Volume One: Is There a Path for Humanity in Troubled Times Chapter 28: Decision-Making I

First, they discussed the details of recruitment, and from there, the conversation shifted as Wu Henian began to describe the specific situations of the prefectures and counties governed by Yongping Circuit. The discussion gradually expanded to the various border circuits: their populations, resources, usable assets, and points requiring special attention. With Deng She’s deliberate encouragement, Wu Henian spoke fluently and endlessly.

As an official responsible for civil administration, Wu Henian was an expert in his field. He also possessed an excellent memory; whenever numbers arose—even grain harvests from several years past—he could recall them down to the last digit.

This man was indeed a capable administrator, Deng She thought to himself. The conversation lasted until noon, when the guards brought in a meal and the discussion paused. Naturally, Deng She invited Wu Henian to dine with him. Wu Henian, nervous and deferential, dared not decline and ended up sweating through the meal, sitting tensely at an angle.

After the meal, Deng She did not ask him to stay further. He ordered a clean room to be prepared for Wu Henian to rest in. Though Wu Henian had his own residence in the city, it had long since been taken over by the Red Turbans. Moreover, while the man was talented, he was not particularly virtuous—Deng She could not rest easy without keeping him nearby.

After his conversation with Wu Henian, Deng She felt invigorated. Assuming that the men from the Wen Huaguo group had rested enough, he sent for them—Wen Huaguo, Chen Hu, and Zhao Guo—wishing to consult them about the campaign to Goryeo.

As the saying goes, blessings rarely come alone.

Before Wen and Chen arrived, Guan Shirong returned from persuading the counties to surrender. Relying on the gruesome display of the fleshless skull of the former darughachi, an entire prefecture and six counties had capitulated in terror. The county officials, under guard, were also all brought in.

"According to your orders, General, the word given to them was that those who surrendered would be spared," Guan Shirong reported. "They are now waiting outside in the courtyard. Will General see them?" Since Lady Wang had delegated authority to Deng She, Guan Shirong, Luo Guoqi, and the others had, like Yellow Donkey and Chen Hu, changed how they addressed him.

Deng She had no time for this band of small fry. "Just post guards over them," he said. "Are the local residents in the various counties still calm? Have our recruitment banners and calls for talent reached everywhere?"

"I have left men in every place, specifically responsible for that. The counties and prefectures are peaceful and quiet; nothing amiss," Guan Shirong replied.

Deng She nodded in satisfaction. "You’ve worked hard, Captain Guan. Go and rest. I have already ordered Zhao Guo to select a few fine wives and concubines from among the officials along the route and send them to your quarters."

Guan Shirong smiled, bowed, and withdrew—meeting Wen Huaguo, Chen Hu, and Zhao Guo as he left. After a brief greeting, he went on his way. Wen Huaguo, his robe askew and hair disheveled, was clearly just out of bed. Seeing Deng She, he grumbled, "She-ge, it's barely noon, I've only just eaten and haven't even digested. Why have you called us here?"

Deng She rose and came around from behind his desk.

Outside, the weather had grown even gloomier. By the few large trees in the courtyard, a dozen Red Turban men stood on the flagstones, swords and spears at the ready, acting as guards. He summoned their leader, an old comrade from the mounted bandits, and told him to take his men outside the courtyard and admit no one.

Seeing such caution, Chen Hu asked, "Sir, has something happened in the counties below?"

"I have an important matter to discuss with you two uncles," Deng She said, inviting them to sit. Zhao Guo declined a seat, standing instead behind him.

"What is it?" they asked.

"I wonder what plans you two uncles have for our next steps?"

"Is that all?" Wen Huaguo was disappointed, unconcerned. "Wasn’t it settled already? After recruiting the troops, we go to Shandong."

Chen Hu, a shrewd man, heard the subtlety behind Deng She’s words and immediately guessed he had another plan. He said thoughtfully, "Let’s hear your opinion first, sir."

"Just now, talking with Wu Henian, I was inspired with a rather immature idea. Last month, Guan Pingzhang sent a proclamation to Goryeo—you two uncles remember this, surely?"

Among their own, there was no need to beat around the bush. Since Chen Hu had asked, Deng She spoke plainly.

Chen Hu was taken aback, "Sir, you mean to—" The shock passed quickly; he mastered his expression, but his face was grave.

"Exactly." Deng She had expected this reaction and pressed, "Well? What do you think?" He had made up his mind, but the matter was momentous—everyone’s lives and fortunes hung in the balance. Naturally, he wanted to hear the others’ views. Two heads are better than one.

Chen Hu frowned, pondering at length. He rarely voiced opinions without thorough consideration.

Wen Huaguo finally caught on, his mouth falling open in speechlessness. He was bold, but not to that extent. He simply didn’t know what to say—not because he objected, but because he was at a loss. After a moment, he muttered, "Isn’t our force a little small?"

