“Joseon is Ming’s vassal state! Is it proper etiquette for a vassal state to refuse orders from me, the sovereign of the superior nation, claiming they are unjust!”
“Even if you are the superior nation, what is unjust remains unjust! My king has the responsibility to protect Joseon’s territory and people! Yet you tell us to abandon our territory and withdraw simply because we are a vassal state! This is disregarding my king! Even for a sovereign of the superior nation, such treatment absolutely does not follow proper principles! Furthermore! Though our Joseon follows tributary etiquette, I remind you again that we are not Ming’s colony!”
“You scoundrel! And you call yourself a subject! A subject’s duty is to stop their lord from going down the wrong path by observing their surroundings! Yet you are now driving your lord into danger!”
“It is because I am a subject that I stand here speaking of this injustice! The order Your Majesty has issued now only brings harm to my king! Therefore, I am doing what a Joseon subject must naturally do!”
Though Emperor Xuande kept pressing with emphasis on superior nation’s orders, Heo Hu stood firm without retreating.
“Your Majesty’s oppression of me and our Joseon is extremely unjust!
According to what your predecessor Emperor Yongle established, imperial clan members given the title of king cannot maintain armies and are forbidden from interacting with officials and influential people around their fiefs!
Yet the King of Liaodong has violated all of this! Of course! All of this must have happened with Your Majesty’s approval!
However, if they were proper subjects as Your Majesty spoke of, they would have pointed out these wrongs and corrected them before such decisions were made!”
This was Heo Hu’s counter-strike. While his words appeared to point out the faults of Ming court officials, his true meaning was different.
You fool who can’t even properly maintain the laws your predecessor emperor established!
Of course, Emperor Xuande wasn’t one to miss this, and his face instantly turned bright red. However, it was an awkward situation to find fault with.
Because Heo Hu hadn’t insulted Emperor Xuande but rather pointed out Ming court officials’ mistakes.
As a result, Ming court officials were the ones placed in an awkward position. From their perspective, it was like being suddenly hit by a stone while just walking along.
Starting with the Grand Secretary, all Ming officials present turned pale.
W-w-why say such things!
He’s saying this knowing full well, right? That must be it, right?
Does he think we have nothing to say!
Starting with the Grand Secretary, the Ming officials did have things to say.
All matters regarding Zhu Qizhen were carried out suddenly by Emperor Xuande.
Though there had been various rumors, he had pushed various special appointments onto Zhu Qizhen who had been properly serving as Crown Prince, then sent him to Liaodong, and not long after deposed him from Crown Prince and made him Eastern King.
Though officials had all expressed concern about this series of events, none had openly stood against it. They knew that with Emperor Xuande, the moment they opened their mouths, there was a 99.9% chance their heads would fly.
Emperor Xuande ignored Heo Hu’s point and continued his attack.
“Your Joseon’s founder Yi Seong-gye withdrew his army, saying Goryeo’s Choe Yeong’s order to attack our Ming was unjust. Also, your Joseon’s previous king Yi Bang-won eliminated Jeong Do-jeon who was planning to invade Liaodong. This was to maintain tributary principles and preserve national security. Yet now you are doing the opposite! I ask again. Do you not realize your current actions are threatening Joseon and your king’s security?”
Heo Hu immediately countered Emperor Xuande’s words.
“Your Majesty is now committing the error of forced interpretation! Both Great King Taejo’s decision to retreat at Wihwado and Great King Taejong’s punishment of Jeong Do-jeon were to prevent breaking peace first! However, this time the King of Liaodong broke the peace by invading our Joseon’s borders! It is a completely different case!”
The fierce verbal battle between Emperor Xuande and Heo Hu continued afterward. Though Emperor Xuande kept trying attacks from various angles, Heo Hu maintained his consistent stance.
Finally, Emperor Xuande threw down the stone first.
“Fine! Very well! Do as you please! Joseon, do whatever you want! However, you will also bear the responsibility!”
“Excellent! Please put it in writing!”
“Fine! Bring brush and paper!”
Emperor Xuande bellowed, then scribbled on the paper brought by eunuchs, stamped it with the imperial seal, and threw it at Heo Hu.
“Here! Do as you please! But remember, all consequences will be Joseon’s responsibility!”
“I am overwhelmed by your grace!”
Expressing gratitude in an exaggeratedly loud voice, Heo Hu picked up the paper and bid farewell to Emperor Xuande.
“May you live ten thousand years!”
“Be grateful I’m letting you leave alive!”
After leaving the Forbidden City thus, Heo Hu smiled slightly and turned to his party.
“With this we’ve secured clear justification. Let’s return as quickly as possible.”
“Yes!”
***
Meanwhile, in the depths of the Forbidden City, Emperor Xuande wore a satisfied smile.
“Finally, I have an excuse for military deployment.”
The usual Joseon wouldn’t show such an explosive reaction. The fact that they rebelled to the point of losing rationality was proof their damages were that severe.
“They say a frightened dog barks more loudly?”
Convinced things were proceeding according to his plan, Emperor Xuande picked up his brush.
“I should start gathering soldiers. Those at the Great Wall won’t be quite enough. Koff! Koff!”
As he was writing the imperial edict thus, Emperor Xuande broke into a harsh cough. Looking at the blood on the handkerchief he had quickly raised to his mouth, Emperor Xuande sighed.
“If I can just hold on a bit longer, I can pass on a strong and secure empire. Just a bit longer…”
***
Heo Hu’s party immediately retraced their path from Beijing and boarded their ship.
“We must reach Hanseong as quickly as possible!”
“We will do our utmost!”
