General Introduction (Ch’ongsŏ) 77
countryside was overlooked by the government, and at court no one rose to
a high rank by accident. The government dispatched officials to the local
districts to inspect the irregularities and abuse of power so that provincial
military commanders would not dare to leave invaders alone, and magis-
trates would not dare to harass the people. You also rejected the wicked
counsel of schemers, while rescuing people in trouble and strengthening
their livelihoods by reforming private landholding in the various provinces.
You made new laws that provided the officials in the court with the lands
near the capital, giving them preferential treatment and at the same time
strengthening security for the king. This indicates that your policy of awards
and punishments was not motivated by your personal interest. Everyone
knows well that your heart is sincere, and your ways are straight. So there is
nothing in what you have done that is not related to the restoration of the
royal family.
“In the winter of the Kisa year (1389), Yun Sŭngsun, our envoy to Ming
China who Ch’ang had sent, came back with a letter from the Ministry of
Rites with imperial instructions. The letter read as follows: “The royal line
of Koryŏ was severed, and the throne was taken by a man who is not a
member of the royal Wang clan, which is obviously not a good custom
handed down from old in the country. If wise and talented officials serve in
your government and carry out their duties properly, why should I be con-
cerned even if you do not pay tribute to me for many generations, and why
should I worry even if you choose to pay tribute every year? It is not neces-
sary henceforth that the young child [the king] visit our capital.”
“The reason the emperor sent a letter such as this one was that King
Kongmin paid tribute to him earlier than anyone else when he was still
engaged in a power struggle in China and thereby rendered great service to
the foundation of the Ming dynasty by letting the fact be known to the
world that the Ming had the Mandate of Heaven to become a new leader in
China. Therefore, the sacred Son of Heaven felt sorry that the sacrifices to
the royal Wang clan of Koryŏ were disrupted and wished that there could be
subjects, loyal to the royal family, who would rise and restore the severed
royal line.
“However, Inim, who is Ch’ang’s maternal grandfather, hid the emperor’s
letter while serving as chancellor, and this was only one of the countless
crimes he committed. So the problem of enthroning the Sin clan was immi-
nent, and the fate of the royal Wang clan became that of a fish in the caul-
dron gasping for breath. When you [T’aejo] sought the ways to rectify the
situation according to principles of justice and risked your life to restore the