Chapter X.
An unnecessary warning.... “Smoke-house Soldiers”.... Yi Whan-jo dies.... Yi T‘ă-jo takes his place.... new invasion by “Red Heads”.... Song-do evacuated.... the enemy revel in the capital.... cannibals.... plans for defense.... the “Red Heads.” badly beaten.... Gen. Yi distinguishes himself.... the monster Kim Yong.... Gen. Yi brings Nap-t‘ap-chul to terms.... Quelpart revolts.... “tax without reason”.... the Mongols proclaim a new king for Koryŭ.... a bold envoy.... a faithful eunuch.... Kim Yong destroyed... Mongol invasion.... order restored.... Gen. Yi drives back the Mongols.... Japanese advances.... a conscientious official.... the Japanese creep nearer to Song-do.... king inconsolable.... he meets Sin-don.... who becomes his favorite.... king’s oath to Sin-don.... disgraceful practices.... an heir to the throne.... Sin-don’s policy.... Japanese swarm along the coast.... Sin-don the “Tiger”.... he chides the king.
With the opening of the year 1361 Yi Whan-jo was appointed general of all the forces in the north and north-east. This was done against the advice of one of the officials who told the King that as Gen. Yi was from the north-east it was dangerous to appoint him general over the forces there, for untoward events were likely to happen. The king turned a deaf ear to this warning, which indeed was unnecessary, for the king had no more loyal subject that Yi Whan-jo. The king, having feasted the new appointee, sent him on his mission and himself returned to Song-do.
Ere long came reports of new and terrible ravages by the Japanese along the southern coast, especially at Nam-hă, Ko-sŭng, Kö-je and Ul-ju, while at Fusan they stole a large number of Korean boats. A garrison had been stationed in the south to be used in just such emergencies, but it had been used for so many different things that it could not be concentrated upon any given point; so levies were made on the common people. These levies went under the name of Yŭn-ho-gun, or “Smoke-house Soldiers” because from every house where smoke was seen arising a man was requisitioned. At the same time the governor of Chŭl-la Province advised the establishment of a horse relay system, but the suggestion was not acted upon.
At this time the king lost the services of Gen. Yi Whan-jo who died at his post. His son, Yi Sŭng-gye, better known by his title Yi T‘ă-jo, stepped into his father’s place. At the very beginning of his martial career an opportunity presented itself for him to perform a signal service for the king. A certain Pak Eui deemed that the time was ripe for an insurrection and he began to take steps in that direction, but the king sent the young general, Yi T‘ă-jo, against him and the little blaze was promptly stamped out. As a consequence the young man was confirmed in the position of military governor of the north and east, and under his command was placed a large body of troops.
And now there burst upon the country another storm of fire and blood. The “Red Heads” had been gaining ground rapidly and were now ready to take their revenge for the terrible reverses they had suffered during the previous invasion. They crossed the Yalu 200,000 strong under the leadership of generals Pan-sŭng Sa-yu and Kwan Sŭng-săng. The king promptly sent Gen. Yi Pang-sil against them and hastened to swell the army to as high a point as possible, The officials and monks and other people of means brought horses or provisions, while the walls of Song-do were guarded with jealous care.
In the very first engagement the Koryŭ army was crumpled up like paper and one of the leading generals was killed. The “Red Heads” sent a letter to the king saying “We have ten million men and there is no escape for you except in prompt surrender.” It seemed true, for the invading army swept like a cyclone though the north, and in Song-do panic reigned. Flight seemed imperative. The women and children belonging to the royal household were sent away first and the king was about to follow, when the defeated Gen. Yi Pang-sil came hurrying in and implored the king not to run away but to rally the people about him and stand the siege. The king went to the center of the city, “Big Bell Street,” and submitted the question to the people, asking whether they would rally round him. Just two men responded. This settled the matter and the king and queen, each on horse-back, rode out the south gate, while behind them came a weeping crowd of old men, women and children. Such was the confusion that parents lost their children and families were scattered. The king’s escort consisted of only ten men. When he arrived at the Im-jin river he sent messengers in all directions summoning all loyal soldiers to rally round him.
The northern savages swept down upon the devoted city, sat down in its palaces and gave themselves up to every form of excess. They feasted upon the cattle and horses, hanging their hides upon the city wall and pouring water over them and letting it congeal, thus preventing the citizens from making their escape from the city clandestinely.
