Manchu camps.... the garrison of Nam-han.... a trick.... divided
counsels.... the king determines to fight it out.... Koreans eager
to fight.... the garrison put on half rations.... terrible cold....
message to the provinces.... successful sallies.... the king’s
kindness.... the Manchu fence.... the gift refused.... help from the
outside....unsuccessful venture.... plenty and want.... imperial
edict.... the answer.... a night attack.... relief party
defeated.... other attempts to relieve the king.... a cowardly
general.... a clever trick.... Korean defeat.... mutual
recriminations.... a ghastly trick.... desperate straits....
correspondence.... a starving garrison.... a heroic answer.... king
wants to surrender.... Manchu demands.... fighting continued.
The Manchu army encamped along the southern side of the city from
Mo-wha-gwan to the South Gate and outside the East Gate, and the air
resounded with the sound of music and drums. At first the soldiers
committed no excesses beyond the theft of a few cattle and an occasional
woman, but now that it was learned that the king had run away to Nam-han
the license became unbounded and men and women were killed in large
numbers. The royal treasure houses were looted and nothing was too
sacred to be dragged about the streets. That same night a band of the
Manchus completely encircled Nam-han, which must be well-nigh ten miles
around.
The king set a strong guard all about the wall, appointing Gen. Sin
Kyöng-jin to guard the East Gate, Gen. Ku Kweng the South Gate, Gen. Yi
Sö the North Gate and Gen. Yi Si-băk the West Gate. Generals Wŭn
Tu-p‘yo, Ku In-hu, Han Whe-il and Pak Whan went all about the wall with
strong bodies of troops, to prevent the entrance of any scaling party.
The whole number of troops in the fortress was about 12,000. Gen. Nam
An-gap held the important position of Commissariat Chief. The king’s
retinue and court consisted of 200 officials, 200 of his relatives, 100
clerks, and 300 servants of different degrees. All these received their
salary in rice. Officials of the first and second grades were allowed to
have three servants and two horses, those of the third, fourth and fifth
grades could have two servants and one horse, while those below these
could have but one servant and one horse, The commander-in-chief was
Gen. Kim Nyu. His advice to the king was to send the crown prince and
the prime minister at once and make the best terms possible. It was
decided to deceive the enemy if possible, so Neung Pong-su, a distant
relative of the king, assumed the name of the king’s younger brother,
and Sim Chip assumed the role of crown prince. Together they sallied out
to try their hand on the Manchus. When they came before Mabudă, that
hardheaded warrior looked them over, turned them inside out and sent
them back to the king with the curt reply that, “As you have been trying
to play a trick on us we will now consent to treat with no one whatever
except the crown prince himself. If you will send him we will talk with
you.” This they demanded in spite of the statements of the messengers
that the crown prince was still in mourning for his mother.
When this ultimatum was delivered to the king there was a division of
opinion. Gen. Kim Nyu and several others averred that there was nothing
to do but comply with the demands But the king said, “I will die first.”
Kim Sang-hön took the other side and said, “Whoever talks of
surrendering so tamely is a traitor.” On the seventeenth the king sent
Hong Sö-bong to the Manchu camp and said, “I am willing to send my
second or third son to you but they are all in Kang-wha.” They answered
as before, “We will see no one but the crown prince.” When the crown
prince expressed his willingness to go, a courtier said, “We have a good
strong garrison and shall we tamely surrender and send our future king
into the clutches of these highwaymen? If he goes I shall strangle
myself with my own bridle.” Another said, “Let us fight them. We are
men, not straw manikins.” So the king made up his mind that it would be
war and not surrender and he so proclaimed, “We shall fight to the
bitter end. Let no one expect or hope for peace.” He then despatched a
letter to Kim Cha-jŭm in P’yŭng-yang, saying “We are hemmed in here and
our forces are small and food scarce, but we have determined to fight it
out even though it ends the dynasty. So hasten and come to our aid with
all the forces at your command.” The next day the guard of the North
Gate made a successful sally, returning with six Manchu heads. This
excited the soldiers almost to frenzy, and they were eager to rush out
and engage the besiegers. Unfortunately all the rice that had been
stored at the river for the provisioning of Nam-han had been seized by
the Manchus, but the arms and ammunition were safe within the walls. The
king took advantage of the elation of the soldiers over this successful
sally to make them a little speech, in which he remarked, “Shall we
surrender or fight? It is for you to say.” Sim Kwang-su answered grimly
for them all and said “Show us the head of the man who advised to
surrender.” This referred to Gen. Ch’oe Myŭng-gil, but the rest did not
dare to second the request. From that time the walls were guarded with
renewed vigilance. Day after day the smoke of the Manchu camps went up
to heaven round about the beleagured fortress. On the nineteenth the
king sacrificed at the tomb of On-jo, the founder of the ancient kingdom
of Păk-je of which Nam-han was for many years the capital. On the same
day Gen. Ku Kweng made a sally from the West Gate and took twenty Manchu
heads. This again excited the garrison almost beyond control. The
following day a renegade Korean who had gone over to the Manchus came
near the gate and parleyed with the guard, urging that the king
surrender and make peace; but when the king heard of it he ordered that
if the man came again he should not be met at the gate but that the
guard should only talk down at him from the top of the wall.
