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

Zhu Yuanzhang was able to remain calm until he saw Zhu Biao and Empress Ma pass away one after another, at which point he completely lost his composure.

The girl is gone?

The mark is gone too?

Old Zhu slumped on the dragon throne, his eyes fixed on the line of words, muttering them over and over again.

Empress Ma, behind the curtain, swayed slightly and grabbed a pillar beside her for support.

She saw those words earlier than Zhu Yuanzhang, and accepted the fact sooner.

"Zhongba, I'm fine..."

Before she could finish speaking, Zhu Yuanzhang had already grabbed her wrist.

Zhu Yuanzhang's lips trembled for a long time, but he couldn't make a sound. He just kept gripping Empress Ma's wrist, as if to confirm that she was still alive.

Empress Ma patted the back of Zhu Yuanzhang's hand in a calm tone.

"Tianmu is talking about things in the future, not now, so why are you in such a hurry?"

"Aren't we in a hurry?" Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes were frighteningly red. "Tianmu said you left first, and Biao'er left too, leaving us all alone!"

"What kind of emperor am I, sitting alone in this broken chair? What kind of life is this?"

Empress Ma sighed and reached out to wipe away the tears on his face.

"Look at you, you're already the emperor, and you still cry at the drop of a hat."

Zhu Yuanzhang remained silent, refusing to relinquish his grip.

He recalled that when he was under Guo Zixing's command, he was a poor monk who didn't even have a decent pair of shoes.

It was this woman in front of him who secretly slipped him the sesame seed cakes she had saved up, tucked them into her bosom.

He can live without this empire, without this throne, but he cannot live without his sister.

"Let's go find the imperial physician and gather all the best doctors in the land."

Zhu Yuanzhang wiped away his tears with his sleeve, but the more he wiped, the more tears streamed down his face. "Don't we have many methods for dealing with the sky? What about penicillin? We'll get it all for you."

"We don't believe in fate."

Empress Ma felt both heartbroken and amused by his appearance.

"Zhongba, listen to me."

"I won't listen."

"you--"

"I won't listen, I won't listen, I won't listen!" Zhu Yuanzhang retorted, looking like a shameless old rogue.

Zhu Biao stood at the entrance of the palace, unsure whether to go in or back.

He, as the son, stood there awkwardly, looking utterly superfluous.

After pondering for a moment, Zhu Biao quietly retreated to the outside of the corridor and closed the door behind him.

A eunuch outside the door approached: "Your Highness, His Majesty—"

Zhu Biao waved his hand and lowered his voice, "Have the imperial kitchen prepare a pot of ginseng soup and send it over. Don't disturb them."

The eunuch acknowledged and hurriedly retreated.

Zhu Biao leaned against a pillar in the corridor and looked up at the sky.

Several comments are scrolling by.

(If Zhu Yuanzhang had been consistent in his actions, he would probably have been slightly less successful than Li Shimin and would have become a conceptual god.)

(Zhu Yuanzhang should really thank Zhu Di, otherwise you could easily find out the differences between Zhu Yuanzhang and Yang Jian.)

"No, do you have to mention me here too?"

Yang Jian was watching the commotion while holding a teacup when his face suddenly darkened.

Whenever Tianmu talks about other emperors, he always brings him up as a background figure.

He never gets any good things, but he never misses a single shameful thing.

Yang Jian knew the root cause perfectly well.

It's all that wretched Yang Guang's fault!

If the Sui Dynasty had lasted a few more decades, who would have dared to make such a fuss about it in later generations?

Yang Jian grew increasingly furious, wishing he could rush into the Eastern Palace right now and drag Yang Guang out for a good beating.

But after venting his anger, Yang Jian's mind was still racing.

The comments comparing him to Zhu Yuanzhang simply mean that both of them were ruined by their sons.

Zhu Yuanzhang's fourth son, Zhu Di, usurped the throne, but at least he preserved his father's reputation and ushered in the Yongle Prosperity.

As for Yang Jian, Yang Guang directly sent the Sui Dynasty to its grave.

In comparison, Zhu Yuanzhang's success was a lucky accident, while Yang Jian's downfall was utterly devastating.

"No, we have to think of a way. We can't be worse off than the Qin Dynasty!"

Yang Jian racked his brains, and suddenly an idea struck him.

Since my own son is useless, I can find someone else!

As mentioned before, Li Yuan's son, Li Shimin, was a true all-rounder.

In terms of civil administration, military prowess, education and training, and governance, there are no major flaws.

The only blemish was the Xuanwu Gate Incident, but then again, Yang Jian was just a case of the pot calling the kettle black.