The king in his flight carried terror with him, for the people thought the enemy would be in hot pursuit; so they scattered in every direction. This displeased the king so much that when he arrived at the capital of Ch‘ung-ch‘ŭng Province he imprisoned the governor. From that point he hurried southward as far as Pak-ju, now An-dong, in Kyŭng-sang Province.
Day by day the horrible orgies of the savages in Song-do increased in barbarity. It is said that they cooked and ate little children and that they cut off the breasts of women and fed on them.
In the midst of these vicissitudes the king appointed Chöng Se-un as general-in-chief of all the Koryŭ forces. He was a wise and loyal man and was ever thinking of ways and means of checkmating the invaders. He advised the king to send out a general letter encouraging the people and calling all the soldiers to rally to the defense of the country. The officials were also encouraged and made to feel that their utmost endeavors must be put forth in the good cause. The generals were all exhorted to do their best and were threatened with death in case they proved unfaithful. So the campaign was opened. The savages had looted all the towns about Song-do and had taken Wŭn-ju and killed its prefect. They also went north to An-byŭn in Ham-gyŭng Province where the people pretended to surrender, but, having gotten their conquerors intoxicated, they fell upon and killed them. The same tactics were tried in Kang-wha with equal success.
Gen. Chöng Se-un now appeared before Song-do with 200,000 troops. These figures must surely be an exaggeration for we can hardly suppose Koryŭ able at that time to put that number of men in the field. Snow and rain added to the difficulties of the situation. A spy returned and said that the troops of the enemy were massed inside the South Gate and that if a picked body of men could gain entrance somewhere and attack them from behind they could be easily overcome. At the dead of night a picked body of horsemen gained admittance somewhere in the rear of the city and fell with fury upon the garrison. At the same time the main body advanced to attack the South Gate. The savages, not knowing the size of the attacking force and being surprised from behind were thrown into confusion and attempted to run away. Gen. Yi T‘ă-jo distinguished himself by pursuing and capturing Kwan Sŭn-săng the leader of the hostile force. In this stampede the routed savages trod on and killed each other by hundreds. In the center of Song-do the dead were piled in heaps. It is said, though it must be an exaggeration, that 100,000 men perished miserably on that night. As a result of this battle several Mongol seals which the savages had taken in previous fights with the imperial armies, were recovered.
Some of the generals advised that a remnant of the enemy be spared; so the Sung-in and T‘an-hyŭng gates were thrown open and Pa Tu-ban and his remaining followers hastened out and made for the Yalu River.
It is related that during the fight on that eventful night a body of Koryŭ troops collided with a company of the enemy and a melée ensued near the East Gate, where the soldiers trod on each other. Gen. Yi T‘ă-jo was there and was stabbed in the back with a spear. Finding himself in extremely narrow quarters he drew his sword and, hewing a path through the enemy, leaped the wall, horse and all, for he was in the saddle. The spectators thought he was a spirit. A volume might be filled with the stories of the wonderful achievements of this man, but most of them are figments of the imagination, invented at a later period to add lustre to the name of the founder of the dynasty.
The capable leader Gen. Chöng Se-un, met the fate which has been the curse of Korean history from the beginning to the present time. Kim Yong-an, a jealous official, forged a royal order for his execution and sent it to Gen. An U who promptly carried it out. When the king learned of this he thought it was an incipient revolution but soon the other generals joined in a letter to His Majesty saying that it had been done because the murdered man was a traitor. The king accepted this as true and rewarded the murderers.
The fortress of Sang-sŭng near the Tu-man River had long been under Mongol control and was governed by a Koryŭ renegade Cho Whi and afterwards by his descendants as a hereditary fief. Now when Koryŭ once more assumed control, Cho So-săng, the then chief of this anomalous settlement, fled to Mukden where he joined the banners of a wild tribe under the lead of Nap-t‘ap-chul, and proposed to them to make a raid into Koryŭ. This they did, crossing the Yalu and ravaging as far as Puk-ch‘ung and Hong-wŭn. This promised to become a serious matter, but the difficulty of the situation for Koryŭ was increased tenfold by a fresh invasion of the south by Japanese. The king was on his way back to Song-do when news of these two disasters reached him. Things looked desperate, but to add to the hopelessness of the situation the same Kim Yong-an who had murdered Gen. Chöng now compelled the king to kill Gen. An U on the ground that it was he who had killed Gen Chöng. The monster then proceeded to killed his own brother, and induced the king to put to death generals Yi Pang-sil and Kim Teuk-pă, two of the best surviving generals. It is a wonder that Gen. Yi T‘ă-jo was spared. Song-do had been so roughly handled that the king feared the historical records would be lost or destroyed; so he now sent men to look them up and put them in a place of safety.
