Instructions to the Hwanghae Inspector諭黃海道巡察使文

The mustering by ranks (束伍) of this province's troops, and their drilling and the like, must surely have come along by now. The enemy's heart has already changed, and next spring's business is of the gravest concern. Only when every measure is taken within these few months, with nothing at all left out, can a sudden turn be met.

Though the soldiers have entered the muster, if their weapons are not ready there is no way for them to go against the enemy empty-handed. Inspect in full whether the men in the muster have the weapons they should have or not; and for those who have none, let the authorities provide them.

The people of this province are quick and fierce and fight well, first among the several provinces, and such places as Hwangju, Yeonan, Bongsan and Anak are where men of arms are most numerous. The muster has now been made, but outside it there must surely be many able men, left out, who have held office before. Examine the rolls of the righteous-army captains of former days, call such men together and pick them out in every way, making keenness and quickness the chief thing so that no useless sort is mixed in. Let those among the righteous-army captains who are fit to lead do the leading, and let no one man lead many. Divide them into files as they are got: a hundred at most, or sometimes fifty, or sometimes a score or so. Have bows and arrows made ready beforehand and let them practise archery always, and when the time comes let them take the chief commander's orders. For the troops so chosen, examine the pattern of the seonpae tags now being sent, provide them amply according to the number of troops so that each may wear one, set them apart as a class of their own, and afterwards make a roll of them and send it up.

Though there be a million troops, if there is nothing to feed them they become in the end a useless thing. The army's grain now in the province may be known in number by examining the ledgers; it is exceedingly little, not enough even to meet one month's food for a few thousand troops. If the Ming army comes out in great force, there will be still less means of holding out. Seek out by every way the means of gathering grain, and collect and store it with all speed, and have it wait upon use.

Among the principal grain of each district, it would seem fitting to turn the unhulled grain into rice as it is collected, to make it handy for the army's provisions. But if the storehouse grain of each district has now all been collected, then to give the collected grain back out again, and to press the first month of spring and fix its amount, would again be too heavy a burden, and the people's resentment would surely run deep. At such a time, when the people are resentful and sore pressed, it is also hard to put into effect lightly; let the province weigh the people's feeling and the state of affairs and settle it as is convenient.

Haeju is not to be compared with the other districts; rice and grain ought to be stored there in ample number to provide against unlooked-for need. Yet on examining the ledgers of the storehouse grain, there are barely two thousand some hundred seok, miscellaneous grain included, which is a grievous thing. Let the storehouse grain of Haeju be seen to apart. The three thousand some hundred seok of rice and beans that Bak Yeoryong (朴汝龍) gathered the other day ought also to be carried into Haeju.

The four hundred some seok of rice and beans gathered by the provincial aide (從事官) are lying at Bongsan. This is a place the straight road passes, and it is of the first need for meeting the Ming army, so leave it there as it is. The rice and grain got in exchange for the sale of that district's arrow bamboo are also there; hand them over to the new magistrate Byeon Hogyeom (邊好謙), so that they may help the army's provisions, if only by a ten-thousandth part.