Chapter 162: Start Preparing for War [1] "Hmm?"
At Yoshitoshi's words, Hwang Yungil, Kim Seongil, and Heo Seong, who had been sitting off to one side, all widened their eyes.
Even Yeoju's expression beside Kanghyeok was not much different.
Only Kanghyeok remained calm.
He merely set down the wine cup he had been drinking from.
"Strike Ming? Do you truly mean that?"
Kim Seongil instantly wiped the smile from his face and asked back in a voice filled with indignant anger.
It was a sight truly befitting his nickname, the Tiger of the Saheonbu.
By contrast, Hwang Yungil looked cautious and did not open his mouth rashly.
Still, the expression with which he pressed Yoshitoshi for an answer was the same.
"Yes. It is something openly talked about in the current bakufu."
"Hah. What a ridiculous story. No matter if he is the general who unified Japan, Ming? Is that something one says without knowing what a great power Ming is?"
"And yet the Kanpaku's will is firm."
"He may think so now. He may be full of bold spirit at the moment. But… once he comes to his senses, he will clearly realize things cannot go that way."
Yoshitoshi quietly watched Kim Seongil, who was speaking heatedly as though invasion were already upon them.
He is angry, but he does not believe it.
It felt more like his pride had been wounded.
At the bottom of it, it was obvious he thought Yoshitoshi was spouting nonsense.
On the other hand, Hwang Yungil, who was quietly listening, was a little different.
He was not taking Yoshitoshi's words lightly.
For one thing, worry had already spread all over his face.
Yoshitoshi quietly nodded, then turned his gaze back to Kim Seongil.
In his mind, there was only one person here he truly needed to persuade.
"Elder Kim Seongil, what do you think is the condition necessary for war to break out?"
"War? Well, of course…"
Kim Seongil opened his mouth as though he would answer at once, but could not easily continue.
He had never actually experienced war, much less spent much time deeply contemplating it in everyday life.
Of course, it was not as though he had never read or memorized military manuals, but that had never gone much beyond the level of a pastime.
He could not compare with Yoshitoshi, who had experienced war firsthand.
"In my opinion, there is only one condition necessary for war."
"And that is… what?"
Kim Seongil looked at Yoshitoshi with an awkward expression.
The same went for Heo Seong, who was still keeping silent.
Now that, I'm curious about.
Even Kanghyeok, who had only been listening from behind, showed interest.
Before he knew it, his body had leaned halfway toward Yoshitoshi.
As a result, Yeoju got squeezed a little, but even she did not dare say anything.
The atmosphere in the room was that heavy and serious.
"It is the will of the leader of the invading country. Nothing is more important than that."
"Mm."
Kim Seongil let out a low sound at that simple and clear answer.
Thinking about it, it truly was so.
Even in Joseon, if King Seonjo strongly insisted on striking Japan, there were not many means of stopping him.
Of course, if he said they should strike Ming, quite a few scholars would probably foam at the mouth trying to stop him.
But was the relationship between Japan and Ming really so different from the relationship between Joseon and Ming?
There seemed to be no justification strong enough to prevent the war.
"But do they believe Joseon would step aside and let them pass in order to strike Ming?"
Heo Seong, who had kept silent until then, finally spoke.
His expression was very dark, and it seemed he had become convinced that Japan would invade.
Yoshitoshi quietly shook his head.
"I do not think so. The Kanpaku may believe that… but at least I do not."
As the lord of Tsushima, Yoshitoshi had gone back and forth with Joseon quite often.
What was more, had he not even stayed in Joseon in recent years?
The Joseon he had seen placed tremendous importance on its duty toward Ming.
Therefore, if Japan tried to strike Ming, he believed Joseon would fight them rather than ever open the road for them.
On that point, Hwang Yungil and Kim Seongil thought the same.
The two nodded and spoke without either one waiting for the other.
"That's right."
"If it comes to that, then Japan will inevitably have to fight Joseon before it can deal with Ming."
"And if that happens, Ming will not turn its back on us… in the end, Japan will have to face the combined forces of Joseon and Ming."
There was even a sense of pride on Kim Seongil's face.
It was as though he were saying Japan could be easily defeated by Joseon alone, so how could it possibly be a fight at all if Ming joined in?
That same pride was not much different in Hwang Yungil, and it was obvious enough for anyone in the room to feel.
Even Kanghyeok, sitting much farther back, could feel it strongly.
So this is how they were thinking. No wonder Joseon got crushed so badly at the start.
How could there have been a proper war when they were underestimating the other side like this before it had even begun?
In truth, the diplomatic mission had seen nothing but Tsushima.
And even there, by Yoshitaka's orders, all useful weapons and trained soldiers had been cleared away from the mission's sight.
Having heard that whole inside story from Sayaga, Kanghyeok could only feel worried.
Fortunately, Yoshitoshi seemed determined to lay everything bare here.
"There is… something I would like to show you. Would that be all right?"
"Ah. Go ahead."
"Attend me."
At Yoshitoshi's command, the tightly shut paper door opened.
It was certainly the same garden as before, but the scene had changed considerably.
First of all, three soldiers, fully armored, stood in a line holding matchlocks.
Facing them were three scarecrows in armor as well.
"What is this?"
Kim Seongil asked, startled by the sudden appearance of the soldiers.
Hwang Yungil also could not hide his surprise, but unexpectedly, Heo Seong remained perfectly calm.
That was because he had seen the Joseon military officers standing around the soldiers with the guns.
If Yoshitoshi tried anything foolish, there were enough of them present to subdue him immediately.
Of course, Yoshitoshi had not the slightest intention of doing anything of the sort.
He gave a dry laugh and spoke.
"Do you remember the weapon those soldiers are holding?"
