Goryeo - Part 6

-1205- King Sinjong dies, replaced by King Huijong, his son.
   -He wanted to throw out the military bureaucracy that controlled the country, with General Choi Choong-heon at its head.  However, General Choi found out and exiled the king to Ganghwado in 1211, an island near the mouth of the Han River on Korea's west coast.  So, he was replaced by his son, King Gangjong.
      -The court then sent a diplomat to the Jin dynasty, as was customary, so that the emperor could bestow his blessing towards the new king, but this diplomat mysteriously didn't return...
-1206- Temjuin unifies 40+ Mongol horse tribes in Mongolia and is renamed Genghis Khan.
   -Began raiding the people of NW China and capturing artisans and engineers, quickly learning the art of siegecraft.
-1211- The Mongols began to eye the Jin dynasty, under whom they used to be dominated.
   -The Jin dynasty had a weakness- it was a slave society, and the commoners were ruled by "ethnic superiors", so there was a lack of unity in the social structure.
      The Mongol spies were able to infiltrate the Jin dynasty's lands and sew seeds of discontent among the masses, which made it easier for the Mongols to invade because when they did, many either fled the country or joined their Mongol liberators, bringing down the system!
-1212- The diplomat that had been sent to the Jin dynasty still hadn't returned, so the Goryeo court was confused.  However, it was eventually discovered that he had been slain by Mongolian scouts.
-1213- The Jin dynasty amassed a powerful army, even outnumbering the Mongol forces, in order to drive them off, but for some reason some of the key officers defected to the Mongol horde and gave them valuable information about the Jin dynasty's army.
   -This allowed for the Mongols to smash the army and run amok throughout the empire!
      -In the chaos, one of the Jin generals slew the emperor (Wanyan Yongji, there's a reason why he doesn't have an emperor name) and replaced him with his nephew.  The court then moved the capital south from Zhongdu (Beijing) to Kaifeng.  With them poured hundreds of thousands of refugees (the majority being ethnic Khitan) fleeing the Mongols into southern China and Goryeo.
   -The Mongol territory immediately moved into their newly conquered territory.
-Meanwhile in Goryeo, General Choi was getting old and had to choose an heir.  He had two sons worthy of the title:
   -Choi Woo- a natural leader and solid commander.
   -Choi Hyang- a badass swordsman, but not skilled in negotiations.
      -For whatever reason, Choi Hyang was chosen as successor.
         -Choi Woo felt snubbed, and this tension resulted in a duel between the two brothers...and Choi Woo won!  Choi Hyang was exiled.
-King Gangjong died in 1213, replaced by his son, King Gojong.
   -The Khitan refugees were pouring into Goryeo, overwhelming the border guards and looting and raiding the countryside.  They even managed to mob and take over Pyeongyang for some time before being driven off or pacified by the Goryeo military.
      -During this chaos there was an attempted coup against General Choi by Buddhist monks, but they failed.  As a result, General Choi had more than 1000 monks executed at Gaeseong.
   -As for the remaining Khitan refugees, they remained mostly in the Taebaek Mountains where they built their own hideouts and shit.
-Meanwhile, while pursuing the refugees fleeing from the collapsing Jin dynasty, the Mongols were led to Goryeo.  They began fighting the Khitan near Goryeo's border fortresses that had been abandoned and taken over by the Khitan refugees, so the Mongols took over these fortresses for themselves.  They then began to scour the Taebaek Mountains in search of the remaining refugees.
   -To help their cause, the Mongols sent a delegate to Goryeo demanding rice and supplies for their forces, but the Goryeo court didn't think much of this goofy-looking barbarian diplomat who was wearing animal skins and a fur hat and probably smelled terrible, along with most likely having horrible manners.
      -However, General Choi decided to give aid to the Mongols anyway.  Thus, the Mongols soon crushed the remaining Khitan, and then packed up and left!  However, the horde was still wise in leaving some men behind to learn Korean...
-Of course, the Mongol threat never actually left.  The horde soon began demanding tribute again from Goryeo.  It almost seemed like they wanted Goryeo to refuse so they would have an excuse to invade due to Goryeo's insolence.
   -In the middle on the debates of what to do, General Choi died, and Choi Woo replaced him as military ruler of Goryeo.
