There Is No Sejong In My Joseon [EN]: Chapter 301

“That idiot! What was Hanwang doing!”

Jugosu shouted in disbelief.

He usually flaunted his bravery, but instead of fighting the enemy and dying, he was crushed and ran away?

Jugu-hu seemed ashamed and didn’t come himself, instead sending his close aide, Wang Bin, to request cooperation. Jugosu severely scolded Wang Bin.

“If Hanwang wants to rely on me, shouldn’t he come to my camp himself to ask! He lost half of the territory and soldiers inherited from his ancestors, yet he’s so shameless!”

Until recently, Jowang had been anxious that Jugu-hu might capture Nanjing first, but now he loudly criticized his brother’s incompetence.

However, criticism didn’t reverse the situation.

Hanwang was defeated, and hundreds of thousands of troops were pouring out of Gangnam [the region south of the Yangtze River] in full force.

Local battles took place along the Jang River [Yangtze River] waterways to gain dominance, but this was their home ground.

Jugosu’s army was elite, but their navy was weak, and his military talent wasn’t great, so they were accumulating losses.

As the war dragged on, the expeditionary force’s view of him became subtle, and Jugosu felt his life was threatened.

“His Majesty says he has no face to show. The enemy’s momentum is unusual, so he asks that you involve the Wangbu of Nakan to annihilate the enemy.”

While Hanwang was away from Wangbu, the Shandong army from Jinan attacked Nakan, but was easily crushed by the Jowang army that came down.

Since the Jowang army had seized Nakan, Hanwang had to ask for his permission to return to his territory.

However, Jowang also found his brother’s proposal appealing.

“Your Majesty, we must not retreat. Our army relies solely on the initial momentum.

It’s better to fight a decisive battle here and determine the outcome. If we retreat further, we won’t be able to fight at all.”

Meng Hyeon hurriedly grabbed Jugosu’s sleeve and whispered, but Jugosu shook his head.

“Our army is from the north, and we are not familiar with the complex waterways here.

However, Shandong has wide plains, and Nakan was originally Hanwang’s territory, which he ruled for a long time.

Doesn’t military strategy say to fight where you can win?”

As long as we win, no matter where, if we win.

Even if Gangnam is a money pit, it takes time to mobilize a large army.

We can retreat to Shandong first, defeat the enemy, and then advance again, right?

The Jowang army was slowly retreating with that intention, but soon, bad news began to arrive.

“The Joseon King, the Joseon King has taken the Crown Prince’s side and joined the war!”

At first, they thought nothing of it, but then,

“The Joseon King has occupied Liaodong and gathered the Jurchens to march west!”

“Olianghab [Uriyangkhai] is responding to the Joseon King and battering the Great Wall!”

“The Joseon King has captured Jinzhou! Breaking through Liaoxi!”

Jugosu felt dizzy for a moment.

What were the heavily defended fortresses doing that they couldn’t stop even a handful of Joseon soldiers?

“I, isn’t Beijing in danger if this happens?”

Meng Hyeon wore a grim expression at Jugosu’s cry.

The sharp blade that Jugosu had been sharpening was blocked before it reached the Crown Prince’s stomach, and now there was no choice but to fight and win.

That’s why they had to decide the outcome quickly.

If they had defeated the enemy and beheaded the Crown Prince, what would it matter if Beijing fell into the hands of Joseon or anyone else?

Once they lost momentum, the Jowang army was already wavering.

In that situation, what if the Joseon army came to hit them in the back of the head with a club?

Meng Hyeon lowered his eyes and said.

“Our soldiers’ families are mostly in Hebei. Before the army’s morale wavers and the ranks collapse, we must return and stop the Joseon army first.”

“What about Hanwang then?”

“He can either hold out in Nakan or follow us to Beijing, as he pleases.”

If he could hold out until the end, he could be used as a disposable pawn to hold back the Crown Prince’s army heading north.

However, even retreat was not easy.

The Crown Prince’s army, which had been cautiously heading north, noticed the Jowang army’s disarray.

“The enemy is exhausted and unable to overcome their fear!”

“Attack! We must not give the enemy time to reorganize their ranks!”

And the Crown Prince’s army seized the opportunity and launched a massive attack.

“Jowang and Hanwang barely managed to gather their troops and flee!”

“Truly a great victory!”

“Quickly, deliver today’s good news to His Highness the Crown Prince!”

The Crown Prince’s army was in a festive mood, drunk on victory, but not everyone was.

Shandong had unintentionally turned into a massive battlefield for the Jowang, Hanwang, and Crown Prince’s armies.

The farmers of Shandong, who were already suffering from constant construction and various taxes, were constantly groaning.

In this situation, the two armies stationed in Shandong and their great battle, and the resulting mass desertions, further disturbed the public sentiment in Shandong.

“No matter how much grain we gather, yesterday the northern army, today the southern army, and tomorrow the bandits plunder it, so what’s the point of sowing seeds in this kind of world!”

“When the Emperor was alive, he dragged people away every year for expeditions and construction, but his sons are even worse!”

“The Emperor has repeatedly caused expeditions and construction, causing hardship to the people, and the Crown Prince and Jongwang are fighting each other, staining the land with blood! What good is it for this country to continue!”

A world without hope.

Without relying on something, the mind and body cannot endure.

It was the White Lotus Society [a syncretic religious and political movement] that penetrated that gap.

“Seeing how chaotic it is, the world will soon collapse! The corrupt world will collapse and the country of the Maitreya Buddha [a future Buddha] will come!”

“Maitreya’s Descent! Rebirth in the Pure Land!”

Tang Saier.

The wife of farmer Im Sam, who led the largest rebellion during the Yongle era, raised the banner of the White Lotus Society.

