In the 13th and 14th centuries, the Mongols became the masters of the world. In just one hundred years, they destroyed many ancient empires through conquests and expeditions.
Eventually, they established a Great Mongolian State in the Old Continent with an area of more than 40 million square kilometers. "If you live right away, you would rather cure it right away? ”
However, most of the Mongol Great Khans did not understand this and simply worshipped force and cavalry. As a result, many Mongol khanates had to retreat to their ancestral homeland as their forces weakened.
The Yuan Dynasty tried to maintain a strong Mongol cavalry by setting up several horse farms, of which Jeju Island was one of the largest. However, over time, the Mongols' power gradually declined, and their grip on Jeju Island gradually weakened.
This place gradually became the focus of contention among the three kingdoms of Yuan, Ming and Goryeo. Regarding the relationship between Goryeo and Goguryeo, many people have a misunderstanding that the two are inherited. But in reality, the two have almost nothing to do with each other other other than their similar names.
Goguryeo was a regime founded by the Buyeo people, and it was named Goguryeo because it was founded in Goguryeo County in the former Western Han Dynasty. Although Goguryeo can be considered a semi-Chinese regime in the strict sense, its centers of rule were mainly located in the present-day Liaoning and Jilin regions.
Historically, Goguryeo has repeatedly thwarted the attacks of Emperor Yang of Sui, but this does not prove that Goguryeo is strong, and it can only be said that there are major mistakes in Emperor Yang's strategic deployment.
After the Tang Dynasty dominated the world, Goguryeo's arrogance was quickly suppressed. Under the rule of Li Zhi of Tang Gaozong, led by famous generals such as Li Ji, Xue Rengui, and Qibi He Li, the Tang army successfully conquered Pyongyang, destroyed Goguryeo, and established the Andong Protectorate on the Korean Peninsula.
The Goguryeo aristocracy was forced to relocate, and most of the common people were integrated into other ethnic groups such as the Turkic and Balhae states. Since then, the Goguryeo people have disappeared into the long river of history. After that, the Tang Dynasty supported Silla to unify the Korean Peninsula, but with the decline of the Tang Dynasty, Silla also began to decline.
Warlords from all over the country took advantage of the opportunity to rise up and rebel under the banner of the original kingdom. As a result, the Korean Peninsula entered the era of the three kingdoms of Silla, post-Goguryeo, and post-Baekje.
Although Goryeo gained a brief period of glory after unifying the Samhan region, it was still a small and weak country in nature, and did not have the strength to become an East Asian chess player.
Therefore, after the establishment of the state, Goryeo has always tried to maintain neutrality in order to avoid being used by other countries. Between the Song, Liao, and Jin Kingdoms, Goryeo met left and right, and even "jumped left and right", successfully "walking a tightrope" between them, and barely maintained the survival of the country.
The rise of the Mongols posed a serious existential threat to Goryeo. They broke the pattern of the Jin state in the political balance of East Asia and began to fight the idea of the land of Goryeo.
At this time of crisis, Goryeo failed to come up with an effective response strategy. Because the interior of Goryeo has fallen into chaos. Their long-term adherence to the policy of supremacy of civil servants led to the dissatisfaction of the warriors.
In 1170, a rebellion broke out in Goryeo, and the rebels brutally killed civilian officials, deposed the king, and established a military regime controlled by Myeongjong of Goryeo.
Although the warriors have courage and strength, they often lack the wisdom to govern the country and compromise. They repeatedly exploited the power of the Mongols and then easily abandoned them, which made the Mongols deeply angry and eventually launched a large-scale invasion.
In order to resist the Mongol attack, Goryeo was forced to move its capital to Ganghwa Island, hoping that the sea would become their line of defense. However, the Mongols had already taken countermeasures, and they continued to plunder the Goryeo people and destroy the Goryeo industry, making the Goryeo national power weaker and weaker.
