Meanwhile Korea was going from bad to worse. For many years all official positions had been sold to the highest bidder. Governors and generals paid 30,000 cash, prefects 20,000 and clerks paid 3,000. No office could be procured without an immediate cash payment. The price put upon the office of Prime Minister was so great that for many years no one could afford to take it, and so the place remained vacant, perhaps to the benefit of the people. The king was ruled by a favorite concubine and she made use of her power to enrich her relatives and those attached to her. She and other concubines sent men to the country to peddle offices. Half the money they kept themselves and the other half went to the pockets of the concubines. Such was the desperate condition of affairs when the year 1622 came in; and we must now record the downfall of this wretched parody of a king.
A man by the name of Yi Kwi had desired for a long time to find some way of ridding the land of the desperate tyrant, and at last he found five men who were willing to engage with him in the good cause. They were Sim Kyöng-jin, Sim Keui-wŭn, Kim Cha-jŭm, Ch‘oe Myŭng-gil, Kim Nyu. After thinking the matter over and discussing it, they decided that if their plan succeeded they would put on the throne the grandson of Sŭn-jo Tă-wang. Kim Nyu was made the leader in this plot. Collecting money they fitted out a small but select body of soldiers and put Gen. Yi Heung-ip at their head, and the day for the event was set. But one of the men connected with the plot turned traitor and told the king the whole plan. The conspirators learned of it immediately and decided to carry out their program in spite of all. As it happened, the king was in a drunken carouse at the time this interesting bit of information was given him and he forgot all about it. That very night the band of conspirators met at the appointed rendezvous beyond the Peking Pass. But there was trouble, because some soldiers who were expected from Chang-dan had not yet arrived; so a swift messenger was sent to find them. They were met twenty _li_ out and hurried forward. Yi Kwal, with several other generals, went to meet these troops beyond the pass and lead them into the city. They found several hundred soldiers ready for the enterprise; but a man named Chang Yu came in haste from the city and said, “The king has been told. The government troops are coming out to seize us.” Yi Kwi seized Yi Kwal by the hand and said, “Kim Nyu who was to lead us has not arrived and you must be our leader.” So he consented. He gave each soldier a piece of paper to fasten to the back of his collar so that they would be able to recognize each other and not be thrown into confusion. At the last moment Kim Nyu arrived and then there was a quarrel between him and Yi Kwal as to the leadership; but as day was about to dawn they let Kim Nyu take charge.