The Plan to Conquer Yanbian and Hunchun (4)

Grand King Yi Bang-won held a memorial in his hands.

It was a memorial created through the overwork and perseverance of many scholars of the Hall of Worthies, based on Kim Daebung’s earnest petition and efforts.

A broad smile filled Yi Bang-won’s face as he looked over the memorial.

“Manchuria, Manchuria. It rolls so pleasantly off the tongue, and just thinking of it makes my heart pound. What a beautiful name.”

Manchuria was a name given to the land to mean “the barbarians’ land.”

Though its name was crude, it was a land where endless, expansive plains stretched beyond the horizon, farmland no less enviable than Jeolla Province except for its long, bitterly cold winters.

Moreover, treasures such as open-pit iron mines and coal mines were scattered throughout the land.

Manchuria was good land for farming, good for raising livestock on a large scale, and good for building things like steelworks and coal mines; it was truly a land like a jewel.

In short, it was a dreamlike place overflowing with infinite possibilities.

‘It makes me uneasy to think that barbarians who do not properly understand the value of that land have held Manchuria all this time.’...