But we must follow the fortunes of the expedition that was to attack the empire of the Mings. When Gen. Yi arrived at the Yalu his plans were not laid as to what he should do. For one thing, he intended to make no invasion of China. So he crossed over to Wi-ha island, in the mouth of the Yalu, and there made his camp. Hundreds of his troops deserted and went back home. Some of these the king seized and beheaded; but it did not stop the defection. From that island a general, Hong In-ju, made a dash into Liao-tung territory and was highly complimented by the king in consequence. But Gen. Yi remained impassive. He sent a letter to the king imploring him to listen to reason and recall the army, urging history, the flooded condition of the country and the Japanese reasons for it. But the king was stubborn. Rumor said that Gen. Yi had fled but when another general was sent to ascertain whether this were true or false he was found at his post. The two generals wept together over the hopeless condition of affairs. At last they summoned the soldiers. “If we stay here we will all be swept away by the rising flood. The king will not listen to reason. What can we do to prevent the destruction of all the people of Koryŭ? Shall we go back to P‘yŭng-yang, depose the general-in-chief, Ch‘oe, who urges on this unholy war against the Mings?” The soldiers shouted out acclamations of glad assent. Nothing could please them better. As Gen. Yi T‘ă-jo mounted his white steed and with his red bow and white arrows stood motionless upon a mound of earth watching his soldiers recross the Yalu to the Koryŭ side against the mandate of their king and his, we see a new Caesar watching his army cross the Rubicon, an army as passionately devoted to their leader as the Roman legions ever were to Caesar. And Caesar suffers in the comparison, for he went back not to restore the integrity of the state and prevent the waste of human life, but rather to carry out to its tragic end a personal ambition. We have seen how once and again Yi T‘ă-jo had plead with the king and had risked even his life to prevent this monumental folly; and we shall see how he used his power not for personal ends but with loyalty to his king, until circumstances thrust him upon the throne.