Post by ajk on Oct 23, 2008 15:55:06 GMT -5
Four female attendants prepare elaborate, fancy cosmetics and begin applying them to a teenage girl. Escort Han is there supervising. Who is the girl?
Autumn of 1429, in the capital: It's the crown prince's wedding. Jurchen leaders have been invited, headed by Li Manzhu and Tongmengga. We see them walking the capital streets, wondering why Sejong invited them.
The girl is the crown-princess-to-be. She's identified as being from the Bong clan. She's being dressed in fancy clothes, and an ornate ceremonial hat (possibly a kind of crown) is placed on her head.
Ministers and officials are all in their fancy duds, waiting for the ceremony to start. But the crown prince is missing! The queen is irritated as all heck. Where did the kid go?
At the Hall of Worthies: Scholars are talking, and from them we learn that this is the crown prince's second marriage. The first crown princess was deposed; we're not told why. In the hall we're introduced to new faces among the scholars. One is named Jeong Changson. Another, identified as Sulsun, appears to be Indian--he's not from Joseon or anywhere nearby--and still speaks less-than-perfect Joseonese. Then a scholar on a high stool in front of a high bookshelf starts shouting "Yes! Yes!" and then promptly crashes to the ground. He's identified as Yi Sunji. He's not injured, and is thrilled because he's found the arctic latitude of Hanyang (for whatever purpose). He joyously runs out of the room to comments about "a half-wit nutty astronomer."
Ministers discuss the situation, with Huh Jo complaining about the humiliation that Joseon will suffer before all of the visiting dignitaries if the crown prince doesn't show up. Hwang Hee calms the group, telling them that the prince is being searched for and just keep things quiet for now.
The queen is with her son Anpyeong. "He is as calm and tolerant as a rock," she says of crown prince Hyang; what's gotten into him? Anpyeong reminds her (and tells us) that Hyang lost his first wife only three months ago. Which could help explain why he's disappeared this morning. But the queen tells him that a crown prince shouldn't be without a wife for a long period of time.
Jachi is before Sejong, kneeling. "All is my failure" for the prince's disappearance, he says. "Let's go," Sejong tells him, standing up; "I think I might know where he is." The two head off....
At the astronomy agency, Jang Youngsil is in a workshop, working alone. But then we see he's not alone. There's crown prince Hyang (the future king Munjong) in the workroom too, working on some little item. We see that Hyang has grown and is now a teenager. Jang would like him to leave, but the prince talks about having regrets: I was with her for two years, but "I didn't give her my heart or even a kind look for more than one minute." And now I'm to be married again.
Outside the building, Sejong and Jachi have arrived. Sejong, we learn, had ordered Hyang to stay away from Jang so as not to interfere with Jang's work.
Back inside, the prince says he feels suffocated. Why? "I am the problem! I'm not good with women. I have no interest. Above all, I don't have the time. My father has not slept more than four hours a day since he took the throne. How can I make time?" Then he gets frustrated at the clockmaking project that Jang is working on at present, claiming that the reason for Sejong's interest in clockmaking is so that he can get everyone else to push themselves as hard as he does. Jang listens to this and says, So this is why you're "whining and acting like a child--not because you feel guilty or afraid but because you resent your father. Is that it?"
Outside, Sejong is listening to all this. "We're going back," he says, to Jachi's distress. He won't go in and get the kid, even if it means canceling the ceremony. He heads back and encounters the queen, who correctly guesses that Hyang is with Youngsil. "I must bring him back," she says, while at the same time expressing sympathy for his being forced to renounce his first wife. "If he can't endure this," Sejong tells her, "he's not fit to lead the country." Good point.
"I'm not going, no matter what you say," Hyang tells Youngsil, who replies simply, "Do as you wish." Hyang stands there for a minute in the quiet room, and then leaves.
