Page:History of Corea, ancient and modern; with description of manners and customs, language and geography (1879).djvu/180

156 SINLO. When the emperor was journeying after the army towards Liaodsai, he came across a piece of country of impassable mud, 200 li wide. This is doubtless the low lands between the Dalicmg ho and the Liao ho, which are very low, and often marshy ; the roads being often impassable even now. After the inarch across of so large an army, in the beginning of the rainy season, it is no matter of surprise that the emperor's escort found it impassable for man or beast They had to raise the level of the ground to form a road, and thus got to the Liao. When he crossed the river he had the bridges destroyed ; as much as to say to his men, that there was only one thing they must do, which was to ijonquer. When he got to Mashow shan (Horse-head hill),the most western point of the Chien shan prolongations, he discovered that Shuji had been some time at the foot of the city of Liaotung ; and that 40,000 Coreans had marched out of the city just before he arrived. Taotai Wang, with 4000 horse, pestered the rear of this amy ; and when he was advised to entrench his few men. he replied that he had come to open the road for the emperor. Shuji agreed with him, that it was best to keep on fighting. Yi had led the van against the Coreans, was defeated, and fled. Wang received the fugitives into his ranks; and seeing the Corean lines waver slightly, he hastily picked out a few dozen of his best horse, and galloped in, piercing the Gaoli lines where and when he pleased. Shuji, by that time, came up with his army, and the Gaoli fled, losing several thousand men. As soon as the emperor heard the story, he rewarded Wang and the most dis- tinguished brave; while he ordered Yi to be beheaded. He then went with several hundred horse to the foot of the city ; and finding the men hard at work preparing a mound, he asked for the largest piece of earth which they had cut, took it up, thin and equally hard brick and of coarse glazed earthenware. One side of the tiles And bricks is dotted peculiarly, as if the soft mass had been placed on very coarse canvas or matting to dry. We have unfortunately never had the opportunity to find ancient cash picked up there. Cash in my possession found in a ruined city called Corean, are of the Sung Dynasty, and of the 10th and 11th centuries, with a solitary one of the Tang.