-1392- King Taejo founds the Kingdom of Joseon, named after the ancient Korean kingdom of "(Old) Joseon" (Gojoseon). This followed the trend of renaming kingdoms after past kingdoms for legitimacy (like Goryeo and Gogoryeo).
-Ruled also by a Neo-Confucian court.
-However, King Taejo was old and still injured from his horse accident, so in order to maintain stability he replaced corrupt elite officials with strict technocrats who had performed well on the civil service exam.
-These were essentially people who were aligned with King Taejo's ideological revolution.
-Also, King Taejo was still indebted to allies who had supported him during the war effort, and unfortunately these people were granted positions based on loyalty instead of merit.
-Meanwhile, the Ming dynasty were pissed off. How is it that the Koreans could just all of a sudden declare themselves a new kingdom without the approval of the Ming emperor??
-Luckily, King Taejo was able to smooth things over with the Ming court, and pledged loyalty to the Ming dynasty.
-King Taejo also wanted to move the capital from Gaeseong, but he couldn't decide on Pyeongyang or Seoul.
-Ming also moved their capital from Beijing to Nanjing.
-King Taejo finally decided on Seoul- nicer weather, closer to agricultural land, safer, and a good spot according to Korean geomancy.
-However, King Taejo ignored some advice to build the palace in a sacred way, which horrified the geomancers.
-One problem also was that Seoul was designated as an administrative center, but not a cultural center, so it was kind of a boring place.
-To recognize the creation of this new kingdom, envoys were sent from many other neighboring countries, including the Ayutthaya Kingdom (Siam/Thailand), the Majapahit Empire (Indonesia), and the Ryukyu Kingdom (Ryukyu Islands).
-Joseon also began to work closely with the Ashikaga shogunate (Japan) to crack down the waegu.
-Joseon ambassadors were also able to pacify the northern Jurchen hordes who lived in Joseon territory, and were able to assimilate them into the kingdom.
-However, there was still a problem with the monks.
-They had too much power, and were completely revered by the common folk, and acted as local lords over their region of influence. They were very different form the Korean Buddhist monks of today. Back in the day, these monks even had slaves who worked while the monks partied it up!
-King Taejo began to undermine their power by declaring the revival of an old law- that all grandchildren of slaves are to be considered free.
-Prime minister Jeong Dojeon was the social architect for this new society, and a strict Neo-Confucian. He believed that a righteous king ruled by having all of the power, but should still spend most of his time participating in Confucian rituals and delegating power to his courtiers. The king must also study the Chinese classics and constantly engage in intellectual sparring with his ministers.
-We actually have excellent records of the Joseon dynasty due to the numerous historical chroniclers and their epic compilation "The Annals of the Joseon Dynasty".
-One big problem though- King Taejo had 8 sons among 2 different queens.
-Immediately there was a struggle for power, and even Prime Minister Jeong Dojeon was killed in the fighting.
-Most of the fighting was between the clans of the two queens (Gang and Han).
-A melee broke out in the streets and some of the people were killed. Finally, to end the violence, King Taejo named Prince Yi Bang-gwa (King Jeongjong) as heir, and retired to his royal villa in Hamhung, officially abdicating. However, he did return to the city as adviser sometimes.
-King Jeongjong was enthroned in 1398, although there was still a lot of family drama, including attempted coups and other crapola.
-He immediately declared that all private militias controlled by elite lords must be given over to the crown in order to consolidate power, which of course resulted in a revolt (that was quickly squashed). However, because of this, the aristocracy was crippled.
-1400- finally, as a result of the fighting and the fact that King Jeongjong was not a strong, driven ruler, he also abdicated (like his father) the throne.
-He was replaced by his younger brother, Yi Bangwon (King Taejong), who was much more charismatic and powerful.
Wednesday, December 28, 2016
Tuesday, December 27, 2016
Goryeo - Part 10
-King Woo knew that General Yi was on the march.
-He wanted to raise a force to fight him off, but he didn't have enough men and was advised to fortify Gaeseong instead.
-Gneral Yi then led an army to Gaeseong and besieged it. The defenders soon gave up, and General Yi took over the city. Then he gave King Woo a speech about how his advisors were shitty and that Goryeo should swear fealty to the Ming dynasty.
-King Woo stupidly tried to have General Yi assassinated by a gang of eunuchs (?), but this failed.
-Finally, General Yi and his men came to the conclusion that King Woo that was the illegitimate king and was secretly the monk Shin Don's son, so King Woo was banished to go retired in obscurity at Ganghwa Island.
-Meanwhile, there were those who believed that General Yi was an usurper, and wanted King Woo's son, Chang, to be king.
-General Yi relented and allowed the son to be king, even if maybe he wasn't royal blood (King Woo was illegitimate, after all).
-So, King Chang of Goryeo was enthroned in 1388 at the age of 7. Of course, General Yi had all the power.
-Land reforms were introduced with the peasants and shit.
-General Yi also wanted to crack down on the power of the nobility, so he took all of the land deeds of the nobility and burned them! Thus, the aristocracy's power was completely wiped out.
-General Yi then enforced mandatory military conscription.
