Page:The passing of Korea.djvu/221

 RUSSIAN INTRIGUE "173 merit were thoroughly competent and rendered good service,' but their presence tended to add to the tension between Japan and Russia, for it was quite plain that all their influence would be thrown in the scale on Russia's side. The attempt to loan the Korean government five million yen was pushed with desperate vigour for many months by the French, but divided counsels prevented the final consummation of the loan, and the French thus failed to secure the strong leverage which a heavy loan always gives to the creditor. Yi Yong-ik, who had become more or less of a Russian tool, was pointedly accused by the Japanese of being in favour of the French loan, but he vigorously denied it. It is generally admitted that Yi Yong-ik was something of a mystery even to his most intimate acquaintances, and just how far he really favoured the Russian side will never be known, but it is certain that he assumed a more and more hostile attitude toward the Japanese as the months went by, - an attitude which brought him into violent conflict with them, as we shall see.

Yi Yong-ik posed as a master in finance, whatever else he may or may not have been, and in 1901 he began the minting of the Korean nickel piece. No greater monetary disaster ever overtook this country. Even the desperate measures taken by the regent thirty years before had not shaken the monetary system as this did. The regent introduced the wretched fivecash piece, which did enormous harm, but that five-cash piece was of too small face value to be worth counterfeiting. The nickel was the ideal coin to tempt the counterfeiter, for its intrinsic value was not so great as to require the employment of a large amount of capital, and yet its face value was sufficient to pay for the labour and time expended. The effects of this departure will be noted in their place.

In the summer of 1901 Yi Yong-ik performed one act that, in the eyes of the people, covered a multitude of other sins. It was a year of great scarcity. The Korean farmers raised barely enough grain for domestic consumption, and in order to pre