There Is No Sejong In My Joseon [EN]: Chapter 296

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In Beijing, Hwang-eom was greatly surprised by the sudden return of the army.

But what surprised him even more was the imperial edict that Prince Jo, Ju Gosu, had sent to Nanjing in the name of Emperor Yongle after seizing Beijing.

[The Crown Prince, Ju Gochi, has long occupied the position of the nation’s foundation, yet he has rarely set an example and has not been filial as a son. Having not contributed even an inch of merit, he does not even offer to step down, so he cannot but be expelled. When I return to Nanjing, I will depose the Crown Prince and hold him accountable. He should commit suicide to at least preserve his name!]

A shallow trick obvious to anyone.

‘Isn’t this treason!’

Hwang-eom was shocked but could not stop it.

Emperor Yongle was already dead, and Prince Jo had seized the expeditionary army and returned to Beijing.

It was truly a situation of riding a tiger [an idiom for being in a dangerous situation from which one cannot easily withdraw].

As a member of the Prince Jo faction, he could not back out now.

With the cooperation of Chief Eunuch Hwang-eom, the area around Beijing, including Hebei Province, fell under the control of Prince Jo’s army, and Ju Gosu and Maeng Hyeon immediately began a strategy meeting.

“Will the Crown Prince really commit suicide with such an edict?”

“Of course not.”

It was an edict that seemed to shout, ‘I am rebelling’ outright, so even if the Crown Prince received it, he would be more likely to increase his vigilance rather than commit suicide.

However, as soon as he entered Beijing, Maeng Hyeon strongly insisted on publicizing this edict.

First, to push Prince Jo, who had been hesitant even with the revolt right in front of him, into a corner with no way out.

And also to involve all the generals who had accompanied the expeditionary army.

“Marquis Wang Tong of Seongsan, Marquis Yu Seung of Anwon, Marquis Jin Mu of Yeongyang, Count Seol Bin of Yeongsul, Count Oh Geukchung of Gongsun, Marquis Jeong Hyeong of Muan, and Marquis Seol Rok of Yangmu have all signed.”

“What about Duke Jang Bo of Yeongguk and Commander Ju Young?”

“They are resisting to the end, but it won’t take long. Their names have been listed first.”

Those who controlled each military camp had rushed over after receiving reports of Emperor Yongle’s critical condition, only to be captured by Prince Jo’s soldiers.

Thus, having successfully seized the expeditionary army, Prince Jo, whose courage had grown considerably, grumbled.

“Wouldn’t it be better to include that my father had designated me as his successor?”

“That is to involve Prince Han.”

“My brother?”

Ju Gosu frowned at the mention of his brother, a rival for the throne, but Maeng Hyeon calmly explained.

“As Your Highness fears, it is a long journey to Nanjing. There is ample opportunity for the rebels to prepare. But Prince Han of Shandong can strike at the enemy’s weak point.”

Prince Han would know that the will was forged, unless he was a complete fool.

But if he were ambitious, he would try to use it as an excuse.

If Prince Han started a rebellion and rushed to Nanjing, the distance would be much shorter than from Beijing to Nanjing, and the enemy would have less time to prepare. It would be ideal if Prince Han raised an army.

But would he participate in a will that ‘designates Prince Jo as the successor’ when he wouldn’t even accept a will that ‘deposes the Crown Prince’?

“What if my brother seizes Nanjing? That would be a disaster!”

“By then, we will have already caught him from behind.”

Prince Han was caught between Prince Jo and Nanjing.

Even if he succeeded in occupying Nanjing, he would not be able to defeat Prince Jo’s forces, who would seize his base in Nangan and rush down without a moment to breathe.

The best-case scenario was for Prince Han to perish together with Nanjing, and even if that didn’t happen, it would be good enough if he dragged out the fight with Nanjing, depleting their forces and preventing them from building up their strength.

‘The most likely scenario is that we will arrive from behind while time is being wasted.’

In that case, Prince Han would be facing enemies from both sides, a truly difficult situation.

Then, he would have no choice but to rely on Prince Jo, who ostensibly upheld the same will, and naturally, Prince Han’s forces could be absorbed.

Having heard this explanation, Prince Jo clapped his hands and shouted.

“Maeng Hyeon! You are truly my Zhang Liang!” [A famous strategist in Chinese history].

“It is too early to rest assured. We must stabilize the rear for our army to advance without worry.”

