Goryeo 3 — Im Yeon, the Sambyeolcho and Tamna高麗 三

The ministers of the Bureau of Military Affairs deliberated on the matter of attacking Goryeo. At the first Ma Heng held that "Goryeo is by origin the land enfeoffed to Gija, and both Han and Jin made it into commanderies and counties. Now, though they come to court, their heart is hard to measure. It would be better to make the army strict and borrow a road through, setting up the taking of Japan as the name of it, and then ride the moment and fall upon their country and fix it as commanderies and counties." Heng said further, "Now that a breach has already opened, it is not fitting to send troops to strike them. If by one chance in ten thousand we do not win, above it lessens the majesty of the state and below it loses the officers and men. If they should send up a memorial and state their case, it is fitting to pardon their offense and lessen their tribute and so settle and soothe their people; then they will likely long for the sagely teaching. Wait until the Southern Song has been put down. If they then have other designs, to turn the troops back and cut them down will still not be late." Ma Xiji, formerly an administrator of the Bureau of Military Affairs, also said, "The Goryeo of today is the old Silla, Baekje and Goguryeo, three countries joined and made one. In general, when the power of a frontier garrison is divided it is easy to control, and when a lord of the marches grows strong he is hard to hold as a subject. Measure the many and the few of their prefectural cities (州城) and of their troops and people, part them into two, and let the country be governed in two. Then power will match power and they will hold each other in check, and though good plans be discussed slowly, the matter will still be easy to settle." When Heidi and the others reached that country, Sik received the edict and was restored to his place, and he sent Bak Hyu, acting vice minister of rites, to go with Heidi and the others bearing a memorial and enter the court. In the twelfth month he came in person to court at the capital.

In the first month of the seventh year he sent an envoy to say, "Lately I received the edict, and your servant has already been restored to his place. Let me come to audience with a following of seven hundred men." An edict ordered him to come with a following of four hundred and to leave the rest in Seogyeong. By edict Seogyeong was brought under direct rule and renamed Dongnyeongbu, and Jabiryeong was drawn as the border. Manggedu was made pacification commissioner, and he wore the tiger tally and led troops to guard its western frontier. By edict the officials and the troops and people of that country were instructed in the reason for striking Im Yeon. Its gist said, "Since I ascended the throne I have pitied your country for lying long under the disorder of war. I invested and settled your ruler and drew back the garrison troops, and in ten years there is nothing I have not done to soothe and protect you and make you safe. Beyond all thought the rebel subject Im Yeon of himself did what was not quiet. He deposed and changed King Sik at his own will and forced the setting up of Chang, the duke of Angyeong; and when an edict commanded him to come to the palace he again delayed and did not come out. How can he be let go and not cut down? I have already sent the Branch Secretariat to lead troops down to the east, and only the one person of Im Yeon is to be struck. Chang, the duke of Angyeong, did from the first what he could not help, and he is one to be dealt with leniently. The rest, who were forced to follow and were wrongly entangled, will not be questioned at all." In the second month troops were sent to escort Sik to go to his country, and by edict the officials and the troops and people of the kingdom of Goryeo were instructed: "I hold that in a subject's serving his lord there is death and no second heart. Beyond all thought a powerful subject of your country suddenly dared to depose the ruler of the state at his own will. Since he has already driven a host of soldiers, he will bring your multitude into danger and unrest. For the sake of you, the common people, I have specially sent troops to escort King Sik back to his country and settle him in the old capital, and I have ordered a darughachi to go with him to garrison and soothe, so as to quiet your land. You people of the eastern land, not knowing that it is done for your sake, will surely give rise to doubt and fear; but let your multitude all be without fear and rest secure as before. I have already given separate orders to the commanders, strictly warning the soldiers not to let them encroach. If you should move rashly, your wives and children and your own persons will be brought to capture and plunder. You ought to think on it deeply."

