Edict refusing Choe Gu's (崔球) declination of the posts of Acting Minister of Works and Pillar of State崔球讓守司空柱國不允敎書
云云。事有義均勢等。理不可不爲者。朕觀宗室諸侯之子。雖未勝衣。例拜司空尙矣。由是言之。臣之有大功列於侯者。勢等宗室。然則參用其子爲司空。甚合於義。此所謂理不可不爲者。朕惟乃父佐命尊王。輸誠濟難。重廻日月。再造乾坤。罄天地不足較大功。勒金石不足揚盛烈。自三韓已來。未曾有也。朕有功臣。能復幾人。而獨不使汝特蒙顯賞耶。況汝聰明天賦。學問日新。妙句麗詞。頌在人口。淸才美行。屢聞朕聰。子而不司空。誰得爲司空耶。是用擢置三公之資。兼崇八柱之秩。朕猶以爲不足。汝將遜避不受可乎。云云。
And so forth.
Among affairs there are those in which right is even and the case the same, so that by reason they cannot be left undone. As I see it, the sons of the royal house's princes, even at an age too young to bear the weight of their clothes, have long been granted the office of Minister of Works as a matter of course. Speaking from this, a subject who by great merit has risen to the rank of a prince stands in the same case as the royal house. Thus to employ his son as well and make him Minister of Works accords fully with right, and this is what is meant by an affair that by reason cannot be left undone.
I consider that your father aided the mandate of heaven and exalted his sovereign, offered up his sincerity and carried us through hardship, so that he turned sun and moon back on their course and made heaven and earth anew. Tilt heaven and earth entire and they fall short of matching that great merit; grave it on metal and stone and that falls short of proclaiming those flourishing deeds — such a thing has never been since the days of Samhan.
How many men of merit have I besides? Shall you alone, then, be left without a manifest reward? How much more when you received your clear-sightedness from heaven and your learning is new by the day, when your subtle lines and fair words pass from mouth to mouth and your pure talent and fine conduct have reached my ears many times. If you cannot be Minister of Works, who shall be?
Therefore I place you in the rank of the Three Dukes and raise your grade as Pillar of State besides. I count it still too little, and yet you would decline and not receive it — can that be?
And so forth.