"This morning, Uncle Chen already spread the rumors. Once they take hold and spread, in the ensuing panic, we should be able to recruit ten thousand men from among the tens of thousands of refugees. That much we can reasonably expect," Deng She explained.

"Ten thousand men…"

"With these ten thousand, we could push eastward. Most cities along the way are already in our hands; even those still held by the Mongols are unlikely to attack if we don’t provoke them. We should be able to reach the Yalu River smoothly." Deng She had thought through the whole operation in detail once he settled on the plan.

"And once we reach the river?"

"From Liao onward, for hundreds of years, war has ravaged Goryeo’s lands—their strength is drained, their people few, their army weak, and their spirit broken. After wave upon wave of invasion by Liao and Yuan, all those fierce warriors have been wiped out; what remains are herds of sheep and swine. Just look at people like He Guangxiu for proof. We, on the other hand, are survivors of chaos, desperate to live and full of resolve—surely we can sweep through with ease. We need not be greedy: seize a town or two, gain a foothold, and then use that as a base to train and arm our men. With the Red Turbans of Liaoyang holding back the Mongols for us, we can act according to the situation as it develops, taking things step by step."

Deng She spoke with apparent simplicity. Chen Hu raised two crucial issues: "We don’t know the land, nor the language."

"We may not speak Goryeo’s tongue, but many in Goryeo speak Chinese. Besides, Goryeo has no writing system—their literate class uses Chinese characters." He recalled that Wen Huaguo and the others were illiterate and shifted the topic. "Uncle Wen, have you forgotten? Before we joined the army, traveling the banks of the Yellow River, how many Goryeo scholars and monks did we see coming to study? Not to mention the Goryeo merchants, coming in endless streams. Just in Yongping Circuit alone, there are a thousand of them. Clearly, there are many in Goryeo who know Chinese, so language isn’t a problem."

"As for unfamiliarity with the land, there are three or four hundred thousand Goryeo refugees in Liaodong alone. Many, like He Guangxiu, were once servants or slaves—these can be enticed with food, the promise of homecoming, or prospects of wealth, and used as our vanguard. As we march to Goryeo via Liaoyang, according to He Guangxiu, there are many Goryeo refugees there. If we can recruit two or three thousand along the way, it will be enough," Deng She explained.

Chen Hu thought for a long time and then nodded slowly. "Whether it’ll work, we’ll have to try to know."

Wen Huaguo, hearing Deng She’s thorough analysis, was stunned for a while and found no grounds for objection. Since he couldn’t find any, it must be feasible. Unlike Chen Hu, he was always straightforward; he slapped the table. "Since ancient times, too many boats don’t block the river, and nobody returns from the gates of hell. She-ge, since you’ve made up your mind, as soon as we have enough men and horses, let’s go take a bite of this fat meat."

Deng She let out a long breath.

With the support of these two, the opinions of the other officers were of little consequence. The treasury was under his control; without money, there would be no troops. With money, those wishing to enlist would know who the real master was. With the army in hand, people like Yellow Donkey became irrelevant—whether they came or not made little difference.

However, Chen Hu asked, "What about Lady Wang?"

He didn’t finish the thought, but the implication was clear. Once the troops were raised, she would surely insist on heading to Shangdu. A promise once given shouldn’t be broken, and offending her was not wise—Wang Shicheng, the Red Turban general, was not to be crossed.

——

1. Goryeo people in Liaodong.

At the time, most of Shenyang Circuit and half of Liaoyang Circuit’s residents were Goryeo people. Even at the beginning of the Ming dynasty, the ethnic makeup of Liaodong was described as "seventeen Chinese, thirteen Goryeo, natives, and surrendered Jurchen wildmen" out of every thirty.

Some were Goryeo people abducted by the Mongols to settle in Liaodong—a large percentage. In just one year, 1254, two hundred thousand Goryeo men and women were taken. Some were Goryeo soldiers who surrendered to the Mongols, numbering perhaps tens of thousands. The capital’s garrison included a myriarchy (ten-thousand household) office made up of Goryeo people; the Mongols also had Goryeo military settlers along the Liao River, Qingyun, and elsewhere. In Shenyang, there was a ten-thousand household office of Han army composed of Goryeo and Jurchen people—one of the three major myriarchies in Liaodong. Additionally, Goryeo troops could be found in Shangdu, Hebei, Shandong, Mongolia, and more. The so-called Han army was not solely Han Chinese; among the "eight kinds of Han," at that time, Goryeo people and Jurchen people were also called Han.

A third important source was Goryeo people who fled to China to escape corvée labor or slavery. The king of Goryeo even wrote to the Yuan emperor: "In recent years, commoners and government or temple slaves from our prefectures and counties have fled to Liaoyang, Shenyang, Shuangcheng (now Yongheung, Korea), and Jurchen areas to avoid forced labor and have dispersed to live there." This shows, first, that Goryeo’s politics were so corrupt as to be even worse than Mongol-ruled China; and second, that those fleeing to China were indeed numerous—otherwise, the Goryeo king would not have risked offending his suzerain by raising the matter.