Chapter 230
Chapter 230
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 230
Chapter Title: Blasphemers and Deceivers (2)
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The sudden message from Kim Unhaeng that reached the European Coalition headquarters under the Heavenly Lord required going back to when Fucha Buantang had first led the Zhili Army south to subjugate the British forces.
Fucha Buantang wasn't particularly worried about the 10,000 Joseon troops left behind in Shandong.
Common sense dictated that with Beijing's elite Jin troops and the Manchu Three Great Generals still intact, Joseon wouldn't dare launch a surprise attack on Beijing with 50,000 Qing forces in Shandong at their backs.
On the contrary, the moment the Joseon army turned hostile toward the Qing, they'd have to worry first about being isolated in a foreign land across the sea (especially given their massive grain consumption). In a way, one could say the Qing had successfully pinned down Joseon's "main force," which could strike the back of their head at any moment.
Moreover, Kim Unhaeng had preemptively made a proposal that even Fucha Buantang couldn't bring himself to voice.
He offered to take one Joseon battalion as hostages and accompany them all the way to Jiangnan.
At first, Fucha Buantang sneered at Kim Unhaeng from behind the scenes.
"It's good for us that there's a man in Joseon too busy fawning to even remember his ancestors' humiliation. Even Han Yun or Kim Ja-jeom from the old days weren't like that. If such a man becomes the future pillar of the state and leader of the officials, Joseon has nothing to worry us about."
But reality turned out differently. The men Kim Unhaeng sent were a hundred members of the Liberation Brigade—especially gluttonous, especially fierce, and especially light-fingered.
Screams began echoing through the Qing camps even during the preparations to depart.
"The soldiers got beaten by the Joseon troops!"
"They say there was even rape!"
"The Joseon troops raided villages, looted them, and framed the Heavenly Soldiers for it. Please tell the Admiral (Fucha Buantang) so we can execute them under military law!"
However, the commanders and deputy commanders just yelled at their innocent subordinates.
"Shut up! Don't you know who invited the Joseon troops?"
Reporting the Joseon troops' misdeeds was tantamount to smearing the face of the Incarnation who had invited them. And insulting the Incarnation was the same as insulting the Emperor.
From the start, those in power don't expect armies to be moral. Whether they bomb hospitals or massacre children, they don't care—as long as they produce results. That's why modern militaries don't aggressively train soldiers to avoid war crimes or adhere to the Geneva Conventions.
In that regard, no Qing unit had achieved greater success against the White Lotus rebels than Kim Unhaeng.
The Qing struggled even to locate the White Lotus followers, and when they did, it often devolved into prolonged brawls. Fighting was the easier part, but most escaped after swallowing a Kim family Huandan pill and sprinting away at full speed, making it even harder.
But Kim Unhaeng seemed to "lift" them off the map with just a flick of his finger.
When he pinpointed a location on the ledger of lives and dispatched Meng Chan, the hidden White Lotus followers in that area fell into great chaos, just like O Sam-rang and Yang O at the time. They couldn't unify their opinions on whether to flee or resist.
And Meng Chan efficiently arrested "traitors" outside his own faction. Naturally, this made him far faster than the Qing troops.
The Qianlong Emperor's favor parameter toward Joseon rose daily. In these end times, the Son of Heaven's virtuous rule was being realized through righteousness, so the poets couldn't help but shed tears like rain.
The Emperor bestowed ancient Tang dynasty paintings—millennia-old artifacts even by this era's standards—by inscribing poems on them one after another, and Kim Unhaeng shipped them straight back to the homeland as genuine masterpieces. His father, Kim Yonggyeom, flew into a rage over the cultural vandalism and plummeting market value.
Thus, Qing officers who could no longer casually beat or kill Joseon troops like in the old days could only grit their teeth like civil servants dealing with a persistent complainer.
And like any democratically elected mayor, Fucha Buantang didn't see it as a major issue.
In proportional terms, it was like one thug causing havoc in a village of 2,000. Reassured that everything was under control, Fucha Buantang departed south.
Meanwhile, the White Lotus followers "rescued" by Kim Unhaeng formally became prisoners before quietly heading toward the coast.
Of course, it was to ship them out to sea as the new "Joseon Marines." Kim Unhaeng told South Sea Marine Commander Han Jung-ryang,
"The Liberation Brigade has no more business in Shandong. Leave contact with the homeland to the Yangseo Navy (Pyongan + Hwanghae Provinces), and have the South Sea Navy return to execute the next scheme."
