68 t h e a n n a l s o f k i n g t’a e j o
in the Yuan court, I suppose you can speak Chinese.” Saek quickly replied
in Chinese, “I request that [our king] be allowed to pay tribute to you.”
Unable to understand Saek’s words, the emperor asked, “What did you
say?” Then an official from the Ministry of Rites explained on Saek’s
behalf.
Since Saek visited the Chinese court after a long absence, his Chinese
naturally would be awkward and inarticulate. The emperor said laughingly,
“Your Chinese sounds like that of Nahachu.”^138
On his way back, he boarded a ship in Bohai. His ship left with two other
passenger vessels, but the other two went down in a violent storm when
they arrived at Banyang Mountain. The ship that His Majesty [Yi Pangwŏn,
secretary at that time] boarded was also in a great danger, and the situa-
tion seemed almost hopeless. The people became quite afraid, but His
Majesty looked calm and composed. The ship finally arrived safely at its
destination.
After he returned to the court, Saek said to the people, “The current
emperor [of Ming] lacks backbone. I expected that he would ask certain
questions, but he never did; instead, he asked only the things I least
expected.” At that time, the people laughed at him: “How can a worldly
scholar understand the thoughts of a great sage?”
It was the first year (1389) of the reign of King Kongyang (the 22nd year
of the Hongwu reign). At that time, the land administration was in serious
disarray. As men in power seized land from the people and occupied both
the mountains and the fields, the sufferings of the people grew worse day
after day, and everyone complained about it.
T’aejo discussed the matter with Inspector-General Cho Chun and abol-
ished private landholdings so that people’s livelihoods could be improved.
Consequently, the whole country was overjoyed, and the hearts of the people
turned to him further.
Previously, Wang Hwan, a royal family member with the title Prince
Yŏnghŭng, returned home after being held hostage in Japan for several
decades. Many were suspicious of him. Yi Sungin questioned the prince’s
true identity, was charged with making false accusations, and ran away. The- He is originally a Mongolian official who governed Liaoyang, a northeastern province
in China. He at first fought with the Ming army with a vision to revive the declining Yuan
dynasty. In 1387, however, he surrendered to the Ming forces with his army of about 200,000,
suffering in the midst of a famine and persuaded by Ming diplomacy.