The wild Nap-t‘ap-chul having been so successful in their first venture, now once more entered Koryŭ territory and as the general sent against them was not able to check their advance Gen. Yi T‘ă-jo was appointed to this place. The enemy was encamped in Hong-wŭn in Ham-gyŭng Province. Gen. Yi attacked them there and routed them with a loss of 1,000 men. Near Ham-hung they made a stand and defended themselves desperately, but he soon had them in full flight once more. Taking 600 picked cavalrymen he pursued them to Ch‘a-ryăng Pass and secured another victory. Only one of the enemy fought well. This man fought aways[aways] in front of Gen. Yi. The latter feigned flight to draw him on and then suddenly turning attacked his pursuer and laid him low with an arrow from his unerring bow. The women who followed the camp of the invading army came out and taunted the men saying “You have overcome everyone but these Koryŭ people; them you cannot conquer. You had better retreat and make for home.” The enemy called a truce and told Gen. Yi that they had come not to attack Koryŭ but the “Red Heads.” This was a mere ruse to save time. Gen. Yi knew this and drawing an arrow to the head shot one of the leaders of the enemy through the body. At last he gave orders to his archers to shoot the horses from under the enemy. This decided the battle and the Nap-t‘al-chul sued for peace. In recognition of these services the king appointed him general of all the forces in the north. The general then proceeded to annihilate all the colonies and settlements of the obnoxious Nap-t‘ap-chul throughout the entire north, and having placed them where they belonged, showed them that their only hope was in making a lasting treaty with Koryŭ. This they were quite willing to do.
As the king came slowly north toward the capital the officials urged that Song-do was too small for the capital and too near the sea to be well protected from the Japanese corsairs. They therefore urged him to remain for a time at Ch‘ŭng-ju, and he gave consent.
And now, strange to relate, Quelpart, at the instigation and under the leadership of Ho-dok-ko Pul-wha, who had been stationed there three years before to take charge of the horse-breeding industry, revolted from the sway of Koryŭ and became at least nominally a part of the Yuan empire.
In order to reward the soldiers who had done such good work in the north the king levied a special tax on the people which they gave with such poor grace that they called it the “tax without reason.”
In 1362 the emperor of China, led to it by the empress, whose seditious relatives had forfeited their lives in Koryŭ, proclaimed one Hye, called Prince Tok-heung, a relative of the king, as king in his place. But Koryŭ well knew that the old time power of the Mongols was gone and so prepared to resist the order.
Early in 1363 the king at last re-entered his deserted capital. A strong force was sent north to guard against the pretender and an envoy was sent to Peking to ask why there were two kings for Koryŭ. The emperor replied that the newly appointed one was the right one and that he must be received in Koryŭ. To this the envoy replied “Though you kill me and smear my blood upon my clothes I will not accompany the pretender back to Koryŭ.” The emperor praised the envoy’s bravery and did not insist upon the demand.
A Koryŭ official named Kim Yong-an, whose evil deeds we have already related, now desired to kill the king and bring in the pretender. A eunuch, An To-jok, knew of the plot and on the appointed night personated the king and was killed by the assassin’s hand. The plotter was forthwith seized, drawn and quartered and his limbs were sent throughout the land as a warning to other malcontents. The emperor was urged to send the pretender as a prisoner to Koryŭ but of course he refused. Not only so, but he also ordered the king to send the royal seals to Peking. The king refused and began preparations for defense against a possible invasion.
He did not have to wait long, for with the opening of the year 1364 a Mongol army 10,000 strong crossed the Yalu and besieged Eui-ju. In the fight at that point the Koryŭ forces were completely routed, though not till after great valor had been shown by Gen. An U-gyŭng against overwhelming odds. The Koryŭ forces retreated in disorder to An-ju. Panic prevailed among all the people of that section for they thought the horrors of the former Mongol invasion were about to be repeated.
The king sent Gen. Ch‘oe Yŭng with a considerable force to An-ju where he made all his generals swear to stand by the colors to the last. He executed a number of fugitives as an example to the rest and soon succeeded in restoring some semblance of order in the camp. Gen. Yi T‘ă-jo was ordered with 1,000 soldiers from the northeast province to An-ju. Also generals Yi Sun, U Che, and Pak Ch‘un were ordered to the same point, and the army thus consolidated assumed large proportions, but the men were miserably dressed and fed, and the death rate was high. Desertions were of frequent occurence[occurence].
