Post by ajk on Oct 28, 2008 15:26:56 GMT -5
(My apologies in advance for the three places where I couldn't recognize a face. One of the three was inexcusable; the other two flashed by too quickly. If anybody can to bail me out on any or all, please do.)
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Spring 1430, at the Ming border: A Joseon diplomatic mission is waiting to enter Ming. The crown prince is going for an audience with the emperor, a long-standing tradition. But something's not right this time; no one has come to usher the mission through the border, and the group is being made to wait in line just like everybody else seeking entry. When they reach the head of the line Yun Hwe and Choi Manli tell the guards that this is the crown prince's mission. The guards react by running forward and pointing spears at the prince! "It's the emperor's order," we hear, and look who comes out of the entry gate but Wang Zhen, with Haishou at his side. Wang introduces himself to the prince, and then Haishou tells the prince that the emperor has rejected the request for an audience. When the prince asks why, Wang tells him to ask his "belligerent king."
The news reaches a baffled Sejong.
At some sort of diplomatic meeting, Haishou tells Yun Hwe that Joseon must give up its forward northern positions and move its border back. Yun Hwe protests this "undue interference" by Ming, but Haishou claims that because Jurchens now hold titles in the Ming court, the territory is part of Ming.
Yun Hwe suggests to Sejong that maybe it's time to back off on the border issue and yield to Ming. But Sejong adamantly refuses.
Sejong goes to the Hall of Worthies. The scholars are very concerned; Jeong Inji tells him that Ming might consider war if Joseon doesn't yield. Sejong tells the scholars he wants them to find a solution to break the impasse. "I need your collective wisdom more than ever right now."
Later, Sejong is told that the crown prince didn't return to the capital, but instead went to Yeoyeon, the forward-most of the disputed military posts in the north. But why?
At Yeoyeon: Conscripted laborers are building a huge defense wall out of stone. Choi is showing this to crown prince Hyang; we learn that Choi brought him here. Choi tells the prince, "If you want to send these men to their deaths, you are not worthy of the throne. Yeoyeon is a useless wasteland that only serves military purposes. But the king is dead set on preserving this land regardless of cost." His obstinacy put you in this difficult position, Choi continues, and now he's fortifying the land using forced labor from the people he had promised to serve as his god. Then Choi repeats his past complaints about Jang Youngsil's promotion, racial impurity introduced into the country, and the tax policy that the nobles oppose. I tried my best to go along with all of this, he says, "because people were always at the heart of these radical endeavors." But that's not the case any more; "we're seeing that right now." How much longer, he asks the prince, do you think these laborers can handle such grueling work? If they should rebel, it would be a difficult and crippling internal crisis. By now we realize that Choi is trying to talk Hyang into actively opposing Sejong. And he confirms it by telling the prince that someone who isn't afraid to confront the king "is worthy of the future throne."
Hyang tells Choi Yundeok to stop the construction and pull the defense line back. Choi refuses: "command and obedience," he tells the prince, without really being clear on how he feels about the border issue. Hyang brashly tells Choi, "risk your life" and stand up against the king's "misrule."
At the Jurchen Uliangha tribe headquarters; Li Manzhu is told that the that the crown prince managed to get the construction stopped. He laughs; this "domestic scuffle should keep Joseon busy for a while." His aide Simta points out that this will give the Jurchens time to form an alliance, an idea that clearly sits well with Li.
Sejong tells Yi Chun, Choi Haesan and Jang Youngsil that Joseon needs new, stronger weapons that perform better over longer distances. Yi challenges him on this, since Sejong doesn't believe in aggression. But Sejong tells him that the Jurchens are allying, and given the choice between Joseon and Ming, who would they attack first? "Appeasement is our first choice," he tells them, "but we must be prepared for the worst as well." This makes sense and the three nod in agreement.
Gim Jongsuh reports to Sejong that Choi Yundeok has abandoned the Yeoyeon camp without authorization. Sejong immediately heads not for the prince's quarters, but for the Hall of Worthies (he doesn't explain why).
