The next year after these stirring events, namely 931, Wang-gön made a visit to Sil-la taking with him an escort of only fifty soldiers. The king of Sil-la came out to meet him and they feasted there at the meeting-place together. The king of Sil-la lamented the smallness and weakness of his kingdom and deplored the ravages of Kyŭn-whŭn. The evils, he said, were beyond estimation; and he broke down and wept. The courtiers did the same and even Wang-gön could scarce restrain his tears. After this they had a friendly talk and the king of Koryŭ remained as a guest for some twenty days. As he left the capital of Sil-la the people vied with each other in doing him honor. Poor old Sil-la had gone out of fashion and the minds of all men were turned Koryŭ-ward.
Wang-gön had a strong predilection for P‘yŭng-yang, the ancient capital of the country. He had already established a school there with professorships of literature, medicine and incantation. He now in 932 conceived the project of moving his capital northward to that place. To this end he erected barracks there for his troops and was making other preparations for the change, when he was dissuaded from it by some evil omens. A great wind blew down some of the houses in P‘yŭng-yang and, so the story goes, a hen became a cock. These portents made it impossible to carry out the plan. It was about this time that he built a guest-house outside the walls of Song-do to be used as a reception hall for envoys and messengers from the wild tribes of the north. Suspicion as to the object of their coming may have made it seem undesirable to allow them to enter the city proper, or it may have been simply to impress them with the importance of the place.
Kyŭn-whŭn’s right hand man came and swore allegience even though, at the time, his two sons and his daughter were hostages in the hands of his former master. When Kyŭn-whŭn heard of it he burned the first son alive and would have treated the second son and the daughter in like manner had they not effected their escape to a retreat where they lay in hiding till his death. This desertion seems to have roused the old man’s ire, and he longed for the din of battle once more. He could still command a considerable force; so he entered upon another campaign and as usual was at first successful. He seized three districts in the east country and set fire to a large number of towns. It was not until the next year that Wang-gön sent an expedition against him. This was under the command of Gen. Yu Gön-p’il, whom the king had banished but had pardoned and recalled because of his lively efforts while in exile to raise a company of soldiers. He never seemed to know when he was beaten. He routed the forces of Kyŭn-whŭn and returned in triumph to Song-do, where he was hailed as the savior of the people. We may judge from this that Kyŭn-whŭn was still considered formidable. In another fight Gen. Yu captured seven of Kyŭn-whŭn’s captains and one of his sons as well.