Post by ajk on Oct 15, 2008 14:58:58 GMT -5
As she stands before Sejong, Dami is holding a book, a book she's been carrying with her. It's the storybook that Sejong presented to her as a little girl...Flashback to Ep36; prince Choongnyeong leaving the north and handing the book to the little girl and saying he's sure she'll learn to read quickly...Flashback ending, she tells him, "We never got past where you left off in that book. Because we had no time for storybooks or even to learn to read. We got up and dawn and worked to dusk, but we couldn't even pay the taxes let alone have enough to eat. Why did you forget us? You were just like one of us when you lived among us, and we were so happy when we heard you became the king. How could you completely forget about us? Instead of taking care of us, you called in the barbarians and became their king!" She speaks with anger, frustration, sadness, bitterness, all rolled up together. "You saw exactly how my mother and father died. How could you make those bastards Joseonese?" Sejong asks her why they never let him know about any of this. "How? Are you talking about sending a letter to the king like the learned folks do? How, when we don't know how to write?" (Ouch, can't argue with that. Certainly does look like Sejong dropped the ball on this one, big-time.) Then Sejong asks her, Is that why you came here and committed arson? "No! We had nothing to do with those fires. We chose a different way." And she hands the storybook to him, along with a rolled-up set of papers.
Evening at the northerners' camp. They realize that Dami isn't with them, and they can't find "the drawings" either, whatever that means. Has she gone to the palace alone?
Jo Malseng wants to send a punitive force to attack and kill the northerners. "The sooner we act, the better." Park Sil enters and tells him that they've located the northerners' camp at Mokmyeok Mountain. But then Yi Su speaks up; "I can't allow punitive action." Choi Yundeok adds that punitive action is taken only against enemy forces. A big argument is brewing, but Jo quickly shuts everyone up by saying that anybody who stirs disorder is an enemy. We must get order restored, he insists.
At the Hall of Worthies: The scholars, Hwang Hee and Yun Hwe are discussing Jo's intent on punitive action. Maybe, Yun says, it's because he knows about what the arson investigation found. After all, he was clever enough to plant someone in the Hall of Worthies; he might well have someone in the Bureau of Weaponry too. So he punishes the northerners to cover up his own crime, and taking the action will make him a hero and "put him in an even stronger position to intimidate the king." The scholars agree and want to go after Jo right away, but Hwang has to warn them not to overstep: "We're talking about locking up the country's chief of military. It's not possible without irrefutable evidence." Let's work on the investigation, he says; hopefully it will yield results and clear everything up.
Evening: Gim Doryeon is brought forcibly by two guards to Jo's residence and thrown on the ground. "Did my men scare you?," Jo asks. That's enough small talk. "You should have done a better job of covering up your tracks," he tells Gim; they've found potassium nitrate and they're closing in on us. "Keep your men under tight control. You won't be alive to talk to me if you make another mistake."
Later that evening, Jo is summoned by prince Kyoungnyeong. Kyoungnyeong knows about the potassium nitrate, and knows that it would take someone powerful to get it. "Someone like yourself." He asks Jo point-blank: "I want the truth. You were behind those fires, weren't you?" Jo doesn't flinch. "Does it matter?" "I want to know if you set the city on fire to protect the fortune you amassed by selling government posts and accepting bribes and kickbacks." Rather than denying, Jo tries to correct him and it comes out darkly humorous: "Those are patriotic contributions from those who do not want slaves running this state and lowly barbarian blood corrupting our pure Joseonese blood." The prince doesn't want any of this: "I want to fight the king fair and square. At least more fair and square than this." Jo cautions him: "You underestimate the king. You can never defeat the king fair and square." Kyoungnyeong is surprised. Jo goes further: "I did not choose you because the current king is incompetent. Don't act so naive and don't try to fight me on what I do." My "dirty fortune," he tells the prince, is what will make you the next king. And if you squeal, "you will have to confess you treacherous intent first. Remember, you and I are in the same boat." The prince leaves, pounding the door open on his way out.
Jachi and several guards are escorting Dami to jail. Ogeun actually blocks their path and tries to stop them. "We loved her like a little sister" when we were in the north, Ogeun reminds Jachi. But Jachi pays him no mind; after all, she could be executed for breaking into the palace. So they go into the jail and the guards throw Dami into a cell. She advises the eunuchs to go back to the king right away, because "If he's the same man I know, he's probably not feeling too well right now." Huh?
