The Great Merchant
Episode 29
Hong...
I'm here.
I'm here, Young Master.
Hong...
Hong, I can't see you.
Don't... don't say anything.
I'm right here.
I'm right here with you.
Hong...
don't cry.
I... I'll always be with you.
Always...
Hongsu!
Hongsu, open your eyes!
Hongsu, open your eyes. Hongsu!
Hongsu!
This isn't happening.
Episode 29
Are you awake?
Forewoman...
Oh, dear! You poor thing!
Forewoman...
Why? You can't go anywhere in this condition!
Young Master's waiting for me.
Oh, dear! Forewoman, forewoman. Oh, dear!
Leave!
Minister, please...
You're to my son...
nothing but a disgrace alive and in death.
What brings you to Jeju, sir?
Minister Jeong Dong's crimes have been exposed.
And also out of concern for Magistrate Jeong.
What has happened on Jeju?
The magistrate...
has passed away.
That...
that...
what do you mean?
Yesterday...
I'll go to the government office right away.
Yes, sir.
My lord!
Father.
Father, Lord Jeong's...
Go on...
don't hold back your tears. Cry.
Lord Jeong told me not to cry.
I can feel your heart crying in pain right now.
Holding back the tears doesn't mean you're not crying.
You've to let out your pain...
with your tears.
That's what Magistrate Jeong meant.
Your heart...
will never stop crying.
Thank you.
Sahn, come to mommy.
Get a hold of yourself.
Get a hold of yourself, Oh Moonsun.
You've to survive.
You can't go down like this.
I plan to go back to work when I return to Hanyang.
I never thought there was anything left for me to do in the royal court,
but Magistrate Jeong has told me where to go in his passing.
I want to stay longer with you,
but I think...
pursuing the wish of the departed...
that's my duty.
Don't be sad.
I know nothing can comfort you right now,
but I don't think Hongsu...
would to see you like this.
He said he wanted to be with me.
But...
You're not alone.
All those people who have been with you...
think of them.
Endure it.
Endure the pain and pursue your dreams.
I'm sure that's what Hongsu...
is hoping...
and trusting you'll do.
Minister, it was an accident.
A most horrific and regrettable accident.
I'm sorry. This is all my fault.
Minister, my son's ill.
He'll die without me.
Please take pity on the young child and grant me mercy.
I beg you.
Minister?
Anyone out there?
Minister.
What is it, Minister?
I can't bear the sight of this thing any longer.
Yes, Minister.
Minister!
Please spare my son's life.
Sahn will die without me!
Minister!
Please, Minister!
Spare her son's life?
She killed my son and she wants me to spare her son's life?
I'm here.
- Get her! - I'm sorry!
I'll take the punishment instead!
Didn't you promised...
that you would live with me?
I'm not letting you go.
You can't leave my heart.
For allowing my daughter to say her last goodbye,
thank you.
Once you return to Hanyang,
for your past malfeasance...
action will be taken against you.
Go to His Highness first and seek punishment,
I urge you.
It's all useless.
Magistrate Jeong...
wasn't looking for you to be convicted and punished.
Are you saying he wanted me...
to turn myself in and beg for mercy?
Minister.
I'm a evil man without an ounce of remorse.
I can only expect to be executed.
Don't you see what your son wanted?
The magistrate...
wanted you to come forward yourself and atone for your crimes.
Not because you're forced to but because your heart's willing.
That's exact reason why I can't come forward.
For my evil deeds which claimed my son's life...
I must be punished to the fullest.
Minister,
what Magistrate Jeong would've wanted...
please think of that.
She's hasn't been out of her room in days. I'm so worried.
She's alive, right?
Don't worry too much. She'll be all right.
Okay, what okay?
Magistrate's body sent to Hanyang, she's in bed.
I'm so worried about the forewoman that I can't sleep at night. Oh, dear!
Forewoman!
