He surprises everyone and is about to smash the Geol Sa-Biwoo's head with a rock when General Yang Manchun stops the fight. Yang Manchun, not wanting to hurt him by letting him think he has a chance, tells him to fight the best fighter (Geol sabiu) in Yodong Fort. When he hears Namseng say that he would accept anyone who had a recommendation from the Grand Martial General Yang Manchun, he runs away to Ansi Fortress and impresses Yang Manchun, who wonders if he is Dae Jungsang's son.ĭae Jo-yeong tells Yang Manchun that he is a slave and that he wants to be a warrior. He also (when grown up) begs the Supreme Commander's eldest son (Yeon Namsaeng) to allow him to join the martial arts contest because the reward is emancipation (freedom), but he refuses. As a child he is often shown running away from the Supreme Commander's estate and trying to find his parents, although not knowing his parents are alive since the Supreme Commander constantly tells him that his parents are dead.ĭae Jo-yeong teaches himself to read and fight. His wife is ordered to never communicate with her son, or be killed along with him.ĭae Jo-yeong is raised by Yeon Gaesomun, the Supreme Commander of Goguryeo as a slave and is called Gaedong(dog boy)so he wouldn't question why he is a slave and discover who he was with his real name. General Dae Jungsang is told his wife and son are dead and ordered to command Goryeo Fortress. The Supreme Commander intended to kill them at first but when General Yang Manchun tells him that perhaps the heavens sent Dae Jo-yeong to protect their country after they die, he changes his mind. She is later found and captured by the Supreme Commander as well. So his father flees from the Supreme Commander Yeon Gaesomun, who wishes to kill the baby, only to be captured as his wife and son try to escape on a raft. Naturally, this is seen as treachery because there is already a king. When Dae Jo-yeong is born, a prophecy says that he will become a king. The order is given and water is released through the tunnel underneath the mountain, causing it to collapse and it crushes hundreds of thousands of Tang soldiers. He catches the emperor's eye and is promoted to the rank of general.Īs the battle begins, Tang's million men come onto the mountain. Meanwhile, Seol rescues some Tang soldiers about to be killed. She is already pregnant with Dae Jo-yeong. Dae Jo-yeong's mother, Dalgi, comes up with the plan to dig under the mountain as it is being built. The emperor, meanwhile, begins plans for making a mountain of earth in order to deliberately destroy the fortress. Dae leaves Seol to himself, and heads to Ansi Fortress. Seol, enraged for not receiving credit for his actions, frees him. After a failed attempt to assassinate the Tang emperor Li Shimin, Jungsang is captured by Tang.
We are also introduced to Xue Rengui (Seol Ingui in Korean), a man with a brilliant mind who comes up with a plan to bring down Liaodong Fortress. Dae Jung-sang, Dae Jo-yeong's father is introduced as a general. The drama begins during a war between Tang and Goguryeo before Dae Jo-yeong is born.