Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 615 Guardianship of the Korean National Proclamation
After the military council concluded, the generals gradually dispersed and returned to their respective camps to prepare for the next day's troop deployment. In the main hall of the guerrilla general's residence, only Yuan Keli, Gao Bangzuo, and Lu Wenzhao remained.

Lu Wenzhao was the first to stand up. He walked around to the front of the desk and carefully put away the imperial edict that had been granted the power to govern a region by the Guangyun Seal.

"Counselor Yuan. Guardian Yuan." Lu Wenzhao was quite unaccustomed to the sudden change in address.

Yuan Keli thought Lu Wenzhao wanted to ask about the receipt of the imperial edict, so he smiled and looked back, saying, "Please keep the imperial edict, Commander Lu."

"Yes." Lu Wenzhao hadn't intended to ask about that, but he still answered first before continuing, "When we go to Korea, should we bring those two Tartars and that prisoner along as well?"

Yuan Keli paused, clearly having not considered this question before. "This..."

“Let’s leave them in Zhenjiang for now,” Gao Bangzu suggested. “If that Governor Wang sends someone to reply later, he will send it to Zhenjiang first. It will be easier to talk if we leave them here. Don’t worry, I will send trusted servants to keep an eye on them, and there will be no leaks.”

“Let’s do it this way,” Yuan Keli nodded.

"Then shall I have someone hand over the keys to that courtyard to Councilor Gao today?" Lu Wenzhao put away the sealed imperial edict and turned to ask Gao Bangzuo.

"Thank you for your trouble, Commander Lu." Gao Bangzuo smiled and cupped his hands in greeting.

“No need for such formalities, Councilor Gao,” Lu Wenzhao said with a smile and a shake of his head.

“Supervisor Yuan,” Gao Bangzuo then looked at Yuan Keli, “if Governor Wang sends a letter later, should I send the person and the letter to Hanyang first, or reply directly?”

"I won't reply for now," Yuan Keli said, shaking his head.

"Not replying?" Gao Bangzuo was taken aback.

Yuan Keli said, "Regarding Wang Dutang and A Ming, we still need to see how the Emperor and the court decide. The previous reply was merely a delaying tactic."

“Guardian Yuan is right.” Gao Bangzuo immediately straightened up and subconsciously glanced at Lu Wenzhao. However, Lu Wenzhao did not react at all, and did not even look in his direction.

“And I think,” Yuan Keli continued, “that at least for the time being, we have nothing to talk about with them. Only by dealing another heavy blow to the Kuandian slaves, or by putting them in a state of extreme hunger, will Amin be determined to turn against the slaves and join the rebellion. Until then, no matter how much we talk, it will be in vain.”

Yuan Keli did not attach great importance to this communication from the beginning. He did not expect to win over Amin before inflicting heavy losses on the Jurchen army on the battlefield. For Yuan Keli, the greatest significance of replying to Wu Ergu was to confuse and delay Amin, so that the Jurchen army would not launch a major attack before the Ming army marched south to Korea and established a foothold. As for Wu Ergu himself, he was of little use until the so-called Jin Dynasty was completely destroyed and dismantled back to its original state.

Gao Bangzuo nodded deeply and then asked, "What about those Korean envoys? What does Supervisor Yuan intend to do with them?"

“Of course we’ll let them go,” Yuan Keli said. “Once their apprenticeship is over, their fate will be irrelevant.”

“Actually, I think,” Gao Bangzuo hesitated, “that these Koreans are still somewhat troublesome, at least a bit.”

"Trouble?" Yuan Keli turned his head. "What do you mean?"

“The trouble lies in their identities,” Gao Bangzuo said simply, “They are both going to the capital to congratulate the emperor on his birthday and being sent by the deposed King Hui. If they insist on going to the capital, will they be congratulating the emperor on his birthday in the name of the deposed King Hui? If so, how will the Ministry of Rites receive them? Conversely, if they simply return to Hanyang, perhaps no Korean envoys will go to the capital to congratulate the emperor on his birthday this year.”

Yuan Keli frowned slightly. "Then what does Councilor Gao think we should do?"

"I just don't know what to do, that's why I find it troublesome," Gao Bangzuo said with a wry smile.

"Does Commander Lu have any ideas?" Yuan Keli turned to look at Lu Wenzhao.

