Sky Curtain: My Great Qin must have an aircraft carrier!

Under the sky, in the fields, the people had complex expressions.

Killing people according to their family genealogy, slaughtering all those high-ranking aristocratic families, sounds satisfying indeed.

But then?

Throughout history, which uprising army didn't eventually turn out to be no different from bandits and outlaws?

These ordinary people are just like fish on the chopping block, completely at the mercy of others.

This Huang Chao will most likely not escape this principle either...

The scene shows Huang Chao riding into Chang'an, his golden armor gleaming in the sun, exuding an awe-inspiring presence.

Huang Chao reached the pinnacle of his life by capturing Chang'an and ascending the throne, but unfortunately, it did not last long.

The Tang army, realizing what was happening, launched a counterattack and drove Huang Chao out of Chang'an.

The people of Chang'an contributed greatly to helping the Tang army recapture the city.

After all, the Li Tang dynasty ruled the Central Plains for more than two hundred years, and its authority could not be shaken by rebel armies.

But to the Tang army, these civilians who did not flee with Huang Chao were all accomplices of the rebels.

The Tang army looted Chang'an, almost burning the city to the ground.

Upon discovering this situation, Huang Chao quickly rallied his routed troops and launched a surprise attack.

At this time, almost every member of the Tang army was carrying gold and silver treasures, and they never expected Huang Chao to return. They were defeated and forced to retreat one after another.

Upon entering the city again, Huang Chao, seeing the people joyfully welcoming his army, felt only the rage of betrayal...

The screen didn't show many bloody scenes, but those few lines of cold text were more jarring than any visual image.

According to the Old Book of Tang, when the army re-entered Chang'an, enraged by the people's assistance to the government troops, the soldiers unleashed a massacre. Blood flowed in streams, a scene known as "washing the city."

In the late Tang Dynasty, Chang'an was deathly silent.

The people looked at the sky, their faces first filled with terror, then turning into a bitter smile.

"Hahaha, good, very good! If we help the officials, they will rob us; if we follow the thieves, the thieves will kill us. This Chang'an is a death trap!"

"The aristocratic families are no good, and Huang Chao is a beast! Run! Run away!!"

The people packed their bags, preparing to flee this place of trouble.

The end of Huang Chao's life was rather unremarkable.

Faced with a serious Jiedushi (military governor), Huang Chao was powerless to resist and ultimately committed suicide in Wolf Tiger Valley.

However, judging from the process, Huang Chao was able to raise an army of hundreds of thousands and fight his way to Chang'an to ascend the throne as emperor.

This only shows that the late Tang Dynasty was beyond redemption.

The essence of feudal dynasties was cannibalism, and Huang Chao was merely one of the common people who were devoured under the feudal system.

Finally, let's conclude with "The Lament of the Qin Woman."

"The former prosperity is all buried, and all that remains is desolate and barren."

"Blood flowed like boiling springs in every household, and cries of injustice shook the earth everywhere."

Li Shimin read each word aloud, feeling as if each word weighed a ton, and fell into a long silence.

Who is to blame for the Tang Dynasty's current state? Who should be criticized?

Could it be Huang Chao?

Judging by the absurdity of the late Tang Dynasty depicted on the sky, even without Huang Chao, there would have been Li Chao or Liu Chao.

So it's us who drove people to this point?

"In the end, the Tang Dynasty also became the tyrannical Tang Dynasty."

As these words came out of his mouth, Li Shimin felt a surge of immense sorrow.

He established the Zhenguan era in the hope that the people would live a good life. When Li Shimin is mentioned, people give him a thumbs up and say "good".

In the end, the Tang army and rebels together ravaged the people, even more so than at the end of the Sui Dynasty.

His life's work ultimately became a joke.

"If Your Majesty is tired, please go and rest. Your health is of utmost importance."

Empress Zhangsun sat down next to Li Shimin and reached out to hold his wrist.

Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui also bowed and advised, "We have already ordered people to copy down what the Emperor said word for word. It is not too late for Your Majesty to read it later."

Li Shimin slowly shook his head, forcing a smile: "I'm fine."

"Seeing my people suffer such a great calamity, my heart is breaking."

"I want to do something to prolong this prosperous era and allow the people of the world to enjoy a few more years of peace."

Empress Zhangsun did not try to persuade him further, but simply held Li Shimin's hand tightly, offering silent support.

Li Shimin smiled gratefully, got up and went to the desk to copy down "The Ballad of the Qin Woman," then ordered it to be framed and hung in his bedchamber so that he could use it to constantly remind himself of the poem.

