Joseon 2 — From Taejong to Jungjong朝鮮 二

In the twenty-seventh year Dan sent his son with tribute. In the twenty-eighth year he sent the envoy Yu Sun to congratulate the New Year of the coming year. The emperor held that the wording of the memorial was insolent and reproved him for it. Sun said that the memorial had been composed by Jeong Do-jeon, an executive of the Chancellery, and the emperor thereupon ordered Do-jeon arrested and brought, and released Sun to go home. In the twenty-ninth year three men who had composed memorials, Jeong Chong and the rest, were sent to the court, with word that the memorial had in truth been composed by Chong and the others, and that Do-jeon was ill and could not travel. The emperor held that Chong and the others had thrown their country into disorder and stirred up a quarrel, and kept them and did not send them back. In the winter of the thirtieth year he again held that a memorial touched on mockery and slander, and detained its envoy. At the beginning of Jianwen, Dan said in a memorial that he was old in years, and had his son Bangwon (芳遠) succeed to the throne. It was allowed.

When Chengzu ascended the throne he sent officers to promulgate the edict of his accession. In the first month of the first year of Yongle Bangwon sent an envoy with tribute. In the fourth month he sent the vassal minister Yi Gwi-ryeong with tribute again, reporting that Bangwon's father was ill and had need of dragon's brain camphor, aloeswood, storax, aromatic oil and such things, and bringing cloth with which to buy them. The emperor ordered the Imperial Medical Academy to bestow them, and returned the cloth. Bangwon presented a memorial of thanks, and took the chance to ask for ceremonial robes and books. The emperor was pleased that he knew how to look up to the rites of China, and granted a golden seal, a patent of investiture, ceremonial robes with the nine emblems, jade tablets and jade pendants, and for the queen a crown with pearls, kingfisher feathers and seven pheasants, a cloud cape and gold pendants, together with classical books and colored silks in outer and inner stuffs. After this, tribute came four or five times a year.

In the twelfth month of the second year an edict set up Bangwon's son Je (禔) as crown prince, following his request. In the twelfth month of the fifth year three thousand horses were presented and reached Liaodong, and the Ministry of Revenue was ordered to carry over fifteen thousand bolts of silk and cloth to repay them. In the sixth year the crown prince Je came to court, and was given figured silks woven with gold. When he went home the emperor himself made a poem and gave it to him. At that time Joseon sent women into the inner palace, and four of them were set up as consorts. That autumn the vassal minister Jeong Tak was sent to report the death of his father Dan. Officers were ordered to offer condolence and sacrifice, and the posthumous name Gangheon (康獻) was granted.

In the sixteenth year he memorialized that the crown prince Je was unworthy, and that his third son Do (祹), who was King Sejong, was filial and respectful and worked hard at learning, so that the people of the country looked to him. He asked to set him up as heir, and an edict allowed the king to choose as he would. He then presented a memorial of thanks, and set out that he was himself old in years, asking that Do govern the affairs of the state. Han Hwak, junior minister of the Court of Imperial Entertainments, and Liu Quan, assistant of the Court of State Ceremonial, were ordered to invest Do as king of Joseon. By that time the emperor had already moved the capital north, and Joseon was nearer still. Its rites in serving the great grew yet more respectful, and the court in turn treated it with added ceremony, so that other countries could not hope for the like.

In the twentieth year Bangwon died, and the posthumous name Gongjeong (恭定) was granted. In the seventh month of the twenty-first year Do asked to set up his legitimate son Hyang (珦) as crown prince, and it was followed. Before this, Do had been ordered by edict to present ten thousand horses. Now they arrived in full number, and white silver and silks were granted.

In the third month of the second year of Xuande a palace eunuch was sent with a grant of white silver, ramie and gauze, and by a separate edict five thousand horses were called for to meet the needs of the border. In the ninth month they arrived in full number. In the fourth year a letter was granted to Do. "Rare birds and strange beasts are not what I hold dear. Do not offer them." Later another edict told Do, "Vessels of gold and jade are not produced in your country. You should stop them, and show your sincerity with the goods of your own soil." In the eighth year Do memorialized about sending sons of his house to the Imperial Academy or to the schools of Liaodong. The emperor did not allow it, and granted the Five Classics, the Four Books, the Xingli and the Tongjian gangmu and other books.

