Uprising 2024

A scholar named Jeong Yeo-Rip created a private community, named Great Unity, in which he asserted that all humans should be treated equally, essentially calling for the abolishing of slavery. In his community, noblemen and slaves ate and drank together, along with teaching each other martial arts, and Yeo-Rip wanted to show all the people of his kingdom that such a society, with equality being the main foundation of it, was the ideal form.

His beliefs were naturally not taken well by King Seonjo (Cha Seung-Won), the erstwhile ruler of the lands, since slaves were a very integral part of noble families and households. Thus, Jeong Yeo-Rip was accused of treason, his community was besieged, and the scholar was ordered to be arrested and executed. Yeo-Rip took his own life and successfully planted a seed of anti-slavery sentiment in the minds of his countrymen.

A few weeks later, a man named Cheon Yeong (Gang Dong-Won) is shackled and dragged through the town center by the royal guards, with his crime being that he had escaped the noble house where he served, as Cheon Yeong is actually a slave. For the past twelve years, Cheon Yeong has been a slave at the house of the Deputy Minister of Defense and has made countless attempts to escape from the place over the years. At present, a slave hunter, whose designated role is to capture fugitive slaves and bring them back to their masters, brings Cheon Yeong into town. The man is soon taken to the private residence of his master, where he was supposed to be serving still, and is kept imprisoned, awaiting a harsh punishment, for there is a more serious charge against him this time than just having abandoned his duty.

Cheon Yeong has been captured with a sword belonging to the noble family, and it is assumed that he had stolen it at the time of his most recent escape. The sword is not just a family heirloom either, but is a prestigious weapon awarded to the best soldier in the country for their skill in the martial arts. This honor and the sword had been awarded to the deputy minister’s son, Yi Jong-Ryeo (Park Jeong-Min), and it being found with Cheon Yeong is extremely suspicious. Cheon Yeong threatens Yi Jong-Ryeo that he would kill his entire family, to which Yi Jong-Ryeo says that he cannot do anything for Cheon Yeong anymore, and stands his left hand with the sword.

But before Cheon Yeong has to face any punishment, the Japanese army attacks Joseon, and the internal politics of the land also change very rapidly, with the slaves acting upon the ideas of Jeong Yeo-Rip and taking up arms against their cruel masters.

Cheon Yeong’s struggles in life were rooted in a very unjust and illogically harsh law of society, which stated that any child of a slave was bound to work as a slave as well. Cheon Yeong was born into a socially respectable family, but financial struggles led to such a situation that his mother had to be sold off as a slave to pay back family debts. She was bought by the family of the Deputy Minister of Defense and was made to work in their private residence. When Cheon Yeong was of age, the authorities summoned his father and the boy to let them know that he, too, had to serve as a slave at the same house as his mother. Although his father tried to reason against the unfair rule and stated how he had raised his boy so far to be educated and trained in martial arts, Cheon Yeong’s fate was already sealed by the cruel and corrupt laws established by the nobility.

The Family he served had the tradition that every male member had passed the exam for the National Military Academy.

Thus, the boy was taken to his master’s house, where he learned that his only job at the place was even more horrific and brutal. The minister’s son, Jong-Ryeo, was being trained in martial arts, naturally, as per the customs of high-society families, and so he needed to be punished for his mistakes during training as well. But because the boy had noble blood, meaning that he was made to appear in front of subjects as part of the esteemed family, bruises on his body would not have been acceptable. Therefore, his father kept hiring young boys as slaves, around the same age as Jong-Ryeo, who would stand in as body doubles for his son. Whenever Jong-Ryeo would make a mistake in training, the slave boy would get whipped on his behalf, and the young master would learn by witnessing the punishment of his slaves. Cheon Yeong was appointed to this very role as Jong-Ryeo’s body double.

However, young Cheon Yeong refused to accept the injustice that he was being subjected to, and he kept thinking of ways to make his situation better. The boy had earlier tried to fight the other adult servants at the house and showcased his skills in martial arts as well, but to no avail.

