In this thick historical scroll, the life of Concubine Min, a woman, is the most fascinating. She came from a humble background, but she was ambitious; It's a difficult situation, but it's strategic. In the end, with her extraordinary wisdom and courage, she actually dominated the future and fate of the entire dynasty, and she can be described as the Korean version of the "Empress Dowager Cixi". So, how did this Min woman, who is not favored by the royal family and her family, climb to the pinnacle of power step by step? What are the aspects of her great powers?
1. The decline of royal power and the politics of gatekeepers
From the very beginning of its establishment, the Joseon Dynasty faced a serious problem of succession to the throne. After the death of Li Chenggui, the founder of the country, the throne changed hands for a time, and his son Li Zhijian ascended the throne. Several generations of crown princes died one after another, and the throne was transferred to the founder of the last dynasty of Joseon, Yi Su. The orthodox royal lineage was severed, and the Punzhi royal family began to succeed to the throne one after another.
As a result, the legitimacy and ruling foundation of the Joseon royal family were shaken, and the royal power gradually declined. At the same time, the power vacuum also tempted the wealthy families to take advantage of the situation and gradually control the power of the government. For example, in the reign of the ancestor Li Ye, the clan relative Zhao Zaixu served as the regent to control the country's affairs. By the time of Seonjo Li Hao and the last king of Joseon in the Ming Dynasty, the power of the eunuch Xu Wenzu reached its peak.
Power was lost from the center of the dynasty to the gates in all directions, and the monarchy gradually existed in name only. In addition, the politics of the gate valve caused the government and the opposition parties to fight constantly, so that the Joseon Dynasty fell into an unprecedented internal friction dilemma. By the time Gaozong Li Xi succeeded to the throne, all this was deeply ingrained and difficult to cure.
As the successor to the throne of the royal family, Gaozong has been under the "guardianship" of the regent concubine Zhao and his father Li Yuying, the monarch of the courtyard, since he was a child. It was in this power vacuum and the intensification of internal contradictions that Concubine Min gradually eroded the royal power and finally ascended to the top of power.
Before Gojong ascended the throne, the throne of Joseon had long been transferred to the side branch of the royal family, and the side line of Joseon lasted for hundreds of years. This greatly reduced the authority of the royal bloodline, and also made peripheral forces such as the royal family, eunuchs, and gate lords take advantage of the situation and gradually encroach on the centralized power. By the time of Gaozong, almost all the power of the royal family was lost, and the real power was in the hands of the royal clansmen Zhao and Dayuanjun.
For Gojong, he was more of a puppet than a monarch. As a side branch of the royal family, he lacked the innate sanctity of the successor to the throne, and lacked the legitimacy and authoritative basis of his rule. What's more, Gaozong ascended the throne at the age of 12, and he was young, ignorant and inexperienced, and was destined to be unable to preside over state politics alone.
As a result, the decline of the Joseon royal lineage led to the decline of royal power. At the same time, the covetousness and interference of the family gate valve also exacerbated the continued decline of royal power. In this environment, Gaozong naturally can't control the real power, and can only be held by others and be a puppet.
2. Concubine Min's predicament
Concubine Min was born in the Lixing Min family, a small family that did not have a prominent position in North Korea. Her father died young, and her family was poor, and she was a typical grass farmer. This put Concubine Min in an extremely difficult situation from the beginning.
When Gojong Li Xi ascended the throne at the age of 12, the government was controlled by the royal family Zhao and the Dayuan monarch Li Yuying. According to the rules of the Joseon royal family, the king came of age by the "great princess" Cho family. The Zhao family controlled the state affairs remotely, and the monarchy only existed in name.
At that time, although the Zhao clan did not completely transfer the real power to Dayuanjun, Dayuanjun also held considerable power as the regent Zaifu. The two actually divided the royal power of Gaozong.
Under the guardianship of the Zhao family and Dayuanjun, Gaozong's life was naturally controlled and arranged by them. At that time, in the focus of the Zhao family and Dayuanjun, it was not Concubine Min, who was from a humble background, but Li Kun, the eldest son of Gaozong's prince.
Li Kun was born in Gaozong's first princess, Shanggong Li, and was doted on by Gaozong and Dayuan Jun since she was a child. Due to the lack of heirs of Gaozong, Li Kun naturally became the most powerful candidate for the crown prince at that time, and his future was immeasurable.
In this case, Gaozong and Dayuanjun naturally valued and valued Li Kun more, but they were indifferent to Concubine Min, an aunt from a humble background. At that time, the relationship between Concubine Min and Gaozong was just a marriage contract.
Not only that, but because the Zhao family and Dayuanjun favored Li Kun, Concubine Min's status in the harem was also extremely low. She is in a humble situation, her family background is poor, and she is even more neglected and bullied in the harem, and her future is dark.