Thanks to concealing Emperor Yongle’s death and crossing the Great Wall, and thanks to Hwang-eom’s cooperation, Beijing fell into their hands without much trouble.

Having taken Beijing, it was safe to say that they could control the entire Hebei region.

“But there are still two enemies to be wary of.”

“Who are these two enemies?”

“The Uriangkhai and Joseon. Arotai of the Tatars has fled far away, but the Uriangkhai have not yet been subdued and remain, and Joseon is where Princess Hwangmae married. They may not be able to raise a large army in their home country, but they may move some of the Jurchens in the north to harass our rear.”

“Tsk, that brat······.”

Ju Gosu gritted his teeth.

Whether it was the Joseon crown prince who had visited the court in the past or the lowborn woman who had fallen head over heels for that barbarian and married him, they were all close to the Crown Prince.

Now those people were getting on his nerves.

“Appease the Uriangkhai by promising to keep the late Emperor’s promise to give them Daining, and warn Joseon not to interfere in our imperial family’s affairs.”

“What if they don’t accept?”

“Then we must involve the Liaodong commander. The Liaodong commander will not want to get involved in this fight. If we tell him to stay put under the pretext of checking the Uriangkhai and Joseon, he will gladly comply.

If the Liaodong army does not move, the Uriangkhai and Joseon will not dare to attack our rear, so there will be no need to worry about the rear.”

“Hoo!”

Ju Gosu clapped his knees and shouted.

“Then who should we send to those two enemies?”

Hwang-eom felt a sense of foreboding at this point, but he could not stop Ju Gosu’s question, who was already deeply infatuated with Maeng Hyeon.

Maeng Hyeon glanced at Hwang-eom and then advised Ju Gosu.

“Send the people from the 3 Wei [Three Guards] who have surrendered to the Uriangkhai. Chief Eunuch Hwang-eom has often said that he frequently visits Joseon and has a close relationship with the king.

If you send Hwang-eom, there will be no need to worry about Joseon’s affairs.”

“Your Highness, I!”

Only then did Hwang-eom realize that Maeng Hyeon was trying to send him to Joseon to get rid of him.

“Hahaha! Yes, yes! Dispose of it as you wish!”

Hwang-eom stepped forward urgently, but Ju Gosu laughed loudly and ordered so.

===

“Is this······ really the edict issued by my father?”

Crown Prince Ju Gochi asked, deeply affected.

“Of course not! This is clearly a plot to oust the Crown Prince by impersonating the Emperor’s edict!”

In fact, they had to insist that Emperor Yongle’s edict was false, even if it were genuine.

Especially in a situation where there were more than one or two suspicious points!

“If the Emperor intended to depose the Crown Prince, he would have returned to the capital without revealing any signs and carried out the deposition. But now, from afar, he intends to depose the Crown Prince and determine the successor with only one edict. How can we not suspect this as the act of a traitor?

The mention of the Crown Prince’s deposition is certainly the manipulation of the royal family.”

Emperor Yongle did not like the Crown Prince himself, but he left behind many loyal subjects for him.

One of them, Grand Scholar Yang Sagi of the Cabinet, accurately read the situation.

Among the people in the court, there was no one who did not know how much Prince Han and Prince Jo had harmed the Crown Prince.

The younger brothers always slandered him, but Ju Gochi, who had a deep sense of brotherhood, let out a painful groan.

“But fortunately, the enemy is not strong.”

Chief Minister Yang Young opened his mouth.

“The best strategy for Prince Jo to commit treason would be to hide all the facts, return to Nanjing, and capture the Crown Prince like a thunderbolt. But the reason why he could not use the best strategy is that Prince Jo’s faction does not properly control the expeditionary army.

Therefore, he would have first summoned the generals and forced them to participate by using a false edict. Just as the Emperor used tricks to capture Prince Yeong and involve him when he started the Jingnan Rebellion [a civil war in the early Ming Dynasty].”

The Crown Prince nodded at Yang Young’s words.

“Having already eliminated the best strategy, what remains are the middle and lower strategies. Just as our Emperor did, the middle strategy is to start in Beijing and aim for the world, and the lower strategy is to occupy a part of the territory and try to preserve oneself.”

“Which strategy will the enemy follow?”

“The legitimacy and justification lie with the Crown Prince, so it is truly foolish for the enemy to hold a strong army and drag out time.

He will surely rest in Beijing for three or four days and then rush south, but fortunately, thanks to the enemy not using the best strategy, there is enough time to prepare.