Han Jung-ryang sensed the time had come.
As a superior rather than a friend, he accepted Kim Unhaeng's orders.
"This man will execute the Commander's scheme flawlessly, so rest easy."
As ordered, Han Jung-ryang picked up Sikni-dang Lee Jae-un in Pyongyang while transporting the White Lotus followers—no, the "Joseon Marines"—back home.
He didn't stop his fleet in Pyongan or Ganghwa Island. Not even in Suncheon Prefecture, the mothership of the South Sea Navy.
His direct destination was Jeju.
Jeju Governor Park Jiwon, upon meeting Lee Jae-un, smiled and said,
"I already knew your brother was plotting something like this. I've sent guns and powder ahead to the Heavenly Lord's Ming loyalists (Tiandihui), so there's no better time than now. I'll arrange a ship straight to Jiangnan."
"As expected of the Dog-Beating Stick's childhood friend."
Sea routes are generally far faster than land ones. The gap widens dramatically when land forces outnumber sea ones.
Thus, by early summer, when the European Coalition detected Fucha Buantang's southward advance and entered high alert, Lee Jae-un had already arrived in Tianzhu.
With nearly the full might of Joseon's South Sea Navy—the second-largest maritime force in East Asia after the European Coalition—assembled in Jeju.
Robert Clive particularly emphasized his own achievement of "seizing another great opportunity despite the incompetence of the combat units."
"There's no doubt we absolutely need external aid to turn this situation around. Unlike the previous secret correspondence, the Joseon army's supreme commander has dispatched an envoy with full authority, which is irrefutable proof of Joseon's changing attitude."
Kim Unhaeng had previously sent a letter to the European Coalition.
It was the promise: "If the British can reach a Chinese port near Joseon, I'll release the prisoners."
But the Coalition never got a chance to verify if it was true. They had failed to capture Hangzhou and Shanghai.
As a result, this second contact from Kim Unhaeng stirred up emotions in the European expeditionary force that preceded even suspicion.
A kind of diplomatic shame.
'Can't these idiots even take one port? Even if I want to release the hostages, how am I supposed to coordinate if you can't get your act together?'
The Coalition generals absolutely didn't want to endure such criticism.
Thus, Admiral Henry Potter immediately fulfilled his duty as supreme commander. He issued the sole and correct official interpretation of Joseon and Kim Unhaeng's intentions.
"As I thought all along, Joseon's aim is the collapse of Qing rule and the establishment of a multipolar international order. It makes sense for them to ally with us newcomers against China. With this campaign greatly weakening China, they've finally decided to step in."
It wasn't that Joseon was offering help out of exasperation at the Coalition's repeated blunders despite their high expectations.
The Coalition had succeeded in swaying Joseon's heart through their sufficiently impressive show of force. It had to be that way to avoid the Anyangshan battle becoming a pointless disaster and drawing flak from the homeland press.
With that mindset, Admiral Potter found some mental leeway. He leaned back, clasping his hands over his belly.
"Escort in the envoy. 'As expected, Joseon came crawling first with an alliance proposal due to their desperation,' so we'll hear them out at our leisure."
It was the leisure of a sucker convinced he was above the con artist.
Lee Jae-un's fluent Chinese was translated into English by James Flint.
"I serve as the chief steward for foreign affairs to His Excellency Kim Ta-gubong, Supreme Commander of the Joseon Forces (Governor-General of the Joseon Army)."
Not wanting his precious courtesy name from his parents sullied in the mouths of barbarian foreigners, Lee Jae-un introduced himself only by his pen name, Sikni-dang.
The generals' eyes met. The trusted aide of the "Dog Butcher" was the "Mud Eater"—what kind of country was this Joseon, anyway?
The interpretation continued.
"Time is short for both sides, so I'll be direct. The fact that Joseon is holding British captives has been exposed to the Chinese Emperor."
"What?!"
Washington shot to his feet. No one even glanced at him.
Lee Jae-un was no different. He pressed on.
"You understand, but Joseon, sharing a direct border with China, has no means to resist their military pressure. We'll have to hand them over. And they'll surely be beheaded in Beijing, their heads hung from the city walls."
