Bakdal Year 3979 (Accession of King Hyojo), Sept 25

The king commanded the preparation of a dish made from the tongue of a deer. He also decreed it to wear a talisman inscribed with the words, "The mouth is a sword that cutteth the body." Prime Minister Seonwoo Myeongdeok, rallying his loyal officials and scholars, submitted a petition urging the cessation of extravagance and the return to diligent governance. Receiving the petition alongside the Crown Prince, the king questioned Seonwoo Myeongdeok, "Is this treason?" Seonwoo Myeongdeok, trembling, replied, "T-treason, Your Majesty? How could I harbor such thoughts?" The king, undeterred, continued, "Where wast thou when my mother coughed blood upon her white garment? And now, thou persecutest me so relentlessly. What is thy true intention if not treason?" As a result, Seonwoo Myeongdeok was taken to the Royal Investigation Bureau and sentenced to decapitation. Over three hundred officials and scholars who had supported him were also executed. The prisons of Seoul overflowed with the bodies of the condemned, leaving no room to contain them all. Then, in the middle of the night, the king held a banquet to celebrate the execution of these traitors.