General Introduction (Ch’ongsŏ) 93the two sides. He was afraid that he would be harmed by the conflict after
he had learned that Kongyang extremely disliked T’aejo. He originally
associated with Lord of Ikch’ŏn Wang Chip,^186 King Kongyang’s son-
in-law, forming a circle that only men of same age could join. So he, being
afraid at that time, told Chip about the memorial that T’aejo’s aides were
planning to submit to the king. Thus, Kongyang came to learn about the
memorial. He asked T’aejo, “I heard that your subordinates are now drafting
a memorial requesting me to punish U Hyŏnbo and others. Do you also
know anything about it?” Greatly surprised, T’aejo denied any knowledge
of the matter. Upon returning home, he summoned his subordinates and
ordered them to stop what they were doing after learning the truth for the
first time.
In the third month, Crown Prince Sŏk^187 returned from his trip to the
Chinese court. T’aejo traveled out to Hwangju to greet him, and on his way
back, he went hunting at Haeju. When he was about leave his house, a
shaman named Pang’ol said to Consort Kang, “His Lordship’s trip this time,
figuratively speaking, is like the situation of a man who climbed to the top
of a 100-foot-high pavilion, suddenly lost his footing and fell to the ground
only to survive miraculously as the people on the ground caught him at
the critical moment.” Consort Kang was very worried to hear what the
shaman said.
T’aejo was pursuing game during his hunt when his horse stumbled into
a mire, throwing him off. Injured, he returned home in a sedan chair. King
Kongyang kept sending eunuchs to his house to inquire after his condition.
Chŏng Mongju had been feeling very uneasy as T’aejo’s reputation grew
day by day and the hearts of the people turned toward him. So he was
pleased to hear that T’aejo had fallen from his horse. He decided to take
advantage of this opportunity to remove T’aejo and encouraged some mem-
bers of the Censorate to follow his plan, saying, “To remove him, we must
get rid of Cho Chun and his other aides.”
Therefore, he submitted a memorial to the king, accusing Left Director of
the State Finance Commission Cho Chun, former Chancellery Scholar
Chŏng Tojŏn, former Deputy Director of the Security Council Nam Ŭn,
rose to the rank of fifth royal secretary and right cavalier attendant-in-ordinary, he was exe-
cuted in 1398 for joining the clique of Chŏng Tojŏn during the First Strife of Princes.- Chip can be pronounced as Chŭp.
- Also called Prince Chŏngsŏng, he was the eldest son of King Kongyang and desig-
nated as heir apparent in 1389. In the same year, he visited the Ming capital with Chancellor
Sim Tŏkbu and others and had an audience with the Chinese emperor.