The matter of provisions was one of prime importance, and the king
called the chief of commissariat and asked him how many days’ rations
there were remaining in the store-houses. He replied that there were
enough provisions to last sixty days, but that if great economy were
exercised it might last seventy days. He said the horses could have but
one measure of beans a day and the servants must get along as best they
could, on barley and oats. Someone suggested that as there were a large
number of people present who held no important position, the king ought
not to feel obliged to support them, but the king vetoed this by saying,
“They came here trusting in me and now shall I deprive them of food? No,
we will all eat or go hungry together.” The weather was very cold and
the men exposed upon the wall suffered severely. Their cheeks, being
frost-bitten, cracked open in a very painful manner. In view of this the
king ordered that night guards be dispensed with and that no old or
feeble men should be put on picket duty in these exposed positions.
The king again sent out a letter to the governors of the different
provinces saying, “We are here hemmed in; our life hangs by a thread.
Let all loyal men rally to our support, and march against the besieging
force.” To Kim Cha-jŭm he wrote, “For seven days we have now been
immured and we have come to the brink of destruction. Come immediately
to our aid.”
On the twenty-first there were two simultaneous sallies, from the East
and West Gates respectively, and each resulted in the securing of a few
trophies. For the encouragement of the soldiers Kim Sin-guk suggested
that a schedule of rates be issued offering prizes for Manchu heads. The
king’s intention not to surrender was still unshaken, for when a
courtier memorialized him urging surrender he burned the document in
anger. On the twenty-second a Manchu messenger rode up to the gate and
asked if the king were ready to surrender yet. The answer came in the
shape of fierce sallies on the South and East sides in which forty heads
were taken and in which Gen. Yi Chi-wŭn, with an iron club, killed two
mounted generals. The soldiers were so elated by these successes, which
of course could make no difference in the strength of the besieging
force, that on the following day they made simultaneous attacks on
several sides, in each of which the Koreans had some advantage. The
Koreans lost but twenty men while the Manchu loss was much greater. As
the Manchus carried their dead from the field, however, the exact amount
of their loss is not known. The king celebrated the victory by making a
circuit of the wall. The next day was wet and foggy and the cold was
even harder to endure than when the weather was clear. Both the king and
the crown prince came out in the rain to encourage the soldiers and they
and many of the officials gave mats and blankets and the mud-guards of
their saddles to help the soldiers to keep dry. The inmates of Han-heung
Monastery, inside the fortress, presented the king with forty quires of
paper, and several bags of vegetables, but the king distributed them all
among the soldiers. Other monks presented three large bowls of honey,
for which the king thanked them and gave presents in return.
On the twenty-fifth the Manchus completed a wattle fence completely
encircling the fortress. It was thirty miles long and twice the height
of a man. Some idea can be formed of the numbers in the Manchu army when
we know that this was completed in seven days. Every eighty paces a bell
was attached in such a way that if anyone attempted to break through,
warning would be given to the sentinels.
There were those outside who sincerely desired to give succor to the
king and the court. Gen. Kwŭn Chöng-gil, of Wŭn-ju, gathered a small
force and camped on Kŭm-dan mountain in plain sight of Nam-han, and the
king was greatly encouraged, hoping that the Koreans were rallying to
his support. When this loyal band attacked the Manchus they were
immediately overwhelmed and cut to pieces.
The Manchus caught every Korean they could lay hands on. The more
vigorous of these they forced into their ranks, the old men were made
hewers of wood and drawers of water, the young women were made
concubines and the older women were compelled to cook and wash.
On the twenty-eighth the king sent a present of a bullock and ten
bottles of wine to the Manchu headquarters, but received the reply,
“Heaven has given us all Korea and we have no need of these things. Take
them back to your starving soldiers.”