In the third month of the first year of Zhengtong fifty-three women of Joseon, Kim Heuk and the rest, were let go back to their country. Kim Heuk and the others had come to the capital at the beginning of Xuande, and now a palace eunuch was sent to bring them home. In the eighth month of the third year Do was granted a distant-roaming crown, a crimson gauze robe, jade pendants and red slippers. Before this, Tong Chang (童倉), a chief of Jianzhou, had taken refuge within the borders of Joseon, and had afterward gone back to Jianzhou. Joseon said, "In the past, being in straits, he came over to your servant, and your servant treated him well. Now he has turned his back on that kindness and gone back to Li Manzhu of Jianzhou. We fear they will plot together and trouble the border." The chief of Jianzhou said that his own people had been pursued and killed by Joseon, and that more than a hundred and seventy households were being held back. In the fifth year an edict ordered Do to return them. In the fifth month of the seventh year Do was instructed. "The Dongning and other guards along the Amnok River lie close against the king's borders. Many of the common folk within them flee to the king's country, or are enticed and forced away by the people of that country. Whether they are Han Chinese or Jurchen, send them up to the capital as soon as they arrive." In the beginning the Oirat secretly had the several Jurchen tribes entice Joseon to turn its back on China. Do refused them and told the court of the matter. The emperor was pleased at his loyalty, commended him by edict, and granted colored silks as well. In the spring of the ninth year Japanese raiders came against the border. Do ordered his generals to take more than fifty of them and send them in chains to the capital. In the tenth year he took the rest of the band as well and presented them. The emperor commended and instructed him by edict again and again, and granted rewards of a higher grade. In the winter of the thirteenth year an envoy was ordered to levy troops of Joseon and of the Yeren Jurchen and gather them at Liaodong to strike the raiders of the north. At that time Yingzong was taken away to the north, the Prince of Cheng, the Jingtai emperor, ascended the throne, and officers were sent to promulgate the edict in that country.

In the first year of Jingtai five hundred horses were presented. The memorial said that they had received the edict and had meant to make ready twenty or thirty thousand horses, but that because a neighboring raider had stirred up a quarrel the horses and cattle had died, and it could not be done all at once. The edict said, "The raiders are somewhat quiet now. For the horses already arrived, repay their price. For those not yet arrived, stop, and do not send them." In the summer of that year Do died. Condolence and sacrifice were granted, the posthumous name Jangheon (莊憲) was given, and his son Hyang was invested as king. Just then Liaodong reported that raiders had entered the borders at Kaiyuan and Shenyang and carried off people and stock, and that Li Manzhu and the other headmen of the Jianzhou, Haixi and Yeren Jurchen were their guides. Hyang was therefore instructed to make a pincer with them and cut the raiders off. That autumn more than fifteen hundred horses were presented in turn. Ceremonial robes were granted, and their price repaid as well. In winter patents of investiture were granted to Hyang and to his consort Lady Gwon, and his son Hongwi (弘暐), who was King Danjong, was invested as crown prince. In the winter of the second year, because the headmen of Jianzhou were in secret touch with Joseon, Hyang was warned to cut off their envoys.

In the autumn of the third year Hyang died, and word came to report the death. A palace eunuch was sent to offer condolence and sacrifice, the posthumous name Gongsun (恭順) was granted, and his son Hongwi was ordered to succeed him. Hongwi had been on the throne three years when, because he was young in years and also bound by a long illness, he asked that his uncle Yu (瑈), who was King Sejo, take charge of the state. In the seventh year he presented a memorial yielding the throne, and Yu was thereupon invested as king. Yu asked to set up his son Jang (暲) as crown prince, and it was followed.

