Now that lasting peace seemed to be assured, the king no longer hesitated to hand over the reins of power to the Crown Prince. He accordingly sent the royal insignia south to him, and so doffed the responsibilities as well as the prerogatives of royalty. But, strange to say, the prince strenuously refused to accept them, insisting that he had no desire to take the scepter from his father’s hand. Seven times he sent to his father protesting his unwillingness to have the honor thrust upon him. But the king would not listen. It was only after the courtiers had assembled before the palace for twenty days in succession and besought him to retain the scepter that they finally prevailed and he consented to continue in the exercise of the royal prerogative.
Yi Mong-hak, an unprincipled ruffian, ignorant but ambitious, had joined the forces of Gen. Han Hyŭn and had fought during the war. Now he started out on an independent line. Gathering a force of over ten thousand men he attacked and took Hong-san in Ch‘ung-ch‘ŭng Province, and he followed it up by taking Im-ch‘ŭn, Ch‘ung-yang, Chöng-san and Hong-ju. Yi Mong-hak had been deceiving his followers by saying that Gen. Kim Tŭk-nyang was interested in this scheme. But now they found that this same Gen. Kim was arrayed against them and they saw they had been duped. That night every man deserted the adventurer and the next day he fell into the hands of the loyal troops and his head was forwarded to Seoul. This shows the extremely unsettled state of the country, and how any unprincipled man with money and effrontery could offer serious opposition to the government.
Here again we find a striking example of that petty jealousy which deprived Korea of most of her capable men. This Gen. Kim Tŭk-nyŭng was a celebrated man. He was known throughout the Korean army for his strength and prowess. It is said of him that single-handed he would attack a tiger and pin it to the ground with a spear. They also say that he rode into battle with an iron mace of a hundred pounds weight in each hand and he gave the Japanese so many hard knocks that they gave him the name, “The General from under the Rock.” The ministers at Seoul were suspicious of his rising fame and went their ways to have him dragged down. They charged him with having been in league with Yi Mong-hak and won the king over. He was arrested and brought to Seoul, where after a most disgraceful trial he was put to death. The Japanese had such a high opinion of this man’s parts that Konishi sent and had a portrait made of him. When he saw the picture he exclaimed, “This man is indeed a General.” When his death was announced, the Japanese held a great feast in honor of the event. This was just on the eve of their departure for home.
As we have seen, it was in the summer of 1596 that the Chinese and Korean envoys crossed to Japan with the returning army of invasion. When they were brought into the presence of Hideyoshi he treated them with scant courtesy. When asked why he did not bow before the imperial missive he replied that he had a sore leg and could not. He treated the Korean envoy much worse than the Chinese, and said to him, “I sent back the two princes as I agreed, but your king never so much as thanked me. He has now sent as envoy a man of inferior rank on purpose to insult me. I believe the original Chinese envoy ran away at the instigation of your king. I will treat the Chinese envoy civilly, but as for you I shall send another army and be avenged on you.” After this there was but one thing to do. Both the envoys packed up their effects and started back home. When the Chinese envoy arrived at Nanking bringing insult instead of submission from Japan the Emperor was in a terrible rage and charged Sim Yu-gyŭng with having betrayed his country. The chief envoy was executed and the official who had advised the sending of an embassy was thrown into prison and starved to death, but Sim Yu-gyŭng in some way escaped with his head.
Chapter II.
A new invasion determined upon.... comparison of Japan and Korea.... Japanese scheme to get Admiral Yi into danger.... Admiral Yi degraded.... second invasion.... Choryŭng Pass fortified.... Chinese give aid.... Admiral Yi’s successor a failure.... great naval victory for the Japanese.... Admiral Yi reinstated.... siege and fall of Nam-wŭn.... Korean naval victories.... Admiral Yi’s policy.... Japanese advance checked.... rejoicing in Seoul.... siege of Ul-san.... siege raised.... Roman Catholic missionaries.... the Japanese army.... the “ear and nose mound”.... number of Chinese.... a Japanese settlement.... Chinese admirals.... Admiral Yi’s diplomacy.... Gen. Yang Ho recalled.... the King accused.... the defense.
