The History of Korea (vol. 1 of 2)Hulbert, Homer B. (Homer Bezaleel)
History
The History of Korea (vol. 1 of 2)
Hulbert, Homer B. (Homer Bezaleel)
Korea -- History
Gen. Sal Ye-t‘ap had gone north and joined another division of the
Mongol army and again he attacked Ku-ju. He made engines of war called
_ta-p‘o-ch‘a_, a sort of catapult, with which to reduce this town, but
the magistrate, Pak Sö also made similar instruments which hurled huge
stones, and the besiegers were compelled to retire to a distance and
take refuge behind various kinds of defenses. The Mongols made three
attempts to deceive the prefect by forged letters purporting to be from
the king and saying “I have surrendered and therefore you must submit,”
but Pak Sö was not to be caught by so simple a trick. The besiegers then
tried huge scaling ladders, but these were cut down by the defenders as
fast as they were put in place. An aged Mongol general, who made a
circuit of the town and marked the splendid state of defense into which
the place had been put, declared that he had never seen a place so well
defended.
So the little town stood and the great Mongol general was forced to seek
other fields for the display of his prowess. He sent a letter to the
king finding fault because of the death of the first Mongol messenger
and modestly suggesting that peace could be secured if he would
surrender and give 20,000 horse-loads of clothing, 10,000 pieces of
purple silk, 20,000 sea-otter skins, 20,000 horses, 1,000 boys, 1,000
girls and 1,000,000 soldiers, with food, to help conquer Japan. In
addition to this the king must go to the Mongol court and do obeisance.
These were the terms upon which Koryŭ could secure peace.
With the beginning of the next year, 1232, the king sent two generals
bearing a letter of surrender. With it he sent seventy pounds of gold,
thirteen pounds of silver, 1,000 coats and a hundred and seventy horses.
He moreover stated that the killing of the Mongol messenger was not the
work of the Koryŭ government but of a band of insurgents and robbers.
The officials had to give their garments in order to make up the number
that was sent. Each prefect along the route was charged with the duty of
seeing that the Mongols were in no way molested.
But Pak Sö the prefect of Ku-Ju was an obstinate man and would not give
up his fortress even when he knew the king had surrendered. It was only
after a great deal of argument and expostulation that he at last
capitulated. The Koryŭ people wanted to kill him for his obstinacy but
the Mongols said “He is your greatest man and you should prize him
highly.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account