Admiral Potter frowned.
"That's not what we agreed. The Joseon supreme commander clearly promised to release the hostages."
"If you could occupy a port near China, yes. But you've already lost, and taking Hangzhou or Shanghai anytime soon is a pipe dream, isn't it? Save the talk of broken promises until you've upheld yours."
Washington clutched his chest like he'd been punched in the facts, gasping for breath. The other generals groaned too.
Lee Jae-un paused briefly before speaking.
"However, the Commander said he couldn't bear to watch even British castaways be unjustly slaughtered. So I've brought a way to save them."
The Coalition couldn't help feeling wary of this dubious proposal.
Before admitting the envoy, Admiral Potter had framed this meeting as "requested by Joseon in line with the European Coalition's intentions."
If Joseon's proposal matched the Coalition's intentions as the admiral said, suspecting it was a contradiction in itself. Like a hunter questioning why the bear fell into the trap.
Not because of the admiral's authority, but due to this logical bind, everyone naturally accepted Lee Jae-un's proposal as a "grand alliance against China with Europe."
Henry Potter had effectively cast a binding spell on the Coalition headquarters from the start.
But one man kept his sanity. David Bulun, the former Nagasaki Dutch chief factor whose life Joseon had ruined.
He slammed the table and stood.
"D-don't be f-f-fuled! Castaways? More like p-prisoners! Y-you deliberately captured these Europeans! A-admiral! We can't fall for these d-deceivers anymore, even if it means the hostages. Execute this man now and attack Joseon and China t-together!"
But while it might be regrettable from Bulun's perspective, it wasn't from Potter's.
The absence of universal human rights means lives have varying prices. Usually cheaper than modern standards, but sometimes far more expensive.
Joseon folk might not know, and modern man Kim Unhaeng least of all, but to the scholars of the Science Vessel Endeavour, they were invaluable. James Cook, for instance, was essential to Britain's long-term plans for dominating East Asia and the South Pacific.
Besides, Bulun being Dutch was a problem too.
The ploy by Kim Unhaeng and Lee Jae-un of deliberately saying "British" instead of "Europeans" paid off.
David Bulun received stares rivaling a Japanese saying "Who cares about Korean hostages? Just bomb them!" and was nearly dragged out.
And Admiral Potter made the worst decision possible against Kim Unhaeng.
"Let's at least hear him out first."
Naturally, the Qianlong Emperor, busy dealing with his own Westerners, knew nothing of the Westerners inside Joseon.
Lee Jae-un fluently spun the fabricated Joseon-Qing relations Kim Unhaeng had invented.
"We cited the long timeline and escape risks of sending prisoners overland. So we arranged ships in Pyongyang to send them to Tianjin. And between Pyongyang and Tianjin, 'there's nothing.' With the supreme commander personally handling the Shandong rebellion suppression, this intel is solid."
It was information Wang Dan-mang had told Kim Unhaeng aboard the ship. China's scant remaining naval forces were concentrated in Tianjin to protect the Emperor.
Admiral Potter caught the implication and his eyes gleamed.
China's navy was no threat regardless of numbers or position. But the fact that the British fleet could approach Tianjin undetected until fairly late was crucial.
Moreover, if Joseon's prisoner convoy went first, the Tianjin fleet would be ambushed by the "following" British fleet before they could form up.
To Admiral Potter, already deeming army victory hopeless and wanting to withdraw, it was an irresistible temptation.
'If we load the troops back onto the ships and raid Tianjin as is?'
The hostages would be securely rescued.
And capturing Tianjin was utterly different from Hangzhou or Shanghai.
Falling there put the throne in immediate peril—a fact proven not by others but by this land's (Ming) own Emperor Yongle. It was literally the "Heavenly Ferry."
And unlike Hangzhou or Shanghai, no army coordination was needed for Tianjin. It couldn't be held long-term anyway.
The goal was chaos. The kind so thick it'd force the Emperor to the negotiating table.
That was Britain's specialty.
Though future history, Britain's tactics that stumped "continental armies" like the American revolutionaries and Crimean Russians were guerrilla raids along endless coastlines.
No need to fail at nation-building or holding defensive lines, which didn't suit their nature anyway.
Of course, that was Potter's thinking. Army men like George Washington and Du Drene—signaling Flint not to translate—opposed it.