Under pressure from the Mongols, Goryeo painstakingly explained their difficulties, but the Mongols insisted on their demands to move back to land and the king to enter the dynasty. In 1270, the people of Goryeo could no longer take it anymore and they rose up against the Musin regime and eventually overthrew it, making Goryeo a vassal state of the Yuan Dynasty.
This led directly to the controversy over Jeju Island. Jeju Island is located in the southwestern part of Korea and was an important transportation hub between Japan and Korea, but before the Yuan Dynasty, it was a separate entity rather than an inherent territory of Korea.
In ancient times, Jeju Island was known as "Tamna", and its population composition was quite diverse, including Japanese, Korean, and Chinese. As a result, the inhabitants of China refer to the Tamna people as "Zhou Hu".
However, the standard of living of the state Hu was quite low, and they had not even mastered the basic techniques of cattle farming, but only used iron-toothed rakes to cultivate the soil. However, the Mongols realized the strategic value of Jeju Island very early on, and they made Japan the target of their conquest, with the goal of fighting to the end of the world.
If you want to launch an attack on Japan's Tsushima Island, Kyushu Island, or even the main island, an ideal springboard is undoubtedly Tamna. The agricultural conditions of Tamna are very superior, and after development, it can become a large granary and a large horse farm for the Mongols on the sea.
At the same time, Jeju Island is the best option for the Mongolian Navy to establish a sea base. Kublai Khan knew that if he could not defeat the Southern Song naval army at sea, no matter how many battles he won on land, he would not be able to completely destroy the Southern Song Dynasty.
If the Mongolian navy can occupy Jeju Island, it will not only be able to use it as a base for military training and attacks on Japan in the southeast, but it will also be able to strengthen its surveillance of Goryeo in the north and form a deterrent to Hwasa Island in Goryeo.
Therefore, Kublai Khan was very interested in this opportunity. After the Goryeo Musajin regime was eliminated, the remnants of the Sambetsu faction fled to Tamna, where they amassed strength in the hope of one day making a comeback.
However, Goryeo knew that they were not strong enough to completely wipe out the Sambetsu rebels, so they took the initiative to ask the Yuan army for assistance. Kublai Khan certainly did not miss this opportunity, so in 1273 he led the Yuangao coalition to attack Tamna, successfully crushing the Sambetsu rebels.
Subsequently, the Yuan army was stationed in Tamna and officially declared the occupation of Jeju Island.
However, with the fall of the Southern Song Dynasty and the submission of Goryeo, Jeju Island's strategic significance gradually waned. However, Kublai Khan discovered another use for Jeju Island at this time - as a penal colony for prisoners.
During the Yuan Dynasty, many important criminals were exiled to this isolated island, thus minimizing their influence while not killing people. Historically, the Wei king of the Yuan Dynasty, Amuge, was exiled to Jeju Island.
In addition, Jeju Island was also set up as a horse farm and a land for reclamation during the Yuan Dynasty. In its heyday, there were about 50,000 high-quality horses here. Seeing all this, Goryeo was also very greedy.
After all, Goryeo is also in great need of horses, and if it can get a large-scale horse farm on Jeju Island, it will greatly enhance Goryeo's military strength.
In history, the Murong family in the northeast successfully entered the Central Plains with the help of powerful heavy cavalry and established the Siyan Kingdom. Goryeo was also eager to follow suit, but the Chungyeol king, Wang Chen, knew that a direct confrontation with the Yuan dynasty would be futile.
So, he chose another path - the "human route". During these years, Wang Chen saddled Kublai Khan's horse and tried with all his might to blend in with the Mongols, even in his dress.
In this way, Wang Chen won the trust of Kublai Khan with his dedication and sincerity.
Wang Chen won the trust of Kublai Khan because of his loyalty, and not only got the marriage of his own daughter, but also put his original partner into the cold palace. coincided with the death of the former king of Goryeo, and Kublai Khan took advantage of the situation to put Wang Chen in the position of the new king of Goryeo.
