Sky Curtain: The Overlord Charges into Battle, Shocking Emperors of All Dynasties

"Yang Guang!!!"

Yang Jian's mournful roars echoed throughout the hall once again, the sorrow in them truly heartbreaking to hear.

The ministers all expressed deep sympathy and lamented Yang Jian's tragic fate.

He worked diligently for over twenty years, and was criticized for being stingy for over twenty years. But because he had a spendthrift son, he lost his place in the Temple of Emperors.

Dugu Jialuo raised her hand, her lips moving as if she wanted to say something comforting, but in the end she lowered her hand.

Let Yang Jian deal with this himself; it's already good enough that she's not causing trouble!

"Your Majesty, the Prince of Jin..."

Upon seeing Yang Jian's fierce gaze, which seemed to want to tear the bystanders to death, Yuan Zhou immediately changed his tune and altered his words.

"The criminal Yang Guang has been brought here."

Yang Guang was practically being carried by two soldiers; he was as limp as a boneless snake, showing no sign of backbone whatsoever.

Accompanying Yang Guang was a pungent, sour smell of alcohol emanating from him.

At this point, Yang Guang was clearly in the same boat as he was in later years when he fled to Jiangdu; he began to give up and become complacent.

Yang Jian looked around, but couldn't find a suitable weapon for the moment.

He then reached to his waist and untied a leather belt that was tied around his waist, on which was inlaid a gold plaque.

This was a gift from Dugu Jialuo to him on his birthday.

Otherwise, given Yang Jian's stinginess, he wouldn't have used the gold plaque.

The gold plaques and leather belt carried with them Yang Jian's boundless rage.

The grief and despair of losing all his wealth, the injustice of not being able to enter the Imperial Temple, and even the resentment of being killed and having his beloved concubine taken away.

All of it was incorporated into this leather belt, carrying with it the pitiful cries of nearly ten million people, and it was fiercely swung towards Yang Guang!

"ah!!!!"

"Father!!! Father!!"

"Spare me!!"

"Your child knows he was wrong!"

Ha, Yang Guang, you scoundrel!

Did he really have to call someone "father" just to save his life?

Hearing the cries of pain, Yang Jian only increased the force of his blows, causing Yang Guang to roll around on the ground. The dull thuds of the blows hitting flesh and the crisp cracking of breaking bones filled the air.

Gao Jiong and the other ministers felt a surge of joy upon seeing this.

Well done!!

Please don't kill them! We want to give them a good beating too!!

[Bullshit! Haven't you all seen Yang Guang's achievements? Isn't it normal for later generations to smear the previous dynasty? Yang Guang must have been smeared.]

Follow-up comment: Oh right, the history books of the Tang Dynasty were a little more lenient towards Yang Guang, while those of other dynasties condemned him to death!

Follow-up comment: That's right, Yang Guang is indeed a great emperor of all time, the great emperor of all time online.

If you think the Sui Dynasty is bad, then go and build it.

If you think the canal is bad, then go and supervise its construction.

If you think Liaodong is bad, then go on a northern expedition to your death.

If you think Emperor Yang of Sui was incompetent, then go and serve him, and get killed, instead of just endlessly cursing, slandering, and complaining.

The place where you are standing is the Sui Dynasty.

[Whatever you do, that's how the Sui Dynasty will be.]

"That's a good line!!"

Zhu Yuanzhang slapped his thigh, as if something had pierced his heart.

"If you think the Sui Dynasty is bad, then go and build it up."

"There is indeed a principle of loyalty among subjects, but it is not quite appropriate to apply it to Yang Guang."

"That's quite fitting for the Ming Dynasty right now, which is in dire need of rebuilding!"

"It's just the last few sentences that change the tone."

Empress Ma's lips twitched upon hearing this, a look of utter helplessness on her face.

"Zhongba, do you think this statement is correct?"

"What's wrong with that? When the country is in trouble, how can its citizens not think of serving their country and helping to build it up?"

Empress Ma tilted her head back, closed her eyes, and took a soft breath.