-The Hongwu Emperor of the Ming dynasty thought it was really dumb that an illegitimate king's son was allowed to be the new king of Goryeo, and this really pissed him off.
-Meanwhile, General Yi wanted to crack down on the waegu. He sent a huge fleet to Tsushima Island (their HQ) and fucked them up badly.
-In order to appease Hongwu Emperor, King Chang was sent off to live in exile at Ganghwa Island with his dad.
-King Gongyang, a distant relative of King Sinjong, was enthroned in 1389. This was the final king of Goryeo!
-A puppet of General Yi, he sent assassins to kill the two previous kings (King Woo and King Chang) to make sure they wouldn't try to usurp the throne later.
-At some point though, General Yi had an accident and fell from his horse, and while he was recovering, his enemies in the court took the opportunity to stage a coup and get rid of his main supporters based on trumped-up charges.
-General Yi was still weak, but he was able to get out of bed and stop the purge.
-He assassinated the opposition leader, a dude named Jong Mong-ju who was a renowned scholar and official, loyal to the former kings.
-He then forced King Gongyang to sign a document saying that essentially he and the king are equal and wouldn't work against each other.
-1392, King Gongyang stepped down because he had no supporters, no power, and was clearly just a puppet. This made him not want to be king anymore, so he resigned and went off to live near the East Sea, where he soon died in 1394.
-THIS WAS THE END OF THE GORYEO DYNASTY.
-August 1392- General Yi took the throne in Gaeseong, and crowned himself King Taejo of Joseon.
-He wanted to raise a force to fight him off, but he didn't have enough men and was advised to fortify Gaeseong instead.
-Gneral Yi then led an army to Gaeseong and besieged it. The defenders soon gave up, and General Yi took over the city. Then he gave King Woo a speech about how his advisors were shitty and that Goryeo should swear fealty to the Ming dynasty.
-King Woo stupidly tried to have General Yi assassinated by a gang of eunuchs (?), but this failed.
-Finally, General Yi and his men came to the conclusion that King Woo that was the illegitimate king and was secretly the monk Shin Don's son, so King Woo was banished to go retired in obscurity at Ganghwa Island.
-Meanwhile, there were those who believed that General Yi was an usurper, and wanted King Woo's son, Chang, to be king.
-General Yi relented and allowed the son to be king, even if maybe he wasn't royal blood (King Woo was illegitimate, after all).
-So, King Chang of Goryeo was enthroned in 1388 at the age of 7. Of course, General Yi had all the power.
-Land reforms were introduced with the peasants and shit.
-General Yi also wanted to crack down on the power of the nobility, so he took all of the land deeds of the nobility and burned them! Thus, the aristocracy's power was completely wiped out.
-General Yi then enforced mandatory military conscription.
-The Hongwu Emperor of the Ming dynasty thought it was really dumb that an illegitimate king's son was allowed to be the new king of Goryeo, and this really pissed him off.
-Meanwhile, General Yi wanted to crack down on the waegu. He sent a huge fleet to Tsushima Island (their HQ) and fucked them up badly.
-In order to appease Hongwu Emperor, King Chang was sent off to live in exile at Ganghwa Island with his dad.
-King Gongyang, a distant relative of King Sinjong, was enthroned in 1389. This was the final king of Goryeo!
-A puppet of General Yi, he sent assassins to kill the two previous kings (King Woo and King Chang) to make sure they wouldn't try to usurp the throne later.
-At some point though, General Yi had an accident and fell from his horse, and while he was recovering, his enemies in the court took the opportunity to stage a coup and get rid of his main supporters based on trumped-up charges.
-General Yi was still weak, but he was able to get out of bed and stop the purge.
-He assassinated the opposition leader, a dude named Jong Mong-ju who was a renowned scholar and official, loyal to the former kings.
-He then forced King Gongyang to sign a document saying that essentially he and the king are equal and wouldn't work against each other.
-1392, King Gongyang stepped down because he had no supporters, no power, and was clearly just a puppet. This made him not want to be king anymore, so he resigned and went off to live near the East Sea, where he soon died in 1394.
-THIS WAS THE END OF THE GORYEO DYNASTY.
-August 1392- General Yi took the throne in Gaeseong, and crowned himself King Taejo of Joseon.
Monday, December 26, 2016
Goryeo - Part 9
-1339- King Chunghye takes the throne, but there were those who wished to see him dethroned. 2 factions formed between the conspirators and loyalists, culminating in a street battle outside the royal palace. Although the king was injured, the conspirators were beaten and their leader was beheaded.
-However, one of the conspirators was a good friend with Emperor Toghon Temür of the Yuan dynasty, so he fled to him to try and draw the emperor onto their side.
-Toghon Temür then summoned King Chunghye to his court to answer for WTF was going on exactly in Goryeo. He then decreed that all Goryeo citizens must disarm and were not allowed to ride horses (!).
-After this, King Chughye was acknowledged officially as King of Goryeo by the Yuan dynasty.
-1340- King Chunghye was a debauched monster. He took a Goryeo noblewoman, Princess Deongnyeong, as his wife (instead of a Yuan princess). However, he also kept a huge harem of women in "sewing rooms", and even went so far as to start banging the concubines of his father, King Chungsuk.
