Kim Yusin, Part Two金庾信中

In the second year of Taehwa, in autumn, the eighth month, the Baekje general Eunsang came to attack seven fortresses, Seokto and the rest. The king ordered Yusin and the generals Jukji, Jinchun and Cheonjon to go out and hold them off. They divided the three armies into five roads and struck. Each side won and lost in turn, and for ten days it was not settled, until fallen bodies filled the fields and the flowing blood floated the pestles.

Then they camped below Dosalseong, rested the horses and fed the men, and planned to rise again. At that time a water bird flew east and passed over Yusin's tent, and the officers and men saw it and thought it an ill sign.

Yusin said, "There is nothing strange in this." He told his men, "Today men of Baekje will surely come to spy. Pretend that you do not know, and do not dare ask who they are."

He also had word passed around the camp: "Hold the walls firm and do not move. Wait until the relief force comes tomorrow, and then we will give battle."

The spy heard this and went back and reported to Eunsang. Eunsang and his men thought that troops were being added, and they could not help doubting and fearing.

Then Yusin and his men struck all at once and won a great victory. They took alive the general Jeongjung, a dalsol, and a hundred soldiers. They cut down ten men, among them the jwapyeong Eunsang and the dalsol Jagyeon, and eight thousand nine hundred and eighty soldiers. They took ten thousand horses and one thousand eight hundred suits of armor, and other weapons in like number.

On the way home they met on the road the Baekje jwapyeong Jeongbok coming to surrender with a thousand soldiers, and they let them all go where they wished. When they reached the capital, the great king met them at the gate and comforted them richly and warmly.

In the fifth year of Yonghui, Queen Jindeok the Great died and left no heir. Yusin took counsel with the chief minister Alcheon, of the rank of ichan, and they brought in Chunchu the ichan, and he ascended the throne. This is King Taejong the Great.

In the sixth year of Yonghui, the year eulmyo, in autumn, the ninth month, Yusin went into Baekje and attacked Dobicheonseong and took it.

At this time the ruler and the ministers of Baekje were extravagant and lewd and idle, and they did not care for the affairs of the state. The people resented them and the spirits were angry, and disasters and strange things appeared again and again. Yusin reported to the king, "Baekje is without the Way. Its guilt is greater than that of Jie and Zhou. This is truly the season to follow Heaven, comfort the people, and punish the guilty."

Before this, Jomi Gap of the rank of geupchan became magistrate of Busanhyeon. He was taken prisoner by Baekje and became a household slave of the jwapyeong Imja. He was diligent and careful in his work and was never idle or rude, so Imja pitied him and did not suspect him, and let him come and go. Then he fled home and told Yusin the affairs of Baekje.

Yusin knew that Jomi Gap was loyal and upright and could be used, and he said to him, "I hear that Imja has sole charge of the affairs of Baekje. I have thought of a way to plot with him, but there has been no road to it. Will you go back once more and speak for me?"

He answered, "Your lordship does not hold me unworthy, but points me to the task. Though I die, I will not regret it."

So he went into Baekje again and said to Imja, "Your slave thought that, having become a man of this country, I ought to know the ways of the country. So I went out and wandered for many tens of days and did not come back. I could not master the longing of a dog or a horse for its master, and that is why I have come." Imja believed him and did not scold him.

Jomi Gap watched for a chance and told him, "The other day I feared punishment and did not dare speak straight. The truth is that I went to Silla and came back. Yusin instructed me to come and tell you this: 'The rise and fall of a state cannot be known beforehand. If your country falls, you may lean on my country. If my country falls, I will lean on yours.'"

Imja heard this and was silent and said nothing. Jomi Gap withdrew in fear and waited some months for punishment.

Imja called him and asked, "What was that word of Yusin that you told me before?" Jomi Gap was startled and afraid, and answered as he had said before.

Imja said, "I already know all that you carried. You may go back and tell him."

So he came back and spoke, and told as well the affairs within the country and without, clearly and in full. From then on the plan to swallow Baekje was pressed the harder.

In the seventh year of King Taejong the Great, the year gyeongsin, in summer, the sixth month, the great king and the crown prince Beommin were about to strike Baekje. They raised a great army and came to Namcheon and made their camp there.

