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The Joseon road to modernization: A Korea Vicky 2 AAR

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I can still remember during my childhood the ceremonies of submission made by our officiers when a Qing emissary came to pay a visit to our court. And now, forty years later we are fighting them. Times do change quickly.
Most of the Korean people are requesting to join the war and many have already crossed the border to hunt the Chinese soldiers. Our King decided to send most of the courtiers as officials, including me. I will leave next week togheter with my brother.
In the meanwhile we heard of our first victory against the Qing.

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Obviously the British are very pleased of our intervention in the war. They say that they recognize our desire of independence and they will support us by sending some officers to give any military advice we need. Actually five days after my arrival on the camps I've seen two western officers talking with our generals and their interpreters.

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This is third battle that I witness in my life, but this time is was amazing. We have easily crushed the Qing forces and we surrounded them leaving no survivor. It has been a tremendous victory, we have annihilated them. I'm very exicted, I'm feeling something that I've never noticed before.
If only I could be younger. I'm bored of just watching on my horse this great spectacle.

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Korea fighting the Chinese at 2-5 to 1 :rofl:

Good job. What peace treaty are you planning on ?
 
The British said that they're very impressed of our victories and they also compliment us of our quick learning of their military tactics. This may be the price for having opened to other countries instead of refusing to confront ourselves with other civilization and try to innovate.
By now we are considered by the western powers more than an uncivilized country and our victories against our former masters gave an important boost to our prestige.

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One friend of mine who rested in the capital wrote me that our officers have finished to study the industrial projects sent to us from the westerners. The King has then ordered to build our first factory in Kwangju region, a glass factory to be more precise. I'm looking forward to see this thing in action when I'll return home.

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We captured the fort of Jilin! The Qing are no match for us! During the last battle I charged the enemy and I've killed two Chinese privates! I've never been like that, I'm still trembling but it is not because I'm scared, I feel instead powerful, like nobody can stop me.
My brother told me that I may be too much enthusiastic of the battles, that all of this excitement makes me incautious. Who knows...

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gigau said:
Korea fighting the Chinese at 2-5 to 1 :rofl:

Good job. What peace treaty are you planning on ?
Click to expand...

At least one part of Manchuria, but Qing troops are amassing near the capital. The good news for now is Westernization. :D
 
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Brother, I don't understand. You have always been a calm and wise man. When I was a child I remember that you usually reproached me because I was too impatient and excited. Then it came this war and for the first time in your life you have seen what it is like. While to me it was just my usual job, it was to you a striking spectacle and you were eager to join it. But when you are on the field things are much different from when you are just assisting the fighting on a hill.
Why someone like you hasn't realized that? Perhaps you have spent too much time at the court and when you witnessed the courage, the agitation and the strain of the battle it won you like a dreadful dance.
The war is uncertain and I have also to bear this personal tragedy...

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My name is Hwang Chung. I'm the general of the Southern Army that is involved in our war against the Qing Empire. Since my brother was killed in the battle of Halshenwai I had to return his coffin to our home and I had also to prepare his funerals as well.
Although the Qing are fighting two enemies at the same time, one from the West and another from the East, they managed to send an huge army to protect the capital so that we couldn't march to Beijing.
Then the Chinese have launched two offensives. Our armies repulsed only the attack to Boli, but the other offensive was about to annihilate the Imperial Army and the Northern one that were besieging the fort of Jilin. A defeat there would leave our borders vulnerable to Chinese invasion so the situation was really alarming.

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We heard also of the British discussing peace with the Qing. The Prime Minister realized that the fall of the Western front would leave us alone against the whole Chinese army, so he asked the King to discuss peace before it is too late. Even if our King didn't want to renounce to his claims in Manchuria, he accepted to propose a treaty which leaves the borders as they were before the war in exchange for Qing recognition of our Kingdom's independence. Thanks to British and Russian's intercession the Qing accepted our terms and the war has ended. A few weeks later the British too signed a peace with the Chinese Empire which ended the persecutions to the foreign merchants and forced the Imperial court to give a huge compensation to the United Kingdom.

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A white peace ? Nice that you could hold your ground... too bad you couldn't get a province or two...
 
Many generals were disappointed how the war ended. The Royal court tried to calm them down saying that we were still unprepared to win a giant like the Qing empire but that our independence is still a great accomplishment. We must be patient and our time will come. I think that there is some truth in these words.
Last week I've visited our first factory in the region of Kwangju. I've never seen something like that but it is the proof that we are making a lot of progress. Our Kingdom will soon become the greatest one in the region.

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I've heard of railroads during the Manchurian campaign. Some foreign officials told us about transporting troops by train, something that makes movements faster and less exhausting for the soldiers. The idea then came to the capital and our officers immediately wanted to study this new technology. Only two years after the war the King ordered the construction of our first railroad line.

