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몽골의 출륙 환도요구를 받아들일 수 없었던 최항은 고종의 둘째 아들 안경공 창을 몽골로 보내 유화 제스쳐를 취하는 한편 은밀히 친위군을 보강했다.
기본 야별초를 좌 우별초로 나눈뒤 여기에 신의군을 합쳐 삼별초라 했다.
신의군은 몰공항쟁에 직접 참여했던 용사들로 하늘이 두쪽 나더라도 몽골과의 화해를 반대하는 입장이었다. 이렇게 탄생한 삼별초인지라 고려의 기존부대중 가장 용맹면서도 몽골과의 대결 의식은 훨씬 더 강했다.
최항은 삼별초의 총 지휘를 김준에게 맡기고, 인사와 재정 등 주요 행정 업무를 최양백에게 맡겼다. 나름대로 견제와 균형을 취한 것이다.
수군 중심인 좌별초는 배중손이, 우별초는 노영희(盧永禧)에게 맡았고, 신의군은 김통정을 중심으로 박희실(朴希實)·이연소(李延紹) 등이 함께 지휘하도록 했다.
그후 최항이 1257년 4월 초에 중병으로 쓰러졌다.
기생의 아들로 태어나 지방을 떠돌며 중노릇하다가 9년동안 집권하면서 한풀이하듯 권력을 휘둘렀는데, 임종앞에서 조부 최충헌이 그랬듯 죄수들을 방면했다.
그리고 김준, 유능(柳能), 선인열(宣仁烈), 최양백을 불러 일일이 손을 잡으며 유언을 남겼다.
“내 아들 의를 잘 도와주구려.”
그러더니 혼신의 힘을 다해 일어나 후원 정자로 가더니 시를 읊었다.
“장안 수천 호에 복사꽃 향기 그윽하고
십 리에 비단 장막 휘날리건만
느닷없는 광풍이 꽃향기와 장막을 몰아가네.
필시 저승의 강을 건너가라는가 보다.”
권력에 취해 있던 자신에게 갑자기 불어닥친 종말을 노래한 것이었다. 이 시를 읊은 뒤 침실로 돌아와 눈을 감았다. 시녀와 첩들은 와락 울음을 터트리자 최양백이 칼을 빼 들고 다그쳤다.
“더 이상 곡소리를 내지 말라!”
최양백은 최항의 죽음을 극비에 부친 채 대장군 최영(崔瑛), 채정(蔡楨), 선인열, 유능 등을 불러 대책을 논의했다. 그들은 삼별초의 호위아래 최의를 모시고 고종을 찾아갔다. 고종은 최항의 사망을 공포하고, 최의를 교정별감에 앉혔다.
별감이 된 최의는 가장 먼저 아버지 최항의 첩이었던 심경을 자기 안방에 들여놓았다.
최의는 어머니가 종이었고 할머니가 기생이었다. 자기 몸에 천민의 피가 흐르는 것에 지나치게 예민했다. 누구든 출신을 언급하면, 비록 그것이 실언이라 해도 죽였다.
거기서 그치지 않고 직언하거나 어진 사람은 다 물리쳤다. 오직 최양백 세력만 가까이하고 김준 세력까지도 멀리했다. 최양백과 김준의 세력은 이미 최항 때부터 둘로 나뉘어 대립했는데, 최의가 최양백의 손을 들어준 것이다.
그 이유는 단순했다. 집권 전 자신과 심경의 밀애를 아는 김준이 싫었다.
김준은 상실감에 빠져 지냈다. 최이 때 자신의 복권을 도와준 송길유까지 추자도로 유배당했다. 그 사유가 석연치 않았다.
송길유는 최항 집권기에 경상도 수로방어별감을 지내면서 별초군과 함께 주민들의 해 도입보 海島入保, 즉 몽골 침입에 대비해 주민들이 섬으로 들어갈 것을 독려했다. 그때 죄 없는 주민들을 죽였다는 것이었다.
신의군으로 재분류된 그 별초군의 병사들은 송길유가 유배되자 자신들도 처벌받을까 봐 불안해했다. 덩달아 신의군 지휘관인 김통정, 박희실, 이연소도 최의의 그런 처사에 감정이 상했다.
김준이 신의군 지휘관들과 류경(柳璥), 박송비, 임연, 김대재를 불러 모았다.
“최의가 우리를 찬밥 신세로 만 들고 있소. 제 아비도 우리가 목숨 걸고 도와주어 별감이 되게 했고, 자기도 우리 덕분에 별감을 이어받더니 혼자 잘나서 그리된 것처럼 행세하고 있소. 이런 놈은 미리 싹을 잘라야 하오.”