Sejong is looking at the rolled-up papers Dami had handed to him. They're drawings. (Ah, those are "the drawings" from before.) They depict the suffering that the northern people have endured: Attacks by Jurchens, poverty, despair, hopelessness, starvation, even a mother ruining her own fingers trying to dig a grave with her hands for her dead child. Some of the black-and-white drawings are accented with red ink to indicate blood. Flashbacks of previously unseen footage accompany the drawings as we see them. It's tough stuff to look at, and it all hits Sejong hard.
Back at the northerners' camp: Poongae tells the rest of them that he's going to the palace. We have nothing to fear, and I won't leave my sister there alone. The other young man who was with Dami, now identified as Omakji, is moved by Poongae's words and decides to join him. Soon the entire group comes around and enthusiastically supports the two; they're all going back to the capital.
We see Park Sil on horseback, leading the punitive force into the night. A northerner scout spots them and reports back, and the northerners realize that the force is headed their way to kill them.
Later that night, at one of the capital city gates: All is quiet. Then an axe goes whooshing through the air, right between two guards, and thwacks into the main door. "Get the king out here! Let's see the man who is set to wipe us out!" It's the whole group of northerners; they're obviously staking everything on one bold, risky confrontation. "Come out here! Let's have a look at your face! Get the king out here!"
A guard comes running to let Sejong know.
"A disturbance?" Huh Jo is with Hwang. "What did I tell you--peasants need to be put back in their places!"
Jo Malseng is told and is furious; he wants the group suppressed immediately.
Back outside, a standoff. Guards and northerners are facing each other in two lines, only a few yards apart. Then the gate opens and soldiers come running from inside, led by Yi Sunmong. "Suppress the rebels!" They start to charge, but then, "Stop!" It's the king. Everybody stops, and a path is cleared so that Sejong can see the northerners. Jachi orders them to kneel before their king, but they shout, "He is not our king! Release the innocent northerners! Turn over my sister!" They're not going to kneel and the soldiers want to go at them and things are ready to boil over. Then Sejong says simply, "Clear the guards." Yow-wee. "I will meet my people face to face." Jachi tells him with concern, "They're extremely wound up right now, your majesty." Sejong doesn't care: "He who is afraid to face his people is not a king." Jachi groans. Sejong repeats, "It's an order. Call of the guards." The guards recede and Sejong steps bravely out, right in front of the group and their axes and clubs--just as the queen, Jo Malseng and the Hall of Worthies scholars all reach the gate from inside. It's quite a scene. Everyone is silent and still, because no one knows what will happen next and no one wants to be the first to move or talk. Nothing, nothing, nothing...and then Sejong falls to his knees before the northerners! Everyone behind him is utterly shocked, and the northerners can only look at each other, not knowing how to react. Then he speaks. "It is my great failure. Curse the man who bombastically said he would serve the people as his god, then turned a blind eye to their hunger." He stares blindly ahead as he speaks, like he's had an epiphany and it dazed him. "Show no mercy to the man who failed to protect you and your families from enemy aggression and neglected to show sympathy for your pain. Punish this unworthy king with your hands." And he sheds a tear. Everyone on both sides is moved. Poongae speaks first: "I guess he is the prince that we used to trust and follow." Then the king shocks him: "Your drawings have improved." Sejong actually remembered him, an aspiring little artist who used to draw on the ground. Poongae is moved to tears as Sejong smiles. Then the king recognizes Omakji, who's also deeply moved but then asks where his sister is. At that moment we hear her from the side: "Get down on your knees, all of you!" Ogeun has brought Dami here. "You're before his majesty the king!", she tells her companions. They all kneel, willingly so (as a really crappy, completely out-of-place song starts to play. Really, really crappy. Bad decision, producers). "Would you protect us?" asks Omakji. Sejong replies, "Would you give me another chance?" He's won them all over, and they enthusiastically shout, "Your majesty! Your majesty! Protect us, your majesty!" It's a complete victory for Sejong, and Jo Malseng won't dare even lift a finger against the northerners now. Everyone else present can sense that something very good and very significant has happened. Even prince Kyoungnyeong and his mother are there, and the expression on Hyobin's face is absolutely priceless--like she'd been schooled and left in the dust before she even knew what hit her. (Cracked me up. One of the funniest sights of the whole series.)