"How dare you goad the crown prince!" At the Hall of Worthies, Shin Jang has grabbed Choi Manli by the collar and is giving him a piece of his mind. "I was just doing my job as the crown prince's teacher," Choi tells him. Shin slugs him and knocks him down. "What are you after? What do you have to gain by provoking a fight between the king and the crown prince?" Yun Hwe enters. Shin tells Yun, "He taught treason to the crown prince!" But Yun not only isn't angry about it, he supports Choi: "One might say he was teaching him to stand up and speak his mind." Yun continues, "Someone's got to stand up and dissuade the king" because he's not listening to anyone right now.
Outside in the hall, Sejong has been listening to all of this. (More with the eavesdropping. Doesn't anybody ever learn?) He leaves without entering the room.
We see Jo Malseng, dressed plainly and tending to chickens. Someone (I didn't see who, it was too quick) has come and told him about Choi Manli and the crown prince. The situation intrigues him.
The crown princess is walking through a courtyard when her husband Hyang enters the courtyard and walks up to her. "Aren't you going to say hello?", she asks. "It's been a month and ten days since I've seen you." But he's headed to see the queen and blows right by her.
The queen is NOT happy with her son. "Where did you learn this awful behavior? Why are you defying your father so harshly?" From off to the side we hear, "He's afraid of Ming." Princes Jinyang and Anpyeong walk in. Soheon isn't happy about this either, and scolds them for barging in unannounced. Jinyang tells Hyang to apologize to their father. "One little threat by the Ming court and you're ready to give up our land?" I want peace, Hyang tells him, but Jinyang won't back off: "That's just an excuse. This is just pathetic submission." Watch it, Hyang says, or I'll punish you for insolence. This is more than enough bickering for their mother. "You've already defied your father and now you want to fight your brothers in front of your mother?" She kicks Hyang out and won't see him again until he's resolved the situation peacefully.
Ministers are meeting. Hwang tells Choi Yundeok that he acted in haste. But Choi tells him that the Department of War has decided its position: "The only thing to do is pull the line back." Huh Jo hears this and says, Then all we can do is agree and support their position.
Sejong asks Yi Su, will you fight with me on this?
At the Hall of Worthies: Prince Jinyang enters. "Are you on the king's side?", he asks the scholars. "I heard you were looking for a cause to stop Ming from trying to control us." Jeong Inji wisely answers, "Both those who agree with the king and those who disagree with the king are on the same side, your highness." Jinyang is there because he wants to help. His brother is annoying him to the point where he feels like punching him. "I might just whack him," he says half-kiddingly, if we can find justifiable cause not to back down. The scholars smile.
Sejong is meeting with some of the ministers and scholars to name Yi Su minister of military. In front of him is a stack of petitions--a big whopping stack. Which only irritates him. "How much longer must Joseon remain paralyzed under Ming dominance? Subservience only begets more subservience. If we back down now, Ming will only try to intimidate us more." Yun Hwe urges the king, "you must consider the reality." But Sejong is thinking of a bigger picture. "Kings must rule the day and prepare for tomorrow. No matter how difficult, no matter what it takes, even if this dream cannot be realized in this lifetime, I will not stop."
Narration and maps explain to us that Yeoyeon was significant not just because of its proximity to Ming but also because it was near the locations of the major Jurchen tribes in the territory. Therefore from Joseon's perspective, it was "an important strategic location that had to be protected."
Choi Yundeok and two subordinates enter a room where Yi Su is sitting alone and delivers some unwelcome news. He says that Ming can instantly deliver a 500,000-man army to the northern front if it needs to; that we need a plan to deal with that army if we're going forward with the border expansion; and that, until you have that plan, we can't accept you as Minister of Military. And they leave.
