Post by ajk on Apr 2, 2015 23:02:54 GMT -5
The king has made the four officials an offer they can't refuse! What else can they say. Of course we'll work together rather than die. They share drinks and the meal and then Seonjo leaves, his eunuch praising him for his sagacity.
More of the idealism/pragmatism back-and-forth between Lee and Ryu, with Ryu urging trust in the king. Meanwhile Jeong Cheol is still determined to get a crown prince chosen.
Seonjo is visiting Consort Kim tonight and she's giving him advice again. "You gave a sword to one side, so you should give a shield to the other side." As in, with the Westerners having so much power now after the purge, well...she suggests naming Ryu to the post of personnel minister (the present minister needs to take a leave of absence). That's in addition to his present position.
Obviously Seonjo liked the idea because it's the next day now and he's speaking with Lee and Ryu and Jeong and is offering the job to Ryu. Jeong, asked for his reaction, says "I haven't seen anyone who was fairer with personnel" and calls it a wise decision. Not sure if he's just biting his lip in front of his king for the sake of unity...and afterwards he seems just a little too conciliatory about it; even offers to treat Ryu to a celebratory banquet. Hmm...but then he walks away, hiding a grimace and muttering a promise to Song Ikpil that he won't let Song down. So yeah it was all for show. Narration tells us that this was in 1591 and that Lee Deokhyeong was named vice-minister of personnel at the same time. And that this was Seonjo's strategy to keep to two sides in balance and thereby strengthen his own authority.
Osaka: The Joseon envoys have decided to get out of the capital and now are awaiting a final, formal reply letter from Hideyoshi to take back home and present to the king. And of course Hideyoshi is keeping them waiting. He and his court discuss the text of the reply, and at one point it gets a little ugly...but soon enough they complete the letter and it's delivered to the Joseon envoys. And the text makes the envoys go ballistic. It refers to their king submissively, suggests that Joseon will serve Japan submissively, and makes a nebulous reference to Joseon "escorting" Japan to Ming. Genso and So Yoshitoshi try to spin the language to make it seem more palatable but the envoys reject it outright and want it revised. And they won't go back home until it gets revised. So there! The Tsushimans take the letter to Konishi, unsure of what to do--"We can't revise it secretly," they tell him, so they're obviously supporting whatever Konishi's agenda is. Konishi says they can make some changes to the text, but the part about going to Ming, well, We're just going to have to tell him it's to pay tribute to Ming, and sell that as best we can. Konishi is trying to stop a war from starting; tells the Tsushimans that the subterfuge over the letter is better than "dying a meaningless death in Joseon."
Now the Tsushimans have brought a revised letter to the envoys. All of the changes they asked for have been made, except for that reference to going to Ming. They're spinning it like crazy but the envoys don't like it (actually the Easterner envoy doesn't like it; the Westerner is more open to accepting it as a different interpretation and letting it go). But the letter was never revised again and the envoys returned angrily after a mission that ended up taking ten months.
We see the letter being read aloud to a confused king and court. Confused about that Ming sentence. The Westerners see it as an obvious intent to attack Ming and an expectation of help from Joseon in doing so. Lee says it would be "illogical" for a smaller nation like Japan to attack giant Ming and says they just want to get better trade relations. Then Ryu wisely volunteers that it's best to wait for the envoys to arrive, because they may have some insight into how to interpret the letter.
Eventually the envoys make it back to the capital. On the way the Westerner envoy has been muttering dire warnings to local officials...and it's having an effect because we're starting to see refugees leaving coastal areas, fearful that a war is coming.
Jeong Cheol goes to visit Song Ikpil in prison. Song sees the fear of war as an opportunity for the Westerners to get their choice of crown prince installed. Boy that's cold...but he thinks even Lee and Ryu will go along with it if the attack threat is real.
So then Jeong convinces Lee and Ryu to go along with him to see the king and pitch the crown prince idea. Ryu says there's merit in the idea; Lee is suspicious of their motives and also fears it will anger the king. And Lee suspects they have someone specific in mind already. Jeong concedes that they favor Gwanghae but that it doesn't matter so much, only that the king chooses someone (lie). Lee is noncommittal nods and says he understands...But then afterwards he tells Ryu "I have a bad feeling" about it. Ryu smiles and says there won't be any trouble with the king if the two of them and Jeong present the idea together. But is that all Lee is worried about?
