It was now, near the end of the tenth century, that Koryŭ was first regularly divided into provinces. There were ten of them. Their names and positions were as follows. Kwan-nă, the present Kyŭng-geui; Chung-wŭn, now Chung-ju; Ha-nam, now Kong-ju; Yong-nam, now Sang-ju; Kang-nam, now Chŭn-ju; San-nam, now Chin-ju; Hă-yang, now Na-ju; Sak-pang, now Ch‘un-ch‘ŭn, Kang-neung and An-byŭn; P‘ă-su, now P‘yŭng-yang; and Kă-sŭng, another name for Song-do. These were rather the provincial centers than the provinces themselves.
In pursuance of the policy adopted in reference to the kingdom of Kitan, ten boys were sent northward to that country to learn its language and marry among its people. The final act of suzerainty was played when in 996 the “emperor” of Kitan invested the king of Koryŭ with the royal insignia. The end of the reign was approaching, but before it was reached one of the most important events of that century transpired. It occupies little space on the page of history. Many a court intrigue or senseless pageant bulks larger in the annals, but it was one of the most far-reaching in its effects. It was the first coining of money. It was in this same year, 996. These coins were of iron but without the hole which so generally characterizes the “cash” of to-day.
In 998 the king died and his nephew, Song, posthumous title Mok-jong, ascended the throne. His first act was to revise the system of taxation, probably by causing a remeasurement of arable land. Officials received their salaries not in money nor in rice, but to each one was assigned a certain tract of land and his salary was the produce from that particular tract. In the third year of his reign, 1000 A.D., he received investiture from the Kitan emperor. His fifth year was signalized by a five days’ eruption of a volcano on the island of Quelpart. This reign was destined to end in disaster. The widow of the late king formed a criminal intimacy with one Kim Ji-yang, whom she raised to a high official position. The whole kingdom was scandalized. She had the walls of her palace decorated with sentiments expressive of the epicurean dictum “Eat, drink and be merry”; and curiously enough expressed the belief that after enjoying all this world had to give they would all become Buddhas in the next. This is probably a fair sample of the Buddhistic teaching of the times, at least this was its legitimate fruit. She and her lover soon began to plot against the young king. The latter was ill at the time but knew well what was going on. He sent for Sun, the illegitimate son of Uk, of whom we spoke in the last chapter, with the intention of nominating him as his successor. At the same time he sent post-haste to the country and summoned Gen. Kang Cho, a faithful and upright man. On his way up to the capital the general was falsely told that it was not the king who had summoned him but the queen dowager’s lover. Enraged at being thus played upon, the stern old general marched into the capital and seized the lecherous traitor and gave him his quietus. He then turned upon the king and put him to death as well. He had not looked carefully into the case, but he deemed that the whole court needed a thorough cleaning out. He completed the work by driving out the queen dowager who deserved the block more than any other; and then he seated the above-mentioned Sun on the throne. His posthumous title is Hyön-jong. This was in 1010 A.D.