I ask you a question: How many emperors have there been in the history of Korea? The answer is two, and both are puppets. Isn't that amazing? But that's the truth. For a long time in ancient times, Korea was a vassal state of China, they called the king rather than the emperor, even if it was hereditary, it needed to be recognized by the Central Plains Dynasty.
For example, goguryeo, which had not yet unified the peninsula, its founder Jumong was initially just a waiting, with the title of Dongming Shengwang; later the Goryeo Dynasty Taejo Wangjian, the nickname was very long: Ying Yun Guanglie Da Ding Rui De Zhang Xiao Wei Mu Ren Yong Sacred King, but also only the king; the next Lee Dynasty Korea, Taizu Li Chenggui took the initiative to claim the ming as a vassal, and even the name of the country was decided by Zhu Yuanzhang.
Li Chenggui took Goryeo and wrote to the Ming Dynasty after the Dynasty:
The courtiers secretly thought that there was a national trumpet that was not dared by the junior minister. I would like to take the names "Joseon" and "Hening" from the Holy Judgment.
Zhu Yuanzhang replied:
Dongyi's name, but the name of Korea is beautiful, and it has come from afar, and it can be ancestors in its own name. Tiantian herdsman, heir of Yongchang.
So Korea did not have an emperor in the true sense for a long time, until after the Sino-Japanese War, China lost its suzerainty over Korea, and with the support of Japan, on October 12, 1897, the 26th king of the Joseon Dynasty, Lee Hee, was proclaimed emperor, and was the first emperor of Korea, changing the name of the country to the Korean Empire.
Later, Because Li Xi wanted to resist, he was forced by the Japanese to abdicate, and Chunzong Li Tu succeeded to the throne.
Li Xi
Emperor Gaozong Li Xi was weak, Chunzong Li Tu was weaker than his father, and his ascension to the throne benefited from his mother Concubine Min.
In the early days of Li Xi's reign, he could be said to be a puppet of his father Li Yunying, who made his biological father Li Yunying the Prince of Xingxuan and acted as the king's ruler, while Li Xi originally did not favor the Min clan and mixed with the Li clan of Shanggong day and night.
The snubbed days lasted for three years, and three years later Lee Sang-gun gave birth to Emperor Gojong, the first son of Lee Hee, and was therefore highly regarded, and North Korea was as expensive as China, which put pressure on the Min clan.
After thinking about it, the Min clan united with the forces of the government and the opposition to Li Yunying to launch a coup d'état and successfully seized power. In this way, Min became the de facto ruler of Korea, after which Lee Hee had to live with her, and the two had many sons, but only Lee Tau survived, so he was the only heir to the throne.
Princess Min
Born in 1874, when the Qing Dynasty and even Korea were in turmoil, Min was a very capable person who had been trying to make Korea sway between China and Japan and maintain its independence, but she ignored the ambitions of the Japanese and her own capital.
After the Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese occupied the Korean Peninsula, and Min died at the hands of the Japanese. In 1897, Li Xi became emperor with the support of the Japanese, and Li Tao was changed from Shizi to crown prince.
Sadly, on the night Min was killed, Li Tao happened to see it, and for several months he was confused, often crying like a child for no reason, and constantly calling out to his mother. Although this incident proves that the mother and son have a deep affection, it can also be seen that Li Tu is a very weak person.
In 1907, the Second Peace Conference was held in The Hague, the Netherlands, and Emperor Gaozong Li Xi secretly ordered several of his henchmen to attend the meeting with his handwritten letter, accusing Japan of aggression against Korea and trying to arouse sympathy from all countries in the world for Korea.
Unfortunately, at that time, all countries in the world recognized Japan's control over Korea, so the telegram wanted to confirm whether the secret letter was from Li Xi's hand, and the telegram was intercepted by Japan, so Li Xi was deposed and Li Tu took the throne.
The indifference of the countries of the world also made Japan more confident and bold in invading Korea.
Li Tu
It is really sad to say that Li Tu, whether it is a business or a private matter.
The private matter was that he was unable to have children, according to Korean historical records, it was caused by the negligence of the palace women in his infancy, similar to the reasons for Puyi, the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty.
The official business was that he was a puppet from beginning to end, and it was only a matter of time before he was completely annexed by the Japanese for four days after he ascended the throne, and the judicial power in the country fell into the hands of the Japanese, and the army was forced to disband.
Over the years, many Korean experts have verified that the edicts and decrees promulgated by Li Tu during his nominal reign were all written by the Japanese Mama Kyozo, and they did not even have the right to sign.
On August 21, 1910, Lee Gwan-yong, the prime minister of the Korean Empire, came to Lee's palace and asked him to agree to merge with Japan. Li Tu hesitated at first, and Li Wanyong became impatient, throwing out a sentence: "If it is, then there will be the disaster of the Red Clan!" Li Tao had no choice but to agree to the request, and then hugged and cried with Empress Yin.
On August 29, Chunjong Lee Tsui abdicated, and On this day Japan promulgated the Treaty of Annexation between Japan and South Korea, and Korea became part of Japan. Since then, Li Tu has lived a life of house arrest.
Li Tao, Yin Shi
On April 25, 1926, Lee Tui died depressed, at the age of 52, nicknamed "Emperor Xiao", his identity is actually many, he is the 27th monarch of Lee Korea, the second generation of emperor of the Korean Empire, the last monarch of the Korean Peninsula, and at the same time a poor puppet, life is lamentable.