Book X 617
5th Day (Kimi)
Japanese marauders laid siege to P’yŏnghae Fortress.^25
6th Day (Kyŏngsin)
Kwŏn Chunghwa, envoy with the mission of presenting a memorial of grat-
itude (saŭn chinp’yosa), Ku Sŏngno, envoy responsible for presenting a dip-
lomatic letter (chinjŏnsa), and Yu Ku and Chŏng Sinŭi, the envoys who had
been detained in Nanjing, returned from the Chinese capital. Sinŭi deliv-
ered a letter from the Chief Military Commission of the Left Army. The
letter was as follows:
“The officials of the Chief Military Commission of the Left Army,
including Yang Wen, received an imperial instruction from the emperor,
which was as follows: ‘Last May when Yang Ch’ŏmsik, an envoy of Chosŏn
in charge of presenting tribute horses, returned to his country, the Regional
Military Commission of Liaodong ordered Company Commander Xia Zhi
and ten soldiers, including one named Liu Wanzi, to escort Yang Ch’ŏmsik
and his entourage as far as the Yalu River. Crossing the river, the Chosŏn
envoy in charge of presenting tribute horses kindly invited Xia Zhi and
others to the post station in the garrison headquarters of Ŭiju and tried to
entertain them as much as they could. However, finding the words of his
host too pretentious and exaggerating, Xia Zhi could not help being suspi-
cious of his real intention.
‘After bidding farewell to Chosŏn envoys, Xia Zhi took a boat to cross the
Yalu River. When his boat reached the middle of the river, however, one of
the boatmen suddenly grabbed Xia Zhi by the collar and jumped into the
water. Consequently, Xia Zhi was drowned. Was this a conspiracy devised
by the king of Chosŏn? Or did the accident take place because the myriarch
of Ŭiju was wicked? Since such people, being frivolous and cunning, caused
troubles recklessly, you, the officials of the Chief Military Commission of
the Left Army, send a letter to the king of Chosŏn and have the myriarch of
Ŭiju personally appear and give an explanation for the incident.’ ”
Kwŏn Chunghwa and others said to the king: “Kim Chŏksŏn and his entou-
rage ran into a storm on the sea near Dengzhou. They were all shipwrecked
and drowned.
- Uljin, North Kyŏngsang Province.