250 t h e a n n a l s o f k i n g t’a e j o
2nd Day (Chŏngmi)
Chang Yŏn, director of the Criminal Administration Bureau of the Board of
Punishments, and others submitted a memorial to the king: “The last royal
decree that you proclaimed said, ‘Those among the slaves who filed lawsuits
to acquire yangin^40 status shall be made to continue to live as slaves if they
have been slaves for a long time; those slaves whose status is undecided
despite lawsuits shall be assigned to the one who wins the court decision.’
However, some of the slave owners failed to win the settlement even though
they have kept their slaves for a long time or failed to have the settlement
actually implemented though they won the settlement. As a result, the liti-
gation became more cumbersome.”
The king said, “My intention was to prohibit the litigations, but you
say that, on the contrary, they became more cumbersome. Why is it so? Let
the Office of the Inspector-General look into the matter and submit the
result to me.”4th Day (Kiyu)
The king ordered Kim Sŭngni, magistrate of Kŭmsŏng,^41 to be detained in
the Capital Constabulary Prison.5th Day (Kyŏngsul)
The king ordered Chŏng T’ak, surveillance commissioner of Kyoju-
Kangnŭng Province, to be imprisoned in the Capital Constabulary Prison.
At first, Kim Sŭngni, [magistrate of Kŭmsŏng], had three men from his
district, including one named Chang Kŏm, thrown into the district jail for
violating the law and later released them. Kŏm and others were originally
members of the Royal Guard (Siwi) and were on their way to serve their
rotation duties [at the time of the incident]. They stormed into the district
office and knocked down Sŭngni. Then they hit him and verbally abused
him. When Sŭngni reported the incident to Surveillance Commissioner
Chŏng T’ak, the latter ordered the magistrate of Ch’unju^42 to arrest Kŏm
and his colleagues and to interrogate them.- Status of good persons or commoner.
- A district of Ch’ŏrwŏn Strategic Prefecture in Kangwŏn Province.
- An old name for modern Ch’unch’ŏn, a city in Kangwŏn Province.