Gwangjong of Goryeo freed thousands of slaves and then murdered anyone who disagreed

Gwangjong's reform playbook was wild. Step 1: free all the illegally enslaved people, which sounds great until you realize Step 2 was executing literally every noble who complained about it. He ran a purge so thorough that the court was basically empty by the end. Historians estimate he killed hundreds of officials. But here's the thing — the slave liberation actually worked. It weakened the aristocrats, strengthened the crown, and built a functional centralized government. Was he a tyrant? Sure. Did it work? Also yes. Goryeo's most effective reformer was basically a medieval dictator with a social justice agenda.