Post by ajk on Jul 3, 2014 23:58:40 GMT -5
The king ends up deciding to send Gwon Geum to Ming instead of JD. Gwon was involved in preparing the greeting, we learn, so he should go and explain it. Gwon readily says he'll obey Seonggye's command (but you know he's not happy about it). Seonggye tells the councilors point-blank, "As long as I am sitting on this throne, Sambong will not go to Ming."
Afterwards...JD and his allies know that the whole thing was a setup for Ming to express their dissatisfaction over Joseon's military reform and its cooperation with the northern Jurchens. But they're not sure what to do about it.
Evening: Bangwon summoned Ha Ryun to his house. Ha is nervous about being seen, so he goes there at night. Bangwon tells him about the "gift" promise from the Ming emperor. They agree that they need to take advantage of the situation. "He is testing you right now," Ha believes. Ha says he has an idea...
...so he goes to find that new guy Lee Sukbeon, and runs into him just as Lee is taking a written appeal to the palace--an appeal to impeach JD! Leave this to me, Ha tells him, looking over the appeal and remarking that for a lower-level official to be attempting this is "like cracking a rock with an egg." You gather allies of yours among the lower officials, Ha instructs.
The stress in the government has been wearing on the queen and she hasn't been feeling well lately. But she tells JD not to worry about her and to persevere and be strong for the sake of the crown prince. "His majesty is getting weaker and there are five brothers who hate the crown prince. Please abolish their private armies soon." Of course he couldn't agree more.
Lee Sukbeon starts a one-man sit-in in the palace plaza, demanding that JD be sent to Ming. Guards move in to throw him out, but now suddenly at least 30 more lower officials and scholars walk into the plaza and join him. And start shouting to the king and raising a ruckus. At the same time, Bangwon's father-in-law Min Je goes to JD and calls him a coward and says sending Gwon Geum to Ming will solve nothing. Oh and now more bad news: the princes and private armies are boycotting the tactical training that was assigned. Bangwon thinks he's got JD in a real bind now...
...and JD doesn't react to it very well. He knows someone was behind the sit-in; it wasn't just Lee Sukbeon's idea. He wants all of those officials interrogated and a confession extracted, and then wants Lee exiled and those officials stripped of their positions. But Jo Jun gets angry and refuses! Tells JD he won't suppress them by force, and walks away in disgust. Goes right to the plaza and tells the guards menacing the protestors to back off and leave them alone. Dissent in JD's camp?
And then Ha Ryun ups the pressure by taking that impeachment appeal straight to the king. Who of course says he won't accept it. Ha makes a good argument: that if we don't send JD to Ming this time, they'll just keep asking and asking and getting angrier about it. But Seonggye won't hear of it and sends him away.
So then JD summons Ha and they sit down and have a shockingly frank discussion. Ha fesses up to the whole thing: "I just want to weaken His Majesty's trust and your power a little bit." It's almost whimsical between them. Bangwon "got himself a pretty good advisor," JD says with a chuckle. But it then it gets to insinuation and trash-talking; Ha even insinuates JD will be killed someday if he doesn't step down. JD fires back, "I have to start by eliminating you and tying down Bangwon and all the princes."
Evening, at JD's house: He and his allies and sons are trying to solve the situation. His wife, though, is deeply troubled by the whole thing. "Do you know what they are saying at the market? That the king is a puppet and you are the king." And that's not all: "Some people are saying that Lee In Im came back to life." Ouch! Now she's getting frantic about it. "If you like to go after people so much, do it with your factions. Why are you getting the children involved?" By now she's shouting at him and their oldest son gently but firmly takes her out of the room. This stings JD, we can see. If it's this bad in my own house, he realizes, imagine what it must be like among the public.
The queen goes to her husband and wants him to crack down on the troublemakers. Don't let them challenge JD's authority even once, she argues. Then JD is announced and enters..."I caused concern because I am lacking," he says. Seonggye says he'll arrest the troublemakers, but JD tells him not to. And then says he's been working too hard, has contracted beriberi, and "I think I should resign. Please give me your approval." Doink! Well, Seonggye himself pulled the same stunt once and reminds JD of that. But JD persists. "It will prevent further damage with Ming and it's for my safety. Retreating for a little while would be the best thing to do." But he does have one request: send Ha Ryun to Ming with Gwon Geum! "He's good at strategizing and must be kept away from Bangwon." Seonggye agrees to that, and sighs a little, like he's getting a little tired of his job.
Next day, or probably two or three: JD is cleaning out his office, and at the same time the delegation to Ming is departing. Bangwon finds JD and talks a little trash. He's frustrated about Ha; "he's being sent to his death thanks to you." JD talks a little trash right back. Outside, Bangwon bids farewell to Ha, who tells the prince he left a gift for him. What gift.
It's Lee Sukbeon, who shows up at Bangwon's house and asks to serve the prince. Bangwon asks him if he's willing to put his life on the line for that. "My life is nothing when it comes to the cause," Lee says without hesitation. Cause? What cause? "A country ruled by a powerful king and not the servants." Bangwon is so taken by Lee he even tells him not to call him "lord," just "older brother" (like Koreans typically do).
