There Is No Sejong In My Joseon [EN]: Chapter 300

Choe Yun-deok joined forces with the Jurchen troops he had conscripted from the Northern Frontier.

I rushed out barefoot upon hearing that my uncle, Iribuka, was leading the vanguard.

“Your Majesty! You have already captured Liaodong; we are late!”

“Oh! Uncle! Welcome!”

Behind Iribuka stood the Jurchens he had brought from Sanshan.

“For you to bring so many soldiers alone, Uncle, does that not mean Sanshan is completely empty?”

“With a battle hanging on the fate of the nation, how could I only look after the safety of my land? Although the troops I bring are insignificant compared to the great army Your Majesty leads, they will be enough if they can be of some help.”

“What are you saying!”

I jumped up, filled with gratitude.

Choe Yun-deok reported that Iribuka’s actions had spurred even those who were hesitant to enlist to compete in showing their loyalty, scraping together every last man to mobilize.

Wasn’t it thanks to the efforts of ‘our family,’ like Iribuka, that we were able to so easily recruit troops from the Northern Frontier?

‘Although Sanshan is quite far in the rear, emptying even the home base is a significant decision.’

I must repay Iribuka someday.

“Now that the Northern Frontier Command has joined us, we must advance to Liaoxi.”

The Joseon army would leave some forces in Liaodong, while the Liaodong soldiers would assist the expeditionary force in their campaign.

“Does Your Majesty intend to march out personally?”

“Indeed. Though I will entrust command to Choe Yun-deok and Kim Jong-seo.”

Just as I had undermined Liaodong from within by leveraging my position as the uncle-in-law of the Crown Prince’s brothers, I intended to similarly force a choice upon Liaoxi.

Who do you serve, the Crown Prince or the Prince of Zhao?

Are you loyal subjects or rebels?

The Prince of Zhao had likely already attempted to divide and co-opt Liaoxi, but even if it was a lost cause, I had to try.

Iribuka looked puzzled at my words.

“Your Majesty, wouldn’t it be better to advance to Tianjin by sea? If our army advances to Beijing through Tianjin, we wouldn’t need to fight our way through Liaoxi.”

‘Is this idea coming from the mouth of a Jurchen?’ I wondered, surprised.

But considering that the Jurchens were now crossing the East Sea [Sea of Japan] to engage in piracy and even working as mercenaries in Japan, it wasn’t that strange when I thought about it.

“I have considered such a plan as well.”

Although the Prince of Zhao held the expeditionary forces, he was so focused on the conflict with Nanjing that he likely paid little attention to securing the navy.

He probably only secured ships to transport troops along the Grand Canal and cross the Yangtze River.

However, the staff officers in the war room all voiced negative opinions.

“How many troops could we transport that way?” one asked.

Although the Cheonghaejin ships [naval base in Joseon] had come to Liaodong to help with supplies, and we had also seized the Liaodong navy, the risks of launching a landing operation were considerable.

Even if we split our already smaller force compared to the enemy and sent them to Tianjin, it was questionable whether we could surround and besiege the great city of Beijing.

There was a high possibility of being surrounded and endangered in enemy territory.

Besides the risks, there was another reason.

‘Beating up Liaoxi before advancing would benefit Joseon.’

If we only took Beijing without occupying Liaoxi, Liaoxi would revert to Ming’s control after the war.

But if we broke through Liaoxi, the situation would change.

I intended to thoroughly destroy the gates once we captured Liaoxi.

‘So that Ming cannot reclaim it.’

We could destroy them during battle, or set them on fire under the pretext that they might fall into the hands of rebels or barbarians.

‘But the reality is different. Even if Ming reclaims Liaoxi, it will take an enormous amount of time to rebuild the fortresses.’

Once Ming’s defense of Liaoxi collapsed, they would have to pour all their efforts into rebuilding it, naturally neglecting Liaodong.

They might even have to outsource the defense to us by ceding Liaodong.

What if we managed to take Liaoxi while we were at it?

‘Then I plan to build new fortresses with cement and concrete. We won’t need the existing fortresses anyway.’

If we lined up concrete fortresses like the reinforced capital city of Hanyang [Seoul], it would be troublesome for anyone to attack.