"I am merely a commander of a thousand households. In the capital, besides Wang Ba, there are many people like me." Lu Wenzhao was startled and quickly waved his hand, saying, "I really dare not interfere in such matters. Please, the two of you, discuss and decide what to do."

Yuan Keli pondered for a moment. "Let's throw the problem to them."

Gao Bangzuo was taken aback. "Does Guardian Yuan mean to tell them the situation and let them decide for themselves?"

“Of course. This was their problem to begin with. It wasn’t us who asked the deposed Prince Hui to send an envoy for the Emperor’s birthday at this time.” Yuan Keli chuckled. “When I arrive in the capital, I will naturally remind the Regent’s heir to send an envoy to the capital in his own name to congratulate the Emperor on his birthday.”

"Guardian Yuan's insight is brilliant," Gao Bangzuo immediately praised.

Lu Wenzhao glanced at Yuan Keli, but only smiled. His smile was subtle.

--------

At dawn on the first day of the fifth month of the first year of Taichang, just past the halfway point of Yin hour, the sun's shadow was nowhere to be seen, and the new moon's shadow was only a faint, barely visible edge.

In the southeast corner of Mao Wenlong's camp, near the river, a cluster of sparks lit up. Immediately afterward, a bright flame blazed up. The kitchen was starting up its cooking fires.

Shortly after one stove was lit, smoke quietly rose from directly above several other large stoves nearby.

Half an hour later, the smoke from the chimneys, which had blended into the darkness, gradually began to reveal its own color.

Boom, boom, boom.
As dawn broke, a continuous, ocean-wave-like drumbeat resounded from the center of the camp.

"Get up, get up! The sun's about to shine on your backside!" The first to be awakened by the drumbeats were naturally the commanders of each squad and unit. They would often start shouting like roosters crowing before their feet even touched the ground. This was true for everyone, including Kong Youxing, who had recently been promoted to squad leader.

"Where are you looking for any sun? Are you still half asleep?" A rather oblivious soldier barely managed to open his eyes, and seeing nothing but darkness in front of him, he thought he was dreaming.

Kong Youxing walked up to the soldier, saw that he was looking up, and gave him two light slaps. "What are you muttering about, you son of a bitch? Get up and eat!"

"Huh?" The soldier was jolted awake, but he was still completely dazed.

"What are you yelling about? The drums are beating! Get up!" Kong Youxing shouted, then turned around and pulled the others up.

After waking everyone in his tent, Kong Youxing lifted the curtain and walked to the center of the squad's camp. Just as he was about to shout, a soldier with his legs crossed suddenly strode quickly to his side. "Reporting to the squad leader, I need to relieve myself!"

"Lazy oxen and lazy horses produce lots of excrement and urine!" Kong Youxing raised his hand, but then hesitated, afraid of slapping him so hard his hand would break, so he simply scolded, "Go and come back quickly!"

"Yes!" The soldier felt as if he had been granted a pardon and quickly left.

To avoid the spread of disease, latrines were often located far from barracks, kitchens, and water sources. He still had a long way to go.

“Me too, I want to go.” Another soldier chimed in.

"Get out!" Seeing that the soldier's situation wasn't so urgent, Kong Youxing lightly kicked him. "Yes, sir!" The soldier felt a sudden contraction in his bladder after being kicked.

"Anyone else? Hurry up and go!" Kong Youxing shouted.

"Me!" someone immediately responded. And there was more than one.

"Didn't you clean yourselves up the night before?" Kong Youxing shouted angrily, waving his hand.

Military camps have strict rules, covering everything from drills to sanitation. To prevent soldiers from wandering around after nightfall and to facilitate timely cleaning of the latrines and maintain camp cleanliness, the camp even arranges for collective sanitation at fixed times in the afternoon and evening. Of course, everyone has to relieve themselves sometimes, and individual soldiers who really can't hold it in can use the latrine at other times, or even relieve themselves on the spot. However, the former will inevitably be reprimanded by their superiors, while the latter might result in a severe beating.

"It's probably because the food has been so good these past few days," Kong Youde said, putting on his armor and smiling as he moved closer to his brother.

“We’re about to go out to war, so we need to eat well.” Kong Youxing nodded and turned to help Kong Youde tie the rope. “You’d better be careful. I don’t want to collect your corpse.”

