818 t h e a n n a l s o f k i n g t’a e j o
led the envoy to the yard of the royal palace. When the envoy ascended to
the hall, the king knelt down and personally received a letter from him. It
was an official letter from the Ministry of Rites of China. The letter read:
“As to the matter that concerns the return of eunuch Sin Kwisaeng to his
country, Zhang Bing, left vice minister of rites, and others received a sacred
instruction from the emperor: ‘In the twenty- fifth year of Hongwu (1392), I
had several dozen Korean eunuchs brought to my imperial court, and the
reason I employed them was to appoint them to posts in the inner court to
carry out various missions, both domestic and overseas, with full knowl-
edge and competence. This indicates how open- minded and sincere I was in
treating Chosŏn. Thereafter, I often sent those eunuchs to their country as
my envoys. However, King Yi did not treat them as sincerely as I expected.
So I decided to send several dozen eunuchs permanently, whom I have
already mentioned, back to their country, except one named Sin Kwisaeng.
Kwisaeng was too young to know anything yet, so I decided to return him
later after training him for several years. He was so intelligent that I always
kept him beside me, and that is why there is nothing that he does not know
about what is happening in my court. Now Kwisaeng was returning to his
country, and I said to him before his departure, ‘When you go back to your
country, tell your king about everything you have heard and seen here,
without exaggeration or omission. Since you have worked here for years, I
bestow you with one large silver ingot, one roll of silk, and 20 ding of chao
currency.’^27 “This is the instruction of the emperor, and we duly convey it
to you.”
Having finished reading the letter, the king performed the ritual kowtows
with Sin Kwisaeng. The king did not entertain the envoy personally. He
instead had U Innyŏl, assistant chancellor, and Yu Un, escort commissioner
(yŏngjŏpsa), sit with the envoy and entertain him. Displeased with this,
Kwisaeng did not accept a drink. All the officials hated Kwisaeng for his
deception and arrogance.
Earlier, when Kwisaeng arrived in Ŭiju and met with our people, he spoke
only in Chinese, so our people did not realize that he was originally a
Korean. Pointing at the stuff that he brought, he said, “That was bestowed
by the emperor.” When he met with Yu Un, escort commissioner, he also
pointed at his belongings and said, “That was bestowed by the emperor.”
Placing it on top of the table, he sat down to guard it, pulling out his sword.- Chao, 鈔, was the official banknote of Yuan, China.