838 t h e a n n a l s o f k i n g t’a e j o
Prince Chŏngan said to them, “Why are you lords not worried about the
Earth and Grain of the Yi family?” Chun, Sahyŏng, and others were so sur-
prised and fearful that they knelt down before the horse of Prince Chŏngan.
The prince said, “Because Tojŏn, Ŭn, and others tried to set up a young
nothos as crown prince, eliminating my brothers born of the same mother,
we, being the underdogs, struck them first.” Bowing down more deeply,
Chun and others said, “We did not know at all what they were doing.” Prince
Chŏngan said, “A serious incident such as this should have been reported to
the government, but there was no time to do so today. You lords should
convene a meeting as soon as possible.”
No Sŏkchu and Pyŏn Chungnyang [fourth and fifth royal secretaries],
both staying in the palace, dispatched a man to summon Yi Munhwa, chief
royal secretary, and Kim Yuk, third royal secretary. Munhwa rushed in to
ask, “How is the king’s health?” Sŏkchu replied, “His condition being
serious, we want to move him to the open pavilion in the west at midnight
tonight.” Thereupon, all the royal secretaries proceeded to the gate of the
Hall of Diligent Government.
Pak Wi, chief military commissioner of the Royal Guard, called out
loudly, standing at the gate of the Hall of Diligent Government: “Have sol-
diers arrived or not?” Munhwa asked, “Are you going to move the king’s
quarters now? Why do you blow a horn and muster in troops?” Wi replied,
“What do you mean by moving the king’s quarters? Many soldiers and
horses have now surrounded the meeting place of the Count of Ponghwa
and the Lord of Ŭisŏng and set it on fire, so I blew my horn to muster
s o l d i e r s. ”
Some time earlier, Prince Chŏngan had said to Sukbŏn, “Our forces are
not strong enough to defeat the enemy. After beheading Tojŏn, Nam Ŭn,
and others first, four or five of our brothers will stop their horses in front of
the gate of the Three Armies Headquarters and observe public sentiment. If
the hearts of the people turn against us, there is nothing we can do about it.
If they favor us, however, we will be able to survive.”
By this time, Prince Chŏngan had returned to the front of the gate of the
Three Armies Headquarters and halted his horse, and it was already the
fourth watch of the early morning [between 1:00 and 3:00 a.m.]. The people
who were supportive of Prince Chŏngan kept on arriving. Yu Mansu, assis-
tant chancellor, approached the horse of the prince to pay his respects with
his son Wŏnji. Prince Chŏngan asked, “What brought you here?” Mansu
replied, “I have heard that His Majesty has decided to move his quarters to