그러잖아도 최의가 별감이 된 후 낙동강 오리알 신세였던 자들이라 의기투합해 거사일까지 잡았다. 그날은 연등회가 열리는 4월 8일이었다. <계속> dyl1010@hanmail.net
*아래는 위 기사를 '구글 번역'으로 번역한 영문 기사의 [전문]입니다. '구글번역'은 이해도 높이기를 위해 노력하고 있습니다. 영문 번역에 오류가 있을 수 있음을 전제로 합니다.<*The following is [the full text] of the English article translated by 'Google Translate'. 'Google Translate' is working hard to improve understanding. It is assumed that there may be errors in the English translation.>
[Novel Sambyeolcho-(27)] Choi's mistake, neglecting Sambyeolcho and its core force Sinui-gun
-Writer Lee Dong-yeon
Choi Hang, who could not accept Mongolia's demand for departure and return, sent Gojong's second son, Angyeonggong Chang, to Mongolia to make a gesture of appeasement while secretly reinforcing the guards.
He divided the basic night-byeol-cho into left and right-byeol-cho, and then combined God’s army with it and called it Sam-byeol-cho.
Sinui-gun were warriors who directly participated in the Battle of Mole, and were in a position to oppose reconciliation with Mongolia even if the sky was divided. Since it was Sambyeolcho, which was born in this way, it was the most courageous among the existing troops of Goryeo, but the consciousness of confrontation with Mongolia was much stronger.
Choi Hang entrusted general command of Sambyeolcho to Kim Jun, and entrusted major administrative tasks such as personnel and finance to Choi Yang-baek. It has its own checks and balances.
Bae Jung-son was in charge of Jwabyeolcho, which was the center of the naval forces, and Noh Young-hee (盧永禧) of Woobyeolcho, and Shinui-gun was led by Park Hee-sil (朴希實) and Lee Yeon-so (李延紹) with Kim Tong-jeong at the center.
After that, Choi Hang collapsed from a serious illness in early April 1257.
He was born as the son of a gisaeng and wandered around the provinces, serving as a middle man. While in power for 9 years, he wielded power as if to resent him. On his deathbed, he set the prisoners free, just like his grandfather Choe Chung-heon did.
Then he summoned Kim Jun, Yu Neung (柳能), Seon In-yeol (宣仁烈), and Choi Yang-baek, holding hands one by one and leaving a will.
“I want to help my son’s righteousness well.”
Then he got up with all his might, went to the pavilion in the back garden, and recited a poem.
“Scent of peach blossoms in Changan’s thousands of houses,
Even though the silk tent flutters ten miles away
A sudden gale carries away the scent of flowers and the curtain.
It must have been asked to cross the river of the underworld.”
It was a song about the end that suddenly came upon him who was drunk with his power. After reciting this poem, I returned to my bedroom and closed my eyes. As his maids and concubines burst into tears, Choi Yang-baek drew his sword and urged.
“Stop making any more noise!”
Choi Yang-baek kept Choi Hang's death a secret and summoned the generals Choi Young (崔瑛), Chae Jeong (蔡楨), Sun In-yeol, and Yu Neung to discuss countermeasures. Under the escort of Sambyeolcho, they took Choi Ui and visited King Gojong. King Gojong announced the death of Choi Hang and placed Choi Ui in the correctional byeolgam.
Choi Ui, who became a byeolgam, first brought Simgyeong, who was his father Choi Hang's concubine, into his bedroom.
Choi's mother was a servant and her grandmother was a gisaeng. He was overly sensitive to the blood of the common people flowing in his body. Anyone who mentions where they come from is killed, even if it is a mistake.
He didn't stop there, and he rejected all those who spoke directly or were kind. Only Choi Yang-baek's faction was close and even Kim Jun's faction was distant. The forces of Choi Yang-baek and Kim Jun had already been divided into two and confronted from the time of Choi Hang, and Choi Ui supported Choi Yang-baek.
The reason was simple. Before taking power, he hated Kim Joon, who knew the secret love between him and Shim-gyeong.
Kim Joon lived in a sense of loss. Even Song Gil-yoo, who helped him with his restoration at the time of his death, was exiled to Chujado. The reason was unclear.
During the reign of Choi Hang, Song Gil-yu served as a waterway defense byeolgam in Gyeongsang-do, and with Byeolcho-gun, he encouraged the residents to go to the island in preparation for the Mongol invasion. It was then that innocent people were killed.
The soldiers of Byeolcho Army, which had been reclassified as Sinui-gun, were anxious that they would be punished as well when Song Gil-yoo was exiled. In addition, the commanders of Shinui Army, Kim Tong-jeong, Park Hee-sil, and Lee Yeon-so, were also offended by Choi's actions.
Kim Jun summoned the commanders of Shinui Army, Ryu Gyeong (柳璥), Park Song-bi, Im Yeon, and Kim Dae-jae.
“Choi Ui is making us a cold meal. My father also risked his life to help us become a byeolgam, and he inherited the byeolgam thanks to us, and he is acting as if it was just because he was so good on his own. This guy needs to be nipped in the bud.”
Even so, after Choi Eui became a byeolgam, he was a duck egg in the Nakdonggang River, so he worked together and even managed to do the work. It was April 8, the day of the Lotus Lantern Festival. <Continued> dyl1010@hanmail.net
