Chapter Eight - Building a nation
The events of the past decade had left Korea greatly enriched, both in wealth and in new lands. As a prudent ruler, King Ye realized that he was responsible for ensuring that those new riches were secured and incorporated more fully into the Korean holdings. His greatest desire was to ensure that the lands taken from the Manchu were secured to provide a buffer between the Chinese kingdoms and the Korean homelands. Of course, the wealth of some of the new provinces was nothing to sneeze at either!
Ye's first decision was to construct fortifications in the neglected province of Ninguta - this would give the local populace the message that their new king would provide for them to a higher degree than the Manchu pretender, and would give the province a better base for resisting any invasion.
The new lands were also seething with religious turmoil - the Manchu had not converted to Hinduism as the Koreans had, and so the new provinces were largely Confucian. This left Ye's missionaries with a great work to accomplish.
In the meantime, the decision to establish a Korean colony on Taiwan was beginning to show its value - reports came that a burgeoning chinaware industry was forming on the island!
Although the next few years were peaceful, the Korean army was kept on high alert and very busy smashing rebel forces in the conquered areas of Manchu and Ayutthaya. Ye was secretly pleased as this provided his generals with something to focus on besides politics and gave his men a fine fighting spirit.
To speed up the integration and conversion of the new Korean lands, Ye ordered that the focus of the nation's efforts be moved once again - this time to Haixi!
A few years thereafter, the fruits of this decision became apparent:
In early 1545, word reached the Korean court that a nationalist uprising in the states of Chiang Rai and Rayong had overthrown the local Ming governors and reestablished the state of Sukthothai. This presented two compelling causes for war to the king: one, it allowed him to solidify his borders in Indochina, and two, he knew that the Sukthothai patriots would harbour a grudge against him for seizing their original homelands. Thus, the decision was made to go to war!
Apparently, the Sukthothai had found time to send envoys to various neighbouring states, as Shan and Pegu declared war in support. Having completed the occupation of the Sukthothai provinces, the Korean army swiftly attacked the smaller Pegu state.
Again, Ye preserved his reputation by enforcing a peace on Pegu that did not involve land grabs.
Shortly thereafter, Ye annexed the provinces of Chiang Rai and Rayong and concluded a peace with Shan. His courtiers informed him that international opinion was beginning to slant against Korea - the recent large land annexations had caused many to see Korea as a greedy invader!
To combat this perception, Ye ordered a flourishing of the arts in Korea, hoping that an internal focus would allow his wounded reputation time to recover.
One of the pleasant side effects of the cultural flowering of Korea was the arrival of a prominent diplomat. He was quickly brought on to advise in the rehabilitation of the Korean reputation.
Ye, as usual, began to pacify his new acquisitions. He ordered a missionary to be dispatched to Rayong - this would be the last act of his illustrious reign. In 1546, Ye died, passing the title to Jeong II Ming.
Jeong was a product of great education and had experience in the workings of the bureaucracy. His high level of skill in administration and diplomacy meant a new golden age for the kingdom of Korea. Peace allowed the economy to flourish, while the aristocracy and many local governors were exceedingly grateful for the gracious rule of Jeong.
By 1553, the colony in Taiwan had attracted so many new settlers that it had been added to the ranks of self-sufficient provinces of Korea! This provided a new source of income through taxation and allowed the king to halt the previous subsidies to the colony.
Many years of relative quiet settled over the lands of Korea as its king extended his efficient and just rule through the provinces. Taxes and trade filled the coffers of Korea and all provinces acknowledged the state religion as being supreme.
This long period of peace gradually eased the worries of the states surrounding Korea, especially since Jeong had shown no tendencies towards militarism of any kind. However, the Joseon blood that flowed through Jeong's veins carried the martial spirit of his forefathers. Beneath Jeong's quiet exterior lay the heart of a conquerer...
Gameplay comments:
As usual, I was planning on a period of peace to knock down my badboy and give some breathing space, but ended up in a war over a couple of minor provinces Still, it prettied up my borders and my new king is a nice one - good for the economy and rebuilding for sure. My badboy got pretty high - up to 27-28, which was a little more than I was comfortable with as I like to pick when I go to war. Who knows what might happen with the Thang Long CB...