An Analysis of Appointment and Eliminate of In Dang in the Fifth Period of King Gongmin

After political upheaval in the fifth period of King Gongmin(1356), King Gongmin ordered attack the eight Yam of the Mongol empire in west side of the Yalu river. And he appointed In Dang(印璫) as the commander. Because, due to the attribute of the military operations that had to cross the Yalu River, King Gongmin needed the person who had military operation experience in the territory of Yuan empire and had a strong military experience and track record. And in the May 1356, In Dang was the best person in King Gongmin’s need. However, In Dang was not originally a close affair of the King Gongmin, but he also had a side that could be interpreted as a potential anxiety factor in the background. In response, King Gongmin attempted to control these elements systematically by reviving the Byungmasa(兵馬使) system that disappeared after the reign of King Chungnyeol. It was also an attempt to reorganize the king’s military control, using the Goryeo system of the previous period, as the king’s military control was weakened and dispersed due to interference of the Yuan empire. King Gongmin appointed the best expeditionary commander, In Dang, as a Chief commander, and also appointed Kang Joong-gyeong, the aide of the king, as a Vice commander, and gave him the same military rank as the Indang. At the same time, King Gongmin attempted to control the anxiety elements by a combined means through the Byungmasa system and the status of the king. This was the first attempt by the King Gongmin to establish a system to control general’s forces and to gain control. However, this attempt was not effective at the time. And immediately after their appointment as Byungmasa, In Dang killed Kang Joong-gyeong arbitrarily, and the King Gongmin’s attempt ended in failure. Therefore, the root cause of the King Gomgmin’s elimination of In Dang should be regarded as the fact that In Dang collapsed the king’s policy plan to rearrange the dispersed Goryeo’s military control centered on the king. And it was the result of In Dang killing Kang Joong-gyeong arbitrarily. For this reason, the King Gomgmin had already decided to eliminate the In Dang at the time of the murder of Kang Joong-kyung. But it was not immediately implemented, and the means of eliminating the In Dang had to use schemes, not formal mandates. This indicates that there was still a difference between the king and the existing influential generals in dominating of soldiers.