58 t h e a n n a l s o f k i n g t’a e j o
wants to go ahead and make a success of this expedition, have your royal
carriage stay in Sŏgyŏng [modern P’yŏngyang] and wait until the autumn.
By that time, the fields will be covered with rice and accordingly military
provisions will be fully secured. Then our army will be able to march for-
ward, beating the drum. This is not the right time for us to carry out a mili-
tary expedition. Even if we capture one of the fortresses in Liaodong, the
rainy season will start soon and our army will be trapped in the rain. If it
happens that our army has to stay at a place for a long time and military
provisions run out, there will be nothing but disaster.”
U said, “Didn’t you see what happened to Yi Chasong?” T’aejo replied,
“He left an honorable name behind though he had to die. What good are
men like me who are still alive but have failed in their duties?” U did not
listen to him. Returning to his home, T’aejo shed tears. When his men asked
why he looked so sad, he replied, “The catastrophe for the people has now
beg u n.”
Staying in P’yŏngyang, U mobilized troops from various provinces and built
a floating bridge on the Yalu River. He also recruited monks and made them
into soldiers. Then he appointed Ch’oe Yŏng commander-in-chief of eight
provinces (p’aldo tot’ongsa), Lord of Ch’angsŏng Cho Minsu commander-in-
chief of the Left Army (chwagun tot’ongsa), and T’aejo commander-in-chief
of the Right Army (ugun tot’ongsa). The number of troops, when the Left and
Right Armies were combined, was actually fifty thousand or so, but they
inflated the figure and advertised that it was a hundred thousand.
When the army was finally ready to depart, U did not awake from sleep
until noon because of the drink he had had the previous night. So the com-
manders were unable to take leave of the king. Sobering up after a little
while, the king went out to have a boat ride at a lake called Sŏkp’o^124 and
returned to the palace in the evening. He called the commanders for a fare-
well drink.
When the armies were about to leave P’yŏngyang, Ch’oe Yŏng said to U,
“Our large army is now on the march. If there is a delay of ten days or a
month, there is little chance that our expedition will succeed. Therefore, I
would like to request that Your Majesty allow me to join the army and make
sure that it does not delay.” U replied, “If you go, whom should I discuss the
affairs of state with?” As Yŏng continued to request to go, U replied, “Let
me go with you, then.”- Located 11 li west of P’yŏngyang.