The next day: The king and ministers are meeting. The ministers are complaining again. Sejong shouldn't have apologized to the "rebels," and the immigration policy must be abolished. Most of this comes from Huh Jo, of course. Sejong tells them firmly that the policy will remain. "This is my eighth year on the throne," he tells them, "and I agree that an evaluation is due, but I believe love for the people must be at the heart of that evaluation." (Note: Something must have been left out of the translation, because I didn't catch anyone demanding an evaluation.) "Having said that," Sejong continues, "rejecting talent based on social status is wrong, and so is rejecting those who risked their lives to Joseon their home." And he leaves his throne and strides out of the room without another word. So there.
We see the northern prisoners being released.
In a conference room, Huh Jo is complaining again, this time about the release: "How far will he go? When will he stop taking these risks?" At that moment Sejong enters, to their surprise, and he's heard Huh. "Innocent until proven guilty. How can you call releasing the prisoners taking risks?" Jo Malseng says, "This will send the people of the capital flying into a rage. I suppose you have a plan to deal with this as well."
Gim Jongsuh has brought the released northerners somewhere. We see prince Hyoryeong! Gim tells him, "His majesty asks that you take care of them." Hyoryeong answers, "His majesty must be quite distraught." (Didn't understand this remark; is it because Sejong asked for a Buddhist to provide sanctuary?) Then from off to the side we hear, "We're quite distraught as well." Uh-oh; it's a larger group of what at first appear to be capital citizens, but then we see Jang Wonman leading them. So this isn't just a random mob. And they're armed and itching for a fight. The king won't kill them, they shout, "so we will have to kill them ourselves!" And they attack. Just then Yi Su arrives with troops, a moment too late to prevent the fight. Jang sees them arrive, hears the order to stop fighting, but goes right back to beating up on someone. "Do not use your weapons," Yi Su commands; "Your goal is to quickly separate them." Then a rock heads straight for Dami's head, but Gim dives and pulls her away at the last second. And do we see a spark between them? Hmmm.
In the Hall of Worthies, Sejong is with the scholars. They're all subdued and concerned. We learn that the whole city is up in arms now. "Work harder on finding the real arsonists," Sejong instructs. "The public will be appeased when they know the truth." Then he tells Yun Hwe to have the royal secretariat finish the warrant they're working on so he can issue it tomorrow. Yun Hwe is concerned that the warrant will only further stoke the tense situation, but Sejong sees it as the only way to provide the northerners with a livelihood. (So whatever it is, it must be huge.)
Evening, presumably still at Hyoryeong's compound: We see that the attacking mob has been captured and is being held by soldiers. The northerners are there, too, but are free. We see a brief flashback of the refugee-camp scene in Ep63 with Dami and the northerners looking menacingly at the rescued Jurchen civilians...Flashback ending, Gim Jongsuh asks Dami, "How does it feel to be on the other side of the fence?" "The barbarians were our enemy," she says matter-of-factly. But Gim explains, "If there are arsonists among you, you are their enemy just the same. It's not fair, is it? It's not fair being regarded as an enemy just because one or two of you might have had a hand in the fires, is it? Try to make a distinction between the enemy and the enemy's people from now on." He pats her on the shoulder and leaves. Then we see Omakji looking at the captured group, and he recognizes faces from the burning of city hall.
The next day: The king announces his new plan to his ministers. He's abolishing the military farms (in the north?) and will turning the lands over to the northerners for them to cultivate. This is the quickest way for them to establish livelihoods and improve their situation. Ministers oppose this vigorously; they point out that the military farms are an important source of revenue, and Jo Malseng accuses Sejong of the "abandonment of national security." But Sejong is prepared for this. He tells them he's implementing a huge tax reform, which will assess the farmlands to grade them by fertility so that appropriate tax rates can be applied. There's also a provision to tax rental income from the farmlands. (This all shot by pretty quickly, but as best as I understand it, this won't take any land from anyone; it's just a matter of letting the northerners replace the military workers. They'll be renting the lands from the landowners. Taxes will be charged on the revenue from the crops and on the rental payments to the landowners. Got all that? There will be a quiz.) The taxes received from the farm yields will replace the lost revenue. Huh Jo warns that the landed gentry will bitterly oppose the policy, and Sejong tells him right back that "It's your job to convince those who oppose."
