Original subtitles

Spring 1430, 12th year of Sejong's reign, Ming border at Amrok River

Where are the agents that are supposed to greet the diplomatic mission?

I told them twice who we are, but they won't listen.

Try again!

But...

Sir.

Be patient. We don't need to cause a scene.

I'm sure there's a good reason.

But...

Listen to him, Councilor Choi.

This is the Crown Prince of Joseon.

He is going to the palace for an audience with the Emperor.

What is the meaning of this?

You cannot pass!

I said Crown Prince of Joseon

is here to have an audience with the Emperor!

To obstruct his path is contempt not only for the Joseonese Prince but to

Ming Emperor as well!

It is the Emperor's order.

I am Imperial Eunuch Wang Zhen.

Why have you stopped us?

The Emperor has rejected the Crown Prince's request for an audience.

I beg your pardon?

This is a formal diplomatic event between Joseon

and Ming that has continued since the founding of Joseon.

I would like to know the reason for the Emperor's sudden refusal.

It would be quicker for you

to seek that answer from your belligerent King than it would be from us.

Ming Emperor has turned the Crown Prince away?

Gyeongbok Palace, 15 days later

What is the reason?

Give up your camps in Yeoyeon and Gyeongwon and move back your border.

Isn't that undue interference in another country's affair?

Undue interference?

Li Manzhu of Ulliangha and Tongmingge of Odoli both hold titles in Ming court.

That makes their territory Ming domain!

If Joseon threatens this territory with military presence, we can only interpret

this action as an action against Great Ming.

Perhaps it's time to yield.

We must vacate Yeoyeon and Gyeongwon and call Choi Yundeok and Yi Su back.

I will not yield.

Your Majesty.

Have we turned Ming against us?

If we don't comply, they may consider war.

I will not change my mind.

But, Your Majesty.

A solution.

Instead of just fighting me like everyone else, can't you, the Hall of Worthies

scholars, find mea solution to get through this impasse?

I need your collective wisdom more than ever right now, Jeong Inji.

Where is the Crown Prince?

His Highness did not return to the capital.

I'm told he has gone to Yeoyeon with Choi Manli.

The Crown Prince has gone in Yeoyeon?

Yeoyeon, Pyeongan Province

Why did you bring me here?

I thought it might help you control your anger.

How about to vent my anger?

I see lots of brave soldiers here who will ignore Ming

and cross the border to conquer the land for me at my command.

Why would the Crown Prince come here?

Perhaps to get even for the rejection he suffered at the Ming border.

You mean he wants military action?

Not worthy.

If you want to send these men into a field of death to just to vent your rage,

you would not be worthy of the future throne.

His Majesty is the one who said he would protect the defense line

even if it means going to war.

Then shouldn't you confront His Majesty first?

What do you mean?

Yeoyeon is a useless wasteland that only serves military purposes.

But the King is dead set on preserving this land regardless of cost.

So far, his obstinacy has caused Ming to raise their guard up against us

and placed the Crown Prince in a humiliating situation.

And he is demanding cruel conscription from those people

he has sworn to serve as his god.

For a good reason.

The King I know never put a strain on anything without a good reason.

He has been pushing the limit since the day he ascended to the throne.

He has put a slave in high government post and broken our 5.000 year racially

homogenous tradition by accepting the Jurchens.

That's not all.

He's enforcing an unreasonable tax law turning the nobles and

landed gentry against him.

I thought you were at the part of all that.

There were many things I couldn't understand or agree with,

but I accepted the King's endeavors and tried my best to make it work.

Why? Because people were always at the heart of these radical endeavors.

Are you trying to say that's not the case now?

We're seeing that for ourselves right now.

How much longer do you think they can take this grueling work?

If they should rise up and throw the country into chaos, how much time

and resources would we have to waste to undue the damage?

One who can overcome his own rage,

one who isn't afraid to make an enemy of the King to protect the people

he is the man worthy of the future throne.

Stop the construction?

Stop the construction, go back to the city

and persuade the King to move the border line back.

That is your duty, General.

I know you had originally opposed the Kings proposal to

maintain a line in Yeoyeon.

Your Highness...

Yet you're here building a large military camp.

Command and obedience.

I am a soldier and a soldier must obey his superior's command.

