184 t h e a n n a l s o f k i n g t’a e j o
Security Council, and others, spoke to the king: “The princes and various
members of the royal family cannot be without proper attire and carriages
and an adequate number of grooms and attendants, not to mention expendi-
ture befitting their status. We urge you to bestow more lands upon them in
addition to their rank lands.”
The king quietly talked about the days when he was out of public view,
staying at home. He said, “Provided with 100 kyŏl of rank land, they [the
princes] will not suffer hunger and cold. If I give them extra lands, people
will certainly say that I give my sons preferential treatment. Furthermore,
the lands in Kyŏnggi Province are limited in their amount. How can I give
them out recklessly? If you really want to give them more lands, I will have
merit subjects provided with lands first, and, based on that principle, the
princes also provided with lands. To provide lands to the princes alone
cannot be possible.”
Nam Ŭn said, “Various merit subjects have already received extra lands
in addition to their rank lands. How can it be impossible to provide the
princes with more lands?” Then the king looked at Nam Ŭn and said, “Are
you saying that I should also give lands to my sons because I bestowed lands
on the merit subjects?”
A little later, the king quietly said, “In olden days when I was a subject, I
was also bestowed with lands. The lands were mostly barren and useless,
but I did not mind. Now, the merit land (kongsinjŏn) issued to merit subjects
must be selected from fertile lands.”27th Day (Ŭlsa)
Sitting in the Council Hall, the king called Yu Kyŏng, chancellor of the
National Academy, and ordered him to come forward and present a lecture
on the Extended Meaning of the Great Learning.The king sent his order to the Privy Council: “At the beginning when the
dynasty was founded, the following officials also made contributions, and
they were Supreme General Cho Kyŏn,^28 Third Royal Secretary Han- Cho Kyŏn (1351–1425 AD): an official of late Koryŏ and early Chosŏn. In his early
years, he became a monk and returned to secular life at the age of thirty. After passing the civil
service examination, he served as surveillance commissioner and, participating in enthroning
T’aejo, became supreme general and dynasty-founding merit subject.