Text/Kingdom Building
He was the only person in the history of the Joseon Dynasty who was given the title of Daewonjun (Note: Daewonjun refers to the title of the emperor who has no heirs, and the title of the biological father of the heir to the imperial throne, which is equivalent to the status of the regent Zaifeng, the father of Puyi at the end of the Qing Dynasty). Because he and his son competed for the right to rule Korea, they did not hesitate to collude with Japanese militarists to kill their daughter-in-law, Empress Myeongseong, which eventually led to the annexation of Korea by Japan. The high-ranking North Korean monarch was Lee Yeon-young.
01, the fallen royal family
Lee Yoon-young, a member of the Joseon Imperial Family, was born on January 24, 1821 in Seoul (present-day Seoul, South Korea). His father was Li Qiu of Nanyanjun, and his mother was from the Lixing Min clan, the youngest of the four sons of Nanyanjun. He was the eighth grandson of Emperor Renzu of Joseon (搽峰平君㴭→→義原君爀→安興君→ Ryong → Lee Jin-wing → Lee Byeong-won →nam-yeon-jun-sphere). Five years before Li Yunying was born, his father was passed over to the long-deceased Enshinjun Li Chen (易昍嗣孙孙孙) who died prematurely, so Li Yun was supposed to be the fifth grandson of Emperor Suzong of Joseon in patriarchal terms.
Don't look at Li Yun should be a relative of the emperor, when he was born, the military power of the Korean state was in the hands of the foreign relative Andong Kim. In order to prevent the Li clan from having a chance to make a comeback, all the royal clan relatives with some prestige and talent were either exiled or executed, and it became a luxury to be able to live in peace and security.
When Li Yanying grew up and became an adult, although he had political ambitions, he had no way to reach the sky. In order to prevent the persecution of the Jin clan, he had to pretend to be crazy and stupid, lingered in the brothel of qinglou, and even called him a brother and a brother with a hooligan. Under the cover of this "broken settlement" image, trembling and majestic life.
02, the living courtyard jun
In 1862, King Jeongjong of Joseon, Lee Fu, was chronically ill and childless, and the heir to the throne could only be found from the side branch. At that time, most of the royal sons who had the opportunity to be selected as heirs had already been killed, so Li Yanying's son, who was not very close in blood, had the possibility of being selected. Li Yan should change his usual sloppy, poor and depressed appearance, and not hesitate to sell his field products to marry Jin Bingxue, Jin Bingji, Zhao Chengxia and other foreign relatives and magnates, and listen to the wind and grass in the palace. Kung Fu paid off, and soon after, Lee Jong-ying heard that the most powerful elder in the palace at that time, the concubine of Emperor Yizong of Joseon, Lee Jong (Queen Shenzhen), was dissatisfied with the control of the government by her relative Kim, and wanted to find a clan son who could balance the Kim clan to inherit the throne of Jeongjong Lee. Therefore, Li Yan should buy off the palace maids around Concubine Zhao and tell her that if he made his son the heir to the throne, he would not only ensure the continuity of Emperor Yizong's heirs, but also weaken the power of the Jin clan. Later, Li Yanying entered the palace through Zhao Chengxia, a member of Concubine Zhao's family, to explain the stakes, and finally said that he had moved Concubine Zhao and Emperor Zhezong Li Fu, and succeeded Li Fuying, the second son of Li Fuying, as his heir.
In 1863, Choljong Lee Eng of Joseon died. Just as the two major foreign relatives of the Joseon Dynasty, the Andong Kim clan and the Fengyang Cho clan, were arguing over the throne, a decree was issued from the palace to appoint Li Yunying's second son Li Mingfu as king and change his name to Li Hee, the historical Gojong of Joseon. According to the imperial etiquette system of Korea, the father of the successor emperor should be crowned as the prince of the great courtyard. It is just that for more than 500 years of the Joseon Dynasty, the heir to the imperial throne has only looked for the sons of the royal family whose own father has passed away, that is, they are afraid of more inconvenience in the ethics of the monarch. However, when Lee Wasing was still alive, his son succeeded Jeongjong Lee Fu as his heir and became king, so Lee Yoon-ying also became the only living prince in Korean history, with the title of "Emperor Of Heungseon Daewon."
