886 t h e a n n a l s o f k i n g t’a e j o
The government had seven households, including that of Ch’oe Paegan
Bulhwa [Cui Boyanbuhua], which initially settled in Ulju, transferred to
Kongju, providing them with the farmland formerly owned by Cho Sun.5th Day (Chŏngmi)
Tang Sŏng, minister of taxation, was dismissed. When Sŏng failed to win
his slave lawsuits at the Directorate for Adjudication of Slave Lawsuits, he
said to an official of the Directorate: “How can you call your office the
Directorate for Adjudication of Slave Lawsuits? It is, in fact, the opposite of
what it is supposed to be.” For his remark, he was impeached by the Office
of the Inspector-General and dismissed.6th Day (Musin)
Left Chancellor Cho Chun requested that he be allowed to resign as
commander- in- chief of Left and Right Kyŏnggi Provinces and returned the
official seals he had and the troops under his command. Accepting his res-
ignation, the king immediately handed over the troops to Kim Su, Lord of
Wŏlsŏng,^26 who was related to him through kinship.Left Chancellor Cho Chun and others had an audience with the king to
directly make proposals on three current affairs:
“1. We had a great famine this year. We would like to ask you to send
your orders to various provinces to save the people from starvation by
releasing the reserves of their military provisions. The magistrates who
worked hard to save the people should be rewarded and employed in accor-
dance with the number of people they saved, and those who caused the
people to starve to death by neglecting to provide them with relief, investi-
gated and severely punished.
“1. The people over eighty years old in all provinces, regardless of being
men or women, as well as filial sons and grandsons, men of integrity, loyal
wives, and those who are too poor and disabled to make a living on their
own, should all be exempted from miscellaneous corvée duties and particu-
larly looked after without regard to their social status.
“1. Those among the filial sons and grandsons and men of integrity who
are worthy to be employed should be reported separately so that the reports- King Chŏngjong’s brother- in- law.