The Manchus were still fretful. A letter came post haste from the north saying, “We have now sent back many captives and you agreed to pay for the rest, but when they got across the border and were lost to us we never saw the money. Not a year has passed since the treaty was ratified and yet you break it with impunity. When the Chinese acted thus we retaliated by seizing twenty-four of their districts. Now you must send those men straight back to us.” Among all the courtiers there was but one dissenting voice, that of Chang Yu, who said, “The government is for the people and if it gives up any of the people thus, from that hour it ceases to be a government. Sooner should we let the Manchus destroy the government outright than comply with such a demand.” This carried the day, and an envoy was sent north bearing a present of a magnificent sword, 300 pounds of ginseng, seventy sable skins, but only five of the men demanded. The Manchus were highly pleased and forgave all that had been done to displease them. The Japanese hearing of this again sent an envoy saying, “Those Manchus are a bold lot. They have made a treaty with you but they do not treat you well. Just say the word and we will come and whip them for you.” This frightened the king and he wanted to forward the message to the Manchus but Kim Sin-guk said, “If you do that you will get the Manchus and the Japanese to fighting each other on Korean soil and we will be the little fish between two whales.” This argument carried the day.
In the year 1629 the king established a naval station on Kyo-dong Island and placed there an admiral to guard that island and Kang-wha from attack from the seaward side. This was with the expectation that the court might again find it necessary to seek asylum on the island of Kang-wha.
A Chinese general. Mo Mun-nyŭng, had been stationed by the Emperor on Ka-do Island near the mouth of the Yalu, to withstand the Manchus, but this man was not loyal to China, and had a leaning himself toward the Manchus. He could see that the Manchus were destined to become masters of the situation. He was very angry when Korea made a treaty with the Manchus for he feared that they would try to hurt his reputation with them. When the Manchus attacked the Chinese in the neighboring mainland of Liao-tung he never raised a hand in their defense, though it is[is] said, perhaps wrongly, that he had an army of 300,000 (!) men. On the other hand he vented his spite against Korea by harrying her northern shores and killing many captives on their way home from the Manchu territory. The Emperor tried to call him to account for this but received no reply. Meanwhile this Gen. Mo Mun-nyŭng styled himself “Son of Heaven beyond the Sea.” As he thus showed his hand, the question as to his disloyalty was settled, and Gen. Wŭn Sung-han came from China to call him to account, a thing he had not foreseen. When Gen. Wŭn approached and called on him to come and report to him, he dared not refuse, fearing that the troops under him would not be willing to attack their fellow-countrymen under Gen. Wŭn. As may be surmised he lost his head as soon as he arrived in the camp of the latter.
In spite of her military activity Korea was anything but strong. The two leading parties, the Noron and Soron were quarrelling like cats and dogs together. There was one constant succession of banishments and recalls, as one party or another obtained temporary control of the government. There was no sort of harmony or unanimity in the discharge of the public business and it had to look out for itself, while those who should have been attending to it were wrangling. There was a high honorary title called Chŭl-lang, and the leading men quarrelled so much over it that the king was at last compelled to abolish it altogether. And yet in the midst of this strife the king found opportunity to establish the Mu-hak, a body of 200 men to act as swift couriers. It is said they could cover 300 li a day, or 100 miles.
The Manchu Gen. Yu Hă, of whom we have spoken, was originally a Chinaman living in Liao-tung, but had gone over to the Manchus. The Emperor was furious at this and offered a reward of 1,000 ounces of silver and high position to anyone who should apprehend him. For a time he went under an assumed name, but finally with his three brothers he came to Gen. Mo Mun-nyŭng whom he knew to be secretly disloyal to China. When Gen. Mo had been executed Gen. Yu came of course under the jurisdiction of Gen. Wŭn. Shortly after this Gen. Yu was killed in a battle but his three brothers decided to rise up against the loyal Chinaman. In the midst of the funeral obsequies of their brother they rose and killed Gen. Chin who had been left in charge of the Chinese forces, and they tried to kill the Koreans as well, but in this they were unsuccessful and shortly afterward were driven out by the Korean forces. When the Emperor heard of this he was highly pleased and praised the Koreans.
The Manchus naturally considered this occupation of Ka-do as a menace to them and they sent a force of 20,000 men to attack the Chinese, at the same time demanding boats of the Koreans whereby to transport their troops. This was not granted, but the Koreans, in order to avoid the effects of a too evident leaning towards the Chinese, gave the Manchus 200 bags of rice. But the Chinese did not wait for the Manchus to cross to the island. They crossed to the mainland and attacked the Manchus unexpectedly, killing 400 and putting the rest to flight.
During this year, 1631, an envoy to China, Chong Tu-wŭn, while in Nanking, fell in with an aged Roman Catholic priest named Jean Niouk, who engaged the attention of the envoy because of his venerable and almost saint-like appearance. This man was one of the companions of the celebrated P. Ricci. From him the envoy received some volumes on science, a pair of pistols, a telescope and some other articles. The mention of a cannon in the native records is probably a mistake of some copyist who wrote the word cannon in place of pistol.
The king was told by his officials that the Manchus were sure to invade Korea again before long and so the island of Kang-wha was well provisioned and arms were prepared. He was urged to form a junction with the Chinese on Ka-do Island and make an attack on the Manchus. The fortresses of Ch’ŭl-san and Un-san in P‘yŭng-an Province were built at this time and every effort was made to put the country in a state of defense against the northern hordes. A fortress was also built near Eui-ju, which was the equivalent of a declaration of war against the Manchus. The result was soon apparent. A Manchu envoy made his appearance bearing a missive which said, “Korea has seen fit to break her treaty with us and she is no longer to be called ‘younger brother,’ but a vassal state. She shall pay us annually a tribute of 10,000 ounces of gold, 10,000 ounces of silver, 10,000,000 pieces of linen.” The king replied that he had no gold but that he would give some tiger skins. These the envoy scornfully refused and returned to the north. The king was somewhat disturbed by this and ordered an envoy to go to Manchuria with gifts, but they were all returned untouched. At this the king was furious and ordered an envoy to go and say that Korea would never again send tribute nor make peace with the Manchus. Kim Si-yang expostulated with the king and told him that such a message would be suicidal, but he was banished on the spot. It is probable the message never reached the Manchu camp, for we learn that with the opening of new year the king had come[come] to his senses and sent tribute to the north to the extent of 800 pieces of silk, 800 pieces of linen, 800 pieces of grass cloth, 800 pieces of cotton, 60 tiger skins, 300 sea-otter skins and 800 quires of heavy paper.
The Korean territory became the asylum for several renegade Chinese generals who demanded sustenance, and what between these and the Manchus it became well-nigh impossible to keep on good terms either with the Emperor or with the Manchus. The latter were continually ravaging the northern border and were, apparently losing all their former feeling of friendship. This cannot be wondered at, for the king was openly siding with the Chinese.
In the spring of 1636 the king ordered a remeasurement of all the arable land in the three southern provinces. It seems that the people were thriving and the margin of cultivation was broadening so that a remeasurement became necessary for a re-estimate of the revenue. At the same time he despatched[despatched] two envoys to the Manchu court at Mukden. The Manchus had just begun to style their empire the Ch’ing or “clear.” And now for the first time we meet the names of the two great Manchu generals who were destined to play such a prominent part in the invasion of Korea. They were called Yonggoldă and Mabudă. These two men came to the Yalu River and received the king’s missive addressed to the son of the Ch’ing Emperor. The two envoys were brought into the Manchu Emperor’s presence, where they were ordered to bow, but refused. They were forced to a stooping position, but resisted, whereupon they were stripped, beaten and driven away.