Faced with the royal power being controlled by others, she is just a despised Concubine Min, and it must be a difficult road for Concubine Min to make a difference and seek power. Even though she later won the favor of Gojong, it was still difficult to grasp the royal power.
Because the real core of power at that time was the Zhao family and Dayuanjun, and Gaozong's own power had long been hollowed out. In addition, Li Kun's status as the eldest son of Gaozong makes it very likely that he will inherit the throne, which is undoubtedly the biggest obstacle and threat on the way to Concubine Min's seizure of power.
Therefore, in order to turn defeat into victory from this situation, Concubine Min must first break the alliance between the Zhao clan and Dayuanjun, eliminate the threat of Li Kun, and bring down and eliminate all forces opposing her. And to do all this, you must rely on extraordinary wisdom and courage, so the next series of actions of Concubine Min are carefully laid out and operated to achieve this goal.
Three. Be bold and strategic
In the face of the predicament, Concubine Min did not give up, but strategized, showing extraordinary courage and resourcefulness.
First of all, she began to pick up the old tribes of different races and support the private party. At the same time, she also worked hard to weaken the power of the Dayuanjun and lay the foundation for the future seizure of power.
At that time, in order to prevent the voyeurism of the Anton Kim family, Dayuanjun deliberately used the Lixing Min family to contain him. However, Concubine Min did not act as a restraining force as expected by Dayuanjun, but instead used the Lixing Min clan for her own use.
Relying on Dayuanjun's lack of precautions against herself, Concubine Min gradually built the Lixing Min family into a private party force that seized power. At the same time, she used this private party to gradually encroach on the power of Dayuanjun.
At the same time, Concubine Min is also secretly sowing discord within the royal family. She deliberately set up the opposite of Gaozong and Dayuanjun, so that Gaozong realized that his nominal royal power was being hollowed out by Dayuanjun.
For Wang Yan's eldest son Li Kun, Concubine Min even framed and attacked, trying her best to slander Li Kun's prestige and prestige. She slandered Li Kun on suspicion of acting as a prestige and endangering the rule of the royal family by taking power for personal gain.
Through this series of operations, Concubine Min succeeded in isolating and attacking Dayuanjun and his supporters, while also marginalizing Wang Yan's eldest son, Li Kun, clearing the way for future seizures of power.
However, even so, Concubine Min did not stop there. On the contrary, she further intensified her impact on Dayuanjun and completely purged Dayuanjun's lineage in the court.
At the instigation of Concubine Min, Gaozong first removed Dayuan Jun from his post and then exiled him. In the end, Dayuanjun was killed in the collusion of Concubine Min and her henchmen, thus completely cutting off his remaining party power in the court.
At the same time, Concubine Min also took the opportunity to clear out Wang Yan's eldest son Li Kun and his henchmen. She insulted Li Kun for being rebellious, which led to Li Kun's deposition and the purging of his henchmen in the process.
Through these actions, Concubine Min successfully cleared all her political opponents and cleared the way for her future control of the government. Since then, there is no other strength to compete with her.
Of course, Concubine Min's courage and resourcefulness did not stop there. In fact, in the process of her seizure of power, she showed a decisive side of killing and suppressing dissent.
For example, at that time, there were still some direct ministers of Ruizong in the court, who insisted on not obeying and bluntly admonishing Concubine Min. But Concubine Min showed no mercy to them, and most of them were exiled or even killed.
Fourth, seize the opportunity to seize power and sit steadily
After the difficult layout and operation, Concubine Min finally waited for the opportunity and seized the power of the court in one fell swoop.
At that time, the contradictions between the government and the opposition intensified, internal and external troubles were frequent, and the dynasty fell into an unprecedented crisis. On the one hand, the ongoing party strife has severely divided the ruling and opposition camps. On the other hand, the invasion of Japan and the northern Jurchens also put the country in dire straits.
Against this backdrop, the situation is deteriorating day by day, triggering the outbreak of old and new party rivalries. At the same time, Japan also took the opportunity to launch an attack on Korea.
In the face of the crisis, the imperial court was in chaos. The core of the old dynasty, such as the Zhao family and Dayuanjun, were blindly selfish and watched the dynasty fall into a dangerous situation. Gaozong himself was also under guardianship for a long time in his early years, and he was unable to deal with emergencies at all.
At this critical moment, Concubine Min took the opportunity to launch a coup d'état, pulled down the Zhao family and Dayuanjun, and seized power in one fell swoop. She first frantically pouted between the government and the opposition, and the crisis continued to magnify.
Then, she secretly teamed up with the alien pacification envoy Park Rangers to jointly fabricate the rumor of "the rebellion of the prince of the courtyard". In the end, in an atmosphere of excitement, Gojong was forced to remove Daewonjun from his position.