Outside in the hall, Huh Jo continues complaining. "The king is making enemies of the nobles and the landed gentry. I'll have you know that." He walks away. Hwang tells Yun Hwe, "If it's for the right cause, sometimes you just have to take the bull by the horns and go for it. Let us just work on getting rid of any loopholes that can be exploited."
We see a large group of nobles and landed gentry taking turns vigorously beating the Petitioners' Drum. They've also prepared petitions, which are delivered in a pile to Sejong.
Choi Manli is in a government office gathering books; Jo Malseng walks in and sees that the books are historical tax collection records. Choi says he's going to study them to help implement the new policy. Jo question's Choi's patriotism for wanting to help barbarians.
Princes Hyoryeong and Kyoungnyeong are visiting Sejong at his request. The king is smiling and confident, which is good to see. He tells them, "I plan to do a bit of thieving from the royal house. I'd like to collect fifty plots of land from each member of the royal house." Hyoryeong asks if the country is in financial trouble? Our budget is never enough, Sejong answers with a smile, but no. "The purpose of this decision is for the royal house to set a good example for the landed gentry to appease their selfishness."
Jo is pressing Choi Manli hard. "The king is ruining this country. Turning the people against him to feed the Jurchens, tainting the Joseonese blood that has remained pure for five thousand years; this is not in the interests of Joseon. You're a smart fellow. So think hard about what is good for this country and what is not." To our disappointment, Choi is listening to him and considering him seriously. (Maybe this shouldn't surprise us, though; recall that Choi was the least supportive of the scholars to Jang Youngsil's appointment.)
Jo leaves the hall and happens to pass prince Kyoungnyeong leaving his meeting with the king. As their paths cross, Jo tells the prince, "You're a lucky man, your highness. The king has turned the public against him and you didn't have to lift a finger. All you have to do now is to take that public trust and make it yours and clear your path to the throne." And he walks away. But Kyoungnyeong doesn't seem particularly happy.
We see Gim Dohyeon talking to Jang Wonman (who apparently was released from detention somehow). He's irritated. "Jo Malseng. He's forgetting that I'm a businessman."
We see Jo Malseng overseeing a training exercise at a military facility. He tells his two aides (I believe they were Park Sil and Yi Sunmong, but I'm not positive), "Send word to the northern states and the three southern states. The time is right for all of us to rise up and start a new era with a new king!"
That evening, Jo on a horse, riding with two escorts (possibly Park and Yi again but it was dark and hard to see) and a walking security detail. Suddenly a masked, black-clad squad appears, knocks down the escorts and overpowers the detail. Jo looks around, wide-eyed and in a panic.
Evening at the northerners' camp. They realize that Dami isn't with them, and they can't find "the drawings" either, whatever that means. Has she gone to the palace alone?
Jo Malseng wants to send a punitive force to attack and kill the northerners. "The sooner we act, the better." Park Sil enters and tells him that they've located the northerners' camp at Mokmyeok Mountain. But then Yi Su speaks up; "I can't allow punitive action." Choi Yundeok adds that punitive action is taken only against enemy forces. A big argument is brewing, but Jo quickly shuts everyone up by saying that anybody who stirs disorder is an enemy. We must get order restored, he insists.
At the Hall of Worthies: The scholars, Hwang Hee and Yun Hwe are discussing Jo's intent on punitive action. Maybe, Yun says, it's because he knows about what the arson investigation found. After all, he was clever enough to plant someone in the Hall of Worthies; he might well have someone in the Bureau of Weaponry too. So he punishes the northerners to cover up his own crime, and taking the action will make him a hero and "put him in an even stronger position to intimidate the king." The scholars agree and want to go after Jo right away, but Hwang has to warn them not to overstep: "We're talking about locking up the country's chief of military. It's not possible without irrefutable evidence." Let's work on the investigation, he says; hopefully it will yield results and clear everything up.
Evening: Gim Doryeon is brought forcibly by two guards to Jo's residence and thrown on the ground. "Did my men scare you?," Jo asks. That's enough small talk. "You should have done a better job of covering up your tracks," he tells Gim; they've found potassium nitrate and they're closing in on us. "Keep your men under tight control. You won't be alive to talk to me if you make another mistake."