"Hmm?" Upon hearing this, Kong Youde's smile froze, and his heart began to race. "Brother, where are we going to fight?" Yesterday afternoon, the order came down that troops would be dispatched this morning, and muskets and packaged gunpowder were distributed to each unit. But even though they had received their weapons and eaten their meat, no one explicitly stated where they were going.

“I don’t know either,” Kong Youxing shook his head. “Perhaps it’s some mountain that was recently occupied by slave bandits.”

Recently, the Ming and Jin armies have been engaged in small-scale skirmishes in the buffer zone near the border wall. The basic pattern is that the Jin army occupies an abandoned fortress or builds a new one, the Ming army sends troops to drive them away, and once the Jin army retreats, the Ming army dismantles or blows up the fortification. Conversely, if the Jin army attacks a Ming stronghold, the Ming army will initiate the attack. These conflicts are usually not very intense, but every conflict results in casualties. Casualties are just a number at the top, but on the ground, they represent lives.

"Is it possible they're heading to North Korea?" Kong Youde asked. "Hasn't the right flank recently built many pontoon bridges?"

“I don’t think so,” Kong Youxing said, startled. “If the Jurchen invaders had attacked Korea, there would have been some news about those outposts and watchtowers.”

"Maybe they're going to teach North Korea a lesson." Kong Youde licked his slightly dry lips.

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Kong Youxing lightly patted Kong Youde on the head. "Is your brain clouded by chicken fat?"

"Isn't it being said that Yuan, the councilor, has placed the Korean envoy under house arrest? And the Koreans have only been here a few days, yet we've already gained nearly 10,000 soldiers," Kong Youde proudly raised his head. "And Zhang, the general, brought those 5,000 men with me."

Kong Youxing thought about it seriously, but still shook his head: "Impossible! It's impossible for something like this to happen without any prior warning. To advance into a vassal state without imperial decree is treason. I know all this, so how could Councilor Yuan not know? How could Guerrilla Mao not know?" Kong Youxing slapped Kong Youde on the head again. "Stop daydreaming, get yourself ready!"

"Hmm," Kong Youde pursed his lips and muttered stubbornly, "Perhaps Councilor Yuan came with a secret decree."

"Idiot." Kong Youxing muttered, then glared at him with a smile.

--------

"Raise the flag!" After a loud shout, the royal flag, symbolizing "being appointed to govern the region and acting expediently," slowly rose on the command platform directly in front of the drill ground.

Waaaaah!

Immediately following, the sound of trombones filled the air, and Yuan Keli, the Korean supervisor dressed in a bright red flying fish robe, appeared at the entrance of the drill ground, accompanied by two Imperial Guards, Lu and Lu, stepping to the beat of drums. Behind them, a group of civil and military officials, led by Gao Bangzuo, surrounded them.

The moment Yuan Keli stood still in the center of the reviewing stand, the bugle call also ended.

"Greetings, Guardian Yuan!" Mao Chenglu, who was almost directly opposite Yuan Keli, began to shout at the top of his lungs.

"Greetings, Supervisor Yuan!!" His two lieutenants were the first to react, immediately shouting and saluting, and gesturing to those around them.

"Greetings, Guardian Yuan!!!" The shouts rippled outwards from the front to the back, from the center to the edges. Unfortunately, most people didn't understand the situation, let alone know what a "guardian" was, so their shouts were sparse and their momentum was much weaker.

Yuan Keli didn't mind this. Once all the soldiers on the drill ground had knelt on one knee, he said to Lu Wenzhao, "Issue the proclamation!"

"Yes!" Lu Wenzhao immediately responded, and then took a scroll entitled "Proclamation for the Supervision of Joseon" from Lu Jianxing's hand.

Lu Wenzhao took a deep breath and unfurled the manifesto:

Yuan Keli, Imperial Commissioner Supervising Minister of Korea, Vice Minister of War, and concurrently Right Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, hereby issues a proclamation to the soldiers and civilians of the Eastern Expedition and the Three Kingdoms:

It is said that the mandate of Heaven is not constant, but only virtue can assist it; when the principles of order and discipline decline, righteousness must be used to restore order!

