Taejo sought to bring even his enemies into his ruling coalition. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. During the period, the northern regions, including Songak, were the strongholds of Goguryeo refugees, and Wang Geon's hometown of Songak would become the original capital of in 901. Taejo gladly accepted his surrender and gave him the title of prince, and accepted his daughter as one of his wives Wang had six queens, and many more wives as he married daughters of every single local leader. He promoted Buddhism as Goryeo's national religion, and laid claim to the northern parts of the Korean Peninsula and Manchuria, which he considered his rightful legacy as the successor of Goguryeo.
Wang Kŏn warmly welcomed them and generously gave them land. Taejo's father, Wang Yung later , along with many local clans, quickly surrendered to Gung Ye. Thus he sought to secure stability and unity for his kingdom which had been lacking in the later years of Silla. He renamed the kingdom , thus beginning the Goryeo Dynasty. The generals installed Wang Geon as the new king of this short-lived state.
National Institute of Korean History. The same year Gung Ye was overthrown and killed near the capital,. Afterward, he decreed Pyongyang as the Western Capital. Military Commander and Founder of the Goryeo Dynasty, Korea. In 900, he led a successful campaign against local clans and the army of in the area, gaining more fame and recognition from the king. The public favored him due to his leadership and generosity.
After the destruction of Balhae by the Khitans in 926, Balhae's and much of its ruling class sought refuge in Goryeo, where they were warmly welcomed and included into the ruling family by Wang Geon, thus uniting the two successor nations of. The next year he moved the capital back to his hometown, Gaegyeong. He executed many monks, then later even his own wife and two sons, and the public began to turn away from him. They defeated and absorbed many of the other rebel groups as their troops marched against local Silla officials and bandits. National Institute of Korean History. Wang Geon first opposed the idea but later agreed to their plan. Gyeon Hwon was sent into exile and imprisoned in , but escaped to Goryeo and was treated like Taejo's father, who died just before his surrender.
A New History of Korea. Furthermore, in his Ten Mandates to his descendants, he stated that the Khitans are no different than beasts and should be guarded against. The Liao dynasty sent 30 envoys with 50 camels as a gift in 942, but Wang Geon exiled the envoys and starved the camels under a bridge in retribution for Balhae, despite the major diplomatic repercussions. He traced his ancestry to a noble clan. Singeom fought against Taejo, but facing much disadvantage and inner conflict, he surrendered to Taejo.
However, Goryeo quickly recovered from defeat and successfully defended Hubaekje's attack on its front. Thus Koryŏ achieved a true national unification that embraced not only the Later Three Kingdoms but even survivors of Koguryŏ lineage from the Parhae kingdom. He also sought alliances and cooperation with local clans rather than trying to conquer and bring them under his direct control. This was in strong contrast to Later Silla, which had endured a hostile relationship with Balhae. Hearing of the news, Taejo planned a strike with 5000 cavalrymen to attack Gyeon's troops on the way back home at Gongsan near.
He met Hubaekje forces and suffered disastrous defeat, losing most of his army including his generals and , the very same man who crowned Wang as a king. It caused much disgust to Gyeon Hwon. Then he established King Gyeongsun as his puppet monarch before he turned his army toward Goryeo. He led several more military campaigns, and also helped conquered people who lived in poverty under Silla rule. In 913, he was appointed as prime minister of the newly renamed Taebong. In 895, Gung Ye led his forces into the far northwestern part of Silla, where Songdo was located.
National Institute of Korean History. In 935, the last king of Silla, King Gyeongsun, felt there was no way to revive his kingdom and surrendered his entire land to Taejo. Wang Geon's ability as a military commander was soon recognized by Gung Ye, who promoted him to general and even regarded him as his brother. His costly rituals and harsh rule caused even more opposition. In the later years of , many local leaders and bandits rebelled against the rule of , who did not have strong enough leadership or policies to improve the condition of the people. In 903, he led a famous naval campaign against the southwestern coastline of Hubaekje Keumsung, later Naju , while Gyeon Hwon was at war against Silla. However, Wang Geon's unification in 936 was a more complete unification in which only a single state emerged among the people, as opposed to the 7th century, when two, and , emerged ; the people of the thereafter remained under a single, unified state until 1948, when Korea was divided into and by Russian and U.