Zhu Chongba has become somewhat obsessed, and she now has to do one thing: scold him to wake him up!

"If you think the Yuan Dynasty is bad, you should go and build it."

"Instead of leading an army in rebellion and causing trouble for the country!"

Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to have been struck hard by a hammer; he stammered for a long time, unable to utter a word, his old face turning bright red. Finally, he managed to squeeze out a sentence.

"How can that be the same?"

Yang Guang harmed the interests of powerful clans and aristocratic families; otherwise, he would certainly have been a wise ruler.

Follow-up comment: They're still from aristocratic families, so why push everything onto them?

Follow-up comment: Powerful clans and aristocratic families were indeed corrupt, hindering social development.

Follow-up comment: The main issue is those five surnames and seven clans, who intermarried and had been deeply intertwined for nearly a thousand years, claiming to be of their ancestral bloodline and disregarding even emperors.

During the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Taimin ordered the compilation of the "Genealogical Records of Clans," but surprisingly, the Cui clan of Boling was placed in the first rank, while the Li imperial family was only ranked in the third rank. Emperor Taimin was furious and ordered a revision, placing the Li imperial family in the first rank, relatives of the empress and meritorious officials in the second rank, and the gentry families of Guandong in the third rank.

Follow-up comment: Even if you become prime minister, you're still not as good as a minor official of the seventh rank from a family with five prominent clans and seven prestigious families.

Follow-up comment: Even if it's rebuilt, it won't make much difference; the common people still consider the five surnames and seven clans to be a level above.

These powerful families held official positions in the court, so even with the introduction of the imperial examination system, the examiners were still members of these powerful families, leaving no chance for those from humble backgrounds to rise in the ranks.

Follow-up comment: The same applies to local areas. Land is mostly in the hands of powerful families, and they would rather let grain rot in the government granaries than use it to help the people.

Follow-up comment: It's just like pouring milk into a river.

Follow-up comment: That's how Celestial Dragons are!

Tianmu is right!

Many members of the various aristocratic families snorted coldly, their expressions quite proud.

"So what if he's the emperor? Without us, could he even hold onto his throne?"

"We, the five surnames and seven noble families, should be first-class!! This is something passed down in our bloodline!"

"What do they know? The treatment we enjoy today is all thanks to the hard work of our ancestors. Who can they blame for their ancestors' lack of effort?"

"You must understand that while there are no dynasties that last a thousand years, there are families that last a thousand years. Even if dynasties collapse and the world changes, our families will still stand strong!"

The faces of all the aristocratic family heads were filled with disdain.

They had initially assumed that since later generations were so knowledgeable about history and spoke so eloquently about it, they must also be from a prominent family like theirs.

Unexpectedly, he actually spoke up for those lowly people.

Sure enough, even after reading books and learning to read, the earthy smell in their bones remained unchanged.

A pariah is a pariah; they have only lowly blood in them.

Nothing can compare to our thousand-year-old heritage and noble lineage.

Do you have a family tree? Do you still know who your ancestors were?

For thousands of years, these people have been accustomed to a life where they don't need to study, work hard, or worry about what to eat tomorrow.

With each change of dynasty, every ruler relied on them to govern the region.

After all, the transmission of knowledge is in their hands.

Even when the Tang Dynasty implemented a more lenient civil service examination system, most of those admitted were from aristocratic families. It wasn't until the mid-to-late Tang Dynasty that the proportion of students from poor families gradually increased.

The high-ranking officials and important positions in the Six Ministries were basically controlled by powerful and influential families.

Huang Chao grinned maliciously as he looked at the magnificent and towering city of Chang'an before him. This was the place he had dreamed of visiting for the first half of his life.

The hundreds of thousands of troops behind him were restless, staring intently at Chang'an like hungry wolves, eager to tear it apart and feast on it.

Huang Chao raised his long sword high and swung it down suddenly. His army, like a pack of hungry wolves, launched an attack on Chang'an, this juicy piece of meat.

"Noble bloodline, a Celestial Dragon?"

"Let me see if your blood is really that noble."

"Is that flowing golden blood?"