-Heavily taxed the large rural estates owned by the nobility, as well as their industries, and spent all the money on himself instead of infrastructure.
-Loved spending his time throwing a wooden ball at targets, especially human targets.
-Would sometimes also go into people's houses at night and rape.
-King Chunghye was such a piece of shit that many fled the city and/or became monks.
-Many of these expats ended up in the town of Shenyang in China.
-The poor were miserable, and suicide was common.
-1343- Toghon Temür finally heard about how fucked up Goryeo was at this time, and summoned King Chunghye to his imperial court at Dadu (modern-day Beijing).
-The Yuan ambassador to Goryeo then rounded up King Chunghye's inner circle and arrested them, along with the king. He then imprisoned King Chunghye in a box and sent him to Dadu, where he was to be scolded by Toghon Temür, strapped to a wooden board, and exiled. At some point in all of this, of course, King Chunghye died.
-1344- King Chungmok, son of King Chunghye, was enthroned.
-He was only a boy, so a Yuan regent was the one who really called all the shots.
-1348- King Chungmok died suddenly, and is replaced by his younger brother (still a boy), King Chungjeong.
-During this time, the "waegu" ("Japanese/dwarf pirates") became a bad problem.
-Although for a long time it was believed that they were only from Japan, it's entirely possible that they were not just Japanese, but also Korean (from outlying islands), Chinese, mixed ethnicity, etc. Whatever they were, they were definitely bad actors.
-1351- King Chungjeong sucked, so Toghon Temür dethroned him and replaced him with King Chunghye's brother, King Gongmin (who had been held hostage in Dadu).
-King Gongmin was also a painter, a romantic, and actually loved his wife! However, it may have just been a platonic love, as King Gongmin apparently loved having sex with little boys, as he kept several court catamites around for sex.
-During this time, the people of Goryeo began to seriously question why they were still a part of the Yuan dynasty, especially since it was clear that their Mongol overlords had lost the Mandate of Heaven.
-Secret societies and cults began to pop up all over the kingdom, such as the White Lotus (based out of China).
-The White Lotus actually started a rebellion in northern China. These rebels became known as the Red Turbans.
-1355- The Red Turbans capture Nanjing, and then their ideology begins to shift from Buddhism to Neo-Confucianism.
-Soon, all of China begins to get really rebellious.
-During this time also, King Gongmin was having problems with both the waegu AND Red Turbans.
-1356- The Red Turban army begins to attack Dadu! The Yuan dynasty actually desperately asks Goryeo for help.
-King Gongmin sent troops to help fight off the Red Turbans, but many believe that this is dumb.
-1356- King Gongmin finally agrees that the Yuan dynasty is fucked, so he decides to go and retake the lands in North Korea that were once a part of the Chinese commanderies but still directly under the control of the Yuan dynasty still.
-The Yuan troops were driven out, and now all of the Korean peninsula and traditional "Korean" lands were back under Goryeo control.
-1358- Meanwhile, the waegu raids are still getting worse.
-During this time, many citizens of the Yuan dynasty realized that the Yuan were fucked, so they began to defect to Goryeo lands.
-Other forces, such as non-Red Turban rebels in the Yuan dynasty and random barbarian hordes in the north started to send gifts and tribute to King Gongmin. It was obvious that in northeast Asia, Goryeo was to fill part of the power vacuum that would occur once the Yuan dynasty fell.
-1359- The Red Turbans begin to move into the Liaodong Peninsula and attack Goryeo!
-Goryeo was able to eventually repel the Red Turban army, but soon a Red Turban naval fleet landed inside the kingdom and began to raid!
-Also, the waegu were so bad at this point that they were a direct threat to Goryeo's capital, Gaeseong. The court had to move to Seoul, which was easier to defend.
-Goryeo also set up conscriptions, called "smoke house soldiers", because they enslisted men from any house that had smoke coming out of it.
-1361- The Red Turban army returned, this time with the explicit purpose of conquering Goryeo! Goryeo was still able to defend themselves adequately, however.
-Also during this time, the Yuan dynasty tried to get King Gongmin off the throne, but they were too weak to actually get this done. They were able, however, to get the governor of Jeju Island to rebel!
-1364- Toghon Temür then sent 10,000 soldiers to remove King Gongmin from power.
-Meanwhile, the Jurchen were back and on the rise!
-They had been run out of NE Asia when the Jin dynasty had collapsed (they had fled to maybe Kamchatka or Siberia for a century or so), but now they were back! Goryeo would end up having to deal with them soon, but for now they had to worry about the incoming Yuan troops.
-Goryeo was strong enough at this point to repel the Yuan army, and then as a victory lap they went north and kicked the Jurchens' asses as well! However, the reason for this may have been because the general was trying to avoid going back to the Goryeo royal court, as he didn't wish to "outshine" the king.
-1365- Queen Noguk dies with a huge, elaborate funeral.
