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

Does "sky curtain" mean that even peasants can become officials?

One second he was farming, the next he was an official?

Are you kidding me?

Let them become officials? Do they even know how to do it properly?

Many scions of powerful and influential families sneered.

"These lowly people who have climbed up from the bottom are used to a life of hardship. Now that they have a good life, they can't help but try to squeeze money into their own pockets. It's no wonder they've emptied the national treasury."

"Having suddenly risen to a high position, how many of them can truly uphold their moral integrity?"

"Unlike us, who have seen and enjoyed everything, we naturally understand how to govern the country in the future."

Listening to these direct descendants of aristocratic families defend themselves, some of the collateral branches of these families became restless.

These people make it sound so easy.

They've enjoyed the good life, but what about us?

We possess immense talent, yet have nowhere to utilize it.

In terms of strategic thinking, we are no less capable than them; in terms of governing a region, we are far superior to them!

In our opinion, the imperial examination system was superior, and civil officials were indeed better than those from aristocratic families.

If you're not convinced, let's test it and see who's more capable.

Who will succeed in the imperial examination, and who will fail miserably?

[The Song Dynasty also produced many famous officials, all of whom came from humble farming backgrounds, such as Fan Zhongyan and Ouyang Xiu.]

Song Lian, Hai Rui, Zhang Juzheng, and others during the Ming Dynasty

If these people had lived before the Tang Dynasty, they might have ended up like Huang Chao, failing the imperial examinations multiple times and ultimately having no opportunity to demonstrate their talents.

The imperial examination system truly had the power to defy fate and achieve upward social mobility.

Therefore, both are bad in comparison, but the civil service is slightly better than the aristocratic clans.

The advantage of the imperial examination system was that it prevented society from becoming static and allowed for social mobility, unlike the stagnant society before the Song Dynasty.

Hongwu,

Zhu Yuanzhang closed his eyes slightly as he read this, deep in thought.

His Ming Dynasty was somewhat different from other dynasties.

The north has been out of the control of the Central Plains for far too long; the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun have been separated from the Central Plains for over four hundred years, from the late Tang Dynasty to the present.

For over two hundred years, the area north of the Yellow River was occupied by foreign tribes.

Hundreds of years are enough for the people of this land to forget what Han culture is.

The imperial examinations held in the early years of the Hongwu reign taught Zhu Yuanzhang a great lesson.

After several imperial examinations, southerners made up the majority, while northerners only accounted for about one-third.

If this continues, the balance of power between the North and South in the imperial court will definitely be disrupted, and perhaps southern officials will become like those in the Tang Dynasty and earlier periods.

They transformed powerful aristocratic families into academic cliques, turning the entire imperial court into a domain of southerners.

He could not allow the Ming Dynasty to repeat the events of the Wei and Jin Dynasties.

Therefore, he suspended the imperial examination system, vigorously promoted community schools, and strived to bring the education level in the north to a normal level, relying on the recommendation of talents to level off the situation where people from the south made up the majority.

"I wonder if the situation will improve after the imperial examinations are reopened."

Zhu Yuanzhang muttered to himself, somewhat worried about the upcoming imperial examinations and the current state of the Ming Dynasty.

In any case, he could not allow scholars from the south to continue to hold such a large position in the court.

However, compared to the powerful clans, the biggest problem with the civil service group was obviously the most criticized. The powerful clans had troops and prestige in the local areas, and at least they would not surrender when faced with foreign invasion.

As for the civil service, during the Song Dynasty, most of them still had some backbone, while a small number directly surrendered to the Mongols.

However, towards the end of the Ming Dynasty, facing the Qing army's invasion, a large number of civil officials became collaborators and surrendered as soon as the Qing army arrived.

Among them, the most famous was Qian Qianyi of the Donglin Party.

The ancients' curiosity was piqued by the sight of the celestial canopy.

Donglin Party, Qian Qianyi

These people are quite something. They've openly formed a clique. Aren't they afraid that the emperor will investigate and punish them directly for forming cliques for personal gain?

