Edict refusing the petition of Kim Wonui (金元義), Executive of the Chancellery and Senior General, to retire from office門下平章上將軍金元義乞致仕不允敎書
云云。禮經所載七十致政者。似爲曠官具位之臣。貪榮嗜寵。至老耋而不能知退者耳。其若識深慮遠。經國緯世。不可一日不與共政者。則彼雖知足畏盈。汲汲於乞退。豈必拘以禮制而頷其請耶。卿翼亮五朝。砥修一節。謙恭檢己。有古君子之風。勇敢蓋人。負烈丈夫之氣。廟謀剛果。將略沈深。國倚之爲長城。朕寶之爲元鑑。況今卽位伊始。求理甚勤。方憑光輔之功。用致大平之慶。何遽厭黃扉之樂。而欲從綠野之遊。愛一身而求解繁機。是則卿之私情。猶或可奪。爲萬民而圖任舊德。玆乃國之公論。詎敢有違。朕耳難傾。卿言勿復。云云。
And so forth.
The saying set down in the Classic of Rites, that at seventy one lays down the affairs of state, seems to have been spoken of those ministers who merely leave their seats vacant and fill out the number, who covet glory and delight in favor and know not how to withdraw even in old age. But if a man's discernment is deep and his thought far-reaching, so that in governing the state and ordering the age one cannot be without him in council for a single day, then though he know what suffices and fear fullness and earnestly beg to withdraw, why must one be bound by the institutions of ritual and nod assent to his request?
You, my lord, have aided and illumined five reigns and have polished a single constancy. Humble and deferential in holding yourself in check, you have the bearing of a gentleman of old; in courage that covers others, you hold the spirit of a fierce man. Your counsel at court is firm and decisive, and your strategy as a commander is deep and hidden. The state leans on you as on a sturdy rampart, and I treasure you as my foremost mirror.
How much more now, at the beginning of my accession, when my seeking after good governance is most diligent and I would lean upon the merit of your resplendent aid to bring about the blessing of great peace. Why then would you of a sudden weary of the pleasures of the chancellor's seat and follow after idling in green fields?
To spare your own person and seek release from the press of state business is your private feeling, my lord, and that may yet be taken from you; but to commit the charge, for the sake of the myriad people, to one of long-standing virtue is the public deliberation of the state — how should one dare go against it? My ear is hard to incline; say no more of it, my lord.
And so forth.