Ch.327Exam (4)

A wind colder than a Mongolian winter cut across my skin.

The Deputy Director of the Office of Royal Decrees, wrapped in fur clothing, looked at me with a resentful expression.

“Are you truly taking me because you need me, Your Majesty?”

“Do you think I’m bringing you along to get revenge for what my teacher did to me?”

At my words, the Deputy Director pressed his lips tightly together.

But his eyes clearly revealed his thoughts—isn’t that exactly the reason?

To be honest, that wasn’t entirely untrue…

But there was a bigger reason.

“The Deputy Director has work to do there.”

“Me, Your Majesty?”

“Yes.”

The Deputy Director was a renowned Confucian scholar and teacher.

Having mastered the Four Books and Six Classics since childhood, it would be difficult to find a better teacher in all of Goryeo.

Seeking a teacher for the battlefield.

If anyone else heard this, they might wonder what I was talking about.

“I plan to subjugate the wild Jurchen and civilize them.”

“They are barbarians. It will be difficult to civilize them.”

“You misunderstand, Deputy Director.”

“What do you mean?”

“You must civilize them.”

The Deputy Director had no choice.

He had to civilize them, no matter what.

“Because even if we subdue them by force, they will eventually rebel against us.”

“Ah…”

Even if we forced the wild Jurchen into submission, they would eventually rebel.

To prevent this, we needed to bring them under our influence.

The most effective way to do this was to absorb them through culture.

“Confucianism emphasizes education and civilization. As a Confucian scholar, you understand what I mean, don’t you?”

Education was one of the most important principles in Confucianism.

One of its fundamental beliefs was that everyone could be improved through education.

Additionally, the School of Wang Yangming placed the highest importance on moral practice.

Therefore, Yi Hwang needed to civilize the wild Jurchen with Confucian teachings.

“Since Your Majesty puts it that way… I will follow your command.”

A gleam flashed in the Deputy Director’s eyes.

He was filled with determination to complete this mission as a Confucian scholar.

“I’m counting on you, Deputy Director.”

I said these words to encourage Yi Hwang.

In truth, civilizing the wild Jurchen wasn’t simply to prevent future rebellions.

It was also a strategic move to bring them under my command.

As I mentioned earlier, the wild Jurchen had joined hands with the Chahar tribe and continued to raid across the borders of Goryeo and Mongolia.

They were able to operate like this entirely because of the Princes’ Rebellion.

After this rebellion ended, or once Goryeo’s succession was firmly established, these groups would inevitably face restrictions.

From the perspective of settled nations, allowing nomads to constantly threaten border security would negatively impact public sentiment, legitimacy, and prestige.

This meant the wild Jurchen and Chahar would inevitably face difficult times again.

I planned to mention this point and bring them under my command.

While I was thinking about this, we reached the border region of Goryeo.

Seeing the harsh cold sweeping in from the Siberian plains and the desolate Manchurian landscape spread before us gave me a feeling of openness in my chest.

“Hundreds of years ago, my brothers lived on these steppes.”

At my words, Go Yoon and the Deputy Director looked at me.

Their eyes held confusion, but I continued speaking without paying attention to them.

“The steppe is the land of wind, and my brothers raced across it like wolves. My brothers, who never knew how to stop, wondered where the end of the world was, and I guided them forward into the world.”

Elunka, Chalukhab, Hulitu, Elunka, and Munglig.

I had raced across the vast plains with them.

“Brothers of my soul. I have returned to the ancient land at your call.”

I placed my hand on the barren ground.

The dry soil rested briefly in my hand before being carried away by the wind.

“On the day Tengri touches the earth. Forgive me for responding late to your call.”

“The day Tengri touches the earth” meant summer.

I had returned to the steppe in the same season as the day we had called for the Tatar expedition at the Kurultai.

Not as Yesugei, who roamed the steppes with brave warriors, but in the body of his descendant, Tolui.

“Brothers in heaven, I grieve that we cannot roam the steppes together. Deep in my bones, I feel loneliness in your absence.”

With these words, I mounted my horse again.

After a long breath, I looked at Go Yoon and Yi Hwang.

“Go Yoon.”

At my call, Go Yoon, who had been watching me with a solemn expression, came to his senses.

He bowed and reported to me.

“Command me, Your Majesty.”

“Scout the area. Report to me immediately if you spot any enemies.”

“I receive your command.”

Then I turned to look at the Deputy Director.

“Deputy Director, you will assist me.”

“I receive your command.”

It might seem strange that a scholar would assist me.

However, unlike in actual history, Confucian scholars of this time were well-versed in both civil and military affairs.

Their personal martial skills surpassed those of ordinary people.

So there was no issue with him assisting me.

After giving these orders, I prepared our formation.

It was important to understand the surrounding environment as much as possible to face the enemy here.