03. The struggle for the rights of father-in-law and daughter-in-law
After Emperor Gojong of Joseon ascended the throne as king, he was only 12 years old at the time, and the military and political power of the imperial court was still in the hands of his foreign relative Kim. Li Yan, the prince of the great courtyard, should be granted the right to "assist in the great government" through the arrangement of Concubine Zhao, and take care of the government affairs for the young king. Since then, the military and political power of The DPRK has gradually come into the hands of Li Yunying.
After Emperor Gaozong Li Xi became an adult, Li Yu should help him find a concubine. In view of the shortcomings of the Joseon Dynasty over the past hundred years of foreign relatives interfering in politics, Li Yun should have set the criteria for the selection of concubines: first, there is no deep political background, and second, absolute loyalty to the royal family. Under such conditions, Li Yunying's wife Min's mother-in-law Min Ziying became the best candidate. Min Ziying's father died since childhood, he grew up with the financial support of a large number of relatives, there is no one in her mother's family to say, or a relative of Li Yanying's wife, politically it is absolutely reliable.
In 1866, at the age of 15, Min Ziying married Emperor Gaozong Li Xi and became known as Princess Min (only known as Empress Mingcheng after breaking away from the Qing Dynasty). Li Yunying thought that finding a weak and lonely woman as a daughter-in-law would not pose a threat to his dominance, but the world was changeable, and it was this woman who looked very weak and became the biggest political enemy of Li Yingying's life.
From an early age, Lee Hee of Gojong of Joseon was cowardly and obsessed with femininity, and had no desire to dominate power. Therefore, Li Yan, the prince of the great courtyard, should have taken his place in charge of the imperial government for ten years, but he did not pay attention to it. However, Li Xi's concubine Min Ziying was a very politically minded woman, constantly blowing pillow wind around Li Xi and provoking the relationship between Li Xi and her father Li Yunying. Concubine Min was also particularly willing to coax Concubine Zhao to be happy, and over time, everyone in the palace was dissatisfied with Li Yunying. In particular, Li Yunying was arrogant and arrogant, and never distinguished between the courtesies of the monarch in front of Emperor Gojong Li Xi, as if the king of Joseon was him.
In 1873, ten years after the reign of Emperor Lee Jong-young of The Great Courtyard, a new political force led by Consort Min staged a coup d'état and ousted her from power. The Joseon Dynasty entered the reign of Consort Min.
After Li Yunying stepped down, he did not live in peace and self-preservation, and planned many assassination attempts against Concubine Min and her henchmen. Killed Princess Min's brother Min Seung-ho and her mother, Lady Lee of Han Changfu, and others.
In 1882, The Korean soldiers launched the "Noon Mutiny". At the instigation of Li Yanying, the prince of the compound, these rebel soldiers killed many core figures of the Min Fei clique, destroyed the camp of the Other Technical Army and the Japanese legation, drove away the Japanese minister in Korea, Hua Fang, killed more than a dozen Japanese, and even rushed into the royal palace, Changdeokgung Palace (the royal family moved to Changdeokgung Palace after the explosion of Gyeongbokgung Palace), and hunted down and killed Min Concubine. Concubine Min disguised herself as a palace maid and fled the palace with the help of Li Yingying's wife, Grand Lady Li Xingfu. The rebel soldiers and civilians supported Li Yu's entry into the palace, and Emperor Gaozong was forced to issue a decree that "from now on, the big and small official duties will be decided in front of the king of the compound." In this way, Li Yan should come to power for the second time with the support of the rebel soldiers and civilians. However, a few days later, Li Xi asked the Manchu Qing court for help, and Wu Changqing, Yuan Shikai, and others brought troops into Korea and arrested Li Yunying and sent him to Baoding, China, for a long period of time, until he was forcibly sent back to Korea in 1885. Why is it forcibly sent back? Because neither King Lee Hee nor Concubine Min wanted Lee to return to China, it was the Manchu Qing court that deliberately did so in order to contain the political situation in Korea. When Li Yun should return to Korea, Li Xi not only did not greet him, but even when Li Yunying was ill, he did not send a doctor to diagnose and treat him. Li Yan was asked to return to China in grief and indignation, but was stopped by Yuan Shikai.
