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

"A parasite on the nation!!!"

"How can the Tang Dynasty be governed well, how can it be made great again, while surrounded by these insects?"

Emperor Taizong (Li Chen), nicknamed "Little Emperor Taizong," was furious; he had finally witnessed something extraordinary.

The greed in the hearts of these scions of noble families is never satisfied.

When did someone who is completely weak and doesn't even go to the examination hall be able to pass the martial arts examination?

It's absolutely absurd!

Emperor Yizong of Tang, Li Cui, remained calm and composed, showing no sign of worry or urgency.

Did Huang Chao take the imperial examination during my reign?

So what happened?

What does it have to do with me? As long as it doesn't interfere with my enjoyment, that's fine.

These things were all done by powerful and influential families.

Besides, Huang Chao took the exam for over twenty years; by then I would have been dead long ago.

Li Cui understood perfectly well that, given his current level of indulgence in sensual pleasures, he'd be lucky to live another ten years or so.

He had no great ambitions, and he basically got the throne by chance.

After I die, what do I care about the raging floods?

Huang Chao returned home and continued his smuggled salt business, waiting for the right opportunity to return to Chang'an and make those aristocratic scions pay the price.

Huang Chao waited patiently, or rather, the Tang Dynasty did not disappoint him.

In the first year of the Qianfu era, a severe drought struck Guandong. Shandong and the Yellow River and Huai River regions suffered complete crop failure. Tree bark and soil were insufficient to feed the people, leading to cannibalism.

Salt is not food, especially not illegally obtained salt.

But local officials continued to wield their whips, relentlessly demanding tax payments.

The imperial inspector sent from Chang'an colluded with them, forming a vicious alliance. Standing amidst the starving corpses, he proclaimed that they should be considerate of the nation.

But who will understand us?

Whoever tries to prevent us from living, we will let them die!

In the scene, Huang Chao looks upon the corpses of the starving, the piles of white bones, and the withered, barkless trees scattered everywhere.

He suddenly burst into wild laughter, as if laughing at the absurdity of the world, or perhaps mocking himself.

They still harbored illusions about the imperial court and were able to endure it for so long.

"The powerful and influential families are waiting for me in Chang'an."

"I'm here to settle accounts with you!!"

Huang Chao pulled out a steel knife hidden under the salt cart frame, climbed onto the cart, raised the long knife, and shouted angrily.

At this moment, Huang Chao, who had been kicked out of Chang'an by the powerful families and forced into hell, was returning.

Behind him were the same hungry ghosts, crawling out of hell.

In the second year of the Qianfu era, Huang Chao raised an army in Caozhou to rebel against the Tang Dynasty. He joined forces with Wang Xianzhi and swept through Shandong and Henan.

After Wang Xianzhi was killed, Huang Chao became the leader of the rebel army, calling himself the "Great General Who Soars to the Heavens," and vowed to break through the sky that weighed down on them.

Huang Chao fought his way from north to south and then from south to north, sweeping across Henan, Shandong, Jiangxi, and Lingnan, absorbing displaced people, and his army grew to hundreds of thousands.

The images on the celestial screen kept changing, revealing a huge map to the world.

The arrows representing Huang Chao's forces, resembling locusts, stretched from north to south and then back again.

I never stay in one place for too long.

There were defeats along the way, but each time Huang Chao escaped, regrouped, and launched a comeback.

Finally, Huang Chao set off from Guangzhou, heading straight for Chang'an, sweeping away all obstacles and achieving successive victories along the way.

Finally, the arrow representing Huang Chao stopped before Chang'an.

The camera zooms in, focusing on the city gate tower where the characters "Chang'an" are inscribed.

Huang Chao led an army of hundreds of thousands and once again arrived in Chang'an, the city he had longed for and yearned for his entire life.

Looking at the wide-open city gates of Chang'an, filled with corpses,

This time, the gates of Chang'an were not tightly closed to Huang Chao.