In the third year of Tianshun the border commanders reported that commanders of the three Jianzhou guards were privately bound to Joseon, and that they feared it would become a trouble to China. Yu was therefore told by edict not to do anything unquiet and leave himself regret afterward. Yu argued his case in a memorial, and was instructed again. "In the years of Xuande and Zhengtong, because the king's country and those people raided one another, an edict had them loose their grudges and rest their soldiers. It did not from the first tell you to have dealings with them, give them rewards and grant them office. They have already received office from the court. If the king adds more, this is to set yourself against the court. The king has always held to rites and right. Why then gloss over a fault and cover a wrong? Hereafter cut off private dealings, and keep your good name whole." In the fourth year Yu was instructed again. "The king reported that Langbu'erha, commander of the Maolian guard, had plotted rebellion and stirred up disorder, and that he has already been put to the law. Now the law can be carried out only within one's own country. How can it be laid upon a neighboring border? If Langbu'erha had a crime, it should have been reported to the court for judgment. Now he has been killed out of hand. What wonder is it that his son Abiche thinks of avenging him? I hear that Abiche's mother is still living. Send her quickly to the Liaodong Regional Command and let Abiche take her back, so that the grudge may be loosed." In the fifth year the Yeren of the Jianzhou guard came to Uiju and killed and plundered, and Yu memorialized begging a command of the court that what was taken be returned. The Ministry of War deliberated. "Joseon earlier enticed and killed Langbu'erha, and then enticed the regional commander Wuke to come and loosed troops to carry off his household. What the Yeren have done this time is truly revenge. Joseon should be told that the coming of raiders is all of their own making, and that only by keeping to their station and resting easy in the law will the quarrels on the border be stilled." It was followed.

In the winter of the first year of Chenghua the vassal minister Yi Mun-hyeong came to court and died on the road. A coffin was ordered given him and a sacrifice granted, and colored silks were granted as well to comfort his family. At that time Joseon was often presenting strange goods, so in the spring of the third year an edict instructed them to keep to the regular tribute (常貢) and not to make a business of rarities. Just then the court was using troops to strike Jianzhou, and Yu was ordered by edict to help with soldiers in the attack. Yu sent Kang Sun, administrator of the Privy Council, to lead more than ten thousand men across the two rivers Amnok and Baljeo. They struck and broke the stockades of Jiuxian prefecture, and those they cut down and took were many.

In the first month of the fourth year officers came to present the captives. An edict rewarded them generously, and commended and instructed them. In that year Yu died, and the posthumous name Hyejang (惠莊) was granted. The grand eunuchs Jeong Dong and Choe An were sent to invest the crown prince Hwang (晄), who was King Yejong, as king, and to give a patent of investiture to his consort Lady Han. After they had set out, Hou Ying, the censor on circuit in Liaodong, memorialized. "Liaodong has suffered raiders year after year, and its wounds are not yet healed. Now the grain has failed again, and soldiers and commoners lack food. The followers of the grand eunuch Jeong Dong and the others throw the post stations into an uproar wherever they pass. Your servant has looked into it. In earlier years men of learning, conduct and literary repute were chosen from the Hanlin Academy and sent as envoys. Now Dong and An are both men of Joseon. Their graves and their kin are all there, and when they see the king of that country they cannot help but bend their dignity, which greatly sullies the standing of China. I beg that the order be withdrawn, and that one man be chosen from the Hanlin, or from among the supervising secretaries or the messengers, and sent instead." The emperor said, "What Ying says is quite right. Hereafter send palace eunuchs to carry rewards, but for the chief and the deputy envoys of investiture choose ministers of the court who have learning and conduct."

In the sixth year Hwang was gravely ill, and because the son born to him was young, he ordered Hyeol (娎), who was King Seongjong, the son of his elder brother the former crown prince Jang, to take charge of the state, and sent a vassal minister to report it. When he died, the posthumous name Yangdo (襄悼) was granted, Hyeol was ordered to succeed to the throne, and Hyeol's wife Lady Han was invested as queen. In the tenth year Hyeol's father, the crown prince Jang, was raised in rank to king with the posthumous name Hoegan (懷簡), and his mother Lady Han was made queen, following what had been asked.

