Book XIV 83126th Day (Kisa)
Chŏng Tojŏn, Count of Ponghwa, Nam Ŭn, Lord of Ŭisŏng, Sim Hyosaeng,
Lord of Pusŏng, and others conspired to harm the various princes [born of
Queen Sinŭi, the first wife of T’aejo] but failed in their attempt and were
executed.
From the first, the king was fully aware that Prince Chŏngan [later King
T’aejong] had made the most outstanding contributions among the princes
to the founding of the new dynasty, and therefore specially bestowed on him
over 500 kabyŏlch’i households,^37 handed down from his ancestors. Subse-
quently, the king appointed princes and merit subjects as military commis-
sioners of the various provinces, dividing royal guards and horses among
them. He put Prince Chŏngan in charge of Chŏlla Province, and Pangbŏn,
Prince Muan, in charge of the Northeast Region. Prince Chŏngan conceded
his kabyŏlch’i households to Pangbŏn [his stepbrother born of Queen
Sindŏk], and Pangbŏn readily accepted. Though the king knew about it, he
neither reprimanded him nor demanded him to return it.
Tojŏn, Nam Ŭn, and others, coveting power, tried to set up a young nothos
[Prince Pangsŏk, born of Queen Sindŏk, T’aejo’s second wife] as crown
prince. Calculating that Sim Hyosaeng, because of his humble origin, was
easy to manipulate, they promoted the virtue of Hyosaeng’s daughter and
induced the crown prince to take her as his wife. They also conspired with
Pangbŏn, the elder brother of the crown prince born of the same mother, as
well as his brother- in- law Yi Che, Lord of Hŭngan, and others. They formed
a clique to eliminate all the princes [born of the first queen of T’aejo] in the
future. Furthermore, they instigated eunuch Kim Sahaeng to speak secretly
to the king about the idea of enfeoffing a province to each prince, following
the precedents of imperial princes being enfeoffed as rulers of fiefs in
ancient China. The king gave no response. Later, he said to Prince Chŏngan
indirectly, “You need to be aware of what the people say outside. Tell your
brothers to be cautious about this.”
Tojŏn and others also persuaded Pyŏn Chungnyang, policy advisor, to
submit a memorial requesting that the military power held by the various
princes be revoked. Though Chungnyang made the request repeatedly, the
king did not grant it. A fortune- teller named An Sik said, “There are more
- Also called kabyŏlch’o, kabyŏlch’i refers to the private army that consisted of the
natives of the Northeast Region and T’aejo’s family.