Risk your life.

A true patriot is one who can speak up against the King's misrule at the

risk of his life, General.

Stopped the fortification?

The Crown Prince stopped the construction himself?

What's more, he has taken their best warrior Choi Yundeok away from the front.

What could this mean?

The Crown Prince is going up against his father the King?

Domestic scuffle should keep the Joseonese busy for a while.

Meanwhile, we should find a way to bring Ulliangha, Odoli and Udige together and

form a tri-tribe alliance.

Develop new weapons?

We need stronger weapons with superior performance and better distance.

I believed you were against territorial expansion by aggression.

Isn't that why you had rejected Prince Yangnyeong's idea of

old territory restoration?

Yes.

Then why this?

Jurchens are forming an alliance.

If they unite and seek to increase their authority,

which country do you think they will attack first between Ming and Joseon?

I thought appeasement with open immigration was your approach.

Friend or foe, you value lives equally.

Do you think this order contradicts that belief?

Weapons, especially high performance

explosive weapons are produced for the purpose of mass destruction.

Appeasement is our first choice, but we must be prepared for the worst as well.

Choi Yundeok has abandoned his camp in Yeoyeon without authorization?

He also stopped the fort construction at the Crown Prince's urging.

The East palace, Your Majesty?

No, I'm going to the Hall of Worthies.

How dare you goad the Crown Prince!

I was just doing my job as the Crown Prince's teacher.

You bastard!

Just talk to him, sir!

Stay out of my way, or I'll beat you up, too!

Don't you dare call yourself the Crown Prince's teacher!

How could you be his teacher after manipulating him to arbitrarily stop

a major military project, take a commanding general away

from the border and defy the King?

What are you after?

What do you have to gain by provoking

a fight between the King and the Crown Prince?

Safety of this country, perhaps.

He taught treason to the Crown Prince!

One might say he was teaching him how to stand up and speak his mind.

Sir!

His Majesty is refusing to listen to anyone including the Prime Minister.

Someone's got to stand up and dissuade the King.

Choi Manli and the Crown Prince...

It's been a month and ten days, Your Highness.

Aren't you going to say hello?

The Queen awaits me.

Must I turn over my husband to the Queen after waiting

more than a month to see him?

I have no time for this banter, Princess.

I'm not...

Where did you learn this awful behavior?

Why are you defying your father so harshly?

He's afraid of Ming.

It isn't proper to barge in without announcement either.

This is a special circumstance.

I think the Crown Prince has gone too far.

Apologize to Father and undo what you've done.

I don't think so.

Don't you have any pride?

Jinyang!

One little threat by the Ming Chinese and you're ready to give up our land?

How could a Crown Prince conceive of this thought?

I made that decision because I am a Crown Prince.

I want peace, not confusion!

That's just an excuse. This is pathetic submission.

Watch it.

Or I'll have no choice but to punish you for insolence.

What's a little insolence from a prince to a Crown Prince when the Crown Prince is

openly challenging the King?

There's a limit to my tolerance, so you better...

Stop!

You've already defied your father and now you want to

fight your brothers before your mother?

Leave.

Mother.

I will not see you until you've resolved this matter peacefully.

You acted in haste.

Should I have opposed the Crown Prince's idea of moving the border back?

I'm saying you shouldn't have

deserted your camp without an official order to pull the troops back.

Precautionary measures have been taken.

The Dept. of War has already decided our position on this.

If the Ming Chinese are putting their guard up and trying to stop us,

the only thing to do is to move the line back.

If the Dept. of War is together on this,

Supreme Council and Six Ministries must declare our support so that

His Majesty would relent.

Would you fight this with me?

Give me your word that you will fight this with me to the end

without giving up no matter what happens.

Are you on the King's side?

I heard you were looking for a cause to stop Ming from trying to control us.

Does that mean you are on the King's side?

Both those who agree with the King and those who disagree with the King

are on the same side, Your Highness.

I want to help, too.

But I don't agree that we are all on the same side.

Your Highness...

Because I'm here so I could punch the Crown Prince out.

That's a dangerous idea.

If he still acts like a prideless wuss when we have found a justifiable

cause to keep Ming out of our business, I just might whack him.

I want an autonomous Joseon.