Cheon Yeong escape the house to visit his family only to find that his father committed suicide. Cheon Yeong was captured and brought back and knew that he had no way to escape.

Cheon Yeong then decided to meet with his young master secretly in the evenings and teach various techniques of fighting to Jong-Ryeo, simply so that the boy would make fewer mistakes during training and Cheon Yeong would not be beaten up. Jong-Ryeo got better at fighting with each passing day, and even his father started to take notice of what was actually happening. Although the minister was not pleased with his son spending so much time alone with a slave boy, he could not help but realize that Cheon Yeong would be the ideal teacher for his son. Thus, Cheon Yeong was then appointed to be Jong-Ryeo’s sparring partner, and he excelled at this job.

A few years later, when both the boys had grown up into young men, Cheon Yeong and Jong-Ryeo continued to fight and train together. Although his family members did not want Jong-Ryeo to associate with or spend time with the slave at all, the young man did not really agree with such prejudices. Jong-Ryeo could never completely do away with the rules of society, but he secretly developed a great friendship with Cheon Yeong. As the successor in line to become the next Deputy Minister of Defense, Jong-Ryeo was expected to succeed in the military examination with great scores. But Jong-Ryeo was never as skilled, and his father had to step in after multiple failed attempts.

Cheon Yeong was already prepared to appear in the military examination for Jong-Ryeo, since he could never do so for himself, being a slave. Thus, when he approached Jong-Ryeo’s father, the minister, with this plan, the man agreed, since his family prestige was at stake. In return, the minister promised to set Cheon Yeong free as a reward. Cheon Yeong’s performance was considered to be the best in the country. Jong-Ryeo was awarded the prestigious sword as a token of his accomplishment, while Cheon Yeong was cheated by the nobility once again. The minister reneged on his promise and refused to let Cheon Yeong leave his house, for he considered him a great threat, as he could turn against the family and reveal how Jong-Ryeo’s accomplishment had been attained through forgery. Thus, instead of setting the slave free, the minister hired goons to kill him, and it was Jong-Ryeo who saved Cheon Yeong at this time. Genuinely believing that he did not deserve to keep the prestigious sword, Jong-Ryeo gave it to Cheon Yeong and convinced his friend to escape the house and travel to some other part of the kingdom. Cheon Yeong was captured during this escape.

On the night of the Japanese attack, when the slaves at the minister’s office also took up arms and attacked their masters, Jong-Ryeo had left to meet with King Seonjo (to prepare for the Japanese invasion), and so he did not witness the attacks firsthand. Seeing his house and the entire town burned down and hearing that all his family members, including his wife and young son, were killed, he wondered how such a brutal attack had taken place. Eventually, some of the soldiers reported to him about the rebellion of the slaves and even mentioned that Cheon Yeong was possibly the one who had slayed his wife and son.

However, Cheon Yeong had actually tried to save Jong-Ryeo’s family members, particularly his wife and their infant son. When he saw that the helpless woman was trying to escape the burning house and the violent slaves who had just freed themselves, Cheon Yeong offered to protect her and lead her to safety. However, such was the terrible prejudice embedded in her mind, Jong-Ryeo’s wife turned down his offer, still calling him filthy and lowly, blaming him for the revolution. She considered it better to walk into the raging flames and kill herself, along with her baby son, than to accept help from a slave. Cheon Yeong also tried looking for his friend in the middle of all the chaos, but when Jong-Ryeo was nowhere to be found and the blue robes that he always used to wear were still inside the mansion, he decided to don the robes and make his own escape from the place.

King Seonjo and Jong-Ryeo arrived at the city, found it in flames and decided to withdraw, leaving the city at the mercy of the Japanese army. The villagers are livid that Seonjo was abandoning them and attack his convoy, buy Jong-Ryeo protects the King by taking up arms against his own people.

Cheon Yeong starts to organize the slaves into a rebel army to take on the Japanese. Cheon Yeong proves to be brilliant in military tactics and defeats the army led by Japanese vanguard General Kikkawa Genshin. Cheon Yeong engages Genshin in a sword fight, which ends in a stalemate as Cheon Yeong falls into the river from a cliff and escapes.

