Black Corporation: Joseon - Chapter 262
Episode 262: Battle of Songhua River. (1)
It was because of Ming interference that King Sejong ordered the Minister of Foreign Affairs to hold out as long as possible in the Ming dynasty.
Although they are said to be worth almost nothing, Lee Man-ju and Munteo-mu were given high-ranking positions in the Ming Dynasty.
And, if trouble broke out between the Ming people and the Jurchen people, they were people who could be mobilized immediately.
Therefore, it was certain that Ming would stop at an appropriate line and try to mediate.
In the end, King Sejong, the ministers, and the military, who were well aware of this entire situation, all came to the same conclusion.
-Get the job done before people interfere!
-If this is impossible, kill as much as possible and then retreat! However, Lee Man-ju, Muntemu, and their family must be killed!
-If you make it into a situation where recovery is impossible, the nearby Jurchen tribe will take care of the cleanup. Just like it has been up until now.
King Sejong ordered Choi Yun-deok.
“No matter what happens, this incident happened under Lee Man-ju’s leadership. Even if those who invaded Joseon’s territory are from another tribe, they were instigated by Lee Man-ju!”
Choi Yun-deok immediately responded to Sejong’s words.
“It certainly is. Jurchen people who knew the situation in Joseon would never commit such a reckless act! There is only one case where this happens! “This is only possible if there was Lee Man-ju’s instigation (inciting others to do bad things)!”
Following Choi Yun-deok’s remarks, Maeng Sa-seong took over.
“Hwang Hui, the governor of Hamgil Island, reported that the noble Jurchen people are loyal to Joseon.
Not only that, the Jurchen people across the border have also said that they want to make peace with our country and have no intention of provocation.
There are some foolish people who invaded our territory, thinking that plunder was the only thing they could do, but they were all destroyed by our Joseon army.
This also applies to Pyeongando Island.
However, it is impossible for there to be people encroaching on Joseon’s river area unless someone instigates it! And the only person who can instigate something like this is Lee Man-ju!”
“I’m getting it back!”
“The leader of this matter is none other than Lee Man-joo.”
“We must subdue Lee Man-ju’s forces!”
As soon as Maeng Sa-seong finished speaking, other ministers also came forward and insisted that Lee Man-ju be punished.
King Sejong, who had been quietly listening to the ministers’ stories, opened his mouth.
“Minister of Foreign Affairs.”
“Please order!”
“Search through all the records in the archives, find out all the disputes between the Huligai tribe of Imanju, and report them to the Ming Emperor. And earlier, I told you to leave immediately, but…”
Sejong paused for a moment and looked back at Choi Yun-deok.
“How long will it take for the soldiers from Hamgil Island and Pyeongan Island to cross the border?”
“Within three days, the main force will be able to cross the Amnoksu and Dumansu rivers.”
“Yes, Minister of Foreign Affairs. I will give you three days. ah! And if the Emperor of Ming asks when we received the intelligence, please tell him that we learned of it right away through a signal and that we learned of the detailed information two days after it happened. “I believe you know exactly why.”
“This is so as not to reveal our luminous communication network! New Minister of Foreign Affairs Lee Maeng-gyun! “I will risk my neck and return without fail to fulfill your will!”
“I will believe in you!”
King Sejong, who showed faith in Lee Maeng-gyun, looked back at his ministers.
“What Lee Man-ju did after he went south was a thorn in the side of our Joseon Dynasty! Since that ruthless person raised his sword against us first, we must eliminate him and make sure that all the non-noble Jurchen tribes are impressed with the fear of our Joseon! “Dedicate all of Joseon’s capabilities to this great cause!”
“I follow your orders!”
The ministers responded with one voice to King Sejong’s command.
Joseon’s all-out war was taking place against Lee Man-ju and Muntemu.
The officer who recorded all of this wrote as follows:
-The king ordered to use all his might, and all his subjects responded.
The officer discusses.
No one knows yet whether Lee Man-ju is the mastermind behind this incident. However, it is also true that Lee Man-ju is the biggest threat.
