Original subtitles

Atten-hut!

There are the Japanese spies that were captured in Bub-sung Port.

I believe you've met them.

If your men can stop these men, I will allow you to return to

Nok-do and prepare a land battle.

Very well, sir. Let's give it a shot.

You fool!

Get up and fight! Fight!

Captain Chung!

Step back and observe!

You just lost all of your men, Captain Chung.

If they were fighting with real swords, not one would be alive right now.

If there're hundreds of thousands of men like those spies, we don't stand

a chance against the Japanese in close-combat.

But what if they succeed in landing? We must be prepared for that as well.

That is why we must defeat them before they land.

What is the quickest way to disable the enemy?

Destroy their entire fleet.

We cannot let them take the coast of Cholla.

If we do, they will march to the capital in a matter of days.

What do you think will happen next?

My first goal is to make the Left Cholla Navy the strongest navy there is.

Anyone who stands in my way will face harsh military discipline.

Kampaku is truly a powerful man.

Sensai...

He has fought and won against your God.

I struggled long and hard about what to do.

Would you keep it for me?

I was a Christian and the Kampaku's daimyo at the same time.

But now, I will live only as a daimyo.

Are you sure you won't regret this?

I'm going to try.

I guess you are still young.

Perhaps it is my age, but I can't be like you.

It's too hard for me to discard what is in my heart.

And I often look back and regret my past...

These are the warriors that will conquer Chosun, Your Eminence!

We will vow with our blood not to disappoint you!

Accept us, Your Eminence!

We vow you our loyalty!

You have my confidence!

Let the world know the greatness of Japan!

Kiotsuke!

Rei!

Tsurumatsu.

Look son, these are your servants.

Soon they will march to Choson.

And when they come back, you will be the most powerful ruler that

Japan has ever seen!

Wabi-sabi...

I thought the state of perfect freedom from avarice was the highest state

a man can achieve, but I guess I have lived a paradoxical life...

What are you mumbling to yourself? Are you chanting a sutra?

I'd like to drink my tea from the golden cup today.

I'm in a wonderful mood today!

Didn't you hear me, Master Rikyu?

This is all I can give you.

I cannot serve your tea in an inferior golden cup.

Inferior? Did you say inferior?

Gold bears much resemblance to human greed.

Greed begets blood.

And we all know that blood begets more blood.

Where will you be when you wake up to regrets?

You will be surrounded by darkness.

Darkness, you say?

As a practitioner of Sado, it would be wrong to lead you into such

treacherous hell.

Drink. Dawans of Chosun are humble in nature, and causes one to feel

freedom from avarice.

Drink slowly and enjoy. It will help take away the taste of blood.

Stop while you're ahead.

You maybe my tea master, but I'm your ruler.

There is a limit to my tolerance of your audacity.

I am not your subject, Lord Hideyoshi.

Master Rikyu!

I am a disciple of Buddha.

But I don't know if Buddha will forgive me and accept me.

Including my service to Oda Nobunaga, I've been teaching Sado to murderers

for decades.

They all talked about peace after unification.

And like a fool I believed them.

Sennorikyu! What are you trying to say to me?

There is nothing you can achieve with the sword.

If you look at the daimyos that have submitted to your sword and believe

that you have seized the world, you couldn't be more wrong.

They have submitted to your power and authority,

but they are no sincere in their desire to serve you.

And if they should ever possess the power you possess,

they will aim their sword at you.

Haven't you caused enough violence in Japan?

Must you seek bloodshed in Chosun?

Emptiness is the only thing you will have left in the end.

How dare you!

Look at this dawan.

Unlike you, dawan humble and honest.

It resembles the heart of the people of Chosun.

Do not provoke them.

Or they will destroy your lust for conquest in an instant.

Silence! Shut up at once!

The defender is always stronger than aggressor. Do you know why?

It is because they have a righteous cause.

Morality, peace, life...

they will risk their lives to protect those things.

Your sword may be strong, and even if you are able to kill every last

Chosunese and conquer their land, you would not have truly won.

For how could a sword destroy united spirit?

Would you do me the honor of Kaishaku or would you call

someone for me?

I never thought you would betray me this way.

You will see that this is my last act of loyalty to you someday.

Just hope it is not too late.

Guard!

Sennorikyu wants to kill himself. Give him a hand.

Sennorikyu...

He was the great tea Master revered by leaders of the time Oda Nobunaga

and Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

He was also the man who disseminated the simple

and humble form of tea ceremony across Japan moving away from

the extravagant Chinese influenced tradition.

He seems to have been one

of the few pacifists in Japan who held Chosun culture with high regard.

Therefore, his seppuku was a defeat for the pacifist and a testament to

Hideyoshi's unyielding ambition and reckless quest for power.

While Hideyoshi was busily organizing his Chosun Conquest in 1591,

the officials of Chosun were engrossed in political posturing between factions

surrounding the selection of Heir Apparent setting aside national

defense issues in the backburner.

Prince Shin-sung has strong hands.

You can stop now. You must be tired.

Withdraw your order, Father.