The flames that started from the kings’ fight were now spreading to the people.

===

The elite soldiers of this era were often mobilized for expeditions and were part of an army where the strength of the early dynasty was still alive.

Therefore, they couldn’t understand how their predecessors had been defeated by the Joseon army, which numbered only 50,000 to 60,000.

Liaodong was one thing, but Jinzhou Fortress, even before it was expanded, hadn’t gained as much fame as it would later, but wasn’t it an important strategic point at the entrance to Liaoxi?

Until they faced the Joseon army, everyone thought so.

However, as soon as they faced the Joseon army, they were forced to understand their seniors’ feelings.

“The enemy is firing Joseon muskets!”

“No! That’s not a Joseon musket! How can an entire unit be carrying Joseon muskets!”

The Joseon-made gun barrels that the Liaoxi army received as tribute from Joseon were familiar to them.

The Yongle Emperor had prioritized deploying the Joseon muskets, which he received as tribute from Joseon or replicated, to the northern regions.

One in ten or twenty soldiers was equipped with them, and they played a role in stopping the occasional incursions of the barbarians.

However, the Joseon musket was only an auxiliary weapon for the army.

Its usefulness was limited, so they didn’t really factor it into their calculations when facing the Joseon army.

They also had a considerable number of them.

However,

– Tu-ta-ta-tang!

“S, save me!”

When they actually fought, that wasn’t a Joseon musket.

As a dull sound erupted from the dense formation, smoke billowed and their troops fell like dominoes.

A frantic cry erupted from among the Ming soldiers, who were in shock.

“The Jurchen bastards are coming!”

Before they could prepare, the Jurchens, making strange noises, swept through the broken ranks.

“Kiya-hou!”

“Traitors, offer your necks!”

It was an absurd sight to see guys who looked more like barbarians than loyal subjects calling them traitors and attacking them, but there was no time to argue about that.

“Where are these barbarian bastards coming from!”

The neck of a military officer who stepped forward confidently was severed.

Clearly, their attire and braided hair were Jurchen, but strangely, Jurchens wielding Japanese swords followed and ravaged them.

‘Not pirates, but why are Jurchens carrying these things…’

Before they could finish contemplating the correlation between Jurchens and Japanese pirates, the Ming soldiers were slaughtered.

“Surrender! Surrender!”

“Spare me! We only joined because we didn’t know!”

Those who threw away their weapons and surrendered also lined up.

The reason why the Liaoxi army listened to Jowang’s orders was simple.

Beijing, the control tower of the north, was in Jowang’s hands.

In other words, they didn’t have to risk their lives to fight against the Joseon army.

However, Kim Jongseo shouted firmly, as if he doubted their surrender.

“If you truly intend to surrender, burn down the fortress to show that you have no intention of resisting!”

“How can we destroy a solid fortress?”

“Don’t worry about that! We’ll help you!”

Soon, the dynamite that the Joseon engineers had buried under the fortress walls exploded, and the fortress collapsed from below.

As the Joseon engineers were becoming experts in blasting demolition, the Ming soldiers could only gape.

===

The battle is over.

“Everyone has worked hard! Those who have contributed to the battle, come here and receive Hyeonju [a type of drink]!”

The soldiers, caught up in the excitement of the battle, rushed to pick up the Hyeonju bottles.

“Kheu! This is the taste!”

“Because of this, I can’t even die from a sword wound even if I want to.”

Although it was only carbonated water with burnt sugar, it would taste like heaven to the soldiers who had exhausted their calories during the battle.

The Jurchens, who wondered what that ominous-looking black water was, drank Hyeonju and their eyes became dazed.

‘I’m glad I brought cola.’

I nodded as I watched the soldiers pull out the tightly sealed rubber stoppers and drink the Hyeonju in glass bottles.

The most important thing when storing carbonated drinks is to prevent the carbonation from leaking.

‘If I make it with porcelain, it’s porous and the carbonation leaks.’

Since the production of glass had exploded after bringing in the Ortog merchants, this wasn’t a big concern.

More important than the material of the bottle was the stopper, but this was also surprisingly easy to solve.

‘We have rubber.’

Even today, they sell rubber stoppers for storing carbonated drinks separately.

Although it’s not as good as modern metal bottle caps, it’s quite satisfactory for storing carbonation.

Seeing the Hyeonju, which I had put so much effort into distributing, soothing the soldiers, I felt proud.

‘Ahem, it’s not like I brought it because I wanted to drink it.’

It’s all to comfort the soldiers for their hard work.

The Do who was in charge of supplies in Liaodong scolded me for no reason, but he can’t live without this either.

The experts will take care of the command, and I should focus on soothing the army’s morale in this way.

Visiting the injured after the battle is also for the same purpose.

“The doctors are taking good care of them.”

“His Highness inspects them every day, so how can they be careless?”

Since Pyeongwonhae took over as the head of the royal physicians, the trend of doctors being reluctant to perform autopsies has also quickly disappeared.

How could those who are skilled at autopsies be afraid of surgery?

While patients with white bandages drank water boiled with willow bark and waited, the doctors disinfected the affected area with alcohol made by filtering the liquor with familiar hands and stitched up the torn areas.

“Never treat the injured harshly, and let them rest well.”

“Is it okay to do that?”

It’s okay for now.

So far, there haven’t been many casualties in the battles.

It’s better for them to recover quickly and return before a big battle breaks out.

‘Jowang has retreated to Beijing…’

The opportunity to take the last achievement, and Beijing itself, was just around the corner.

Although he was defeated, his last-ditch efforts should not be taken lightly.

I braced myself.

I braced myself to become a bad guy.

—–

Thank you for your support, Bijinbu and MN. I will work harder.