Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 667

667. Tales of Other Nations (2)

The Grand Preceptor of the Eastern Pavilion and the other officials were momentarily stunned by Emperor Gyeongtae’s command.

“Your… Your Majesty. Did you say relocate the capital?”

Emperor Gyeongtae nodded in response to the Grand Preceptor of the Eastern Pavilion’s question.

“That is correct. Consider the optimal timing for relocating the capital to Nanjing. In my opinion, the sooner we move, the better.”

At Emperor Gyeongtae’s response, the Grand Preceptor of the Eastern Pavilion cautiously inquired about the reason.

“I apologize for asking, but could you elaborate on the rationale behind your sudden decision to relocate the capital?”

Emperor Gyeongtae explained the reasoning to the Grand Preceptor of the Eastern Pavilion.

“Considering the saying, ‘If the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold’ [meaning that the safety of one is dependent on the safety of another], Beijing is currently in a precarious situation. Therefore, moving to Nanjing is beneficial for national defense.

Looking at the situation in Jiangnan [the region south of the Yangtze River], the rebels calling themselves Hyeje and Ju Mun-gyu are fighting each other. Although some semblance of order has been established, the situation remains chaotic. Now that the Grand Canal has been restored, it is the perfect opportunity to lead the Golden Army down to suppress the rebels and stabilize Jiangnan.”

“…If we remain in Beijing in this situation, it will not be easy to seize this opportunity. Therefore, we must relocate the capital to Nanjing.”

At Emperor Gyeongtae’s words, the Grand Preceptor of the Eastern Pavilion and the officials nodded. They found his reasoning sound.

In the end, the Grand Preceptor of the Eastern Pavilion and the officials bowed their heads and replied to Emperor Gyeongtae.

“We shall obey the imperial command!”

* * *

After the meeting, the Grand Preceptor of the Eastern Pavilion and the ministers of each department gathered in the Grand Preceptor’s office.

“What are your thoughts on His Majesty’s command?”

At the Grand Preceptor of the Eastern Pavilion’s question, the Minister of War was the first to speak.

“In terms of national defense, His Majesty’s decision is reasonable. Looking at the current situation in Beijing, the Oirat [a Mongolic people] are to the north, and Joseon [ancient Korean kingdom] is directly to the east. In the past, Liaodong [a historical region in Northeast China] served as a buffer zone, but now that Liaodong is gone, it is sensible to move down to Nanjing.”

At the Minister of War’s response, the Minister of Rites raised an objection.

“Isn’t the situation similar in Nanjing? Joseon is to the east across the sea, and Japan is to the south.”

The Vice Commander stepped forward to address the Minister of Rites’s point.

“However, they have to cross the sea to attack Nanjing. The sea is a convenient passage, but it also presents a significant obstacle.”

“A significant obstacle? What do you mean?”

At the Minister of Rites’ question, the Vice Commander explained in more detail.

“The sea is a domain where one cannot easily venture without proper preparation.

The most crucial element in this preparation is sailors. Even a boat that travels across a mere river requires skilled sailors, or lives are at risk, and this is even more true for the sea. When preparing for war on land, even if you bring in untrained individuals, they can be utilized to some extent with about 100 days of training. However, that is impossible for the navy.

The same applies to soldiers and warships. It takes considerable time and resources to build proper warships. Therefore, if you lose a warship, it is not easily replaced.”

“You can clearly see this by examining the state of our navy.”

At the Vice Commander’s words, the Grand Preceptor of the Eastern Pavilion and the officials felt a pang of bitterness.

* * *

In the last war, the Ming navy, which Emperor Seondeok had painstakingly built up, was utterly devastated. Dozens of large treasure ships, once hailed as ‘castles on the sea,’ were destroyed by a single black dragon ship of Joseon, and the medium and large ships that were supposed to support the treasure ships were defeated by the Joseon navy’s Challenger-class and Haeung-class warships.

As a result, the Ming navy is now struggling to defend the entrances of major ports.

Fortunately, the new Japanese king was suppressing the lords one by one, and the Joseon navy was eliminating pirates in the open sea, so they were barely holding on.

* * *

“Because of this situation, invasion by sea is not easy. If we construct stronger and more robust fortresses in major ports to bolster defenses, even Joseon will not readily attempt an invasion by sea.”