Yikes, the queen does not look good at all. Husband and crown prince are there as the physician examines her. The news is bad: kidney failure. He says he'll prescribe some medicine and do what he can for her. But this is very serious.
Later, Muhak is trying to give spiritual guidance to Seonggye, telling him worrying about her won't help. "Be strong and pray to Buddha." But Seonggye is convinced that this happened "because I committed a lot of sins. The people I killed must have cursed me a lot for the queen to get such a terrible illness." He figures he needs to atone, by praying for the dead and asking for fogginess from the living. He starts to think back..."Who did I do terrible things to? Let's see...."
Apparently the first person he thought of was Lee Saek, because he's just shown up at the palace. We learn that he isn't exiled any more, he's living voluntarily in seclusion, and that his white clothing isn't because he's a prisoner, it's because he mourns for Goryeo! Anyway, Seonggye summoned him; he doesn't seem happy about it but he came anyway. Seonggye is very conciliatory and tries to make peace with the old man, and even wants to sit down on the floor and talk as equals. Saek scoffs, and says he wants to sit in a chair. And then points to Seonggye's chair. Seonggye tries to offer him an appointment as a government advisor, but Saek says he refuses Seonggye's authority to appoint him to anything. All he wants to do is sneer at the new dynasty's king. "I'll get going now," he says, with informality that's totally inappropriate in speaking to a king; "take care of your health." And he leaves, laughing derisively. Nam Eun and Jo Jun are in the room and have been going bonkers over the disrespect, but Seonggye waves them into silence and says to let Saek go without incident. We can see he's been deflated by the depth of the old man's bitterness.
"I wanted to be killed by a traitor and die as a loyal servant, but heaven wouldn't even allow that." Saek is on his way home and is sitting by a riverside, talking to a servant. He breaks down in tears. Narration tells us that soon after this visit, he died at age 69. We learn that he was considered a "master of Chinese classics" who won the top place in a national examination held by the Yuan. He worked with King Gongmin to establish the Sungkyunkwan academy (which we're seeing in the Shin Don series now). And it turns out that Seonggye did appoint him advisor, but Saek refused it and stayed in seclusion until he died.
JD has decided to take a walking trip around the countryside. His servant Deuk-Bo has chased after him and wants to come with him. Poor old guy says he's never been on a trip his entire life. JD smiles and says Sure, come along. Nice gesture.
Ming: Ha Ryun is kneeling before emperor. It's not going badly at all for him, to put it mildly. The emperor tells him to give Bangwon a secret order. "Jeong Dojeon. Eliminate him!" Ha's eyes just about bug out.
JD and Deuk-Bo are looking over a vast territory. "It's where our ancestors rode horses," JD says. "It is our old land, Yodong."
Afterwards...JD and his allies know that the whole thing was a setup for Ming to express their dissatisfaction over Joseon's military reform and its cooperation with the northern Jurchens. But they're not sure what to do about it.
Evening: Bangwon summoned Ha Ryun to his house. Ha is nervous about being seen, so he goes there at night. Bangwon tells him about the "gift" promise from the Ming emperor. They agree that they need to take advantage of the situation. "He is testing you right now," Ha believes. Ha says he has an idea...
...so he goes to find that new guy Lee Sukbeon, and runs into him just as Lee is taking a written appeal to the palace--an appeal to impeach JD! Leave this to me, Ha tells him, looking over the appeal and remarking that for a lower-level official to be attempting this is "like cracking a rock with an egg." You gather allies of yours among the lower officials, Ha instructs.
The stress in the government has been wearing on the queen and she hasn't been feeling well lately. But she tells JD not to worry about her and to persevere and be strong for the sake of the crown prince. "His majesty is getting weaker and there are five brothers who hate the crown prince. Please abolish their private armies soon." Of course he couldn't agree more.
Lee Sukbeon starts a one-man sit-in in the palace plaza, demanding that JD be sent to Ming. Guards move in to throw him out, but now suddenly at least 30 more lower officials and scholars walk into the plaza and join him. And start shouting to the king and raising a ruckus. At the same time, Bangwon's father-in-law Min Je goes to JD and calls him a coward and says sending Gwon Geum to Ming will solve nothing. Oh and now more bad news: the princes and private armies are boycotting the tactical training that was assigned. Bangwon thinks he's got JD in a real bind now...
...and JD doesn't react to it very well. He knows someone was behind the sit-in; it wasn't just Lee Sukbeon's idea. He wants all of those officials interrogated and a confession extracted, and then wants Lee exiled and those officials stripped of their positions. But Jo Jun gets angry and refuses! Tells JD he won't suppress them by force, and walks away in disgust. Goes right to the plaza and tells the guards menacing the protestors to back off and leave them alone. Dissent in JD's camp?
And then Ha Ryun ups the pressure by taking that impeachment appeal straight to the king. Who of course says he won't accept it. Ha makes a good argument: that if we don't send JD to Ming this time, they'll just keep asking and asking and getting angrier about it. But Seonggye won't hear of it and sends him away.
