Book XV 895
allowed [the Office of the Inspector-General] to dismiss the officials respon-
sible for the mistakes.
The Privy Council submitted to the king the proposals that it selected among
those made by each government office or agency:
“1. When one performs ancestor worship, he must be sincere and rev-
erent. The officials who are responsible for ancestor worship at the Royal
Ancestral Shrine both on the first day and fifteenth day of the month neglect
purifying themselves and pick up the incense in the afternoon, one day
prior to the day when the ceremony takes place, and this is not right. We
request that hereafter they should be ordered to purify themselves one day
prior to the day of ancestor worship and pick up the incense in the morning
and perform the worship at night while purifying themselves, and this prac-
tice should be made a permanent rule.
“1. The four hundred lumberjacks of the Directorate for Shipbuilding and
Transportation, who are residents of Left and Right Kyŏnggi Provinces,
have no time to take care of their farms and livelihoods even during the
busy farming season because they are required to produce a certain amount
of lumber in a limited time, so they have no choice but to abandon their
farming and run away. We request that hereafter the government calculate
in advance the total amount of lumber necessary for the annual consump-
tion and divide and distribute it to each district and county of Left and Right
Kyŏnggi Provinces. If the government collects the lumber evenly twice a
year during the spring and autumn seasons, the amount of lumber required
of each household will turn out to be no more than a load. The lumber col-
lected that way should be transported in time to the Directorate for Ship-
building and Transportation and used for the needs of the year.
“1. Gold and silver and mercury are materials that are not produced in our
country. The gold used for plating silverware requires repair and is com-
pletely wasted along with mercury when the silverware has to be repaired.
In addition, the quality of the silver itself becomes bad in that process, and
therefore there are only losses and no profits. The practice of plating goods
[with gold] should be stopped completely except for belts that are part of the
official uniform, marking their rank. The goods that are already gold- plated,
however, should not be prohibited.
“1. Cloth, which is a commodity currency, is the product of the people’s
labor. People, however, are using fine ramie cloth to make flowers and deco-
rations for public and private banquets and throw them away once they have