Your Highness, quickly issue an edict to the world to gather soldiers and suppress Prince Jo!”

The Crown Prince was a gentle person, but he was not a fool.

Instead of foolishly committing suicide like Prince Busa of Qin Shi Huang, he quickly gathered troops and began to form a suppression army to oppose the expeditionary army.

As soon as the Crown Prince made a decision, the Nanjing court entered a countermeasures meeting with a sharp edge.

“Suppressing Prince Jo is not difficult. The army he leads is certainly strong, but Prince Jo is far away and not knowledgeable about military affairs.

The ones we really need to be wary of are,”

“Prince Han and Prince Yeong. Prince Han has attempted treason several times, and Prince Yeong was promised half the world by the Emperor, but he was even deprived of his original fiefdom and exiled to Nanchang.

We must prevent the two from participating in Prince Jo’s rebellion at all costs.”

“The two princes may not have fully grasped the situation yet. Even if we have to summon them to Nanjing under some pretext······.”

But making all these countermeasures meaningless, an urgent report arrived.

“Prince Ju Gohou of Han has started a rebellion! He says he will uphold the late Emperor’s will and drive out the Crown Prince!”

How could it be so fast, even before the court?

The faces of the court officials turned pale at the situation that unfolded without any time to react.

Now the expansion of the rebellion could not be stopped.

===

A great chaos is coming to the world.

Joseon was among the first to grasp this situation, more than anyone outside.

The swastika towers [a type of signal tower] installed in various places adjusted their wooden arms to send signals, and the telescopes deployed at each beacon tower made observation easier.

In particular, sophisticated messages that were impossible with beacon fires were possible, thanks to which we could buy time to prepare.

Sangwang [Former King], who was in charge of military affairs, the senior officials of the Samgunbu [The Three Armies Command], and even Lee Jing-ok, who was guarding us.

‘The last guy is actually unnecessary, but.’

He showed a fun brick-breaking performance, so I just silently overlooked it once, but I am making him work hard instead.

He is a military commander who left his name in history, so I brought him in hoping he would be helpful.

“Your Majesty, do you intend to intervene in the internal strife of Ming?”

I looked around at the people around me and nodded heavily.

“That is so.”

A deep silence fell upon my words.

Only Sangwang Lee Bang-won cast a look of support at me without saying anything.

“Then which side do you intend to support?”

The first to speak was Kim Jong-seo, who had been given a hint earlier.

“The Emperor’s expeditionary army was said to be 500,000 strong. In reality, it may not reach that number, but it is clear that they are elite troops selected from all directions.

Now that Prince Jo has seized this expeditionary army and Beijing, it is safe to say that the entire Hebei region has virtually fallen to him.”

“But doesn’t the justification lie with the Crown Prince? It is obvious that the edict was forged.”

When General Ma Cheon-mok said to Kim Jong-seo, Lee Bang-won replied cynically.

“Did Prince Yeon have any justification for sitting on the throne?”

As expected, those with experience in coups think differently.

“Prince Jo has the army, and the Crown Prince has the justification. Most of the people in between will remain neutral and follow the trend.

There has already been a case where a rebel army succeeded once, even more so.”

“Then does Father believe that Prince Jo will succeed?”

“That depends on his ability. The Crown Prince has Gangnam, so the situation does not seem particularly favorable.”

During the Jingnan Rebellion, Emperor Jianwen repeatedly mobilized large armies of 300,000 or 500,000 to suppress Prince Yeon.

It would be good to assume that Crown Prince Ju Gochi could also raise that many troops.

Then is it more likely that the Crown Prince will win?

While I was worrying about that, Lee Bang-won asked.

“What are you worrying about so much? Putting everything aside, what is it that we want now?”

“That’s right, Liaodong.”

If we do not obtain Liaodong, the Manchurian management is only half complete.

Eventually, when a dispute arises with the Central Plains, the front line becomes abnormally wide, and we have no choice but to retreat back to the peninsula.

“Then you should think about how to obtain Liaodong, why are you worrying about which guy to make emperor?”

“!”

My head felt like it had been hit hard.

And soon, someone came to prove the realization I had gained.

“Your Majesty, a person has come from Beijing!”

“From Beijing? Who?”

Beijing is currently under the rule of Ju Gosu.

That means it is Prince Ju Gosu’s envoy.

I narrowed my eyes.

“It is Chief Eunuch Hwang-eom!”

< Guminga Island (1) > End