Politics Summary

I wanted to drop a quick summary on the politics behind Yeonjo’s father’s execution since I think some people are unclear on what happened or why it happened:
Yeonjo’s father is the right state councilor. The new king’s brother (aka the grand prince, which is the title of the past king’s legitimate son that is not in line for the crown) employed Kwon as an officer because of his record as a brutal solidier. An officer oversees and leads other soldiers. The grand prince believed Kwon’s savagery would improve their military. kwon accepted the position and spent Kwon served years as an officer, even reaching commander level. at At time, a group outside the border of Kwon’s territory called the outlanders were preparing to attack. The councilors and ministers of the state did not agree with preparing a campaign against a possible invasion because the grand prince’s brother had just ceded the throne, meaning the state isnt prepared to fight a war. The state also had low food supplies, so the military wouldn’t have provisions. The grand prince believes the territory is in jeopardy because of the councilors’ reluctance. Kwon even singles out the right state councilor as a threat. Kwon advises the grand prince to ignore the ministry and councilors’ authority for the “greater good” of the kingdom. The grand prince decides to take out the right state councilor (who has the most power of the councilors), his elder sons, and the ministers of defense. This is decided with the goal of making an example out of them and scaring the other officials into complying. Kwon is tasked with executing the right state councilor and his two oldest sons. When the RS councilor and the ministers were killed, the other officials withdrew from their original stances and chose to comply. Once all the officials were in agreement with the grand prince, and the new king was left helpless and without support from the council or ministry, the grand prince took over the throne in order to lead the war and defend the kingdom.
The INTERESTING part is that Kwon did not actually have to take the role of killing the RS councilor, he says it was fueled by self interest because taking on the responsibility would grant him a quick promotion, which is why he is now such a high-rank noble.