12 t h e a n n a l s o f k i n g t’a e j o
office from his father, soldiers were eager to follow him. When Yaozhu
came of age, Hwanjo decided to concede to Yaozhu the office he held, but
the latter declined it. Later, accompanying Hwanjo, Yaozhu had an audi-
ence with King Kongmin, and the king assigned Yaozhu to the Palace
Guards (Yuduochi). He rose to the rank of chief of the Armory of Palace
Guards (Chungsun kun’giyun).
In the fifteenth year (1355) of Zhizheng, Hwanjo had an audience with
King Kongmin, and the king said, “Your grandfather was loyal to our royal
family deep in his heart even though he didn’t directly work for us.^45 So my
late grandfather favored him and commended his loyalty. If you follow the
example of your grandfather, I will make you quite successful in time.”
The land of Ssangsŏng [Yŏnghŭng, Hamgyŏng Province] was fertile, and
the local officials seldom harassed the people. As a result, the poor people
from the east and south moved into Ssangsŏng in large numbers.
When King Kongmin reported this to the Yuan government, both the
Secretariat [of Yuan] and Liaoyang Province sent officials, and King
Kongmin also dispatched Yi Susan, the director (nangjung) of the Eastern
Expedition Field Headquarters (Chŏngdongsŏng)^46 so that they could get
together and conduct a survey of the newly arrived people as well as existing
residents. The survey was called the “Census Jointly Conducted by Three
Provinces” (Samsŏng chogamhogye).
Later, the people began to abandon Ssangsŏng due to the disarray of its
administration. When this happened, King Kongmin dispatched Hwanjo to
pacify the disaffected people, and the people’s lives were settled as a result
of Hwanjo’s efforts. The following year (1356), Hwanjo returned to the cap-
ital and saw the king, and the latter said, “What a good job you did in paci-
fying those unruly fierce people! It surely wasn’t easy.”
At that time, the clan of Empress Ki [empress of Yuan] acted tyranni-
cally, relying on the power of empress. Grand Minister of Education Ki
Ch’ŏl, the elder brother of Empress Ki, secretly formed a clique with the
Koryŏ officials of the Yuan Commandery at Ssangsŏng, including Cho
Sosaeng and T’ak Togyŏng, and conspired to commit treason.- The source text says, “Even though he stayed outside.” Staying outside indicates “not
employed by the government of Koryŏ.” Then it implies that the grandfather actually worked
for the Mongols. - In 1280, it was first established by the Mongols in Korea in order to prosecute the
second campaign against Japan, but it continued to exist even after the Mongols abandoned
their plan of subjugating Japan. (Ki-baik Lee, 157)