The Grand Preceptor of the Eastern Pavilion, who was nodding at the Vice Commander’s words, asked the military officials.

“Speaking of which… how is the replication of the Joseon cannons and gun barrels captured in the last conflict progressing?”

At the Grand Preceptor of the Eastern Pavilion’s question, the Minister of War sighed and replied.

“Hoo… The replication of cannons and gun barrels is progressing to some extent, but the problem lies with the bore [the interior diameter of a gun barrel]. We are urging the artisans, but we still haven’t found a solution.”

“Heo… Are our artisans’ skills significantly inferior to those of Joseon’s artisans?”

At the Grand Preceptor of the Eastern Pavilion’s question, the Minister of War replied with a pained expression.

“The situation is much worse than expected. However, what’s worse is that many artisans were killed or kidnapped by the Japanese pirates who swarmed in during the last conflict. And what’s even worse is… there is no budget. Creating bores or producing high-quality gunpowder cannot be achieved with just one or two experiments, but the budget is hindering us.”

“Oh dear….”

“Haa….”

At the Minister of War’s response, the Grand Preceptor of the Eastern Pavilion and all the other officials sighed deeply.

The Minister of War, who picked up the teacup in front of him and moistened his throat, continued.

“To overcome the current situation, I believe relocating the capital is the best solution. The Grand Canal has been reopened, and the Golden Army can once again descend upon Jiangnan. We must normalize tax revenue by organizing Jiangnan as soon as possible. Otherwise, it will become increasingly difficult to catch up with those Joseon bastards who are calling themselves an empire.”

At the Minister of War’s words, the Grand Preceptor of the Eastern Pavilion shook his head.

“That’s true, but relocating the capital is no easy task, is it? That’s the problem.”

“Doesn’t Nanjing already have everything in place? I don’t foresee a significant burden?”

At the Minister of War’s point, the Grand Preceptor of the Eastern Pavilion sighed and replied.

“That’s precisely the problem – that it has everything.”

* * *

The first place Ming established as its capital was Nanjing.

Later, Emperor Yongle [the third emperor of the Ming dynasty], who seized power through the ‘Jingnan Rebellion’ [a civil war from 1399 to 1402], moved the capital to Beijing and changed Nanjing’s name from ‘Jingshi (京師, capital)’ to Nanjing.

Although the capital was moved to Beijing, the administrative organization remained in Nanjing. Since then, the crown prince has resided in Nanjing to learn how to manage state affairs, and it has been operated as the secondary capital.

This was what the Grand Preceptor of the Eastern Pavilion was worried about. Although the ranks of the officials in Nanjing were lower than those in Beijing, they were the established ones.

The moment the officials from Beijing, the newcomers, entered Nanjing, a factional fight was bound to erupt.

To be precise, there would be no major problems for high-ranking officials such as the Grand Preceptor of the Eastern Pavilion and the ministers of each department, but fierce factional fights would break out among middle and lower-ranking officials.

* * *

The Minister of Revenue, who understood the Grand Preceptor of the Eastern Pavilion’s words, shared his thoughts.

“If we relocate the capital, only the positions of Beijing and Nanjing will be exchanged, so there shouldn’t be a major problem, right? Officials must remain in Beijing as Nanjing has done so far. I don’t anticipate any factional fights that you are concerned about?”

At the Minister of Revenue’s words, the Minister of Personnel shook his head.

“If we leave the people who have been working together here and relocate, do you think we can perform our duties comfortably? If we are not careful, we may end up having to be mindful of the people in Nanjing. And if we simply leave like that, how will we maintain the morale of the officials who will remain here?”

“Oh dear….”

The Minister of Revenue fell silent at the Minister of Personnel’s point. The Minister of Personnel continued.

“Since Nanjing is still secure, you may think that relocating the capital is straightforward. However, the biggest challenge is the process of deciding who to take and who to leave behind. As the Minister of War mentioned, this place, Beijing, is the core of defending the north. If the morale of those who manage such a place plummets, we may face a major disaster later. However, if we take everyone with us, this place will become ownerless, not to mention the factional infighting. Moreover, the facilities that produce military weapons, iron ore, iron horses, and steam engines are mostly concentrated around Beijing. We must also consider these issues. Whether to take them with us or leave them behind.”

“Is there a need to take them with us? It would only be a waste of resources.”

