59
It was near sunset.The ramparts of Liaoyang still carried the scorched smell of fire, and whenever the wind blew, ash lifted lightly into the air.The soldiers ended their evening labor and dispersed, and for a brief while the fortress regained its quiet.
Then a courier arrived.It was a sealed letter from Gaegyeong.Baek In-gun dismounted and received it.The seal was neat, the wax unbroken.For a reply to a victory report, it was overly polished.That was what caught his eye first.
He sat on the stone steps of the rampart and broke the seal.The script was the familiar style of the court—precise, faultless, and devoid of feeling.
We have received and read the memorial reporting the course of the Battle of Liaoyang Fortress.The court commends the efforts of General Baek In-gun and his officers and soldiers.
Up to that point, it was expected.He let his gaze drop.
However, this engagement exceeded the original scope of the military mandate, and its potential diplomatic repercussions with the Northern Yuan cannot be ignored.
Baek In-gun's hand paused.The paper fluttered in the wind.
Therefore, the general is to stabilize the troops at once and devote himself to restoring order within the fortress, refraining from any further military action until receiving instructions from the court.
He drew a slow breath and read on.It meant: with the enemy advancing before him, do not move.
Furthermore, to prevent misunderstanding with the Northern Yuan, make clear that this battle was an unavoidable clash arising in the course of suppressing rebellious forces.
The sentences flowed evenly to the end.There was no censure, no praise—only an accounting of facts and a line drawn.
Baek In-gun stared at the letter without folding it.Below his gaze lay the walls of Liaoyang.Burned stone and unremoved traces still clung to the base of the fortress.The city had held.The enemy commander was dead, and Nahachu had withdrawn.The outcome of the battle was clear.
He had made his decisions on the battlefield.He had blown the gate, hidden his forces, drawn the enemy inside.By that judgment, men lived—and by it, men died.He already knew its weight.
The weight of the letter in his hand was different.A battlefield decision is paid for in blood.A court's decision is paid for in records.
He reread the final line.
The court will not forget the general's loyalty and merit.
Baek In-gun let out a short breath.No emotion entered his smile.
"Will not forget."
He folded the letter and slipped it into his robes.Then he looked down from the rampart.A few soldiers were still hauling stones, working on with wounded arms and limping legs.
The court did not reach them.Diplomacy was invisible to them.What kept them going was simply getting through the day.
Baek In-gun watched them for a long while, then said,
"Now I understand."
No explanation followed.The sky over Liaoyang was clear, the wind cold.
A Secret Meeting — Baek In-gun and the Court Officer
That night, the fortress lay as if holding its breath.Liaoyang, scorched by fire, endured the darkness in stillness.Behind the burned ramparts, in a corner of the old Liaodong Provincial Garden—a broad courtyard where governors once exchanged cups—one lantern swayed low.They had chosen an open place deliberately.This was a conversation meant to remain even if overheard.
Baek In-gun and the court officer sat facing each other.The table between them was bare save for two cups.The officer poured the wine first.As its scent spread, the air grew heavier.
"I cannot easily accept the court's command," Baek In-gun said without lifting his cup."Right after retaking Liaoyang, they order us to halt military action and seek talks with Nahachu."
The officer lowered his cup and bowed his head.
"I expected you would feel so. I thought the same at first."
He paused.The lantern trembled in the wind.
"There is, however, a current you have not yet traced."
"If the rebellion in the south of the Yangtze shakes the heart of the empire, the future balance will change entirely."
Baek In-gun's brow tightened.
"You mean the remnants of the Red Turbans?"
"It is no longer the same," the officer replied, his voice low but firm."In the Central Plains, the contest for the throne has already begun—Chen Youliang, Zhang Shicheng, Guo Zixing. These are no longer remnants."
He continued:
"The force you faced here in Liaoyang is but a fragment compared to them.This is no longer merely a border issue."
The lantern swayed, lighting their faces in turn.
"So the court already grasped this?" Baek In-gun asked quietly.
"Yes."The officer nodded."The nobles of Beiping are moving back to the steppe. The empire's shape remains, but the people's allegiance has drifted."
"A state cannot endure once the people have left it."
"The Yuan still has armies."
"The armies remain," the officer agreed."But a state is not sustained by armies alone."
Baek In-gun exhaled.
"So this is why they tell us to stay our blades."
"Exactly," the officer answered without hesitation."A direct clash with the Northern Yuan now would harm Goryeo.We would be seen as a country taking up arms amid chaos."
Baek In-gun lifted his cup.The surface of the wine quivered faintly.
"I see it this way," he said."Those who chase the deer do not look back at the rabbit."
The officer drained his cup and raised his head slowly.
"But there is also the saying, Those who chase the deer fail to see the mountain."
He gestured into the darkness.
"Liaoyang's walls may be restored, but the terrain of the Central Plains is shifting.If you fix your eyes only on the deer, the country may lose the ground on which it stands."
Baek In-gun fell silent for a long time.Wind brushed across the fire-scorched stones.
"For now, I will understand this as an order to avoid conflict with the Yuan and extend a hand," he said at last.
The officer bowed.
"First comes peace and alignment.In the long term, even submission must be considered."
Baek In-gun's hand tightened around his cup.
"I understand that this is a judgment over the fate of the state," he said."That is precisely why it weighs so heavily."
The officer raised his cup and lightly touched it to Baek In-gun's.
"From here on, the struggle will be fought not with blades, but with words. Diplomacy."
A brief sound rang in the night air.They drank in silence.
The battle of Liaoyang had been concluded.The calculations had only just begun.The lantern did not go out; it burned on, swaying gently.