506 t h e a n n a l s o f k i n g t’a e j o
goods. Returning from his mission to Cheju Island, Hwang Kunsŏ, chief
pacification commissioner, made a report of this custom to the king, and the
king made a decree to stop it.3rd Day (Kabo)
There was a storm with heavy rain and lightning, which brought down the
48 kan of the servant’s quarters on the east side of the new royal palace.5th Day (Pyŏngsin)
The king dismissed Yi Ko, left policy advisor, who had impeached officials
based on rumors.The king enfeoffed [Yi] Pokkŭn, the son of Prince Chinan [Yi Pangu,
T’aejo’s eldest son] as Lord of Pongnyŏng.Ch’oe Sik, magistrate of Kwangju,^1 was dismissed from office. Violating
the royal prohibition of alcohol, he held a banquet with wine and music to
entertain his guests. Having heard of it, Governor Ch’oe I impeached him,
and consequently he was dismissed.8th Day (Kihae)
The king sent Kim Ŭlsang to the Ming court and submitted a memorial.
The main message of the memorial was as follows:
“On the nineteenth day of the eleventh month of the twenty- seventh year
of the reign of Hongwu, my son [later King T’aejong] brought your sacred
message when he returned from the Ming capital. Your message was:
“When one of the eunuchs who was originally Korean returned from his
trip to your country, he hid a roll of willow tree bark in his topknot. Inside
the roll was a paper with some characters whose meaning was incompre-
hensible. In addition to that, it was discovered that the eunuch had several
letters sewed into the sleeves of his dress. He also said, ‘The king of our
country gave me four pieces of silver for a gift.’ If they were indeed a gift
from you, I suppose you intend to have contact with his parents and rela-
tives. Did you then tell him to take those things with him when he returned
to China? What he brought with him were all trivial things, and I did not- A district in Kyŏnggi Province.