Book VIII 547
and night and make bold to appeal to you. We earnestly beg you to appeal
to His Imperial Majesty on our behalf so that the imperial decree and the
royal seal of Chosŏn can be bestowed.
The king ordered the Privy Council to summon Kim Yongnyŏl, navy com-
mander, and Kim Sŭngju, minister of punishments, and consult them on the
ways to attack Japanese marauders.
The government dispatched governors to each province.
14th Day (Kapsul)
It rained.
National Preceptor Cho Ku died of illness, so the king had the morning
audience suspended.
15th Day (Ŭlhae)
The trees were covered with hoar frost.
16th Day (Pyŏngja)
The Court of Royal Sacrifices spoke to the king: “Because the dynasty is
newly founded, it is necessary to renew the old system of ritual ceremonies.
The ritual songs performed at the Royal Ancestral Shrine have already
been revised; however, the ritual songs for the sacrifices to the Altars of
Earth and Grain, the Circular Mound Altar, King Munsŏn [Confucius], and
others still remain unchanged. So they also need to be revised.” The king
followed the advice.
21st Day (Sinsa)
The Privy Council sent down a royal decree to various provinces and
ordered them to investigate the good and bad deeds of all officials of both
high and low ranks, including magistrates, army and navy commanders,
brigade and battalion commanders, instructors of Confucian studies and
medicine, supervisors of salt and iron production, and chiefs of post stations
and to submit detailed reports on them.