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

Does ignoring advice necessarily mean Yuan Shao? He could also be Zhao Guangyi.

Does breaking an oath necessarily mean it was Sima Yi? It could also be Zhao Guangyi.

Does the presence of a mythical beast necessarily mean it's Guan Yu? It could also be Zhao Guangyi.

Three Kingdoms period

Cao Pi looked puzzled. Was there something else about Sima Yi?

What oath did Sima Yi break?

In Cao Pi's view, Sima Yi was very capable.

He helped him seize the throne and stayed in Xuchang to govern the people and supply the army when he personally led the expedition against Eastern Wu. He could be considered his Xiao He.

Although there were measures to prevent and counterbalance this, overall, Cao Pi's attitude towards Sima Yi was one of trust rather than caution.

Now, Cao Pi's opinion of Sima Yi has undergone a subtle change, and a seed of doubt has been quietly planted.

Does having a tomahawk weapon necessarily mean he's Xing Daorong? He could also be Zhao Guangyi.

Does being a poisoner necessarily mean Li Ru? He could also be Zhao Guangyi.

Does creating a masterpiece necessarily mean one is Cao Zhi? He could also be Zhao Guangyi.

This is Emperor Taizong of Song, Zhao Guangyi, a truly "perfect" emperor.

Many Song Dynasty emperors twitched their lips upon reading this.

At first glance, something seems off, but upon closer inspection, it all seems to make sense.

They hadn't realized before how Emperor Taizong was so omnipotent.

Poisoning and breaking oaths are understandable, but can this masterpiece be compared to Cao Zhi's "Ode to the Goddess of the Luo River"?

I've never heard of Emperor Taizong having any famous works.

The ministers pondered carefully, trying to use this point to defend Zhao Guangyi.

A young official, however, paid no attention to these matters; all he could think about was how he needed to have an heir with his wife that very night after court.

Shouldn't you watch something to get into the mood before doing something like this?

He recently acquired a folk silk painting, which is realistic in style and quite erotic.

It vividly portrays Emperor Taizong and Empress Xiao Zhou...

A sudden flash of inspiration struck me like a thunderbolt.

Throughout history, the works that spread the fastest and gain the greatest fame have always been those of this type.

How can it not be considered a masterpiece?

He murmured, "The painting of Emperor Xiling visiting Empress Xiao Zhou..."

His colleagues around him immediately showed displeasure.

Now you're trying to think about serious matters, don't you even consider the occasion? Do you want to go home...?

"Oh, oh," they exclaimed, their faces lighting up with a look of sudden realization, just like a teddy bear discovering where the knife was hidden.

The color yellow spreads in a chain reaction within a population.

Whispers rang out, and most people recalled the famous piece they had read.

Some people were still pretending to be serious, not knowing what it was, which drew disdain from their colleagues.

What are you pretending to be? ! !

Now you've installed it, but why didn't you install it when I asked for resources?!

The ancients gradually realized that they were referring to this world-famous masterpiece!

[Fun fact: There's actually another one—Emperor Taizong of Liao escaped on a camel! He was the Camel God of War!!]

Follow-up comment: The only emperor in Chinese history to be made into cured meat!

Follow-up comment: It's understandable that a corpse would smell and rot in the summer, but the idea of ​​stuffing salt into the abdomen to make a mummy is still too abstract.

Follow-up comment: Think of Qin Shi Huang, who used abalone to cover up the stench of his corpse after his death. It's a similar approach!

[The Liao and Northern Song dynasties truly lived up to their sworn brotherhood; wise rulers emerged together, foolish rulers emerged together, and they perished together. The crucial point is that Emperor Taizong was also a master of animal control—this is simply outrageous!]

Ying Zheng thought that the fact that Hu Hai and Zhao Gao used abalone to cover up the stench of his corpse after his death was already a disgrace to his imperial dignity, but he never imagined that a later emperor would suffer an even worse fate.

For a dignified emperor to be dried up like cured meat could be considered another form of lasting fame.

"The Liao Dynasty—was this the main foreign adversary the Northern Song Dynasty faced at that time?"

