Begging Relief for Jeolla and Gyeongsang, and a Successor to the Late Minister of Taxation Yi Seong-jung請具兩南危急之狀求救於經略提督且戶曹到書李誠中身死其代速爲差送狀

On the ninth of this month I heard that Regional Commander Liu was at Hapcheon and hurried to meet him. As the Commander spoke with me quite calmly, I told him the whole of it: how the Japanese had put forward peace talks as a trick to slow the Ming army so that Jinju could not be relieved, while in truth they carried out their swallowing up of the place. And I begged him earnestly to hurry to our aid, since this province and Honam are now in peril from morning to night.

The Commander said, "My own will is not carried out, so there is nothing to say. I hear the enemy has already turned toward Jeolla, and if that province cannot be cut off and held, the trouble will be beyond telling. Meaning to lead my troops to its relief, I called on the Liaodong generals quartered at Geochang to come and hold Goryeong and Hapcheon so that I might then march out, but my orders are not obeyed. Still, once it is truly established that Honam has been invaded, I shall hurry to its relief as you say. Be sure to get hold of a map and write out for me in detail the distances in li and the roads we would pass." He also said, "Here there is not one general or officer, and not one soldier either. How has this come about?"

I answered that the several generals had first gathered at Haman and then fallen back to hold various places, but that on hearing Jinju had fallen they all broke up and scattered and went off to Honam; that I had already reported this, and the King would surely punish them according to the law; and that, the situation being this urgent, I hoped Your Honor would bring relief quickly. The Commander said, "My own mind is the same, but I cannot act as I please. Once I have looked into whether the enemy's strength in Jeolla is real or hollow, I shall march out at once."

I withdrew, prepared a map, and also drew up a written statement (稟帖) and presented it. Though the Commander looked over all of it, he would not stop dwelling at length on how the several generals do not follow his orders, so that he cannot act as he wishes. Yet he soon sent out many dispatch riders to observe the enemy at Uiryeong, so he is not without the will to advance and fight. I am therefore staying here for the present and pressing him day after day to march out and strike.

Bak Jin (朴晉), Commissioner for Pursuit (督捕使), Bak Myeonghyeon (朴名賢), Assistant Defense Commander, and Bak Jongnam (朴宗男), Detached Commander, are holding the pass at Chogye together with the Ming officer Mobile Commander Wu (遊擊), leading no more than five or six hundred worn-out soldiers. Choe Won (崔遠), Yi Bin (李薲), and Yi Sieon (李時言), on hearing that Jinju Fortress had fallen, fled at once toward Geochang and Hamyang and such places, and it is not known where they are.

Since Jinju fell, men's hearts have been in turmoil and dread, and the people far and near stand with their bundles on their backs. News from Honam has been cut off; only in a dispatch Gwon Yul (權慄) sent to Bak Jin was it said that the Japanese had already entered Gurye and meant to turn toward Gokseong and Namwon. By this it seems certain that the Japanese are invading Honam, and I cannot master my pain and anguish.

The enemy here have raised stockades at places like Uiryeong and Gigang and hold them in camp, and their numbers are very great. Day after day they scatter out and burn and plunder in the districts of Hapcheon, Samga, and Uiryeong. When the lookouts brought word from a place forty li from Hapcheon, the Commander put on his armor and gave orders to the troops to set out, but stopped on hearing that the enemy had withdrawn. When today's scouts come in from Uiryeong, I mean to take Provincial Inspector Kim Reuk (金玏), Liaison Officer Seo Seong (徐渻), and the others, stand in the courtyard, and plead with him in tears.

As for supplying the army grain: this province is ruined in every quarter, and only the several districts of Honam, by manning relay posts (站) and hauling it, barely keep it up. The rice and side dishes sent earlier are now nearly gone, and of late the road for sending more has been cut. Moreover the people who came here from the districts of Jeolla, hearing that the enemy has broken into their own province, take fright and flee and scatter, and they cannot be held back. Now Mobile Commander Wu stays at Chogye, Regional Commander Liu is at Hapcheon, at Geochang there are five more Liaodong generals besides, and on the straight road through Daegu and Miryang there are troops in camp and Ming soldiers coming and going, in greater and smaller numbers. The districts that man the relay posts stumble along after them wherever they go, so that the men are worn out and the horses spent and their strength is at an end. Think of it a thousand ways and reckon it a hundred, I do not know the way out.

Just now an urgent dispatch from the Postal Station Inspector of Geumcheon says that Yi Seongjung (李誠中), Minister of Taxation (戶曹判書), also died of illness on the seventh of this month. Though we still have Yun Gyeongnip (尹敬立), Inspector for Transport (督運御史), there is no senior minister to procure the army grain. Everything goes like this, and my pain and anguish only grow. Let the court look at once into the urgent state of the two southern provinces and press its plea again and again upon the headquarters (衙門) of the Military Commissioner and the Commander-in-Chief. Late though it now is, there may yet be one hope in ten thousand of being saved. And let someone to procure the army grain be appointed and sent hurrying down, so that nothing be lacking in the business of the army.