A sinister smile appeared on Huang Chao's face; he was getting impatient.

"I'm back!"

The ancient people under the sky felt a little unreal; had a salt smuggler really become one?

Did he manage to march directly to the capital, Chang'an?

Is a change of dynasty imminent?

Even being an emperor for just one day is still being an emperor.

"The late Tang Dynasty was just like the chaotic times we are in now,"

"White bones lie exposed in the wilderness, and for a thousand miles not a rooster crows."

Cao Cao felt a pang of emotion, as if he were seeing the same plight of the people suffering under the ravages of war, and he seemed to feel a sense of pity.

But Cao Cao quickly extricated himself from this predicament.

"Huang Chao's uprising is somewhat similar to the Yellow Turban Rebellion."

"They're nothing but a bunch of bandits and locusts, with no real foundation, destined to be wiped out."

The slender Guo Jia's clothes were slightly open, revealing a rather unrestrained and unconventional demeanor.

"If Huang Chao had used Guanzhong as his base after capturing Chang'an, and then established an official system, he might have been able to contend for the throne."

"However, according to later accounts, the Guanzhong region seemed to be running out of food, so even if Huang Chao conquered it, it wouldn't be a stronghold for him."

In the first year of Guangming, Huang Chao captured Chang'an and returned to the city that had once abandoned him, stepping over the corpses of the defending soldiers.

Previously, in Chang'an, the powerful families spoke of Huang Chao in various ways.

The cannibalistic rebel Huang Chao fled to Lingnan, occupied Guangzhou, and plundered the prefecture.

The lowly bandits regrouped and marched north, threatening the prefectures of Hunan and Jiangxi.

Salt merchants, like outlaws, crossed the Yangtze River, and the central government troops dared not confront them.

Huang Chao led his troops to capture Luoyang, leaving the capital region wide open.

General Chongtian's army approached the outskirts of Tongguan, causing panic among the people of Chang'an.

The supreme new emperor arrived in his loyal capital, Chang'an, on this very day.

These powerful families were terrified. Faced with Huang Chao, a salt smuggler they had always looked down upon, they all knelt down and supported him as emperor.

[Cannibalistic demons, bandits, salt merchants, the soaring general, the new emperor]

[In these people's mouths, Huang Chao's name changed again and again, and in the end, his fawning face really looked like that of a dog.]

Upon hearing this, countless ordinary people under the sky couldn't help but shout their praises.

Well said!

Huang Chao was absolutely right.

So these people can kneel down so quickly too. Their faces change so fast.

They now understood why these aristocratic families had managed to survive each dynastic change.

The fawning manner is just like a dog seeing meat in its own hand.

Many ordinary people who own dogs even refuted what was said on the screen.

At least after I feed the dog, it can help me guard the house and won't betray its owner.

Where is the aristocratic family depicted on the celestial canopy?

After being fed so much meat, it immediately turned around and took a bite.

Those scions of aristocratic families felt as if the sky had fallen.

Their ugly behavior was vividly displayed by the sky.

The prestigious family name and noble bloodline that have always been touted should have earned them the respect and admiration they deserve.

Even if it's not outwardly apparent, how can we not know what they're really thinking?

Even some scions of aristocratic families during the Northern and Southern Dynasties felt a sense of relief.

Fortunately, my family didn't last until the Tang Dynasty; it declined prematurely.

Otherwise, I would be a laughingstock now.

Eastern Han Dynasty

Feeling the strange looks from his colleagues, Cui Shi felt even more ashamed.

Although the celestial banner did not specify the ancestor of the Cui family of Boling, it is clear that during the Eastern Han Dynasty, the family was known for its tradition of passing down Confucian classics, and they were indeed from Boling.

It seems like his house is the only one left.

His family had been scholars for three generations, and he himself lived a life of poverty. How did he end up in later generations?

That's how their descendants turned out.

They simply lack any of the integrity that has allowed the Cui family of Boling to endure for a thousand years.

What a disgrace!