Meanwhile, Hyang, who was watching the whole situation under the house, muttered to himself.
‘It’s been a while since I remember Mr. Samcheonpo’s nonsense.’
-Now, King Sejong’s pioneering of 4 groups and 6 formations is in textbooks, right? However, there is a part that is not shown after that: the beating of Manju Lee and the assassination attempt by Muntemu, Nurhaci’s ancestor.
-Why did King Sejong try to eliminate Lee Man-ju? Although Muntumuya said it was because he dug his own grave while traveling between the Ming and Joseon Dynasties. ah! In today’s world, Muntumu’s actions can be considered practical diplomacy, but even these days, it’s easy to get sidetracked.
The reason King Sejong tried to eliminate Lee Man-ju was not only because Lee Man-ju’s father, Eo Heo-chul, abandoned Lee Seong-gye and joined hands with the Ming. It is the result of bloody international politics.
* * *
In the history before Hyang intervened, in the 15th year of King Sejong (1433), the next year, King Sejong ordered Choi Yun-deok to conquer the Huligai tribe in Manju.
The origin of the incident had to go back to the previous year, the 14th year of King Sejong (1432).
December 14th year of King Sejong. About 400 Jurchen cavalry attacked the Yeoyeon area.
After receiving this report, King Sejong expressed his intention to establish defense measures against the Jurchen people and simultaneously proceed with large-scale conquest.
One year later, it was January, the 15th year of King Sejong (1433). Lee Man-ju sent back 64 Korean prisoners. During this process, Lee Man-joo revealed that this incident was done entirely on purpose and had nothing to do with him.
Meanwhile, Joseon sent a report to the Ming about this, and in that report it was characterized as a Jurchen force in areas such as the Paje River. The problem is that according to the information obtained up to that time, the people who carried out the work were Hollaon All Suit. However, Joseon claimed that they were Jurchen people in the Paje River area – to be precise, Lee Man-ju.
By this time, the Joseon Dynasty government was engaged in a heated argument for and against the conquest of Jurchen (more precisely, Lee Man-ju).
However, according to King Sejong’s strong will, the conquest was carried out and an envoy was sent to the Ming Dynasty.
The problem was the date the envoy was sent. The date when King Sejong sent an envoy to Ming was a week before the Joseon army dispatched troops. Even though people knew, they chose a point where it was difficult to take action.
The Joseon army, with Choi Yun-deok as commander, achieved great achievements in the subsequent conquest.
The reason why Joseon, or even King Sejong, persistently aimed to eliminate Lee Man-ju was because of Lee Man-ju’s position.
-I Manju’s tribe was the core tribe of Jianju Jurchen. It was certain that if Lee Man-ju’s influence grew, Joseon’s influence over Jurchen would gradually decrease.
-Lee Man-ju was a pro-Myung faction. He was a high-ranking official. This was greatly emphasized. Expanding Ming influence through him was not what Joseon wanted.
-Related to the above reasons, Lee Man-ju did not recognize Joseon as a superior country. If this was left as is, it was clear that Joseon would lose its initiative and control around the Yalu River. (Note 1)
Therefore, Joseon persistently targeted Lee Man-ju until the reign of King Sejo, ultimately killing him.
* * *
‘No matter what, Lee Man-ju was destined to die. International politics….’
Hyang, who was savoring his appetite while remembering Mr. Samcheonpo’s nonsense, suddenly remembered one fact and was horrified.
‘But within three days, the main force of Hamgil Island and Pyeongan Province will cross the Duman River and Yalu River? No matter how hard I try, isn’t this too much?’
The minimum number of people in one department is 15,625. If there were two departments, there would easily be over 31,000 people. Even though it was only a small number, it was at least 6,000 to 7,000 copies per copy to be considered major.
Simply put, even if the soldiers scattered throughout Hamgil Island and Pyeongan Island were gathered together and moved immediately, three days was an absolutely impossible time.
‘This is impossible even for the 21st century Korean military! Unless you prepare in advance…’
After thinking about that, Hyang looked at Choi Yun-deok.