As I was thinking this, the follow-up troops led by Choe Yun-deok arrived.

Although they didn’t have the disciplined posture of the Training Command that had been waiting in advance, the Jurchens’ eyes gleamed fiercely, as if they were ready to take down everything that bothered them.

Of course, the Joseon soldiers brought from the homeland were no less formidable.

Holding their matchlocks and spears firmly, they stood in neat rows, and behind them, cannons scraped together from all over Joseon, ready to exhaust the gunpowder reserves, stood guard.

The sight of the two armies merging and departing from Liaoyang Fortress was truly magnificent.

Above all, I was looking forward to our army’s firepower.

Let’s pour it generously on the enemy.

So that the people of Ming would sing about it even a thousand years later.

===

Han Wang Zhu Gaoxu remembered the secret to his father’s victories.

The Yongle Emperor, in his final moments, launched a reckless decapitation strike to capture Nanjing, not caring if the enemy blocked his rear or attacked his base.

Zhu Gaoxu’s judgment was correct.

The Nanjing court, which had not yet completed the mobilization of its army, failed to stop Zhu Gaoxu’s advance in time.

“Then why hasn’t Nanjing fallen yet!”

Zhu Gaoxu burst into frustration.

Clearly, he had seized a precious opportunity to reach this place, but the capture of Nanjing Fortress was sluggish.

His forces were too small to besiege a great city like Nanjing, and he lacked the weapons for a siege.

Although he had been able to arrive quickly by catching the enemy off guard, Zhu Gaoxu was dumbfounded that the weak Crown Prince had resolved to resist.

‘That lame, fat man dared to make up his mind to resist?’ he thought with disdain.

Although the Crown Prince had saved him, who was on the verge of being killed by slander, many times, Zhu Gaoxu believed it was due to weakness, not kindness.

The Crown Prince was even afraid of him, who was on the verge of being executed by his father’s wrath, so he pleaded for his life.

To win his favor.

In Zhu Gaoxu’s mind, the Crown Prince Zhu Gaochi was such an existence.

But what was the situation now?

Troops were rushing from all directions to save Nanjing, and even his uncle, the Prince of Ning, whom he believed would respond to his uprising, remained silent.

However, there was no clear solution to break through.

Amidst the heavy atmosphere, someone cautiously spoke.

“We have no choice but to wait for the Prince of Zhao’s arrival.”

Zhu Gaoxu glared at his subordinate as if to kill him, but he could not refute the words.

To be blocked by his brother, whom he had inwardly ridiculed, and now he had to rely on his rival brother.

Why did it turn out like this?

Zhu Gaoxu lamented.

===

“Our army, which was trying to bypass the Yangtze River and attack the rear of the Prince of Han, has been discovered and repelled.”

“Still, they succeeded in holding the enemy’s feet. I have sent troops from Suzhou to reinforce the situation, so deploy them in the battle against the Prince of Han.”

Literally, a bloody battle was taking place around Nanjing.

Zhu Gaoxu was desperately displaying his individual skills, maneuvering his small force here and there, but it was obvious that he would soon be suffocated by the difference in strength.

“Now, the Prince of Han is no longer a concern. But the real adversary is someone else.”

Yang Shiqi’s words made Yang Rong mutter quietly.

“The Prince of Zhao······.”

It was one thing for the Prince of Han, but for the Prince of Zhao, who had been pushed out of the succession and had been self-effacing next to the Emperor, to cause such a major accident.

Even they, who were called virtuous officials, had not anticipated it.

“If the Prince of Zhao crosses the Yangtze River without removing the Prince of Han, it will be the end.”

Unlike the Prince of Han, who could not even carry out a proper siege, the Prince of Zhao had a massive army of 500,000.

It was an army that the Yongle Emperor had mobilized with all his heart, so they had to gather all the remaining forces in Jiangnan.

“We must withdraw the troops from Nanchang.”

“If we do that, the Prince of Ning may revolt. Although he has submitted, we do not know what he is thinking in his heart.”

The Prince of Ning Zhu Quan, the uncle of the Crown Prince’s brothers, had sworn allegiance, but it was unknown how far he could be trusted.

