By this time the rumors of these things had gone ahead into Liao-tung.
The form which the news assumed across the border was that the king had fled north to P‘yŭng-yang, but that it was only a blind, as the Japanese and Koreans had formed an agreement to invade China together and the king had made a pretense of flight so as to keep the Chinese unsuspecting until the Japanese should reach the Yalu. This report caused a great deal of anxiety in the Chinese capital and the Emperor sent Gen. In Se-dŭk, who was stationed in Liao-tung, to investigate. He immediately set out for P‘yŭng-yang, and on his arrival sought an audience with the king. It was granted, and the general, having learned the exact state of affairs, started post haste back toward Nanking to report to the Emperor.
On the eighth day of the sixth moon the van of the Japanese army arrived on the southern bank of the Ta-dong River opposite P‘yŭng-yang, but there were no boats and no way of crossing; so they went into camp to await the arrival of the main body of the army. No Chik was ordered by the king to take the Ancestral tablets and start north. The people were enraged at this, for they thought it would mean the immediate pillage of the city by the Japanese, and consequent hardships and dangers for themselves. So the crowd armed itself with clubs and stones and as the tablets were being carried out of the gate they struck the bearers down and loudly insulted No Chik, who was in charge. They cried “In times of peace you are ready enough to steal the government revenues, and it is for this reason that all these troubles have arisen. You call upon us to protect the city and then you run away yourself when danger approaches.” Lashing themselves into a fury by their own words, they threw off their clothes and prepared to strike down every man who should try to escape from the city. Meanwhile the old people and children besieged the palace with their prayers, saying, “We are all here to protect the city, and if the king leaves it will be the same as handing us over to slaughter.” In the eagerness of their importunity they even pressed into the outer court yard and were stopped only by the statement that the king was not about to leave. Yu Sŭng-nyong came out and sat before the crowd and addressing an old man said, “You say that you desire to protect the city and the king’s person and you say well, but how is it that you so far forget your duty as to come in this bold manner into the king’s apartments and raise this disturbance?” The people, partly because it seemed evident the king was not about to leave, returned to their homes.
That night the Japanese caught a Korean and sent him across the river with a letter to the king, in which they said “We wish to meet Yi Tŭk-hyŭng and have a parley with him.” This seemed to be a proper thing to do, so Yi entered a small boat and was sculled out to the middle of the river where he met Konishi. Without wasting any words in mere formalities the latter said, “The cause of all this trouble is that Korea would not give a safe conduct to our envoys to Nanking, but if you will now give us an open road into China all the trouble for you will be at an end.” To this Yi replied, “If you will send this army back to Japan we can confer about the matter, but we will listen to nothing so long as you are on Korean soil.” Konishi continued, “We have no desire to harm you. We have wished such a conference as this before, but have not had a single opportunity until today.” But the only answer the Korean made was, “Turn about and take your troops back to Japan.” The Japanese general thereupon lost his temper and cried, “Our soldiers always go ahead, and they know nothing about going backwards.” And so the conference was[was] broken up, each returning to his own side of the stream.
The next day the king succeeded in getting away from the city and made his way towards Yŭng-byŭn, generals Yun Tu-su, Kim Myŭng-wŭn and Yi Wŭn-ik being left to guard the city and oppose the passage of the enemy. The Japanese camped beside the Ta-dong and waited, as they had waited beside the Im-jin, “for something to turn up.” They did not have to wait as long as they did beside the Im-jin. The Korean generals, Kim Myŭng-wŭn and Yun Tu-su were not without courage and skill, and they conceived the scheme of crossing the river at night at the fords of Neung-na-do a little above the city and falling upon the enemy with a picked body of troops. It would be difficult to disprove that in the face of such odds and such a vast disparity in equipment this plan showed the highest courage not only in the generals but in the common soldiers. The fact that the attempt failed and failed disastrously may reflect upon the judgment of the leaders but it can never impeach their bravery. The fording of the river, always a difficult and slow operation at night, consumed more time than had been anticipated and by the time the devoted men reached the Japanese outposts it was already dawn. They were now in a desperate situation. There was nothing to do but to retreat, but the retreat was itself a cause of disaster, for it revealed to the foe the position of the fords; and thus it happened that a miscalculation as to time made the Koreans the instrument of their own destruction, even as they had been at the Im-jin.
