would be already excessive." Eighteen younger officials requested to the king to imprison them with Jo Gwangjo. State Council and Six Ministries jointly entreated that punishing Jo and others on such charges without evidence would become a blot on the king's reputation. Even Hong Sook, who became Justice Minister overnight and interrogated Jo, reported to the king that he was "deeply moved" by Jo's loyalty. New Inspector General Yu Eun, who replaced Jo, protested in even stronger terms: "If Jo Gwangjo is guilty of crime, he should be punished in open and just manner... Instead, Your Majesty is handing out such punishment according to secret words by two people in the middle of night... What is so difficult about punishing few seonbis with authority of king that Your Majesty should do so covertly by sending a secret message?... If there is a crime, it should be dealt with clearly and justly, but Your Majesty appeared to trust and be friendly with them on the outside while thinking of eliminating them in mind." He was finally dismissed after asking Jungjong to "cut my head to please the wicked people." Meanwhile, 150 Seonggyungwan students stormed the palace to protest Jo's arrest and filled the palace with shouts of entreaties, and later 240 students petitioned to claim Jo's innocence and requested to be imprisoned together. There was such popular outpouring for Jo's release that it may have increased Jungjong's suspicion and anger. Third Literati Purge of 1519 Jo Gwangjo was completely caught off guard with this turn of events. The Sarim faction had scored its biggest victory just four days ago when Jungjong granted their petition to revoke special status for 70 Hungu officials. He continued to believe that Jungjong was misled by his enemies and was confident that he could persuade the king of his loyalty once he could face him in the interrogation. He wrote to Jungjong of his fear for this incident becoming a bloody purge and entreated that he would not regret dying ten thousand times if only he could be granted an audience. However, he would never have a chance to see Jungjong again. Amid petitions for leniency, Jungjong commuted the death sentence to exile, and Jo Gwangjo was exiled to Neung-ju. Nevertheless, Jungjong was determined to put Jo Gwangjo to death. In the Annals, there was no official demand for Jo's death, not even by Hong Kyung-joo,