From now on,
I'm going to work hard and live as merchant Kim Mandeok of Jeju.
Good! Then everything's going to be all right!
We'll do all the work,
so you just get yourself healthy again.
- Make her something nutritious. - Shall we?
So glad you're all right.
Jeong Dong's estate, Hanyang
Are you feeling at peace now?
Your father is.
You've made a very difficult decision.
What could be more difficult thing in this world than surviving your own child?
I offer you my deepest condolences.
It's truly a great loss.
Please deliver...
the letter to the King personally.
Only then will he be able to make a brave decision free of influence.
I will.
Well then.
Minister,
before you leave...
may we share a drink?
Jeju Government Office Detention Facility
You won't even allow me a visit after all the money we paid you?
Whatever has happened,
you can't treat me this way.
Silence!
I expect you to be on your knees begging for mercy,
you're barge in here making demands?
I'll sell my business and give you everything.
I've prepared a corpse you can bury instead of my uncle.
If you help us one more time...
You wench!
You dare bribe an official to release a prisoner?
I could have your head for this!
Then,
you'll have to die with me as well.
Wh... what?
Should I start naming all those who died unjustly in your hands?
Surely you haven't forgotten who took care of all the cover-up?
You're delusional if you think you're still under Minister Jeong Dong's protection.
I'll forgive you for this for the sake of our past association, so leave at once!
Why haven't you notified us in advance?
You must be exhausted from the long trip, Lord Magistrate.
I'm your assistant, Choe Namgu.
So you're Choe Namgu.
Yes, Assistant Magistrate Choe Namgu.
Magistrate, why...
Assistant Magistrate Choe Namgu,
you're arrested for embezzlement of tribute goods
and exploitation of the public.
Remove him from office at once and confine him!
Yes, sir!
Remove from office? Lord Magistrate! Magistrate!
I haven't done anything at all, Magistrate!
Mother!
Oh Moonsun, you're under arrest!
The crimes of Hanyang's Jeong Dong and his faction have been thoroughly exposed.
You, Oh Moonsun,
used Jeju's tribute goods sent to Hanyang
to provide slush fund to Jeong Dong in exchange for political favors.
You acknowledge your guilt?
Lord Magistrate,
I'm the one who's responsible.
This woman doesn't know anything.
She's a mother and homemaker,
how would she know political connections and run a business?
The silk shop merchants have confessed Oh Moonsun's involvement!
Lord Magistrate,
the silk shop originally belonged to Gang Gaeman.
I couldn't blatantly act like the owner after Gang Gaeman died,
so I forced my niece to be the front man.
Is it true?
Were you forced to keep silent about this by this man?
I... I didn't know.
I...
don't know...
anything about this.
This man's crime is more treacherous that's stated on this report!
Arrest him and release Oh Moonsun.
But until investigation's complete.
you're not to leave the island.
- Proceed on! - Yes, sir!
Are you ready for the trip?
Yes, we just have to get out of here.
You can't wait to go off on a business trip.
Are you that happy to leave home?
There you go again. Can't you be quiet? The forewoman is talking.
Forewoman, an itinerant merchant delivered a letter.
Isn't the ship leaving soon?
Yes, so it is.
Okay then, we'll see you when we get back.
Yes, move it so you won't miss the ship.
- Okay. - Go on.
Don't come out.
Use the itinerant merchants for contact.
I will and you too,
write to me if anything happens.
- Have a safe trip. - Okay.
It's me, Gang Yuji.
I didn't say goodbye when I left, so I'm writing a few words.
I'm doing well.
- That was good. - Thank you.
- I'll see you next time! - Come again!
- Hey, innkeeper! - Never mind.
Just one measly bowl of soup for all that work?
It's enough.
Let's have another empty bowl.
I know that business's going well from the rumors I heard on the mainland here.
I'm...
relieved that you're with Jeong Hongsu.
I trust that you're happy.
How did it go?
All our assets...
have been confiscated.
