Chapter 236 — Jongmang's Visit 1
Soon after, Jongmang came.
"Ahhh, I was going to sleep here tonight, but my uncle had already set out, and I got scolded terribly for it."
"His heart must be urgent. The matter is important, so how could his mind not be busy?"
"That does not mean things will be accomplished."
"You have been entrusted with Song, have you not?"
"That is how it turned out. Tell me about this man named Yi Jaryang. What kind of man is he?"
"I do not know how to read people."
"Just tell me how people speak of him."
"He is a man of a great house. He belongs to the Inju Yi clan, and he is the younger brother of Yi Jagyeom. So he has the strength of his family inside the court, and he is not distant from the royal house either."
Jongmang's eyebrows moved slightly.
"Then he is a man of power?"
"Yes. But he is not only a man of power. He once followed General Yun Gwan in the campaign against the Jurchen, and he has also gone to Song as an envoy. You could say he has seen both the dust of the battlefield and the rites of the central plains court."
Jongmang listened a little more closely at those words.
Yeongu continued.
"He also has literary talent. I have heard that he composed poetry in the Song court and received praise.
He is not someone in Goryeo who would take the Jurchen matter lightly. He knows the old campaign, and he also knows that the affairs of the north do not end with a simple phrase like 'the barbarians have risen.'"
"Is he favorable to us?"
Yeongu did not answer right away.
It was not easy to grasp where a person would move on each matter merely from his disposition.
People often moved for their own benefit, so it seemed easy to read them by watching that.
But many people moved in the opposite direction.
Out of ignorance, and out of foolishness, they did things that struck their own feet.
"It would be hard to call him favorable. He is a subject of Goryeo, so he will see Goryeo's interest first.
But he is someone who knows how to listen. If he judges that our request touches Goryeo's interest, he can open a channel of speech within the court."
Jongmang nodded.
Yeongu added in a slightly lower voice.
"However, you must be careful. He is a noble of a great house, and he knows the weight of the court and public opinion. If you push forward empty words or overly large promises first, he will step back.
You must speak in order.
Military cooperation between Goryeo and Jin.
The containment of Liao by Goryeo, Jin, Song, Western Xia, and others.
The diplomatic benefit that communication between Jin and Song brings to Goryeo."
Jongmang asked,
"Then what should I show him?"
Yeongu answered.
"You must show him what Goryeo gains first.
If Liao weakens, the pressure on Goryeo's northern border lessens.
If Jin defeats Liao, Goryeo may obtain a hundred years of peace, just as it did after the Goryeo–Khitan wars.
Between Song, Liao, and Jin, Goryeo gains choices. Goryeo takes the initiative in that diplomacy. It is the right of the one who makes the introduction. A man like Yi Jaryang understands that calculation."
He paused for a moment, then continued.
"To put it in one line, Yi Jaryang may be a civil official dressed in silk, but he is not a man who knows nothing of the dust of the frontier.
He has smelled the incense of the Song court, and he has also smelled the blood of the Jurchen front.
A man like that will not listen to General Jongmang's words carelessly."
"My worries are as high as a mountain."
"Goryeo's position is introduction. It is to help the two countries meet. What matters to Jin is negotiation with Song. Please focus on that side."
Yeongu drew a line in the air with his finger.
The movement looked as if he were swinging a sword.
Jongmang's eyes followed it.
As the conversation kept growing into a matter between Goryeo and Jin, Yeongu pulled the direction of the talk back toward Song.
"What you ask of Song is the same as what you ask of Goryeo. To send troops at the proper time. A declaration of war would be good as well. Of course, if they do that, they will fear being badly punished by Liao. Tell them to use this opportunity to do what they have feared to do until now. Then Liao will be attacked from the southeast, the north, and the south."
Jongmang asked,
"So this is not about gaining something immediately?"
"Practical gain comes later. If they offer something, do not refuse it. But there is no need to bow because of it. It was Song who requested a diplomatic meeting. That side is more complicated than Goryeo. Very layered."
After speaking for a while, Yeongu scratched his head.
It was the expression he made when something would not come to mind.
Then he continued.
"They say the emperor there is not in his right mind. That may itself become a problem."
"What is he like?"
Yeongu looked troubled.
"If you ask why, I have little to answer with.
They say he does not properly attend to government.
He loves paintings, calligraphy, and fine objects. He neglects state affairs while pursuing the arts."
Jongmang laughed in disbelief.
"Hoho. Why would that be a problem?"
"They say his ability as emperor falls far short of his talent as a literatus.
He is an emperor with remarkable artistic talent.
His calligraphy and painting surpass those of ordinary painters.
They say he mobilizes the people to decorate gardens, and imposes heavy taxes on them to obtain rare flowers and stones.
They also say the previous age's New Policies had made the finances sound, but he wastes those finances on luxury.
I heard that he measured fields with shortened rulers and transferred the remaining land into the state treasury, and confiscated land with ambiguous sales contracts, so the resentment of the people is high. And what else was there, hm, hm."
As Yeongu spoke, his face gradually wrinkled.
"In any case, he appears to be what people commonly call a benighted ruler.
And beneath him, there must be all sorts of wicked men. Treacherous ministers. I do not know all their names, but anyway, they say the men at the highest levels are treacherous ministers. The country must be in disorder."
Jongmang pressed a hand to his forehead.
"Why did they entrust this matter to me? Hah."
When tasks were divided and assigned, even if one received a good task, it felt as though one had received the hardest.
A benighted ruler and treacherous ministers.
There was nothing to say.
"You do not need to add concern for that country. We must show our ability.
We must show that we possess overwhelming military strength, enough to defeat a much larger enemy with a small force."
Jongmang sighed.
A dark ruler and treacherous ministers.
In a court like that, nothing would be easily accomplished.
Anything could happen.
It was the worst kind of opponent.
Jongmang asked,
"Is there nothing good? They are the ones seeking us out."
Yeongu tried to recall as much as he could of what he had heard from Park Geunsu and Oryang.
Unlike before, those words came back to him with strange clarity.
The words he had memorized revealed new meanings the more they repeated themselves in his head.
Meanings he had not understood when he first heard them now appeared one by one before his eyes.