At that time Kim Inmun of the rank of pajinchan, who had gone into Tang to ask for troops, came with the Tang great generals Su Dingfang and Liu Boying, leading a hundred and thirty thousand troops. They crossed the sea and reached Deongmuldo, and first sent the attendant Muncheon ahead to give word. The king ordered the crown prince and the generals Yusin, Jinju and Cheonjon to load soldiers on a hundred great ships and meet them.

The crown prince saw General Su Dingfang, and Dingfang said to him, "I will go by the sea road. Let the crown prince go up on land, and on the tenth day of the seventh month we will meet at Sabi, the royal capital of Baekje."

The crown prince came and told the great king, and he led the officers and men and went on to the jeong of Sara.

General Su Dingfang and Kim Inmun and the others went along the shore into Gibeolpo. The shore was deep mud, and they sank in it and could not walk, so they spread willow mats and brought the troops out. Tang and Silla struck together and destroyed Baekje. In this campaign the merit of Yusin was great. When the emperor of Tang heard of it, he sent an envoy to praise him and commend him.

General Dingfang said to the three men Yusin, Inmun and Yangdo, "I hold orders to act as the occasion requires. Now I would divide the land of Baekje that we have taken and grant it to you as fiefs, to repay your merit. What do you say?"

Yusin answered, "The great general has come with the troops of Heaven, has met the hope of our king, and has washed away the enemy of a small country. Our king and the ministers and people of the whole country have no leisure even for clapping their hands in joy. If we alone were to take a gift and profit by it, what would that be to righteousness?"

In the end he did not take it.

The men of Tang, having destroyed Baekje, made their camp on the hill of Sabi and secretly plotted to invade Silla. The king of Silla knew of it and called his ministers and asked them for a plan.

Damigong came forward and said, "Let our people pretend to be men of Baekje and put on their clothes and act as if they meant to raid. The men of Tang will surely strike them. Then we can fight them and gain our end."

Yusin said, "This word is worth taking. I ask that you follow it."

The king said, "The Tang army destroyed the enemy for us. If we turn and fight them, will Heaven help us?"

Yusin said, "A dog fears its master, but if the master steps on its leg it bites him. How can we meet hardship and not save ourselves? I ask the great king to allow it."

The men of Tang spied and learned that Silla was prepared. They took the king of Baekje and ninety-three of his ministers and twenty thousand soldiers, and on the third day of the ninth month they set sail from Sabi and went home, leaving Liu Renyuan the langjiang and others to hold the place.

When Dingfang presented the captives, the Son of Heaven comforted him and said, "Why did you not go on and strike Silla?"

Dingfang said, "In Silla the ruler is benevolent and loves his people, and the ministers serve the state with loyalty, and those below serve those above as they would a father or an elder brother. Though it is small, it cannot be plotted against."

In the first year of Longshuo, in spring, the king said that the remnants of Baekje were still there and could not be left undestroyed. He made Pumil the ichan, Munwang of the rank of sopan and Yangdo of the rank of daeachan generals and sent them to strike, but they did not win. He also sent Heumsun the ichan (his name is also written Heumchun), Jineum, Cheonjon and Jukji the sopan, and added to the force.

Goguryeo and the Malgal said that the sharp troops of Silla were all in Baekje, so the inside was empty and could be struck. They sent out troops and advanced by water and by land together and surrounded Bukhansanseong. Goguryeo camped to the west of it and the Malgal camped to the east, and they attacked for ten days, and those within the fortress were in danger and afraid. Suddenly a great star fell on the camp of the raiders, and thunder and rain struck as well, and the raiders doubted and were startled, and they lifted the siege and fled.

At the first, when Yusin heard that the raiders had surrounded the fortress, he said, "The strength of men is spent. We may lean on hidden help." He went to a temple and set up an altar and prayed. It happened that there was a change in the heavens, and all said that it was moved by his utmost sincerity.

Once, on the night of Hangawi, the mid-autumn feast, Yusin was standing outside the great gate with the young men of his house when a man came suddenly from the west. Yusin knew him for a Goguryeo spy and called him to come forward and said, "Is there some business in your country?" The man bowed his head and did not dare answer.

Yusin said, "Do not be afraid. Only tell me the truth." Again he did not speak.

Yusin said to him, "The king of our country does not go against the will of Heaven above, and does not lose the hearts of men below. The people are glad, and all delight in their work. Now you have seen it. Go and tell the people of your country." Then he comforted him and sent him away.