In order to secure the support of the future Great Khan, King Chunglie and his wife met with Kublai Khan. Unfortunately, Kublai Khan was not in good health and could not meet them, so he entrusted his daughter-in-law Kuokuozhen to receive them.
King Chunglie learned that after Kublai Khan's death, Kuokuozhen's son Timur would take over the throne of the Great Khan, so he tried to win over Kuokuozhen. Soon after, Kublai Khan died, and Timur successfully ascended the throne and became the new emperor of the Yuan Dynasty.
Eventually, King Chungyeol's wish came true, and he succeeded in coming to Jeju Island from Timur.
After Kuo Kuozhen's death, the situation fell into chaos again. The Yuan Dynasty and Goryeo had many disputes over the jurisdiction of Jeju Island, which led to the repeated change of ownership of Jeju Island, and the island's horse wrangler "Muhu" was also overwhelmed by this chaotic situation and launched many rebellions.
This continued until the fall of the Yuan Dynasty. The shortage of horses sparked a battle between Ming and Goryeo. As the only emperor in Chinese history to unify China from the south to the north, Zhu Yuanzhang faced many serious problems, the most difficult of which was a shortage of horses.
Zhu Yuanzhang's base is located in Jiangsu, Anhui and other regions, which are not rich in good horses. Thus, the main forces of the Northern Expedition in 1368 consisted entirely of infantry. Theoretically, the shortage of horses could be solved by conquering the north.
However, the Mongols are a people on horseback, and they understand the importance of horses. Therefore, when they evacuated the north, they consciously took all the horses with them and destroyed several large horse farms in Kannai.
When the Ming army occupied the north, it was almost impossible to obtain any horses.
After losing Beijing, the Mongols re-established power in the north and became known as the Northern Yuan. In order to defeat the Northern Yuan, the Ming army needed a large number of horses and went deep into the desert steppe to fight a decisive battle with the Mongol cavalry.
At this time, only the Jeju Island Horse Farm can provide enough horses. However, Goryeo adopted an attitude of left and right at this time, and fell to the Ming Dynasty. However, when Zhu Yuanzhang asked Goryeo to pay tribute to the horses, Goryeo repeatedly delayed and refused to pay tribute, citing the rebellion of the "Muhu" on Jeju Island.
Despite paying tribute to the Ming Dynasty, Goryeo horses were often caught in storms at sea or intercepted on land, and the Ming Dynasty was unsure of their authenticity. In the past few years, the total number of horses paid tribute by Goryeo was less than 100, and Goryeo even hinted that only if Zhu Yuanzhang sent troops to help Goryeo exterminate Muhu, Goryeo would pay tribute to a large number of horses.
However, Zhu Yuanzhang rejected the proposal and did not propose to send troops to help. Goryeo was bored by this, and sent troops to recover Jeju Island, and paid Zhu Yuanzhang 300 horses as a tribute.
It is worth noting that Goryeo's crusade against Jeju Island Muhu to the Ming Dynasty was already in the sixth year of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, and at this time the Ming Dynasty had already trained the first batch of war horses, and there was no longer a need for war horses from Jeju Island.
Zhu Yuanzhang decided to relinquish sovereignty over Jeju Island because he was convinced that the fall of the Yuan Dynasty was only a matter of time. He believed that when the Northern Yuan was wiped out, its princes would have nowhere to go, and Jeju Island was a place where the Yuan Dynasty wanted to move, and the Muhu people there were also very close to the Yuan Dynasty.
Zhu Yuanzhang attached great importance to the inheritance of bloodline, and he believed that "the country that destroys people will not destroy the heirs of people", so he chose to give up his sovereignty over Jeju Island, hoping to let the Mongol princes go there so that the descendants of the Yuan Dynasty could continue to thrive in the sea.
This kind of respect for the enemy is worthy of our deep reflection and study.