At the Minister of Revenue’s words, the Minister of Personnel retorted.

“Are you suggesting we should keep the places that manufacture military weapons out of sight?”

“That means….”

The Minister of Revenue’s face paled, and he stopped speaking. The reason why the problematic factories were located around Beijing was precisely because of the issue of surveillance. If the factories were out of sight, there would be many leaks, no matter how diligently they were managed. And if those leaked weapons fell into the hands of subversive elements, the situation would escalate into the worst possible scenario.

At the Minister of Personnel’s words, the officials once again recognized the gravity of the capital relocation issue. It was clear that even a small mistake could lead to serious problems that would make factional fights seem like child’s play.

“Hmm….”

“Oh dear….”

While everyone was struggling to find a viable solution, the Grand Preceptor of the Eastern Pavilion made a decision.

“Let’s ensure that the currency printing office and the factories that produce military weapons for the army accompany us in this relocation of the capital. If we maintain control of those two, we can prevent most of the problems in advance.”

At the Grand Preceptor of the Eastern Pavilion’s decision, all the attendees nodded.

“That seems to be the best approach.”

“The ideal solution would be to move everything at once, but there are insufficient funds to do so….”

After confirming that the attendees agreed with his decision, the Grand Preceptor of the Eastern Pavilion moved on to the next topic.

“It seems that we have a general understanding regarding the relocation of the capital. Are there any other issues?”

At the Grand Preceptor of the Eastern Pavilion’s question, the Minister of War spoke up.

“I mentioned the Golden Army earlier, but there is indeed a problem with the Golden Army.”

“A problem?”

“There is a problem with mobilizing troops for the subjugation.”

At the Minister of War’s words, the Grand Preceptor of the Eastern Pavilion’s expression turned serious. Military movements and the establishment of war operations were the responsibility of the left and right commanders, but the logistical work, such as troop mobilization and supply, fell under the purview of the Minister of War, and now the person in charge of that work was indicating a problem.

“There is a problem with troop mobilization? Explain in detail.”

At the Grand Preceptor of the Eastern Pavilion’s words, the Minister of War explained the issue.

“Excluding the troops lost in the last conflict and the troops currently assigned to defense missions on the northern and eastern borders, we have approximately 1 million troops remaining.

However, these 1 million troops have been mobilized for the Grand Canal and transportation network restoration projects for the past three years.

The troops responsible for defending the border cannot be withdrawn at this time, as we are barely maintaining the necessary forces as it is.

This means that the soldiers who were mobilized for the restoration project must be投入 [tóurù – thrown into/invested in] the subjugation. However, considering the condition of the soldiers, they require complete retraining.

Even if we disregard the training issue, morale is a significant concern.”

“It has already been three years since they were conscripted. While three years may not seem like a long time, the problem is that it has been three years since the conflict that led to their military service ended. To retrain them and 投入 [tóurù – thrown into/invested in] them into a battlefield where life and death are at stake again? If we are not careful, we may face large-scale desertion. However, if we send them back to their hometowns, the Jiangnan subjugation will be compromised, creating a dilemma.”

At the Minister of War’s words, the Minister of Personnel raised an objection.

“However, there have been no reports of large-scale desertion thus far, have there?”

“Because it was a construction site, not a battlefield. Furthermore, they were paid regularly.”

At the Minister of War’s meaningful words, the Minister of Personnel fell silent.

“Hmm….”

At the Minister of War’s point, the officials began to brainstorm solutions again.

Shortly after, the Minister of Revenue proposed a method.

“What about utilizing those who recently returned from the Yalu River area [border region between China and North Korea]?”

“The Yalu River area? Are you referring to those who were driven out by the Joseon people?”

“That’s correct.”

The Minister of Revenue explained his proposed method.

“Those who have returned from the Yalu River area currently lack any means of livelihood.

Also, considering the situation in Jiangnan, there are many lands that have lost their owners due to the conflict caused by the rebels.

Use the ownership and cultivation rights of these lands as bait to mobilize the returnees as soldiers.”

“If they have no means of livelihood, many people will apply. In addition, there will be many applicants among those who wish to return home after the restoration project is completed. This would solve the troop problem to some extent.”

At the Minister of Revenue’s proposal, all the officials exclaimed in unison.

“That’s a brilliant idea!”