Later that evening, Jo is summoned by prince Kyoungnyeong. Kyoungnyeong knows about the potassium nitrate, and knows that it would take someone powerful to get it. "Someone like yourself." He asks Jo point-blank: "I want the truth. You were behind those fires, weren't you?" Jo doesn't flinch. "Does it matter?" "I want to know if you set the city on fire to protect the fortune you amassed by selling government posts and accepting bribes and kickbacks." Rather than denying, Jo tries to correct him and it comes out darkly humorous: "Those are patriotic contributions from those who do not want slaves running this state and lowly barbarian blood corrupting our pure Joseonese blood." The prince doesn't want any of this: "I want to fight the king fair and square. At least more fair and square than this." Jo cautions him: "You underestimate the king. You can never defeat the king fair and square." Kyoungnyeong is surprised. Jo goes further: "I did not choose you because the current king is incompetent. Don't act so naive and don't try to fight me on what I do." My "dirty fortune," he tells the prince, is what will make you the next king. And if you squeal, "you will have to confess you treacherous intent first. Remember, you and I are in the same boat." The prince leaves, pounding the door open on his way out.
Jachi and several guards are escorting Dami to jail. Ogeun actually blocks their path and tries to stop them. "We loved her like a little sister" when we were in the north, Ogeun reminds Jachi. But Jachi pays him no mind; after all, she could be executed for breaking into the palace. So they go into the jail and the guards throw Dami into a cell. She advises the eunuchs to go back to the king right away, because "If he's the same man I know, he's probably not feeling too well right now." Huh?
Sejong is looking at the rolled-up papers Dami had handed to him. They're drawings. (Ah, those are "the drawings" from before.) They depict the suffering that the northern people have endured: Attacks by Jurchens, poverty, despair, hopelessness, starvation, even a mother ruining her own fingers trying to dig a grave with her hands for her dead child. Some of the black-and-white drawings are accented with red ink to indicate blood. Flashbacks of previously unseen footage accompany the drawings as we see them. It's tough stuff to look at, and it all hits Sejong hard.
Back at the northerners' camp: Poongae tells the rest of them that he's going to the palace. We have nothing to fear, and I won't leave my sister there alone. The other young man who was with Dami, now identified as Omakji, is moved by Poongae's words and decides to join him. Soon the entire group comes around and enthusiastically supports the two; they're all going back to the capital.
We see Park Sil on horseback, leading the punitive force into the night. A northerner scout spots them and reports back, and the northerners realize that the force is headed their way to kill them.
Later that night, at one of the capital city gates: All is quiet. Then an axe goes whooshing through the air, right between two guards, and thwacks into the main door. "Get the king out here! Let's see the man who is set to wipe us out!" It's the whole group of northerners; they're obviously staking everything on one bold, risky confrontation. "Come out here! Let's have a look at your face! Get the king out here!"
A guard comes running to let Sejong know.
"A disturbance?" Huh Jo is with Hwang. "What did I tell you--peasants need to be put back in their places!"
Jo Malseng is told and is furious; he wants the group suppressed immediately.