"Too much of a gamble! If the whole fleet heads to Tianjin, our hard-won gains like Quanzhou and Fuzhou will definitely fall again."
But Admiral Potter had no intention of abandoning his optimal strategy.
"Then what's your plan to stop the 200,000 heading south now? This is the opportunity! China's core forces are all pouring south. Lure them across the Yangtze, then withdraw the entire army and head north!"
Still, he didn't want to seem like he'd been played by Joseon's envoy. Potter turned to Lee Jae-un.
"My subordinates worry Joseon might use the European army for easy gains without effort. If you want us to accept, show corresponding sincerity—like abandoning your ambiguous stance and attacking China immediately."
Lee Jae-un handled it smoothly.
"Of course. But for the scheme I mentioned to work, the Emperor must believe us until the British prisoners reach Tianjin. Once the date is set, Joseon will dispatch reinforcements right away."
"Where?"
Lee Jae-un pointedly scanned the generals before answering with deliberate intent.
"You probably regret the lands seized in the Great Ming Emperor's name so far. So the moment you depart, Joseon will send its grand fleet to strike Jiangnan hotspots. We won't hold them, but it'll be enough to throw the 200,000 Zhili troops into disarray."
Washington asked suspiciously.
"You mean..."
Lee Jae-un met his gaze squarely.
"Yes. If you handle this properly this time, Joseon will soon invade the Qing."
Kim Unhaeng in Imchi-hyeon fanned himself as if hot.
Hong Daeyong skipped commenting on the fan and raised a more practical concern.
"By the timeline, the Southern Expedition Army (Fucha Buantang's Zhili Army) will cross the Yangtze soon. We must hurry."
But Kim Unhaeng covered one eye with his hand like he had a stye—Hong Daeyong had never seen him catch even a cold—and shook his head.
"No. That many troops can't advance hastily. They've probably reached Tengzhou with the canal by now."
"How do you know?"
"The profound principles of astronomy and geography are too vast and complex to explain in one sentence."
Hong Daeyong couldn't call bullshit.
Kim Unhaeng's predictions on troop positions had never been wrong once. He could only assume some bribed Zhili Army quartermaster or planted spy.
Thus, Kim Unhaeng could ponder alone in silence.
My layered deceptions are proceeding smoothly.
Assembling troops in the north was deception from the start. The Emperor had to divert capital resources to Manchuria because of it.
Landing the Liberation Brigade and righteous rebels under the guise of suppressing the Shandong rebels was deception. The Qing think they're smartly guarding against Joseon's sudden betrayal. But who'd wage war right where I'm at?
As a result, the east-west troop split left Tianjin and Beijing lightly defended, ripe for European surprise attacks.
And the Joseon South Sea Navy can invade Jiangnan once the British clear the navy. The supremely loyal 'Kim Unhaeng Brotherhood' will help greatly.
Is this my true goal? Now comes the grand war after flashy schemes?
As if.
Fair, square confrontations aren't my style at all. You Anglo-Saxon and Jurchen barbarians can have at it.
As civilized men, I'll deceive you savages, deceive you, deceive you again, and suck you dry to the bone.
As history always has.
Author's Notes
1. The artifact in the story is a painting, not a poem, but news recently broke that a genuine artifact from 2024—Du Fu's authentic poem (8th century)—with 11 Qianlong seals was discovered in Korea. As mentioned in Chapter 145's 'Great Hero Kim Chunsik' part, Qianlong's hobby was stamping or signing ancient relics. Even on Stone Age tools (and Stone/Bronze Age artifacts were excavated then) bear his handwritten signatures.
2. Han Yun collaborated with the Qing as a guide during the Manchu Invasion of Joseon, and Kim Ja-jeom, the well-known Joseon minister, once betrayed King Hyeonjong's northern expedition plans to the Qing. Of course, Qing nobles likely wouldn't know Joseon ministers' names, but in the story, Fucha Buantang is treated as having heard of them.
3. Park Jiwon sending weapons to the Tiandihui ahead was in Chapter 228's 'Liberator' part.
4. Lee Jae-un's Westernized speech is because the dialogue went through an interpreter.
5. When Yongle revolted (from his base in Beijing), he marched to Nanjing (then-capital) via ship from Tianjin, naming the port 'Heavenly Ferry.' Unlike the story's metaphor, the direction was reversed in reality.