Chöng Se-gyu, the governor of Ch’ung-ch’ŭng Province, was consumed with
grief on hearing that the king was reduced to two side-dishes with his
rice; so he gave a monk two pheasants and told him to effect an entrance
in some way or other and give them to the king. The governor himself
came with a handful of men to Ma-heui-ch’ŭn, only forty _li_ from the
beleaguered fortress, and there he was attacked in the rear by the
enemy. His whole force was annihilated, though he himself escaped by
leaping into a deep gorge, intending to commit suicide. But the fall was
not fatal. Nam Yang, also, the prefect of Yun-gye, wanted to do what he
could, and when he learned of the distress of the king, he arose even on
his wedding night and started for the seat of war. His little force was
surrounded and he was ordered to surrender, and then it was that he made
that memorable reply, “You can conquer my neck but never my knees.” His
tongue was cut out and his body was dismembered.
Gen. Kim Nyu had the idea that the Manchu force was weakest on the south
and that if a sudden, determined attack were made the line might be
broken through. So on the twenty-ninth he called all the generals and
gave his orders. They all disagreed with him and considered the project
hopeless, but would not show insubordination. A considerable body,
therefore, emerged from the South Gate, hastened down the valley against
the surrounding line of besiegers. These men had no faith in the plan,
however, and were prevented from turning back only by the sword of Gen.
Kim Nyu which he used on a few as a warning to the rest. Gen. Sin said,
“This is actual suicide. Let me take my company and go out here and show
you at the cost of my life that this cannot be done.” He pushed rapidly
forward and was soon surrounded by the Manchus who had lain concealed in
a bend of the hills, and he and his men were all cut down. When the
ammunition of his men was gone they clubbed their muskets and fought to
the bitter end. Two hundred Koreans fell in this rash adventure and Gen.
Kim returned crest-fallen and ashamed. Having no excuse, he tried to lay
the blame on others, claiming that they did not support him properly. He
also told the king that only forty men had been killed.
Sim Keui-wŭn who had been left as guardian of Seoul sent a letter to the
king saying that he had made a fierce attack on the Manchus encamped at
A-o-gă outside the West Gate, but the king afterwards learned that this
was false, and that Sim had fled incontinently from before the face of
the foe.
When the last day of the year 1636 arrived it found the relative
position of the Koreans and Manchus as follows: The Manchu camps were
filled with plunder and with women which the soldiers had captured; but
what of the children? These the soldiery did not want, and so they were
killed and their bodies thrown outside the camps. There they lay in
piles and a pestilence was prevented only by the intense cold of winter.
In Nam-han the greatest distress prevailed. The provisions had not held
out as had been hoped. Food was all but exhausted and horses and cattle
were dying of starvation. The king slept in his ordinary clothes, for he
had given all his blankets to the soldiers. All he had to eat with his
rice was the leg or wing of a chicken. On that last day of the year some
magpies gathered and began building a nest in a tree near the king’s
quarters. This was hailed as a hopeful omen. It shows to what straits
the garrison was reduced that it should have pinned its faith to this
childish superstition. It was the sole subject of conversation for some
time, but it did the caged Korean king no good.
The next day was new years day of 1637 and the king sent Kim Sin-guk and
Yi Kyŭng-jik to the Manchu camp to offer the compliments of the season.
They were there informed that the emperor’s son had arrived and had
inspected the army and the forts. Consequently on the following day Hong
Sö-bong, Kim Sin-guk and Yi Kyŭng-jik hastened to his headquarters and
were met, not by the emperor’s son but by a general who said, “You have
called us slaves and thieves but our course has been straight and
consistent throughout.” He then laid before them an edict of the emperor
written on yellow paper, and they were ordered to bow before it. Its
contents were as follows:
“The great, the good, the wise, the kind Emperor to the king of Korea.
As you preferred allegiance to the Ming Emperor rather than to us and,
not content with throwing us over, despised and insulted us, you now
have an opportunity to see the fruits of your choice. Of a truth you
acted wickedly in breaking your oath, in throwing off the Manchu yoke
and in offering us armed opposition. I have now brought an immense army
and have surrounded your eight provinces. How can you longer hope to
render assistance to your “father,” the Ming Emperor? The Mings are now
hung up by the heels, as it were.”
On the next day the king sent his answer couched in the following terms:
“The great, the glorious, the righteous Emperor. The little country has
indeed sinned against the great one and has drawn upon herself this
trouble which lies hard by the door of destruction. We have long wanted
to write thus but we have been so surrounded and hemmed in that it
seemed well-nigh impossible to get a letter through the lines; but now
that the Emperor’s son himself has come, we rejoice, and yet we tremble.
