Page:History of Corea, ancient and modern; with description of manners and customs, language and geography (1879).djvu/288

 264 COBEA. large pearls were fotrnd. This man also gave the hearings of other two forts south of Shung and Lo chow cities, containing the magazines and valuable stores of Corea. To these dties; with the splendid countiy in which they were situated, he offered to guide a Liao army along the unoccupied southern border of Nujun lands, and promised them certain posseesion of the rich prizes at extremely little risk. He would take them "across the Yaloo, and lead them by the city of Qochow,"— which route would have most probably been that one recently opened, passing through Hingking, and going in a nearly due east direction' into the barren wilds of northern Corea. We do not learn whether the inducements held out by the Nujun man had any beneficial results to himself; but the Liao preparations for an eastern campaign went on, not improbably accelerated by the visions of wealth in Corea; which visions have acted on some European nations of our own day. But the storm did not break upon Corea without indications of its approach; and to prepare, timely overtures were made, in 1014, to the chief of Nujun for assistance. The Nujun willingly marched to the help of their southern neighbour. The combined army laid an ambush, into Mrhich the Liao army was drawn by a feigned flight, and the Liao men were cut to pieces. Ten years thereafter a Qaoli official travelled north to examine into the condition of the Nujun, and a profound impression was made upon him by the extraordinaiy changes wrought in those few years since the defeat of Liao. They were then rude, wild, lawless, ungovemed savages ; but they had become a well regulated nation, were under excellent laws, and possessed of most formidable acquirements (p. 237). He urged upon his king the immediate adoption of a friendly relationship with the in&nt but powerful kingdom, as the only means of warding off future troublea The king followed the advice, and took the initiative in drawing the two kingdoms nearer to each other ; and among other measures he instituted barter markets for the mutual exchange of the productions of the two peoples. But the same friendly relations did not always exist We have already seen how