The men of Goguryeo heard this and said, "Silla is a small country, but Yusin is its chief minister. It cannot be taken lightly."

In the sixth month the emperor Gaozong of Tang sent General Su Dingfang and others to campaign against Goguryeo. Kim Inmun, who had gone into Tang to serve in the guard, received orders and came to give word of the time for sending out troops, and to tell them also to send troops and join the attack.

Then King Munmu the Great led Yusin, Inmun, Munhun and others, raised a great army and turned toward Goguryeo, and halted at Namcheonju. Liu Renyuan, who was holding the place, set sail from Sabi with the troops under him, came ashore at Hyepo, and also made camp at Namcheonju.

At that time the officer in charge reported, "On the road ahead the remnant raiders of Baekje have gathered at Ongsanseong and block the road. We cannot go straight forward."

Then Yusin pushed his troops forward and surrounded the fortress. He sent a man close below the wall to speak with the general of the raiders. "Your country was not respectful, and so it brought on the attack of the great country. Those who follow orders are rewarded, and those who do not follow orders are killed. Now you hold a lonely fortress alone. What do you mean to do? In the end you will surely be smeared on the ground. It is better to come out and surrender. Not only will you keep your lives, you may look for riches and honor."

The raiders cried out in a loud voice, "Small and mean as this fortress is, we have troops and food enough, and our soldiers are righteous and brave. We would rather fight to the death. We swear that we will not surrender alive."

Yusin laughed and said, "A bird in straits and a beast in a corner still know how to save themselves. This is what is meant." Then he waved the flags and beat the drums and attacked. The great king went up to a high place and looked at the fighting men, and with tears he urged them on with his words, and all the soldiers rushed forward and did not look back at the blades.

On the twenty-seventh day of the ninth month the fortress fell. They took the general of the raiders and killed him, and let his people go. They weighed the merits and gave rewards to the officers and men, and to Liu Renyuan too they gave silk, each by his part.

Then they fed the men and fed the horses, meaning to go and join the Tang troops. The great king had earlier sent Muncheon the taegam with a letter to General Su. Now Muncheon came back with his report, and he passed on the words of Dingfang. "I received orders ten thousand li away, and I crossed the blue sea to strike the enemy. I have moored my boats on the shore for more than a month now. The troops of the great king have not come, and the road of grain is not kept up, and the danger is very great. Let the king plan for it."

The great king asked his ministers what should be done, and all said that to carry grain deep into the enemy's land could not be done as things stood. The great king was troubled at this and sighed.

Yusin came forward and answered, "Your servant has had more favor and kindness than I deserve, and has shamed the heavy charge laid on me. In the affairs of the state I will not flee even from death. Today is the day for an old servant to give his last loyalty. I will go toward the enemy country and meet the wish of General Su."

The great king moved forward on his mat and took his hand and shed tears and said, "I have gained a worthy helper in you, and I may be without care. If this journey goes as all things have gone before, what day could I forget your merit and your virtue?"

Yusin received the charge and came to the temple of Susa on Hyeongojam. He purified himself and went into the spirit hall, closed the door and sat alone, and burned incense for several days and nights. Then he came out and quietly rejoiced to himself and said, "On this journey of mine I shall not die."

When he was about to set out, the king wrote with his own hand and told Yusin, "After you pass the border, reward and punishment may be yours alone."

On the tenth day of the twelfth month, together with nine generals, the deputy generals Inmun, Jinbok, Yangdo and the rest, he led the troops, loaded the grain, and entered the land of Goguryeo.

In the year imsul, on the twenty-third day of the first month, they came to the Chiljung river, and all the men were afraid and did not dare go up first. Yusin said, "If you gentlemen fear death, why did you come here at all?" Then he went aboard the boat first himself and crossed, and the generals and soldiers followed one another over the river.

They entered the land of Goguryeo. Fearing that the men of Goguryeo would waylay them on the main road, they went by steep and narrow ways and came to Sanyang.

Yusin said to his generals and soldiers, "The two countries of Goguryeo and Baekje have invaded and trampled our land and harmed our people. Some of our grown men they have taken and cut down, and some of our young they have carried off and used as slaves, and this has gone on long. How can it not hurt? The reason I now go to this hard task without fear of death is that I would borrow the strength of the great country and destroy the two fortresses, and so avenge the enemy of our country. I have sworn it in my heart and told Heaven, and looked for hidden help. But I do not know how it stands in your hearts, and so my words have come to this. If a man makes light of the enemy, he will surely gain his end and come home. If he fears the enemy, how will he escape being taken? Let us be of one heart and join our strength, so that every one of us stands against a hundred. This is what I look for from you."