Don't worry.
You can get back on your feet again as long as you're alive.
Uncle...
Moonsun, don't say anything.
I'm already a dead man anyway.
But...
I can't let what happened to you, happen to Sahn.
I don't know why I couldn't do this back then.
When your mother died
and you came to live with me then,
I don't know why I couldn't do anything but scold a crying little girl.
Get through this.
You've to get through it.
Uncle...
- Two soup and rice. - Two?
- Two soup and rice. - Okay?
Moonsun.
You're contented?
I've lost everything...
you must be contented?
You're repulsive.
You're wearing a mask of an angel, counting the days till my uncle dies.
You're repulsive and make me sick.
Oh Moonsun...
will never go down.
Just watch.
I'll survive.
Only to prove...
Only to prove I can survive.
2 years later
Been a while since you were in Jeju, right?
It's getting much to leave with all the expansion we're doing.
Are the other branch managers here?
Yeah, they're here.
Since Lord Jeong Dong moved his place of exile to Jeju from Goje,
it's been 2 years.
He's still refusing to see you?
He's still the same.
Good work, everyone.
All the branches have done better this quarter from the last quarter.
The profit has decreased for our branch.
We're selling more items at cost, profit has gone done but we're busier.
Your branch did fine.
There are items which yield high profit,
and there items we must carry even if they sell below cost.
Though a lot of work, please don't remove the items from the product line.
Yes, Forewoman.
Everyone, anything else?
Partnership with the itinerant merchants, distribution of Jeju's specialty product,
everything's running smoothly now.
So I guess there's only one more wish to go before all your wishes are fulfilled.
No, we still don't have a branch set up in Qing China yet.
And Russia either.
What is this all about?
Abolishment of licensed stores?
A new law has taken effect in Hanyang,
abolishing the grants of monopoly privileges and allows public to be a merchant freely.
Commercial equalization enactment declared in 1791
I brought you good news today.
The government has proclaimed a new law which allows free trading.
Lord Hongsu's dream has finally come true.
I'm so worried about this dry weather.
Good for you that you've time to worry about the weather.
The drought's causing hardship for those who borrowed money from you as well.
- Be kind at times like this... - Mind your own business.
I'll live my life my way.
A man in exile shouldn't have so many visitors.
If you ever need anything anytime...
I allowed you to come in...
is to tell you never to seek me again.
When you're here in Jeju, how could I ignore you?
Thinking of your kindness,
nothing that I can do...
I heard Steward Oh told them you were nothing but a puppet.
Are you afraid I might tell them that it's a lie?
That's not it.
Just that...
It was because my son Hongsu.
He wouldn't have wanted you harmed.
And also because of your son.
I had hoped you would change your life for your son's sake.
You and I...
both have committed countless misdeeds.
But...
isn't it time to change?
Don't make your son pay for your sins like I did.
No, stop!
Stop, you bloody bastards!
You're killing me! You bastards!
I know I'm behind on my interest payment, but this is thuggery!
- Load them all up! - Yes, sir.
Load them up!
Bastard, I'll see you in hell for this!
I'll see you in hell, bastard!
Hey, hey!
It's not nice to hit people.
Let go of him.
Stay out of our business? Who are you to meddle?
Junior Foreman, aside from whose business this is,
shouldn't you act your age, stop bullying others?
If you feel sorry for them,
why don't you settle their loan?
Why are you standing around? Load up the merchandise at once!
- Yes, sir! - Load them up!
No, you can't do this!
They would've been better off borrowing from Mu Mengdal.
Goodness.
Goodness me! Your eyes are going bad and you're doing that again?
Why are you clucking your tongue?
Where else, but the marketplace?
They are cleaning out one store every other day.
I swear Westgate will never change.
Westgate?
First they lend you money pretending to help, once the debt becomes large,
they trap you and take you for all you got.
That dirty trick.
That Kim Pansul was sucking up all the money like a demon.
Geez!
