Ep 6. Yi San 6

Yi San is a Korean historical drama television series that aired in 2007-2008. The show is set in the 18th century Joseon Dynasty and follows the story of King Jeongjo, who is better known in history as Yi San. The series explores his early life and how he came to power, as well as the political, social, and cultural landscape of Korea at the time.

Season 1, Episode 6 of Yi San is an essential episode as it sheds further light on the factors that shaped our protagonist's early life. After being crowned king, Yi San finds himself at odds with the Noron Party, one of the two main political factions in the Joseon Dynasty. The Noron Party was led by Noron Kim Jae-Bum, who was a powerful council member who had been in office for over 20 years.

In this episode, we see Yi San facing his first significant challenge as a king. The Noron Party had been manipulating the young and inexperienced king for their ends and were planning a coup to take over the government. They had successfully convinced King Jeongjo to remove his mentor Soron Yu Jaemyeong from his old position and replace him with Noron Kim Taek to weaken the Soron Party's hold on the government.

However, the Soron Party discovered the plan and launched a counter-attack by gathering forces to protect their interests. They approached King Jeongjo with evidence of a Noron party rebellion, and he used this information to his advantage. King Jeongjo dissolved the Noron party and replaced the Noron council members with Soron Party members. He also made a public statement to assure everyone that the king was above external influences and would always act in the interest of the people.

The episode also introduced us to a female character, Jung-hye, the daughter of a high-ranking nobleman. She had been sent to the palace to serve the queen as a court lady but attracted the attention of several male officials due to her beauty. The Soron Party tried to use this to their advantage by planning to set her up as bait to expose and eliminate Noron party members trying to stage their coup.

In conclusion, episode 6 of Yi San was a pivotal episode in the series as it showcased Yi San's ability to read and respond to political threats, proved that he could be a just and impartial king, and also introduced a new character, Jung-hye, whose presence in the palace was going to have far-reaching implications for the principal protagonists.