Hyojong’s Northern Expedition Plan
Hyojong, once a hostage in Qing, expanded the Eoyeongcheong army and recruited Song Si-yeol and others to prepare a campaign against the Qing; the plan died with him.
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The call to avenge the humiliation of 1637 became state policy under Hyojong. He enlarged the Eoyeongcheong army, repaired fortresses and brought Westerner scholars such as Song Si-yeol into government. But the Qing had conquered China and were at the height of their power; Joseon troops instead marched at Qing request against the Russians on the Amur (1654, 1658). Hyojong’s death in 1659 ended the plan.
The northern campaign also served the Westerners as a banner for keeping power. The Southerner Yun Hyu revived it under Sukjong without result, and in the eighteenth century scholars began instead to urge learning from Qing (Northern Learning).
