Troops, Farming, and the Key Passes of Jeolla分付全羅道兵農及把截險要。啓
全羅監司書狀據司。啓目貼連。啓下云云湖南右道接連慶尙道一帶把截要害之處必有緊歇。朝廷難以遙制當任本道處置俾無疎虞而方此耕作方急之時若不趁時播種則賊雖未至而人民之生路斷絕極爲可盧故今日之計當便戰守與農作一樣區處不可偏廢賊兵時無西犯之狀宜寧等處且有駐軍雖其前頭利鈍有不可預料而六十峙等處許多把截軍兵坐而相望失其農時殊非得計惟當定將分付堅授約束暫許歸農聞變卽時刻期聚待違者勿論將卒一以軍令從事三令五申知委施行險阨把截亦有其策如不得堅築城堡多設器械以禦奔衝則於林藪茂密崖谷隱僻之處挾道設計伺其賊來處處發射而又爲疑兵山谷應聲不測多少則賊雖衆必不敢容易踰越所謂步兵入林則不可制者是也往時劉克良把截竹嶺盡伐山頭之木使之兀兀而以其木役民排設短栅有同防水之狀見者皆笑其齟齬而竹嶺形勢因此不如前月之深昧不測以克良之曉事而計慮未及如此况於他將乎今此設險處亦不可不知此意幷爲枚擧移文于忠淸道監司尹承勳全羅道監司李延馣處何如
On the Jeolla governor's report, the Border Defense Council drew up a memorandum, attaching that report, and it was handed down as it stood.
Along the stretch where the right-hand province of Honam adjoins Gyeongsang, the key places for barring and cutting the enemy off must have among them some that are pressing and some that are slight. It is hard for the court to control them from afar, so it ought to be left to that province to handle them, that there be nothing left loose. Now, when the plowing is just at its most pressing, if the sowing is not done in its season then even though the enemy does not reach us the people's way of living will be cut off, which is a matter of the gravest concern. Therefore today's plan ought to weigh and handle the fighting and holding together with the farming, and neither of the two may be let go.
The enemy's troops show no sign at present of falling upon the west, and at Uiryeong and those parts there are troops stationed besides. Though we cannot reckon beforehand whether things will go well or ill hereafter, for a great many soldiers at Yuksipchi (六十峙) and those parts to sit looking at one another in the name of barring and cutting off, and so lose the farming season, is certainly no good plan. Let commanders only be appointed and given orders, and firm terms set with them, and let the men be allowed to return to their farming for a while; but when they hear of an alarm let a term be fixed at once for them to gather and stand ready, and let it be told over and over and carried out that whoever breaks this, commander or soldier alike, shall be dealt with by military law in one and the same way.
In barring and cutting off at steep places, too, there is a plan. If the walls and ramparts cannot be built firm and weapons set in number enough to bar the enemy's rush, then where the woods grow thick and the cliffs and valleys lie hidden, let devices be laid out flanking the road and the enemy's coming be watched for and shot at from place to place; and let feigned troops be set out besides, so that the mountain valleys answer with their noise and he cannot reckon whether we are many or few. Then though the enemy be many he will surely not dare to cross lightly. This is what is meant by saying that foot soldiers, once they are in the woods, cannot be controlled.
In days past, when Yu Geuk-ryang (劉克良) barred and cut off Jungnyeong, he cut down all the trees on the mountain tops until they were bare, and with that timber he set the people to work and ranged low palisades in a line, so that the thing took the shape of a weir, and all who saw it laughed at how wide of the mark it was. And the lie of Jungnyeong became by this less than it had been before, when it was deep and dark and could not be fathomed. If even one who understood affairs as Yu Geuk-ryang did fell short in his thinking like this, how much more another commander? Now, in the very place where steep ground is to be turned to account, this intent cannot go unknown.
May all of it be set out item by item and sent by dispatch to Yun Seung-hun (尹承勳), governor of Chungcheong, and Yi Yeon-am (李延馣), governor of Jeolla?
Interlinear notes 1
The source text has 李延馣. He appears to be the man commonly written Yi Jeong-am (李廷馣). To be settled after the source text has been compared. — translator