Requesting That Seo Seong Be Sent to Watch the Enemy and Seize the Moment請遣徐渻審察賊情乘機行計。啓
淸正往來書信乃是大段機關應之不可不審伏見劉總兵所答之辭雖曲折未詳而所謂康玉湖者似是中原之人被擄於倭中而言淸正不見信於關白之事賊情所在固難測知果若有是玆乃可乘之機也昔囘紇與吐番相結入冦而郭子儀諜知二虜爭長不睦使之離間而幷擊吐蕃軍機所係甚不可忽而權慄諸人撫機縮蓄不能與劉總兵極意相謀以爲策應行計之圖而但曰何忍與此賊相通此實守株之見非通變之論也夫行長之與淸正相爭不和自前已有其說惟敬亦言之今之投書於劉總兵安知不出於自中爭狠而然耶今其計不施而劉總兵又離八莒撤回全羅道淸正亦畏其言之漏洩而圖爲自明之計則反欲以戰鬪立功自蓋其迹而爲免罪之地慶州之事益危矣在我之勢兵少食缺。天兵已撤已無可爲而如此機會又復差過臣等之意徐渻不可不送雖不以監軍下去而急下與劉總兵相見細問其意爲從長善處之策且觀賊情如何元帥處置疎密而十分論議停當計畫便宜施行則庶有一分之益矣
The letters that pass back and forth with Kiyomasa (淸正) are a great turning point, and how we answer them cannot but be considered.
Looking humbly at the reply of Regional Commander Liu (劉總兵), though the particulars are not set out in detail, the man called Kang Yuhu (康玉湖) seems to be a man of the Central Plain taken captive by the Japanese. He says that Kiyomasa has not won the trust of the kanpaku; the enemy's condition is of course hard to gauge, but if such a thing be true, this is precisely an opening to be seized.
In old days, when the Huihe (回紇) joined with the Tubo (吐蕃) and came raiding, Guo Ziyi (郭子儀) spied out and learned that the two barbarian peoples were contending for the lead and were not in accord, and he set them against each other, drew the Huihe to his side, and struck the Tubo together with them. A matter bound up with the turn of a war must not be greatly neglected. Yet Gwon Yul (權慄) and the rest hold the opening in their hands and shrink back and leave it as it is, failing to plan with Regional Commander Liu with all their mind for concerted support (策應) and the carrying out of a stratagem, and saying only, "How could we bear to be in communication with this enemy?" This is truly the view of one who guards a tree stump, and not the counsel of a man who knows how to meet a change.
That Yukinaga (行長) and Kiyomasa contend with each other and are not in accord has been spoken of before now, and Shen Weijing said it too. How then are we to know that the letter thrown to Regional Commander Liu did not come out of their own quarreling and hatred of each other?
Now that the stratagem cannot be used, and Regional Commander Liu has besides left Palgeo (八莒) and withdrawn into Jeolla Province, Kiyomasa too will fear that his words may leak out and will contrive some plan to clear himself. Then he will rather seek to fight and win merit, so as to cover over his own traces and make himself a ground for escaping blame; and the business at Gyeongju (慶州) grows the more perilous.
Our situation is this: the soldiers are few, food is short, and the Celestial Army (天兵) has already withdrawn, so that there is nothing we can do; and yet an opening such as this is once more let slip and passed by. In our view Seo Seong (徐渻) cannot but be sent. Even if he is not sent down as Army Supervisor (監軍), let him be sent down in haste to meet Regional Commander Liu and ask his meaning in detail, and make of it a plan for handling matters well toward the good over the long term; and let him further see how the enemy's condition stands and whether the dispositions of the Commander-in-Chief (元帥) are loose or close-knit, so that all may be fully discussed and set right and the plan carried out as circumstances allow. Then there will be at least some small gain.