04. Conspired with the Japanese to assassinate Empress Myosei
In 1887, Li Yunying, who was still undeterred about politics, abandoned the Manchu Qing government and turned to the embrace of the Japanese. Mr. Lee should get in touch with the Japanese government through his Japanese teacher, Ogawa Shi, in order to plan a coup d'état to overthrow Princess Min's control of the Korean government.
From 1891 to 1894, Li Yingying and Concubine Min carried out several assassinations against each other, with casualties.
In April 1895, China and Japan signed the Treaty of Maguan, relinquishing suzerainty over Korea. Princess Min, who controlled the Korean power, saw that the Manchu Qing government had fallen and turned to Russia. This act greatly annoyed the Japanese government, which was eager to annex North Korea. In May of the same year, the pro-Japanese Minister of the Interior, Park Yong-hyo, failed to assassinate Concubine Min and went into exile in Japan.
In June 1895, the Japanese approached The Grand Chancellor Li Yanying and asked him to assist in the assassination of Concubine Min. Li Agreed and helped the Japanese plant eyeliner in the palace. On the night of October 8 of the same year, 1,200 well-trained Japanese and North Korean troops attacked the Korean Imperial Palace, defeating 200 palace guards and capturing dozens of palace women, including Concubine Min. These rebels hacked Concubine Min to death with a knife, and then inflicted a brutal humiliation on the corpse, known in history as "The Yi Incident". According to the Japanese writer Kakuda House's "Empress Mingcheng - The Last Dawn", the murder of Empress Mingcheng was a rare cruel and barbaric event in history, the rioters shouted "Where is Princess Min" rushed into the palace, and among a group of frightened female officials in the palace, they selected two beautiful people to be brutally killed, one of whom left a trace of smallpox at the temple, and they recognized it as Princess Min. One of the killers later confessed that it was a very brutal act, and after killing Empress Mingcheng, he committed an atrocity against her corpse that could not be described in words.
05, father and son do not see each other when they are old
After the "B Incident", Li Yan should have clapped his hands and laughed after learning that Concubine Min had been killed, and gave the Japanese who participated in the incident 19,000 yuan of "thank you money". Under the threat of Li Yunying, Emperor Gaozong not only handed over the military power, but also appointed his brother Li Zaimian as minister of internal affairs. This act also led to a break between Emperor Gaozong's Li Xi and his father, Li Yanying. From then on, Li Xi refused to meet with Li Yunying and sent someone to monitor Li Yunying's every move. Enraged, Li Yunying beat each of his men with a hundred military sticks, ran into the palace and said to Li Xi: "Concubine Min was not dead before, and Erzhi suspected me, knowing that he was deceived by his wife, and now he sent troops to defend me and set up an inspection in front of my court, which is incomprehensible." Er, no parents? Or do I have no wife? If er suspects that I am a rebel, that is, please kill me, why did he set up an inspection in the inner chamber? But from now on, don't say that you have a biological parent! I am eighty years old, and I will go to Huangquan, and I will not see Er! ”
On February 22, 1898, Li Yunying became seriously ill and hoped that Emperor Gaozong Li Xi would come to see him. But the people who passed the transmission ran three times, and Li Xi did not come. Li Yan should sigh and end up with regret.
In August 1910, Japan forced the Korean Empire to sign the Treaty of Annexation between Japan and Korea, formally annexing the Korean Peninsula and establishing the Governor-General's Office of Korea for colonial rule. Japan enfeoffed the Korean Empire as a Japanese nobleman, forcing King Gojong to abdicate and establish Chunjong of Joseon. The Joseon Dynasty is down!