Book II 195what was previously levied. As for the seasonal products that cannot be
included among regular tribute goods, we separated them from others and
called them special tributes (pyŏlgong). Tangerines and citrons are one
example.
“Collecting from above is called pu (賦), and presenting from below kong
(貢). Neither collecting nor presenting should be made too excessive, and
this was the intention of sage rulers who made the law of taxes. Normally,
cunning subjects tend to advocate heavy taxes and thereby aggravate the
avarice of their sovereign; however, the latter, who is ignorant of their inten-
tion, simply believes that those taxes are good for the country, without real-
izing that they can bring harm to the state in the end. So it is most important
that the sovereign distinguish between good and bad in advance.
“The Book of Changes says, “By practicing frugality through the law, the
ruler neither brings damage to the property nor causes harm to the people.”
If he is thrifty in spending, he will have enough even if he collects less in
taxes. If he is wasteful in spending, he will run short, even if he collects
more taxes. We respectfully believe that Your Majesty should continue to be
frugal and thrifty for the love of your people so that your posterity will try
to emulate you throughout ten thousand generations.
“Now, together with this memorial, we present to you the amount of
tribute taxes in detail, which we have decided and made it into a book, and
we request that this be proclaimed both in the capital and the provinces and
made into a permanent law.”
13th Day (Sinyu)
The king ordered Cho Chun, right chancellor, Chŏng Tojŏn, vice grand
councilor, Chŏng Ch’ong, academician of the Office of Royal Decrees, Pak
Ŭijung, and Yun Sojong, minister of the Board of War, to compile the his-
tory of the former dynasty.^50The king inspected the Righteousness Flourishing Capital Guard Commands.The king gave orders to tear down the Royal Ancestral Shrine of the former
dynasty and build a new one on the same site.- This project of compiling the History of Koryŏ was initially completed in 1395, but it
had to be revised and expanded continuously until the final version was published in 1451, the
first year of King Munjong.