Nurhaci, the chieftain of the Jianzhou Jurchens, usurped the throne and defied Heaven, slaughtering the border people. Blood stained the Liaodong lands, and corpses piled up on the banks of the Yalu River. This court, acting on the Emperor's decree, is entrusted with overseeing this vassal state, not for the purpose of endless wars, but to uphold the integrity of our subjects, jointly resist foreign aggression, preserve the Three Han states, and re-secure the eastern border bulwark! All Ming soldiers and Korean subjects should heed these words and demonstrate their loyalty!
In the year of Ren Chen, Japanese pirates swept across the seas, the capital fell, the ancestral temples were reduced to ruins, and the Three Han kingdoms were nearly destroyed. The royal family sought refuge in Jiangnan, while the common people wept in the wilderness. Our late emperor, mindful of the deep affection between the imperial family and the kinship between father and son, resolutely dispatched 100,000 elite troops to fight a bloody battle in Korea.

Seven years of war have left soldiers' bones buried in foreign lands; supplies have been transported thousands of miles, with the blood and sweat of the people of the Central Plains nourishing our borders. This grace of being reborn, though the world has changed drastically, can never be forgotten.

Unfortunately, King Yi Hun of Joseon forgot the oath sworn in blood by his late king and betrayed the loyalty to the survival of the Holy Dynasty. He secretly supplied grain to fuel the greed of the Jianzhou wolves; he privately indulged merchants, colluding with the barbarian treacherous schemes, causing the Jurchen rebels to grow powerful and plunging Liaodong into peril!
In the Battle of Sarhu, Li Hui, in his folly and lack of virtue, ordered his general Hongli to communicate with the enemy envoy, leaving General Liu isolated on the eastern front and causing the tragic death of the loyal guerrilla commander Qiao. The border situation is increasingly dire, a truly lamentable situation!

Such actions defy the principles of harmony between the Chinese and the barbarians, and destroy ancestral temples and altars!

Li Hui was rebellious and disloyal, and the emperor has stripped him of his title!
Today, I, the Emperor, have come east with imperial credentials, not to inflict war on our vassal states, but to comfort the people, punish the guilty, uphold the proper distinction between ruler and subject, and clarify the differences between Chinese and barbarians.

Those who were coerced into joining the cause, if they can repent and reform, will be spared execution by this court. Those who remain obstinate and unrepentant, even if they are members of the imperial family or nobles, will be treated as traitors!
The subjects of Korea should also know:
The royal army has come not for conquest, but to purge the wicked and jointly defend Jianzhou.

By imperial decree.

The refugees from Hamgyeong were relieved of their suffering by sending grain from the granaries of Seoul; the wrongful convictions in Ping'an were overturned by the Censorate. Scholars well-versed in Zhu Xi's family rites were permitted to continue their studies in the capital; soldiers and civilians who captured or beheaded slave traitors were rewarded with the same honors as Ming soldiers.

Heaven's will is clear, the barbarian fate is sealed; the mighty royal army will surely secure the borders. If the people and the feudal lords are of one mind and work together, the state can be at peace and the barbarian threat can be quelled!
Alas! In the past, when Emperor Taizu ordered the King of Jungsan to launch a northern expedition to expel the Yuan dynasty, he issued a proclamation stating, "When the army arrives, the people should not flee." Now, our lord is entrusted by the Emperor to oversee Joseon, and we admire and emulate that.

All officials of Joseon shall retain their positions if they are virtuous and capable, and dismiss or refuse to serve if they are mediocre and cowardly. If the nobles and officials of the yangban class still harbor cowardice, or if the border generals and officials continue to engage in illicit affairs, then proclamations shall be issued swiftly, and the Emperor's wrath shall be immediately proclaimed.

All my soldiers, after crossing the river, must strictly abide by these three orders:
First, the blade will not be pointed at the people of Korea.

First, the grain will not be plundered from the granaries of the Three Han states.

First, the soldiers did not violate the royal etiquette.

Anyone who dares to plunder the people's wealth or slander the royal family will face the wrath of this Imperial Guard without mercy!

Now I swear an oath with all my generals and soldiers on the banks of the Ya River: If our provisions are insufficient, we shall take from our own salaries; if our weapons are dull, we shall cut off our heads as atonement! I only wish that the three armies will serve us, that our allies will be loyal to us, and that together we will accomplish the great task of protecting our country and upholding our integrity, thus reporting to the Emperor above and bringing peace to the common people below. Would that not be a great achievement!

(End of this chapter)