Living up to its name Haeung (Haeung)[1], the warship quickly arrived at Jemulpo. Disembarking at the dock, Heo Hu immediately obtained a horse from the naval base and galloped toward Hanseong.
***
“The Minister of Foreign Affairs has returned from Beijing!”
“Ah!”
At the eunuch’s report, everyone gathered in Seunghwadang jumped up and went outside.
Dismounting while catching his breath, Heo Hu saw Hyang and immediately prostrated himself, shouting loudly.
“Minister of Foreign Affairs, Heo Hu! I have returned after completing Your Highness’s orders!”
Having reported completing his mission, Heo Hu took Emperor Xuande’s personal letter from his breast and presented it to Hyang.
“Here! The Emperor’s personal letter!”
Hyang received the letter Heo Hu presented and confirmed its contents.
Though written hastily in cursive script while maintaining formality and etiquette with verbose sentences, the content was simple.
-Do as you please. However, the responsibility is Joseon’s!
After confirming the contents, Hyang clenched his fist and turned to the ministers.
“We have obtained justification! Now there is nothing holding us back!”
“Oh!”
The ministers shouted at Hyang’s words. Before the shouts had even died down, Hwang Hui called out to the ministers.
“Everyone! Now is the time to shout hurrah! Hurrah!”
“Hurrah! Hurrah!”
Following Hwang Hui’s lead, all the ministers began shouting hurrah with both arms raised.
As the wave of cheers subsided, Hyang moved forward.
“Now! Let’s begin our work in earnest!”
“Yes!”
The ministers answered vigorously and followed Hyang toward Seunghwadang.
Walking toward Seunghwadang with the ministers, Heo Hu quietly asked Kim Jongseo beside him.
“How is the situation at the Yalu River?”
“The Yalu River? We won splendidly.”
“Whew~”
At Kim Jongseo’s answer, Heo Hu finally showed a relieved expression and sighed.
***
Two days before Heo Hu arrived in Beijing, the second battle of Insan Fortress began.
Bang! Bang! Kaboom! Bang! Crash!
The Liaodong army’s desperately repaired artillery simultaneously concentrated fire on the wire net zone to the left of Insan Fortress.
Holes began appearing in the wire net zone under Liaodong’s concentrated bombardment.
Watching this scene from the bridgehead and nearby trenches, the Liaodong forces’ faces began gradually brightening.
“This time…”
As soon as Liaodong’s bombardment began, Joseon’s counter-bombardment followed.
“So that’s where those unseen artillery pieces were… We got them.”
Receiving the report, Lee Jing-ok clicked his tongue in satisfaction.
***
After tasting bitter medicine in the first battle, the Liaodong army desperately hid their artillery. They only retrieved or moved artillery pieces at night when the flying ball couldn’t rise, and during the day used every method to conceal their artillery. They didn’t even deploy artillery in the small-scale battles that had occurred meanwhile.
Therefore, Joseon forces had to choose points where they thought artillery might be based on the range of Ming artillery pieces seen in the first battle and bombard those areas.
However, this bombardment had unexpectedly poor results. This was because the Liaodong army had pulled their artillery back and hidden them even further back.
And when the second battle began, they brought out these hidden artillery pieces and opened fire.
***
“We may have been hit, but now that they’ve shown themselves, it’s over! Tell them to destroy all enemy artillery!”
“Yes sir!”
The staff officer who received the order wrote up orders and handed them to signalers and messengers.
As Joseon’s counter-bombardment began thus, the Liaodong army’s main force began to move.
“Enemy main force crossing the river!”
“Where!”
“On the left wing!”
Lee Jing-ok rose from his seat and ran to the observation port. Liaodong soldiers were swarming across the river in black masses.
The Liaodong forces crossing the river were heading for the left wing where holes had been opened by concentrated bombardment.
Confirming the situation, Lee Jing-ok turned to his staff officer.
“Prepare the reserves!”
“Yes sir!”
“Tell the guns on the left face to annihilate the enemy attempting breakthrough!”
“Yes sir!”
After issuing orders to deal with the enemy’s breakthrough attempt, Lee Jing-ok looked at the sky and ground his teeth.
“When are these bastards coming!”
***
The battle between the Liaodong forces trying to break through Insan Fortress’s left wing and the Joseon forces trying to stop them continued fiercely. Even while under crossfire from Joseon forces waiting in the trench lines and those positioned on Insan Fortress’s walls, the Liaodong forces persistently pushed inward.
“Deploy the reserves!”
“Yes sir!”
As the waiting reserves were deployed, the Liaodong forces began to falter.
Watching this scene from a hill, Zhao Bingde ordered his staff officer:
“Send in the third formation!”
“Yes sir!”
After issuing the order, Zhao Bingde clenched his fist.
“Just a bit more and we can break through! Just a bit more!”
Half a watch later, Zhao Bingde’s hope turned to despair.
“Joseon navy, sir!”
“What? Where!”
At Zhao Bingde’s urgent voice, a nearby staff officer pointed toward the lower Yalu River and shouted.
“There!”
Where the staff officer pointed, dozens of Joseon panokseon were advancing upriver in two columns.
“Damn, blast it! To make such a mistake!”
Zhao Bingde blamed himself for his mistake. Trapped by the prejudice that Joseon’s navy only had large ships, he had completely excluded the possibility of Joseon’s navy moving.
At that moment, another messenger ran up with dire news.
“Enemy surprise attack! Joseon cavalry are attacking our left flank!”
At the messenger’s report, Zhao Bingde unconsciously looked up at the sky.
“We’ve been had…”