-Soon after this, King Gongmin began to have nightmares and maybe grew paranoid about his own mortality, so he befriended a hard-drinking, hard-partying monk named Shin Don that he supposedly envisioned saving his life in one of his dreams or something.
-King Gongmin then just went nuts and started banging young boys and shit, and Shin Don was able to accumulate lots of power (and a harem of women, of course) in the royal court. King Gongmin just kind of resigned himself to only participating in Buddhist rituals, and Shin Don did everything else.
-1367- Goryeo attempts to recapture Jeju-do, as it was no longer able to be protected by the Yuan dynasty.
-1368- The Yuan dynasty finally collapses, as Dadu was besieged by the Red Turbans armies. Toghun Temür soon died while on the run in Inner Mongolia.
-The warrior monk who had led the Red Turbans, Zhu Yuanzhang, crowned himself Emperor of China, kicking off the Ming dynasty!
-At the same time, the Japanese tried to establish a peace treaty with Goryeo. Goryeo could have used this as an opportunity to get the Japanese to crack down on their pirates, but Shin Don was an asshole to the Japanese ambassador and treated him badly.
-Shin Don then began to fill the ranks of the government with his own cronies.
-Luckily for Goryeo, King Gongmin was still able to establish good relations with the Ming dynasty during this time.
-1370- Goryeo began to expand its territory in the north, invading the land held by Jurchens and Yuan rebels.
-There was a power vacuum in Manchuria due to the collapse of the Yuan dynasty, and the Ming dynasty hadn't pacified the region yet.
-During this time also, Shin Don tried to stage a coup to dethrone King Gongmin! But this failed, and, as a result, King Gongmin had Shin Don executed.
-Now that Shin Don was gone, King Gongmin was finally back in power. The Yuan dynasty had collapsed, the Goryeo court was divided between the old guard of Yuan loyalists and the new school of pro-Ming dudes.
-1373- A Mongol rebel sent word to Gaeseong that he had just raised a big army, and was on his way to conquer Beiping (modern-day Beijing, formerly Dadu/Khanbaliq under the Yuan dynasty).
-Meanwhile, Goryeo was in serious trouble!
-The were raiding everywhere. and alsp they destroyed a bunch of Goryeo ships in a naval battle as well.
-In order to fight against the waegu fleets, King Gongmin developed a ship that could shoot fire arrows, but unfortunately it required gunpowder, which could only be obtained from the Chinese, and they refused to give out the secrets to its production.
-1374- the Mongol rebel army wanted to ally with Goryeo and demanded a shitload of horses from Jeju-do. The problem was that Jeju was still controlled by Mongols too, but they weren't allied with the Mongol rebels in Manchuria.
-Goryeo finally invaded Jeju-do and reconquered it, driving off the Mongol overlords.
-This year also brought about the death of King Gongmin, who was stabbed to death in his sleep by some conspirators over some drama with a concubine or something OR it was a plot by an anti-Ming faction, it's unclear.
-King Woo (or U) was enthroned, although he had a military general as his regent. However, the Ming dynasty refused to accept this boy as a legitimate ruler, especially given his dubious origins as perhaps not really the true son of King Gongmin.
-Also, the caravan that had all of the tribute from Goryeo was raided by bandits, so they had no gifts to give the Hongwu Emperor.
-Shit got pretty heated back in Goryeo over this, resulting in the pro-Yuan faction convincing King Woo's regent to side with the Manchurian rebels in rebellion against the Ming dynasty.
-The waegu still continued to be a blight upon the land during this time still as well.
-By 1377, Goryeo had finally stolen the secrets to its production through bribery, and were able to produce their own rockets and fire arrows, developed by Choi Mu-seon, Goryeo's Superintendent of Gunpowder.
-1378- General Yi Seong-gye, a badass who had done a bunch of successful military campaigns earlier, was appointed as supreme commander of the Goryeo military.
-General Yi immediately decreed that all the monks must fight as warriors to defend the lands against the waegu.
-Although at this time Goryeo did have gunpowder, they hadn't quite developed the weapon technology to use it for land battles.
-The waegu decided at this time to mount a huge attack on Gaeseong. Luckily, General Yi arrived just in time to attack the pirates from behind and wipe them all out. The Japanese even sent troops to fight and help Goryeo as allies. I guess they hated the waegu as well.
-1379- The Goryeo army and the navy finally had gunpowder! This gave them a huge advantage against the waegu.
-1380- King Woo decides to officially side with the Ming dynasty.
-This was a dumb move because the Ming didn't like him, and it pissed off the Manchurian rebels and their sympathizers. It also pissed off the common folk too (for whatever reason).
-Also, King Woo was turning into yet another drunkard ruler.
-Meanwhile, General Yi continued to fuck up the waegu. He also went on to defeat would-be Jurchen invaders as well.
-1380-1385- In order to accept King Woo as legit, the Ming dynasty demanded a ludicrous amount of tribute. King Woo continued to play this game until he was finally accepted by the Ming court.
-However, in 1385 King Woo randomly changed his mind and began to befriend the Mongol rebels in Manchuria (in hopes of betraying them and taking over their territory).
