disciplined the royal clans, and taxed the aristocracy, the yangban. Cumings notes that this was not a revolution but a restoration, as the Daewongun was attempting to return to the days of King Sejong in the fifteenth century. One of the Daewongun's effective acts as regent was the reconstruction of Gyeongbok Palace. The palace had been built during the reign of the first Joseon king. Much of the building was destroyed in a fire in 1533 and the rest was destroyed during the Japanese invasion of 1592. The rebuilding took seven years and five months. It was perhaps the most costly project during the Joseon dynasty. He also weakened the power of the Andong Kim clan and increased the authority of the ruling family. This act stripped almost all of the Andong Kim clan's power. The Daewongun's reforms were not very successful, as some scholars say he was "too high-handed and tactless". Furthermore, his policies did not have a long-lasting effect. Once Gojong came of age in 1874, he forced the Daewongun into semi-retirement and undid many of his reforms. Foreign policy The Daewongun's foreign policy was rather simple, as Cumings describes it: "no treaties, no trade, no Catholics, no West, and no Japan". He maintained an isolationist policy. The Isolation Policy was a policy made to isolate Joseon from all foreign forces except for China which he believed to be the strongest. He tried to refuse Russia's quest to open Joseon's ports to them by using France, but France refused to help – causing the 1866 Byeong-in Persecution. He was involved in the General Sherman incident as well. The Isolation Policy became more entrenched in 1868 when German merchant Ernst Oppert attempted to take hostage the bones of the Daewongun's father in order to force him to open Korea to trade; and even further so after the 1871 American attack of Gwanghwado. The Isolation Policy provided immediate benefits of fortifying Korean patriotism as well as protecting Korean Confucianism. The Heungseon Daewongun was able to protect Joseon from cultural imperialism and westernization and thus protect Korea's heritage from it. However, because he refused to engage in international relations entirely, there was a limited choice of market and slim opportunity for an industrial revolution to occur in Korea. Indeed, the Daewongun wanted to avoid engagement with the West – which would have been inevitable if Western countries were allowed to trade