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

洪武

"Great, excellent!!!"

Zhu Yuanzhang spoke each word slowly and deliberately, his angry shout causing the civil and military officials in the hall to fall silent, kneeling on the ground, not daring to utter a sound.

Looking at the court, which now appeared somewhat sparsely populated compared to before, his anger burned even more fiercely.

Why can't they kill them all?

Previously, because the matter of Empress Ma and Zhu Xiong Ying was mentioned on the celestial screen, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered the Embroidered Uniform Guard to thoroughly investigate the court.

The focus is on Lü Ben, Lü's father, and former officials of the Mongol Yuan dynasty.

Sure enough, they found out there was something fishy going on.

Even Empress Ma stopped trying to dissuade her.

They had all turned against their own grandson; Empress Ma's restraint in not personally drawing her sword was already an act of immense forbearance.

Zhu Yuanzhang simply couldn't understand it. No matter how much infighting there was among the intellectuals of the Former Song Dynasty, at least they sacrificed their lives for their country and fought bravely against the Yuan Dynasty, and they didn't do anything so utterly unscrupulous.

How come, in the Ming Dynasty, one after another...

Even Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, wondered if the location of his mausoleum was poorly chosen.

Or perhaps there's something wrong with the Zhu family's ancestral graves.

Do we really need to find a monk or a Taoist priest to take a look?

"Look at the scholars of later generations, is this what you've always called the spirit of the literati?"

"Where is it hard?"

"Even the eunuchs in our harem have more backbone than you!!!"

Zhu Yuanzhang's sarcastic remarks came one after another, severely belittling the integrity that these scholars were so proud of.

Their faces showed humiliation; they wanted to refute, but couldn't find any reason to do so.

How can you compare them to eunuchs?!

Eunuchs are rootless creatures; how can they be compared to these well-read sons of sages?

Damn it, can't Tianmu even mention the heroes who resisted the Qing?

"They even dare to form a party, creating what they call the Donglin Party?"

Zhu Yuanzhang grew angrier and angrier as he spoke, as if the scholars of later generations were vividly appearing before his eyes, and the things he had worried about were coming true one by one in the Ming Dynasty of later generations.

"Are you going to say something like 'a gentleman makes friends but doesn't form cliques' again?"

"Let me tell you, a clique is a clique; they collude to commit evil and suppress dissent!!!"

"He deserves to be killed!!"

Upon hearing this, the assembled officials in the hall all sensed the intense murderous intent emanating from Zhu Yuanzhang. They lowered their heads even further, resembling students asking questions in school.

"Let's immediately add this to our ancestral precepts and the Great Ming Code: Anyone who dares to form a faction will have their entire family executed!!!"

Zhu Yuanzhang was filled with murderous intent. He believed that as long as these things were added to the ancestral precepts, future emperors would have no choice but to disown their ancestors.

Do you dare to change our ancestral precepts?

During the Tianqi era

Zhu Youxiao, unusually, stopped his beloved carpentry work and began toying with a musket in his hand, its shape bearing an uncanny resemblance to the one on the sky.

He had always admired such craftsmanship, and besides woodworking, he was also skilled in many other areas.

It's simply because carpentry work is relatively less strenuous and cleaner.

After witnessing the power of these guns projected onto the sky, Zhu Youxiao, accompanied by a group of craftsmen, personally drew up the design plans.

They made a replica of the guns displayed on the sky.

Zhu Youxiao squinted, raised the gun to his eyes, and aimed it, the muzzle pointing directly at Wei Zhongxian, who was kneeling and paying his respects a few steps away.

Wei Zhongxian was trembling like a leaf, drenched in sweat.

If you accidentally drop this thing, you could lose your life.

"Wei Daban, is Sun Zhixie one of your men?"

Zhu Youxiao gestured with his fingers, seemingly looking for a good position to play, and asked a casual question.

"Your Majesty, I was careless and allowed such a villain to infiltrate. I have already torn him to pieces and fed him to the wild dogs!"

