142
Report on the Situation at Gouwu Fortress in Jiangnan
Formally Submitted
To the Secretariat–Chancellery and the Privy Council,Your servant, Right Chancellor of the Secretariat, Toqto'a,humbly reports the current state of affairs and handling of the battle at Gouwu Fortress in Jiangnan.
I. Course of the Suppression
Gouwu Fortress in Jiangnan was a strategic stronghold illegally occupied by the traitor Zhang Shicheng,who incited the populace and disrupted grain levies and commercial routes.For the restoration of imperial order, a punitive campaign against the region was unavoidable.
Accordingly, the court dispatched regular forces to fully encircle the fortress,severing supply lines and traffic in accordance with traditional siege doctrine.After a prolonged period of pressure, the rebel forces gradually lost their command structureand showed clear signs of disintegration.
II. On the Allied Forces (Goryeo Army)
The troops dispatched by the Kingdom of Goryeo participated at the court's requestas auxiliary allied forces,carrying out perimeter containment and limited siege-support duties.
While these forces displayed a degree of initiative in localized engagements,such actions occurred only after the imperial army's encirclement and overall battle situationhad already been firmly established.They therefore constituted partial contact rather than decisive action.
The fall of the fortress was not the result of any single unit's突발적 돌출 행동,but rather the cumulative outcome of the imperial army's comprehensive encirclement,containment, and sustained pressure.
Accordingly, this victory cannot be attributed to the unilateral merit of the allied forces,but must be recognized as the result of the imperial army's orderly execution of operations.
III. On the Escape of Zhang Shicheng
The rebel leader Zhang Shicheng fled using a secret passagethat had been constructed within the fortress in advance.This was not the result of any failure in command or strategic judgment by the punitive forces,but rather an evasion enabled by the traitor's long familiarity with the terrainacquired through prolonged occupation.
As his main force has now been dismantledand Gouwu Fortress has been fully recovered,the strategic objectives of this campaign are deemed to have been achieved.
IV. Issues of Discipline at the End of Battle
During the final phase of combat,certain excessive actions were observed among elements of the allied forces.These incidents arose under the exceptional conditionsof nighttime siege warfare and urban combat.
They did not reach a level that compromised imperial command authority or military discipline.The undersigned promptly issued a withdrawal order to all forces,thereby preventing unnecessary clashes and misunderstandings.
Through this action, the hierarchy and operational order of the empirewere clearly maintained.
V. Conclusion
Gouwu Fortress was captured through the imperial army's strategy of encirclement and pressure.
The Goryeo forces fulfilled a limited, auxiliary role as allied troops.
Zhang Shicheng fled in defeat, and the rebel forces have effectively collapsed.
Imperial authority has been preserved, and stability among the Jiangnan populace is anticipated.
Your servant respectfully submits that this victorybe recorded as a demonstration of the empire's controland the restoration of order.
Respectfully submitted,Toqto'a (脫脫)Right Chancellor of the Secretariat
When the report from the Secretariat–Chancellery of the Yuan capital was read to the end,the court fell silent.
Even the rustle of silk shoes and the scratching of brushes ceased.No one spoke first.
All present understood the same thing:this document was well written.
It did not deny the facts.It merely redirected where those facts pointed.
Merit was blurred.Responsibility was dispersed.And the conclusion always converged on a single line:
"The empire's order has been preserved."
One minister cleared his throat.
"…As expected of the Chancellor."
It sounded like praise,but was in truth a confirmation.
Another minister added,"There were rumors spreading through Jiangnanthat the Goryeo troops opened the gate,but with this document, such talk will naturally fade."
A third chuckled softly."Zhang Shicheng escaped. Gouwu fell. The empire saved face.What more is needed?"
The words were mild,and the conclusion unanimous.
Let it pass.
Yet in the deepest layer of that silence,one person was calculating something entirely different.
Empress Gi's Assessment
Empress Gi had already skimmed the report once.Now her gaze rested not on the sentences,but on the spaces between them.
"Auxiliary force.""Limited role.""A battle situation already concluded."
She smiled inwardly.
None of it was false.And yet the most important questions were missing.
Why did Zhang Shicheng escape?Why did the Yuan forces withdraw first that night?Why, at the exact moment the gate was opened,did the imperial army wait?
This was a document designedto prevent such questions from ever being asked.
Empress Gi reflected.
Toqto'a still understood the battlefield.But now, he understood the court even better.
Her eyes paused at one deliberately diminished passage—the section concerning Park Seong-jin.
"Excessive actions within the allied forces."
That single line troubled her.
Excessive—yet unpunished.Dangerous—yet spared.
She reached a conclusion.
That Chancellor was still conserving his blade.
Her fingers tapped slowly against the armrest of the jade throne.
Toqto'a had survived once again.
The report was flawless,leaving no opening for rebuttal.
Yet a flawless reportwas also a flawless excuse.
Empress Gi was already looking toward the next move.
The Goryeo army.That young warrior.And the danger Toqto'a chose not to kill.
She murmured softly to herself.
"That boy is a blade."
"And Toqto'a did not discard it."
At that moment, her evaluation was complete.
This time, she would let it pass.But next time—if she could sever both the hand that wielded the bladeand the Chancellor who refused to drop it,so much the better.
Empress Gi smiled.
No one in the court realizedthat it was not the smile of victory.
If it were acknowledged that the Goryeo army had played the decisive role,Empress Gi's influence at court would only grow stronger.
It was obvious who feared that outcome.
The names of those who agreed with today's reportwere quietly written down.