“Crown, why are you looking at the Chief of Staff like that?”
Sejong, who noticed Hyang’s gaze, immediately asked Hyang a question. Hyang immediately answered King Sejong’s question.
“I was surprised that the main force was able to cross Yalu and Dumansu in just three days.”
Choi Yun-deok smiled slightly and responded to Hyang’s point.
“I was lucky.”
“yes?”
When Hyang didn’t understand properly, Choi Yun-deok explained in more detail.
“Originally, every spring hunger season, Pyeongan-do and Hamgil-do deploy soldiers forward for fear of invasion by the Jurchen tribe.”
“I remember. “I received the report and approved it last February.”
Sejong intervened in Choi Yun-deok’s explanation and pretended to know. Choi Yun-deok immediately responded to Sejong’s words.
“That’s right. And after Ipchun, as the number of Jurchen people in the Odori tribe increased, I heard that the atmosphere in the Odori tribe was unstable, so I was paying attention, and then this incident occurred.”
“okay. It was a situation where the words “you are not welcome” are appropriate. “The general’s contribution is truly great.”
“The contribution of the General Staff Headquarters is great. “This is the result of continued research into whether there might be times like this.”
Hyang muttered to herself as she saw Choi Yun-deok giving credit to the Chief of Staff.
‘Is this the limit of virtue?’
Although the county made many changes to the military, these were mainly focused on equipment and small-scale tactics.
Big strategies and tactics were the responsibility of the General Staff Headquarters. And this was where Sejong’s choice shined.
As King Sejong laid out the plan for the General Staff Headquarters, generals who had accumulated experience in the government began to speak out.
This was a limitation as a scent.
* * *
The next day, a communications officer from the General Staff Headquarters urgently visited Choi Yun-deok.
“This is an urgent report from the North.”
“Give it to me!”
Choi Yun-deok, who was handed the paper as if stealing it, looked at the contents and sighed.
“Haa~.”
“General, what’s going on?”
As the commanders around him quickly approached and asked questions, Choi Yun-deok held out a piece of paper.
“The identity of those who did this has become clear. Lee Manju and Munteumu.”
“Ah…”
The commanders all looked relieved at Choi Yun-deok’s words. Choi Yun-deok muttered, representing the feelings of those people.
“Thank goodness. There is no need to do complicated work….”
Choi Yun-deok took the paper again and stood up.
“I have to go to Geunjeongjeon! Contact the units in Pyeongan-do and Hamgil-do and tell them to cross the river as quickly as possible! If something like this were to happen, all the tribes would have gone into hiding! “We must catch it before it gets out of our hands and before people find out!”
“ancient!”
Choi Yun-deok, who gave orders to the commanders, got on his horse and rode straight to Gyeongbokgung Palace.
* * *
After the identity of those who committed the incident was confirmed, all information was quickly delivered to Hanseong.
The Jurchen tribes scattered by Joseon quickly traced the traces of Muntemu and Lee Manju.
After discovering the traces, the Sejaks immediately rushed to the Joseon military base and camp near the border and relayed the information. Jin and Bo, who received the information, sent the information to Hanseong using a light-emitting communication device.
It took time for the Jurchen people to arrive at Jin and Bo, but after that, information was delivered to Hanseong in about 2 hours (4 hours).
Based on this information, not only the Chief of Staff, but also King Sejong and the ministers were able to receive information about where Lee Man-ju and Muntemu were moving in almost real time (based on the communication speed at the time).
Hyang, who was watching the General Staff Headquarters and Minister Sejong discussing, muttered to himself.
‘Teacher Samcheonpo said that Joseon’s attitude toward the Jurchen people during this period was almost paranoid. That’s right.’
In the case of the Japanese invasion, only the word ‘Waegu’ was assigned a numeric code, but for the Jurchen people, more than 100 codes were assigned, including all large and small tribes.
* * *
Note 1) Joseon reads as a war. Edited by Kyujanggak Institute for Korean Studies. Jar of writing.