Research is continuing at the Hall of Worthies. Jeong Inji is leafing through a book; suddenly something catches his eye. "Could this be the solution?" He says it barely above a whisper, but with such intensity that Prince Jinyang and other scholars turn and look at him. "Gonghumjin! Yes, this is it! We found a way to stop Ming holding us back!" He's not whispering any more; it's one of those Eureka Moments and he's bursting with excitement. He runs out the door to tell Sejong, as he leaves instructing the other scholars to gather up everything they can on Gonghumjin.
Sejong is meeting with Yun Hwe, Gim Jongsuh and a couple of the scholars. Jeong Inji explains to them that Gonghumjin was the northernmost of the nine forts built by Yun Gwan (see separate post). At some later time, after the Yun Gwan events had faded into the past, a Goryeo ruler had requested that the Ming emperor acknowledge the territory south of Gonghumjin as Goryeo territory. (Again, see separate post.) The emperor's answer was that he would do so if the demarcation marker that had been placed at the site could be found. Jeong tells Sejong that if we find the marker, not only will it hold Ming back, it will give our expansion legitimacy. Sejong instructs those present to keep this confidential for now.
We see someone already telling Haishou about it (the face flashed by quickly and I couldn't see who it was) and that Yi Su has the map showing the marker's location.
Sejong gives Yi Su a map that is 300 years old. He wants Yi Su to find the demarcation marker. This is a dangerous task that will take him through Jurchen borderlands. He's uncomfortable asking his teacher to go on such a risky mission. But Yi is more than willing to do it. "Bestow me a drink when I return," Yi says, and Sejong smiles.
Choi Manli asks Hwang Hee and Yun Hwe if finding the marker would be such a good thing after all. Hwang reminds him that it will make Ming back off, but Choi argues that the additional territory is roughly the same size of Goryeo's expansion, which took 300 years of conflict (I assume with native peoples) to settle. So even if this takes one-tenth as long, that's 30 years. Do we really want to subject the people to 30 years of hardship?
Nighttime, in a courtyard: Yun Hwe tells Yi Su, "Don't do it." Yi replies that Choi Yundeok wanted a way to stop the Ming army; this is the way. Yun doesn't think an old promise from emperor Zhu will sway Ming and that the only thing likely to happen is that "Ming will hold us back even tighter." And the greater problem is that even if we make the case for a conquest, you won't be able to do your job if that happens because "You have no loyal subordinates who would die for you." Yi fires back, Neither does the king right now. Yun tries again: "It's wrong to obsess on territorial expansion while people are starving." But Yi counters, "If he has decided that this has to be done even at the cost of the people's bread," then it must be distressing him too. "Don't make him feel too lonely," he advises Yun; "I wish you'd think about this from the king's perspective." And he leaves Yun standing there to think about that.
At the War Department, Choi Yundeok informs other leaders that Yi Su is setting out to locate the marker. Yi Gak argues comments angrily that this could lead to "war for decades to come" and the others seem upset about it, too.
"We must stop the minister of military." Choi is trying to convince Hwang Hee. Hwang listens and doesn't respond--but do we see him nodding almost imperceptibly?
Nighttime: Yi Su and two escorts leave the city gates on horseback and get going on their mission. They've barely gotten underway when, in the woods, they come under arrow fire and are then surrounded by armed men. They dismount. We see Choi Manli step forth. He addresses Yi, whose back is turned. "Don't be afraid sir, we're not going to hurt you. We'll take you to a quiet place where you can rest for about a month." But as Yi turns around, we see that it's not Yi! It's [?], wearing the same kind of red robe that Yi was wearing when he exited the gate. So what happened to Yi? (Okay, I choked here. I didn't recognize the man who's in Yi Su's place, and I couldn't tell the next time we saw him either. If somebody can bail me out on this I'll fix the summary and give credit.)
Elsewhere in the woods, Yi Su is in commoner's clothes, meeting with Gim Johgsuh. Somehow Gim arranged a switch that allowed Yi to escape the kidnap attempt.