The young princess-to-be emerges and walks to the ceremony site...and Hyang is there in the courtyard, waiting for her. So he manned up after all. The girl gives him a long look, and smiles at him. Escort Han instructs her, "You must keep your eyes down" because it's proper etiquette. But the girl says she's simply showing her pleasure at meeting him, and "I think it is against etiquette not to show pleasure. What do you think about that, your highness?" She's a feisty one, obviously. Her parents, Bong Yuh and his wife, are there, and they cringe at their daughter's forwardness. Hyang smiles at her question. "Perhaps I should have called in a band and welcomed you with music to show good manners," he says with a laugh. With a smile she responds, "I forgive you," not being serious but still being surprisingly forward. Then they start to walk inside for the ceremony; she trips over her long dress; he grabs her and keeps her from falling. "I like this better than a band, your highness," she tells him. Right then and there he's smitten with her, we can see it.
Sejong tells Youngsil, "You are better with my son than I am. How did you convince him?" "He convinced himself," Jang replies. "He just needed a little time to take it all in." Sejong tells him, "I'm glad my son has you."
"We bid you greetings, your majesty." It's the Jurchen group; they've come to the throne room and are kneeling before Sejong. Sejong thanks them for traveling all this way; then the group presents him with some gifts (we barely got a look at any of them, but there was a leopard pelt that I, uh, spotted). Sejong says he must reciprocate for such valuable gifts, and asks the Jurchens what he can give them in return. "Let us take back the Jurchens that are held prisoner in Joseon" is their surprising answer. Yun Hwe corrects them: "They're not being held captive, they're being cared for." Sejong explains that he doesn't turn away anyone who wants to live in Joseon. So then Li Manzhu tries a different approach. "The Ming government is concerned about your actions," he says, trying to rattle Sejong. But the king is unfazed. I know you've been given a post in the Ming government, he tells Li; "Are you disturbing our borders because you fell invulnerable with Ming's backup?" You are the aggressor, do you deny that? Li doesn't deny it but rather tries to weasel out of it; there are dozens of Jurchen tribes, he says. "We will find out soon enough" who the troublemakers are, Sejong tells him; "The royal house is investigating the situation at the border." Li gets one of those uh-oh-we-may-be-nailed looks on his face.
At the northern border: Three men on horseback are leading a military unit patrolling a forested area. We recognize Gim Jongsuh. The second is identified as Gang Hui, eunuch bodyguard. The third is identifired as Prince Jinyang (the future king Sejo). They stop, suddenly uneasy. It's quiet...too quiet. They continue on, gingerly. Suddenly the prince and bodyguard dismount, grab their bows and arrows, and fire at a large patch of vegetation. They've sensed something--and their arrows hit something. Some kind of a large wooden shield. Gim calls out an order for whoever is behind it to come out. They do. It's Dami and the northerners from before. (Minus Okjami, who apparently was either imprisoned or executed.) A Jurchen named Shigaro is with them; he's a new Joseonese citizen. "Not bad," Dami says; "You didn't fall for it this time." (I don't know what that means.) The northerners approach and hold out their hands, expecting gifts from the king. Apparently Sejong has been sending gifts to them. Then they're told that a prince is present; they stop talking and kneel. And yes, Jinyang has brought gifts from Sejong for them: books on farming techniques, to help them increase their agricultural production. But the northerners aren't too pleased with the books, because none of them can read. "This is worthless to us!" Then from the side: "That is why the prince has come himself." It's Yi Su, leading a different military unit. He tells the northerners that Sejong sent Jinyang to the north to help share the agricultural information. This, he says, will help the open immigration policy. They respond more favorably to this.
From a distance, a spy is watching.
At the camp of the Jurchen Odoli tribe: Tongfacha, whom we've seen before, is the tribe's leader; one of his aides is identified as Simta. They're frustrated, trying to figure out the Joseon king's motives.
Gim and Yi Su are talking, and we learn that "peace is being maintained by a hair's breadth."
Back in the throne room: Sejong tells the Jurchens, "Do not disturb the borders of Joseon no matter what the circumstances. That is my final instruction and request." More trouble from you, he says, will lead to "a thorough punishment from Joseon."
Afterwards, Sejong is with Hwang Hee and Yun Hwe. Hwang feels the king may have been a bit harsh, but Sejong explains that "I wanted to let Li Manzhu know that I was aware of his hostile intent." Li's Uliangha tribe, he explains, is responsible for the majority of the northern border disturbances (which explains the guilty look on Li's face earlier). Then, standing in front of a map, Sejong explains to the two that he wants a defense line built along the Tuman and Amlok rivers to protect Joseon's northern frontier. Hwang and Yun are immediately very concerned to hear this, because it would be a territorial expansion over an area where a lot of Jurchens live. It just doesn't seem practical or sensible. Sejong says he has an appeasement/punishment strategy to accomplish it; for now it's important to keep Li Manzhu from rallying the Jurchen tribes together. As he looks at the map, Hwang looks at Yun and subtlely shakes his head, as though this all is too impetuous to be taken seriously.
