Chapter 240
Chapter 240
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 240
Chapter Title: Seven Great Grievances (2)
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By the time Kim Unhaeng received Admiral Porter's plea for rescue, Heshen was likewise receiving the report from the messenger dispatched by Agui, his face etched with exhaustion.
Heshen was currently undergoing rapid accelerated aging.
It was hardly surprising; he was probably one of the humans under the most extreme stress in the current world.
Facing an unprecedented crisis, the master of humanity was lost in silent contemplation, devising a grand solution.
Even a dictator had his own burdens, one of which was the overwhelming workload.
Yet with the disbandment of the Imperial Guard Command and the neutralization of the central government, the Qianlong Emperor's seclusion had paralyzed the court. In truth, it was being run solely by Heshen and his private administrative network—his disciples, former subordinates, and household retainers.
Of course, Heshen could take no joy in this.
He actually wished it had been that foolish.
Heshen roughly rubbed his eyes.
At this rate, his status as one of East Asia's three great handsome men—rivaling Joseon's Kim Unhaeng and Japan's Danuma Okitsugu—would fade away, but he had no time to care about such things.
In a voice devoid of even disappointment, Heshen muttered.
"Ishiyao has rebelled."
It was only natural for a Han Chinese. For Heshen, more critical than Ishiyao's betrayal itself was the fact that it had pinned down Agui's army of over 100,000 in Jiangnan.
As if already anticipating what Heshen would say, Agui ignored Ishiyao and made clear he could not return straight to the capital.
Ishiyao had stretched westward from Zhejiang, blocking Anhui, Henan, and Hubei provinces. To retreat, Agui would have to clash head-on with the Second Ming Empire using his starving troops.
The decisive factor in seizing those three provinces had been the generals who had fled the purges Agui conducted in Henan and Hubei.
Brandishing Jupiter's edict, they returned home with their armies to "persuade," and figures like the Viceroy of Huguang, Oda Sen—who already harbored grudges against the capital's forces—readily cooperated in blocking the path.
To Kim Unhaeng, who treated law and principle like dung, the entire Joseon army submitted; but to Agui and the Qing court, who had merely followed protocol, regions were turning away one after another.
Agui first mentioned quelling the "Rebellion of the Cloud Ghosts" stirred by the King of the Southern Barbarians to secure provisions, then embarking on a grand campaign through Hanzhong and across the northern plains back to the capital.
Heshen found it absurd. Setting aside feasibility, entering Shu territory or coming via Hanzhong filled him with nothing but ominous foreboding.
But there was no way to stop it. Heshen decided first to give Agui a positive brush-off and refocus his thoughts on the north, where he and the emperor resided.
Just as the Qianlong Emperor had Heshen, Heshen had his own tongue-like confidant. Liu Quan, the steward who had risen as Heshen's right hand through his corrupt career, helped by hooking the worries Heshen strained to pull onto his rod.
"If the southern canals fall to the rebels, the north-south route will be severed. Should we not urge dispatching troops from Shandong?"
The 50,000-strong army stationed in Shandong after suppressing the White Lotus could be rushed south to pressure Ishiyao and, if possible, reclaim Jinjiang County. It was the instinctive thought of any Qing official.
But Heshen didn't want to.
Rather than logic, an unconscious aversion held him back. Heshen forcibly rationalized it.
"We already sent 50,000 to Shandong for the tribute coffers, and while we're scrambling to reinforce Manchuria, the English Ghost cavalry slipped into empty Tianjin. We can't act rashly."
Moreover, rationally speaking, retaking the canal junction now would be meaningless. The canals carried goods from Jiangnan—and that very Jiangnan had rebelled. It was something to consider after assembling a force to crush Jiangnan in one stroke.
An excellent reason. Buoyed by the sense that something was finally resolving, Heshen drafted orders on the spot to summon the Shandong army northward to Zhili instead.
Yet after setting down his brush, Heshen felt uneasy.
For some reason, it didn't feel like the real justification involved the English.
Heshen said to Liu Quan.
"You said the Joseon army and Kim Unhaeng vanished from Shandong. I told you to investigate—what news?"
To stand there blankly saying "none yet" would disqualify him as right hand. Liu Quan immediately promised to look into it and dashed out nimbly.
And moments later, he burst back in at ten times the speed.
"D-disaster!"
"What? Has Joseon betrayed us and raised blades against their suzerain?"
Liu Quan wore an expression like Jangbok robbed of his line.
Heshen's face, having asked in desperate hope it wasn't that, began crumbling with hope, future, and dreams all at once.
Heshen collapsed into a seat, his face a scene of catastrophic ruin. Liu Quan could do nothing but quietly present his master with Joseon's proclamation.