"I never dreamed Joseonese would do this." We set this up in case of an information leak, [?] tells Choi Manli. "Who would have thought that you, not Ming or Joseon spies, would interfere with finding the demarcation marker." Choi irritatedly asks [?] how long he'll keep being the "king's puppet." But [?] doesn't dignify that with an answer, instead telling Choi, "This will be overlooked this one time, Choi Manli." Go back and tell your co-conspirators. "If something like this happens again, his majesty will not forgive you."
Haishou informs Wang Zhen. "We can't let Joseon have Liaodong," Wang says. "Destroy the demarcation marker!"
Gim Jongsuh sees Yi Su to the northern border. Dami, Poongae and the northern civilians are there; they're going to be Yi's guides from here on. A boat awaits them to take them across, and possibly some distance up or down, the river (we're not told). "Take care of the king," Yi tells Gim, to which he replies, "Be safe, sir."
Tongmingge and a new Jurchen character identified as Tongguanto (he's a younger man), have been summoned to see Wang Zhen. They're told that Yi Su is in possession of the old map. The implication apparently being, You'd better get your hands on that map. Then Wang tells them, "Odoli (their Jurchen tribe) is acting alone in this from beginning to end. Get the job done right, and supremacy of Liaodong will be yours."
Nighttime: Leaving the building, Tongmingge and Tongguantou are talking; they realize that if Yi Su has crossed the border, he'll approach the Subin river soon. From around a corner, we see someone watching them and listening. It's Shigaro, the native Jurchen/naturalized Joseon citizen first seen in the previous episode.
The next day: Yi Su, Gang Hui (prince Jinyang's eunuch bodyguard, who is part of the mission) and the others have taken cover in the underbrush. We see them as Tongmingge and an Odoli group on horseback come charging up the trail. (Apparently Shigaro tipped off the Joseonese and so they were expecting the Jurchens to show up.) The Joseonese change their plans to travel to the marker site by land instead of water. Yi Su studies the map, holding a compass over it to determine direction. Then they proceed...but Yi Su drops the compass as they leave.
Later, the compass is spotted on the ground and picked up by Tongmingge (they must have circled around or doubled back or something). Then the Jurchens notice a group of footprints in the dirt ahead of them. Assuming they're Joseonese footprints, they pick up the trail...but after a while, the footprints just stop! "I think we've been tricked," Tongguantou says. They decide to search the area. From the brush, we see Dami and Poongae watching, smiling (so yes, they were tricked).
Nighttime, in a heavily overgrown field: This has to be the place, Yi Su says. They look around in the darkness. There's nothing there, not even a road. Yi orders a thorough search, and everyone steps forward into the brush.
The crown prince has been summoned and comes to see his father. He wonders why he wasn't summoned sooner; Sejong tells him, "I needed time to calm my rage." "I don't regret my decision." "This is the future of Joseon. If it isn't realized in my lifetime, you will have to carry on my work." Are you afraid?, Sejong asks; "Do you want Ming to dominate Joseon forever?" Hyang isn't backing down; he asks Sejong, How much more exhausted and malnourished do you want your people to be? We can ally with Ming and suppress the Jurchens, Hyang argues. The idea is completely unacceptable to Sejong: "You would have our defense in the hands of Ming forever?" He tells his son, "It appears fighting you might be more difficult than fighting the Jurchens or Ming." "I'm not going to back down for you." "Fight with all you've got." "I'm prepared, father."
Poongae is discouraged and complaining; they've been looking around and around and can't find anything, not even a clue. He asks Yi Su, "Are you sure this marker even exists?" This makes Dami angry; she grabs him and they start to fight, and fall down...onto something hard. It's covered with dirt, but everyone frantically brushes off the dirt. Bingo. it's a whopping big stone laid into the ground. Inscribed on its face: "Goryeon border." We hear Yi Su's voice as he narrates a report to Sejong: "Your majesty, we found it. 230 miles north of the Tuman River...this is Joseon's true northern border. Now a new era will begin for Joseon." The entire search party is kneeling before the marker, almost reverently.