-This was really dumb because I guess the region was occupied by Ming forces, who greatly outnumbered Goryeo's forces. Plus, Goryeo didn't have enough money to truly finance this campaign, plus they still had the waegu to worry about.
-The weather was also really rainy and shitty, the soldiers knew it was a suicide mission so morale was low, soldiers were deserting, and even General Yi cried because he knew that the situation was completely fucked. General Yi decided that King Woo was going to bring the downfall of Goryeo, so he turned the army around instead and marched on Gaeseong!
-However, one of the conspirators was a good friend with Emperor Toghon Temür of the Yuan dynasty, so he fled to him to try and draw the emperor onto their side.
-Toghon Temür then summoned King Chunghye to his court to answer for WTF was going on exactly in Goryeo. He then decreed that all Goryeo citizens must disarm and were not allowed to ride horses (!).
-After this, King Chughye was acknowledged officially as King of Goryeo by the Yuan dynasty.
-1340- King Chunghye was a debauched monster. He took a Goryeo noblewoman, Princess Deongnyeong, as his wife (instead of a Yuan princess). However, he also kept a huge harem of women in "sewing rooms", and even went so far as to start banging the concubines of his father, King Chungsuk.
-Heavily taxed the large rural estates owned by the nobility, as well as their industries, and spent all the money on himself instead of infrastructure.
-Loved spending his time throwing a wooden ball at targets, especially human targets.
-Would sometimes also go into people's houses at night and rape.
-King Chunghye was such a piece of shit that many fled the city and/or became monks.
-Many of these expats ended up in the town of Shenyang in China.
-The poor were miserable, and suicide was common.
-1343- Toghon Temür finally heard about how fucked up Goryeo was at this time, and summoned King Chunghye to his imperial court at Dadu (modern-day Beijing).
-The Yuan ambassador to Goryeo then rounded up King Chunghye's inner circle and arrested them, along with the king. He then imprisoned King Chunghye in a box and sent him to Dadu, where he was to be scolded by Toghon Temür, strapped to a wooden board, and exiled. At some point in all of this, of course, King Chunghye died.
-1344- King Chungmok, son of King Chunghye, was enthroned.
-He was only a boy, so a Yuan regent was the one who really called all the shots.
-1348- King Chungmok died suddenly, and is replaced by his younger brother (still a boy), King Chungjeong.
-During this time, the "waegu" ("Japanese/dwarf pirates") became a bad problem.
-Although for a long time it was believed that they were only from Japan, it's entirely possible that they were not just Japanese, but also Korean (from outlying islands), Chinese, mixed ethnicity, etc. Whatever they were, they were definitely bad actors.
-1351- King Chungjeong sucked, so Toghon Temür dethroned him and replaced him with King Chunghye's brother, King Gongmin (who had been held hostage in Dadu).
-King Gongmin was also a painter, a romantic, and actually loved his wife! However, it may have just been a platonic love, as King Gongmin apparently loved having sex with little boys, as he kept several court catamites around for sex.
-During this time, the people of Goryeo began to seriously question why they were still a part of the Yuan dynasty, especially since it was clear that their Mongol overlords had lost the Mandate of Heaven.
-Secret societies and cults began to pop up all over the kingdom, such as the White Lotus (based out of China).
-The White Lotus actually started a rebellion in northern China. These rebels became known as the Red Turbans.
-1355- The Red Turbans capture Nanjing, and then their ideology begins to shift from Buddhism to Neo-Confucianism.
-Soon, all of China begins to get really rebellious.
-During this time also, King Gongmin was having problems with both the waegu AND Red Turbans.
-1356- The Red Turban army begins to attack Dadu! The Yuan dynasty actually desperately asks Goryeo for help.
-King Gongmin sent troops to help fight off the Red Turbans, but many believe that this is dumb.
-1356- King Gongmin finally agrees that the Yuan dynasty is fucked, so he decides to go and retake the lands in North Korea that were once a part of the Chinese commanderies but still directly under the control of the Yuan dynasty still.
-The Yuan troops were driven out, and now all of the Korean peninsula and traditional "Korean" lands were back under Goryeo control.
-1358- Meanwhile, the waegu raids are still getting worse.
-During this time, many citizens of the Yuan dynasty realized that the Yuan were fucked, so they began to defect to Goryeo lands.
-Other forces, such as non-Red Turban rebels in the Yuan dynasty and random barbarian hordes in the north started to send gifts and tribute to King Gongmin. It was obvious that in northeast Asia, Goryeo was to fill part of the power vacuum that would occur once the Yuan dynasty fell.
-1359- The Red Turbans begin to move into the Liaodong Peninsula and attack Goryeo!
-Goryeo was able to eventually repel the Red Turban army, but soon a Red Turban naval fleet landed inside the kingdom and began to raid!
-Also, the waegu were so bad at this point that they were a direct threat to Goryeo's capital, Gaeseong. The court had to move to Seoul, which was easier to defend.
-Goryeo also set up conscriptions, called "smoke house soldiers", because they enslisted men from any house that had smoke coming out of it.
-1361- The Red Turban army returned, this time with the explicit purpose of conquering Goryeo! Goryeo was still able to defend themselves adequately, however.
