Post by ajk on Feb 9, 2014 11:56:33 GMT -5
Note: These will be shorter than the more detailed summaries I've done for other series. The idea is just to hit the main events of each episode and associate them with the episode number. Even this one is longer than I expect them to generally be; first episodes usually covers a lot of ground and this one is no exception.
It's 1383. Jeong Dojeon walks through the countryside, eventually coming across refugees and then later the aftermath of a recent battle. Eventually he reaches a military camp where he finds the man he's seeking: Lee Seonggye. We hear his thoughts: "I will end this turbulent age with this man and create a new world."
Flashback nine years, to 1374. Gaegyeong: We find Jeong Dojeon teaching a class. He's an instructor at the elite Sungkyunkwan academy. Oddly, he's lecturing outside while he makes his students work a field. Wants them to learn "the pain of labor" because if you don't know it, "you're a good-for-nothing with a head full of crap." We learn he hasn't gotten a promotion in nearly a decade. Turns out you have to bribe an official to get one and he doesn't play that kind of game. But later he takes an exotic piece of pottery to a government building. He waves it in front of the workers who assume it's a bribe for the vice chancellor...but he's filled it with his own waste--yes, his own waste--and starts splashing it all over everybody and everything. Manages to run away and not get caught.
Meanwhile, in the city, things look awful. Lots of people begging for food; it's pathetic. And apparently the king is going crazy. Drinking heavily, beating his eunuchs, that kind of thing. As we learn from narration, King Gongmin had freed the country from Yuan Empire domination and reclaimed previously lost territory. But with the Yuan empire crumbling under the threat of the emerging Ming empire, suddenly Goryeo was vulnerable to other foreign forces. And internally, Gongmin's state council had become paralyzed by but bickering factions. And to top it all off, Gongmin's Queen Noguk had died. He's neglecting state affairs and putting all of his focus into an extravagant effort to build a huge shrine for her, a shrine that the country can't really afford.
We see the shrine being built. Yeah, it's a doozy. We visit it just in time to see a terrible construction accident with multiple fatalities. The soldiers supervising the work are callous and uncaring in the aftermath, which incites a rebellion among the workers. An awful, bloody riot. Jeong happens upon it and is stunned. That evening, families arrive to recover the dead and wounded workers. A heartbreaking sight that deeply affects Jeong. And in the middle of all of it, fireworks! Gongmin is hosting a big banquet in the palace nearby. Totally inappropriate, as his councilors know, but they can't stop him.
Jeong wants his fellow scholars to unite and take action against all this. But Ming envoys are coming soon and this isn't the time for unrest. So they make Jeong angry by refusing him. He goes home and sits down and writes an appeal for the king to stop the shrine's construction and remove everyone who's causing trouble in the government. Eventually the appeal finds its way into the hands of Lee In Im, the vice chancellor. He tells Jeong, "The moment the king sees this, you'll be dead." Officials can't criticize the government these days. Jeong says he's willing to die for this, but Lee advises him, "If you want to change the world, gain power first."
Gongmin's mother, the queen dowager, shows up and scolds him for the shrine workers being treated so poorly. She's a sharp one; can even see right through Lee In Im, calls him a bad guy. Give it all up and stop grieving, she tells him. Her words touch him, but he can't do it.
Gongmin decides to name ten-year-old Gangnyeonggun (a/k/a Monino) the crown prince. "He may be born of a servant's body but he's my only son." Lee In Im tells him it won't sit well with the councilors, particularly not with the prime minister Gyeong Bokheung. Help me, Gongmin says to Lee, and I'll give you Gyeong's job.
The Ming envoys have arrived. As the Goryean ministers entertain them, we learn that the general Choi Yeong and his Goryean forces have arrived on Jeju Island to sweep out the Yuan who are controlling it and subjugating the Tamna government there. Later, the ministers are stunned to receive the king's order making Gangnyeonggun the crown prince. PM Gyeong is furious. Then Jeong manages to barge into the meeting and slam his appeal on the table. He's summarily escorted out by guards...but his appeal is left on the table.
The QD scolds her son over his choice of crown prince. Gongmin counters that at least the boy is 100% Goryean, unlike a lot of the recent Goryean kings who were part Mongol. But then she says "Don't you think he could be Shin Don's son?" Oh boy does that push a button. He doesn't even look like you, she argues as he flies into a rage. And adds, You'll make him crown prince over my dead body.
A welcome-home party for Jeong Mongju, a favored scholar who was on assignment elsewhere. As we see in flashback, he and JD have known each other since they were kids; friends and friendly rivals as scholars. Mongju is a little older and was ahead of JD in their childhood.
Nighttime and JD has been on his knees in the street outside the council hall for hours and hours in silent protest. He wants his appeal accepted. Suddenly the king and his procession appear as they head home for the night. Mongju comes upon the scene at that moment and drags JD out of the way before the king's guards can beat him up (or worse). JD is frustrated but Mongju says he'll help him and they'll fix the country when the time is right.
Lee In Im visits Gongmin and tells him of all the opposition to his choice of crown prince. He even thinks the king will have to kill PM Gyeong to squelch it. But this alone isn't grounds for killing him. Lee has another idea, though...and whips out JD's written appeal! "It rejects your rule and asks that all the eunuchs be dismissed." Arrest JD and force a false confession that Gyeong is behind this, and then execute Gyeong. Wow what an evil plan.
The Ming envoys are rudely trying to barge their way into the Daeseongjeon royal Confucian shrine, but it's not for foreign envoys; it's only for the king. It triggers a huge argument. JD is the scholar overseeing the shrine at the moment, and when Gongmin shows up and speaks to him and finds out his name, well...surprise! "Take him away and lock him up in prison."