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!