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Spring 1430, at the Ming border: A Joseon diplomatic mission is waiting to enter Ming. The crown prince is going for an audience with the emperor, a long-standing tradition. But something's not right this time; no one has come to usher the mission through the border, and the group is being made to wait in line just like everybody else seeking entry. When they reach the head of the line Yun Hwe and Choi Manli tell the guards that this is the crown prince's mission. The guards react by running forward and pointing spears at the prince! "It's the emperor's order," we hear, and look who comes out of the entry gate but Wang Zhen, with Haishou at his side. Wang introduces himself to the prince, and then Haishou tells the prince that the emperor has rejected the request for an audience. When the prince asks why, Wang tells him to ask his "belligerent king."
The news reaches a baffled Sejong.
At some sort of diplomatic meeting, Haishou tells Yun Hwe that Joseon must give up its forward northern positions and move its border back. Yun Hwe protests this "undue interference" by Ming, but Haishou claims that because Jurchens now hold titles in the Ming court, the territory is part of Ming.
Yun Hwe suggests to Sejong that maybe it's time to back off on the border issue and yield to Ming. But Sejong adamantly refuses.
Sejong goes to the Hall of Worthies. The scholars are very concerned; Jeong Inji tells him that Ming might consider war if Joseon doesn't yield. Sejong tells the scholars he wants them to find a solution to break the impasse. "I need your collective wisdom more than ever right now."
Later, Sejong is told that the crown prince didn't return to the capital, but instead went to Yeoyeon, the forward-most of the disputed military posts in the north. But why?
At Yeoyeon: Conscripted laborers are building a huge defense wall out of stone. Choi is showing this to crown prince Hyang; we learn that Choi brought him here. Choi tells the prince, "If you want to send these men to their deaths, you are not worthy of the throne. Yeoyeon is a useless wasteland that only serves military purposes. But the king is dead set on preserving this land regardless of cost." His obstinacy put you in this difficult position, Choi continues, and now he's fortifying the land using forced labor from the people he had promised to serve as his god. Then Choi repeats his past complaints about Jang Youngsil's promotion, racial impurity introduced into the country, and the tax policy that the nobles oppose. I tried my best to go along with all of this, he says, "because people were always at the heart of these radical endeavors." But that's not the case any more; "we're seeing that right now." How much longer, he asks the prince, do you think these laborers can handle such grueling work? If they should rebel, it would be a difficult and crippling internal crisis. By now we realize that Choi is trying to talk Hyang into actively opposing Sejong. And he confirms it by telling the prince that someone who isn't afraid to confront the king "is worthy of the future throne."
Hyang tells Choi Yundeok to stop the construction and pull the defense line back. Choi refuses: "command and obedience," he tells the prince, without really being clear on how he feels about the border issue. Hyang brashly tells Choi, "risk your life" and stand up against the king's "misrule."
At the Jurchen Uliangha tribe headquarters; Li Manzhu is told that the that the crown prince managed to get the construction stopped. He laughs; this "domestic scuffle should keep Joseon busy for a while." His aide Simta points out that this will give the Jurchens time to form an alliance, an idea that clearly sits well with Li.
Sejong tells Yi Chun, Choi Haesan and Jang Youngsil that Joseon needs new, stronger weapons that perform better over longer distances. Yi challenges him on this, since Sejong doesn't believe in aggression. But Sejong tells him that the Jurchens are allying, and given the choice between Joseon and Ming, who would they attack first? "Appeasement is our first choice," he tells them, "but we must be prepared for the worst as well." This makes sense and the three nod in agreement.
Gim Jongsuh reports to Sejong that Choi Yundeok has abandoned the Yeoyeon camp without authorization. Sejong immediately heads not for the prince's quarters, but for the Hall of Worthies (he doesn't explain why).
