Throughout the middle and late history of the Joseon Dynasty, 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 confrontational relationship between east and west is the same as 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 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 the old and the new in the field of thought.
The intensification of the conflict 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 the Zhejiang Party, Chu Party, Qi Party and other opponents 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, due to Zheng Ruli's rebellion, the Western People's Party briefly came back to power. However, later the Western People's Party's giant Zheng Che fell due to the issue of naming the crown prince, and the Eastern People's Party took power again.
This is similar to the dispute over the throne 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 same mistakes, it began to take drastic measures to deal with its political opponents.
But within the Eastern Party, not everyone agrees with the bloodshed method.
As a result, the Eastern Party split and formed the Northern Party and the Southern Party.
At this point, the prototype of the four-color party struggle emerged.
Those who advocate the use of drastic measures to deal with political opponents are the Northerners’ Party; those who advocate the use of moderate methods are the Southerners’ Party.
In the initial struggle between the North and the South, the Northerners were at an absolute disadvantage.
This is because Beiren does 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 the 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.
With the help of Lord Gwanghae, the Great Northern Faction 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, there are so many parties that it 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 purged after Injo's rebellion.
By supporting Li Jie's rise to power, the Western People's Party became the largest force in the political arena.
But just like the Great Northern Faction, in order to compete for power, there are many factions within the Western People's Party.
The Westerners Party was initially divided into the hero faction and the wait-and-see faction.
Anyway, the meritorious faction is also known as Xun Xi, Jin Liu, Shen Qiyuan, Li Gui, and Jin Zidian, all of whom are the core.
Li Gui is the father of Li Shibai and Li Shifang.
The Guangwang faction was called Qingxi, and its leader was Kim Sang-heon.
This is why now, when it is time to support a new king, Kim Sang-heon and Shen Ji-won are in tit-for-tat confrontation.
The Xunxi faction split again into Lao Xi and Shao Xi.
Lao Xi is from the Jin Liu family, Jin Qingzheng is from the father-son family, and Shaoxi is from the Li Gui family.
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 member of the Western Party.
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 dislike Lao Xi and Shao Xi and 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.
In this way, 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 and instead followed Li Zhu to Namhansanseong.
Later, Li Zhu surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, which made him very dissatisfied, so he simply resigned and returned to his hometown in Zhongqing Road to live in seclusion.
Not long after, when he heard the news that the Xia army was counterattacking and approaching Hanyang, 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 Menggeng dizzy. However, he was still happy to see Song Shilie's appearance.
Comparing the two factions, Kim Sang-heon and Shen Ji-yuan, the former has an absolute advantage.
If no new forces emerge, Kim Sang-hyun will definitely suppress Shen Ji-yuan in the future political situation of North Korea.
This is not in Xia'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 cleanse the atmosphere and reshape the character of Korean scholars. For future state affairs, please leave to You An You must have taken a lot of trouble."
In front of everyone in North Korea, Zuo Menggeng spoke highly of Song Shilie, making everyone 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 Korea, the emperor of the above country was even better.
Kim Sang-hyun and Shen Ji-yuan, who were standing aside, looked at the radiant Song Si-yeol, and they all felt faintly uneasy.