It's pretty amazing though.
They fell from grace and crashed,
but they are still doing the same things!
That's trouble.
They are turning the people against them.
I'm still good taking care of myself.
Did I say you couldn't take care of yourself?
I wonder where Dongju is and how he's doing...
Harvest's poor this year due to the drought.
Rice crops have failed on the mainland as well, so the rice price is soaring.
If we sell the rice we've piled up in the warehouse right now,
we can make a huge profit, ma'am.
Not yet.
What?
Sell off everything we've confiscated and buy as much grains as possible.
Not just the crops harvested on Jeju,
buy up all the crops that enter through the port as well.
Everything?
Yes, buy up everything.
I want no one in Jeju to own a single grain of rice except me.
Then we'll have our chance.
Our chance to get revenge and seize power and wealth once again.
Let's release the grains we have in stock at a discounted price.
Discounted price?
You can get whatever price in the current rice market.
People are going hungry because of the drought.
Our priority is in distributing the grains to these people.
Contact your branch and have your men buy surplus stock of rice just in case.
Not only Jeju, harvest was poor on the mainland as well,
securing grains won't be very easy.
No!
No, give them back!
Give them back!
Stop!
You can't do this!
If you take away everything, my family will starve to death!
You're going too far!
Unbelievable!
You gave us the same sob story when you came to borrow from.
You expect me to believe you? They're lies!
Even the evil officials didn't take away the last sack of rice we have to survive on.
How could you be this cruel?
Are you telling me to be kind to you and starve to death myself?
We didn't say we won't pay you back!
We've been patient with you all this time when you can't even pay the interest.
Where do you think you are, yelling and screaming?
Don't waste your time.
Kick them out at once.
Call the authorities if they continue to cause trouble.
Let's see what happens.
The money you raked up at the cost of our suffering will be your demise someday!
What brings the great Eastgate forewoman to this humble place?
Those people can barely eat one meal a day.
Don't be so heartless.
Save the lecture for your Eastgate employees,
Forewoman.
How about I buy off their debt from you?
How thankful I am...
You're offering to pay off bad debts I can't collect.
I've no reason to say no.
Then...
But...
the debts has to be paid up in grains.
That's...
impossible to pay in such large sum with grains in a lean year like this.
- I'll pay you with money or land. - I don't need anything else.
Moonsun, it's people who bring you money.
You could lose everything if you keep this up.
Don't act smart.
People?
People only come when you've money.
Do you think all those people flock to you because they like you?
They're there because you've money they can leech off you.
They've gone way too far.
Should I set fire to their warehouse?
I've a better idea.
Steal and dump all they have on the street.
You'll be a hero overnight.
We're going to die anyway.
Go out with a bang?
If you want to do it, I'm in!
I despise Westgate. I despise them!
Westgate's mistress is demanding that the loans be paid back with grains
and is charging more interest.
I doubt she'll accept cash from me even if I offer to buy the notes.
I'm afraid someone might hurt her if she continues to be so cruel in these hard times.
You're a persuasive man, please see what you can do?
I'll pay you generously for your trouble.
I don't know.
I'll give it a try if you insist,
but she'll know.
That it's Eastgate's forewoman who put me up to it.
Forewoman!
Forewoman, there's trouble.
Trouble?
A group of disgruntled people is about to raid Westgate!
Madam!
People, no, an angry mob's coming!
An angry mob?
The borrowers. They're swearing to kill us!
Sahn. Where's Sahn?
I... I don't know...
Don't make your son pay for your sins.
Sahn... Sahn!
Get them!
We must stop them.
We can't let all those people become rioters.
Why did you make those people angry, mother?
It's Oh Moonsun!
- Hang the child on a tree! - No! Not my son!
Stop this at once!
You're guaranteed to be miserable if money's your source of happiness.
This is my first request of favor.
Raise my son Sahn.
I'll pay for my mistakes alone,
so please live a good life.