Nighttime at the Hall of Worthies: Sejong is alone. Hyang comes in; he always comes here and reads at this time of night. "But not tonight," Sejong tells him. "Go to your wife." Hyang says he still has a little while until the astrological time chosen for consummation. (Are you kidding me? I don't even know where to start on that one.) "Be good to her," Sejong advises his son. "Don't make her lonely." Hyang replies, "You're asking me to do something you yourself are horrible at doing. I just hope my new wife is as patient as mother is." (Ouch! The kid didn't say it to be mean, but that's gotta hurt.)
The new crown princess is waiting at home alone; then Hyang finally comes in. "You are testing me from our very first night," she tells him. They're very awkward together, which you might expect from a newly acquainted, newly married couple of fifteen-year-olds(!). "I'm a very boring person," he says, "so chances are you are the one who will have to put up with living with me." By now we get the impression that the prince has developed a real self-esteem problem.
The queen comes to the Hall of Worthies to see her husband. He asks her what she thinks of the new princess; she tells him, "She's a bright and cheerful girl." He smiles. "I hope she is as patient with the crown prince as you are with me. I haven't exactly been a good father and husband." She smiles and is very touched by his humility. She asks him to come home early, but he's waiting for a meeting to finish.
"Myriarchy?" Hwang Hee and Huh Jo are meeting with several Jurchens. Sejong wants brotherhood with the Odoli clan, they tell them, and friendly relations. (Note: Myriarchy is an obscure term meaning government by many rulers; I'm not entirely sure of how it applies here, but I assume the Odoli are being offered some form of limited autonomy within an expanded Joseon border territory.)
At the Dongchang spy agency, Ming: Yehjin and Wang Zhen are concerned that Sejong is granting government posts to Jurchen leaders. "He is doing a good job of irritating the emperor," Wang says; "Don't you think he is becoming more and more audacious?" Yehjin asks him, "What are we going to do about that?" Wang smiles. Brrrrr.
We see Haishou meeting with Jo Malseng! This can't be good. Haishou tells him, "We could start a war for you to put you back in action." Jo asks him, "Joseon is great Ming's enemy?" "All except for you," Haishou tells him, "because you're a great admirer of Ming China." Volunteer for military service in Ming, Haishou tells him; you'll end up back in Joseon as minister of military again.
Wang Zhen is pacing back and forth. Yehjin asks him, "Do you think Jo Malseng will go for it?" "He's a cautious man, so it won't be easy. But there are other ways. We can make the king go to him. There's no one in the Joseonese military that surpasses his talent." Then Wang in one motion whips a knife out of his sleeve and fires it at a wall map (What is it with this guy and his knife-throwing?), hitting a precise point in northeastern Joseon: the Hamgil Province border territory.
A nighttime raid is launched against a northern village. Jurchen soldiers are causing havoc, roughing up and killing people. Tongfancha proclaims, "The first purpose of this attack is to punish the traitors." So this village is comprised of former Jurchen refugees who settled in Joseon. The attack continues as Joseonese troops arrive on the scene and begin fighting the attackers. Separately the northern Joseonese citizens arrive and join the battle against the attackers.
Li Manzhu is having a heated argument with Tongmingge. Your subordinate Tongfancha, Li tells Tongmingge, is attacking the Jurchen refugee area because "I ordered my men to manipulate him." Then he asks Tongmingge, "Why did you accept a Joseonese government post?" (News to us.) Tongmingge tells him it's a matter of strength through peace, but Li doesn't buy it. "Were you going to come after me?" Tongmingge answers, "Who says you can be the only leader of the Jurchens?" But Li has outfoxed him: "Now that your men have attacked Joseon, you've made an enemy of me, Joseon and great Ming as well. Are you going to turn your own men over to the Joseon government? I will give you one last chance. Don't ever attempt to defy me again!"
