56 t h e a n n a l s o f k i n g t’a e j o
In the first month of the fourteenth year (1388) of Sin U, Chancellor Yi
Inim seized power. And his clique, including Im Kyŏnmi, chief director of
the State Finance Commission; Yŏm Hŭngbang, left director of the State
Finance Commission; and To Kilbu, assistant chancellor, each took over a
key government post. They practiced trafficking in government positions
and seized land from the people. As their avarice and tyranny grew worse,
both public revenue and private wealth dried up.
Outraged by these abuses, T’aejo and Ch’oe Yŏng worked together to
persuade [King] U and eventually eliminated the whole gang of evildoers.
The people across the country were overjoyed to hear the news, and they
danced and sang in the streets. Having executed Kyŏnmi and others, the
king appointed T’aejo vice chancellor (su munha sijung).
In the second month [of the fourteenth year of King U], T’aejo and Ch’oe
Yŏng sat together at the office of the Personnel Authority (Chŏngbang) and
tried to drive out the people who became officials on the recommendation
of Im Kyŏnmi and Yŏm Hŭngbang. T’aejo, however, said to Ch’oe Yŏng,
“Im Kyŏnmi and Yŏm Hŭngbang have been in power for a long time, and
therefore many people became officials through their recommendations.
What is needed now is only to find out if they are qualified for their jobs, not
to accuse them of the way in which they became officials, which is already
a thing of the past.” Yŏng would not listen to him.
When Ch’oe Yŏng tried to behead Sŏ Sin, the former magistrate of
Wŏnju, because he was found to be the brother-in-law of Yi Sŏngnim, who
was to be executed, T’aejo sent a man to Yŏng with a message and asked
him to stop executing people. T’aejo said, “Since the chief of the gang,
including his families and his wicked followers, were already put to death,
there should be no more executions from now on; tolerance and generosity
should be shown, instead.” Yŏng again refused to listen to him.
T’aejo always had great respect for Confucianism. Whenever he took a
break after throwing spears in his military camp, he called for Confucian
scholars such as Yu Kyŏng and others to discuss classical texts. He particu-
larly enjoyed reading the Extended Meaning of the Great Learning (Daxue
yanyi) by Zhen Dexiu,^123 so he read it until late at night, developing a dream
of changing the world.- Zhen Dexiu (1178–1235), also known as Xishan Xiansheng, is a Confucian scholar and
philosopher during the Southern Song period.