The Ming Emperor is no longer our suzerain. In this we have completely
reformed. The people on the border have acted badly in ill-treating the
Manchu envoys. We are truly on the brink of destruction and we confess
all our sin. It is for us to confess and for the Emperor to forgive.
From this day forth we wash from our mind all other thought of
allegiance and enter upon a new line of conduct. If the Emperor will not
forgive, we can only bow the head and die.”
When this abject document was read before the court, before sending it,
some thought it too humble, but the leaders said it was the only course
left; so it was forwarded to the Manchu camp. Answer was returned that
the Emperor’s son had not yet arrived but that when he came he would
reply. Strange to say no truce was made and the Manchu soldiers, fearing
perhaps that a truce might rob them of the pleasure of scaling those
walls that had defied them so long, approached the wall that very night
and with scaling ladders a considerable number effected an entrance. But
they had underestimated the determination and courage of the defenders,
and those who got in were quickly dispersed by Gen. Yi Si-băk. Many
Manchus fell in this desperate assault. Almost at the same hour a
similar attack was made on the south side but there also the Manchus
were check-mated by the watchful guard.
And now a diversion occurred. Generals Hŏ Wan and Min Yöng from the
provinces approached with a force of 40,000 men and seriously threatened
the Manchu flank. They were stationed on two opposite hills with a line
of sharpshooters between. In the fight which ensued the Koreans held
their ground gallantly and at first even made the invaders retreat; but
this exhausted their ammunition and when the enemy reformed his lines
and came on again to the attack there was nothing to do but retreat. The
retreat became a rout and large numbers of Koreans were cut down,
including Gen. Hŏ Wan. The other part of the army under Gen. Min Yöng
held out a little longer but an unfortunate accident occurred which
threw his troops into confusion. A large quantity of powder which was
being paid out to the soldiers suddenly exploded killing a large number
of men and depriving the rest of means for continuing the fight. So they
met the same fate as the others. Those that the Manchus killed they
stripped and burned but many fugitives likewise died of exposure and
fatigue.
Gen. Sim Yun had been fortifying Cho-ryŭng (Pass) but when he heard of
the rout of the 40,000 men he took fright and retreated precipitately,
telling all he met that there was no use in attempting to do anything.
Gen. Kim Chun-yong, however, had more perseverance and came and encamped
twenty miles from Nam-han, occupying a position that was specially
annoying to the enemy. A fight was the result, in which the Koreans were
at first successful, but during the night the Manchus were reinforced
and cannon were brought to bear upon the Koreans. All the next day the
Koreans fought desperately. Night put an end to the battle and the
Koreans finding that all their ammunition was gone, silently separated,
burning all bridges as they went.
The admiral of Chŭl-la Province desired to render aid to the king and so
getting together a little fleet of boats he came north to Kang-wha and
joined the royal forces there. The governor of Kang-wŭn Province excused
himself from taking active part in the relief of Nam-han on the score of
scarcity of food. For this he was afterward banished.
Singular events were happening in the north where Gen. Yang Keun lay
with a considerable force a short distance north of Seoul. He was
however a coward and dared not move hand or foot. Two other generals
felt that they might get into trouble if they did do not something, and
they had the happy thought that they ought to report to their superior,
Gen. Yang Keun, for they knew he would do nothing, and thus they would
be safe, for their responsibility would cease. So they went to him and
urged him to advance against the Manchus. But he declined to do so, and
even gave them a written statement to that effect. Armed with that they
felt quite safe. So there they lay a month till they heard at last of
the fall of Nam-han.
Of another stamp was Gen. Yu Rim. He was on the road between Seoul and
P’yŭng-yang and, being attacked by the Manchus, he and his little band
defended themselves with such good effect that the Manchu camp resounded
all night with wailings for their dead. The Koreans, finding that their
ammunition was almost exhausted, then planned an ingenious retreat.
Loading their muskets they tied them to trees, attached fuses of
different lengths and then silently retreated. The guns kept going off
all night and so the enemy knew nothing of the retreat until it was
discovered in the morning.
Another effort that was made about this time was that of Generals Kim
Cha-jŭm and Yŏk-dal who had a following of some 7,000 men. Starting from
the north they came down to the vicinity of Song-do. Unfortunately they
had no scouts out and suddenly falling in with a Manchu force in the
narrow passage a few miles beyond Song-do, they were thrown into a panic
and it is said that 5,000 men were killed, though it seems almost
incredible that only 2,000 men survived out of 7,000. Gen. Kim escaped
by scaling the steep mountain side but his second was caught and bound.