Chekmun was not a proper noun but the general term for the border gates the Qing had established in Manchuria.
The one facing Joseon was called Goryeomun. And Goryeomun lay just ten li outside Phoenix City.
It served as an outer camp and sentry post for Phoenix City. From Sakrak Mokchaekreung's perspective, it was naturally an indispensable stronghold.
The Phoenix general's power was fully exerted in Phoenix City itself. After his defeat to the Russian drones, Sakrak Mokchaekreung had withdrawn, designating Chekmun and Phoenix City as the first defensive line.
However, its defenses were woefully inadequate given its importance.
Yi Hwon looked around and said.
"The envoys' reports to the king hold true. It's merely a gate cobbled together from felled trees—there's no one to stop carts rolling through or horses charging out between them."
The only one who could block his retainers' darkening prospects of "that's why I'll lead the Ironclads and demonstrate the White-Man-Slaying Swordsmanship" was Kim Unhaeng.
But contrary to the expectations of Kim Seong-eung, Shin Heup, and the other generals, Kim Unhaeng offered no tactical advice like "it's flimsy but we can't charge cavalry into a prepared palisade" or "here we use the Dutch irregulars' artillery."
In terms of mere conception, Kim Unhaeng proposed a solution no different from his lord's.
"Winning with spears and swords is always the second-best option. Now that we've crossed the river, we're facing the barbarians' first major battle— we must awe them with righteousness and royal virtue, not brute force slaughter. Entrust it to me, and with a single arrow, I'll make the enemy tremble in shock."
Yoosannul of the Dutch irregulars, who had joined the expedition thanks to the Southerners' strong push, glanced around wondering who would rein in such foolishness.
The most effective way to take that palisade was obviously overwhelming field artillery. Unlike late Joseon, which lacked funds and tech and thus crammed in cavalry, the Military Armaments Bureau had now produced ample cannons.
They were forged from the blood, sweat, and tears of the Dutch under Chae Je-gong's fiery zeal-infusing rod. Establishing solid merit here would elevate him from parasitic half-slave hanger-on to a power player in Joseon politics.
But the Joseon generals nodded to one another.
"No helping it with Kim Chunsik's bow."
"Indeed, in war, proclaiming justification comes first above all. Blindly firing cannons first—what sets us apart from marauding Jurchens?"
Contrary to Yoosannul's thoughts, the generals hadn't collectively lost their minds or bowed to Kim Chunsik's power with flattery.
Yoosannul's rank was simply too low to have received prior briefing.
Even the Three Arrows of Samjeondo had been witnessed only by the combatants on both sides.
And speeches weren't suited to this era. It wasn't ancient Greece with tribal populations, nor modern times with mics and mass media. Moreover, "trials" or "orations" required European traditions to be accepted.
In East Asia, to officially inform the masses, it had to be "documents."
Thus, Joseon's official declaration of war from the Grand Command became attached to an arrow drawn by the supreme commander himself.
Since Chekmun wasn't some lofty fortress, a bit of effort from the Russian drones and Dutch SCVs soon erected ramparts high enough to eliminate sniper threats.
I climbed atop it in my first proper military uniform since the war began, carrying my gakgung bow and baby arrow.
Park Jiwon had criticized Joseon uniforms for their wide sleeves—"how do you fight in those?"—but what did he know? Short sleeves couldn't flap so stylishly in the wind.
All the soldiers watched me. Shin Heup, former Central Army commander of Pyongyang who led them, clenched his fist.
"My lord, just as the great general of old shot down pirate sails with Dragon-Jeweled Arrows, shatter their fence with a single shaft!"
The soldiers erupted in cheers.
Hey, I said give a line, but jacking up the difficulty like that? Can't you see this cute little baby arrow I'm holding?
Need to lay the groundwork quick.
"What I pierce is not their paltry palisade or camp."
Active Skill 'Lee Seonggye's Archery'
[Piercing the enemy's rebellion, outrage, and inhumanity]
With the skill activated, I said quietly.
"I merely pierce their rebellion, outrage, and inhumanity."
I released the string.
The reason Phoenix general Sakrak Mokchaekreung had come out to the perilous Chekmun was the Qing troops' morale, dug in down to the underworld.
But seeing the Joseon forces piling ramparts and someone drawing a bow from atop them left him dumbfounded.
Accounting for the rampart height, a Joseon ancient weapon like the pyeonjeon (their siege engines were similar; Joseons seemed nostalgic for antiquity) could reach.
But that was it. Just as with guns, "reaching" and "hitting" were worlds apart. Who did this guy think he was—Joseon's Lee Seonggye, revered even by the Jurchens?
Sakrak Mokchaekreung watched with amusement.
Until his subordinate toppled with a flick.