Back outside, a standoff. Guards and northerners are facing each other in two lines, only a few yards apart. Then the gate opens and soldiers come running from inside, led by Yi Sunmong. "Suppress the rebels!" They start to charge, but then, "Stop!" It's the king. Everybody stops, and a path is cleared so that Sejong can see the northerners. Jachi orders them to kneel before their king, but they shout, "He is not our king! Release the innocent northerners! Turn over my sister!" They're not going to kneel and the soldiers want to go at them and things are ready to boil over. Then Sejong says simply, "Clear the guards." Yow-wee. "I will meet my people face to face." Jachi tells him with concern, "They're extremely wound up right now, your majesty." Sejong doesn't care: "He who is afraid to face his people is not a king." Jachi groans. Sejong repeats, "It's an order. Call of the guards." The guards recede and Sejong steps bravely out, right in front of the group and their axes and clubs--just as the queen, Jo Malseng and the Hall of Worthies scholars all reach the gate from inside. It's quite a scene. Everyone is silent and still, because no one knows what will happen next and no one wants to be the first to move or talk. Nothing, nothing, nothing...and then Sejong falls to his knees before the northerners! Everyone behind him is utterly shocked, and the northerners can only look at each other, not knowing how to react. Then he speaks. "It is my great failure. Curse the man who bombastically said he would serve the people as his god, then turned a blind eye to their hunger." He stares blindly ahead as he speaks, like he's had an epiphany and it dazed him. "Show no mercy to the man who failed to protect you and your families from enemy aggression and neglected to show sympathy for your pain. Punish this unworthy king with your hands." And he sheds a tear. Everyone on both sides is moved. Poongae speaks first: "I guess he is the prince that we used to trust and follow." Then the king shocks him: "Your drawings have improved." Sejong actually remembered him, an aspiring little artist who used to draw on the ground. Poongae is moved to tears as Sejong smiles. Then the king recognizes Omakji, who's also deeply moved but then asks where his sister is. At that moment we hear her from the side: "Get down on your knees, all of you!" Ogeun has brought Dami here. "You're before his majesty the king!", she tells her companions. They all kneel, willingly so (as a really crappy, completely out-of-place song starts to play. Really, really crappy. Bad decision, producers). "Would you protect us?" asks Omakji. Sejong replies, "Would you give me another chance?" He's won them all over, and they enthusiastically shout, "Your majesty! Your majesty! Protect us, your majesty!" It's a complete victory for Sejong, and Jo Malseng won't dare even lift a finger against the northerners now. Everyone else present can sense that something very good and very significant has happened. Even prince Kyoungnyeong and his mother are there, and the expression on Hyobin's face is absolutely priceless--like she'd been schooled and left in the dust before she even knew what hit her. (Cracked me up. One of the funniest sights of the whole series.)
The next day: The king and ministers are meeting. The ministers are complaining again. Sejong shouldn't have apologized to the "rebels," and the immigration policy must be abolished. Most of this comes from Huh Jo, of course. Sejong tells them firmly that the policy will remain. "This is my eighth year on the throne," he tells them, "and I agree that an evaluation is due, but I believe love for the people must be at the heart of that evaluation." (Note: Something must have been left out of the translation, because I didn't catch anyone demanding an evaluation.) "Having said that," Sejong continues, "rejecting talent based on social status is wrong, and so is rejecting those who risked their lives to Joseon their home." And he leaves his throne and strides out of the room without another word. So there.
We see the northern prisoners being released.
In a conference room, Huh Jo is complaining again, this time about the release: "How far will he go? When will he stop taking these risks?" At that moment Sejong enters, to their surprise, and he's heard Huh. "Innocent until proven guilty. How can you call releasing the prisoners taking risks?" Jo Malseng says, "This will send the people of the capital flying into a rage. I suppose you have a plan to deal with this as well."
Gim Jongsuh has brought the released northerners somewhere. We see prince Hyoryeong! Gim tells him, "His majesty asks that you take care of them." Hyoryeong answers, "His majesty must be quite distraught." (Didn't understand this remark; is it because Sejong asked for a Buddhist to provide sanctuary?) Then from off to the side we hear, "We're quite distraught as well." Uh-oh; it's a larger group of what at first appear to be capital citizens, but then we see Jang Wonman leading them. So this isn't just a random mob. And they're armed and itching for a fight. The king won't kill them, they shout, "so we will have to kill them ourselves!" And they attack. Just then Yi Su arrives with troops, a moment too late to prevent the fight. Jang sees them arrive, hears the order to stop fighting, but goes right back to beating up on someone. "Do not use your weapons," Yi Su commands; "Your goal is to quickly separate them." Then a rock heads straight for Dami's head, but Gim dives and pulls her away at the last second. And do we see a spark between them? Hmmm.
In the Hall of Worthies, Sejong is with the scholars. They're all subdued and concerned. We learn that the whole city is up in arms now. "Work harder on finding the real arsonists," Sejong instructs. "The public will be appeased when they know the truth." Then he tells Yun Hwe to have the royal secretariat finish the warrant they're working on so he can issue it tomorrow. Yun Hwe is concerned that the warrant will only further stoke the tense situation, but Sejong sees it as the only way to provide the northerners with a livelihood. (So whatever it is, it must be huge.)
