532 t h e a n n a l s o f k i n g t’a e j o
troops on rotation shall be selected among those who are physically strong
and have slaves or extra manpower in their family, while those who are old
and infirm or have no family shall not be dispatched.
“1. Though I have repeatedly issued royal decrees on the ways to bring
benefits to the people, governors and magistrates have regarded them simply
as routine orders and failed to implement them. So I am afraid that the ben-
efits I conferred did not reach down to the people. The Office of the Inspector-
General in the capital and governors in the provinces shall announce the
measures [to help the people] every year and implement them rigorously
forthwith.
“1. Agriculture and sericulture are the foundation of the monarchy, and
schools the source of edification of the people. Since I ascended the throne,
I have issued royal decrees many times to promote agriculture and sericul-
ture as well as education. However, magistrates did not strive to implement
them and governors neglected to oversee their implementation. Thus, my
policies failed to produce any results, and I am concerned about this. From
this day forward, the Office of the Inspector-General in the capital and the
governors in the provinces shall monitor often to ensure they are imple-
mented in accordance with my love of the people and my priority on educa-
tion. Then what I intend to accomplish will not be allowed to come to
not h i ng.”
Having finished reading his decree, the king returned to the palace in a
royal carriage. Female musicians followed the king to play music in the
palace, and Queen Hyŏn watched their performance from a distance through
the beaded hanging screen.
Three days later, which was the Chŏngyu day [7th day], the king pro-
moted by one rank the officials who had taken charge of the sacrificial rite
[at the Royal Ancestral Shrine]. He also bestowed a royal horse [i.e., from
the royal stable] on each official above rank 2 and held a banquet for all
officials at the new palace. The king said to those who had presided over the
sacrificial rite: “You did an excellent job, and I am sure that my ancestors
were pleased with your work, so I also am quite pleased.”
In addition, the king bestowed a horse from the royal stable on Cho Chun,
left chancellor, and on Chŏng Tojŏn, director of the State Finance Commis-
sion, and said, “Though you did not participate in the sacrificial rite, the
rules of the rite were all laid down by you.” The king also bestowed Tojŏn
with a gold- gilt belt and said, “Listening to the ceremonial music today, I
realized that the service you have rendered is not small.”