Nope. Because Lee heads right for the prison and visits Song Ikpil. "It was probably your doing," he says, talking about Jeong reaching out to the two Easterners about the crown-prince issue. And then adds, We told him we'd go with him to see the king but I've decided "I can't die with him" so I'm not going after all. It's meant to stick a needle in Song's side and provoke him--and it works. Song jumps up and starts shouting about how Lee should keep his promise and not be a coward. Which shows Lee that Song did indeed know about this all along and that the whole thing is some sort of scheme by the Westerners. Then Lee fesses up, admitting that he made no commitment about going or not going. He walks away chuckling, knowing that his needle-sticking worked perfectly.
"They want to use the future king to control this country. It was all a ploy. Do you believe those snakes?" Lee goes and tells Ryu, who sighs and facepalms.
Nighttime: What's going on here? We're in the bedroom of someone named Kim Gongryang. We learn he's an assistant proctor at the royal treasury, and is also Consort Kim's brother. He's rudely awakened by a sword-wielding aide to Lee Sanhae and accused of embezzling money! Which may or may not be true at all (from Kim's reaction it probably is), but that's not Lee's concern. He just wants Kim's attention, because he wants him to tell his sister that if Prince Gwanghae is named crown prince, she and her son Prince Sinseong "will be kicked out of the palace or killed." Which may or may not be true, but it certainly means Kim losing his cushy job...
...and that's enough to send him rushing to his sister's home, waking her up and telling her Gwanghae will be nominated tomorrow. "You have to find a way," he tells her frantically, as in, find a way to stop it from happening. And obviously she doesn't want it to happen either, because she has a son who's another crown-prince possibility.
So she immediately gets dressed up and goes to see the king, who's doing some late-night reading. Collapses onto the floor in front of him and starts sobbing, begging for him not to kill her and her son after Prince Gwanghae is nominated. Of course Seonjo has no idea what she's talking about.
Next morning: Now he does, though. Lee has begged off, claiming a sudden illness, but Jeong and Ryu go to see the king and Jeong asks that a crown prince be chosen. "I'm alive and well," he snaps back. "What is your intention?" Jeong protests that this is simply out of loyalty, but the king immediately turns to Ryu and asks if he agrees with this. Ryu says nothing. Seonjo explodes. "I asked you a question!"
More of the idealism/pragmatism back-and-forth between Lee and Ryu, with Ryu urging trust in the king. Meanwhile Jeong Cheol is still determined to get a crown prince chosen.
Seonjo is visiting Consort Kim tonight and she's giving him advice again. "You gave a sword to one side, so you should give a shield to the other side." As in, with the Westerners having so much power now after the purge, well...she suggests naming Ryu to the post of personnel minister (the present minister needs to take a leave of absence). That's in addition to his present position.
Obviously Seonjo liked the idea because it's the next day now and he's speaking with Lee and Ryu and Jeong and is offering the job to Ryu. Jeong, asked for his reaction, says "I haven't seen anyone who was fairer with personnel" and calls it a wise decision. Not sure if he's just biting his lip in front of his king for the sake of unity...and afterwards he seems just a little too conciliatory about it; even offers to treat Ryu to a celebratory banquet. Hmm...but then he walks away, hiding a grimace and muttering a promise to Song Ikpil that he won't let Song down. So yeah it was all for show. Narration tells us that this was in 1591 and that Lee Deokhyeong was named vice-minister of personnel at the same time. And that this was Seonjo's strategy to keep to two sides in balance and thereby strengthen his own authority.
Osaka: The Joseon envoys have decided to get out of the capital and now are awaiting a final, formal reply letter from Hideyoshi to take back home and present to the king. And of course Hideyoshi is keeping them waiting. He and his court discuss the text of the reply, and at one point it gets a little ugly...but soon enough they complete the letter and it's delivered to the Joseon envoys. And the text makes the envoys go ballistic. It refers to their king submissively, suggests that Joseon will serve Japan submissively, and makes a nebulous reference to Joseon "escorting" Japan to Ming. Genso and So Yoshitoshi try to spin the language to make it seem more palatable but the envoys reject it outright and want it revised. And they won't go back home until it gets revised. So there! The Tsushimans take the letter to Konishi, unsure of what to do--"We can't revise it secretly," they tell him, so they're obviously supporting whatever Konishi's agenda is. Konishi says they can make some changes to the text, but the part about going to Ming, well, We're just going to have to tell him it's to pay tribute to Ming, and sell that as best we can. Konishi is trying to stop a war from starting; tells the Tsushimans that the subterfuge over the letter is better than "dying a meaningless death in Joseon."