"A weapon…? Ah. It's that thing you showed us at Gyeonghoeru before we came here."
"Yes. It is called a matchlock."
"I know that much. But what of it?"
Even after seeing what was, by all appearances, a cutting-edge weapon, Kim Seongil did not seem particularly impressed.
Good grief… does he really have so little sense for this?
At the sight, Kanghyeok quietly shook his head.
Yoshitoshi also failed to hide his disbelief for a moment.
He had resolved himself and exposed one of his country's greatest weapons right in front of a foreign power, so how could he not react that way when the response was so lukewarm?
"Ah… for now, please watch. It will be rather loud, so it would be best to cover your ears."
"That's—"
"Fire!"
Yoshitoshi deliberately gave the order during the moment Kim Seongil hesitated.
As expected, the lord's command was absolute, and the soldiers fired at once without the slightest delay.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
With a sound like thunder cracking, the scarecrows on the other side toppled like apparitions.
"Ah…"
"Now bring over those suits of armor."
"Yes!"
Ignoring the stunned expressions on Kim Seongil and Hwang Yungil's faces, Yoshitoshi kept issuing orders.
The soldiers again moved in perfect order, and soon they brought over the armor the scarecrows had been wearing.
They were all armor made of steel.
Even so, bullet holes had pierced through them cleanly.
The distance had been no less than fifty paces, so in this era, that could only be called terrifying power.
"See for yourselves."
"Huh."
Some of the armor was still smoking.
At a sight like that, both Kim Seongil and Hwang Yungil finally began to reconsider.
"This has this much power…"
"The wars we endured during the Sengoku period also began to change in character with the appearance of this weapon. Before it, even the most exceptional samurai are bound to fall."
Only then did Kim Seongil look over the matchlock with keen interest.
He examined it from one angle, then another, even shaking it a little, before looking at Yoshitoshi.
"From the look of it, the process of making this must be complicated. How many of these weapons do you have? A thousand or so?"
"If there are a thousand of these, then yes, I suppose it would indeed be threatening."
Hwang Yungil also chimed in, looking deeply troubled.
Yoshitoshi, meanwhile, looked even more dumbfounded than before.
How long had they fought the Sengoku wars that there would be only a mere thousand of these?
If they searched Tsushima Island alone, they could likely turn up at least that many.
"The amount ordered by the Kanpaku comes to one hundred fifty thousand."
"One hundred fifty thousand?"
"That is correct."
"No… are there really soldiers enough to handle that many weapons?"
"Yes. On Tsushima Island alone, there are already more than a thousand."
"Huh… this is no ordinary matter."
Kim Seongil and Hwang Yungil turned to look at each other with tense expressions.
If they could have, they would have returned to Joseon at once and reported this urgent truth.
But there was still much of the itinerary left.
So while they remained stuck, unable to do this or that, Yoshitoshi extended a helping hand once more.
"If you write a letter, I will send it to Joseon by ship."
"Would you truly do that?"
"It is not a difficult thing."
"No, wait. I appreciate your goodwill, but I cannot understand why you are going this far."
Unlike Hwang Yungil, whose face brightened at once, Kim Seongil did not let go of his suspicion.
What if Yoshitoshi received a letter telling Joseon to prepare for war and sent it not to Joseon but to Kyoto instead?
Then not only the safety of the diplomatic mission but Joseon's safety as well would be put at risk.
Moreover, the claim that there were one hundred fifty thousand of these matchlocks was not easy to believe.
Perhaps this whole display was a kind of deception meant to secure a favorable foothold in the Joseon-Japan negotiations taking place through this diplomatic mission.
It was a reasonable suspicion, but from Yoshitoshi's side, it was becoming rather frustrating.
Should I just scrap the whole thing?
The thought came to him so strongly it nearly turned extreme.
This is going to fall apart at this rate.
Was Kanghyeok not someone who liked reading people in the first place?
In a situation like this, where he had no choice but to keep his mouth shut and watch the conversation, he tended to focus on that even more.
Thanks to that, he could almost see straight through Yoshitoshi's thoughts.
Looks like I'll have to step in again.
Kanghyeok shoved the untouched wine table far off to one side.
It scraped against the floor with a harsh dragging sound.
Because of that, everyone in the room turned to look at him.
Without showing the slightest sign of fluster, Kanghyeok opened his mouth.
It was exactly the situation he had intended.
"Ahem. My apologies for interrupting while you are speaking. May I step in for a moment?"
"Ah, go ahead."
Kim Seongil was still weak only where Kanghyeok was concerned.
Hwang Yungil had been that way from the beginning.
As for Yoshitoshi, there was no need to even mention it.
"Lord Yoshitoshi here is someone who received a truly major operation from me. He is also someone who knows gratitude. So I would like to ask you to trust him… but simply saying that would not be enough, would it?"
"Mm."
"So let me ask you this. While traveling through Tsushima, did you happen to see any soldiers, warships, or similar weapons?"
"Hmm? Hmm… no."
"Is that not strange, when it is a place where the war only recently ended?"
"Hmm…"
Now that he thought about it, he really had not seen any at all.
He had not thought much of it before, but hearing Kanghyeok say it, it did seem strange.
"The reason is that Yoshitaka, one of the Kanpaku's trusted men—Toyotomi Hideyoshi's trusted men, that is—has been going ahead in advance to inspect the places the diplomatic mission will visit."
"Kuki Yoshitaka…? Him, I know of. But how does Assistant Baek know that?"
"By chance, I once treated the man. I learned of it in the process. His route happened to overlap with ours. By sheer coincidence, he was always there more than ten days ahead of us."
"Huh. I see. Then we cannot delay. Bring brush, paper, and ink."
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