Carrying annihilation in his hand, Jinki baptised all of the countryside around Silsa in blood. However, he halted also at the city, for his army was weakened from toil, and death had decreased them notably. Rest was necessary, and the General thought that he should stay in Silsa and collect more forces. 

Jinki was extremely delighted when scarcely four days after he had dispatched his messengers, a new troop of fresh reinforcements came to Silsa, led by Seungwan. He went to meet the 3,000 men personally, and really met with the lord of Haneulga, who had with her many talents and notables whom he had heard of before, but never met due to his lofty position. He was introduced to the three Tigers of Haneulga: Jongin, Jongdae, and Junmyeon; young Bang Chan; Seungmin, with his burning and bloody vengeance; and of course Hyukjae, whose former charge as Grand Headman of the Green Sea were markedly different from Jinki’s, but were both kindred spirits as commanders of grand formations. There were also many other nobles with Seungwan — some with escorts, most without. 

The General was greatly pleased, and invited the commanders to his quarters. Seungwan could not help but wonder at the poverty and simplicity of the place, which was not befitting that of the supreme military commander of the country. For Jinki, even though he was a great noble and the King’s favoured general, did not permit himself any comfort in the field, wishing to set an example with himself for his men. He lived therefore in a single room only large enough to accommodate a desk and two beds, one for him and one for his attendant who was always at attention. Seungwan was wonderfully astonished, for even she, a tiny lord compared to Jinki, lived always in comfort and carried carpets in her wagons. Suddenly she was seized by some embarrassment, for she did not eschew any frivolous luxury while she was putting the common people to the sword and fire liberally; she was also starting to understand that perhaps this General of the Armies was a great spirit, and that she had assumed too much and too intimately of him. Perhaps this was a sagely man who could embody the moral backbone of the Sindeok in a time of great devilry and immorality. 

“Worthy lord,” said Jinki, “praise be to Heaven that you have come with your people, for I was beginning to feel that I had been abandoned by the soldiery of the realm.”

“Your messenger made clear the severity of your situation, your eminence,” said Seungwan. “Okcheon is garrisoned by 200 of my good men, and between Haneulga and you the ruffians would be more alarmed of you, so I left and came to assist you.”

“Your 3,000 warriors are like heavenly tigers who will slay and kill the thieving rebels in droves; yet…” here Jinki sighed in front of Seungwan, “Will it be enough? Enough to ride into this storm and disperse it?”

Seungwan would have been offended, but she also noticed the signs of arduous toil on Jinki’s face: sunken cheeks from bad diets, hardened skin like a rock of the desert, a beard that had been left to its own devices, and black circles under the eyes. Her arrival was only of a momentary relief to him, for against him were not only arrayed the rapacious forces of Yifan, but also insurmountable difficulties present at Wiwon two years before. 

“Heaven willing, more nobles like me will join you here in Silsa, and with all our combined forces under one leader, we will crush Yifan and sweep our way to Jeongseon,” said Seungwan.

“It is not a mere matter of combining armies,” said Jinki. “I have made the calculations: Yifan undoubtedly has at least 20,000 men, for that is what the infidel Sage would have calculated necessary to utterly destroy me, whether I fight him on the field or from behind a wall, ensuring that I can never recover from defeat and shore up the defenses of the Jangseong. In addition there will be a substantial following of the rabble with him, which are useless in battle but are able to disperse across the country and enact evil where I cannot see or control. These may number at most 10,000. Can I replicate another Yichang Plain? Will I be able to drive Yifan into a temporising battle in which either victory or defeat have no consequences? I am afraid to estimate how many reinforcements will arrive for me; truthfully, I held little hope for you, but I would accept any aid if it comes — for there will be none from the royal court.”

Jinki spoke with such despondency that the hearts of Seungwan and her men pained for him. Unlike her, Jinki did not carry merely the weight of his own estate and holdings, but the fate of much of Nanwian; on him rested the final remnants of the iron fist of the Crown, for it was unknown how much of the King’s personal military might could be salvaged in the south. If this last royal force was lost, the only hope for Anju was the forces of the Governors and the nobility, which could not be trusted to march immediately to the defence of the capital and man the Jangseong. Seungwan understood that for Jinki, not a single miscalculation — of force, of terrain, of morale, of assets — could be made, for even the slightest mistake heralded unacceptable losses, and risked Jinki’s own destruction, and that of the army and the Crown itself. 

“Your eminence,” said Hyukjae. “I am old and retired, and not fit to give counsel, but allow me a few words of comfort to you: While it may be true that impossible odds are arrayed against us, both from the enemy and our own masters, one must remember that nothing is certain in war. The number of tools and strategems one may employ are numbered as the stars; luck and fate play as much a role as calculations and strategy; advantage may be found in disadvantage, and disadvantage in advantage. Do not despair before you have even set off on your march! And I also know that Yifan commands substantial forces with many valiant warriors, but in my opinion, they are nothing but clay fowls and mud dogs.”

Jinki’s face was brightened. “Most worthy Headman, you should have been appointed to my position with your talents. My troubles have made me ungrateful. Were it not for the difficulties faced in feeding my own men, I would have held a banquet to honour your arrival, Lord Seungwan.”

“Your men are not fed well?” inquired Seungwan. 

“My poor appearance is not solely attributed to military toil. On the way here, I resorted to cutting my own rations to spare some, even if it is insignificant, for the rest of my men. When I departed from Anju I was promised resupply by the gentries and nobles on my route, but not a single one of them gave me anything.”

“Preposterous! And even those in Silsa give you nothing to express their gratitude for saving them from the marauding bandits?”

“Lord Seungwan, you already know the answer, and the reason for their doing so.”

As mentioned, even in these dark times, levies and taxes were unfavourable for the gentries and magnates of the realm, who were quick to extract riches from their holdings but averse to dispensing any wealth, even if their heads were on a chopping block. Money was a solution to a great many problems, but what use was it if people would not spend it on their problems? 

“Surely there must be a way to compel them to make their contributions.”

Jinki scowled, and was in deep thought for a minute. 

“They may be terrorised into fulfilling their obligations…” pondered Jinki. “But there is a man who protects them at present — an old acquaintance of mine, even.”

“Who is he?”

“The steward of Jupa, and also a commander of infantry in Silsa: Sun Minho. I came here to slay bandits and stamp out rebellion, and he is a bandit and rebel in one man; several peasants have told me that he continues parad