For that reason, I am appointing General Yi Su new Minister of Military

to focus greater effort on building a safer defense line on the river.

But Ming is keeping us in check.

How much longer must Joseon remain paralyzed under Ming dominance?

Subservience begets more subservience.

If we back down now, Ming will only try to intimidate us even more.

I want a country that does not submit to Ming's belligerent supremacy.

That is why we are expanding our perimeter to Liaodong starting

with a defense line on the river.

Your Majesty, you must consider the reality.

If we let reality stop us from going forward, we have no future.

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 my lifetime, I will not stop.

Therefore, I cannot grant your appeal.

And I will not stop the fortification of Yeoyeon as it is the most important

strategic location for this purpose.

Yeoyeon.

Modern day Jungangjin of North Pyeongan Province was a point

of strategic importance that borders Jurchen.

1430 AD, 12th year of Sejong's reign.

Taizu of Ming Zhu Yuanzhang is said to have united China, but Liaodong

was still an arena of fierce competition for supremacy of Northeast Asia.

To its west, Ming had a solid border stretching from Amrok to Liao River,

and Jurchens scattered through out Liaodong were constantly

struggling to form an alliance

with Ulliangha clan's Li Manzhu and Odoli clan's Tongmingge

at the center of the movement.

Their alliance would clearly pose a dangerous treat to Joseon,

and Yeoyeon was at the heart of this tension.

For the ambitious Jurchens seeking unification,

for wary Ming Chinese that needed to keep growing Joseon in check,

and for Sejong who needed to suppress

the Jurchens and aspired to expand the boundaries of Joseon,

Yeoyeon was an important strategic location that had to be protected.

I've been waiting.

Five hundred thousand.

Ming army that can be instantly deployed to the front is 500.000 strong.

If we are going to go forward with this territory expansion

despite Ming's reaction, we need a plan to defeat this army of 500.000.

Until you bring us that plan,

the Dept. of War cannot accept you as the new Minister of Military.

Is this it?

Could this be the solution?

Yes, this is it!

Gonghumjin!

Gonghumjin!

We got it.

We found a way to stop Ming holding us back!

Get me everything you can find on Gonghumjin!

From chronicles of Goryeo, Song and Yuan to private collections,

search through everything!

Gonghumjin...

Gonghumjin?

It's the northernmost fort of the nine forts Yun Gwan built after conquering

Jurchen during the Goryeo dynasty located 230 miles north of Tuman River.

230 miles north of the Tuman River?

The late King had requested Ming to acknowledge that territory south

of Gonghumjin belongs to Joseon?

Yes.

What was the Emperor's answer?

He said he would acknowledge the territory if the demarcation

marker on the ancient map really exist.

But regrettably, the late King was unable to see the matter through.

Why not?

To prove the validity of the old map, he needed to find the demarcation marker.

But he couldn't?

This stone marker was erected over three hundred years ago.

Demarcation marker of Gonghumjin.

Can we stop Ming from holding us back if we find this marker?

It would also give us a justifiable cause to expand our territory into Liaodong.

We will keep this information classified for now.

Why...?

We don't know how many Jurchen spies may be in the palace.

If they find out that we're after the Gonghumjin demarcation marker,

they may attempt to interfere.

The King is out to find the demarcation marker in Gonghumjin?

Yes, sir.

Gonghumjin...

Get me the map.

It's in the King's possession.

Find the demarcation market in secrecy?

I can't trust anyone else to do this important job.

This is the ancient map that the scholars found.

It's 300 years old, so the lay of the land may have changed quite a bit.

Yes.

Above all, this may be a dangerous mission since you will be

passing through Jurchen borderland.

I'm always tuning to for the most difficult and dangerous jobs, master.

Bestow me a drink when I return.

Of course.

We shall have a barrel full of wine to drink all night, master.

Would it be a good thing to find the demarcation marker?

Ming wouldn't be able to hold us back openly if we do.

And His Majesty will have a justifiable cause for a conquest.

How much time do you think

it will take for us to acquire a river border of Amrok and Tuman?

We're talking about an area roughly about the same size as expansion

achieved during Goryeo dynasty.

It took Goryeo 300 years, so even if we cut that by one tenth it's 30 years.

That means this country will have to live in woes o war curing

His Majesty's entire tenure.