So then JD summons Ha and they sit down and have a shockingly frank discussion. Ha fesses up to the whole thing: "I just want to weaken His Majesty's trust and your power a little bit." It's almost whimsical between them. Bangwon "got himself a pretty good advisor," JD says with a chuckle. But it then it gets to insinuation and trash-talking; Ha even insinuates JD will be killed someday if he doesn't step down. JD fires back, "I have to start by eliminating you and tying down Bangwon and all the princes."
Evening, at JD's house: He and his allies and sons are trying to solve the situation. His wife, though, is deeply troubled by the whole thing. "Do you know what they are saying at the market? That the king is a puppet and you are the king." And that's not all: "Some people are saying that Lee In Im came back to life." Ouch! Now she's getting frantic about it. "If you like to go after people so much, do it with your factions. Why are you getting the children involved?" By now she's shouting at him and their oldest son gently but firmly takes her out of the room. This stings JD, we can see. If it's this bad in my own house, he realizes, imagine what it must be like among the public.
The queen goes to her husband and wants him to crack down on the troublemakers. Don't let them challenge JD's authority even once, she argues. Then JD is announced and enters..."I caused concern because I am lacking," he says. Seonggye says he'll arrest the troublemakers, but JD tells him not to. And then says he's been working too hard, has contracted beriberi, and "I think I should resign. Please give me your approval." Doink! Well, Seonggye himself pulled the same stunt once and reminds JD of that. But JD persists. "It will prevent further damage with Ming and it's for my safety. Retreating for a little while would be the best thing to do." But he does have one request: send Ha Ryun to Ming with Gwon Geum! "He's good at strategizing and must be kept away from Bangwon." Seonggye agrees to that, and sighs a little, like he's getting a little tired of his job.
Next day, or probably two or three: JD is cleaning out his office, and at the same time the delegation to Ming is departing. Bangwon finds JD and talks a little trash. He's frustrated about Ha; "he's being sent to his death thanks to you." JD talks a little trash right back. Outside, Bangwon bids farewell to Ha, who tells the prince he left a gift for him. What gift.
It's Lee Sukbeon, who shows up at Bangwon's house and asks to serve the prince. Bangwon asks him if he's willing to put his life on the line for that. "My life is nothing when it comes to the cause," Lee says without hesitation. Cause? What cause? "A country ruled by a powerful king and not the servants." Bangwon is so taken by Lee he even tells him not to call him "lord," just "older brother" (like Koreans typically do).
Yikes, the queen does not look good at all. Husband and crown prince are there as the physician examines her. The news is bad: kidney failure. He says he'll prescribe some medicine and do what he can for her. But this is very serious.
Later, Muhak is trying to give spiritual guidance to Seonggye, telling him worrying about her won't help. "Be strong and pray to Buddha." But Seonggye is convinced that this happened "because I committed a lot of sins. The people I killed must have cursed me a lot for the queen to get such a terrible illness." He figures he needs to atone, by praying for the dead and asking for fogginess from the living. He starts to think back..."Who did I do terrible things to? Let's see...."
Apparently the first person he thought of was Lee Saek, because he's just shown up at the palace. We learn that he isn't exiled any more, he's living voluntarily in seclusion, and that his white clothing isn't because he's a prisoner, it's because he mourns for Goryeo! Anyway, Seonggye summoned him; he doesn't seem happy about it but he came anyway. Seonggye is very conciliatory and tries to make peace with the old man, and even wants to sit down on the floor and talk as equals. Saek scoffs, and says he wants to sit in a chair. And then points to Seonggye's chair. Seonggye tries to offer him an appointment as a government advisor, but Saek says he refuses Seonggye's authority to appoint him to anything. All he wants to do is sneer at the new dynasty's king. "I'll get going now," he says, with informality that's totally inappropriate in speaking to a king; "take care of your health." And he leaves, laughing derisively. Nam Eun and Jo Jun are in the room and have been going bonkers over the disrespect, but Seonggye waves them into silence and says to let Saek go without incident. We can see he's been deflated by the depth of the old man's bitterness.
"I wanted to be killed by a traitor and die as a loyal servant, but heaven wouldn't even allow that." Saek is on his way home and is sitting by a riverside, talking to a servant. He breaks down in tears. Narration tells us that soon after this visit, he died at age 69. We learn that he was considered a "master of Chinese classics" who won the top place in a national examination held by the Yuan. He worked with King Gongmin to establish the Sungkyunkwan academy (which we're seeing in the Shin Don series now). And it turns out that Seonggye did appoint him advisor, but Saek refused it and stayed in seclusion until he died.
JD has decided to take a walking trip around the countryside. His servant Deuk-Bo has chased after him and wants to come with him. Poor old guy says he's never been on a trip his entire life. JD smiles and says Sure, come along. Nice gesture.
Ming: Ha Ryun is kneeling before emperor. It's not going badly at all for him, to put it mildly. The emperor tells him to give Bangwon a secret order. "Jeong Dojeon. Eliminate him!" Ha's eyes just about bug out.
JD and Deuk-Bo are looking over a vast territory. "It's where our ancestors rode horses," JD says. "It is our old land, Yodong."
