336 t h e a n n a l s o f k i n g t’a e j o
of the Royal Ancestral Shrine. He said to the supervisor, “Carry out every-
thing in a simple way without harassing people.”The king ordered the Office of the Inspector-General to enforce the alcohol
prohibition law once again.11th Day (Sinhae)
The king gave orders to the Office of the Inspector-General: “Let the Wine
Bureau (Saonsŏ)^2 sell wine to those who want to offer a sacrifice.”12th Day (Imja)
The king led an entourage of officials outside Sŏnŭimun Gate to greet
Chinese imperial envoys No T’anae, Pak Tŏngnyong, Chŏng Ching, and
others, who were bringing a letter from the Chief Military Commission of
the Left Army. The letter read as follows:
“On the twentieth day of the eleventh month of the twenty- sixth year
(1393) of the reign of Hongwu, the Ninghai Guard (Ninghaiwei) of the
Regional Military Commission of Shandung captured a Korean bandit
named Ch’oe Togi and sent him to our headquarters. According to the depo-
sition he made, he is a resident of Nojildong, Sukchu,^3 in Korea. In the
seventh day of the seventh month of the twenty- sixth year of the reign of
Hongwu, the king of Koryŏ [Chosŏn] ordered Myriarch Kim Saŏn and chil-
iarchs, including Ch’a Sŏngbu, Yi Pusu, Im Wŏn, Im Ch’ŏngŏn, Yi Pulsu,
and Hong Ch’ungŏn, and company commanders, including Chŏng Yung,
Hong Wŏn, and Im Ch’ungwŏn, to take ships and disguise their soldiers as
traveling merchants to gather information on our domestic affairs. He pro-
vided them with 7 ships, each ship carrying 37 soldiers and 2 large rolls of
hemp cloth. So the total number of the crew who boarded the 7 ships
amounted to 259, and the cloth amounted to 560 bolts. Then he told them,
according to the investigations, that he would raise an army and attack
Liaodong if there were no large Chinese army around. A little later, he addi-
tionally sent 10 more ships, having each ship carry 37 soldiers as well as
weapons. Thus, the total number of the crew amounted to 270.- It was a government agency established to supply wine and sweet drink in the royal
palace. - An old name of Sukch’ŏn in the Northwest Region (South P’yŏngan Province).