Jeong Do-jeon

The drama begins in 1374, the final year of King Gongmin of Goryeo. Those times were marked by abuse of power, corruption and political chaos, as government officials and scholars dream of a new dynasty and a new era. Jeong Do-jeon was an aristocrat and politician who assisted Yi Seong-gye (later King Taejo) when he seized power and established a new dynasty, Joseon. After Taejo became the first king of Joseon, he left all state affairs to Jeong, making him the most powerful and influential man who shaped the 500-year-long dynasty by laying down Joseon's ideological, institutional, and legal foundations. Deciding all policies from military affairs, diplomacy, and down to education, he laid down Joseon's political system and tax laws, replaced Buddhism with Confucianism as national religion, moved the capital from Kaesong to Hanyang (present-day Seoul), changed the kingdom's political system from feudalism to highly centralized bureaucracy, and wrote a code of laws that eventually became Joseon's constitution. He even decided the names of each palace, eight provinces, and districts in the capital. He also worked to free many slaves and reformed land policy. Jeong died just six years after the foundation of Joseon, killed in 1398 by his political archenemy Yi Bang-won, Taejo's fifth son. Yi killed his two half-brothers (including the crown prince) as well as Jeong and his supporters in a coup that came to be known as the "First Strife of Princes," eventually becoming King Taejong, the third king of Joseon. [About] Jeong Do-jeon is a 2014 South Korean television series starring Cho Jae-hyun in the title role as Jeong Do-jeon, a real-life historical figure (1342-1398) who was one of the most powerful scholars and politicians of his time and a close supporter of King Taejo, the founder of the Joseon Dynasty. The period drama shows the crucial role Jeong had in the planning and founding of Joseon and the obstacles he faced in the process, as well as his lasting impact on Joseon's politics and laws. It aired on KBS1 from January 4 to June 29, 2014 on Saturdays and Sundays at 21:40 for 50 episodes. Jeong Do-jeon received solid ratings and was hailed by critics as one of the most "authentic and realistic" Korean historical dramas in the new millennium. The series won the Grand Prize (Daesang), Best Director and Best Writer at the 41st Korea Broadcasting Awards, and Cho Jae-hyun won Best TV Actor at the 50th Baeksang Arts Awards. [Source: Wikipedia]