The records say that no sooner had Gen. Yi followed his army across the stream than a mighty wave, fed by mountain streams, came rolling down the valley and swept clean over the island he had just left. The people looked upon this as an omen and a sign of heaven’s favor, and they made a song whose refrain runs “The son of wood will become king.” This refers to the Chinese character for Gen. Yi’s name. It is the union of the two characters “wood” and “son.” The whole army then took up its march toward Song-do. A magistrate in the north sent a hasty message to the king saying that the army was in full march back toward the capital. The king was at this time in Song-ch‘ŭn, north of P‘yŭng-yang. He knew many of the generals were opposed to the war and thought that they would obey him better if he were near by, and so had come thus far north. Hearing this startling news he immediately dispatched Gen. Ch‘oe Yu-gyŭng with whatever force he had, to oppose the march of the rebellious Gen. Yi. The associate of the latter urged him to push forward with all speed and seize the person of the king, but he was no traitor, and he replied “If we hurry forward and encounter our countrymen many will fall. If anyone lays a finger on the king I will have no mercy on him. If a single citizen of Koryŭ is injured in any way I will never forgive the culprit.” So Gen. Yi came southward slowly, hunting along the way in order to give the king time to get back to Song-do in a leisurely manner as becomes a king. At last the king arrived at his capital and the recalcitrant army came following slowly. The people along the way hailed them as the saviors of the nation and gave them all manner of provisions and supplies, so that they lacked for nothing. When Gen. Yi T‘ă-jo reached the neighborhood of Song-do he sent a letter to the king saying, “As General-in-chief Ch‘oe-yŭng does not care for the welfare of the people he must die. Send him to me for execution.” But Gen. Ch‘oe did not intend to give up without a struggle, however hopeless his case might be; so he took what troops were left and manned the walls of Song-do. It was a desperate move, for all saw what the end must be. Hundreds of soldiers who had deserted now flocked again to the standards of Gen. Yi.