Requesting That the Broken Bell of the Bell Tower Be Cast into Cannon請以鍾樓破鍾鑄大砲。啓
戰守之具火器爲最至於守城防灘則又必以大砲爲之近日外方往往有造設砲樓之處江華亦於臨海岸上設爲砲墻但火砲未能猝備每每求索於京中而軍器寺所造不敷不能分送若無器械則炮樓亦皆無用之具京外鍮鐵絕乏雖欲鑄成而無路前日鍾樓破鍾埋在土中留之無用且以事勢輕重緩急言之鑄砲急於鑄鍾請以此破鐵及時鑄成大砲分送諸處何如
Among the gear for fighting and holding, firearms come first, and for holding a wall and barring a ford it must further be done with cannon. Of late there are places in the provinces where a gun tower has here and there been built, and at Ganghwa (江華) too a wall for firing cannon has been raised on the bank that fronts the sea.
Only, firearms cannot be provided of a sudden, and so they are always sought from the capital; yet what the Armory makes is not ample, and it cannot share them out. If there are no weapons, the gun towers all become useless gear as well. Brass is very short both in the capital and in the provinces, so that though we would cast them there is no way.
The broken bell of the Bell Tower of days past is of no use if it be left buried in the earth; and speaking of the lightness or weight and the haste or slowness of matters, the casting of cannon is more pressing than the casting of a bell. May this broken metal be cast into cannon in good season and shared out to the several places?