Over the following 7 years, many saw Cheon Yeong in the blue robes of the noble family carrying the prestigious sword awarded in the military examination and reported him to be Jong-Ryeo.

This became the base for the misunderstanding between the two good friends, as Jong-Ryeo got livid over the fact that his dear friend, Cheon Yeong was the killer of his wife and child.

King Seonjo returns to his capital in Hanyang and orders the building of a new palace. King Seonjo shows extreme negligence of his own people and prioritizes his own safety and ego over everything else. Seonjo orders the construction of a new palace, even though there is no money or workers for the same. One noble argues raising the status of the slaves to recognize their effort in fighting the Japanese, and Seonjo allows it.

In exchange for their freedom, the rebels led by Kim Ja-Ryeong (Jin Seon-Kyu) & Cheong Yeong capture Genshin alive and hand him over to Seonjo.

Once again, Seonjo betrays the slaves by capturing them after they enter Hanyang for the murder of mayor of Cheongju who was collaborating with the Japanese. Seonjo orders their death, but Cheong Yeong manages to escape.

Jong-Ryeo and Cheong Yeong come face to face in a private battle, but Cheong Yeong manages to escape after the troops arrive. Seonjo is livid as he eliminated Kim on Jong-Ryeo’s advise and now riots are breaking out all over the country.

Cheong Yeong links up with the remaining rebels, who didn’t go to Hanyang, and they decide to look for the Japanese treasure that they buried in the jungle to fund their revolution. The trackers find the treasure buried next to marked trees. The rebels then betray Cheong Yeong and decide to take the treasure and retire. They leave Cheong Yeong and Beom-Dong in the jungle.

Jong-Ryeo goes to King Seonjo with a particular plan. By now, the Japanese vanguard Kikkawa Genshin (Jung Sung-Il) had been captured. Upon Jong-Ryeo’s suggestion, King Seonjo appoints Genshin as a mercenary to accompany the private unit led by Jong-Ryeo with one specific intention-to defeat the rebel army created by the former slaves and to capture its most skilled fighter, Cheon Yeong. The unit finds the rebels transporting the treasure and the rebel army is indeed defeated. Cheon Yeong has to flee with another fighter named Beom-Dong (Kim Shin-Rok), while a grand betrayal takes place on a beach in the region.

Jong-Ryeo reveals that his plan, all throughout, was to kill the Japanese vanguard, Genshin, and his small army in order to eradicate the Japanese threat once and for all. He had only used Genshin’s fighting skills to kill the rebel army, and now that he was of no use, Jong-Ryeo ordered his soldiers to shoot at the Japanese. However, Genshin himself had planned a betrayal all along as well, as he and his men had already stuffed gunpowder inside the barrels of the guns used by Jong-Ryeo’s soldiers. Thus, as soon as they fire the weapons, intending to kill the Japanese, the guns backfire and kill the Korean soldiers. Genshin had seemingly sent word to his superiors in mainland Japan, informing them of a possible scope for a renewed attack on Joseon. A ship is on its way towards the shores of Joseon, either to launch an attack against the Joseon Dynasty or to come and rescue Kikkawa Genshin.

After the double betrayal on the beach, Jong-Ryeo has to put up a fight against Kikkawa Genshin by himself, and Cheon Yeong, who had been observing the events from the nearby forest, now joins the battle. All three fight against each other, and when Genshin takes some time to recover from the blows, Cheon Yeong and Jong-Ryeo confront each other for having broken each other’s trust. When Cheon Yeong finally reveals the real truth to Jong-Ryeo, the latter is engulfed by guilt for having trusted the words of meager soldiers over his belief in his dear friend. Jong-Ryeo is killed by Genshin. Cheon Yeong is able to take revenge against the Japanese almost instantly, as he then kills Genshin and survives the battle by himself.

Cheon Yeong gathers an army of ex-slaves once again and finally calls for an attack against the cruel King Seonjo.