-Also during this time, the Yuan dynasty tried to get King Gongmin off the throne, but they were too weak to actually get this done. They were able, however, to get the governor of Jeju Island to rebel!
-1364- Toghon Temür then sent 10,000 soldiers to remove King Gongmin from power.
-Meanwhile, the Jurchen were back and on the rise!
-They had been run out of NE Asia when the Jin dynasty had collapsed (they had fled to maybe Kamchatka or Siberia for a century or so), but now they were back! Goryeo would end up having to deal with them soon, but for now they had to worry about the incoming Yuan troops.
-Goryeo was strong enough at this point to repel the Yuan army, and then as a victory lap they went north and kicked the Jurchens' asses as well! However, the reason for this may have been because the general was trying to avoid going back to the Goryeo royal court, as he didn't wish to "outshine" the king.
-1365- Queen Noguk dies with a huge, elaborate funeral.
-Soon after this, King Gongmin began to have nightmares and maybe grew paranoid about his own mortality, so he befriended a hard-drinking, hard-partying monk named Shin Don that he supposedly envisioned saving his life in one of his dreams or something.
-King Gongmin then just went nuts and started banging young boys and shit, and Shin Don was able to accumulate lots of power (and a harem of women, of course) in the royal court. King Gongmin just kind of resigned himself to only participating in Buddhist rituals, and Shin Don did everything else.
-1367- Goryeo attempts to recapture Jeju-do, as it was no longer able to be protected by the Yuan dynasty.
-1368- The Yuan dynasty finally collapses, as Dadu was besieged by the Red Turbans armies. Toghun Temür soon died while on the run in Inner Mongolia.
-The warrior monk who had led the Red Turbans, Zhu Yuanzhang, crowned himself Emperor of China, kicking off the Ming dynasty!
-At the same time, the Japanese tried to establish a peace treaty with Goryeo. Goryeo could have used this as an opportunity to get the Japanese to crack down on their pirates, but Shin Don was an asshole to the Japanese ambassador and treated him badly.
-Shin Don then began to fill the ranks of the government with his own cronies.
-Luckily for Goryeo, King Gongmin was still able to establish good relations with the Ming dynasty during this time.
-1370- Goryeo began to expand its territory in the north, invading the land held by Jurchens and Yuan rebels.
-There was a power vacuum in Manchuria due to the collapse of the Yuan dynasty, and the Ming dynasty hadn't pacified the region yet.
-During this time also, Shin Don tried to stage a coup to dethrone King Gongmin! But this failed, and, as a result, King Gongmin had Shin Don executed.
-Now that Shin Don was gone, King Gongmin was finally back in power. The Yuan dynasty had collapsed, the Goryeo court was divided between the old guard of Yuan loyalists and the new school of pro-Ming dudes.
-1373- A Mongol rebel sent word to Gaeseong that he had just raised a big army, and was on his way to conquer Beiping (modern-day Beijing, formerly Dadu/Khanbaliq under the Yuan dynasty).
-Meanwhile, Goryeo was in serious trouble!
-The were raiding everywhere. and alsp they destroyed a bunch of Goryeo ships in a naval battle as well.
-In order to fight against the waegu fleets, King Gongmin developed a ship that could shoot fire arrows, but unfortunately it required gunpowder, which could only be obtained from the Chinese, and they refused to give out the secrets to its production.
-1374- the Mongol rebel army wanted to ally with Goryeo and demanded a shitload of horses from Jeju-do. The problem was that Jeju was still controlled by Mongols too, but they weren't allied with the Mongol rebels in Manchuria.
-Goryeo finally invaded Jeju-do and reconquered it, driving off the Mongol overlords.
-This year also brought about the death of King Gongmin, who was stabbed to death in his sleep by some conspirators over some drama with a concubine or something OR it was a plot by an anti-Ming faction, it's unclear.
-King Woo (or U) was enthroned, although he had a military general as his regent. However, the Ming dynasty refused to accept this boy as a legitimate ruler, especially given his dubious origins as perhaps not really the true son of King Gongmin.
-Also, the caravan that had all of the tribute from Goryeo was raided by bandits, so they had no gifts to give the Hongwu Emperor.
-Shit got pretty heated back in Goryeo over this, resulting in the pro-Yuan faction convincing King Woo's regent to side with the Manchurian rebels in rebellion against the Ming dynasty.
-The waegu still continued to be a blight upon the land during this time still as well.
-By 1377, Goryeo had finally stolen the secrets to its production through bribery, and were able to produce their own rockets and fire arrows, developed by Choi Mu-seon, Goryeo's Superintendent of Gunpowder.
-1378- General Yi Seong-gye, a badass who had done a bunch of successful military campaigns earlier, was appointed as supreme commander of the Goryeo military.
-General Yi immediately decreed that all the monks must fight as warriors to defend the lands against the waegu.
-Although at this time Goryeo did have gunpowder, they hadn't quite developed the weapon technology to use it for land battles.
-The waegu decided at this time to mount a huge attack on Gaeseong. Luckily, General Yi arrived just in time to attack the pirates from behind and wipe them all out. The Japanese even sent troops to fight and help Goryeo as allies. I guess they hated the waegu as well.
