A Crane Among Wolves

26. Daehyun

Among the rumble of outragedofficials, a fist slammed the table. “You mean to say—” The official was visibly shaken. “You wish to plan the coup for one week from today?!”

Deputy Commander Park nodded. “We attack on the eighteenth day of the ninth lunar month.”

“I am confused,” another official asked. “Why the eighteenth?”

“The king,” Daehyun interjected grimly, “will be leaving the capital for Kaesong on that very day. It is a golden opportunity; an opportunity, if not seized, that may never present itself again.”

More grumbles resounded.

“Listen. Look here, gentlemen,” the deputy commander ordered. “The king has over eighty thousand soldiers, but spread out—several thousand are stationed in military camps along the border. So we need to concern ourselves with only the forty thousand or so soldiers still in the capital.”

“Do you think forty thousand is nothing?” an official cried, his jowls trembling. “And how many are we?”

“When the king leaves for Kaesong, he will take up to ten thousand military officers and foot soldiers. The capital will be weaker, too, with no king to guard.”

One by one the officials shook their heads. “A week is not enough.”

“Ui-hwa-do hwe-gun.”

Silence fell as the collective memory stirred.

“Ui-hwa-do hwe-gun,” Daehyun repeated. “Turning back the army from Wihwa Island. In 1388, General Yi Seong-gye of the Goryeo dynasty was ordered to march north with his army and invade the Liaodong Peninsula, despite his great reluctance to do so. But when he saw that his troops were outnumbered, he decided to turn back to Kaesong and trigger a coup. Sometimes, as it was with Yi Seong-gye, a coup is an instinctual decision—plan any longer, and who knows if we will live to see it done. The king’s wrath is as fickle as the wind.”

“What he says is true,” a man murmured. He looked at Deputy Commander Park. “Even the king’s most favored, I hear, have recently begun to lose his trust.”

Another official sighed. “You may sway me yet if you can answer me this: How do we build an army within a week? Write out appeals and send it to military camps, begging them to raise up soldiers for us? What if this letter falls into the wrong hands?”

“The central five military camps hold troops with superior capabilities, deployed to protect the coast from invaders,” the deputy commander replied. “We may not have enough time to build a large army, but we may use the resources already in our possession. One week is enough to mobilize up to ten thousand soldiers.”

“From where?”

“JangJeong, the former governor of Suwon, will take on the task of mobilizing their four thousand men, together with Suwon Military Official Park Yeong Mun. And you, General”—Deputy Commander Park gazed across the table at a stern middle-aged man, his face tanned and weather-beaten—“the king sent you to serve at the Royal Stable, where at least five thousand soldiers are sent to daily work. And there are several other generals there, too. If you could recruit them, we could easily build a small but significant force.”

Faces remained pale, drained of blood. Frightened, wary officials. One finally seemed to utter the sentiment prevalent in this room. “We should only attempt a coup if our chances of victory are high enough to outweigh the serious risk of failure…,” he said. “What is the plan?”