The generals and soldiers all said, "We ask to obey the general's orders, and we will not dare hold a thought of saving our own lives."

Then they beat the drums and marched toward Pyongyang. On the road they met the raiders' troops, met them head on and beat them, and the armor and weapons they took were very many. When they came to the steep place at Jangsae, the weather happened to be bitterly cold, and men and horses were worn out, and now and then they fell stiff on the ground.

Yusin bared his shoulder and took the whip, and he whipped his horse and rode at the head. The men saw it and ran with all their strength and broke into sweat, and did not dare say that they were cold.

At last they passed the steep place and came to a spot not far from Pyongyang, and Yusin said, "The Tang army will be short of food and in straits. We should send them word first."

Then he called Yeolgi the bogigam and said, "I have known you since I was young, and I know your will and your firmness. Now I would send my meaning to General Su, but it is hard to find the man for it. Can you go?"

Yeolgi said, "Unworthy as I am, I hold a post in the central army beyond my deserving, and more than that I am honored by the general's command. Though it be the day I die, it will be as a year of life."

So he went with Gugeun and fifteen stout men to Pyongyang, and he saw General Su and said, "Yusin and the others have led their troops with supplies and grain, and they have already reached the near border." Dingfang was glad and thanked him in writing.

Yusin and his men went on and reached Yango, where they saw an old man. They asked him, and he told them fully the news of the enemy country. They gave him cloth and silk, but he refused them and went away.

Yusin made camp at Yango and sent Inmun and Yangdo, who knew the language of Han, and his son Gunseung and others, to reach the Tang camp and hand over the army grain by the king's will. Dingfang, whose food was gone and whose men were so worn out that they could not fight hard, took the grain and at once turned back to Tang. Yangdo took eight hundred men and sailed the sea home.

At that time the men of Goguryeo hid troops, meaning to strike the Silla army on its way home. Yusin tied drums and drumsticks to the waists and tails of a herd of oxen so that they swung and made a sound, and he also piled up brushwood and grass and set it alight so that the smoke and fire never stopped. In the middle of the night he went in secret and came to the Pyoha river, crossed in haste, and rested his troops on the bank.

The men of Goguryeo learned of it and came in pursuit, and Yusin had ten thousand crossbows loosed at once. The Goguryeo troops drew back, so he led and urged on the officers and men of the several dang and sent them out in divisions, and they held the enemy and struck and broke them. They took one general alive and cut off more than ten thousand heads. The king heard of it and sent an envoy to comfort them. When they arrived, he granted rewards and fiefs and ranks, each by his part.

In the third year of Longshuo, the year gyehae, the several fortresses of Baekje secretly plotted to rise again, and their chief held Dusolseong and asked Wa for troops to help him. The great king himself led the generals Yusin, Inmun, Cheonjon and Jukji, and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month he went to strike them. He halted at Ungjinju and joined troops with Liu Renyuan, who was holding the place, and on the thirteenth day of the eighth month they came to Dusolseong.

The men of Baekje came out in battle order with the Wa, and the Silla army fought hard and beat them badly, and Baekje and the Wa all surrendered. The great king said to the Wa, "Only the sea lies between our country and yours, and it divides our lands, and we have never joined in strife. We only made a good bond and kept the peace and sent greetings back and forth. For what reason have you today joined in evil with Baekje and plotted against our country? Now your soldiers are in our hands, but I cannot bear to kill them. Go back and tell your king." He let them go where they would.

They divided the troops and attacked the several fortresses and made them surrender. Only Imjonseong they could not bring down, for the ground was steep and the walls were firm and the grain was plentiful as well. They attacked it for thirty days and the soldiers grew weary and worn and sick of the fighting.

The great king said, "Though one fortress has not fallen now, all the other fortresses have surrendered. It cannot be said that there was no merit." Then he put the army in order and returned.

In winter, on the twentieth day of the eleventh month, they reached the capital. Yusin was given five hundred gyeol of field, and the rest of the officers and men were given rewards, each by his part.