-1379- The Goryeo army and the navy finally had gunpowder! This gave them a huge advantage against the waegu.
-1380- King Woo decides to officially side with the Ming dynasty.
-This was a dumb move because the Ming didn't like him, and it pissed off the Manchurian rebels and their sympathizers. It also pissed off the common folk too (for whatever reason).
-Also, King Woo was turning into yet another drunkard ruler.
-Meanwhile, General Yi continued to fuck up the waegu. He also went on to defeat would-be Jurchen invaders as well.
-1380-1385- In order to accept King Woo as legit, the Ming dynasty demanded a ludicrous amount of tribute. King Woo continued to play this game until he was finally accepted by the Ming court.
-However, in 1385 King Woo randomly changed his mind and began to befriend the Mongol rebels in Manchuria (in hopes of betraying them and taking over their territory).
-This was really dumb because I guess the region was occupied by Ming forces, who greatly outnumbered Goryeo's forces. Plus, Goryeo didn't have enough money to truly finance this campaign, plus they still had the waegu to worry about.
-The weather was also really rainy and shitty, the soldiers knew it was a suicide mission so morale was low, soldiers were deserting, and even General Yi cried because he knew that the situation was completely fucked. General Yi decided that King Woo was going to bring the downfall of Goryeo, so he turned the army around instead and marched on Gaeseong!
Thursday, December 8, 2016
Goryeo - Part 8
-1281- King Chungnyeol remains on the throne in Gaeseong, a puppet king of Kublai Khan.
-The Mongol horde had failed to conquer Japan.
-Kublai Khan immediately gave the orders to prepare for a third invasion, but quickly realized that this would be too costly and too much of a pain in the ass, so instead began to focus on the conquest of Vietnam.
-It was during this time that the Samguk Yusa was published.
-Also during this time, the Koreans began to master the art of woodblock printing, and soon improved the technology by using movable metal type- a precursor to the modern-day printing press!
-Technically, the first "printing press" was invented in China in the 11th century.
-The Gutenberg printing press was truly revolutionary because it used the Roman alphabet, so it was really easy to use, whereas the Korean one used Chinese characters, which was clumsy and a huge pain in the ass to use.
-Around this time also the philosophy of Neo-Confucianism began to spread.
-A mix of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism.
-It had the moral absolutism of Buddhism, but also synthesized some other stuff.
-The Story of the Vinegar Tasters:
-An attempt to work the three schools of thought in harmony, and together they can be one!
-Reality is absolute, and people can study it and understand it.
-Therefore, there was a revival in academic studies and exams.
-King Chungnyeol became a convert of Neo-Confucianism,
-His son, Crown Prince Chungseon, was a hostage at Dadu (Beijing) and grew up in the Yuan royal family. He became a Neo-Confucian fanatic!
-Bad things happened too...it also became fashionable for polygamist Mongols to take additional "wives" (sex slaves) from Goryeo.
-The Mongols also plundered Goryeo for all of its best scholars and engineers to go work for the Mongols elsewhere.
-1290- Mongol Chinese commanderies and Goryeo lands are invaded by mysterious brutal barbarian hordes.
-King Chungnyeol sends 20,000 soldiers to drive them off.
-1294- Kublai Khan dies, replaced by his grandson, Temür Khan.
-1297- Queen Jangmok (also known as Princess Gyeguk/Qutlugh-kelmysh, daughter of Kublai Khan) dies.
-Prince Chungseon returns to Gaeseong from Dadu and commits a political purge of perceived enemies who may have secretly been involved in the queen's death (which was allegedly a natural death).
-Some were banished, others were executed, and then the Prince Chungseon returned to Dadu.
-Because of these events, it was obvious that King Chungnyeol had very little power, so he stepped down in 1298.
-King Chungseon was then enthroned, but had problems between factions that formed between his Mongol queen and his multiple Korean queens, so he was recalled back to Dadu and his dad was re-enthroned (with, of course, a Mongol regent watching over him).
-During this time there was also a plot to have the Mongol rulers driven out of the Goryeo, but it got fucked up when King Chungnyeol traveled to Dadu to to get involved in politics there.
-All of this was recorded in the Goryeo-sa, written during the Joseon dynasty.
-1307- the tension subsides when Temür Khan dies around the same time that King Chungnyeol dies, and King Chungseon is restored to the throne.
-He immediately just began to party and shit, and did another brutal purge of anyone he thought was still loyal to his father's old regime, and then just went back to Dadu (haha).
-He obviously was an asshole because even the Mongols hated him in Dadu, so he soon retired and appointed his second son to the throne, King Chungsuk, in 1314.
-Meanwhile, in Shinyang, there were lots of Goryeo expats of considerable political power who were plotting to overthrow King Chungsuk.
-1322- Gegeen Khan, the current emperor of the Yuan dynasty, was told that King Chungsuk had been responsible for the death of his Mongol queen. King Chunsuk was placed under house arrest in Dadu.
-1324- King Chungsuk was sent back to Gaeseong to rule, but he had become a changed man while under house arrest and just wanted to party and live a completely debauched lifestyle.