Evening, presumably still at Hyoryeong's compound: We see that the attacking mob has been captured and is being held by soldiers. The northerners are there, too, but are free. We see a brief flashback of the refugee-camp scene in Ep63 with Dami and the northerners looking menacingly at the rescued Jurchen civilians...Flashback ending, Gim Jongsuh asks Dami, "How does it feel to be on the other side of the fence?" "The barbarians were our enemy," she says matter-of-factly. But Gim explains, "If there are arsonists among you, you are their enemy just the same. It's not fair, is it? It's not fair being regarded as an enemy just because one or two of you might have had a hand in the fires, is it? Try to make a distinction between the enemy and the enemy's people from now on." He pats her on the shoulder and leaves. Then we see Omakji looking at the captured group, and he recognizes faces from the burning of city hall.
The next day: The king announces his new plan to his ministers. He's abolishing the military farms (in the north?) and will turning the lands over to the northerners for them to cultivate. This is the quickest way for them to establish livelihoods and improve their situation. Ministers oppose this vigorously; they point out that the military farms are an important source of revenue, and Jo Malseng accuses Sejong of the "abandonment of national security." But Sejong is prepared for this. He tells them he's implementing a huge tax reform, which will assess the farmlands to grade them by fertility so that appropriate tax rates can be applied. There's also a provision to tax rental income from the farmlands. (This all shot by pretty quickly, but as best as I understand it, this won't take any land from anyone; it's just a matter of letting the northerners replace the military workers. They'll be renting the lands from the landowners. Taxes will be charged on the revenue from the crops and on the rental payments to the landowners. Got all that? There will be a quiz.) The taxes received from the farm yields will replace the lost revenue. Huh Jo warns that the landed gentry will bitterly oppose the policy, and Sejong tells him right back that "It's your job to convince those who oppose."
Outside in the hall, Huh Jo continues complaining. "The king is making enemies of the nobles and the landed gentry. I'll have you know that." He walks away. Hwang tells Yun Hwe, "If it's for the right cause, sometimes you just have to take the bull by the horns and go for it. Let us just work on getting rid of any loopholes that can be exploited."
We see a large group of nobles and landed gentry taking turns vigorously beating the Petitioners' Drum. They've also prepared petitions, which are delivered in a pile to Sejong.
Choi Manli is in a government office gathering books; Jo Malseng walks in and sees that the books are historical tax collection records. Choi says he's going to study them to help implement the new policy. Jo question's Choi's patriotism for wanting to help barbarians.
Princes Hyoryeong and Kyoungnyeong are visiting Sejong at his request. The king is smiling and confident, which is good to see. He tells them, "I plan to do a bit of thieving from the royal house. I'd like to collect fifty plots of land from each member of the royal house." Hyoryeong asks if the country is in financial trouble? Our budget is never enough, Sejong answers with a smile, but no. "The purpose of this decision is for the royal house to set a good example for the landed gentry to appease their selfishness."
Jo is pressing Choi Manli hard. "The king is ruining this country. Turning the people against him to feed the Jurchens, tainting the Joseonese blood that has remained pure for five thousand years; this is not in the interests of Joseon. You're a smart fellow. So think hard about what is good for this country and what is not." To our disappointment, Choi is listening to him and considering him seriously. (Maybe this shouldn't surprise us, though; recall that Choi was the least supportive of the scholars to Jang Youngsil's appointment.)
Jo leaves the hall and happens to pass prince Kyoungnyeong leaving his meeting with the king. As their paths cross, Jo tells the prince, "You're a lucky man, your highness. The king has turned the public against him and you didn't have to lift a finger. All you have to do now is to take that public trust and make it yours and clear your path to the throne." And he walks away. But Kyoungnyeong doesn't seem particularly happy.
We see Gim Dohyeon talking to Jang Wonman (who apparently was released from detention somehow). He's irritated. "Jo Malseng. He's forgetting that I'm a businessman."
We see Jo Malseng overseeing a training exercise at a military facility. He tells his two aides (I believe they were Park Sil and Yi Sunmong, but I'm not positive), "Send word to the northern states and the three southern states. The time is right for all of us to rise up and start a new era with a new king!"
That evening, Jo on a horse, riding with two escorts (possibly Park and Yi again but it was dark and hard to see) and a walking security detail. Suddenly a masked, black-clad squad appears, knocks down the escorts and overpowers the detail. Jo looks around, wide-eyed and in a panic.