Book XIV 811
crushed them. The prince of Liaodong also raised an army to fight against
the Mongols. I was conscripted to serve in his army but ran away while
marching to the battle and returned home.” The king had him settled down,
bestowing clothing and provisions upon him.
11th Day (Ŭlmyo)
The provincial military commissioner of the Northwest Region sent a report:
“The imperial envoy of China is on his way.” The government dispatched
Yu Un, magistrate of Kyŏnghŭng, to welcome the Chinese envoy and enter-
tain him with royal wine.
The king ordered Yi Chi, director of the Security Council, to supervise the
construction of the South Gate of the palace walls. Earlier, Chi had ardently
remonstrated with the king about the abuses caused by public works, even-
tually raising the king’s ire. At this time, when he heard that the Chinese
envoy was coming to visit, the king made Chi supervise the construction of
the gate and complete it by an appointed time, providing a small number of
workers.
12th Day (Pyŏngjin)
The Veritable Records [dynastic annals] of the previous dynasty were
already compiled, from King Kongmin to Prince Kongyang. Therefore,
Cho Chun, supervising director of the Office of Royal Decrees and State
Records, and others attempted to submit the drafts of history starting from
the Imsin year (1392) to the present time so that the king could take a look
at them. Then, historiographer Sin Kae submitted a memorial to the king:
“To reflect quietly, every state in antiquity employed its own historiogra-
phers and had them truthfully record the words and conduct of the king as
well as the rights and wrongs of the subjects and their performance without
reserve. Therefore, the kings and subjects secretly handed down the history
of their times to posterity and dared not act wrongfully because they were
always mindful of the orders and commands they issued and the ways in
which they spoke and behaved. So there was a deep purpose in having his-
toriographers in the state.
“In antiquity, Emperor Taizong of Tang once asked Fang Xuanling,
‘Why is the emperor not allowed to see the historical records made by the
historiographers over the generations?’ Xuanling replied, ‘Since they do not