The king was told by his officials that the Manchus were sure to invade Korea again before long and so the island of Kang-wha was well provisioned and arms were prepared. He was urged to form a junction with the Chinese on Ka-do Island and make an attack on the Manchus. The fortresses of Ch’ŭl-san and Un-san in P‘yŭng-an Province were built at this time and every effort was made to put the country in a state of defense against the northern hordes. A fortress was also built near Eui-ju, which was the equivalent of a declaration of war against the Manchus. The result was soon apparent. A Manchu envoy made his appearance bearing a missive which said, “Korea has seen fit to break her treaty with us and she is no longer to be called ‘younger brother,’ but a vassal state. She shall pay us annually a tribute of 10,000 ounces of gold, 10,000 ounces of silver, 10,000,000 pieces of linen.” The king replied that he had no gold but that he would give some tiger skins. These the envoy scornfully refused and returned to the north. The king was somewhat disturbed by this and ordered an envoy to go to Manchuria with gifts, but they were all returned untouched. At this the king was furious and ordered an envoy to go and say that Korea would never again send tribute nor make peace with the Manchus. Kim Si-yang expostulated with the king and told him that such a message would be suicidal, but he was banished on the spot. It is probable the message never reached the Manchu camp, for we learn that with the opening of new year the king had come to his senses and sent tribute to the north to the extent of 800 pieces of silk, 800 pieces of linen, 800 pieces of grass cloth, 800 pieces of cotton, 60 tiger skins, 300 sea-otter skins and 800 quires of heavy paper. The Korean territory became the asylum for several renegade Chinese generals who demanded sustenance, and what between these and the Manchus it became well-nigh impossible to keep on good terms either with the Emperor or with the Manchus. The latter were continually ravaging the northern border and were, apparently losing all their former feeling of friendship. This cannot be wondered at, for the king was openly siding with the Chinese.