Prince Jinyang is being escorted to safety by Gim Jongsuh and the military unit, away from the Jurchen attackers. But the prince doesn't like it. He asks Gang Hui, "Don't you feel ashamed running away, leaving behind those whom you are supposed to protect?" "As a prince of Joseon, I wish to protect my people." And he orders Gang Hui to do just that. Gang bows.
Back at the refugee village, Joseonese archers move forward, but they can't pick out any sure targets in all of the hand-to-hand fighting. Just then prince Jinyang and his unit charges in and, together with the other unit and the northern civilians, quickly routs the attackers. As the Jurchen leaders retreat, they throw papers bearing a message: "Every last expatriate will be thoroughly avenged!"
In the aftermath, a nighttime version of the post-attack scene in ep33. A lot of crying; a lot of death. Shigaro is weeping over the dead people, some of whom are almost certainly his relatives. In his headquarters, Yi Su sits down and starts to write a report to Sejong. But he quickly becomes frustrated and scatters everything off the table with an angry sweep of his arm.
Sejong has suddenly called the regional military leaders in from the provinces for a meeting. But why?
"We've been urgently called back to the capital, so we stopped by on our way." Three men are meeting with Jo Malseng. One is Yi Sunmong; the other two are identified as Gim Hyosung and Yi Gak. Obviously they're all regional military leaders. What's the purpose of the meeting, they wonder; could it be a major overhaul of commanders? "Who do you recommend we support?", Yi asks. "Give us your guidance." So they're still loyal to him. Ugh.
The king and ministers are meeting. The king is urged to move the northern defense line back; at present it's simply too far forward and too many civilians are being killed. All of the ministers voice agreement--but then Yi Su aggressively disagrees. We've fought long and hard to push the line forward, he says, and can't pull back now; the Jurchens who have come to Joseon would lose their livelihood. Hwang says that the budget isn't adequate to be able to continue defending the more forward line. But Sejong not only won't move it back, he wants to move it forward! Forward to an area that would be close to Li Manzhu's base of operations. "We won't be moving the defense line back even if it means gong to war," he says sternly. "I cannot give up a single inch of land our ancestors have left us. Make no attempt to fight me on this!" All of the ministers raise their voices: "No, your majesty! No, your majesty!"
Autumn of 1429, in the capital: It's the crown prince's wedding. Jurchen leaders have been invited, headed by Li Manzhu and Tongmengga. We see them walking the capital streets, wondering why Sejong invited them.
The girl is the crown-princess-to-be. She's identified as being from the Bong clan. She's being dressed in fancy clothes, and an ornate ceremonial hat (possibly a kind of crown) is placed on her head.
Ministers and officials are all in their fancy duds, waiting for the ceremony to start. But the crown prince is missing! The queen is irritated as all heck. Where did the kid go?
At the Hall of Worthies: Scholars are talking, and from them we learn that this is the crown prince's second marriage. The first crown princess was deposed; we're not told why. In the hall we're introduced to new faces among the scholars. One is named Jeong Changson. Another, identified as Sulsun, appears to be Indian--he's not from Joseon or anywhere nearby--and still speaks less-than-perfect Joseonese. Then a scholar on a high stool in front of a high bookshelf starts shouting "Yes! Yes!" and then promptly crashes to the ground. He's identified as Yi Sunji. He's not injured, and is thrilled because he's found the arctic latitude of Hanyang (for whatever purpose). He joyously runs out of the room to comments about "a half-wit nutty astronomer."
Ministers discuss the situation, with Huh Jo complaining about the humiliation that Joseon will suffer before all of the visiting dignitaries if the crown prince doesn't show up. Hwang Hee calms the group, telling them that the prince is being searched for and just keep things quiet for now.
The queen is with her son Anpyeong. "He is as calm and tolerant as a rock," she says of crown prince Hyang; what's gotten into him? Anpyeong reminds her (and tells us) that Hyang lost his first wife only three months ago. Which could help explain why he's disappeared this morning. But the queen tells him that a crown prince shouldn't be without a wife for a long period of time.
Jachi is before Sejong, kneeling. "All is my failure" for the prince's disappearance, he says. "Let's go," Sejong tells him, standing up; "I think I might know where he is." The two head off....