Ying Zheng recalled the words spoken on the celestial screen earlier, which mentioned the Treaty of Chanyuan between Song and Liao, and Emperor Zhenzong of Song's Fengshan ceremony.

Thinking about this made Ying Zheng feel somewhat unlucky; it would have been better if he hadn't gone to Mount Tai for the Fengshan ceremony in the first place.

"Your Majesty? According to Tianmu, the Liao Dynasty should have been located on the former territory of the Yan State and the Xiongnu steppe, and was eventually destroyed by the Jin Dynasty along with the Northern Song Dynasty."

After reviewing the silk records kept by the Heavenly Curtain Bureau, Xiao He shared his analysis with Ying Zheng.

As he became more and more proficient in his work, Ying Zheng, wanting to give him more responsibilities, entrusted Xiao He with the overall coordination of all matters related to the Heavenly Curtain Division.

After all, nothing is more important than what's happening on the celestial screen right now.

Ying Zheng looked at the silk cloth in Xiao He's hand and couldn't help but feel a pang of regret.

The events described on the celestial screen involved the changing times and social upheavals of the following thousand years. The fact that it was always written on silk was also a significant expense.

Is there anything that can replace silk cloth, which is convenient for writing and not so expensive?

Ying Zheng vaguely remembered that when the scene depicting later events on the celestial screen showed Zhu Di of the Ming Dynasty arguing with his second son,

The memorials on Zhu Di's desk were so small; they were much more convenient to read than the bamboo slips he used.

Ying Zheng really wanted this technology. Every day, he had to unfold so many bamboo slips, and his hands were getting tired and sore!

The Four Great Inventions of Ancient China

The Four Great Inventions? Are they finally coming?

Finally, Tianmu is going to get to the good stuff!!

"Quickly!! Remember it quickly!!"

Many emperors issued orders loudly, fearing that they might miss some important information if they were even a step too slow.

"The Four Great Inventions should include papermaking, right?"

Under the canopy of sky, some scholars speculated that they couldn't imagine how they would study and learn if they still used bamboo slips without papermaking!

"I think there must have been catapults and weapon forging!"

The military generals speculated that only military inventions and research could be considered the most significant and influential.

Many people shared their opinions, some related to water conservancy, some to agriculture, and some to astronomy.

The voice continued on the sky screen.

Ancient China boasted numerous inventions, as numerous as the stars in the sky, but the four most brilliant and dazzling will always be those four.

Without these four great inventions, China's culture, military, and economy would have suffered enormous blows.

It could even be said that the entire world's civilization, up to this day, relies on these four great inventions of ancient China.

The four great inventions are: papermaking, printing, the compass, and gunpowder.

A compass? Could it be referring to the south-pointing chariot?

Compared to the other three inventions, the compass appeared earlier, with a prototype already existing as early as the Warring States period, called "Sinan".

However, rulers throughout history have generally neglected the compass, except during the Song Dynasty.

From the Qin and Han dynasties to the Tang dynasty, rulers seemed to regard this as a plaything or a ritual object, and never vigorously promoted its study.

During the Zhenguan era of the Tang Dynasty,

Li Shimin was somewhat surprised and couldn't help but ask in astonishment,

"Printing technology, is that the skill that was mentioned in the previous memorial, the one that folk artisans figured out through trial and error?"

"How can these be called the Four Great Inventions? And the south-pointing chariot? It's utterly absurd!!"

Previously, an official from the Ministry of Works did indeed submit a memorial stating that there was a folk craft called printing, which could quickly copy a book.

Initially, Li Shimin didn't care. In his view, such things didn't offer much benefit to the country.

He only valued practical technologies such as iron smelting, siege warfare, agriculture, and water conservancy.

As for printing and the compass, not only Li Shimin, but many emperors before the Song Dynasty regarded them as mere gimmicks and impractical tricks.

There was neither deliberate suppression nor deliberate support; it was allowed to develop freely and unrestrainedly.

But now, the celestial canopy lists them as one of the most significant inventions of the past millennia.

Emperors like Li Shimin couldn't help but wonder, could they be wrong?