The two thousand survivors rallied and attacked the Manchus with such
fury that they were forced back and the captured general was rescued.
Gen. Kim Cha-jŭm then made his way to where Gen. Yang Keun was idling
away his time, and together they awaited the surrender of the king. We
may anticipate a few months and say that after peace was made these two
generals were banished to distant places for their criminal cowardice.
Gen. Sin Kyöng-wan, stationed at Ong-jin in Whang-hă Province, was
surrounded by the enemy, but the place was so difficult of approach,
owing to the roughness of the ground, that they could not reduce it; so,
hoping to draw out the garrison they feigned retreat. Gen. Sin was not
to be caught thus, and sent out one of his lieutenants to reconnoitre.
That man happened to be just recovering from a wound, and so he did not
go far, but spent the night in a neighboring inn. He came back in the
morning and reported the enemy gone. Gen. Sin then led out his troops to
take them to the vicinity of Seoul; but the Manchus, who were lying
concealed in the vicinity, rushed out upon him and captured him. He was
released only after peace had been declared.
At Nam-han a severe mental struggle was going on. They well knew that
surrender and humiliation were inevitable but their pride revolted at
the thought, and each tried to throw the blame on the other. This may be
illustrated by a single case which will show how mutual recriminations
were being made in the very presence of the siege-weary king. Yu
Păk-jeung memorialized the king in these words: “Gen. Kim Nyu who holds
the rank of General-in-chief is a man of no military skill, a man of
jealous, vindictive temperament and his house is full of bribes. When
the king came to Nam-han it was almost without retinue, but he,
forsooth, must bring sixty horsemen at his back. And the females of his
household came in litters. He it was who urged the king to give up the
crown prince to the tender mercies of the Manchu wolves. He it was who
compassed the humiliation of the king by advising him to send that
self-effacing letter which, though so humble, was rejected. This is all
the work of Kim Nyu.” Here as elsewhere we see that personal spite has
always been the rock on which the interests of Korea have been wrecked.
The emperor knew that he had the king secure, and he determined to delay
the ratification of a treaty until his captive was reduced to the last
crust, in order to brand upon the memory of all Koreans the indubitable
fact of their vassalage and to teach them a lesson that they should
never forget. And so the days slipped by.
On the sixth of the moon Korean messengers succeeded in getting through
the Manchu lines and brought the king letters from his two sons on the
island of Kang-wha, but the Manchus were aware of this and redoubled
their diligence in guarding the approaches, and so the king was
completely cut off from the outside. A few days later a costly joke was
played by the Korean Gen. Kim On-yun. He led a small party outside the
West Gate and soon returned with two heads. The king praised him and
gave him presents of silk. The heads were raised on pikes, but behold,
no blood came from them. A soldier in the ranks cried out, “Why is my
brother killed twice?” The truth is that the General had beheaded two
corpses of Koreans whereby to obtain praise and favor from the king. The
king replaced the heads by those of the general and his second.
On the twelfth the king’s emissaries went into the Manchu camp bearing a
letter from the king. They were told that a great Manchu general was
about to arrive and that they must come again the next day. The people
in Nam-han were in desperate straits. All who had advocated continued
resistance now urged surrender, excepting Kim Sang-hön and Chong On, who
said, “Not till every soldier is dead, and all the common people as
well, will it be time to think of giving in.”
The next day the messengers presented themselves in the Manchu camp as
ordered. The general who received them said, “You broke your former
treaty with us. Are you prepared to keep it if we make another?” The
messengers beat upon their breasts and cried, “It was our fault and not
the fault of the king. We are willing to prove this with our lives.”
“But why do you not come out and fight?” “We are an insignificant power
and how can we hope to cope with you?” was the humble reply. The Manchu
then broke the seal of the king’s letter and read, “When we signed the
former treaty you were the elder brother and we the younger brother.
When a younger brother does wrong it is for the older brother to correct
him, but if it is done too severely a principle of righteousness is
broken, and the Supreme Being will be offended. We are dwellers in a
corner of the sea. We know nothing but books. We are no warriors. We are
weak and must bow before superior force. So we accept the clemency of
the Manchus, and we are now vassals and you are our suzerain. When the
Japanese invaded our land and we were on the verge of destruction, China
sent her hosts and saved us. Our gratitude to them lives in the very
fiber of our bones. Even at the risk of incurring your anger we could
not bear to cast them off. If now the Manchu power shows us kindness and
goes back across the Yalu, our gratitude toward them will be the same.
