of the army as
lieutenant-general.

"Of course Taijo did not reach this high station in a month, nor in a
year, but many years went by before he attained such an exalted place.
Meanwhile he married and had children. Several of these children were
daughters."

Wang Ken did not say right here, what he might have said with
truth,--that in Korean families girls are considered of very little
consequence. But in this case Taijo's daughter proved to be of much help
in making her father the king of Cho-sen.

"One of these daughters was married to the reigning king. Thus Taijo
became father-in-law to his sovereign. You can easily see that in this
relationship he must have had a large influence both over the king and
over the people.

"Being a brave man and courageous fighter, Taijo was idolized by his
soldiers. He was also very popular with all the people because he was
always strictly honest and just in all his dealings with them.

"Taijo proved his bravery and his reliance on the soldiers and on the
people by attempting to bring about a change in the conduct of the king,
who abused his power and treated his subjects without mercy.

"The king, however, refused to listen to the advice of his
father-in-law, and, as a consequence, the hatred of the people for him
grew in volume and force every day.

"Meanwhile, the king was having other troubles. In former years, Korea
had paid an annual tribute or tax to China, but for some time it had
been held back by this king. Consequently the Chinese (or Ming) emperor
sent a large army to enforce his demand for the amount of money due him.

"The Korean ruler neglected the matter and finally refused to pay. He
then ordered that more soldiers be added to his army, that the Chinese
forces might be resisted; but with all his efforts the enemy's army was
much the larger. Nevertheless, he ordered Taijo, at the head of his
forces, to attack the Chinese. Upon this, Taijo thus addressed his
soldiers:

"'Although the order from the king must be obeyed, yet the attack upon
the Ming soldiers, with so small an army as ours, is like casting an egg
against a rock, and no one of us will return alive. I do not tell you
this from any fear of death, but our king is too haughty. He does not
heed our advice. He has ordered out the army suddenly without cause,
paying no attention to the suffering which wives and children of the
soldiers must undergo. This is a thing I cannot bear. Let us go back to
t