Original subtitles

A Hui Hui physician...

Let us begin.

Do right by the dead man Choi Haesan.

You know the official who has been spying for Ming.

So you should know how to clean this up without causing a diplomatic row as well.

Assistant Director!

This country may be doomed to ruin!

Dissecting a human body?

Stop.

What are you doing?

Don't you this is a far fetched speculation?

I hope it is.

But if this is true,

I swear to you I will do whatever it takes to bring the King down!

The scholars?

They're on their way to Jingwan Temple.

Your Majesty.

You want to make a deal?

Where is the human dissection taking place?

What would you give me if I gave you that information?

The throne, of course.

Our desire is to bring you forward as our new King.

There is no deal.

The Royal throne for the proof that the King is dissecting a human body.

It's not a losing proposition for you, Your Highness.

You said you wanted to be my tactician.

Then finding that proof is your job.

Shouldn't we stop the dissection?

Your Majesty?

Are you working against the King?

I'm trying to figure out what Heaven has intended.

Are you sure that is not an excuse to seize power for yourself?

Anpyeong!

Heaven will determine the outcome.

If Father is right, Choi Manli and his men will not get the proof they need.

What is the plan?

Does the King have a plan that will prevail?

"Do one's best and leave the rest to divine will."

Where are they?

Did you find out where the dissection is taking place?

Of course, sir.

Go to Jingwan Temple. Go and stop Choi Manli.

No, I won't do that.

Then go out right now and bring back a casket for me to lie in!

Mother.

How could you do this?

You were the first prince to come forward and support the King's

brave dream of creating a writing system for this country.

How could you of all people do this to him?

I would still be supporting him if

he hadn't gone as far as ordering a human dissection.

You must not turn against your father.

There is nothing I can do now.

All is beyond my control.

Stop!

Clear the gate.

It is the King's order not to allow any visitors.

Clear the gate, I said!

Men!

Stop!

Sheath your sword.

But...

The King's sword cannot be drawn against his people.

Sheath your sword, Gang Hui.

Now!

Attend to the deceased with due respect.

What brings you, master?

I'm sure you know exactly what brings us, Your Highness.

What I know is that King's men are attempting

to attack a temple where the King is resting.

These swords are not drawn against the King.

If we fail to find evidence to save this country from imminent doom tonight,

they will end our lives instead.

Enter as you wish.

But only the unarmed.

Take the scholars inside and get the evidence you seek, master.

Armed guards are everywhere in the temple.

It is protection that the Royal King is entitled to.

Then I guess we could all end up dying.

Political partner for thirty years and you still don't know the King?

The King does not suppress those who oppose him by force, master.

What are you doing here?

We're doing some preliminary work for the Collections of Astronomy.

This can't be!

What do you mean?

The King just performed a human dissection right here!

Human dissection?

Tell me the truth!

You're delusional.

Search the place for evidence!

A Hui Hui physician.

Now we have the evidence!

What was this man doing in there?

He was comparing the Hui Hui calendar to our Almanac of the Seven Planets.

The Hui Hui calendar?

But this man is a physician.

He is an astronomer as well, an expert in Hui Hui calendar.

Isn't that right?

Almanac of the Seven Planets is quite impressive.

I'd like to take it back with me to Arabia to study it further.

Bravo!

You've thought of everything!

I commend you for that.

But it's not over yet.

What are you trying to say?

We already know that a dead man was brought into this temple.

And that man, I'm sure, violated the dead man.

Go to the main worship hall.

For what?

You made it.

What is this?

Lifeless body of a poor soul.

No money, no education and no family to rely on

he eked out a living as a petty thief, I'm told.

This funeral is rather grand for such a man.

My people are my children.

I failed to take care of him in this life, so I will wish him well in his next life.

Not because he is your merit subject?

Forgive me, Your Majesty, but may I take a look at the corpse?

It's not a good idea.

For me or for you, Your Majesty?

Do as you wish.

How could this be?

It's pestilence. You must step back now.

You mean this was Choi Haesan's wish?

Writing system development was his dream as well.

It's time for you to decide now.

What do you want Choi Haesan's last act of loyalty to become?

I don't support the writing system development,

and I don't understand Choi Haesan's decision.

Then...

But I think we need time.

Loyalty that keeps

Jang Youngsil next to the King even after being almost beaten to death,

loyalty that made Choi Haesan give his body away to serve the King's

cause we do need time to understand the cause and nature of their loyalty.

I called them in.

This is a mourning, so more people we have the better.