We have been a long time imprisoned here and we are tired and cramped.
If you consent to overlook our faults we will engage to treat the Manchu
power rightly. These sentiments are engraved on our very hearts and we
surrender ourselves to the clemency of the Manchu emperor.”
Food was now practically gone. The officials themselves were put on half
rations and even the king’s daily supply was diminished by one third. At
the very most there was enough to last but twenty days more. At this
time the Manchus burned the buildings in connection with the royal tombs
outside the east Gate, and also those near Nam-han. The smoke of the
burning went up to heaven. These acts of vandalism must have been a
bitter drop in the cup that was being put to the king’s lips. On the
sixteenth Hong Sö-bong again went to the Manchu camp and asked why no
answer was sent. The truth is that the Manchus had determined to first
send and reduce the Island of Kang-wha. They answered, “Gen. Kong Yu-dŭk
has gone with 70,000 men to take Kang-wha. We must wait till he
returns.” The next day they sent the king an insulting letter saying,
“Why do you not come out and fight? We thought we would get at least a
little fight out of you. Have not your soldiers learned to load and
fire? China is your good friend; why does she not send and help you? Now
you are starving and yet you have the impudence to talk about
righteousness. Heaven helps the good and punishes the evil. Those who
trust us we aid, those who oppose we decapitate. As we have become your
enemies you see us here in force. If you will come back to your
allegiance we will treat you as a brother. If you wish to live, come out
and surrender; if you will come out and fight so much the better. Heaven
will decide between us.” This received from the Koreans, starving though
they were, the following memorable reply, “We will die and rot here in
our fortress before we will surrender thus. Then there will be no one to
answer your insulting summons.”
On the eighteenth a Manchu general came near the South Gate and demanded
that the king should come out and surrender or else come out and fight.
The king thereupon sent a letter to the Manchu headquarters saying that
he wanted to come out and surrender but that he did not dare to do so
while the Manchu soldiers were prowling about the wall. As the king
handed this letter to the messenger Kim Sang-hön snatched it from the
messenger’s hand and tore it in fragments saying, “How can you bear to
send such a letter. Heaven will still favor us if we are patient, but if
we send this we are truly undone.” Then followed a scene in which the
courtiers almost came to blows. Ch’oe Myŭng-gil took the fragments of
the letter and pasted them together and the next day in company with
another general took it to the Manchus. They were met with the gruff
reply, “We do not want your letters. We want your king to come out and
surrender.” That night the Manchus scaled the wall on the east side and
a great panic followed, but Gen. Yi Keui-ch’uk, with a body of picked
men succeeded in driving back the enemy. On the twentieth an answer was
received from the emperor who said, “The reason why we demand that you
come out and surrender is that we may have a visible proof of your
sincerity. If we depart now leaving you still king of Korea all will be
well. Why should I deceive you since I am conquering the whole world
besides? Need I use guile? I desire to punish only those who advised you
to cleave to China and prove untrue to us. Before surrendering you must
send those men bound to me. I shall kill them but the rest of you will
be safe. One thing is certain. I will read no more of your letters.”
When the king saw this he cried, “I cannot send those men bound to him.”
In spite of the ominous closing words of the emperor’s letter the king
again wrote saying, “Korea to the worshipful, glorious, puissant,
merciful emperor, greeting. We are narrow and provincial people and very
deficient in manners but the contrast between our present mental
attitude and that of a few months ago is surprising. Among our
councillors some argued one way and some argued another but now
starvation has brought us all to the same point and we know that we must
become subjects of the Manchu power. But since the days of Silla there
has never been seen such a thing as a king going out from his fortress
to surrender. We cannot do it in that way. If you insist upon it you
will soon have nothing left but a fortress full of dead. I have
signified my willingness to surrender but if I should go out to you the
people would never again recognize me as king and anarchy will result. I
long ago banished the men who opposed the making of peace with the
Manchus, so I cannot send them to you, but the emperor must now be
gracious and forgive our mistake.” When the Manchu general was about to
send this scornfully back Yi Hong-ju told him that it was written by the
officials and that nothing more was possible; and that if anyone
suggested to the king the advisability of coming out it would mean
instant death. But the Manchu drove them away in a rage. One official
named Chöng On violently opposed all these attempts at securing a
cessation of hostilities and said it would be better to sit there and
rot than to surrender. He urged that the fighting be continued.