* * *

“Beile, the Goryeo dogs have invaded.”

“The Goryeo dogs?”

Baishan Ulchi, the chieftain of the wild Jurchen, rose to his feet.

Since they had been raiding the borders of Goryeo and Mongolia, he had anticipated that Goryeo would send a punitive force.

Therefore, he wasn’t particularly surprised to hear that a punitive force had arrived.

He simply thought that what was expected had come.

“How large is the enemy force?”

“We haven’t confirmed yet, but it’s reported to be not very large.”

“Not large?”

The Beile wore a puzzled expression.

He had expected a punitive force to be much larger.

The Beile thought of the Kheshig-Gyeonryongdae led by Kkeokjeong when he heard that the enemy force was small.

The Kheshig-Gyeonryongdae was Goryeo’s imperial guard unit that had adopted Mongolia’s Kheshig system.

In other words, they were Goryeo’s elite unit with the highest combat capability.

Though not as skilled as Mongolia’s Kheshig, they had excellent horsemanship, enough to perform mounted archery.

“Then the enemy must be the Gyeonryongdae.”

“It doesn’t seem to be the Gyeonryongdae.”

“Not the Gyeonryongdae?”

“That’s right. Most of the enemy forces are infantry armed with long spears and firearms.”

At his subordinate’s words, the Beile wore an incredulous expression.

Facing cavalry with infantry was practically suicide.

Of course, it wasn’t impossible for infantry to face cavalry.

If they deployed far more troops than the cavalry and used encirclement tactics, they could handle them.

But the enemy wasn’t even doing that.

Their force was small and consisted of infantry.

“Is it a trap?”

The Beile found this situation difficult to understand.

He wondered if Goryeo had set a trap.

“It doesn’t seem to be a trap either. After sending swift cavalry to check the rear, we confirmed there are no rear units.”

“I don’t understand.”

“But we noticed a distinctive flag among the enemy forces.”

“A flag?”

“Yes. There was a flag that only the Golden Clan can use.”

“The Emperor wouldn’t come personally… could it be?”

Baishan Ulchi knew about the Princes’ Rebellion.

So he also had information that one of the Mongol princes had taken refuge in Goryeo.

“It must be Möngke Khan or his son Tolui Khan.”

“Based on the circumstances, that seems likely.”

“Does their presence on the battlefield mean the Emperor wants to eliminate them using my hands?”

It was an absurd speculation, but he couldn’t think of anything else.

“Whatever the case, it doesn’t matter. Capturing someone from the Golden Clan would be beneficial to me.”

Capturing someone from the Golden Clan would be valuable in itself.

He could hand them over to another prince and receive a massive ransom.

“Gather all our forces immediately. We cannot miss this opportunity.”

At the Beile’s words, his subordinate left the tent to carry out the order.

After some time passed, thousands of cavalry gathered in one place.

Thousands of cavalry could gather so quickly because all of the wild Jurchen were warriors.

More precisely, it was the tradition of the Nanai tribe to which Baishan belonged.

The Nanai tribe primarily engaged in gathering and fishing.

However, in winter, when the entire sea froze over making fishing difficult, they mostly sustained themselves by hunting.

Given the long winters of the north, it would be fair to say that half their lives were spent hunting.

As a result, the tribe members were more like warriors than fishermen.

Thanks to this, forces could be quickly mobilized when the Beile gave the order.

“Everyone, take up your weapons. The fearless remnants of the Golden Clan have invaded our land.”

At Baishan’s words, desire gleamed in the warriors’ eyes.

They too knew well how high the ransom for a member of the Golden Clan would be.

“If we capture someone from the Golden Clan, we will no longer face threats from Goryeo or Mongolia.”

“Woaaah!”

“Baishan! Baishan!”

The Nanai, Ulchi, and Wolta tribal warriors of the wild Jurchen responded to Baishan’s cry.

“Everyone, move out!”

At Baishan’s command, everyone mounted their horses.

Then they charged forward under his leadership.

After riding for some time, they began to see the Goryeo forces in the distance.

As his subordinate had said, the size of the Goryeo force led by the Golden Clan member was small.

It looked like they didn’t even number 500, just from a rough visual estimate.

The enemy forces, armed with long spears and firearms, began to move as they saw Baishan’s approaching forces.

Seeing this, Baishan snorted and shouted loudly.

“Do you think you can stop us with those weapons!”

The wild Jurchen warriors laughed along with Baishan’s shout.

Such infantry would surely collapse under a cavalry charge.

With this thought, the cavalry continued to charge forward boldly.

Before them, the Goryeo soldiers with long spears began to take their positions.

The momentum suggested they would crush the infantry at any moment.

Thus, the wild Jurchen cavalry and Goryeo infantry forces clashed on the Manchurian plains.