The Silver Dragons
Description
Joseon needs the support of the Qing Dynasty to stabilize the nation. To seal the alliance, a double marriage between the Joseon royal siblings, King Seung-hyun and Princess Taeyeon, and the Qing family is required. But, what will happen when the Silver Dragons kidnap the princess accidentally?
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The Silver Dragons
- How could you do that?! I trusted you: you were my friend! I guess I was wrong...
- No, you weren't.
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Characters
The day we were forced to marry our lives became miserable...
The Choi Clan.
Maybe the Chinese Empire won’t control us, the Koreans, but, I don’t know, someday, they will drift us apart.
- King Choi Seung-hyun (BIGBANG’s TOP). King of Joseon.
- First Prince Choi Daesung (BIGBANG’s Daesung). The second son and loyal King's brother.
- First Princess Choi Taeyeon (Girls Generation Taeyeon). Choi Seung-hyun and Choi Daesung’s sister.
- Crown Prince Choi Jeongwan (Yoon Jeongwan, he was TOP’s kid version in a photoshoot from 2012). Sandara’s and Seung-hyun’s son and heir.
- Second Princess Choi Hayi (YG’s Lee Hi). Royal Concubine Bom’s daughter.
- Third Prince Choi YeonJun (TOP’s nephew). Royal Concubine Bom’s son.
- Queen Dowager Uhm Jung Hwa (she did the DISCO with TOP, for the younger fans ^^). Mother of Seung-hyun, Daesung and Taeyeon.
- Former King Choi JoonHong (actor Jun JoonHong, I just randomly saw his name with the cast of Roommate, when Bom was a member). He’s death before the story.
- Former Crown Prince Choi Dong Wook (se7en). Sorry for his fans but he’s death at the beginning of the story, I have my reasons >.<.
The Parks of the West.
I hope one day we can also be Arang and her Magistrate.
- Queen Park Sandara (2ne1’s Dara). The king’s wife and member of the Park Clan from the West, one of the wealthiest families in Joseon.
- Left State Councilor Park Houng-Jun (YG’s producer Teddy Park). Youngest Left State Councilor ever and Sandara’s older brother.
- Park’s Houng-Jun wife’s Lady Han Ye Seul (Teddy’s real girlfriend).
- Navy-soldier Park Sang-Hyun (Dara’s real brother). He’s training to become a soldier and is the youngest in the Clan.
- Former Crown Princess Lady Park Han Byul. She was married to DongWook, but she had no-children with the prince.
The Kwon Clan.
The measure of a man is what he does with power. -Plato
- Major General of the Navy Kwon Jiyong (BIGBANG’s GD). Major General from the Kwon Clan and best friend of the King.
- Lady Kwon Yuri (Yuri from Girls Generation). The little sister of the Kwon Clan, best friend with Princess Taeyeon.
- Sungkyunkwan student Kwon Seung-hyun (BIGBANG’s Seunrgi). He’s the younger brother.
- First Palace Lady Kwon Bo Ah (SM’s singer BoA). She’s the older sister of the Kwon Clan. Best friend with Queen Sandara.
- Kwon HyunSuk (YG’s president). He’s the security chief of the King since he was the Crown Prince.
- Ministry of Justice’s scholar Dong YoungBae (BIGBANG’S Taeyang). He isn’t from the clan, but due to the story evolution Jiyong will consider him as his brother.
- Lady Min HyoRin (Taeyang’s real girlfriend). YoungBae’s wife and mother of little Dong HanBin.
- Dong HanBin (IkON's leader). YoungBae and HyoRin's son.
The Parks of the East.
Power is always dangerous, my dear. Power controls the worst and corrupts the best, and it seems you have been too tempted by it.
- Royal Consort Park Bom (2ne1’s Bom). The King’s true love and member of the Park Clan from the East. Foster cousin of Sandara and from a vassal family.
- General of the Navy Park Dong-wook. Royal concubine’s Bom older brother.
- Right State Councilor Park Sung-woo (Shin Sung-woo a korean comedian who appeared in Roommate) Royal concubine’s Bom father.
