Book III 273
insult his superior. Then many people were finally able to discriminate right
from wrong and admitted their mistakes. As to what I did, Heaven knows it
well and Your Majesty has witnessed it personally. You have been gracious
enough to recognize my loyalty to you, and I am determined more than ever
to repay your favor. So I have tried my utmost not to neglect paying respect
and tribute to you whenever necessary.
“In your recent imperial instructions, you said, ‘Last time you lured some
ruffians from among the residents of Zhejiang to collect information on our
domestic affairs and report to you.’ You also said, ‘You sent your people to
Liaodong and tried to bribe our officers on the borders with linen and silk
as well as gold and silver.’ Then you said, ‘You have recently sent your
people secretly to lure Jurchens residing in our land. Consequently, five
hundred Jurchen families sneaked across the Yalu River to settle in your
territory.’ Further, you said, ‘You pretend to be our vassal state, paying
tribute, but whenever you bring in horses as a token of your tribute, our
horse experts find them mostly too slow and tired.’ Then you finally said,
‘As for the matters concerning your country name, I allowed you to choose
on your own since you had sent an envoy to make that request to us.
Consequently, Chosŏn was chosen as the name of your country, and I let
you rule over the land, making you join the rulers of the kingdom. However,
after your envoy returned to your country, we heard no more from you
about the matter.’
“What was pointed out, however, was mostly what happened during the
reign of Wang Yo. That was why the people thought he was wrong and had
him stripped of his throne without taking his life. He is now allowed to
retire to his private residence and live with his family comfortably, just as
usual. However foolish he may be, how can he not regret what he has done?
This is a result effected by your sacred virtue and also proof that I have
no other intention but to be loyal to you. Besides, the people of Zhejiang
never passed any information to us, and neither did our people to them.
Moreover, what do I have to do with the things that happened during the
reign of Wang Yo?
“As for the alleged bribes you mentioned, they were gifts, not bribes,
which traveling envoys normally offer to the officials of the hosting country
out of courtesy or gratitude.
“Since the Jurchens belonging to the Tongnyŏng Administration had
already become soldiers, how could it be possible to lure them away by
sending our agents?