-Choi Woo preferred to be sweet instead of being feared, and he tried to win over everyone by giving away his father's massive treasure trove and shit, but this still did nothing to stop corruption.
   -This resulted in 2 peasant revolts in the north, comprised mostly of Khitans, who actually tried to enlist the dying Jin dynasty for help!  However, the Jin dynasty decided instead to kill the Khitan diplomats, thus ending these rebellions due to a lack of Jin support.
      -Choi Woo then replaced the corrupt officials with men that he trusted.
-1221- A diplomat from the Mongol horde returned, this time demanding that King Gojong personally go to the court of Genghis Khan and pledge submission and offer tribute.
   -While staying in Gaeseong, this diplomat actually got wasted and acted like a goofball, and it was obvious that the Mongols were planning on annexing Goryeo into their growing empire.  It was also soon clear that the horde was more powerful than Goryeo could handle, seeing as they already had fucked up both the Jin AND Song dynasties at this point.
-1222- Choi Woo pushes heavily for fortifications, but in 1223 Japanese pirates began to attack in the south.
   -This caused the peasants to flee the coasts and move inland, which hurt the economy.
-1225- A Mongol delegate comes with surprising news- that actually, the Mongols wanted less tribute this time around, and seem happy to have Goryeo just chill.
   -However, on the way out, the Mongol emissary was robbed by brigands.
      -This pissed off the horde, who claimed that if Goryeo can't control its own lands, the Mongol horde will.
         -The Mongols then begin raiding northern Goryeo, but this small force was eventually repelled by Goryeo defenses.
-Goryeo knew that the Mongols were not well-suited for a Goryeo invasion since it was so mountainous and forest-covered and shit.
-1227- Genghis Khan dies, replaced by his third son, Ogedai Khan.
-1231- The Mongols decide to mount a full-scale invasion of Goryeo!  General in charge of the invasion was a dude named Sartai.
   -The Mongol army was massive (exact size unknown) and contained other allies in addition to their own horde.
   -The Mongols quickly moved in and captured a fortress at Uiju.  They continued to move in, fighting the first battle at Anju Fortress, where they won but actually suffered pretty badly.  Then they moved onto Kusong.
   -Also, during this time the king and general of Goryeo were both united politically for once, as they faced an existential threat from the Mongol invasions!
-The Siege of Kusong lasted for 30 days.  Tons of siege weaponry was employed, complete with catapults and shit.  They even tried tunneling under the city!
   -The Mongols would boil down POWs and turn them into rendered fat, and this was essentially medieval napalm.
   -The Goryeo defense was incredibly creative and brave, and as they held off the invaders, the Mongols began to starve, as North Korea was a pretty inhospitable land as far as food and foraging went.  It was also difficult for supply lines to be effectively get maintain a reliable connection.
   -The Mongols finally gave up and just bypassed it, impressed with the tenacity of its defense.  However, they moved onto Pyeongyang, which was not well-defended, and sacked the city.
      -After they thoroughly ravaged the place they took a bunch of food and burned the rest of it, hoping that when the winter came everyone there would starve.
-The Mongols then moved onto Gaeseong.  It wasn't well reinforced either, so the government and aristocracy hid behind defenses at the core of the city while the Mongols butchered everyone outside.
   -The Mongols then left Gaeseong and continued south, destroying everything in their way.  They were finally halted by a resistance army made up peasants and slaves, who must have been fierce warriors because the Mongols got worn out fighting them and finally decided to sue for peace with Goryeo.
-The Mongols then returned to Gaeseong, where they demanded a shitload of resources and humans (children and craftsmen) who were to become slaves or artisans for the horde.
-Once the Mongols left, the Goryeo court was in an uproar.  General Choi Woo ordered an evacuation of the government off the mainland, moving the capital from Gaeseong to Ganghwado, since it would be easier to defend.  The Mongols didn't like water, so this would help Goryeo in its defense.  The island also had a bunch of mountains and natural barriers around it, and was generally just an awesome place in terms of its defensive position.  It was also a place according to Korean geomancy.
   -Also, anyone who disagreed with General Choi during this time was executed :)
-1232- It took a year, but the Jin dynasty capital of Kaifeng (Beijing) finally falls to the Mongols.  They actually spared the city's entire population (2 million) from death and destruction, so this made Goryeo feel like perhaps the Mongols could be reasonable.