He might seize the opportunity to raise an army, so they wanted to avoid opening any new fronts.

However, the atmosphere in Nanjing was also gradually beginning to change.

Thanks to the news that had arrived from Shandong via fast ships.

“Liu Gang, the General Commander of Liaodong, has revolted!”

When Nanjing first heard this news, they could not hide their dismay.

It was doubtful that Liaodong would have a major impact on the situation, but didn’t this mean that the absurd Yongle Emperor’s will had that much persuasive power?

‘Even a mere border general is using it as an excuse to cling to the Prince of Zhao.’

‘Has he judged that the Prince of Zhao is the trend? Is that how it looks from the outside?’

However, the news only conveyed half of what had happened in Liaodong.

“King Yi Je of Joseon has suppressed Liu Gang’s rebellion and liberated Liaodong!”

“After releasing the Liaodong governor, he is advancing to Liaoxi, declaring that he will subjugate the rebellious traitors!”

The flow of the world was changing.

As is the case with most things, rebellion is greatly influenced by momentum.

It can be seen from the fact that the Jianwen Emperor’s generals surrendered one after another after Prince Zhu Di of Yan captured Yangzhou and Luhe.

However, the rebellion responding to the Prince of Zhao was brutally suppressed by the King of Joseon from the beginning, and now he was even invading to threaten the Prince of Zhao’s rear.

“The King of Joseon has made it clear that he supports His Highness the Crown Prince. As a member of the Imperial family, he said that he could not stand idly by, and threatened to let the Joseon army pass if they supported His Highness the Crown Prince.”

“My uncle······.”

The Crown Prince Zhu Gaochi’s eyes trembled.

His aunt must have pleaded with him.

The Crown Prince, who had been deeply wounded by the shock of his father’s death and the subsequent rebellion of his brothers to strike him, regained his heart by the touch of his family.

‘This is true family.’

Zhu Gaochi’s eyes welled up with tears. The officials quickly lowered their heads to protect the Crown Prince’s face.

In fact, Joseon could have stepped back and remained neutral, as it had done during the Revolt of the Princes.

But for the sole reason of family, they were advancing with the fate of the nation at stake.

And that too, with the King of Joseon himself, who was so precious!

“Joseon is the foremost country of the Great Ming. But its King personally led the army to subjugate the rebels and expressed his support for the Crown Prince, so it is clear where the righteousness and legitimacy lie.”

Because they had not had the mental capacity to take care of it, they had not even conveyed the words, but what if they had clung to the Prince of Zhao and supplemented his greatest weakness, legitimacy?

However, the King of Joseon was advancing, directly touching the Prince of Zhao’s weakness.

Although they were not as moved as the Crown Prince, who even shed tears, the officials also acknowledged Joseon’s great contribution.

“The King of Joseon has broken down the walls of Jinzhou and is advancing rapidly.”

“While the King of Joseon is disrupting the enemy’s rear, we must gather all the armies of Jiangnan and strike the enemy!”

“The soldiers of Suzhou are strong and elite, having blocked the Wokou [Japanese pirates]. Surround and kill the Prince of Han, and then block the Prince of Zhao at the Yangtze River!”

The Crown Prince trembled at the word kill.

But as can be seen from the fact that he had been firmly holding out until now, Zhu Gaochi was not someone who would hesitate to subjugate his brother even in this situation.

“Even if the Prince of Han and the Prince of Zhao are my brothers, today’s battle is not just about my life and theirs.”

On his shoulders rested the fate of his son, the Grandson, and his aunt and uncle, who had set out to help him.

The warmth of family had to be given to them first and foremost.

“I entrust the subjugation of the rebels to you! Do not show mercy to the enemy!”

The officials, fearing that the Crown Prince would ruin the great event by ordering his subordinates not to kill his brothers, answered without hesitation.

And so, when the Prince of Zhao Zhu Gaosui finally reached the Yangtze River.

The Prince of Han Zhu Gaoxu had already been defeated and fled.

—–

Thank you for the continuous support, Bijinbu Tta-heuk ㅜㅜ

End

ⓒ Pitkong