Gen. Yi T‘ă-jo’s influence in the northeast is proved by the commotion that followed when he left. The remnant of the Yŭ-jin tribe, led by Sam Seun and Sam Ka seized the whole of this northeast and the people were longing for the return of Gen. Yi. These two Sams were cousins of Gen. Yi and they had fled beyond the northern border and joined the wild Yŭ-jin folk.
The combination of the generals gave great confidence to the troops and when the battle was joined at Chöng-ju the Mongol forces were badly defeated. A Mongol general’s body was taken and sent all about that section to encourage the people and make them believe their troubles were near an end. Gen. Yi blamed the other generals for not following up their advantage and they became angry and said “If you are so brave, you had better try it yourself.” So the very next day he led the army out and surrounded the Mongol forces at Su-ju near the sea, where another glorious victory was won. That night the remnant of the Mongols fled back to the Yalu. Gen. Yi gave chase and it is said that only seventeen of the Mongol army got back in safety across that Rubicon of Korea. This done, Gen. Yi returned to his northeast province and drove back to their haunts the wild tribe who had taken advantage of his absence.
Gen. Yi T’ă-jo was steadily rising in favor although like Wang-gön he wisely stayed as far as possible from his royal master. The king now conferred upon him the title of Mil-jik-sa which means “The Messenger who Restores Confidence and Firmness.”
The Japanese had not ceased their incursions. Only a year had passed since 200 boat loads had ravaged the southern coast and now a like number swept the island of Kal-do in the south, so that from many a district no revenue rice was forthcoming. It is to be feared that this was the principal cause of uneasiness in Song-do—the loss of revenue. Troops were sent and a fleet of eighty war boats to guard the coast and to convoy[convoy] the revenue junks, but these unexpectedly fell in with a Japanese fleet and were all lost. This disaster caused a panic among the people of Kang-wha and Kyo-dong Island. The governor of Chŭl-la Province came northward with troops guarding the revenue but he too met Japanese and lost all the rice and half his men.
This same year 1364 a Mongol official told the emperor that the king of Koryŭ ought to be allowed to retain his position; and the emperor listened to him. The renegade Ch‘oe Yu was sent back to Koryŭ where he was imprisoned and executed. The Koryŭ envoy Yi Kong-su also returned from Peking. A very neat story is told of him. As he was pursuing his way across a wide plain which seemed to have no inhabitants he was obliged to feed his animals with the standing grain. When he was preparing to resume his way he took a bolt of linen and wrote upon it “The price of grain,” and left it among the standing barley. His attendants said, “But the owner of the grain will never get it. Someone will steal it.” The envoy replied, “That is not my affair. I will have done my duty.” The king wished the emperor to send the would-be king to Koryŭ but to this consent was not given.
The Japanese crept nearer and nearer to Song-do with every new expedition. They went into the temple to the dead and carried away a picture of the king. It was with great difficulty that they were dislodged and driven away.
In 1365 when the queen was confined the king ordered the monks to worship on every mountain top and at every monastery to ensure a safe delivery, but all to no avail. She died in giving birth to the child and the king was inconsolable. Treasure was poured out like water to make the funeral the most imposing that had ever been seen in Koryŭ. For three years following the king ate no meat.
It was in this year that the king had that singular dream which led to such disastrous results. He dreamed that someone attempted to stab him, but a monk sprang forward and by intervening saved his life. The face of this monk remained stamped on his memory. Soon after this he met a monk, Sin-don, whose face was the same as that of the monk who had saved his life in the dream. He was the son of a slave in Ok-ch‘ŭn Monastery and he was looked down upon and despised by the other Monks. The king took this Sin-don to himself, raised him to high position and lavished upon him wealth and honors. As a fact this Sin-don was a most unprincipled, licentious and crafty man, but always when in the presence of the king he assumed the sedate demeanor of the philosopher and for many a year completely hoodwinked his royal master. The other officials expostulated in vain. In vain did they urge that this monk was a beast in human shape. The king considered him well-nigh inspired. He believed that it was jealousy that prompted their antagonism and rather enjoyed getting an outsider in and showing them that office and honors did not always go by inheritance. This new favorite soon began to urge the banishment of this or that official and the king always complied. On this account the feeling against him rose to such a pitch that the king was obliged to send him away for a time lest he should be killed. He remained in this retreat until the king had put to death some of his worst enemies. At last the king sent and recalled him; but the crafty man answered “I cannot go back. It is not right that I should hold office.” When the king reiterated his pressing invitation the monk replied “I am afraid that you will listen to my enemies.” To this the king made answer “I swear by the sun, the moon, the stars, heaven and earth that I will listen to no one but you.” So the wily man came back and from that day completely dominated the king. He exaggerated the faults of his enemies and so gradually supplanted them with his creatures. It is claimed of him that he built a dark vaultlike room where he indulged in almost incredible excesses. He gave out that he could cure barrenness, and by his evil practices brought down upon himself the maledictions of the whole people. The king alone would believe no ill of him. He said he was the greatest prodigy in the world.
