The Japanese raiders (Waegu).
Before the shock of abolishing private armies had even settled, another challenge swept over Goryeo.
The Japanese raiders (Waegu).
They had long plundered the southern coasts, but this time was different.
The waegu of the past were bands of thieves who looted and dispersed.
This time, from beginning to end, they moved like a military force.
Their numbers were large, the area of damage vast.
They did not strike once and withdraw, but instead occupied territory and raided deep inland.
They were regular troops disguised as bandits.
They were organized, fully armed, and capable of executing operations.
At first, small southern ports were reduced to ashes overnight.
After several days, their pattern of movement changed.
This was not simple looting.
They cut supply routes and blocked the approaches of the government forces.
Eventually, they engaged the royal army head-on.
Reports of defeat poured in from everywhere.
Where they had once avoided clashes with government troops, they now showed no hesitation in confronting them.
"The naval forces of Gyeongsang Udo have been defeated."
"Goseongjin has fallen."
"Sacheon County is in flames."
Before internal unrest had fully subsided, an external threat rose to the surface.
Officials were already exhausted from dismantling private armies.
The remnants of the powerful clans had scattered, but the nation itself was still shaking.
Exploiting that gap, the waegu rounded the southern coast and began advancing north along the western shoreline.
"We must discuss countermeasures."
"If we abandon the Jeolla coast, Chungcheong will be in danger."
"If this continues, even Gaegyeong will be threatened."
The court hastily convened an emergency council.
All civil and military officials were present.
Yun-dam spoke first.
"It would be best to summon Lord Park."
The hall stirred.
Park Seong-jin had not intervened in the civil conflict, but this was different.
Internal unrest is resolved through politics.
External threats must be blocked with the sword.
The king nodded.
"Summon Middle Commander Park."
At that moment, the air in the council chamber changed.
Leaving behind the stillness of the northern garden, Park Seong-jin entered the court hall.
No one spoke, but his presence altered the density of the space itself.
He did not sit.
He stood quietly at the back of the hall.
The king asked,
"Middle Commander Park. How do you assess the movements of these waegu?"
Park Seong-jin closed his eyes briefly.
He recalled reports, maps, and the flow of unseen forces.
He spoke concisely.
"This is not the movement of bandits.
It exceeds what mere raiders are capable of.
They did not cross over in a single line but from multiple points simultaneously.
There is change in Wa.
They are trained regular troops."
The king asked again,
"Can they be stopped?"
Park Seong-jin nodded.
"They are external enemies.
This is not a matter of capability.
Even at the cost of our bodies, we must stop them.
And we can stop them.
This will be a full-scale war."
At the words full-scale war, the faces of ministers and officials hardened.
Internal governance had just been overturned by the abolition of private armies.
Now Goryeo faced a new battlefield in the form of the waegu.
*Park Seong-jin's words were brief and calm.
No explanation was needed.
"When the enemy comes, we go out and fight."
To him, war was duty.
If given an army, he would lead it.
If not, he would fight as a common soldier.
The problem lay with the court.
The waegu were advancing northward, while Gaegyeong stood at the center of sweeping reform.
The power structure had not yet been fully reorganized.
Remnants of the noble factions still struggled sporadically.
Even the heart of the court was unstable.
In such circumstances, sending Park Seong-jin to the front would mean removing the central pillar of the palace's defense.
The court could not reach a conclusion.
The meeting hall grew suffocating with indecision.
In that silence, Park Seong-jin spoke.
"Leading the army to the front is, by right, the king's responsibility."
"If His Majesty personally leads the campaign, the enemy will retreat.
Internal resistance will also subside."
All civil and military officials drew in their breath at once.
The logic was sound.
But the weight was overwhelming.
The ministers voiced their concerns.
"If His Majesty leaves the palace, the risk of rebellion within the capital will be great."
"They will seize the moment when the throne stands empty."
Park Seong-jin fell silent for a moment.
Then he moistened his lips once.
"Then decide as you see fit."
He said nothing more.
A royal campaign could be an answer.
But if the king were absent, internal unrest could flare again.
The court stood frozen before a weight that could not be divided into right or wrong.
When the meeting ended, Park Seong-jin returned silently to the northern garden.
He walked alongside Song I-sul through the quiet grove.
Song I-sul understood why Park Seong-jin did not force a decision.
What mattered was not the ability to protect them, but their own will to protect.
They would have to divide the army as though carving away their own flesh.
He was not a sword, but a shadow.
The nation moves only as much as it can endure.
It does not interfere in matters it must resolve on its own.
In the wind of the northern garden, the two spoke little.
Song I-sul finally broke the silence.
"No solution will come easily."
Park Seong-jin closed his eyes.
"There is an answer. But the court has no breathing room right now.
Internal unrest and external threat."
The waegu were drawing closer.
Reform was still unstable.
The king and the court could not choose a direction.
Only in this quiet garden did time seem to move slowly.