Urgent Report on Receiving the Commander-in-Chief and the Superintendent, and the State of the Army Grain馳。啓提督經理迎候事及軍糧形止狀
臣本月十四日聞提督大軍已踰嶺自安東馳到醴泉欲爲伺候而提督不入醴泉直向豐山故臣不得已追到豐山與提督相見則提督問南邊賊情如何臣以左兵使成允文所報賊勢對之提督又問曰今行於議政之意如何臣答以倭賊窮兇極惡。天威大振必有掃淸之期提督云是矣臣旣見提督又聞經理之行亦近卽馳到龍宮夜已二更不得通名明曉經理發行時通名而未及見之臣隨經理一行到安東今日早牌始爲進見則經理分付云大軍已爲南下此處之糧皆當輸運於慶州無使匱乏與尹承勳同議爲之可也又招本道巡察使李用淳語之曰運糧等事雖有議政與總督而本道陪臣當專管爲之若不盡力必不濟事又招安東府使鄭賜湖跪於階下問其本邑之糧已輸運未輸運之數且云本邑未經蕩敗人力必完得粟之事更加竭力爲之皆唯唯而退經理似欲於明日直向慶州本道左道措置之糧以尹承勳所報觀之則米六萬一千七百餘石而已收者米四萬三千二百九十九石未收者一萬八千四百十六石馬豆二萬八千二百九石而已收者一萬八千九百二十四石未收者九千二百八十四石此後措置之數時未查報右道成泳所管亦未查報故糓數多少時未詳知而此道蕩敗無形只以上道數邑之力辦此大兵糧餉各邑品官士人倡率民戶無不竭盡其心而今已無復餘力矣前頭運糧之難尤甚於聚糧且軍行已發而糧路不繼則大事將去臣晝夜憂慮不知所出萬一大軍有持久之勢則必須催發後面之糧以爲接濟之計事不可已朝廷預爲商度從長處置或忠淸之糓漸次移入於嶺南而。天糧自義州出來者亦可調發前來以續餽餉但恐民力方困不能趁時輸運
On the fourteenth of this month your servant, hearing that the Commander-in-Chief's main army had already crossed the pass, hurried from Andong to Yecheon to wait and pay his respects; but the Commander-in-Chief did not enter Yecheon and headed straight for Pungsan, so that your servant, unable to do otherwise, followed as far as Pungsan and there met with him.
The Commander-in-Chief asked how matters stood with the enemy on the southern border, and your servant answered with the enemy's posture as reported by the Left Army Commander Seong Yunmun (成允文). The Commander-in-Chief further asked, "And what is the Chief Minister's mind concerning this march?" Your servant answered, "The Japanese enemy's violence and evil are spent, and the Emperor's majesty is greatly abroad; surely there will be a day when they are swept away." The Commander-in-Chief said, "Just so."
Having seen the Commander-in-Chief, and hearing that the Superintendent's train too was drawing near, your servant hurried at once to Yonggung; but the night was already at the second watch and he could not send in his name. At dawn the next day, as the Superintendent was setting out, he sent in his name but was not received in time; and your servant followed the Superintendent's party to Andong and this day, at an early hour, at last went forward and paid his respects.
The Superintendent gave order, saying: "The main army has already gone down south, so let all the grain here be carried to Gyeongju, that there be no want; and it is right to do it in consultation with Yun Seunghun (尹承勳)." He also called the province's Inspector Yi Yongsun (李用淳) and said to him, "In the carrying of army grain, though there are the Chief Minister and the Director-General, it is the officials of this province who ought to take it wholly in charge; and if you do not put out all your strength, the work will surely not be accomplished." He also called Jeong Saho (鄭賜湖), Prefect of Andong, made him kneel below the hall, and asked how much of that district's army grain had already been carried and how much was not yet carried; and he said besides, "This district has not suffered being broken and ruined, so the strength of its men must be whole; put out your strength once more in the getting of grain." All said yes, yes, and withdrew. The Superintendent seems to mean to head straight for Gyeongju tomorrow.
As for the army grain disposed in the Left Province of this province, by what Yun Seunghun has reported, the rice is 61,700 seok and more, of which 43,299 seok of rice have already been gathered in and 18,416 seok are not yet gathered. The horse beans are 28,209 seok, of which 18,924 seok have already been gathered in and 9,284 seok are not yet gathered. The amount to be disposed hereafter has not yet been examined and reported, and what Seong Yeong (成泳) has in charge in the Right Province has not been examined and reported either, so the greater or lesser of the grain figures is not yet known in detail.
This province is broken and ruined and has no shape at all, and it is only by the strength of a few districts in the upper country that the grain for this great army is provided. In every district the titled men and the gentry lead the households and none fails to give his whole heart, yet now there is no strength left. The difficulty of carrying the grain hereafter will be worse than the gathering of it. Further, the army's march has already set out, and if the way of the grain does not keep up, the great business will be spoiled; and so your servant is anxious night and day and does not know what to do.
If the great army is in a posture to hold out long, the grain of the country behind must surely be pressed forward and sent, and this made the plan for keeping the supply unbroken; this matter cannot be let go. Let the court weigh it beforehand and dispose of it with a long view. It might be well to move the grain of Chungcheong gradually into Yeongnam, and also to raise the Ming army grain that comes out from Uiju and send it forward, so that the feeding be kept unbroken. Only, the people's strength is just now exhausted, and I fear it cannot be carried in time.
Interlinear notes 1
Baesin (陪臣) — the term for a subject of Joseon as spoken of toward Ming.