I see now that only the learned and the wealthy are gathered here.

This will be a good time for some introspection for all of us as well.

We are to live our lives together by sharing our wealth and knowledge with others.

Let us never allow our negligence to cause another tragedy such as this.

Royal Attendant.

Yes, Your Majesty.

Send off the deceased with due respect.

Send off the deceased with due respect...

Your man Haishou was incompetent and you have no manners.

Do you have a death wish?

Is this how you treated Haishou?

What do you mean?

He tried to steal our new weapons

technology and turn it over to your enemy state Mongolia perhaps because

he didn't get any respect from you.

As the result, Joseon has lost a very important weapons expert!

Haishou killed Choi Haesan?

Choi Haesan hid uncovered his secret plot.

Is it completed?

Yes, Your Majesty?

Velars, Alveolars, Bilabials, Dentals, Glottals...

- Gaa. - Gaa.

- Kaa. - Kaa.

- Ang. - Ang.

Ahhh!

Velar sound.

Naa, Daa, Taa...

Maa, Baa, Paa...

Alveolar and bilabial sound...

Ss...

Ch...

Ss, Ch.

Dental.

Ah, Ba, Ha.

Ah, Ba, Ha, Haaa...!

And glottal sound.

These five basic sounds make up the consonants of our speech.

According to characteristics of each sound...

Let's make those sounds once more a bit more clearly this time.

Huh?

What's wrong?

I think my jaw has fallen out.

How can you talk if your jaw has fallen out?

Uh, well...

My cheeks are all stretched out, your Majesty.

Don't be a child now.

You've been doing this for ten hours, Your Majesty.

Ten hours?

That long?

Then we will do it just one more time and call it a day.

Huh?

To Japan?

As long as we continues to ignore Ming's warning and carry on with

the writing system development, Ming will explore various angles to intimidate us.

Am I to investigate the weaknesses of shogunates that are likely to betray Joseon?

You are your grandfather's protege indeed.

The information you collect will be vital in protecting our writing system.

They are continuing to develope the writing system.

Then our relationship must continue as well.

Perhaps you can send a more competent agent this time.

I can't make things work if I'm forced to deal with another agent

who doesn't know what he's doing!

Why did you have to kill Haishou in Joseon?

Am I to give a traitor a choice on where he gets to die?

Indeed you are a pride of Dongchang.

Perhaps I should assign you to kill the Joseonese King.

Does this mean you're Wang Zhen's Right-hand man now?

Keep your lips sealed and you will be my right hand-man.

New leader of Dongchang?

Yes.

His name is Shuqing.

He is the best kept secret weapon Dongchang has ever created.

Serve your new leader well.

This is your new duty.

The new and more powerful Dongchang will suppress Joseon and the insolent King and

pave the way to bring a new obedient King to its throne.

A new King?

The nobles are fiercely opposing the writing system development.

It was expected.

So much so that the new writing may never be put to use even if it is completed.

That's what I've recently confirmed.

Is that why you decided to use that as a weapon to gain power instead?

I'm trying to stop the Royal house from crumbling and the

country from descending into confusion.

Anyway you dress it up,

you're just looking for an excuse to seize power for yourself.

And...

I don't intend to stand by idly and let that happen.

Do you know about Jinyang?

I heard about it from Anpyeong.

Are you angry?

His Majesty will be in the palace for

a few days at the urging of the physician.

What do you mean?

Discuss it with the King and find a way to stop Jinyang.

These kinds of things must be nipped at the bud to prevent future trouble.

Mother...

Crown Prince, I...

I don't want there to be another fight for the throne in the Royal house ever again.

Because I know all too well the blood sacrifice such fights demand.

The roof ridge...

Cozy and elegant buildings in the palace...

Mt. Baekak in the background...

"Hall of Worthies"...

Even the signage that I wrote and hung myself looks fuzzy and blurry no.

The physician recommends a retreat, Your Majesty.

Will that stop the onset of blindness?

But if you continue to push yourself without rest,

consequences far worse than blindness...

What's the worse that can happen but an old man dying?

Your Majesty...

Is someone still working? The light is on.

What did I just hear you talk about?

My man, you'll catch a cold.

My man.

Your Majesty.

Shhh!

But your Royal robe!

Don't wake him.

He dozed off working.

Let him sleep for a while.

But...

Great desire, was it?

What led this lad to the Hall of Worthies, that is.

Come to think of it,

many men have planted their great desires here at the Hall of Worthies.

But the writing system development...

I wasn't able to share that great desire here at the Hall of Worthies.

