A boatload of men belonging to the overthrown Ming dynasty appeared on the southern coast and asked aid in an attempt to wrest again the scepter from the Manchus, but they were politely refused; the king abolished that form of punishment which consisted in applying red hot irons to the limbs; he built the Chung-sŭng, or inner wall at P’yŭng-yang in order to cut off the view of a _kyu-bong_ or “spying peak,” which in Korea is supposed to bring bad luck. Any place from which may be seen the top of a mountain peak just peeping above the summit of a nearer mountain is considered unfit for a burial or building site. About the year 1733 famines were so frequent that the king appointed a bureau of agriculture and appointed inspectors for each of the provinces to help in securing good irrigation; a man named Yi Keui-ha invented a war chariot with swords or spears extending out from the hubs of the wheels on either side. He was rewarded with a generalship. The king established a special detective force differing from the ordinary detective force in being more secret in its operations and in holding greater powers. The rules for its guidance were as follows, and they throw light upon existing conditions. (1) After careful investigation they may close up any prefectural office and send the prefect to Seoul for trial. (2) This does not apply to prefectures where animals are being reared for use in ancestral sacrifices. (3) In order to maintain their incognito they shall not demand food for nothing at the country inns but shall pay the regular prices. (4) For the same reason they shall not stop long in the same place. (5) They must look sharply after the district constables and thief-catchers and see that they are diligent and effective. (6) They must put a stop to the pernicious custom of prefects’ servants taking money in advance from farmers as a bribe to remit in part future government dues. (7) They shall prevent the sending in of incorrect estimates of the area of taxable land. (8) They shall see to it that prefects do not receive extra interest on government seed loaned to the people and payable in the autumn after the crop is harvested. (9) They shall prevent prefects appropriating ginseng which they confiscate from illegal sellers. (10) They shall prevent the king’s relatives and friends seizing people’s land. (11) They shall stop the evil custom of prefects withholding the certificate of release from pardoned exiles until they have paid a certain sum of money. (12) They shall prevent the enlistment of too many men, who thereby claim their living from the government granaries. (13) They shall see to it that the prefects do not keep the good cloth paid by the people for soldiers’ clothes, and hand over to the soldiers a poorer quality. (14) They shall prevent creditors compounding interest if a debtor fails to pay on time. (15) They shall stop the making of poor gun-powder and of muskets with too small a bore.