We'll see what Qian Qianyi can do to make him remembered for so long.

During the reign of Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty,

The court officials exchanged horrified glances; they all knew this leader of the Donglin Party, Qian Qianyi, the "Literary Emperor of Jiangzuo."

I heard that this literary giant recently took the famous courtesan Liu Rushi as his concubine, and he has completely disregarded etiquette and moral principles, treating her with the respect due to a married woman.

It's truly a case of an old man suddenly feeling youthful again, like a pear tree in full bloom overshadowing a crabapple tree!

Emperor Chongzhen was filled with rage and could not suppress it.

Didn't these Donglin scholars always claim to be loyal to the emperor and devoted to the country?

He wanted to see what this leader of the Donglin Party had done to deserve such fame from Tianmu.

At this moment, a look of fear and panic suddenly appeared on Qian Qianyi's face, who was in his hometown of Changshu.

He seemed to have a premonition of what he was about to face.

He's scared!

Qian Qianyi, a member of the Donglin Party and a renowned scholar from Jiangnan, rose to the position of Vice Minister of Rites during the Chongzhen era. When the Qing army attacked Nanjing, he voluntarily opened the city gates and surrendered to them, leaving behind the famous line "The water is too cold."

On the day the Qing army captured Nanjing, his concubine Liu Rushi urged him to drown himself in the lake and die for his country, but Qian Qianyi said, "The water is too cold, I can't go in."

[When the Qing army later issued the shaving order, forcing all the people of the Central Plains to wear the extremely ugly "money-tail braid," someone asked Qian Qianyi why he shaved his head. He replied that it was because his head was too itchy.]

Although this story is recorded in unofficial history and compiled by later generations, and Qian Qianyi even continued to support anti-Qing patriots in his later years, it is still true that he did not write this story.

However, it is an indisputable fact that he voluntarily opened the city gates to surrender to the Qing Dynasty and shaved his head and changed his clothes.

[Even his later years when he funded the anti-Qing struggle were mostly due to the suspicion he suffered in the Qing Dynasty and the ridicule he endured from both the court and the public.]

Even the Qing Dynasty held Qian Qianyi in utter contempt, including him in the "Biographies of Traitorous Officials," demonstrating their utter disdain and contempt for him.

Is your scalp itchy because the water is too cold?

You have completely lost the integrity of the scholar-officials!

The integrity of the scholar-officials remained strong during the Song Dynasty, especially considering the constant threat posed by foreign tribes.

Those who surrender voluntarily are despised to the core.

In the early years of Chongzhen's reign,

At this time, Qian Qianyi was still serving as the Vice Minister of Rites in Beijing.

In the imperial court, Zhu Youjian and many civil and military officials, upon hearing Qian Qianyi's shameless words, vented their anger with the most vile language they could think of.

"Are you even a human being?!"

"Qian Qianyi, you're not even as good as a woman!!"

"I am utterly ashamed to be associated with you!!"

"Hmph, I could never come up with such a reason in my entire life!!"

At this time, fiercely criticizing Qian Qianyi seemed to have become politically correct, and everyone was wantonly attacking and impeaching him.

Some even went so far as to suggest that Qian Qianyi beheaded and his head displayed to the public!

Among them, the one who shouted the loudest was Sun Zhixie, who was then a lecturer at the Hanlin Academy.

He's adept at opportunism; how could he possibly miss such a golden opportunity?

They were jumping up and down, demanding that Emperor Chongzhen dismiss Qian Qianyi from his post, investigate him, and execute him as a warning to the public.

Qian Qianyi's face was ashen, utterly silent.

He knew he was doomed.

All his writings, reputation, and even his later support for the resistance against the Qing Dynasty were no match for his surrender.

Zhu Youjian listened to the commotion and felt a sharp pain in his head. He reached up and rubbed his head.

"Your Majesty, are you unwell?"

An official asked considerately, to show his loyalty.

Upon hearing this, the court fell silent instantly, and everyone looked at Zhu Youjian with concern.

"It's nothing, my scalp is just a little itchy, I'll just scratch it!"