Sakrak Mokchaekreung shot to his feet.
"How!"
The baby arrow that pierced his subordinate's torso had fortunately gone clean through, its tip protruding from the back.
No time to worry for him—Sakrak Mokchaekreung examined the arrow hastily extracted by other soldiers.
His guess, heeding the lesson of the Three Arrows of Samjeondo, was correct. Baby arrows were hard to tie paper to, but this one had paper meticulously rolled around the shaft like wrapping bamboo.
Unfurling it, Sakrak Mokchaekreung grasped the Joseon strategy.
They had no intention of fighting with guns and blades.
They just planned to enrage and kill. From his unstruck body, Sakrak Mokchaekreung felt hot blood of fury surging through his seven orifices.
"The Seven Great Grievances! These... bastards dare mock our Taizu!"
The seven great grievances raised by the great Taizu Nurhaci against Ming tyranny.
Joseon had inverted them precisely as demands against the Qing.
120 years of VPN history's unashamed trolling tech.
But the Qing, brutalized like a victim of malicious hackers, had no firewall left.
Anyone familiar with Joseon affairs could guess whose influence shaped this missive, but Sakrak Mokchaekreung had no leisure to analyze the Seven Great Straightnesses further.
As unrest stirred the Qing troops, Kim Seong-eung—fearing Yi Hwon might truly charge if they waited—seized the momentum of the declaration and bellowed.
"Irregulars, fire your cannons in volley!"
Yoosannul, thrilled at last at his moment of glory, issued the order. The field artillery, ever lacking in Joseon armies, spat majestic flames.
Chekmun crumpled in an instant. The moment Yi Hwon drew his twin swords, Shin Heup spurred his horse with urgent vigor.
"Ironclads, follow me!"
The notion that Joseon cavalry decayed late-period is a misconception.
Only cavalry countered Jurchen horse; thus late Joseon invested heavily in them. Hong Gyeong-nae's rebellion featured Joseon's last major cavalry clash.
The finest warhorses from Chunsik Ranch and Dum u Ranch pounded the earth. Before Yi Hwon could step forward, the field was cleared.
Yet Sakrak Mokchaekreung fulfilled his general's duty to the end.
He survived unscathed, fleeing to lock Phoenix City's gates and urgently forwarding Joseon's proclamation to the homeland.
And that proclamation was what reduced Heshen to a despairing, haggard pretty boy.
Chekmun, which had received all Joseon diplomacy, tribute, trade, and documents for over a century, fulfilled its final role and vanished.
Heshen overloaded his brain like burning it to set priorities.
'No, wait. Can't fall for it again. Deal with the English Ghosts first. Joseon later! An army of merely 20,000 can't breach Shanhai Pass or Ningyuan. Diverting troops there risks the English stabbing our rear again.'
No returning the Scripture Army from Ming territory. Hastily summon Shandong's 50,000.
By any means, handle the English first, then Joseon.
If Joseon betrayed, no one to strike the English from behind. Qing must resolve alone.
Setting aside Ming not falling precisely from Shanhai Pass, it was largely sound judgment.
But not entirely accurate.
As Heshen finalized strategy and assembled forces, Joseon's Southern Sea Fleet approached Tianjin's English armada.
And beside Southern Sea Commander Han Jung-ryang rode a Westerner who normally could never claim that seat.
Author's Notes
1. Agui's reprimand of Hubei and Henan generals for negligence, turning them, appears in Chapter 232 'Ah, Chongzhen' part.
2. Liu Quan (also recorded as Liu Chun) is Heshen's confidant. Entrusted with young Heshen since his father's time, a peer slave akin to Kim Unhaeng and Jangbok's bond in-story. Despite being a eunuch, wielded vast wealth and power; shared Heshen's purge fate later.
3. Strictly, beyond Chekmun lies Jiuliancheng fortress. Early Manchu-Ming war, Mao Wenlong took it with 300 civilians. Militarily weak; Sakrak Mokchaekreung didn't hold it for that reason. Omitted here for pacing.
4. Park Jiwon's uniform sleeve rant is from Heo Saengjeon. Less Realist innovation than ancient precedent—Wuling King of Zhao in Spring-Autumn Warring States reformed sleeves as military symbol.
5. Interpretations of "with straightness repay grudge, with virtue virtue" vary by era; in-story from contemporary scholar Kim Changhyeop, Kim Unhaeng's clansman. Likely mentioned later.
Daoist texts like Daodejing stress "repay enmity with virtue" strongest conquer evil; Confucius in Analects refutes directly—what repays virtue then? How discern right-wrong?
6. Original Seven Grievances differ little from in-story: killing uncles for reward, stealing Nurhaci's fiancée, favoring other tribes over Jianzhou, etc.