A bold and absurd idea popped into Yang Jian's mind.

He adopted Li Shimin as his son and made him crown prince.

Li Yuan was his nephew, so their blood relation was plausible.

If the Sui Dynasty had a reign of Zhenguan—good heavens, wouldn't that mean the Sui Dynasty had already accomplished what the Tang Dynasty did?

Yang Jian thought about it more and more and it seemed feasible; his smile almost stretched to his ears.

Dugu Jialuo walked over and glanced at him.

"What are you laughing at? Li Yuan is going to usurp your throne, and you're still laughing?"

Yang Jian waved his hand, his face inscrutable, "I know what I'm doing."

On the sky, the scene changed once again.

As Zhu Yuanzhang's figure gradually faded away, a figure dressed in a bright yellow dragon robe strolled out of the hall.

[The last one is the professional emperor from the Qing Dynasty, the "Ten-Complete Old Man" (questionable), Emperor Qianlong—Aisin-Gioro Hongli]

Inside the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

Emperor Qianlong initially refused to look at it, but the moment the words "Perfect Emperor" reached his ears, he jumped up.

"Hmm? Open it up, open it up, let me see!"

The eunuch hurriedly rolled up the curtain again.

Emperor Qianlong straightened his clothes, sat back on the dragon throne, and tried his best to appear calm and composed.

The "Perfect Old Man"—that was a title he gave himself.

Since later generations have brought it up specifically, they must have written about it at length, right?

Emperor Qianlong picked up his teacup and then noticed the two words in parentheses.

Questionable? What does "questionable" mean?

Emperor Qianlong suddenly had a bad feeling.

In comparison, Emperor Qianlong is actually more suitable to be compared with Emperor Xuanzong (Li Longji) than with Emperor Yuanzhang (Zhu Yuanzhang).

Both sides inherited family property, then expanded their territories, ultimately causing serious harm to the country.

Putting everything else aside, let's first analyze Qianlong's martial arts skills.

Emperor Qianlong was very thoughtful and compiled the martial arts manual himself, so let's analyze the Ten Perfections Martial Arts directly.

"Come on! You can do it! I'm all ears!"

Emperor Qianlong slightly raised his chin, showing that he was quite confident in himself.

The Emperor fought wars his whole life, but he never managed to gather ten.

Not to mention the late emperor, who stayed in the palace reviewing memorials until his death.

He excelled in both civil administration and military affairs during the Hongli era, and was equally adept at both.

The "Perfect Old Man" truly lives up to his name!

The first step was to pacify the Greater and Lesser Jinchuan.

Jinchuan is located on the western Sichuan Plateau and is an important passage into Tibet.

Without this territory, the Qing Dynasty's control over Tibet would have been significantly reduced.

Despite widespread opposition in the court, Emperor Qianlong launched two campaigns, which lasted five years and cost the national treasury 7800 million taels of silver.

The two battles of Jinchuan were extremely difficult, due to the harsh natural environment, lack of supplies, and lack of heavy firepower.

However, it played a crucial role in controlling Tibet, so let's consider it a partial achievement.

"It's not that easy!"

Fukang'an stood up abruptly, pointed at the sky, and raised his voice eight octaves.

"Is the terrain of Jinchuan even formidable enough for humans to conquer? You make it sound so easy! Half a victory? You all go and try conquering it yourself!"

"That place is mountainous and the roads are dangerous. People have to struggle to breathe just walking up there, and they also have to carry muskets over the mountains."

"Moreover, the chieftains of Jinchuan have built watchtowers on the mountain for generations, some twenty or thirty meters high, and there are thousands of them densely packed on the mountain!"

"Why didn't anyone fight this before? Because nobody could afford to suffer such a loss!"

When Fukang'an followed Agui on his campaign, he was horrified when he saw the watchtowers covering the mountains and plains.

Each watchtower was built with stone slabs and yellow mud, with walls three or four feet thick and densely packed with firing ports.

Let alone muskets, even cannons could only chip off a layer of skin.

That wasn't war at all; it was at the cost of human lives.

Emperor Qianlong's chest heaved as he slowly recited two lines of poetry: "The Qin Emperor need not have built the Great Wall, Emperor Wu of Han need not have regretted the Battle of Luntai."

If he could do it all over again, he would still hit.

Once the Jinchuan chieftain controls the passage into Tibet and collaborates with the Dzungar Khanate from within, that will be the real threat.

The Battle of Hetongbo had already tarnished the imperial court's prestige. If this battle wasn't fought, where would Emperor Qianlong put his face?

"Half it is fine."

Emperor Qianlong swallowed his anger, but his teeth were grinding together.

"and then?"