"How dare you goad the crown prince!" At the Hall of Worthies, Shin Jang has grabbed Choi Manli by the collar and is giving him a piece of his mind. "I was just doing my job as the crown prince's teacher," Choi tells him. Shin slugs him and knocks him down. "What are you after? What do you have to gain by provoking a fight between the king and the crown prince?" Yun Hwe enters. Shin tells Yun, "He taught treason to the crown prince!" But Yun not only isn't angry about it, he supports Choi: "One might say he was teaching him to stand up and speak his mind." Yun continues, "Someone's got to stand up and dissuade the king" because he's not listening to anyone right now.
Outside in the hall, Sejong has been listening to all of this. (More with the eavesdropping. Doesn't anybody ever learn?) He leaves without entering the room.
We see Jo Malseng, dressed plainly and tending to chickens. Someone (I didn't see who, it was too quick) has come and told him about Choi Manli and the crown prince. The situation intrigues him.
The crown princess is walking through a courtyard when her husband Hyang enters the courtyard and walks up to her. "Aren't you going to say hello?", she asks. "It's been a month and ten days since I've seen you." But he's headed to see the queen and blows right by her.
The queen is NOT happy with her son. "Where did you learn this awful behavior? Why are you defying your father so harshly?" From off to the side we hear, "He's afraid of Ming." Princes Jinyang and Anpyeong walk in. Soheon isn't happy about this either, and scolds them for barging in unannounced. Jinyang tells Hyang to apologize to their father. "One little threat by the Ming court and you're ready to give up our land?" I want peace, Hyang tells him, but Jinyang won't back off: "That's just an excuse. This is just pathetic submission." Watch it, Hyang says, or I'll punish you for insolence. This is more than enough bickering for their mother. "You've already defied your father and now you want to fight your brothers in front of your mother?" She kicks Hyang out and won't see him again until he's resolved the situation peacefully.
Ministers are meeting. Hwang tells Choi Yundeok that he acted in haste. But Choi tells him that the Department of War has decided its position: "The only thing to do is pull the line back." Huh Jo hears this and says, Then all we can do is agree and support their position.
Sejong asks Yi Su, will you fight with me on this?
At the Hall of Worthies: Prince Jinyang enters. "Are you on the king's side?", he asks the scholars. "I heard you were looking for a cause to stop Ming from trying to control us." Jeong Inji wisely answers, "Both those who agree with the king and those who disagree with the king are on the same side, your highness." Jinyang is there because he wants to help. His brother is annoying him to the point where he feels like punching him. "I might just whack him," he says half-kiddingly, if we can find justifiable cause not to back down. The scholars smile.
Sejong is meeting with some of the ministers and scholars to name Yi Su minister of military. In front of him is a stack of petitions--a big whopping stack. Which only irritates him. "How much longer must Joseon remain paralyzed under Ming dominance? Subservience only begets more subservience. If we back down now, Ming will only try to intimidate us more." Yun Hwe urges the king, "you must consider the reality." But Sejong is thinking of a bigger picture. "Kings must rule the day and prepare for tomorrow. No matter how difficult, no matter what it takes, even if this dream cannot be realized in this lifetime, I will not stop."
Narration and maps explain to us that Yeoyeon was significant not just because of its proximity to Ming but also because it was near the locations of the major Jurchen tribes in the territory. Therefore from Joseon's perspective, it was "an important strategic location that had to be protected."
Choi Yundeok and two subordinates enter a room where Yi Su is sitting alone and delivers some unwelcome news. He says that Ming can instantly deliver a 500,000-man army to the northern front if it needs to; that we need a plan to deal with that army if we're going forward with the border expansion; and that, until you have that plan, we can't accept you as Minister of Military. And they leave.
