■ King Gongmin (reign 1351~1374)
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* King Gongmin from Shin Don (MBC 2005), Faith (SBS 2012), The Great Seer (2013 SBS), Jung Do-Jeon (KBS 2014)
When the Yuan dynasty (Mongol empire) was beginning to crumble in the mid-14th century, King Gongmin (공민왕 恭愍王 ) returned from Yuan China with his wife Princess Noguk (노국대장공주 魯國大長公主) of Mongol empire to ascend to the throne of Goryeo. He began the efforts to reform the Goryeo government. In 1356, he killedEmpress Ki’s brothers and tried to remove the Mongolian influences from the court. In the same year, the king ordered Goryeo armies to recapture the northeast territory occupied by Pro-Mongol forces. Yi Seong-Gye and his father secretly opened the fortress’ gate and helped Goryeo armies. (ep. 1) King Gongmin opened the government posts to the reformist Confucian scholars in order to check the power of conservative pro-Mongol nobles. Those scholars had formed a new social class called “Sadaebu (신진사대부 新進士大夫)” and their famous representatives were Sambong Jung Do-Jeon(정도전 鄭道傳) and Poeun Jung Mong-Joo (정몽주 鄭夢周). (* ‘Sambong’ and ‘Poeun’ are their pen names.) In addition, there were famous military officers who had protected Goryeo people from various foreign invaders. The renowned general Choi Young (최영 崔瑩), and the new rising star Yi Seong-Gye (이성계 李成桂) started to emerge as new political forces. They were called “New warrior forces” (신흥 무인세력, 新興武人勢力). However, no matter how hard the king tried, his reforms were frustrated by frequent foreign invasions and assassination threats. In 1361, the second invasion of Red Turban Army broke out. When King Gongmin decided to escape from the capital, all the Gaegyung citizens were terrified and cried out to think that they were abandoned. About 5 days after the king’s evacuation, the Red Turban army occupied the city and set fire to the street. They killed thousands of citizens and ate the roasted flesh. In January 1362, Goryeo armies led by 3 generals under supreme commanderJung Se-Woon (정세운 鄭世雲) recaptured Gaegyung city after the fierce bloody battles. However, 3 days after the victory, the 3 generals had to murder their supreme commander in obedience to a royal command. In fact, the king’s command was later found to be forged by traitor Kim Yong (김용, 金鏞) who was afraid that the war heroes would threaten his power in the court. The 3 generals were executed under a false accusation of killing the supreme commander. One of them was Jung Mong-Joo’s teacher. Some Joseon-era historians doubted that the king’s command was forged by Kim Yong. They thought the real culprit to kill the 4 war heroes was not Kim Yong but King Gongmin himself. The king was so capricious and sensitive that they believed he might be devoured by jealousy and couldn’t stand that the generals were hailed as saviours while he was fleeing from the royal palace. In March 1363, one year after the horrible tragedy, traitor Kim Yong sent about 50 assassins to kill King Gongmin staying in Heungwangsa temple. EunuchAhn Do-Chi (안도치, 安都赤) evacuated the king and pretended to sleep in the king’s bed. The assassins mistook him for the king and stabbed him all over with the daggers, but they found out he was not the king. Meanwhile, Princess Noguk (노국대장공주, 魯國大長公主) blocked the assassins’ way by herself to protect her husband. The assassins were flustered and hesitated because she was the princess of the Mongol empire, and it could be a serious problem to kill her. In the meantime, General Choi Young (최영, 崔瑩)‘s soldiers broke into the temple and suppressed the assassins. This 1363 incident is called “the rebellion of Heungwangsa temple (흥왕사의 변, 興王寺─變)” Kim Yong’s assassination attempt ended in failure and he was executed. In the same year, Yuan China declared Prince Deokheung (덕흥군 德興君) as the new Goryeo’s king because Empress Ki got upset about King Gongmin’s murder of her brothers. Yuan troops were sent to Goryeo to depose the king, but General Choi Young and Yi Seong-Gye defeated them. In 1364, Yuan China officially gave up deposing King Gongmin. However, misfortunes never come singly.
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Post time 8-1-2016 03:40 PM
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