Throughout the middle and later stages of the Joseon Dynasty's history, a major political issue was party struggle.
Historically, it was called the four-color party struggle.
The so-called four colors do not refer to the four colors, but the four directions of east, west, south and north.
According to the principle of the unity of opposites, the relationship between east and west is antagonistic, and the same is true between south and north.
Like all feudal dynasties, the origin of party struggle must be academic.
The Eastern Party and the Western Party were the first to enter the stage of history.
In the early days of King Seonjo's reign, the relationship between the then famous Confucian scholar Kim Hyo-won and Sim Eui-gyeom, the younger brother of Queen Insoon, was very tense.
The traditional scholar-officials all sided with Shen Yiqian, while the new scholar-officials were supporters of Kim Hyo-won.
To put it bluntly, it is a battle between old and new in the field of thought.
The intensification of conflicts between the two factions originated from the Quanlang dispute.
The so-called Quanlang was an important position in the Joseon Dynasty responsible for the personnel administration of civil and military officials.
This is a crucial official position related to the official title. Both Easterners and Westerners want to have it in their own hands.
This is similar to the struggle between the Donglin Party and its opponents such as the Zhejiang Party, the Chu Party, and the Qi Party during the Wanli Period of the Ming Dynasty.
Kim Hyo-won lived in Gancheon-dong in Naksan Mountain to the east of Hanyang, so the faction that supported him was called Dongren.
Shen Yiqian lived in Zhendong in the west of Hanyang, so he was called a Westerner.
In the subsequent struggle, the Westerners' Party gradually lost power, while the Easterners' Party took control of the government.
Originally, because of Zheng Ruli's rebellion, the Western People's Party briefly came back to power. But later, Zheng Che, the giant of the Western Party, fell due to the issue of the crown prince, and the Eastern Party took power again.
This is similar to the dispute over the establishment of the crown prince during the Wanli period.
If we move the party disputes that occurred in the Central Plains in the late Ming Dynasty to North Korea, we cannot say they are exactly the same, we can only say there is no difference.
North Korea learned everything from the Ming Dynasty, even the bad aspects.
The temporary loss of power frightened the Eastern Party. In order to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past, drastic measures began to be taken against political opponents.
But within the Eastern Party, not everyone agrees with the bloody approach.
So the Eastern Party split, forming the Northern Party and the Southern Party.
At this point, the prototype of the four-color party struggle emerged.
It is the Northerners’ Party that advocates taking drastic measures to deal with political opponents; while it is the Southerners’ Party that advocates taking mild measures.
In the initial struggle between the North and the South, the Northerners were at an absolute disadvantage.
This is because Northerners do not have a united academic center.
Among the giants of the Northerners, Li Shanhai was Xu Jingde's disciple and Li Zhihan's nephew and disciple; while Zheng Renhong and Cui Yongqing were Cao Zhi's core disciples.
Unlike the southerners, who are completely dominated by Tuekye School.
Among the several political factions at that time, the Northerners were at an absolute disadvantage and could not control the government no matter how you looked at it.
However, the emergence of the Imjin Japanese Rebellion caused great changes in North Korea's political arena.
The North, who advocated fighting to the end, and the left-behind Gwanghaejun joined forces and quickly took control of the situation.
Although they had the highest power, the Northerners were divided into the Great Northern Faction and the Little Northern Faction.
The Great Northern Faction used the help of Lord Gwanghae to dominate and expelled all the Little Northern Faction.
However this is not the end.
The Great Northern Sect continued to split into the Bone Northern Sect and the Flesh Northern Sect, and then the Central Northern Sect was born.
Even the Xiaobei faction, which lost power, split into the Qingbei faction and the Zhuobei faction.
Just like the division of cells, the number of parties is dizzying, which shows how chaotic the situation is.
However, due to the loss of power, the Xiaobei faction was a blessing in disguise. It survived the subsequent liquidation and was still active in the political arena.
Unlike the Great Northern Sect, they were completely wiped out after Injo's rebellion.
The Western People's Party, which supported Li Zhu's rise to power, became the largest force in the political arena.
But like the Great Northern Faction, there are many factions within the Western People's Party in order to compete for power.
The Westerners Party was initially divided into the hero faction and the wait-and-see faction.
Anyway, the meritorious faction is also called Xunxi, and Jin Liu, Shen Qiyuan, Li Gui, and Jin Zidian are the core of it.
Li Gui is the father of Li Shibai and Li Shifang.
The Guangwang faction is called Qingxi, and its leader is Kim Sang-heon.
This is why now, when it is time to support a new king, Kim Sang-hyun and Shen Ji-yuan are at odds with each other.
The Xunxi faction split again into Lao Xi and Shao Xi.
Lao Xi is from the father-son lineage of Jin Liu and Jin Qingzheng, while Shaoxi is from the lineage of Li Gui.
Interestingly, Kim Sang-heon's elder brother Kim Sang-young is a member of Shaoxi, and he has considerable political differences with him.
Song Shiyeol was actually a Westerner.
But he is neither Lao Xi, nor Shao Xi, nor Qing Xi, but the leader of the Shan Party.
Although he is here to denounce party strife, he is actually deeply involved in it.
The fundamental reason why I can't stand Lao Xi and Shao Xi, and the reason why I set up the Zishan Party is actually to fight for power and gain.
In addition to Song Shiyeol, there were also Jin Yu's Han Party, Yuan Doupiao's Yuan Party and Jin Zidian's Luo Party.
As a result, the Western Party formed the four factions of Shan, Han, Luo and Yuan.
As for Song Siyeol, although he was the teacher of Lord Bonglin, he did not have time to go to Ganghwa Island. Instead, he followed Li Zhu to Namhansanseong.
Later, Li Zhu surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, which made him very dissatisfied. He simply resigned and returned to his hometown in Zhongqing Road to live in seclusion.
Not long after, he heard the news that the Xia army was counterattacking and approaching Hanyang, and he felt that an opportunity had come. So he hurried north and scolded Jin Shangxian, Shen Qiyuan and others in front of Zuo Menggeng, hoping to take this opportunity to ascend to power.
The complicated party struggles in North Korea made Zuo Mengeng dizzy. However, he was still happy to see Song Shilie's appearance.
Comparing the two factions of Jin Sangxian and Shen Jiyuan, the former has an absolute advantage.
If no new forces emerge, Kim Sang-hyun will definitely suppress Shen Ji-yuan in the future North Korean political situation.
This is not in Xia Guo's interests.
With the emergence of new forces, they can better contain Jin Sangxian and his family and increase the space for Xia Kingdom to operate.
"You An Gong (Song Shilie's nickname) said sincerely that party strife is a stubborn disease of North Korea and cannot be ignored. It is in need of serious people in the old city to clean up the atmosphere and reshape the character of the Korean scholars. For future state affairs, please leave to You An Thank you for your trouble."
In front of everyone in North Korea, Zuo Menggeng spoke highly of Song Shilie, causing everyone to look at him with suspicion.
This came from the mouth of His Royal Highness, King Xia, and its influence can be imagined.
At the very least, with these words, Song Siyeol will have a great say in the officialdom from now on.
Song Shilie achieved his goal and expressed his loyalty to Zuo Menggeng repeatedly.
He has been on the bench for many years and has long understood that in order to gain power, he must gain the favor of the king.
Although Zuo Menggeng was not the king of North Korea, the emperor of the previous country was even better.
Jin Sangxian and Shen Jiyuan, who were standing aside, looked at the radiant Song Siyeol, and they all felt faintly uneasy.
