On the fourteenth the Manchu army entered Whang-hă Province and almost immediately the news came that they had arrived at Chang-dan only 120 _li_ from Seoul. There they caught the prefect, cut off his hair, dressed him in Manchu clothes and forced him to act as guide. At noon the next day the king and the Crown Prince passed out the South Gate on their way to Kang-wha, when suddenly messengers came hurrying up saying that the Manchu horsemen had already arrived at Yang-wha-jin on the river and that the road to Kang-wha was consequently blocked. The king and his immediate followers went up into the pavilion above the gate and conferred together. The native chronicler says that “their faces were white and their voices were like the croaking of country frogs.” And well they might be. Chi Yö-hă said, “They have come down from the border in five days and must be very tired. I will take 500 men and go out and hold them in check until the king can get to Kang-wha.” But Ch’oe Myŭng-gil said, “We must decide immediately, for the enemy is at our very doors. We cannot fight them, but I will go out the gate and parley with them and meantime the king can escape to Nam-han.” To this the king eagerly assented and Ch’oe took ten cattle and ten tubs of wine and went out to meet the enemy. All the gates on the south side of Seoul were closed and the king and his suite started for the East Gate. The crown prince’s groom ran away and the prince was compelled to hold the bridle himself. The people crowded around the royal party so closely that it was almost impossible to move, but finally the gate was passed and the party hurried forward. At seven o’clock that night the royal cavalcade entered the welcome gate of Nam-han. So rapid had been the pace that only six men in the king’s retinue remained until they arrived at their destination. The rest arrived some time before midnight. They all urged the king to start at day light and reach Kang-wha by a circuitous route. This was determined upon, but a storm of sleet and rain came on, which rendered the roads so slippery that the king was compelled to dismount and walk. It soon became evident that this would not do. The king was very cold and the progress was hopelessly slow. So they placed him in a litter hastily extemporised and brought him back to the fortress. It turned out that this was fortunate, for the Manchus had guarded every approach to Kang-wha so carefully that the king never would have been able to get through. Gen. Ch’oe, who had gone to parley with the enemy, went beyond the Peking Pass and met Gen. Mabudă and said, “We made a treaty with you some time since, but now you come down upon us with this great array. How is this?” The Manchu answered. “It is not we who have broken the treaty but you, and we have come to learn from the king the reason of it.” Gen. Ch’oe replied, “Well, you cannot see him. He has gone to the fortress of Nam-han.”