At the astronomy agency, Jang Youngsil is in a workshop, working alone. But then we see he's not alone. There's crown prince Hyang (the future king Munjong) in the workroom too, working on some little item. We see that Hyang has grown and is now a teenager. Jang would like him to leave, but the prince talks about having regrets: I was with her for two years, but "I didn't give her my heart or even a kind look for more than one minute." And now I'm to be married again.
Outside the building, Sejong and Jachi have arrived. Sejong, we learn, had ordered Hyang to stay away from Jang so as not to interfere with Jang's work.
Back inside, the prince says he feels suffocated. Why? "I am the problem! I'm not good with women. I have no interest. Above all, I don't have the time. My father has not slept more than four hours a day since he took the throne. How can I make time?" Then he gets frustrated at the clockmaking project that Jang is working on at present, claiming that the reason for Sejong's interest in clockmaking is so that he can get everyone else to push themselves as hard as he does. Jang listens to this and says, So this is why you're "whining and acting like a child--not because you feel guilty or afraid but because you resent your father. Is that it?"
Outside, Sejong is listening to all this. "We're going back," he says, to Jachi's distress. He won't go in and get the kid, even if it means canceling the ceremony. He heads back and encounters the queen, who correctly guesses that Hyang is with Youngsil. "I must bring him back," she says, while at the same time expressing sympathy for his being forced to renounce his first wife. "If he can't endure this," Sejong tells her, "he's not fit to lead the country." Good point.
"I'm not going, no matter what you say," Hyang tells Youngsil, who replies simply, "Do as you wish." Hyang stands there for a minute in the quiet room, and then leaves.
The young princess-to-be emerges and walks to the ceremony site...and Hyang is there in the courtyard, waiting for her. So he manned up after all. The girl gives him a long look, and smiles at him. Escort Han instructs her, "You must keep your eyes down" because it's proper etiquette. But the girl says she's simply showing her pleasure at meeting him, and "I think it is against etiquette not to show pleasure. What do you think about that, your highness?" She's a feisty one, obviously. Her parents, Bong Yuh and his wife, are there, and they cringe at their daughter's forwardness. Hyang smiles at her question. "Perhaps I should have called in a band and welcomed you with music to show good manners," he says with a laugh. With a smile she responds, "I forgive you," not being serious but still being surprisingly forward. Then they start to walk inside for the ceremony; she trips over her long dress; he grabs her and keeps her from falling. "I like this better than a band, your highness," she tells him. Right then and there he's smitten with her, we can see it.
Sejong tells Youngsil, "You are better with my son than I am. How did you convince him?" "He convinced himself," Jang replies. "He just needed a little time to take it all in." Sejong tells him, "I'm glad my son has you."
"We bid you greetings, your majesty." It's the Jurchen group; they've come to the throne room and are kneeling before Sejong. Sejong thanks them for traveling all this way; then the group presents him with some gifts (we barely got a look at any of them, but there was a leopard pelt that I, uh, spotted). Sejong says he must reciprocate for such valuable gifts, and asks the Jurchens what he can give them in return. "Let us take back the Jurchens that are held prisoner in Joseon" is their surprising answer. Yun Hwe corrects them: "They're not being held captive, they're being cared for." Sejong explains that he doesn't turn away anyone who wants to live in Joseon. So then Li Manzhu tries a different approach. "The Ming government is concerned about your actions," he says, trying to rattle Sejong. But the king is unfazed. I know you've been given a post in the Ming government, he tells Li; "Are you disturbing our borders because you fell invulnerable with Ming's backup?" You are the aggressor, do you deny that? Li doesn't deny it but rather tries to weasel out of it; there are dozens of Jurchen tribes, he says. "We will find out soon enough" who the troublemakers are, Sejong tells him; "The royal house is investigating the situation at the border." Li gets one of those uh-oh-we-may-be-nailed looks on his face.