Do you think this country will endure?

Don't do it.

Don't find Gonghumjin.

General Choi told me

to find a way to stop the Ming army of 500.000.

Only then he will acknowledge me as the Minister of Military.

This is the quickest way to stop that army of 500.000.

This is nothing more than a diplomatic gesture.

If Joseon asserts rights to Liaodong, Ming will hold us back even tighter.

There is Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang's promise,

so at the very least they won't be able to

overtly stop us from acquiring a river border.

The greater problem is what will come next.

Even if we acquire a cause for a conquest and go forward,

you won't be able to do your job as the Ministry of Military.

Do you know why?

Because there is not one warrior who will trust you from the heart and obey you.

You have no loyal subordinates that will die for you.

You mean like His Majesty doesn't now?

It was not the King's dream alone to make Joseon a proud nation.

The King also said he would serve the people as his god.

It's wrong to obsess on territory expansion while the people are starving.

If he decided that this has to be done even at the cost of the people's bread,

I'm sure the King is just as pained about it as you are.

Don't make him feel too lonely.

I don't care about the others, but

I wish you'd think about this from the King's perspective.

Minister of Military is leaving tonight on a mission to find the stone marker.

Do we want the country to suffer the woes of war for decades to come?

We must stop the Minister of Military!

How far are you going to go with Minister of Military Yi Su?

That depends on how well he cooperates.

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.

Am I to return after that and tell the King that I couldn't find the marker?

Your acumen is impressive.

You're the one who told me to make things work, sir.

What is this?

I never dreamed Joseonese would do this.

We set this up just in case of information leak.

Who would've thought that you, not Ming or Jurchen spies, would interfere with

finding the demarcation marker?

When are you going to stop being the King's puppet?

When Joseon is a proud nation we all dream of, of course.

You'll regret it.

This will be overlooked just this once, Choi Manli.

Go back and tell the others who are in on this with you.

If something like this happens again, His Majesty will not forgive you.

Dongchang, Ming Intelligence Agency

Minister of Military Yi Su is on a search for Gonghumjin?

We can't let Joseon have Liaodong.

Destroy the demarcation marker!

Do you want Li Manzhu on this?

No, get someone else this time.

Tuman River, Hamgil Province

I was ordered by the King to see you to the border only.

Attend to the general well.

Shouldn't he attend to us well? We're his guide after all.

Kid... You always have to have the last word.

You can count on us, sir.

The boat is ready.

Take care of the King.

Be safe, sir.

The map is in Minister of Military Yi Su's possession.

Odoli is acting alone in this from beginning to the end.

Get the job done right.

And supremacy of Liaodong will be yours.

If Yi Su has crossed the border, he will soon cross Subin River.

Tongmingge is after the demarcation marker?

We should proceed by land instead of crossing the river.

Dami.

Let's go.

I think we're been tricked.

Search the area.

Aye!

1.6 miles southeast of Sunchunryeong Fort...

Judging by the traces of the ruins,

this has to be the place where they erected the demarcation marker.

But there's nothing here, not even a road.

We will first conduct a thorough search of the area.

Hyang?

I thought you'd call me sooner.

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 must carry on the work.

What I want is security.

And I do not want to make an enemy of Ming.

Are you afraid?

That's what's needed.

Do you want Ming to dominate Joseon forever?

How much more impoverished and exhausted do you want your people to be?

I want autonomy within alliance.

I believe we can suppress the Jurchens with aid from Ming.

You'd leave our national defense in the hands of Ming forever?

I will not change my mind.

This is going to be a hard fight.

It appears fighting you might be more difficult than fighting Jurchen or Ming.

I'm not going to back down for you. Fight with all you've got.

I'm prepared, Father.

Damn!

What are you doing?

We've circled umpteen times.

If it's here, we would've found it by now.

What are you trying to say?

Are you sure this demarcation marker really exists?

Shut your trap!

Don't you know how much His Majesty wants to find this marker?

Let go of me!

How can you say that?

His Majesty is counting on us to find that marker!

Wait!

"Goryeon Border"

Your Majesty...

We found it.

230 miles north of the Tuman River in Gonghumjin, Sunchunryeong...

This is Joseons' true northern border!

Now a new era will begin for Joseon.