Research is continuing at the Hall of Worthies. Jeong Inji is leafing through a book; suddenly something catches his eye. "Could this be the solution?" He says it barely above a whisper, but with such intensity that Prince Jinyang and other scholars turn and look at him. "Gonghumjin! Yes, this is it! We found a way to stop Ming holding us back!" He's not whispering any more; it's one of those Eureka Moments and he's bursting with excitement. He runs out the door to tell Sejong, as he leaves instructing the other scholars to gather up everything they can on Gonghumjin.
Sejong is meeting with Yun Hwe, Gim Jongsuh and a couple of the scholars. Jeong Inji explains to them that Gonghumjin was the northernmost of the nine forts built by Yun Gwan (see separate post). At some later time, after the Yun Gwan events had faded into the past, a Goryeo ruler had requested that the Ming emperor acknowledge the territory south of Gonghumjin as Goryeo territory. (Again, see separate post.) The emperor's answer was that he would do so if the demarcation marker that had been placed at the site could be found. Jeong tells Sejong that if we find the marker, not only will it hold Ming back, it will give our expansion legitimacy. Sejong instructs those present to keep this confidential for now.
We see someone already telling Haishou about it (the face flashed by quickly and I couldn't see who it was) and that Yi Su has the map showing the marker's location.
Sejong gives Yi Su a map that is 300 years old. He wants Yi Su to find the demarcation marker. This is a dangerous task that will take him through Jurchen borderlands. He's uncomfortable asking his teacher to go on such a risky mission. But Yi is more than willing to do it. "Bestow me a drink when I return," Yi says, and Sejong smiles.
Choi Manli asks Hwang Hee and Yun Hwe if finding the marker would be such a good thing after all. Hwang reminds him that it will make Ming back off, but Choi argues that the additional territory is roughly the same size of Goryeo's expansion, which took 300 years of conflict (I assume with native peoples) to settle. So even if this takes one-tenth as long, that's 30 years. Do we really want to subject the people to 30 years of hardship?
Nighttime, in a courtyard: Yun Hwe tells Yi Su, "Don't do it." Yi replies that Choi Yundeok wanted a way to stop the Ming army; this is the way. Yun doesn't think an old promise from emperor Zhu will sway Ming and that the only thing likely to happen is that "Ming will hold us back even tighter." And the greater problem is that even if we make the case for a conquest, you won't be able to do your job if that happens because "You have no loyal subordinates who would die for you." Yi fires back, Neither does the king right now. Yun tries again: "It's wrong to obsess on territorial expansion while people are starving." But Yi counters, "If he has decided that this has to be done even at the cost of the people's bread," then it must be distressing him too. "Don't make him feel too lonely," he advises Yun; "I wish you'd think about this from the king's perspective." And he leaves Yun standing there to think about that.
At the War Department, Choi Yundeok informs other leaders that Yi Su is setting out to locate the marker. Yi Gak argues comments angrily that this could lead to "war for decades to come" and the others seem upset about it, too.
"We must stop the minister of military." Choi is trying to convince Hwang Hee. Hwang listens and doesn't respond--but do we see him nodding almost imperceptibly?
Nighttime: Yi Su and two escorts leave the city gates on horseback and get going on their mission. They've barely gotten underway when, in the woods, they come under arrow fire and are then surrounded by armed men. They dismount. We see Choi Manli step forth. He addresses Yi, whose back is turned. "Don't be afraid sir, we're not going to hurt you. We'll take you to a quiet place where you can rest for about a month." But as Yi turns around, we see that it's not Yi! It's [?], wearing the same kind of red robe that Yi was wearing when he exited the gate. So what happened to Yi? (Okay, I choked here. I didn't recognize the man who's in Yi Su's place, and I couldn't tell the next time we saw him either. If somebody can bail me out on this I'll fix the summary and give credit.)
Elsewhere in the woods, Yi Su is in commoner's clothes, meeting with Gim Johgsuh. Somehow Gim arranged a switch that allowed Yi to escape the kidnap attempt.