Wei Zhongxian didn't rush to deny it; instead, he admitted it, saying with a hint of regret,

Tianmu has already stated that Sun Zhixie is a member of the eunuch faction, so there's no point in denying it anymore.

Taking immediate action to remedy the situation is the right approach.

"The Donglin Party truly produced a group of patriotic and benevolent gentlemen!!"

After hearing Wei Zhongxian's explanation, Zhu Youxiao didn't say whether it was good or bad; instead, he praised the Donglin Party.

"Under the rule of these virtuous men, the Later Jin dynasty truly succeeded in swallowing an elephant and seizing control of the Central Plains."

"Unfortunately, since the Battle of Sarhu and the Battle of Guangning, the area outside the Great Wall has been in ruins. I have been willing to govern it, but now it seems that there is no time to rush it."

"Wang Huazhen even said that 60,000 troops could pacify the Later Jin. I think he's just a pedantic scholar who talks nonsense. Xiong Tingbi is much more practical."

"The main culprit for the crushing defeat in the Battle of Guangning was most likely Wang Huazhen."

"Who can tell whether Wang Huazhen belonged to the Donglin Party or was a member of the eunuch faction like Sun Zhixie?"

Upon hearing this, Wei Zhongxian's mind raced, and he nearly slammed his head into the ground.

"To pacify the Later Jin, money and provisions are indispensable."

"I just don't know if our Ming Dynasty officials will be as generous as the aristocratic families of the Tang Dynasty."

"This servant understands!"

Wei Zhongxian's head slammed heavily against the ground. After a dull thud, he hunched over, took small steps back, and retreated.

Xiong Tingbi cannot die, but Wang Huazhen must die, regardless of whether he is a member of the Donglin Party or not.

Donglin Party, just you wait.

Are all Ming Dynasty literati spineless? Actually, no. For example, there were Lu Xiangshan, Sun Chengzong, Cao Wenzhao, Cao Bianjiao, Xia Wanchun, Shi Kefa, and so on.

Some of these people were military generals, some were civil officials, and some were skilled in both. Perhaps some of their talents were not the most outstanding.

However, their sacrifice for their country more than made up for their lack of talent.

There was another person who, although a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations), was also a highly skilled martial artist and enjoyed the deep trust of Emperor Chongzhen.

The Chongzhen Emperor, Zhu Youjian, is a household name. He was notoriously suspicious, comparable to Cao Cao, but this suspicion seemed to vanish when it came to Hong Chengchou.

[Zhu Youjian, a ruler who reigned for seventeen years and had nineteen different chief ministers, entrusted Hong Chengchou with the military power of several provinces, which shows how much he trusted Hong Chengchou.]

This is Hong Chengchou, the Governor-General of Shaanxi during the Chongzhen era, who captured and killed Gao Yingxiang, the first leader of the peasant rebellion, severely damaged Li Zicheng, quelled the Guanzhong uprising, and later served as Minister of War and Governor-General of the military affairs of five provinces. He was personally bestowed with the Imperial Sword.

We knew it!

During the Ming Dynasty, civil officials treated this as a treasure, as if they had been granted a general amnesty.

Hong Chengchou, we've finally waited for you!!!

Look at Hong Chengchou's military achievements; he was a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations), yet he was such a formidable fighter.

Governor-General of Three Border Regions, Military Affairs of Five Provinces, Imperial Sword, Commander-in-Chief of Ji and Liaodong

Nineteen chief ministers in seventeen years, yet none of them, including Zhu Yuanzhang, were as suspicious as Zhu Youjian.

The result was the Chongzhen Emperor, who suffered from severe paranoia.

The fact that Hong Chengchou was treated with utmost trust and favor demonstrates just how capable he was in battle and how noble his character was.

I'm not familiar with Qian Qianyi or Sun Zhixie.

We only recognize Hong Chengchou as the representative figure of our civil service group!

The Ming Dynasty civil official gazed at the sky with bright, hopeful eyes, clenching his fists and silently cheering for Hong Chengchou.

Well done, Hong Chengchou! Stand up straight!

Don't embarrass us civil servants!