Chapter 49: Joseon Opens Its Doors
After the Battle of Sarhu in 1621, Jurchen unity frayed once again as recently incorporated tribes began to break away from the Jin Khanate, a few even swearing allegiance to the Yehe, the tribe that had fought alongside the Ming coalition army. Over the next few years, Nurhaci concentrated on bringing the rebellious tribes back under his fold while strengthening the governance of his realm. He also engaged in intermittent conflict with Ligdan Khan of the Northern Yuan for the allegiance and control of eastern Mongolian tumens. By 1627, however, the Jurchen khan was ready to embark on what would be his last major military endeavor. This time, he gazed upon the lands of the Joseon kingdom, a realm that up until this point had escaped retribution for their border skirmishes with Jurchen tribes and assistance of the Ming. The aging chieftain also saw the conquest of the peninsula as essential to any future Jin invasions of China. Therefore, early in that year Nurhaci would lead an army of 50,000 into Joseon.
The timing of the invasion proved beneficial for the Jin, for Emperor Zhenchun was preoccupied with suppressing peasant rebellions in Shaanxi and addressing local famines and natural disasters throughout China, ensuring that Ming aid to Joseon would be delayed. Nevertheless, despite lacking numerical parity the Joseon kingdom had built upon its military reforms and possessed a formidable if smaller standing army led by the veteran general Gang Hong-rip. The border towns along the Yalu River were also well-equipped with gunpowder weapons, enabling them to provide stiff resistance before falling to the Jin army within a month. Next, Nurhaci marched towards the city of Anju and sent his men across the countryside to spread terror throughout local villages, taking fortresses with relative ease. Anju, however, proved difficult to take and devolved into a prolonged siege, giving Hong-rip enough time to gather an army of 30,000 and depart from the capital of Hanseong at the beginning of April 1627. However, a twist of fate ended the Jin invasion when the main Joseon army was a few days away from Anju. On the night of April 13th, while surveying the recently weakened city of Anju, Nurhaci’s entourage was attacked by several soldiers from atop the walls. One of the soldiers hit the khan with a hand cannon in the neck, instantly killing him and ending his last campaign.
Historical ruins of the walls of Anju
Afterwards, Nurhaci’s eighth son Abkai [1] was chosen by the next khan by the senior members of the Aisin Gioro clan, although in practice Abkai collegially governed the realm alongside his older brothers Daisan and Manggultai and his cousin Amin. Suspiciously, these 4 men immediately forced Nurhaci’s late consort Lady Abahai to commit suicide and follow her husband into the afterlife in what historians today view potentially see as a conspiracy to prevent the accession of Nurhaci’s true designated heir and son with Abahai, Dorgon, to the khanate. In any case, this incident sowed resentment and distrust within the Aisin Gioro clan and eventually led to a coup attempt by Ajige, another of Nurhaci’s sons with Abahai, in 1630 with the backing of Amin. While Ajige would fail and subsequently be executed, Amin and his men survived and continued to fight, plunging the Jin khanate into civil war.
Meanwhile, Joseon underwent its own internal strife around the same time. This was triggered by King Gwanghaegun’s momentous decision to allow direct trade with the Dutch and English [2] in the aftermath of the Jin invasion of Joseon. Gwanghaegun arrived at the decision of ending his kingdom’s isolationist policy after witnessing the state of the northern countryside devastated and economically ravaged by repeated incursions of Jurchen tribes throughout his reign , concluding that the peninsula needed new channels of revenue to fund a more technologically advanced military and increase economic prosperity. These conclusions were reinforced by events to the south,where the Spanish had controversially established Fort San Salvador on Bireitou and the breath of European colonialism began to be felt closer to home. Gwanghaegun’s decision, however, was met with skepticism and even opposition from neo-Confucian scholars in the royal court, particularly the hardline conservatives of the Westerner faction, marginalized since 1589. The latter saw direct contact with the Europeans as an affront to Confucian principles and a violation of Joseon’s tributary duty and subordinate status to the Ming dynasty. Therefore, on April 11th, 1629, the Westerner faction led by Kim Ja-jeom and Yi Gwal attempted to overthrow the king and install his nephew Yi Jong to the throne. However, Gwanghaegun’s loyal guards successfully protected their overlord and arrested the conspirators, who would then be executed. Yi Jong, who himself was not directly involved, was nevertheless forced to take the tonsure and spent the rest of his life in a Buddhist monastery.
This coup attempt not only destroyed the Westerner faction but also weakened the power of neo-Confucian scholars in the royal court, allowing the king to go ahead with his plan unimpeded. Joseon sent emissaries to the Dutch and English and limited trade with the European powers, beginning with the opening of Busan in 1631. Although initially disrupted by the Iberian-Japanese War, trade with Europe greatly benefitted the kingdom, with Joseon baekja, or white porcelain, particularly prized among Dutch and English traders. Trade also gave the kingdom greater access to the latest gunpowder weapons and knowledge of European-style shipbuilding. In time, these along with other variables would lead the peninsular realm to become the pre-eminent power of northern Asia, destined to surpass both the Northern Yuan and the Jin Khanate. Thus, the early 1630s represented a turning point for both the Jin and Joseon.
[1]: Regnal name of Hong Taiji IOTL in the Manchu language
[2]: The establishment of Fort San Salvador pushed the Joseon kingdom away from opening trade relations with the Iberian nations.
