First Strife of Princes
Yi Bang-won killed Jeong Do-jeon and the crown prince and seized power; after a second strife in 1400 he became King Taejong.
Tombus20032000 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source
Taejo had named Yi Bang-seok, the youngest son by his second queen, Queen Sindeok, as crown prince. The sons of his first queen, who had done much to found the dynasty, resented it, above all Yi Bang-won. Jeong Do-jeon championed government led by the chief ministers and, while preparing a campaign against Liaodong, tried to abolish the princes’ private armies.
In August 1398, while Taejo lay ill, Yi Bang-won raised troops on the pretext that Jeong Do-jeon and Nam Eun were plotting against the princes, and killed them. The crown prince Bang-seok and his brother Bang-beon were also killed. The second son, Yi Bang-gwa, became crown prince and soon took the throne as King Jeongjong.
In 1400 the fourth son, Yi Bang-gan, joined with Bak Po against Bang-won and was defeated (the Second Strife of Princes). Named heir, Bang-won abolished the private armies, took the throne that year as Taejong, and built a king-centred system through measures such as direct royal control of the Six Ministries.