At the northern border: Three men on horseback are leading a military unit patrolling a forested area. We recognize Gim Jongsuh. The second is identified as Gang Hui, eunuch bodyguard. The third is identifired as Prince Jinyang (the future king Sejo). They stop, suddenly uneasy. It's quiet...too quiet. They continue on, gingerly. Suddenly the prince and bodyguard dismount, grab their bows and arrows, and fire at a large patch of vegetation. They've sensed something--and their arrows hit something. Some kind of a large wooden shield. Gim calls out an order for whoever is behind it to come out. They do. It's Dami and the northerners from before. (Minus Okjami, who apparently was either imprisoned or executed.) A Jurchen named Shigaro is with them; he's a new Joseonese citizen. "Not bad," Dami says; "You didn't fall for it this time." (I don't know what that means.) The northerners approach and hold out their hands, expecting gifts from the king. Apparently Sejong has been sending gifts to them. Then they're told that a prince is present; they stop talking and kneel. And yes, Jinyang has brought gifts from Sejong for them: books on farming techniques, to help them increase their agricultural production. But the northerners aren't too pleased with the books, because none of them can read. "This is worthless to us!" Then from the side: "That is why the prince has come himself." It's Yi Su, leading a different military unit. He tells the northerners that Sejong sent Jinyang to the north to help share the agricultural information. This, he says, will help the open immigration policy. They respond more favorably to this.
From a distance, a spy is watching.
At the camp of the Jurchen Odoli tribe: Tongfacha, whom we've seen before, is the tribe's leader; one of his aides is identified as Simta. They're frustrated, trying to figure out the Joseon king's motives.
Gim and Yi Su are talking, and we learn that "peace is being maintained by a hair's breadth."
Back in the throne room: Sejong tells the Jurchens, "Do not disturb the borders of Joseon no matter what the circumstances. That is my final instruction and request." More trouble from you, he says, will lead to "a thorough punishment from Joseon."
Afterwards, Sejong is with Hwang Hee and Yun Hwe. Hwang feels the king may have been a bit harsh, but Sejong explains that "I wanted to let Li Manzhu know that I was aware of his hostile intent." Li's Uliangha tribe, he explains, is responsible for the majority of the northern border disturbances (which explains the guilty look on Li's face earlier). Then, standing in front of a map, Sejong explains to the two that he wants a defense line built along the Tuman and Amlok rivers to protect Joseon's northern frontier. Hwang and Yun are immediately very concerned to hear this, because it would be a territorial expansion over an area where a lot of Jurchens live. It just doesn't seem practical or sensible. Sejong says he has an appeasement/punishment strategy to accomplish it; for now it's important to keep Li Manzhu from rallying the Jurchen tribes together. As he looks at the map, Hwang looks at Yun and subtlely shakes his head, as though this all is too impetuous to be taken seriously.
Nighttime at the Hall of Worthies: Sejong is alone. Hyang comes in; he always comes here and reads at this time of night. "But not tonight," Sejong tells him. "Go to your wife." Hyang says he still has a little while until the astrological time chosen for consummation. (Are you kidding me? I don't even know where to start on that one.) "Be good to her," Sejong advises his son. "Don't make her lonely." Hyang replies, "You're asking me to do something you yourself are horrible at doing. I just hope my new wife is as patient as mother is." (Ouch! The kid didn't say it to be mean, but that's gotta hurt.)
The new crown princess is waiting at home alone; then Hyang finally comes in. "You are testing me from our very first night," she tells him. They're very awkward together, which you might expect from a newly acquainted, newly married couple of fifteen-year-olds(!). "I'm a very boring person," he says, "so chances are you are the one who will have to put up with living with me." By now we get the impression that the prince has developed a real self-esteem problem.
The queen comes to the Hall of Worthies to see her husband. He asks her what she thinks of the new princess; she tells him, "She's a bright and cheerful girl." He smiles. "I hope she is as patient with the crown prince as you are with me. I haven't exactly been a good father and husband." She smiles and is very touched by his humility. She asks him to come home early, but he's waiting for a meeting to finish.
"Myriarchy?" Hwang Hee and Huh Jo are meeting with several Jurchens. Sejong wants brotherhood with the Odoli clan, they tell them, and friendly relations. (Note: Myriarchy is an obscure term meaning government by many rulers; I'm not entirely sure of how it applies here, but I assume the Odoli are being offered some form of limited autonomy within an expanded Joseon border territory.)
At the Dongchang spy agency, Ming: Yehjin and Wang Zhen are concerned that Sejong is granting government posts to Jurchen leaders. "He is doing a good job of irritating the emperor," Wang says; "Don't you think he is becoming more and more audacious?" Yehjin asks him, "What are we going to do about that?" Wang smiles. Brrrrr.