- Scholar Park Chanyeol of the Ministry of Works (NOT Chanyeol from EXO, it will be his father in the future). Royal concubine’s Bom younger brother.
- Jung Hye-young (Sean’s wife of Jinusean). Bom’s mother. Death.
Other Characters.
- Lee Chaerin (2ne1's CL). Princess Taeyeon maid, lady-in-waiting and also best friend. Comes from a rich family focused in trade around Asia.
- Royal Secretary and engineer Lee SooHyuk (he’s a friend of TOP and GD, actor and model). The King's personal secretary and known for his abilities to design ships.
- Chief of the Royal Investigation Bureau Kim HeeChul
- Minister of Taxation Choi Siwon
- Assistant-Chief of the office of special advisors Jung Yun-ho
The Qing Dinasty.
- Emperor Qing Geng (he’s the former chinese member of Super Junior Han Geng). The IV emperor of the Qing dinasty, he's been the emperor of the new Dinasty with the longest reign, and wants to keep it this way no matter the price.
- Imperial Princess Qing Mi-young (Tiffany). She's the daughter of a Korean Royal Consort (Consort Hwang) and the eldest of six sisters. Thanks to her mixed korean blood, she's considerated the perfect candidate to get married to the Joseon King.
- Empress Qing Song (Victoria from f(x)). She's the Emperor's wife and mother of her children. Defender of the korean cause and in good terms with Mi-young. She tought Mi-young everything about power and surviving at court.
- Lord Huang Zitao (TAO from EXO). Lieutenant and leader of Princess Mi-young's security. His father, Huang Qi Zhen was a famous assassin.
- Lady Seo Joo-Hyun (Seohyun from Girls' Generation). Daughter of a Korean diplomat at the Forbbiden City, she's Mi-young's loyal lady-in-waiting.
Foreword
A Hint of History part I (with pictures and maps ^^)
The struggle of a nation…
The Ming Dynasty fell and was replaced by the Qing Dynasty, of Manchuria. In order to preserve and settle themselves, they start a politic of oppression towards the other Kingdoms in the East Seas. That causes two invasions on the Kingdom of Joseon at the end of the 16th century, and consequently, there’s an impoverishment of Joseon’s economy. In that situation, the Joseon Kings are forced to strengthen relationships with China and show loyalty once more. But, with that unequal relationship, Joseon Kings lost control of their nation, especially the Northern Provinces, who get under the influence of the Chinese Empire, concretly Pyongan and Hamgyong. That differentation between Provinces will be important when Korea divides between North and South Korea: the actual borders are quite simmilar to the one's in the Joseon Period.
Source: Google... (I don't remember exactly).
This, together with the power the scholars had, made the kings powerless. You see, in Korea, the nobles ascended to power by transforming into scholars and getting into important charges: so they ended having control over the governement and also the lands (because they were owners of it), it wasn't like in Japan: if the emperor asked the nobles to go to war and follow him, they could lose their privilegies. The organisation of Joseon's state was complex and traditional, giving the King little space of action. But there were powerful Korean kings who had absolute control of their kingdom… you can see hints of this in Korean Dramas. How were the Joseon Kings able to regain their control?
The rise of piracy
Although piracy existed in East Asia for long time, it was between the 14th and 16th century when it arrived to its peak, with even nobles trading with pirates to increase their fortunes. Being Joseon a country constantly threatened by the pirates (or wokou), they had to develop their naval and technological power to transform themselves into a maritime force.
Source: Wikipedia.
That led to the creation of the turtle ship, one of the most mythical ships in naval-war history.
Source: hancinema.net graphic art for the movie, The Pirates (2014).
In all dramas they always remark that the pirates are Japanese, but, honestly speaking, it has been proved that they came from all kind of nationalities: Japanese, Chinese and Korean, without exception.
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I know I have another story in the process; it’s just that recently I have been so much into Asian history that I had this crazy idea of mixing it with my favorite k-pop groups. I hope I can capture this story sketched in my weird mind without betraying the characters or the period. As a a huge fan of history, I will try to give you historical hints to understand the decisions and actions everyone makes: although the reign is completely fictional.
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