The Japanese now knew that they had everything their own way. After a hearty breakfast they shouldered their arms and made for the ford. They swarmed across in such crowds that the defenders were driven back before they had shot a dozen arrows. The two Korean generals, making a virtue of necessity, opened the Ta-dong Gate on the river side of the town and told the people to escape for their lives. The soldiers threw all their heavier arms into the pond called P‘ung-wŭl-su and fled by way of the Po-dong Gate. The Japanese did not pursue, but took quiet possession of the town and settled down. Here again they made a grand mistake. Their only hope lay in pushing on at full speed into China, for even now the force that was to crush them was being collected, and every day of delay was lessening their chances of success.
The king was at Pak-ch‘ŭn when the news of the fall of P‘yŭng-yang reached him, and he was in feverish haste to get on to Eui-ju, saying that if worst came to worst he would cross into Chinese territory. But he added, “As I am told that by leaving Korean soil I shall abdicate my royal right I wish the Crown Prince, in care of Gen. Ch‘oe Heung-wŭn, to go to Yi-ch‘ŭn in Kang-wŭn Province and there gather about him an army and hold the fortress as long as he can.” This order was immediately carried out and the Prince started for Kang-wŭn Province, while the king pushed on northward to Ka-san. He arrived at that place in the middle of the night. It was pitchy dark and there were no lights and the rain was falling in torrents. The royal escort had dwindled to less than twenty men. Here the report was received that a Chinese force was to cross the Ya-lu, and so the king stopped at Ka-san waiting their approach. Yu Sŭng-nyong was hurrying from town to town trying to get together provisions for the Chinese army that was coming to Korea’s aid, but as fast as he got them together the people rose in revolt and stole them all. Some days passed and still the expected army did not appear, so Yi Tŭk-hyŭng was despatched as envoy to China to solicit aid from the Emperor, and His Majesty called together his little court and said, “If necessary I shall cross the Ya-lu and find asylum on Chinese soil. If so, which of you will go with me?” For some moments there was a dead silence and then Yi Hang-bok, the same who had aided the Queen in her flight from the palace, spoke up and said, “I will go with you.” The truth of the matter is that when the king left P‘yŭng-yang the courtiers all gave up the kingdom for lost and were ready to desert the king the moment there was a more favorable opening.
With tremendous toil Yu Sŭng-nyong succeeded in getting some provisions together and transported them all to Chöng-ju, but when he arrived at that place he found a crowd of people assembled in front of the royal granary armed with clubs. He charged the mob and scattered it, caught eight of the leaders and beheaded them on the spot. He then went to Kwak-san and secured further supplies, and also at Kwi sŭng, and held them in readiness for the Chinese army when it should appear.
We will remember that the king had fully determined to go across into Ham-gyŭng Province, but at the last moment he had been dissuaded because of the difficulties that might arise if he were compelled to retreat further still. Being now urged to go on to Eui-ju he replied, “Yes, I must do so, but what about the queen whom I sent forward into Ham-gyŭng Province?” The brave Prefect of Un-san made answer, “I will go and bring her to Your Majesty.” So he set out across the country to find the queen, and all the records tell us is that he brought her faithfully to him at Pak-ch‘ŭn. This short mention does this brave man scant justice, for even in these days a journey across the northern part of the peninsula is an arduous undertaking especially in summer. But not only so; he was to find a queen, beset perhaps by enemies, and bring her safely across that wilderness to the king, who by that time might be far across the Chinese border, while the country behind him swarmed with a half-savage enemy. This prefect, whose name is Song Ta-ŭp, must have been a brave, energetic, tactful man whose will was as strong as his patriotism was deep.
The Japanese were now settled in P‘yŭng-yang and as they were destined to remain there some time it may be well for us to leave them there and follow the fortunes of Kato, who, as we will remember, had branched off eastward into Ham-gyŭng Province after casting lots. He pushed on rapidly across the country toward Wŭn-sin, but as he was not on one of the main thoroughfares of the country he found it difficult to keep to the road; so he captured a Korean and forced him to act as guide. Arriving at the town of Kok-san in the eastern part of Whang-hă Province they crossed the mountains by the No-ri-hyŭn Pass and pushed on until they struck the Seoul-Wünsan road not far from the latter place.