldened the Qing, but gave desperate hope above all to the 'Second Great Ming Empire' populace, bled dry daily by Britain's puppet regime.
Go San-hwi, Heaven-Earth cadre returned covertly to Jeju, begged Park Jiwon.
"Please give us guns like before. Now we could restore the Great Ming and honor Emperor Chongzhen openly!"
"Weren't the guns we gave for exactly this? Where'd they all go?"
"Th-that Washington bastard scraped them ruthlessly..."
Unlike Kim Unhaeng peddling junk guns to White Lotus, Park Jiwon secretly sold 'proper guns' cheap to Heaven-Earth via liberators.
National policy support, not embezzlement. Yet they'd handed them all to English barbarians and now begged again.
But Park Jiwon pondered instead of yelling.
Ghostwriting the manifesto wasn't futile. In Pyongyang, he'd heard Kim Unhaeng's full military intel and plans.
In this flow, Zhili's three hundred thousand would mostly march south—Grand Canal at stake.
And with internal unrest hitting the cornered Europeans, they'd crumble.
Crucial was precise timing: Zhili emptying Shandong, 'Great Ming' rebelling, Joseon acting—like clockwork.
Park Jiwon knew the key to syncing it.
Through genius deduction and foresight in record time, he nodded.
"Understood."
Author's Note
1. Yeongjo did send such conscripted exiles for those reasons—it's true. But exam hall cheating shook bureaucratic fairness (Joseon's foundation) to wartime royal guard, and refusing posts was shirking amid urgent defense. Unlike Kim Unhaeng's belittling, hard to call them unjust outright. The injustice? Like authoritarian states, not punishing all perpetrators.
2. Hyojong sent about 100 troops for Naisen Conquest. Small border clash; Qing demanded as much.
3. Kim Unhaeng's dialogue with Meng Chan and thoughts are mostly from Hebrews and Matthew.
4. Weihaiwei is modern Weihai city, made Hongwu Emperor's initial navy base. Hence the 'wei' (military zone) name. Its easternmost Shandong spot made it vital modern harbor, North Ocean Fleet base.
5. Joseon recorded military actions privately/publicly; famed for Hyojong's dispatch is General Sin Yu's Northern Campaign Record. Same title for early Joseon Sejo's Molian Guard Jurchen campaign by Noh Sa-sin et al.
6. Park Jiwon's pen name Yeonam (wanting a ranch valley) became Du-mu here after Jeju Halla's alias (actual ranch site). Noted in ch. 208 'Seven Years' War: East Asia Expansion Pack.'
7. Britain's excess navy to backstab Europe later from ch. 214 'The Heating Empire.'