-Trouble in Gaeseong started up once the Mongols left, and soon anarchy and absolute chaos took over.  Even the Mongol officials who were left in the city to supervise the Goryeo government were kicked out of the city, which, of course, provoked another Mongol invasion.
   -The Mongols quickly swept through the north and began to destroy everything, sacking Pyeongyang, Gaeseong, and even Seoul!  However, as predicted by the government, they had trouble taking Ganghwado.
      -They decided instead to push south, but soon the ran into heavy resistance at Choein Fortress, led by the monk Kim Yun-hoo, a badass archer, who was unfortunately slain by Sartai in the battle.
         -Thus, the Mongols moved back north and tried to enforce order in the cities they had pacified, but were experiencing more fierce resistance.
-During this time, the original Tripitaka Koreana had been destroyed by the Mongols in Gaeseong, so Goryeo, in order to curry favor with Buddha, re-created the Tripitaka Koreana again.
-Also during this time, the Mongols were fed up with Goryeo resistance, so they began to seriously fuck up the countryside and execute anyone who dared to resist them.  They began to restructure northern Goryeo, annexing it into the Mongol Empire.
-In the south, the Mongols continued their raids in an attempt to get the population under control.
   -The Japanese pirates were also raiding during this time in the south.
-1234- The Jin dynasty finally completely falls to the Mongol horde.
-1238- Goryeo finally agrees to sue for peace, and sent a bunch of nobles and a princess as hostages.  The Mongols then withdrew their horde from Goryeo.
-1241- Ogedai Khan finally dies, and the Mongol Empire falls into instability.  During this time, Goryeo still continues to send tribute to the Mongols, but meanwhile continue to rebuild their armed forces.
-1246- The Mongols finally get their shit together, and a new khan is enthroned- Goyuk Khan!  He renewed efforts to pacify Goryeo, but he actually died in 1248, same year as Choi Woo died.  The Mongols then withdrew their main forces as their empire entered into a new state of instability.
-Choi Woo's son, Choi Hang, succeeded him.  Goryeo resistance against the Mongols was looking grim.  Goryeo only controlled several islands a few pockets of land on the peninsula.
-1253- Mongol invasions begin again.  Goryeo nobility that had been sent to the Mongols as hostages at this point had been married into the Mongolian nobility, and they sent messages urging Goryeo to submit.  Anyway, the Mongols absolutely destroyed the Goryeo mainland, but the Goryeo government knew that the Mongols couldn't take their island.
   -See the Siege of Chuncheon for an example of Mongol brutality in Goryeo.
-Finally, the Goryeo government sued for peace and agreed to the Mongols' terms in 1254, so the Mongols withdrew.
   -This time, instead of rebuilding the infrastructure, Goryeo was probably just really pissed off and started executing anyone who had helped the Mongols, or, if they were no longer in Goryeo, punished their families instead.
      -Because Goryeo was killing off all of the Mongol moles, the Mongols invaded once again with much slaughter as punishment.
-Meanwhile, although Ganghwado was safe from Mongol attack, it was experiencing much turmoil internally.
-General Choi Hang died in 1257.
   -The Choi clan wasn't sure what to do, and King Gojang used this as an opportunity to reinsert control and take power away from the military dictatorship and back to the royal family.
      -There was a coup, and the Choi clan's control over the Goryeo government was lost.  Many members of the Choi clan were executed, and the royalty took back control over the Goryeo government!  The Choi dictatorship had lasted between 1197-1257.
-1259- King Gojang died in the middle of negotiations with the Mongol Empire.  There was a delay because when Gojang's son, King Wonjong, arrived to meet the Möngke Khan (a grandson of Genghis Khan), he wasn't even there!
   -Möngke Khan was in the south, waging war against the Song dynasty.  However, during this invasion, he died!
-1260- King Wonjong finally met up with Kublai Khan instead.
   -King Gojong was successfully able to woo Kublai Khan, so he was able to successfully return to Goryeo to rule as king of a tributary state under the Mongol Empire.
      -The people seemed happy to finally be done with the Mongol invasions; anything to stop the slaughter!  However...soon the Mongols would begin to greedily eye Japan...