"I never dreamed Joseonese would do this." We set this up in case of an information leak, [?] tells Choi Manli. "Who would have thought that you, not Ming or Joseon spies, would interfere with finding the demarcation marker." Choi irritatedly asks [?] how long he'll keep being the "king's puppet." But [?] doesn't dignify that with an answer, instead telling Choi, "This will be overlooked this one time, Choi Manli." Go back and tell your co-conspirators. "If something like this happens again, his majesty will not forgive you."
Haishou informs Wang Zhen. "We can't let Joseon have Liaodong," Wang says. "Destroy the demarcation marker!"
Gim Jongsuh sees Yi Su to the northern border. Dami, Poongae and the northern civilians are there; they're going to be Yi's guides from here on. A boat awaits them to take them across, and possibly some distance up or down, the river (we're not told). "Take care of the king," Yi tells Gim, to which he replies, "Be safe, sir."
Tongmingge and a new Jurchen character identified as Tongguanto (he's a younger man), have been summoned to see Wang Zhen. They're told that Yi Su is in possession of the old map. The implication apparently being, You'd better get your hands on that map. Then Wang tells them, "Odoli (their Jurchen tribe) is acting alone in this from beginning to end. Get the job done right, and supremacy of Liaodong will be yours."
Nighttime: Leaving the building, Tongmingge and Tongguantou are talking; they realize that if Yi Su has crossed the border, he'll approach the Subin river soon. From around a corner, we see someone watching them and listening. It's Shigaro, the native Jurchen/naturalized Joseon citizen first seen in the previous episode.
The next day: Yi Su, Gang Hui (prince Jinyang's eunuch bodyguard, who is part of the mission) and the others have taken cover in the underbrush. We see them as Tongmingge and an Odoli group on horseback come charging up the trail. (Apparently Shigaro tipped off the Joseonese and so they were expecting the Jurchens to show up.) The Joseonese change their plans to travel to the marker site by land instead of water. Yi Su studies the map, holding a compass over it to determine direction. Then they proceed...but Yi Su drops the compass as they leave.
Later, the compass is spotted on the ground and picked up by Tongmingge (they must have circled around or doubled back or something). Then the Jurchens notice a group of footprints in the dirt ahead of them. Assuming they're Joseonese footprints, they pick up the trail...but after a while, the footprints just stop! "I think we've been tricked," Tongguantou says. They decide to search the area. From the brush, we see Dami and Poongae watching, smiling (so yes, they were tricked).
Nighttime, in a heavily overgrown field: This has to be the place, Yi Su says. They look around in the darkness. There's nothing there, not even a road. Yi orders a thorough search, and everyone steps forward into the brush.
The crown prince has been summoned and comes to see his father. He wonders why he wasn't summoned sooner; Sejong tells him, "I needed time to calm my rage." "I don't regret my decision." "This is the future of Joseon. If it isn't realized in my lifetime, you will have to carry on my work." Are you afraid?, Sejong asks; "Do you want Ming to dominate Joseon forever?" Hyang isn't backing down; he asks Sejong, How much more exhausted and malnourished do you want your people to be? We can ally with Ming and suppress the Jurchens, Hyang argues. The idea is completely unacceptable to Sejong: "You would have our defense in the hands of Ming forever?" He tells his son, "It appears fighting you might be more difficult than fighting the Jurchens or Ming." "I'm not going to back down for you." "Fight with all you've got." "I'm prepared, father."
Poongae is discouraged and complaining; they've been looking around and around and can't find anything, not even a clue. He asks Yi Su, "Are you sure this marker even exists?" This makes Dami angry; she grabs him and they start to fight, and fall down...onto something hard. It's covered with dirt, but everyone frantically brushes off the dirt. Bingo. it's a whopping big stone laid into the ground. Inscribed on its face: "Goryeon border." We hear Yi Su's voice as he narrates a report to Sejong: "Your majesty, we found it. 230 miles north of the Tuman River...this is Joseon's true northern border. Now a new era will begin for Joseon." The entire search party is kneeling before the marker, almost reverently.