General Introduction (Ch’ongsŏ) 61the government to withdraw from this military campaign before it was too
late, but the king does not realize the magnitude of what he is doing, and
Ch’oe Yŏng, old and senile, pays no attention to my plea. Would you join me
in seeing and persuading the king, personally explaining the potential prob-
lems with our military action, and finally removing the wicked people sur-
rounding the king and bringing peace to people’s lives?” The generals
replied, “The security of our nation and people solely depends on you. How
can we dare not follow your orders?”
Thereupon the armies led by T’aejo turned around [abandoning further
military campaign, and started marching back]. When he arrived at the Yalu
River, T’aejo stood on top of the hill, riding a white horse and carrying a red
bow with white feather arrows. He watched his troops crossing the river and
waited until they had finished crossing. Looking up at their commander,
soldiers said to each other, “There has been no man like him, and there will
be no man like him hereafter.” At that time, the water did not rise despite
several days of rain, but as soon as the troops finished crossing, the river
overflowed and the island was submerged. People thought it strange.
A children’s song said, “A man with the characters “tree” [木] and “son”
[子] in his name will take over the country.” This song was popular not only
among children but also among the adults, including civilians and soldiers,
regardless of age.
Upon hearing the news of our returning army, Transport Commis -
sioner (chojŏnsa) Ch’oe Yugyŏng rushed to report it to [King] U. That night,
the former king [Chŏngjong, the second son of T’aejo], together with his
elder brother Pangu and Hwasang, the son of Yi Turan, escaped Sŏngju
[Sŏngch’ŏn],^127 where U was staying, to join the returning army led by
T’aejo. (However, U did not know about that until the noon of the following
day.) They ran into the local magistrates on the road, who were traveling to
provide the king with royal supplies. They seized the magistrates’ horses
and made their escape. When U finally learned that the army was marching
back and had arrived in Anju, he returned to the royal palace [in Kaegyŏng]
at great speed.
When many generals of the returning army requested T’aejo that they be
allowed to pursue the king quckly, T’aejo replied, “If you do that, you will
inevitably have to fight with them, producing many casualties.” Then he
repeatedly warned them, “If any of you dare to harm the royal carriage [the
- Located in South P’yŏngan Province.