You have not a day of rest engaged in important state affairs.

My fatigue is nothing compared to yours, Father.

Why are you crying, Royal Concubine? Is there something upsetting you?

How many more days of peace will Shin-sung have? I'm so afraid...

Would you leave us, Shin-sung?

Yes, Father.

Come close.

That's all right, Your Majesty.

Come close, I said.

What is it? What makes you concerned about Shin-sung's future?

Your Majesty...

Shall I send Shin-sung to Kwang-hae's palace more often?

Shall I have him treat Kwang-hae with respect of a king?

Brothers are to be treated like brothers.

Why would he treat is brother like a king?

They say that Kwang-hae will succeed your throne.

Succeed my throne?

I have not once raised the successor issue for discussion!

Who is spreading such rumors?

Everyone knows how smart Kwang-hae is.

They sing praises of him and say that he will become a benevolent king who

outshine his father.

I know that Kwang-hae is astute and competent, but I can't help worrying

about what happened in the past.

His mother, Concubine Kong, had been jealous of me when she was alive,

an both Prince Yim-hae and Kwang-hae bear deep antipathy for me.

And when Kwan-hae rises o the throne, Shin-sung will be the first

one he guards against.

- It is a groundless fear. - Do not be concerned.

I'm not even forty years old, and they're already talking

about my successor!

What is their motive?

Your Majesty...

We do not have the luxury to waste our time with the successor issue!

This is about securing the future of the state!

Japan is preparing a war against us?

There will be no war, remember?

When will you stop fooling yourselves?

There is not one of us in this room who does not feel the threat of war!

Then are you suggesting that we do a flip-flop and change our position?

Why not?

The Westerners will jump for joy!

This is not the time to talk about Easterners and Westerners!

Officials of all ranks must come together and prepare for this war!

Let us first install His Majesty's preferred Prince as the Heir Apparent.

That'll give us greater power.

If we are going to change our position, we can do it then.

We would be committing suicide if we aggravate His Majesty now.

One, two! One, two!

I've had just about enough of this!

We haven't had a day of rest since the new high commander got here!

We got the headquarters ship and the ships from each garrisons to maintain!

And how come all of them are in such bad shape?

I know.

They work us like slaves and don't even give us the thanks we deserve!

Let's get back to work. It'll take us all night to get the ship ready

for launch by tomorrow noon.

What are you, a saint?

How can you smile with all this work they're making us do, Su-chang?

Leave him alone. He's born craftsman.

Give him a ship to fix, and he's the happiest man alive.

He's not like you and me.

My ship is falling apart? Whatever do you mean?

There is serious corrosion in the lower deck.

Don't kid around. No one's laughing, and you're going to bring bad luck.

But sir, Sado garrison ship is over ten years old.

And the wood that was used was sealed poorly...

Boy, you're persistent!

It's all right. That ship was fine yesterday.

You saw it with your own two eyes.

Yes, but that will be the last time.

I told you last year that you need to build a new ship, but only Sado

Garrison hasn't...

Goodness, do I have to explain everything?

We had no budget! No budget!

We couldn't even die if we wanted to because we didn't have the

budget to buy poison!

You have to tell the high commander.

That ship is in no shape to go out into the ocean.

This is serious. The soldiers can get hurt.

Goodness! Would you stop it before I stitch your lips together?

Or are you going build a new ship overnight yourself?

We can't skip the training no matter what happens.

The high commander is annoyed with us as it is.

And you want me to tell him that we're going to sleep in and rest because our

ship just might have an accident?

What do you think he'll say? "Sure, take a few days off?"

Not in a million years! He'll think it's just an excuse to play hooky!

Then I'll talk to him. He can come see for himself.

Oh yeah? That'll put you in the hot seat.

It's not just my fault that our ship is in poor condition.

Who is the one signed off all the maintenance reports as operable

without even coming by to inspect if?

Was it me? No! Then who was it? It was you!

That's because the ships were never used like they are being used now.

So I was just going along with the official procedure...

Official procedure? Thai will never fly with the high commander.

So if you don't want to get yourself in trouble, fix the ship by tomorrow,

or just keep your mouth shut.

You don't want to get flogged and do time in isolation, do you?

It's all right, I tell you!

That ship was fine yesterday and it won't sink overnight.

It's all right.

Constable of Bu-ryong?

Take it. It's a letter of appointment from His Majesty the King.

He regards highly of your achievement in the Six Camps

despite your low marks, and he is giving you another chance, so you

mustn't disappoint him.

Ah, it's Constable Won!

I heard you are going back to the Six Camps.

The barbarians have been quiet since the Shijun Battle, so

it'll be peaceful in the northern front.

You'll be more like a village magistrate if anything.

If you'll excuse me.

Of course.

You were pleading with His Majesty to send him to the southern front.

Why are you sending him to the Six Camps?

Don't we want him in the south where there is threat of Japanese invasion

so he can render meritorious service?

I'm muzzling a tiger.

Let him struggle in a muzzle for a while.

And in due time I will reach out and release the muzzle.