Now the Tsushimans have brought a revised letter to the envoys. All of the changes they asked for have been made, except for that reference to going to Ming. They're spinning it like crazy but the envoys don't like it (actually the Easterner envoy doesn't like it; the Westerner is more open to accepting it as a different interpretation and letting it go). But the letter was never revised again and the envoys returned angrily after a mission that ended up taking ten months.
We see the letter being read aloud to a confused king and court. Confused about that Ming sentence. The Westerners see it as an obvious intent to attack Ming and an expectation of help from Joseon in doing so. Lee says it would be "illogical" for a smaller nation like Japan to attack giant Ming and says they just want to get better trade relations. Then Ryu wisely volunteers that it's best to wait for the envoys to arrive, because they may have some insight into how to interpret the letter.
Eventually the envoys make it back to the capital. On the way the Westerner envoy has been muttering dire warnings to local officials...and it's having an effect because we're starting to see refugees leaving coastal areas, fearful that a war is coming.
Jeong Cheol goes to visit Song Ikpil in prison. Song sees the fear of war as an opportunity for the Westerners to get their choice of crown prince installed. Boy that's cold...but he thinks even Lee and Ryu will go along with it if the attack threat is real.
So then Jeong convinces Lee and Ryu to go along with him to see the king and pitch the crown prince idea. Ryu says there's merit in the idea; Lee is suspicious of their motives and also fears it will anger the king. And Lee suspects they have someone specific in mind already. Jeong concedes that they favor Gwanghae but that it doesn't matter so much, only that the king chooses someone (lie). Lee is noncommittal nods and says he understands...But then afterwards he tells Ryu "I have a bad feeling" about it. Ryu smiles and says there won't be any trouble with the king if the two of them and Jeong present the idea together. But is that all Lee is worried about?
Nope. Because Lee heads right for the prison and visits Song Ikpil. "It was probably your doing," he says, talking about Jeong reaching out to the two Easterners about the crown-prince issue. And then adds, We told him we'd go with him to see the king but I've decided "I can't die with him" so I'm not going after all. It's meant to stick a needle in Song's side and provoke him--and it works. Song jumps up and starts shouting about how Lee should keep his promise and not be a coward. Which shows Lee that Song did indeed know about this all along and that the whole thing is some sort of scheme by the Westerners. Then Lee fesses up, admitting that he made no commitment about going or not going. He walks away chuckling, knowing that his needle-sticking worked perfectly.
"They want to use the future king to control this country. It was all a ploy. Do you believe those snakes?" Lee goes and tells Ryu, who sighs and facepalms.
Nighttime: What's going on here? We're in the bedroom of someone named Kim Gongryang. We learn he's an assistant proctor at the royal treasury, and is also Consort Kim's brother. He's rudely awakened by a sword-wielding aide to Lee Sanhae and accused of embezzling money! Which may or may not be true at all (from Kim's reaction it probably is), but that's not Lee's concern. He just wants Kim's attention, because he wants him to tell his sister that if Prince Gwanghae is named crown prince, she and her son Prince Sinseong "will be kicked out of the palace or killed." Which may or may not be true, but it certainly means Kim losing his cushy job...
...and that's enough to send him rushing to his sister's home, waking her up and telling her Gwanghae will be nominated tomorrow. "You have to find a way," he tells her frantically, as in, find a way to stop it from happening. And obviously she doesn't want it to happen either, because she has a son who's another crown-prince possibility.
So she immediately gets dressed up and goes to see the king, who's doing some late-night reading. Collapses onto the floor in front of him and starts sobbing, begging for him not to kill her and her son after Prince Gwanghae is nominated. Of course Seonjo has no idea what she's talking about.
Next morning: Now he does, though. Lee has begged off, claiming a sudden illness, but Jeong and Ryu go to see the king and Jeong asks that a crown prince be chosen. "I'm alive and well," he snaps back. "What is your intention?" Jeong protests that this is simply out of loyalty, but the king immediately turns to Ryu and asks if he agrees with this. Ryu says nothing. Seonjo explodes. "I asked you a question!"