We have now reached the halfway point between the two invasions, or rather between the two parts of the double invasion. Hideyoshi was still furious over the failure of his great plan of invading China, and he must needs find some way to vent his spleen. He determined upon a second invasion of Korea, not this time with a view to the invasion of China but with the more modest desire to punish Korea, though what Korea had done to deserve punishment it would be hard to say. To be sure she had proved an obstacle to his vaulting ambition, for had Hideyoshi’s original army sailed straight for China instead of landing at Fusan, it probably would have overthrown the Chinese capital. We must notice the changed conditions which existed between the two countries. Korea had now experienced the worst possible at the hands of the Japanese and knew what to expect. Their soldiers had felt the prick of Japanese swords and had in turn tasted the delights of victory. That terrible glamor which surrounded the dreaded islanders upon their first appearance had worn off and some sort of equality had been effected between them. The Koreans had meanwhile become possessed of firearms and were measurably skilled in their use. They had learned never to trust themselves to open battle when geurilla warfare was feasible. They had demonstrated their great superiority on the sea in the person of the Admiral Yi. When therefore we remember that the Japanese had to leave their base of supplies and live on what they could forage in the peninsula, it appears that in spite of their prowess they had not much advantage over the Koreans. But before making this second descent upon the shores of Korea it was necessary for the Japanese to get the redoubtable Admiral Yi Sun-sin out of the way. No fleet from Japan would risk an encounter with him in his “Tortoise Boat.” The Japanese had seen how the mutual jealousies of the Koreans worked in their favor and they determined to use this in getting Admiral Yi removed. So one day a Japanese named Yo-si-ra made his appearance at the camp of Gen. Kim Eung-sŭ, saying that he was tired of being a Japanese and that he wanted to become a Korean. He dressed in Korean clothes and kept going back and forth between the Japanese and Koreans, giving the latter what seemed to be much valuable information. He seemed to be devoted to the Korean interests. One day he came in a state of great excitement and said that the Japanese General Kato was coming to Korea with a great fleet and that, as he was to pass a certain island off the coast, Admiral Yi ought to be sent to lie in wait there and drive the invading fleet back or to sink it. So Gen. Kim wrote to the king about it and asked for orders. The king, trusting in the prowess of Admiral Yi, gave his consent; but when that officer received these orders he promptly replied that it was a trick to entrap him and thus clear a way for a descent upon the mainland of Korea. He therefore declined to run the risk, especially as the place mentioned was studded with sunken rocks and was specially dangerous for navigation. But the Japanese Yo-si-ra kept urging Gen. Kim to see to it that the plan was carried out and at last the General wrote to the king saying that Admiral Yi declined to go. As may be supposed Admiral Yi had enemies at court who could not let such an opportunity pass of getting him into trouble. Consequently the iniquitous decree went forth that Admiral Yi be seized and brought to Seoul and that Wŭn Kyun be put in his place. The king intended to put Admiral Yi to death, but one of the officials urged his former services in palliation of his present offense and so the punishment was commuted to loss of position alone. So it was that Admiral Yi, the best soldier that Korea contained and to whom the king owed his crown twice over, was degraded to the ranks and became a common soldier. But most remarkable of all, he made no complaint, but went quietly about his work as if nothing had happened.
In the first moon of the year 1597 the Japanese fleet set sail from Japan. This army was led by Kato and Konishi although the nominal commander in chief was a lad of seventeen named Hideyaki. It is said that it took a thousand boats to bring the army across the straits. Had Admiral Yi Sun-sin been at his old post this fleet would never have touched keel on the Korean coast but as it was there was no difficulty, and the entire army landed safely at So-sang Harbor and immediately threw up fortifications and went into camp.
The first thought of the Koreans was to fortify Cho-ryŭng Pass the one break in the mountain chain which the Japanese must pass if they wished to march on Seoul. Gen. Kwŭn Ryŭl with 23,000 men and other generals with troops hastily gathered from various districts hastened to that important pass and put the fortifications in good order, and the king forthwith sent Kwŭn Hyŭp as envoy to Nanking to implore the intervention of China. And now we see the evil results of Hideyoshi’s ill-treatment of the Chinese and Korean envoys in Japan; for instead of making the Koreans send time and again asking for help the Emperor was eager to send troops into the peninsula to avenge himself upon the Japanese. The Chinese army was put in charge of three men: Gen. Yang Ho with rank of Military Commissioner, Gen. Hyöng Kă as general-in chief and Admiral Ma Gwi[Ma Gwi] as commander of all the naval forces. Under these were Generals Yang Wŭn, O Yu-ch’ung, U Păk-yŏng, Chin U-ch’ung, So Eung-gung, Chin Hyo and Tong Han-yu. Gen. Yang Ho came no further than P’yŭng-yang, his duties not requiring his presence on the field of battle. Admiral Ma Kwi and all the others came on to Seoul. From that point they branched out in several directions, one going to Nam-wŭn in Chŭl-la province, another to Song-ju in Kyŭng-sang Province, another to Chŭn-ju, Chŭl-la Province, and another to Ch’ung-ju in Ch’ung-ch’ŭng Province.
Admiral Wŭn Kyun, who had supplanted Yi Sun-sin, went to Han-san where Admiral Yi had worked so diligently to build barracks with the proceeds of salt manufacture. His first work was to overthrow all the rules and regulations which his predecessor had so wisely promulgated. He then drove away all who had been at all intimate with the former admiral, who was now a common soldier under Kwŭn Ryul. He then built a paling about the council-hall that Yi Sun-sin had built and there he housed his harem and spent his time in revelry and feasting. He would frequently have innocent men called up and severely punished for mere amusement. And thus he soon alienated the good will of all the troops stationed there.