Chapter 185 — Answering the King's Question
"What should our Goryeo do?"
"I believe it would be best to maintain cooperation with Jin."
"Do you think Jin will win?"
Youngwoo answered without hesitation.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"What? Why?"
"Jin is strong. Their numbers are small, but they are strong. Of course, they must fight the decisive battle of their lives against Liao's main force, but I believe they can win."
The king said,
"Liao is a great state. If it gathers all its military strength, it can raise hundreds of thousands. How many soldiers does Jin have? Ten thousand, perhaps twenty thousand at most. How can they win?"
Youngwoo gathered his thoughts.
No matter how hard he tried to speak well, his words would not fit neatly together.
Yet if he only stated the conclusion, it would be no more than an unpersuasive cry.
"This subject fought three battles against Liao. Each time, Liao's numbers were overwhelmingly greater, but Jin's soldiers fought bravely and defeated them.
Those battles were not a matter of fighting, being pushed back, and fighting again. From the beginning, they became one-sided slaughter. Liao has lost the strength it had in its early days. Jin, on the other hand, is a rising country full of fierce zeal.
This subject believes Liao missed its chance to crush Jin at the beginning. I have heard that Liao has something called the Northern Privy Council. There is an opinion that its misjudgment caused this. Ningjiangzhou was like that, and Chuhadian was the same. If they had mobilized a great army then and pressed down hard, matters would not have come this far."
The room fell silent at Youngwoo's explanation.
The king was present.
If the king had not been there, these were men who would have argued loudly over whether his words were right or wrong.
This was a meeting Park Geunsu had calculated with great precision.
He had arranged the report for a time when the king would be at the Jungbang.
The king asked,
"Why did you resign?"
"Your Majesty, I am ashamed to say it, but their atrocities were too severe, and I wished to leave. As a soldier of Goryeo, this subject should have carried out his loyalty to the end, but I did not wish to continue the work while neglecting and supporting evil deeds."
"Evil deeds? Is it not war?"
"The handling of matters after battle was too cruel. I advised them several times to stop, but they said they could not suppress the culture and customs of the tribes."
"Hm. Such things happened. But you resigned over that?"
"If atrocities continue, Jin's fate will not last long. They will face the same resistance from other tribes, and they will enter the road to ruin, just like Liao. No, I judged that they would disappear even faster than Liao."
"You said they are strong."
"They are strong now. But the moment they destroy Liao, their own ruin will begin. That is the law of the world. I did not wish to belong to such a country. Please forgive this low officer's disloyalty."
The king murmured,
"A bad thing, then?"
Park Geunsu answered.
"We cannot order our soldiers to do bad things."
The king turned to Youngwoo.
"Speak. What are these atrocities like?"
Youngwoo bent at the waist and reported.
"Your Majesty, I will report on the Jurchen handling of affairs after battle.
Even after a gate falls, if any sign of resistance remains, they kill without distinguishing soldiers from commoners.
Liao soldiers and officials are separated out and beheaded first in order to establish authority.
Those who surrender are spared, but they are immediately incorporated into their forces.
They are grouped by tribe, sent back into battle, and tested for loyalty.
All grain and wealth inside a city are gathered without exception and divided as spoils.
They divide according to merit, but private taking and offerings upward become mixed into the process.
I told them to do it fairly, but that has not been achieved.
Craftsmen and young men are selected and moved to their base.
Their purpose is to gather skill and manpower to strengthen themselves.
Those who resist are executed before the people to establish fear.
They cut off heads and tie them behind horses as they ride.
They leave that sight behind so that no one will dare oppose them again.
Cities and settlements they judge useless are burned or destroyed so they cannot rise again.
Such measures come from the intention to decide matters with a single battle.
They use both methods at once: governing the inside and subduing the outside."
The king said,
"Could that not be a wartime measure meant to create fear and achieve rapid submission?"
Park Geunsu said,
"That is correct. Jungnangjang Lee sees this as individual cruelty, but this is not a matter of individual good or evil. The system itself moves that way."
Youngwoo protested.
"In cases where there was resistance, the cruelty toward Liao military commanders and officials exceeded all bounds. They massacre without distinguishing soldiers, commoners, and officials. It is cruel."
Park Geunsu explained,
"It is a highly calculated strategy intended to break their will to resist in later battles."
The king turned toward Lee Youngwoo.
"So they say."
Youngwoo lowered his head.
They say there is no one in this world one can trust…
Instead of helping him, this man was saying things that opposed Youngwoo's own judgment.
"Your Majesty, this subject carried out his military post with a heart loyal to the country and devoted to serving the people, but I could not bring myself to join or support their evil deeds. I said I would not return unless atrocities were forbidden. If this world is governed by the law of cause and effect, this is something I absolutely do not wish to do. I ask this as a commander in the army, and also as one human being. Please permit it."
The king did not seem to be listening.
"I have one more question. If they destroy Liao, will they not turn their blade toward us?"
Youngwoo straightened his body.
"They are cruel, but they have loyalty. They will never betray us."
"Is that so? They came down dozens of times in a year."
"Thinking on it now, that was more like pleading for help in their own rough way. They did not come against Goryeo with true severity. It was completely different in character from their war against Liao."
The king looked around at the generals.
"That is what he says."
The sangjanggun and daejanggun kept their mouths shut.
One sangjanggun mumbled,
"Your Majesty, that is Jungnangjang Lee's judgment."
"That is right. I asked for that judgment, and he answered so."
"They came down dozens of times and caused havoc."
At that moment, Youngwoo answered.
"In the present war against Liao, they kill almost all the people, officials, and soldiers within a city. The havoc I remember them causing against us was more like riding in to demand trade, shooting several hundred arrows if we did not comply, and then leaving."
The king nodded.
"So they were not cruel in war against Goryeo?"
"I dare report this. They see their beginning as having come from Gyerim, and understand Goryeo as a brother country. They think of us as something like an elder brother. So when we do not help them, they feel wronged, make demands, and at times make trouble. Thinking on it now, even after losing the Nine Fortresses, they came to plead. They did not fight us to the death."
The king's brow twitched.
"The reports until now were not like that."
"Naturally, those on the front line may have regarded the weight of the matter as grave."
"So they regarded it that way…"
Youngwoo stopped there.
Making false reports and drawing out more support is not a proper thing.
It was common enough for men to report defensive works the enemy had built as offensive weapons and request more horses and soldiers.
For commanders who feared defeat in battle, that much could be understood.