@Kendama
I guess generous we are, lol.
Il was learned enough to be teaching Yona things. If he himself did not feel he was enough, he had palace resources to put in place appropriate teachers for her. Instead she was made to dance and sing. Really? She couldn't have been reading history, literature, languages, medicine, chess, or any of the books from the lush library? That's what princesses would usually do. She was born a princess, that automatically makes her a target. Why make it easier for kidnappers and blackmailers by growing a dumb princess, especially if she's the only legitimate heir to Il's bloodline? Being assertive and smart and showing wit would have been a boon, as it should be, rather than an added impediment. Remember how she was easily kidnapped the moment she stepped out of the castle? So naive she was.
We see her now rising to the occasion. That means she had that much potential just idling away. Oh what a great King Hiryuu Il was raising.
You're defending Il for protecting Yona by sheltering her by saying Kashi died because of the leak that Yona was Hiryuu's reincarnation.
How is that different than what Yu-Hon wanted for Yon-Hi then? That sorta ends up putting them on the same plank?
Overall, neither am I really denying the fact that if it wasn't for Yona stepping in to take responsibility for the kingdom, Soo-Won would likely have decided to be more ruthless. Il was probably referring to the blood of Hiryuu that would kill Soo-Won, rather than Yona wilfully skewering him. That much is established now, that Yona won't raise her sword at him. But sure, you can still go out and dance in the streets, lol.
On effectiveness, it's true that most of the efforts are currently skewed towards Yona's win, as opposed to really showing how effective Soo-Won himself has been. He's been in power for a while, and he's had table conversations with other leaders and negotiated terms, but, yes, it's true that it's only a garnishing layer on top and not his own fully cooked meal. I do wish we'd seen more sides of his ruling. It does seem more of a plot device to keep his efforts comparatively shrouded.
Yet, I don't want to discard the fact that Soo-Won decided to take action to fix a collapsing kingdom. What I'm saying is, to humour me with what options did Soo-Won actually have that he could have employed in the time he had had before Kouka would have been struck down by rebels and empires.
Soo-Won may be self-righteous. But so is Yona in that sense. Just because she's seen as humble doesn't make it any less. Both of them chose to action a solution over sitting idle and letting the country die its painful death.
I fault Il as much as the tribe leaders (not sure if more than them) because he did refuse resources where the tribes needed them, .e.g. Suiko. But the tribe leaders are definitely at fault too, for how could they not have still worked for their own people, e.g. Saika, Chi'shin.
But how can you call defensive measures as a nonsense excuse? Kai was struggling, yes, but Kuel-bo was bound to invade because of the lofty dreams of ruling the largest territory. Kai was more into the act of plundering that way. And Kin was an open route into Kouka for easy infiltrations from Sei and Sen to happen.
We've seen Yona's actions consequencing into only benefits/allies. If this is the intended prophetic angle, then all the words and any counterfactuals any of us have been spewing are just a waste of comment space. It would have been interesting to see how one of Yona's own decisions caused an uprising, even if led to or perhaps was needed to make the prophecy come true. Like, necessary sacrifices ways. What about Gobi's return to irk Kuel-bo and Kai? Didn't not having killed Gobi cause the entire warcry? And Gobi's probably gonna come back to bite once more since he ain't dead yet.
The expansionist ideas in 196 were triggered by Yu-Hon's followers. It doesn't necessarily reflect that Soo-Won himself was in agreement with the idea. It was merely an expectation placed on him. I'd rather not be presumptuous and assume he subscribed to that dream. His concern at that time anyway was to observe Il's rule. Leaving prophecies aside, if Il had shown he were capable of handling Kouka, Soo-Won would likely not have been been thinking of how to save Kouka from its own borders, but rather how Kouka could be prospering best via trade and diplomacy (or whatever the terms would be).