In the fourth month of the eleventh year Hyeol memorialized that the Yeren of Jianzhou had gathered the Maolian and other guards and did not stop harrying the border, and begged a command of the court to warn and restrain them. In the tenth month of the twelfth year Hyeol asked investiture for his second wife Lady Yun, and a patent of investiture and robes of office were granted. At that time trade in weapons with foreign countries was forbidden, and Hyeol memorialized. "This small country joins the Yeren on the north and neighbors the islands of the Wa (倭島) on the south. Of the five kinds of weapons not one can be spared. The ox horn used as bow material we look for from the higher country. In the time of the Exalted Emperor gunpowder and cannon were once granted to us. Now we hope you will allow us in particular to buy bow horn (弓角), and not forbid it as you do to the other outer domains." The Ministry of War deliberated that fifty sets of bow horn be bought each year. Later, since this was not enough for their use, they asked that the limit be removed, and an edict allowed them to buy twice as much.

In the tenth month of the fifteenth year Hyeol was ordered to send out troops and strike the Jianzhou Jurchen from both sides. Hyeol thereupon sent Eo Yu-so, right assistant councillor, to lead troops to the Manpo River, but the ice broke up and he missed the term. He sent again Yun Pil-sang, state councillor of the left, and the military commissioner Kim Gyo and others to cross the river and press the attack. In the spring of the sixteenth year a vassal minister was sent to present the victory. The emperor had a palace officer carry an edict commending him for being able to carry on the merit of his forebears, granted gold and silks, and rewarded the officers who had led the troops as the precedent required. Afterward, when the envoy returned, his minister Heo Hui was sent to escort him. On his way back Hui reached Kaizhou, where two thousand horsemen of Jianzhou lay in wait for him. They carried off more than thirty of his attendant soldiers and more than two hundred and thirty horses, and the other goods lost matched this. When it was reported, Zhang Mao, Duke of Ying, and Yin Min, minister of Personnel, and others held that Liaodong had used troops year after year and could not be moved lightly, and that Hyeol should be told so. An edict had the ministers guarding Liaodong put the border defenses in order, and had interpreters search out what had been taken to the very end, with the aim of getting it all back. White silver and colored silks were granted to Hui to comfort him.

In the seventeenth year Hyeol memorialized that his second wife Lady Yun had lost her virtue and had been deposed and put away, and begged to invest his secondary wife Lady Yun in her place. It was followed. In the fourth month of the nineteenth year Hyeol's eldest son Yung (㦕) was invested as crown prince.

In the twelfth month of the seventh year of Hongzhi Hyeol died, and the posthumous name Gangjeong (康靖) was granted. In the fourth month of the next year Yung was invested as king, and his wife Lady Sin as queen. In the twelfth year Yung memorialized. "People of this country have again and again broken the ban and hidden on the sea islands, enticing and drawing in soldiers and commoners, so that little by little they spread. I beg that this country be allowed to search them out itself, and that for the places belonging to the higher country officers be ordered by edict to pursue and seize them." At that time the ministers guarding Liaodong also memorialized as Yung had said, and it was approved. In the winter of the fifteenth year Yung's eldest son Hwang (𩔇) was invested as crown prince.

In the second year of Zhengde Yung, because his crown prince Hwang had died young and grief had turned to illness, memorialized asking to hand the affairs of the state to his younger brother Yeok (懌), who was King Jungjong, and the people of his country memorialized again asking that Yeok be invested. The Ministry of Rites deliberated that Yeok be ordered to govern the state in the meantime, and that he be invested once Yung had died. Then the vassal minister No Gong-pil and others came to the capital with tribute and asked again that Yeok be invested, but the court deliberation did not allow it. In the twelfth month Yung's mother the queen (母妃) memorialized that Yeok was grown and worthy, and fit to bear the heavy charge. Thereupon the Ministry of Rites memorialized. "Yung has given up the throne because of a lasting illness, and Yeok, as his own younger brother, has received the charge. The handing over and the taking up are already clear, and brotherly love has not been lost. The ministers and people of the whole country raise no word against it. It is fitting to follow their request." The sovereign then granted that Yeok succeed to the throne, sent a palace eunuch to invest him by edict, and granted a patent of investiture to his consort Lady Yun as well.