600.Why does no one come
As letters went back and forth several times, the heavy knot that had been lodged deep within Park Seong-jin's heart slowly began to loosen.
On the layered nights of battle, he did not resent Gaegyeong.
Yet in one corner of his mind, a chill question—"Why does no one come"—always followed like a shadow.
That question never surfaced in words, buried instead behind the noise of combat.
Reading Supreme Commander Yi In-jung's letters again and again, Park Seong-jin came to understand, for the first time, what circumstance truly meant.
This was a time when reform had scattered the army, abolished private forces, and split the very frame of the military system.
The dynasty itself was barely maintaining balance.
Park Seong-jin had seen only screams, blood, and burned villages, while Yi In-jung was holding fast to the trembling center of the nation.
"So even with all one's strength, troops cannot be gathered."
When that truth sank into his chest, the resentment that remained dissolved of its own accord.
Resentment is born in ignorance and fades with understanding.
Park Seong-jin let out a deep breath.
"So it was not that anyone abandoned me."
The words were closer to a confirmation spoken to himself.
Just then, together with the sound of footsteps pounding at the south gate of Jinju Fortress, a courier burst in.
"General, a royal command has arrived."
A silence heavier than the cheers that once filled the battlefield fell over the tent.
With slightly trembling hands, Park Seong-jin broke the seal.
The sound of the sealing wax cracking was strangely clear.
The king's own handwriting appeared.
—Permission is granted to unify and command regional forces for the suppression of sea raiders.
—Permission is granted to strike the origins, including Tsushima and Iki.
Park Seong-jin's brow bent ever so slightly.
It was less joy than relief that the path had finally opened.
He spoke softly, almost in a murmur.
"Senior brother… thank you."
There was no one to hear it, and no one to answer, yet the words flowed out on their own.
Now it was time to move.
Yet strength alone would not suffice.
Striking the origin was a war fought within a war.
Ships had to be gathered and weapons loaded.
Engineers and gunners, ship-mounted cannon and sailors, village warriors and former private troops all had to be bound together to raise a new army of the sea.
"Now comes planning."
Park Seong-jin summoned a civil officer.
"Send a reply to the Supreme Commander.
Tell him preparations for the origin strike will begin at once."
Yet one more thing remained.
Park Seong-jin was strong and decisive, but fixing a grand design onto paper took him time.
At such moments, there was always one person he thought of.
Yun Dam.
When it came to devising plans, handling administration and logistics, managing documents and reports, transport and supply, and the integration of private forces—
matters where people became intricately entangled—it was not Park Seong-jin's hand but Yun Dam's that was precise.
Park Seong-jin requested that Yun Dam be sent down.
---*
As the western gate of Jinju Fortress began to brighten faintly, a cloud of dust approached beneath the ramparts.
At the head of the group was a man on horseback, lean of build, wearing a neat official robe.
To arrive at this hour meant he had ridden through the night.
Dust clung to him, yet a quiet dignity flowed from his face.
Before the gate even opened, a sentry recognized him and shouted.
"It is Lord Yun."
When the message was sent inside, Park Seong-jin ran out.
From afar, Yun Dam's gaze as he approached was without the slightest disorder.
It had been a grueling journey, yet his eyes were clear and cold.
The two men stood for a moment, looking at each other in silence.
Yun Dam bowed deeply first.
"Jungnangjang. I was told you summoned me urgently, so I rode straight through."
Park Seong-jin lightly grasped his shoulder.
A sense of weight lifting traveled through his fingertips.
"Thank you for coming, Lord Yun."
At those words alone, Yun Dam seemed to grasp the entire situation.
He raised his head and said,
"I have heard of the battlefield. From now on, it will not be the general's sword, but a board to be set in order by me, that is needed."
At the word "board," Park Seong-jin smiled faintly.
Nothing is more precious than speaking plainly of what is needed.
"That is why I called you."
Not even an hour after arriving, Yun Dam went straight into the command office.
His steps were quick, yet unhurried.
He pulled over a desk and spread out documents and bamboo slips.
Officials of Jinju Prefecture were summoned in turn.