And out of gratitude he will fetch anything I, his master,

ask him o fetch.

Won Kyun's courage and ability need no explaining.

He will be a hero if we just send him to the front.

The question is how obedient he will be to us.

And until he is ready, we need to wait.

Confess! Confess, I said!

There's got to be another secret meeting place!

You evil wench!

Confess!

What are you doing out here this late with that woeful look on your face?

You should be sleeping.

How about you? Where have you been going every night?

Are you hiding a woman somewhere?

A woman? I've been out looking for Hong.

Why bother looking for her when you know where she is?

What makes you think know where she is?

I thought you were smart. Isn't it obvious?

She's probably with that Japanese guy Kimura.

Do you think so?

You're so dense when it comes to women.

When a grown women goes into a dark place at night to see a man,

it could only be one thing.

They couldn't have been playing patty-cake in there.

She must realty be in love with that guy...

for her to have left all of her drawings behind to run off with him...

She could have at least told us she was leaving.

We may not have been able to give her a fancy wedding,

but we could've at least bought her a embroidered lovers' quilt...

Mujik...

But then, I guess he's a rich guy.

He probably promised her those beautiful silk Japanese dresses,

or she wouldn't have left all of her clothes behind in this cold winter...

Bring the map back to our usual meeting place.

I must revise the map. You must come tonight immediately.

Akai Sama...

I trust you brought the map, you treacherous spy!

You!

There's no doubt he is a Japanese spy.

What is my reward for his capture?

Come to the Left Kyong-sang Naval Base.

The high commander will reward you generously.

Thank you, sir.

Excuse me...

What can I do for you?

Stop the water! We're sinking!

What's this noise?

Give me that. Come with me!

Who's there?!

What are you waiting for? Grab the hammer from him!

Let go of me! I have to destroy this ship! I have to destroy it!

Wait a minute, aren't you Su-chang the shipwright?

Su-chang, what's wrong with you? Don't just stand there! Stop him!

Give me that! Come on!

Let go! I have to destroy this ship!

Why did you damage the warship?

I am asking you why you destroyed the Sado garrison's vessel!

I deserve death, sir...

How could you, a shipwright, dare destroy a warship?

Warships are the most important weapon to a navy.

Do you know what you've done? You just helped the enemy!

It's not a warship.

What I destroyed is not a warship. It's a floating murder weapon.

That boat could sink any day. It's a disaster waiting to happen!

Constable.

What's going on?

Oh, well, that's...

Su-chang, the shipwright...

Did you call me, sir?

My goodness! Who on earth could have done such a terrible thing?

A kid named Su-chang.

I'll find that boy right now and...

If he hadn't destroyed this ship first, I would have.

Sir!

Why? How could you think to put your men aboard this ship?

You could have gotten all of your men killed!

Why didn't you report this to me?

Sir, my guess is he probably couldn't get himself to report it

out of fear of slowing down the training.

Do you think that's a justifiable excuse?

All of our ships in the Left Cholla Navy have problems although not as

severe as this one.

Shouldn't we inspect the ships first before we carry on with our training?

Sir.

Very well. I will see what can be done.

Thank you, thank you very much, Constable Kwon.

You haven't once ordered repairs on the ship since you took office, I'm told.

The high commander has a valid reason to be upset, Commander Kim.

I'm trying my best to do my job, but...

Regardless of the reason, I cannot overtook the fact that you destroyed

a naval vessel.

I know, sir.

How do you think you should redeem yourself?

Including the six that we have in the headquarters, we have thirty vessels

in all in the Left Cholla Navy.

Of those, roughly twenty are

inoperative like the one possessed by Sado Garrison.

You mean we only have ten ships that are in operating condition?

Yes, sir.

But with some good layering and smoke-sealing work, about five of the

twenty can be salvaged and utilized for another two to three years.

That means we have to build at least fifteen new ships from ground up...

Would you like to see how they are designed?

The keel on flat-roof ships run 70 feet in length and 15 feet across.

The ship is 30 feet wide and 80 feet long.

Flat-roof ships are mostly made of pine because it's light, easy to work with,

and durable in water.

So they're suitable for the keel, the hall and the upper deck.

But the oak is best for the mast,

rosewood for the rudder and Zelkova for the oars.

I am impressed. How do you know so much about flat-roof ships

and when did you catalog all these details?

I'm flattered, sir.

Do you have a teacher?

My departed father was a shipwright like me.

He worked under General Chung Gull. Making ships was his life.

My skills are nothing compared to his.

You're up.

Sir.

Do you like your new uniform?

Pardon?

That's yours from now on. Put in on and come with me.

Sir...!

As you all know, this is Cho Su-chang, the shipwright at this naval station.

Starting today, he is the director of our shipbuilding project with authority

equal to yours.

Sir, you are granting a shipwright authority of a garrison commander?

That's right.

Not only will he join us in our meetings, but you are to obey him

in all matters relating to building, repair, maintenance and operation

of the naval vessels.

Are you telling us to obey that boy's orders?

This is ridiculous!

Commander!

Sir...!