Three days before anyone inside the summer palace understood that the grain shortage had already moved beyond hungry villagers and corrupt district officials, twenty-eight carts left the main royal granary carrying rice that had been selected specifically for the soldiers stationed along Joseon's northern border. Every sack had been counted, weighed and marked before sunrise, the military clerk had recorded the quantity twice, and the officer responsible for releasing the shipment personally checked the wax seals attached to the first and final wagons before allowing the convoy to leave. Nothing in the official documents suggested anything unusual, because the destination, route and quantity were all the same as previous military shipments, which meant that by the time the carts disappeared from the road two days later, the palace ledger already considered the grain safely on its way to men who depended on it.
The soldiers never received a single sack.