At this time the Mongol empire was on the verge of its fall and Koryŭ envoys found it impossible to force their way through to Peking and so were compelled to desist. It is a noteworthy fact that though Koryŭ hated the Mongols she nevertheless held fast to them till the very last moment.
At this time it happened that the king was without an heir and both he and the court were anxious about the succession.
The records say that he was so anxious to have a son that he committed an act almost if not quite unparalleled in the history of any land, civilized or savage. Having become prematurely old by his terrible excesses, he introduced a number of young men into the palace and gave them the entre into the queen’s apartments, hoping thereby that his hopes might be realised. In this he was disappointed. One day while passing an hour in the apartments of his favorite, Sin-don, he noticed there a new-born babe, the son of one of Sin-don’s concubines. He seemed pleased with the child and Sin-don asked him to adopt it as his own. The king laughed but did not seem averse to the proposition. Returning to the palace he summoned the officials and told them that for some time he had been frequenting the apartments of Sin-don and that he had gotten a son by one of the women there. He knew well enough that if he proposed to adopt Sin-don’s son the opposition would be overwhelming, so he took this means of carrying out the plan. Of course it is impossible to verify the truth of this statement. It may have been a fabrication of the historians of the following dynasty in order to justify the founder of the new dynasty in overthrowing Koryŭ. The annals of the Ming dynasty say that it was the king’s son and not Sin-don’s.
In 1366 the opposition to the favorite increased in intensity and the king was almost buried beneath petitions for his banishment or death. These the king answered by banishing or killing the senders and by this means the open opposition was put an end to. The wily monk knew that he needed more than the king’s favor in order to maintain his position of honor, and so he began to take away the fields and other property of high officials and distribute them among the people in order to curry favor with them. This brought from the officials a new and fiercer protest and they told the king that these acts would make his reign a subject of ridicule to future generations. While this did not move the king to active steps against Sin-don it caused a coolness to spring up between them. The favorite saw that he had been going too far and he tried to smooth the matter over by returning the property that had been sequestered. At the same time he secured the liberation of many slaves. Here, too, he was [...][Here, too, he was [...]]
All this time the Japanese were busy at the work of pillage and destruction. They took possession of an island near Kang-wha with the intention of fortifying it and making of it a permanent rendezvous. They landed wherever they pleased and committed the most horrible excesses with impunity. The Koryŭ troops were in bad condition. They had no uniforms and their arms were of the poorest kind and mostly out of order. They dared not attack the Japanese even when there was good hope of success. The generals showed the king the ways and means of holding the freebooters in check but he would not follow their advice, probably on account of the expense. He paid dearly for his economy in the end.
The mother of the king could not be brought to treat Sin-don[Sin-don] with respect. When the king expostulated with her and told her that the favorite was the pillar of the state she declared that he was a low-born adventurer and that she would not treat him as her equal. From that time she incurred the deadly enmity of the favorite who used every means in his power to influence the king against her. He became suspicious of everyone who held any high position and caused many of the highest officials to be put to death. He was commonly called “The Tiger.” The depth of the king’s infatuation was shown when in this same year he went to a monastery to give thanks to Buddha for the cessation of famine, which he ascribed to his having taken Sin-don[Sin-don] as counsellor. It is also shown in the impunity with which Sin-don took the king to task in public for certain things that displeased him. The favorite was playing with fire. The people sent to the king repeatedly asking if the rumors of the favorite’s drunkenness and debaucheries were correct. But the king’s eyes had not yet been opened to the true state of affairs and these petitioners were severely punished.