The Fortress Page #2

others will do the same

and then the enemy will know exactly

where our soldiers are positioned.

Could you at Ieast

give us straw bags?

Straw bags?

This is the Minister of Rites.

Speak up!

If you collect straw bags

and distribute them among us soldiers,

we'II get shelter from the snow

and the cold earth beneath.

What is your name?

Nal-soe, sir.

I am a blacksmith.

If I choose not to send the crown prince,

how do you think they will react?

They will demand

Your Majesty instead.

And if I refuse?

Then they will gather their forces

and breach the fortress walls.

Is this their idea, or yours?

It is what their interpreter told me.

He rides alongside General Ingguldai.

But I can't send the crown prince.

How could a father hand his own son

over to the enemy?

With your permission,

I will go to the Qing camp

and find a way.

Do you think there's still a chance

to negotiate?

I would choose death by the enemy's sword

over Iingering here a moment Ionger.

But the fortress is surrounded.

Don't worry, Your Majesty.

I'II find a way,

no matter what the cost is.

How much food is Ieft

for the soldiers?

With the current rations,

the food will Iast a month.

If we reduce the rations,

we can hold out Ionger.

But I am worried by how much Ionger,

and how much Iess.

Cut the rations,

but not by too much.

How much do we feed them per day?

Do I have to tell you everything?

No, Your Majesty.

Your Majesty,

the soldiers guarding the wall

are suffering from extreme cold.

They can barely grip their spears

because of frostbite.

Your Majesty, the soldiers are used to

sleeping out in the open.

When the clouds clear

and the sun shines,

they will recover their strength.

Our soldiers are freezing to death,

and you would await the sun?

If our soldiers

are freezing and dispirited,

then the same must be true

of the enemy.

If the enemy soldiers suffer,

it is acceptable

that ours do as well?

It's not

that it's acceptable but...

Why don't we collect spare clothes

from the nobles and royal family

so that the soldiers can have

something dry to wear?

Divesting the royal family

of their attire

is a blunder that will result

in a Ioss of prestige.

And if the nobles

are stripped of their dignity,

what hope will the cold and Ionely

people of this fortress have?

The Prime Minister's words

make sense.

What if we collect straw bags

and give them to the soldiers?

Straw bags?

Yes, Your Majesty.

If we collect all the spare straw bags

in the fortress,

the soldiers can use them

to shelter

themselves from

the snow and cold.

Minister Kim's plan is sound.

So be it.

Your Majesty's grace

is immeasurable!

Your Majesty's grace

is immeasurable!

General Ingguldai welcomed you

as an ambassador,

but your King has Iocked himself

in his fortress and not once Iooked out.

The King is unsure of how to greet

guests bearing swords and spears.

PIease be forgiving.

Don't you see it's the Joseon's fault

we've come here armed?

You've ignored our pact of brotherhood

and chosen to remain Ioyal to the Ming.

Joseon is brother-in-arms

to the Qing,

but the Ming

is our parent country.

Is the older brother

not generous enough

to understand the

younger brother's plight?

The Khan has been generous

in having spared your Iife so far

and in not yet destroying

the fortress.

Remember that, Mr. Choi.

A gift from the Joseon King.

Your face has

grown thin and gaunt.

How is Iife inside the fortress?

I appreciate your concern.

I seek your counsel in the hopes

of finding a way out of the fortress.

I have already told you

what I want.

We'II do everything possible

except handing over the crown prince.

What is it you seek?

Do you want to fight with nothing

but that Iittle wall between us?

There must be another way.

It is your King's fault

we are where

we find ourselves today.

The Emperor seeks justice

by punishing your King.

This is not the fault of the King,

but of his subjects.

I myself would accept

whatever punishment I am due.

What sort of punishment

do you seek?

Are you willing to

give your Iife?

If my Iife would open

a path to peace, then...

There is no alternative.

Bring the crown prince.

And if you wish to meet again,

I suggest you hurry.

Soon the Khan will arrive.

Your Majesty,

Minister Choi was sent to

the enemy's camp to beg for our Iives.

Such an act disgraces both the

crown prince and Your Majesty!

There is always a traitor,

even in peaceful times.

But Minister Choi has thrown

the crown prince

into the mouth of the enemy.

Everyone within the fortress

calls him Son of Ingguldai!

I beseech you, cut off his head

and send it to the enemy.

Minister Choi's beheading

is the only appropriate action.

Behead Minister Choi!

Behead Minister Choi!

Silence!

We are surrounded

by the Qing army

and yet we would kill

one another!

Your Majesty,

cut my head off as they suggest.

Have the crown prince

take it to the enemy.

Perhaps that will secure

a peace treaty.

Make no further mention of

sending the crown prince.

I cannot grant that request.

Your Majesty,

the entire nation is infuriated

by Minister Choi's talk of

a peace treaty.

This is our opportunity to

invoke the soldiers' indignation.

PIease, dispatch a manifesto

calling for a righteous army.

Your Majesty might also pay a visit

to the soldiers,

and issue a royal order

for a fight.

Your Majesty,

General Ingguldai made clear

the Khan will arrive soon.

The Qing Emperor is coming?

So the general told me.

Your Majesty,

Minister Choi has been

plotting with the enemy.

Ingguldai invents stories

to intimidate us.

The Khan is at war

with Ming China.

He wouldn't Ieave Shenyang

and journey all the way here in the cold.

But if the Khan

is indeed coming,

now is not the time to fight.

If the Khan is coming,

that is all the more reason to fight.

If we can't fight off the enemy

before the Khan arrives,

it will be even

more difficult afterwards.

- I agree with Minister Kim.

- But Your Majesty!

I will go up to the ramparts

and encourage the soldiers.

I will issue a manifesto

calling for the southern armies.

Minister Kim, draft the Ietter.

Yes, Your Majesty.

I'II treat this as an order.

Your Majesty's grace

is immeasurable.

Your Majesty's grace

is immeasurable!

The royal court is too poor

to protect you from the cold.

This is the result of

my lacking virtue.

I watch you shivering

in your thin clothes.

I see that your skin is chapped,

and your toes frozen.

You have bared your bodies

to guard the fortress,

and this causes me great pain.

With foul words, the enemy has

laid bare their true intentions.

How can we admonish these men

who are as Iowly as beasts?

Their hearts are

dark as those of animals.

AII Iines of communication

have been severed.

No option remains but war!

If the King and his subjects will

defend the fortress

with all their hearts,

united with the Great Cause,

we can drive the enemy

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