This poem is not particularly ornate, but precisely because of this, it sends chills down your spine when you read it.

"This is... the fall of a dynasty."

-

After telling the story of Huang Chao, Lu Li sighed softly, feeling quite conflicted.

It's a pity, but he did deserve to die because he massacred the city and ate people.

You could say it served them right; given the mess the late Tang Dynasty was in, even if it hadn't produced a Huang Chao, someone else would have.

Lu Li casually opened the comments section, and sure enough, it was incredibly lively.

(Huang Chao was no good, and the aristocratic families were even worse. He just showed us through his actions that what's so noble about being from a family with four generations of high-ranking officials or being from one of the five noble families or seven prominent clans? If you stab someone with a knife, they'll still die!)

(The late Tang Dynasty didn't even teach this in textbooks; they just gave a rough summary. You only realize how hellish it was once you actually understand it.)

(This is all Emperor Xuanzong's fault. He brought the Tang Dynasty to its peak, and then personally pushed it into hell. The next few centuries were spent paying the price.)

"Emperor Xuanzong of Tang..."

Zhao Kuangyin looked at the comments on the sky, and nodded thoughtfully.

The mess left by the late Tang Dynasty was not completely cleaned up until Chenqiao Mutiny.

As for Emperor Xuanzong of Tang... Zhao Kuangyu felt that it was difficult to judge his merits and demerits.

He ushered in the Kaiyuan era of prosperity, which indeed brought the Tang Dynasty to its peak.

But it was precisely in order to control the border regions that he delegated military and financial power to the military governors, thus digging the grave for the Tang Dynasty.

Zhao Kuangyin secretly warned himself that the Song Dynasty must never repeat the old mistakes.

Military power must be firmly held in the hands of the imperial court, even if it makes fighting more difficult, it is better than raising a second An Lushan.

-

As the backdrop darkens, the story of Huang Chao comes to an end.

After a brief black screen, new background music started playing.

It wasn't the sound of war drums, but a hymn with a Western style.

[After Huang Chao, the next one is also a heavyweight.]

Please welcome—the Son of God, the pinnacle of peasant uprisings, the founder of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Hong Xiuquan!

Three large characters crashed down from the sky, each one radiating golden light.

Below the character "金" (gold), a man dressed in a scholar's robe, with a haggard face, lies on a dilapidated wooden bed.

His eyes were lifeless, his lips were chapped, and he exuded an air of dejection, as if he had been abandoned by the world.

"Again?"

In the late Tang Dynasty court, many officials and ministers were somewhat alarmed when they heard that someone had failed the imperial examination.

The previous scholar who failed the imperial examination, Huang Chao, slaughtered his way through Chang'an, leaving rivers of blood flowing.

What kind of trouble is Hong Xiuquan going to cause this time?

Was the imperial examination system meant to select talented individuals, or was it creating rebels?

The images on the celestial screen shifted, and Hong Xiuquan floated up to the heavens.

Above the clouds, an old man with blond hair and blue eyes sat on a throne, dressed in white robes and with a white beard, his whole body radiating light.

The old man handed Hong Xiuquan a sword, his expression both kind and dignified.

"Monsters and evil spirits roam the world; go and slay them for me."

Hong Xiuquan knelt down and took the sword, his face full of fanaticism.

Hong Xiuquan was born in Huaxian County, Guangdong Province, into a family of scholars and farmers, and was intelligent from a young age.

Like many traditional scholars, he embarked on the path of the imperial examination, dreaming of passing with flying colors and bringing glory to his ancestors.

However, on his path to becoming the top scholar, he encountered a small difficulty—he failed the preliminary examination for the imperial examinations three times.

"no?"

After a brief silence, many scholars who were studying hard or had achieved academic success began to lose their composure.

The preliminary examination for elementary school students?

It was not the prefectural examination, not the provincial examination, not the metropolitan examination—it was the very basic entrance examination for the imperial examinations, the preliminary examination for children.

This is nothing compared to becoming a scholar; it's just an entry-level qualification exam!

Three failed attempts? This guy's brain is as hard as a block of wood. He should just go home and farm instead of causing trouble for others.

The Huang Chao mentioned earlier, at least, had the talent of a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations), but it was the unfairness of the examination system that drove him to rebellion.

This Hong Xiuquan, who couldn't even pass the preliminary examination, is just too pathetic.

The Song Dynasty scholar shook his head at his companion, "How dare such ignorant and incompetent people presume to call themselves a heavenly kingdom?"

"It's nothing but the delusions of a clown. I predict that their so-called Taiping Heavenly Kingdom will perish the following year!"