The reign began with a storm. Kim Cha-jŭm who had retired to the country in disgrace, took advantage of the fact that the Japanese had made a proposition to the prefect of Tong-nă to come over and join the Koreans in an invasion of China, and sent a detailed account of it to China, adding that the Korean government was preparing for war and had discarded the Manchu calendar. This news caused tremendous excitement in China and the veteran generals Yonggoldă and Mabudă were sent forward to the Yalu with a powerful force. Six envoys were sent to Seoul one following the other at intervals of only two days. These six arrived at Eui-ju, stopped there and sent forward letters demanding what it all meant. Of course this was like thunder from a clear sky to the court at Seoul, and Minister Yi Kyöng-sŭk rode in person to Eui-ju and met the envoys. He invited them to Seoul and after a long discussion and a present of a thousand ounces of silver and the promise of a princess to go to China to wed one of the Manchu princes and the banishment of a few of the officials, it was found that no blame was attached to the king. Thus began an eventful reign of ten years. The first years were signalized by severe famines in the north and the government had to bring large quantities of grain from the south to relieve the suffering. Corruption had crept even into the system of examinations and it was found necessary to preserve the incognito of the candidates by having each one write his name on the margin of his examination paper and than have this portion of the paper cut off through the middle of a stamp so that at last when the papers were examined and the successful ones selected, the writers’ names could not be known until they had been matched on, and found to fit. An unsuccessful attempt at rebellion was made by the notorious Kim Cha-jŭm and Kim Sik, son-in-law to the late king. They persuaded the latter’s wife to place a fetich under the floor of the king’s sleeping apartment. This is supposed to bring about the speedy death of the person so cursed, but someone found it out and divulged the plan. The three leaders were beheaded, the woman poisoned and her brothers banished. Some wanted the king to move because the palace had been defiled by the fetich, which consisted of a dead rat with the king’s name written on its belly, but it was voted down because it would tend to confirm the people in their belief in this foolish superstition. This king inherited much of his father’s hatred of the Manchu power and we find him building a palace at Kang-wha and storing provisions there in case of a break in the peaceful relations then existing. He instituted some useful reforms also, forbidding the cruel practice of beating criminals to death. He likewise legislated in the interests of the people when he forbade the exacting of rent for water drawn from the government reservoirs for their rice fields.