We see Haishou meeting with Jo Malseng! This can't be good. Haishou tells him, "We could start a war for you to put you back in action." Jo asks him, "Joseon is great Ming's enemy?" "All except for you," Haishou tells him, "because you're a great admirer of Ming China." Volunteer for military service in Ming, Haishou tells him; you'll end up back in Joseon as minister of military again.
Wang Zhen is pacing back and forth. Yehjin asks him, "Do you think Jo Malseng will go for it?" "He's a cautious man, so it won't be easy. But there are other ways. We can make the king go to him. There's no one in the Joseonese military that surpasses his talent." Then Wang in one motion whips a knife out of his sleeve and fires it at a wall map (What is it with this guy and his knife-throwing?), hitting a precise point in northeastern Joseon: the Hamgil Province border territory.
A nighttime raid is launched against a northern village. Jurchen soldiers are causing havoc, roughing up and killing people. Tongfancha proclaims, "The first purpose of this attack is to punish the traitors." So this village is comprised of former Jurchen refugees who settled in Joseon. The attack continues as Joseonese troops arrive on the scene and begin fighting the attackers. Separately the northern Joseonese citizens arrive and join the battle against the attackers.
Li Manzhu is having a heated argument with Tongmingge. Your subordinate Tongfancha, Li tells Tongmingge, is attacking the Jurchen refugee area because "I ordered my men to manipulate him." Then he asks Tongmingge, "Why did you accept a Joseonese government post?" (News to us.) Tongmingge tells him it's a matter of strength through peace, but Li doesn't buy it. "Were you going to come after me?" Tongmingge answers, "Who says you can be the only leader of the Jurchens?" But Li has outfoxed him: "Now that your men have attacked Joseon, you've made an enemy of me, Joseon and great Ming as well. Are you going to turn your own men over to the Joseon government? I will give you one last chance. Don't ever attempt to defy me again!"
Prince Jinyang is being escorted to safety by Gim Jongsuh and the military unit, away from the Jurchen attackers. But the prince doesn't like it. He asks Gang Hui, "Don't you feel ashamed running away, leaving behind those whom you are supposed to protect?" "As a prince of Joseon, I wish to protect my people." And he orders Gang Hui to do just that. Gang bows.
Back at the refugee village, Joseonese archers move forward, but they can't pick out any sure targets in all of the hand-to-hand fighting. Just then prince Jinyang and his unit charges in and, together with the other unit and the northern civilians, quickly routs the attackers. As the Jurchen leaders retreat, they throw papers bearing a message: "Every last expatriate will be thoroughly avenged!"
In the aftermath, a nighttime version of the post-attack scene in ep33. A lot of crying; a lot of death. Shigaro is weeping over the dead people, some of whom are almost certainly his relatives. In his headquarters, Yi Su sits down and starts to write a report to Sejong. But he quickly becomes frustrated and scatters everything off the table with an angry sweep of his arm.
Sejong has suddenly called the regional military leaders in from the provinces for a meeting. But why?
"We've been urgently called back to the capital, so we stopped by on our way." Three men are meeting with Jo Malseng. One is Yi Sunmong; the other two are identified as Gim Hyosung and Yi Gak. Obviously they're all regional military leaders. What's the purpose of the meeting, they wonder; could it be a major overhaul of commanders? "Who do you recommend we support?", Yi asks. "Give us your guidance." So they're still loyal to him. Ugh.
The king and ministers are meeting. The king is urged to move the northern defense line back; at present it's simply too far forward and too many civilians are being killed. All of the ministers voice agreement--but then Yi Su aggressively disagrees. We've fought long and hard to push the line forward, he says, and can't pull back now; the Jurchens who have come to Joseon would lose their livelihood. Hwang says that the budget isn't adequate to be able to continue defending the more forward line. But Sejong not only won't move it back, he wants to move it forward! Forward to an area that would be close to Li Manzhu's base of operations. "We won't be moving the defense line back even if it means gong to war," he says sternly. "I cannot give up a single inch of land our ancestors have left us. Make no attempt to fight me on this!" All of the ministers raise their voices: "No, your majesty! No, your majesty!"