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Our spies at the Qing's court reported us of serious disorders into the Chinese Empire. Although the war with the British has ended three years ago, the level of the taxes in several regions was as high as during war. Because of this some subjects in central China raised a massive rebellion and the Imperial court sent an army to crush the rebels. However the insurgents first defeated the army and then marched directly to the capital. In order to save his life the Emperor escaped away, leaving the government alone to face the rebels.
When the main Imperial officials still in Beijing have met the leaders of the rebellions they found that the insurgents only wanted to discuss with the Emperor, because they didn't trust anymore the local officials. But when the rebels discovered that the Emperor escaped from the capital they were very disappointed of the Qing. Then they said that they will not be their subjects anymore and returned home.
So two new Kingdoms have emerged from the middle of the Qing Empire: the Kingdom of the Xibei San Ma and the Kingdom of Shaanxi.

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A few months after the rebellion, things got even worse for the Qing. With the independence of Xibei San Ma and Shaanxi the Xinjiang province was separated from the eastern provinces and the Qing's control over there was significantly weakened. The Kokand Khanate then took advantage of the situation to support some local rebellions and when the Chinese army finally came to suppress the riots, the Khanate intervened to help his Muslim brothers.

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The Kokand Khan wanted to annex the whole Xinjiang region and even asked for help to the newborn Kingdoms of Xibei San Ma and Shaanxi. However they refused to join the war because they were afraid of a giant Kokand near them. So while the Kokand was confined to Xinjiang, the Qing could send reinforcements thanks to their military access in Tibet, and the war ended in a white peace. But by then the Xinjiang region remained in chaos and the Qing's presence was only able to avoid another declaration of independence.

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Our King wanted to take advantage of the Qing's weakening and started to prepare a war against Dai Nam, now a Qing's ally. In fact the British presence in that region had become really strong and since neither the little local Kingdoms nor China could give any resistance to them, our King realized that sooner or later our colonies there will be in danger as well. He then proposed to strengthen our influence in the region, but in order to do that the Kingdom had to expand his possessions.
Nobody seems worried of a Qing intervention. I know that some at the court hope that the Chinese will join the war because our troops are better prepared than the last war.

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My army was immediately sent on the border with China to prepare for an invasion. However the warmongers at the court have been disappointed because it seems that Dai Nam has been left alone.

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We found a very little resistance from the Vietnamese and we easily started to occupy the main cities. The Vietnamese Royal Family fled the capital just a few days before our siege.

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After our occupation of the capital the Vietnamese army tried to attack us but their forces were too weak to be any threat.

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The war against Dai Nam was really an easy job. After less than one year from the beginning of the hostilities the Vietnamese King has surrendered and he accepted the cession to our Kingdom of the Vinhlong region. The government had no need to call the armies positioned on the border with China so that we haven't joined the operations at all.

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During the war I've heard that the government started talking about the integration of Brunei in our realm. Actually until now our Brunei possession were just a protectorate. But since this protectorate has had an incredible development and the locals started to feel theirselves as subjects of the Joseon dynasty, the King decided to formalize the definitive annexation of Brunei and made it a rightful Korean province.

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One year after the war against Dai Nam have emerged some tensions with the local people, just like it happened in the past with Brunei. I've heard that the officers there are a little harsh with the Vietnamese and that they have also ordered some restrictions concerning building and ownership.
Perhaps this is a worse treatment than the one we had with Brunei in the past, but I think this is also due to the British presence in the region, something that forces our officers to a more strict control.

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Seven years have passed since our declaration of independence from the Qing. Many at the court are still complaining that the Kingdom has lost a great opportunity in that conflict, but our King and our Prime Ministers have repeatedly said that our armies were still not enough prepared to win a war like that and that the independence was a much better result than risking our complete annihilation by continuing to fight while the British were already discussing peace and were about to leave us alone.
The British too have noticed our interests in Manchuria because they have recently contacted our government to discuss about a future war with China. It seems that there will be an accorded partition of the Empire: the British will get the Guangxi region while our King will annex some parts of Manchuria.
Today we received a message from the British embassy: the war has begun.

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Our people are very excited. I've heard many yelling in the streets: "Death to the Qing! Down with the Chinese tyran! Down with the evil Emperor!"
The government has expelled the Qing ambassador and has retired our in Beijing. Our armies have been mobilized.
This is our moment, let us hope that this time will end much better than the last one.

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The Qing court is in shambles. Maybe they didn't expect this dobule attack or maybe they are just too much incompetent to react. Anyway a massive rebellion has started in many regions of the Empire, including Manchuria so that instead of battling the Chinese army we have only found angry rebels.

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Nice :)

go get them, tiger... and this time, bring back your rightful territories :cool:

At the end of this war, could you show a zoomed-out map, highlighting your kingdom and its dependencies, please ?
 
Excellent news.
I hope that this time you'll seize Manchuria.
 
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