CHAPTER 10
The Royal Division Model: Rotating
Duty Soldiers and Support Taxpayers
To provide some background for the context of the mid-seventeenth century,
we must consider military and political developments that had occurred since
the Imjin War. The lessons learned from that war had, unfortunately, not stim-
ulated a self-strengthening effort sufficient to insulate the country against a chal-
lenge from a different direction. Not only did politics interfere with the strategies
adopted to block the thrust of the Manchus, but the problems of defense had
been exacerbated by the challenge of the Yi K wal rebellion of 1624 to the throne
and the necessity to provide for both the defense of the capital as well as the
northern frontier. After capitulation for the second time to the Manchus in 1637,
Korean kings and officials were enraged by their humiliation at the hands of the
Manchus and yearned to rebuild their armies to take vengeance, but they were
limited in their freedom to do so by the sharp and suspicious eyes of the Manchu
overlords.
PROBLEMS OF HYOJONG'S MILITARY EXPANSION POLICIES
When Grand Prince Pongnim, the second son of King Injo and recently desig-
nated successor to his deceased elder brother, Prince Sohy6n, ascended the throne
as King Hyojong in r649 he succeeded to a court that was dominated almost
exclusively by members of the Westerner faction but split between moderates
under Kim Chaj6m who advocated accommodation with Manchu overlordship,
and a contingent of anti-Manchus that included Yi Sibaek and his younger brother,
Yi Sibang, as well as Kim Chip, Song Siy61, Song Chun'gil, and the prominent
leader of the Southerner faction, H6 Ch6k. Kim Chajom had been able to main-
tain his position even though King Injo was anti-Manchu because he supported
him in the vindictive execution of Crown Prince Sohyon's wife, sons (lnjo's own
grandsons), and family, all of whom he suspected of treasonous sympathy with
the Manchus.
King Hyojong, however, who had spent a decade as a hostage in Manchuria
nurturing his hatred for the Manchus in silence, immediately set about replae-
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