Entry

The envoy Li Wen-lao from the country of Annam took leave of the Court. The Emperor conferred upon Li Jun, the king of the country, 20 bolts of patterned fine silks and variegated thin silks interwoven with gold thread, and four pieces of brocade. It was ordered that Wen-lao take these back to present to the king. Also, Imperial orders of instruction were sent to Jun. The orders read: "Neither merit nor transgression can be hidden from me, and these are rewarded and punished as appropriate. For example, you king have loyally carried out your tribute duties and I have been very pleased by this. However, as to your crimes, how can they not be made known! Recently, officials guarding Guang-dong memorialized that people from your country have been sailing three-masted ships to and from the pearl-beds of Guang-dong. Sometimes they have come in twos, sometimes in threes and even over 150 ships have come and plundered pearls. There was not a day of the year when such activities were not carried out. Four of these persons were captured by the defenders. These people confessed to being Fan Yuan, Cheng Liu, Wu Lian and Fan Jing and stated that they came from the counties of Nan-ce, Xia-lu and Xia-shan in your country. Although this is a small matter, it violates the Great Principles (大體). Why have you allowed it? This is a failure in carrying out your duties as a minister. Why is it that you did not know? Those in charge cannot shirk their responsibilities. When these orders arrive, you should engage in self-examination and eliminate your shortcomings. Do not persist in erroneous ways as you will bring great slaughter upon yourself!"