Book VIII 541
Palace and also sent officials to many Buddhist monasteries to hold prayer
meetings.
Robbers killed a man named Yi Chich’ŏn, a resident of Kwangju.^47 The
victim had two sons, Tugae and Naeŭnsam. They avenged their father’s
murder by capturing the thirteen robbers, including one Yi Pugae, who
broke into Chich’ŏn’s house at night, killed Chich’ŏn, and plundered his
property. Tugae, the victim’s son, and others tracked the robbers until they
arrived at a road in Ch’ŏnnyŏng. There they secretly sent a man to inform
the local authorities of the robbery and murder. The district office dispatched
yamen personnel to various ferries to wait for the robbers. When the rob-
bers boarded a boat, they were all captured, and in the end were beheaded.
25th Day (Ŭlmyo)
The king gave orders to construct the National Confucian Shrine.
Because a man named Yi Chungsil committed adultery with the wife of his
slave Songsan, Songsan falsely accused his master of committing treason.
The authorities made investigations on the accusation and executed Songsan.
The government sent an official letter to the Ministry of Rites of Ming
China: “Your servant Kim Ŭlsang returned from the Ming capital and sub-
mitted the following report: ‘At the king’s command, I visited the Ming
capital and then I received a sacred imperial order from the emperor. I was
told to take eunuch Ch’oe Kamul with me on my trip back home. So I arrived
in Liaodong along with Kamul. However, the Regional Commission of
Liaodong told us that no escort could be provided us because of the imperial
orders they had received.’ As a result, Ŭlsang and others had to come home
on foot.
“Thinking over the imperial orders, since our small kingdom serves the
suzerain state [China], the Regional Commission of Liaodong has always
provided escort to our envoys whenever they returned home from China,
and therefore they could travel safely without incident.
“According to what Kim Ŭlsang reports, the areas starting from the
west of the Yalu River of our country to Tianshuizhan of Liaodong are
- Located in Kyŏnggi Province.