"How much grain do we have. State the amount precisely."
"How many transport laborers. How many carts, how many horses."
"Submit itemized lists of private troops held by local magnates."
"Provide complete rosters of rowers, sailors, carpenters, and metalworkers."
He asked, wrote, checked, confirmed, and asked again.
Yun Dam's hand never rested, and his voice was low and clear.
Flipping through ledgers, he said,
"Five warships. Mounted with cannon. Most of the expense will be supply."
Listening beside him, Park Seong-jin murmured almost in admiration.
"As expected of Lord Yun."
Within a single day, Yun Dam gathered the minimum weapons and provisions, horses and laborers, and reorganized them at once.
Scattered elements linked into a single flow.
At the end, he divided the situation and tasks cleanly into two and said,
"Jinju is no longer a battlefield but a base.
I will build the ledgers that will sustain this war."
As Yun Dam began to establish the system, the air of Jinju changed.
People came to know clearly what they each had to do.
In that moment, fear shifted its place.
Between busy hands and feet, a path to survival began to appear.
And the next day.
Beneath the western gate of Jinju Fortress, dust and the sound of hooves surged in succession.
The son of a local magnate from Geumgok County, commanding seventy households, arrived first.
Martial men from village lineages around the Nam River followed.
Small landholders leading a few strong men lined up behind them.
They spoke with one voice.
"We hear that the Jungnangjang has received the king's command."
"Though our bodies are humble, we wish to lend our strength to driving out the raiders."
"We believed this the time to repay the nation's grace owed from our forebears."
Park Seong-jin stood atop the ramparts and looked down at them.
Words were unnecessary.
As the general revealed himself, hundreds of gazes gathered at his feet.
Unlike the rumors from the battlefield, the man before them was a quiet, composed young general.
Park Seong-jin stepped forward.
"To strike the Japanese, I need all of your strength."
At that single sentence, private troops, village warriors, and strong men alike placed their left hands on their sword hilts and bowed their heads.
"Loyalty."
Yun Dam watched from behind.
Troops were gathering without recruitment, drawn by reputation alone.
This was the power of Park Seong-jin's martial presence.
Yun Dam reached a brief conclusion in his mind.
Now it was possible.
Warships and gunpowder, private forces and craftsmen were finding their places.
The board of war was gradually being completed.
At its center stood Park Seong-jin holding the sword, and behind him stood Yun Dam, raising the structure.
Not even a full month after Yun Dam's arrival, supplies came in.
It was a day when the chill of early winter spread across the waters of the Nam River at Jinju.
Suddenly a gate officer shouted,
"A ship is coming from the south. It is large. It is heavy.
The hold is full. It is a ship from Jiangnan."
At the word "Jiangnan," Park Seong-jin's chest dropped in an instant.
A breath-stopping sense of disbelief rose.
He ran straight for Sacheon.
At the far end of the river, a heavy Jiangnan warship was cutting through the water.
A purple banner fluttered at its prow.
It was the banner of a Great Han supply ship.
As it drew closer, sacks piled in the hold rose like a mountain.
Words burst within Park Seong-jin's chest.
"Saltpeter."
He drew in a sharp breath.
Then a second ship entered.
It was laden with sacks full of sulfur, tinged pale yellow.
At that moment, a man waving from the bow came into view.
His face was darkened by sea wind, yet the corners of his mouth were as talkative as ever.
It was Jang Sa-ui.
Park Seong-jin leapt down toward the pier, nearly running.
The moment the ship docked, Jang Sa-ui laughed and shouted,
"General. Who do you think I am.
If you entrust it to me, I deliver—am I not Jang Sa-ui."
Unable to hold back his laughter, Park Seong-jin pulled him into an embrace.
"You really succeeded."
Jang Sa-ui handed over a long folded note and said,
"The Great King wrote this letter himself.
It says he has not forgotten the grace shown thus far, and that henceforth he will grant whatever the general requests."
Park Seong-jin accepted the note and read it quietly.
Then he slowly let out his breath.
When one wishes earnestly, the whole world lends its aid.
He now knew with his own body that those words were no empty saying.