It's a pity...

- Yong. - Yes, Your Highness.

Will I... will I be able to live up to our father's name?

I do not know the path to greatness.

But I can't add another burden on the shoulders that are already burdened

with the writing system development.

What do you mean?

About Jinyang, we will ignore it for now.

But...

I'll deal with it on my own.

Royal Attendant! Royal Attendant!

Where has he gone?

It's so dark in here that I can't read.

Were you looking for a writing brush?

What... time is it?

It's past nine o'clock, so it's dark outside.

Why has the Royal Attendant neglected to light the lamps?

I told him not to.

Why... not?

Don't you like the moonlight?

Close your eyes and relax for a while.

See with your heart's eyes, and things might look different.

Heart's eyes...

You're like an obedient child.

I'm afraid you might whip me.

It's rather simple.

Touching it without looking makes the shapes of the sound

producing parts feel quite simple.

If we take the shapes of the sound making organs and turn them into simple symbols,

we'll be able to create an alphabet that's easy enough to learn with your eyes closed.

Velars are formed when the back of the tongue meets the back of the throat.

We will copy that shape in the simplest form using straight lines.

Alveolars are formed when the tip of the tongue meets the roof of the mouth.

We will use the shape of the lips for the bilabials,

the shape of the teeth for the dental consonants,

and the shape of the throat for the glottal consonants.

But you just told me it was nighttime...

How long have you known?

Velars, Alveolars, Bilabials, Dentals, Glottals...

It's time to celebrate the birth of the beautiful Josenese letters you've created.

Will we be able to express all of our language with these five letters?

These are the basic characters.

We will add strokes to distinguish stronger or harsher sounds...

And we will call variation of sounds created by similar articulatory movement "Variants".

Seventeen characters in all.

These are the consonants that decide the speech sound.

You said syllables have three components: Initial, medial and final.

Same sounds make the initial and final, so we well use the same characters.

But you need the middle sound to compete a syllable.

Yes, of course. That's why we need vowels.

Does this mean we have to go through the sound exercises again?

No, the vowel symbols, are already in my head.

It's a message of hope that a young child gave me many year ago.

Heaven...

The land beneath it...

And men that live on that land.

Fervent hope that all men that live on that land would one day live in equality,

and those who built this dream of creating a writing system on

top of that hope with us but left us before the dream could be realized...

I will symbolize their desires in these dots and honor them in our letters.

These eleven symbols are the medial sounds-the vowels of our alphabet.

Heaven!

Earth!

And men!

17 consonants and 11 vowels.

These 28 letters will work together to express every sound of the Joseonese language.

The simplest of minds will be able to learn, thus I will call this

Hunminjeongeum: Proper Sounds for the Instruction of the People.

This is Hunminjeongeum, the letters of Joseon.

I hereby bestow these letters to the people of this country, so begin immediate

distribution throughout the country through local governments and schools.

A writing system?

Is this the inevitable?

Is this really

the writing system Joseonese King has created himself?

It's called Proper Sounds for the Instruction of the People.

With your help, we'd like to compile a rhyming dictionary that unifies the

confusing pronunciation of Chinese in our new writing.

Even the words with the most difficult pronunciation can be rewritten!

Of course.

How is this possible?

How could one man invent such a brilliant writing system in such a short time?

Unbelievable! It's impossible!

We will not compile a rhyming dictionary!

It's the King's order, Assistant Director Choi.

The Hall of Worthies will have nothing to do with this barbarian alphabet!

You're calling all of us barbarians by calling our writing system a barbarian alphabet.

Don't you realize that?

Why don't you persuade the Inspector General and the Censorate first?

Assistant Director!

I have a feeling they are opposing this more fiercely than we are.

We will go together if you'd like.

The Hall of Worthies has to rally with the censors on this anyway.

Don't underestimate the King.

Office of Inspector General

What brings you?

Are you here to review the Hunminjeongeum with us?

You mean the censors are supporting the new writing?

It's a shock to me as well.

Who knew the censors would be so quick to appreciate the King's intent?

It seems all of Joseon is singing praise of this peaceful reign.

Board of Censors

Now it's up to our organization of regional lords and scholars to

stop the distribution of the new writing!

For what reason do the Joseonese want their own writing?

Perhaps they aspire to dominate the world like the Mongols of Yuan once sought to do.

Dominate the world?

Obstructing distribution of Joseonese writing is

an act undermining the autonomy of Joseon!

I will take an unyielding stand and show no tolerance!