Since then, Concubine Min has further hollowed out Zhao's power. Under her surveillance, the Zhao family basically existed in name only, and all power fell into the hands of Concubine Min.
In order to consolidate her power, Concubine Min then began a large-scale purge. In the name of the so-called "Dayuan Jun's henchmen", she wantonly killed and exiled a group of old dynasty relics.
At the same time, Wang's eldest son, Li Kun, and his henchmen were also dealt a comprehensive blow in this purge. As a last possible threat, Li Kun was sent away from the Jingshi, and his henchmen were also swept away from the government and the opposition.
After this series of operations, Concubine Min wiped out all the old dynasty magnates such as Dayuanjun and Zhao in one fell swoop, and Wang Yan's eldest son Li Kun and his henchmen were all wiped out. As a result, the last remnants of the old dynasty were completely swept away by Concubine Min.
In this way, Concubine Min finally sat firmly on the throne of power and became the unprecedented female ruler of the Joseon Dynasty. With the fall of the Zhao family and Dayuanjun, she was able to control Gaozong remotely and dominate the country's political power.
However, at this time, Concubine Min also realized that it was not enough to just be in power. In order to strengthen her position, she must further purge dissidents and weaken any possible opposition from the government and the opposition.
Therefore, after seizing power, Concubine Min launched a thorough purge of the government and the opposition. She did not hesitate to purge her party with blood, excluding all possible opposition and dissidents.
With this series of operations, Concubine Min finally sat firmly in power and became a well-deserved de facto ruler of North Korea. She achieved a terrifying transformation from powerless to powerless, and became the North Korean version of the "Empress Dowager Cixi".
5. Authoritarian tyranny, and eventual disrepute
After taking power, Concubine Min's domineering and tyrannical injustice became increasingly apparent. She not only kept Gaozong out of the air, but also severely purged and brutally persecuted the government and the opposition.
First of all, she completely hollowed out the original power center Gaozong. Gaozong is nothing more than a puppet emperor who can only obey her orders. In fact, Concubine Min controlled the core of power throughout the Joseon Dynasty and became a well-deserved de facto ruler.
Not only that, but in order to consolidate her power, Concubine Min also brutally purged all possible dissidents and opposition forces. She carried out a thorough purge of the government and the opposition, purging and exiling a large number of old party members, and cutting down the grass and roots.
At the same time, she showed no mercy to anyone who spoke out, striking and exiling all these loyal and good men. Later, he directly killed a large number of passers-by, so that no one in the court dared to speak out.
In addition to purging dissidents, Concubine Min also severely cracked down on the royal family and famous families, completely suppressing their power in the court. Some famous families, such as the Jin family and the Nanren, were severely attacked and weakened in this purge.
This was undoubtedly an unprecedented purge of the government and the opposition, in which all dissidents and opposition factions were spared and all were exterminated. Through this series of purges and purges, Concubine Min's power reached an unprecedented peak.
However, as her power grew, so did the tyranny and tyranny of her rule. Internally, she not only overthrew the autocratic autonomy of the high sect, but also provoked neighboring countries many times externally, causing the national strength to suffer heavy losses.
For example, during the two Japanese invasions, Concubine Min did not hesitate to throw the common people into the fire and water in order to maintain her rule, and only protected the interests of the royal family. This kind of hurtful approach to the people and reason caused the dynasty to fall into an unprecedented crisis.
Not only that, but there were many famines during Concubine Min's reign, but she was indifferent to this and made the people miserable. This concept of ruling, which treats the people as sloppy, brutal and incompetent, undoubtedly exacerbates the suffering of the people and the dissatisfaction with the rulers.
At the same time, in order to maintain her power, she also amassed a lot of money, which led to heavy enslavement and increased the burden on the people. It has even launched a so-called "literal prison" against North Korea on many occasions to massively persecute and suppress intellectuals.
In general, after Concubine Min came to power, she endlessly expanded her power, tyrannized and wantonly oppressed the people. This philosophy and skill of ruling eventually accelerated the decline of the dynasty, leading to the continuous escalation of the people's revolt and discontent.
It was not until the end, when the people's grievances accumulated to a certain extent, that a peasant uprising called the "Tsusho Guard" was brewed. In this uprising, the people pointed the finger of resentment directly at Concubine Min and her favored courtiers.
In the end, under the attack of the peasant army, Concubine Min suffered a complete defeat and a complete blow. She was captured and subjected to a harsh trial, sentenced to capital punishment. And Jin Zhizhi, the favorite minister who single-handedly created her power, was beaten to death.
This marked the complete destruction of Concubine Min and the beginning of the decline of the entire Joseon Dynasty. Her tyrannical and tyrannical rule finally collapsed in the face of popular resistance and ruined her reputation.