-1331- King Chungsuk was too exhausted from partying to rule, so he passed the crown to his son, King Chunghye, who had been living as a hostage in Dadu.
-King Chungsuk, of course, returned to Dadu.
-However, King Chunghye was no different than his dad, but was so crazy that he was recalled back to Dadu in 1332 and was replaced by his dad (haha just like what happened with King Chungseon and King Chungseok).
-King Chungsuk finally died in 1339, replaced by King Chunghye.
-Meanwhile, China was getting fucked up by disasters and draughts and shit, and Mongol emperors who had taken the Yuan dynasty throne began dying rapidly.
-It was obvious, at least to the masses, that the Yuan dynasty had lost the Mandate of Heaven. The end was nigh!
-The Mongol horde had failed to conquer Japan.
-Kublai Khan immediately gave the orders to prepare for a third invasion, but quickly realized that this would be too costly and too much of a pain in the ass, so instead began to focus on the conquest of Vietnam.
-It was during this time that the Samguk Yusa was published.
-Also during this time, the Koreans began to master the art of woodblock printing, and soon improved the technology by using movable metal type- a precursor to the modern-day printing press!
-Technically, the first "printing press" was invented in China in the 11th century.
-The Gutenberg printing press was truly revolutionary because it used the Roman alphabet, so it was really easy to use, whereas the Korean one used Chinese characters, which was clumsy and a huge pain in the ass to use.
-Around this time also the philosophy of Neo-Confucianism began to spread.
-A mix of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism.
-It had the moral absolutism of Buddhism, but also synthesized some other stuff.
-The Story of the Vinegar Tasters:
-An attempt to work the three schools of thought in harmony, and together they can be one!
-Reality is absolute, and people can study it and understand it.
-Therefore, there was a revival in academic studies and exams.
-King Chungnyeol became a convert of Neo-Confucianism,
-His son, Crown Prince Chungseon, was a hostage at Dadu (Beijing) and grew up in the Yuan royal family. He became a Neo-Confucian fanatic!
-Bad things happened too...it also became fashionable for polygamist Mongols to take additional "wives" (sex slaves) from Goryeo.
-The Mongols also plundered Goryeo for all of its best scholars and engineers to go work for the Mongols elsewhere.
-1290- Mongol Chinese commanderies and Goryeo lands are invaded by mysterious brutal barbarian hordes.
-King Chungnyeol sends 20,000 soldiers to drive them off.
-1294- Kublai Khan dies, replaced by his grandson, Temür Khan.
-1297- Queen Jangmok (also known as Princess Gyeguk/Qutlugh-kelmysh, daughter of Kublai Khan) dies.
-Prince Chungseon returns to Gaeseong from Dadu and commits a political purge of perceived enemies who may have secretly been involved in the queen's death (which was allegedly a natural death).
-Some were banished, others were executed, and then the Prince Chungseon returned to Dadu.
-Because of these events, it was obvious that King Chungnyeol had very little power, so he stepped down in 1298.
-King Chungseon was then enthroned, but had problems between factions that formed between his Mongol queen and his multiple Korean queens, so he was recalled back to Dadu and his dad was re-enthroned (with, of course, a Mongol regent watching over him).
-During this time there was also a plot to have the Mongol rulers driven out of the Goryeo, but it got fucked up when King Chungnyeol traveled to Dadu to to get involved in politics there.
-All of this was recorded in the Goryeo-sa, written during the Joseon dynasty.
-1307- the tension subsides when Temür Khan dies around the same time that King Chungnyeol dies, and King Chungseon is restored to the throne.
-He immediately just began to party and shit, and did another brutal purge of anyone he thought was still loyal to his father's old regime, and then just went back to Dadu (haha).
-He obviously was an asshole because even the Mongols hated him in Dadu, so he soon retired and appointed his second son to the throne, King Chungsuk, in 1314.
-Meanwhile, in Shinyang, there were lots of Goryeo expats of considerable political power who were plotting to overthrow King Chungsuk.
-1322- Gegeen Khan, the current emperor of the Yuan dynasty, was told that King Chungsuk had been responsible for the death of his Mongol queen. King Chunsuk was placed under house arrest in Dadu.
-1324- King Chungsuk was sent back to Gaeseong to rule, but he had become a changed man while under house arrest and just wanted to party and live a completely debauched lifestyle.
-1331- King Chungsuk was too exhausted from partying to rule, so he passed the crown to his son, King Chunghye, who had been living as a hostage in Dadu.
-King Chungsuk, of course, returned to Dadu.
-However, King Chunghye was no different than his dad, but was so crazy that he was recalled back to Dadu in 1332 and was replaced by his dad (haha just like what happened with King Chungseon and King Chungseok).
-King Chungsuk finally died in 1339, replaced by King Chunghye.
-Meanwhile, China was getting fucked up by disasters and draughts and shit, and Mongol emperors who had taken the Yuan dynasty throne began dying rapidly.
-It was obvious, at least to the masses, that the Yuan dynasty had lost the Mandate of Heaven. The end was nigh!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)