Page:History of Corea, ancient and modern; with description of manners and customs, language and geography (1879).djvu/301

MANCHUS AGAINST COBEA. 277 The Manchu Taidsoo sent ten of these deserters to the Corean king, LiHwi, with an epistle, stating that^ because of old the Chinese sent assistance* to the Coreans, it was veiy natural and right that the Chinese should now be assisted by them ; that he was, therefore, not the least offended by their fidelity to their allies ; and in proof of his goodwill, he would send to his home every man of the Coreans who had deserted. But his generosity had not the desired effect; for Corea remained firm, and did not even give thanks for the men sent back. One of the divisions of Doonghai, or Maritime Province, right across the north of the Taloo, south of Hingking and bordering Corea^ was Warka, against which Taidsoo sent several expedi- tions, and took many of its sparse population. Coreans crossed the border to assist the men of Warka. They also abetted Boojantai, chief of Woola, in the nortL When Taidsoo died, they sent no letter of condolence, as even the Chinese and Mongols did. They permitted the Chinese Lieutenant-general, Mao Wunloong, to land on their shores with a good many thou- sand men of Liaotung, whom he had collected at Pi f (Skin) island ; for in Corea he had a vantage ground, whence he made incursions into Manchu territory, and annoyed them much and long. As the Manchus found it impossible to take Ningyuen from the Chinese, while it was under governor Choonghwan, they made the above casus belli against the Coreans ; and employing two fugitive Coreans as guides, four Beirasledalarge army against Corea in 16S7, the first year of the Manchu Taidsoong, the seventh of the Chinese Tienchi, and the third of the Corean Li Dsoongsu. They crossed the Yaloo on the ice in February, and first attacked Mao Wunloong, in Tieshan, or the Iron mountains in the west of Corea, at the mouth of the Yaloo. He was defeated, and fled back to Pi island. Yichow was next attacked and taken, then ^ doubtless, to ihe assistance against the Japanese. fAn island off the port of Pidsnwo in the sonth-east corner of Liaotong peninsula, which has often since— perhaps always since — ^been the head-quarters of thousands of robbers, only lately driven off.