Articles of Duty Charged to the Aides分付從事官應行事宜條

The intent of the matters that ought to be carried out in Hwanghae, Pyeongan, and the other provinces under your charge is set down below. Compare them one against another, put them into effect, and then report back.

One. The army grain of Gyeonggi is now urgently short; send up fish and salt in haste. Then make arrangements as is convenient, so that it becomes a lasting benefit.

One. In Hwanghae Province, besides the soldiers levied and drilled, there are men who have received office for military merit, and besides them idle men of arms who have passed the examinations and withdrawn to live in the countryside, and the companies of entertainers and mountain hunters. All of these ought to be gathered in as with a cast net. Within each group the ranks should be divided and a chain of command fixed, favor should be shown so as to gladden their hearts, and the terms of their engagement made plain. Only then will they be easy to call out in an emergency and able to join their strength with the levied soldiers and hold together like two horns; this is the best course. Carry it out in Pyeongan Province in the same way.

One. The root of soldiering lies in farming. Though things be thrown into disorder by the troubles, the work of diligent farming may not be neglected in the least. Of late men's hearts are easily shaken and the people have no settled purpose, so that at the sound of the wind or the cry of a crane they all lose their footing. Some scatter their households, some abandon their farming and disperse to other places, and it often happens that they perish before the enemy has even arrived. Impress this intent particularly upon the magistrates, again and again, so that they may admonish the people and keep them from moving rashly. If among them there are any who invent false rumors to shake men's hearts and watch for the moment to profit by it, they are to be dealt with under the heavy law; post notices and make it known.

One. As for the abuse of going out to the post stations and requisitioning horses, it is said that the people's resentment has been somewhat eased now that they are made to pay in rice according to their circumstances. Impress it particularly, as charged on an earlier day, so that the practice is not abandoned midway and thrown into confusion, and the abuse does not arise again. I hear also that the Postal Superintendent of Geumgyo attends diligently to his own duties; entrust the affairs of each post station wholly to him, and let him oversee and keep them in order. If there is any abuse, it is the Superintendent who will be called to account; make this known accordingly.

One. The labor of building mountain fortresses cannot all be set in motion at one time, nor can it be cast aside and left undone. The essential point is that only when a place is found that commands the throat of the terrain and is held can the labor be little and the merit great. In general a province has the configuration of a province, and a state has the configuration of a state. He who gains that configuration wins; he who loses it is beaten. What the men of Han called holding the ford at Baima, barring the pass at Feihu, and making good the steepness of Chenggao is just this.

As for the configuration of Hwanghae Province, one road runs from Pyeongsan to Gaeseong Prefecture in Gyeonggi, and one road passes through Tosan, Goksan, and Suan and reaches Seongcheon. Among these there must surely be ground whose configuration is excellent and fit to be held. Again, you must seek out widely among the natives of the place those who know it, and together with your aide see it with your own eyes, then set it out article by article and report. As for the configuration of the Jeotan stretch, there is no need to give it close attention. Pyeongsan is the strategic point on the most direct road. People say the configuration of its mountain fortress is not so good, but the intent of the men of old in building a wall there will surely not have been in vain; go and look at it yourself and report. Of the mountain fortress of Seoheung all has already been said in the letter sent earlier; it is only that I do not know what the Vice-Prefect is doing. Infer the configuration of Pyeongan Province in the same way. Oversee and keep in order also the work of going forward with the building of the walls of Anju.

One. How many were the soldiers of Hwanghae Province who in ordinary times went into Pyeongan Province to stand guard, and how many are left now? Now that affairs on the western border grow more urgent by the day, there is talk of sending the soldiers of Hwanghae in again to take garrison duty. But this would be nothing but an abuse upon the people, and of no real benefit in holding off the enemy. If it cannot be helped, then let their shift-fees be collected and sent in from every quarter, to serve as the means of raising soldiers. Then the soldiers obtained will surely be picked men, and the burden upon the soldiers of Hwanghae will be lightened as well; it is truly convenient on both sides. In this matter too you must weigh the circumstances on either side and report.

One. The districts attached to the garrison command of Seongcheon are the most numerous of the six garrison commands of Pyeongan Province; what is the reason for this? Ever since the former dynasty, whenever the barbarians of the north invaded they always came by this road, out past Jabiryeong, and violated the inner territory. Therefore the districts attached to the garrison command of Seongcheon were deliberately made many, as a plan for barring and cutting them off. Moreover this place lies above the Daedong River at Pyeongyang; so that even if Pyeongyang were hard pressed, if Seongcheon with a great force held the upper reach firmly and the two held together like two horns, the position of Pyeongyang would of itself be made firm. So close-knit were the great and far-reaching calculations of our ancestral court.

Since the coming of peace there has been only the name of a garrison command and not the substance of it. Therefore the soldiers are divided and the position weak, and there is not a magistrate who has set his mind on mustering the troops and holding his own ground; it is truly painful. Kim Jeongmok (金庭睦), Vice-Prefect of Seongcheon, was promoted by the court from a subordinate district and made head of the garrison command because he is skilled in training soldiers; this was truly no accident. If this man be made to give his whole mind to his duties and to repair and raise up the military administration, and if not the soldiers of the single district of Seongcheon alone but all the districts attached to it be made into picked and nimble troops, then the strength gained in an emergency will be no small thing; impress this upon him again. And in the same way make it known to the other garrison commands as well, so that according as the soldiers of their subordinate districts are picked or raw, those garrison commands may be particularly rewarded or punished, and results be had.

One. Pyeongyang, Sunan, Sukcheon, and Anju are districts through which the high road passes. I hear that Sukcheon is the most feeble and broken down and does not hold together, and the reason for it cannot be understood. Is it that the magistrate is not the right man? Is the corvée there alone heavier than in the other districts? Are the granaries already exhausted, and the taking in and giving out so out of season that the people have nothing to rely on? There must certainly be a reason here. Only when the root of the sickness is known and cured will the people receive real benefit and a day of full recovery come.

To speak of the lay of the place: Sukcheon faces broad fields in front, with no end to them in a single view; the land is rich, and it adjoins the sea besides, so that there is the benefit of fish and salt. If plans are indeed laid in abundance, if farm oxen and farming tools are provided, if the people are benefited in whatever they find beneficial, and the harm of extortion and harrying is done away with, then its feebleness can be brought back to life. Among the native people, one who knows affairs, such as the former Record Keeper O Damsu (吳聃壽), is moreover an outstanding man of the district; it would do no harm to summon and see him, to ask him of the people's hardships and of what is beneficial and what is ailing within the district, and to plan the means of bringing it back to life. Manage it together with the Governor, and make it your pledge that the people shall surely gather and dwell in peace.

One. Look into and inquire of all together: the walls and moats of the whole stretch along the river, the weapons and implements, the army grain, the soldiers, and whether the border officers are fit for their posts or not. Keep the Army Commander in hand as well, and have him make his arrangements with all haste, without fail before the ice forms. Where a thing can be done but he cannot provide for it out of his own strength, let him report it to the military office and it will be dealt with case by case. Among these, the raising of gun towers is the best plan for holding a wall. Where they have already been raised, see whether they are rightly placed or not; where they have not yet been raised, give directions as is convenient and have them completed by degrees. Have the great guns fired constantly in practice as well, so that there is no more slackness and decay.