At the first there was an order that Touniange's Branch Secretariat should stay at Seogyeong, and that Manggedu and Zhao Liangbi should serve as pacification commissioners and enter the royal capital together with Sik. Presently it was ordered again that the Branch Secretariat should enter their royal capital and that Tuoduoer should serve as darughachi of that country, and the office of pacification commissioner was done away with. In the fourth month the troops of the Branch Department of State Affairs at Dongjing drew near Seogyeong, and Chechedu and others were sent, together with Jeong Ja-yeo and others, subjects of Sik, bearing a dispatch of the department, to summon Im Yeon, the yeonggong of Goryeo. The envoys came back and said, "Yeon is already dead, and his son Yumu has succeeded to the place of yeonggong. Hong Mun-gye, a vice minister of that country, and Song Jong-nye, a minister, killed Yumu and Choe Jong-so, Yeon's son-in-law, and Yumu's younger brother Yu-in cut his own throat. Bae Jung-son and the rest of Yeon's party have gathered the remaining host again, set up the marquis of Seunghwa, of Sik's collateral line, as king, and fled into Jindo." The great army halted at the outer wall west of the royal capital, and men were sent to seize and bind Im Yeon's wife and children. The Branch Secretariat discussed with Sik the moving of the people of Ganghwado to the royal capital, and it spread out the edict and soothed them. Sik did not follow it; only when he had come to dwell in the old capital did he at last follow the Branch Secretariat's proposal.

In the sixth month Sik sent men to report that deserters from the court's army, together with the marquis of Seunghwa, had rebelled as the Sambyeolcho army. The heir Sim said again, "The rebel troops hold Ganghwado. Troops ought to be led out to strike them by water and by land." Sik reported again that the rebel troops had all fled away. The heir Sim said, "The rebel troops plundered the storehouses, burned the maps and registers (圖籍), and fled into the sea." The Branch Secretariat had men spy out Ganghwado, and the people were all gone from it; about forty li to the southeast of the island the rebel troops had boarded ships and were waiting on the wind, in a posture of meaning to flee. Thereupon Naiyan was at once ordered to lead a host and pursue and strike them. In the seventh month the chancellor Antong and others reported that Touniange and the others had sent Datuo and Manggudai to say that Ahai should lead fifteen hundred troops and camp at the royal capital and watch over the inside of that country; and so Ahai was made pacification commissioner. In the eleventh month a minister of the Central Secretariat proposed setting up in Goryeo an office of garrison farms and frontier command. Xindu and Shi Shu were made commanders of the frontier command for Bongju and those parts, and they wore the tiger tally and led five thousand troops to farm garrison land at Geumju. Hong Dagu was also ordered to farm garrison land with the two thousand people he had led before, and Alatiemuer was made deputy of the frontier command office and put in charge of the whole; and Ahai's troops were dissolved.

In the intercalary eleventh month the heir Sim went back. By edict Sik was instructed on several matters: that his attendant subject Won Bu and others had rashly reported the prince Touniange to be an officer of the head branch secretariat; that his country had privately had dealings with the Southern Song and with Japan; and that the mustering of troops and building of ships spoken of in the past year had shown no result to this day. It said further that from this time on, whether there was business first with the Southern Song or first with Japan, troops and horses, ships and warships, and stores and grain should be set in order early. In this month there was another edict to Sik: "Some time ago I sent a trusted envoy to send word to Japan; and beyond all thought they clung to their delusion and were hard to open with good words. This you know. Being about to take that place in hand, I have ordered the proper officers to send out soldiers to farm garrison land, as a plan for advancing and taking it, so that your country may be spared the labor of hauling in days to come. As before, I send an envoy bearing a letter, to show them first the will to call them in and cherish them. Do you exhaust your heart and thought and help the plan forward, setting a term for its accomplishment, so as to answer my mind." At the first, in Im Yeon's disorder, the people were startled and unsettled; and so at this time an edict was sent down to soothe and comfort them.

In the twelfth month an edict instructed Sik to send an envoy and open friendly dealings with Japan. It said, "I hold that Japan has from of old had friendly dealings with China and is in truth close at hand. Therefore I once ordered you to guide the envoy on his way, to discuss good faith and cultivate concord; but he was blocked by their frontier officers, and in the end my mind could not be plainly set forth. Afterward, because of Im Yeon's disorder, there was no leisure to come to it. Now that your house is settled and at peace, I send Zhao Liangbi, junior grand master and director of the palace library, as the envoy of the state, and I set the term that he surely reach them. As before, let Hulinchi, Wang Guochang and Hong Dagu lead troops and escort him as far as the sea; and until the envoy of the state returns, let them camp for the time being at Geumju and those parts. For the grain and provisions they need, you are to charge an officer wholly with it and send him there to supply them from nearby, and to gather the ships around Geumju and have them wait at Geumju, so that there be no delay and no lack."

