Now that the war was over the Japanese on Tsushima desired to open again commercial relations with Korea, which had always been mutually profitable; and so in the following year, 1601, an envoy, Kuroda, came from that island bringing with him three hundred men and women who had been carried away captive during the war. This envoy asked that there might be reciprocity of trade. The king referred the matter to Nanking and the reply seems to have been in the affirmative, for we find that soon after this an envoy was sent over to Tsushima with credentials; but after all the Japanese petition was not at this time granted. At the same time the Emperor gave orders for the return to China of all the remaining troops, but at the earnest request of the king 8000 men were left to help guard the southern provinces. Posthumous honors were heaped upon Admiral Yi Sun-sin who had been the very salvation of Korea, but who had sought death in battle, knowing that if he lived his detractors would drag him down. Yi Hang-bok and eighty-five others received high commendation and additional honors also. The year ended with the unsuccessful attempt of an insurrectionary party in the south which was nipped in the bud, the ring-leader being forwarded to Seoul to be beheaded. An unscrupulous man named Yu Yong-gyŭng was the court favorite at this time and upon him devolved the task of appointing and dismissing officials; consequently he was the recipient of countless presents, and on one occasion two men to whom he had sold the same office met at his gate and quarrelled over the matter, to the scandal of the court. The state of affairs at the capital was anything but satisfactory, the reason being that the strife of parties rendered honesty and fairness impossible. It was a constant fight to gain the king’s ear and, having gained it, to turn out all enemies and put in personal adherents. About this time a remeasurement of all the arable land of the country was ordered and it was discovered that the total revenue of the country was 1,515,500 _kyul_ of rice, each _kyul_ being about 120 pecks of rice, or over two hundred pounds. It also included 300,000 bags of other grains.