Urgent Report on Brigade Commander Shen's Movements, and the Grain Apportioned馳。啓沈遊擊行止及糧糓分付狀
沈遊擊近日在順安與倭相見問答之事都元帥狀啓必已詳盡矣當初遊擊到此所言則欲往箚於肅川安州之間今見先文直指義順未知何故大槪遊擊之意似出於講解息兵之計夷狄無信兇發萬端苟其兵勢未挫豈能以片言單辭戢其凶鋒况我軍疲頓單弱日望。天兵之來救而遷延時月屢退師期前頭之事極爲寒心。朝廷急速㴱思善處俾無緩不及事之悔一路支待糧餉則前日措置之數外移文各官使之隨便稍稍收合秋租各儲本官而咸從縣民則自願納米以補軍需其數至於二百石臣即給空名告身以勸其餘而惟賊兵未退人無固志故公私蓄積未得悉意經理安州江船所載諸處運米未能收入官庫泊在江面許多格軍等離家累月乞糧度日呼訴不已極爲雞處今見黃海道觀察使柳永慶牒報內忠淸道田稅米二千二百四十九石黄豆四千九十八石分載二十船來到康翎地唐兵出來之數未能的知幾石留置本道幾石送于平安道事牒呈唐兵出來日期軍數多寡時未得知而黃海沿海賊倭出沒無常萬一留泊淺浦未易運船之際賊兵來泊則亦恐有意外閪失之虞幷令該司參商事勢急速區處或分半留泊于遠賊之處分半輸到于。行朝似爲便當
The meeting and exchange of questions and answers between Brigade Commander Shen (沈遊擊), who has lately been at Sunan, and the Japanese will surely already have been set out in full in the Supreme Commander's report.
When the Brigade Commander first came here, what he said was that he would go and encamp between Sukcheon and Anju; but now, seeing the letter sent on ahead, he says he goes straight to Uisun (義順), and I cannot tell for what reason. In general the Brigade Commander's intent seems to arise from a plan to make peace and give his troops rest.
The barbarians keep no faith, and their violence breaks out in ten thousand forms; truly, unless their military strength be broken, how should a few words make them draw back their cruel blades? Still more, our troops are worn out, isolated and weak, and look day by day for the Ming army to come and rescue them; yet the days are drawn out and the promised term for sending troops has been put off again and again, so that what lies ahead is bitterly disheartening. Let the court think deeply in haste and take good measures, that there be no regret of coming too late for the matter.
As for the army grain to supply this one route, beyond the amount provided before, I have sent dispatches to each district so that they may gather the autumn tax little by little as is convenient and store it each in its own district. The people of Hamjong County (咸從縣) of their own wish offered rice to add to the army's supply, and the amount reached two hundred seom, so your servant at once granted appointment patents (告身) with the names left blank, to urge on the rest. Only, the enemy troops have not withdrawn and the people have no settled resolve, so the stores of public and private hands cannot all be managed as we would wish.
The rice from various places loaded in the boats on the Anju river could not be taken into the government storehouses and lies moored on the face of the river; the many oarsmen (格軍) have been away from home for months on end, passing their days on borrowed food and crying out their complaints without cease, so that it is very hard to deal with.
Now, seeing the report of Yu Yeonggyeong (柳永慶), Governor of Hwanghae Province: rice from the land tax of Chungcheong Province, two thousand two hundred and forty-nine seom, and yellow beans, four thousand and ninety-eight seom, were loaded in twenty boats and have come to land in the territory of Gangnyeong (康翎); and since the number of Ming troops that will come out cannot be certainly known, he reports asking how many seom are to be kept in his own province and how many sent on to Pyeongan Province.
The date on which the Ming army will come out, and whether its troops be many or few, are still unknown, while along the Hwanghae coast the Japanese enemy come and go without fixed pattern. I fear that if the boats lie moored in a shallow inlet where they cannot easily be moved, and enemy troops come and put in, there may be the worry of an unlooked-for loss. Let the office concerned also be ordered to weigh the situation and take measures in haste; perhaps it would be fitting to keep half moored at a place far from the enemy and have half carried to the royal travelling court (行在所).
Interlinear notes 1
九月二日在安州
On the second day of the ninth month, at Anju