In the first month of the eighth year Sik sent Kim Nyeon, his commissioner of the Bureau of Military Affairs, to bear a memorial and enter audience, and to ask for a marriage tie. The pacification commissioner Ahai took the land of Jindo, met the rebel party, and lost much. A minister of the Central Secretariat reported that spies had learned that the remaining grain of Jindo was nearly spent and that they ought to strike while it was weak, but the edict did not allow it. In the second month Hududa'er was ordered to bear an edict and instruct Bae Jung-son. In the third month Jung-son begged that the several armies withdraw and camp, and that afterward he would come in and submit. Xindu did not follow his request, and an edict instructed him. In the fourth month Xindu reported that Jung-son was holding back the edict envoy and trusting to his strong ground and not submitting, and he begged to advance and strike by separate roads with Hulinchi and Wang Guochang; and this was followed. Sik was instructed that Jindo would be struck. In the fifth month Xindu, with Shi Shu and Hong Dagu, greatly broke the rebels of Jindo and took the marquis of Seunghwa and cut him down; and Kim Tong-jeong of his party fled to Tamna. In the seventh month Sik sent Jeong Ja-yeo, his senior general, to bear a memorial and give thanks for the putting down of Jindo. The heir Sim led in twenty-eight sons of capped houses, among them Song Bun, right assistant director of the Department of State Affairs, and Seol Gong-geom, director of the armory, to enter and attend. In the eighth month Hulinchi went to the garrison station at Happo, where the frontier is guarded. In the ninth month Sik sent Seo Ching, an interpreter and lieutenant, to guide and send off the pacification commissioner Zhao Liangbi on his mission to Japan. The emperor sent Sim back to his country. In the eleventh month Sik sent Yi Chang-gyeong, associate administrator of the Bureau of Military Affairs, to bear a memorial and give thanks for the granting of the marriage.

In the first month of the ninth year Sik sent Baek Geo, a lieutenant, together with Jang Tak and eleven others, to bear a memorial and enter audience. The heir Sim told the Central Secretariat how Song Bun, right assistant director of the Department of State Affairs of that country, and Bun's father Jong-nye, a senior general, had struck Im Yumu, and so made their merit known. The director Buhua and Ma Lin were sent as envoys to Goryeo, to instruct them on supplying warships and hauling army grain. In the second month Sik sent a letter to Japan, to have them open friendly dealings with the court. In the sixth month the several darughachi of the walled towns belonging to Seogyeong, and the hostage Kim Il and others, were sent back to their country.

In the first month of the tenth year Sik sent his heir Sim to court. In the fourth month Xindu, commander of the frontier command, together with Hong Dagu led troops into the sea, struck and took the fortress of Tamna, and captured Kim Tong-jeong and the others and put them to death in obedience to an edict. In the sixth month Sik sent his Grand General Kim Heun to report by memorial the striking and breaking of Jeju. In the ninth month Sik said again and again, "A small country's land is narrow, and year after year the harvest has failed. I beg that the saenggwon army (生券軍) be stationed at Dongjing." By edict they were made to encamp within the bounds of Beijing, and orders were given as before to the Dongjing circuit to haul twenty thousand seok of rice and relieve them. The darughachi Jiao Tianyi returned to the court.

On the first day of the first month of the eleventh year, a gimyo day, the palace was reported finished, and the emperor for the first time went up to the main hall and received the court greetings of the crown prince, the several princes and the hundred officers. Sik sent Yi Ui-son, a junior minister, and others to offer congratulations. In the third month Musutaba and Samuhe were sent with an edict to have Goryeo draft five thousand six hundred troops to help in the campaign against Japan. In the fifth month the emperor's daughter Hudulujielimishi was married to the heir Sim. In the seventh month Gi On, deputy commissioner of his Bureau of Military Affairs, bore a memorial announcing that King Sik had died, and the heir Sim was ordered to succeed to the title. By edict the royal kinsmen of the kingdom of Goryeo and its officers great and small and its people were instructed. Its gist said, "While King Wang Sik was alive he said again and again that the heir Sim was fit to be his successor. Now Sim is made to succeed to the title and be king. All who are under him are to heed his command." In the eighth month the heir Sim went back to his country and succeeded to the place. In the ninth month he sent Wang Suk, the marquis of Jean, to send up a memorial giving thanks for the favor. In the eleventh month the emperor's daughter entered the capital, Gaegyeong. Sim again sent Yi Sin-son, judge of the chamberlains' office, and others to bear a memorial and give thanks. In the twelfth month Heidi was made darughachi of Goryeo, and Li Yi was relieved and returned.