Sky Curtain: The opening scene explains the four major cases of the Ming Dynasty plus the early Ming

Zhu Dijun's words were like a black lightning bolt, splitting the fog of history and revealing the dirtiest and bloodiest secrets beneath!

To cover up corruption, they're willing to wage war, causing immense suffering and death?!

Is this something a human being could do?!

Throughout time and space, countless people felt a bone-chilling cold.

They always believed that war was the emperor's ambition and a result of barbarian invasions from the border regions.

They never imagined that the war might have been deliberately started by a group of high-ranking "upright officials" to cover up their theft of a few acres of land and the embezzlement of a few bushels of grain!

"Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Is this for real?! This isn't just greed, this is inhumane!"

"To avoid an audit, they blew up the company?! What's wrong with these civil servants' brains?!"

"Upstairs, your analogy is spot on! They're not just going to bomb the company, they're going to bomb the entire industrial park and then claim it's a terrorist attack and has nothing to do with them!"

"I finally understand what 'When a dynasty prospers, the people suffer; when a dynasty falls, the people suffer' means! So, no matter what, we ordinary people are always the ones who pay the price, right?!"

In a modern live-streaming room, the crowd is outraged!

Meanwhile, in the myriad worlds and timelines, the people experiencing war felt as if they had fallen into an ice cave!

For the first time, their eyes were filled with doubt and fear as they looked at the officials who stood calmly on the city wall, spouting slogans of "for the country and the people."

Is this war really about protecting our homeland?

Or... is it just to protect the official positions and purses of certain important figures?

Above the sky, Zhu Dijun did not stop. He wanted to use the coldest historical facts to completely tear apart the mask of "benevolence and morality" of the civil service group!

"Family members, this is the underlying logic of the 'Ye Zongliu and Deng Maoqi Rebellion,' which swept across several provinces and lasted for several years during the Zhengtong Dynasty!"

"It was not a simple peasant uprising!"

"It was an armed rebellion instigated, planned, and even directly participated in by the civil service, aimed at undermining the 'Qing army' national policy and covering up corruption!"

The scene shifts, revealing lines of records from the "Veritable Records of Emperor Yingzong of Ming," tinged with bloodshed, presented to everyone.

"On the first day of the month of Gengchen, Deng An, the Vice Commander of Fujian, and others reported: Initially, when Censor Liu Hua was arresting bandits in Fujian, he arbitrarily set up watchtowers and outposts in various villages. He also organized the people into militia and appointed them as inspectors. He also ordered the private manufacture of weapons such as hooks, knives, and iron rakes for self-defense. The rebels Deng Maoqi and others all rose up from among the militia and were thus arrested and used to cause chaos..."

Zhu Dijun's voice sounded like a judge reading a verdict.

"Family members, look! What has this Imperial Censor named Liu Hua been doing in Fujian?"

"Under the guise of 'catching thieves,' he privately organized civilians, fortified villages, and even made the civilians manufacture their own weapons!"

"What do you call this? This is called arming civilians! He personally completed the most crucial organization, training, and arming for Deng Maoqi's rebel army!"

"He's not suppressing bandits, he's raising them!"

The screen continued to scroll.

"Initially, Wang Cheng, the Supervising Censor of Fujian, sent a document to Zhejiang and Jiangxi to advance troops and jointly capture the bandit Deng Maoqi. However, because the bandit was discussing surrendering, the order was given not to advance... Upon learning that the bandit had no intention of surrendering, a messenger was dispatched to urge him to advance..."

"The three provincial departments of Fujian also reported that when the rebels were weak, the former censor Chai Wenxian concealed the matter from the emperor, thus creating the current predicament..."

"Did you see that?!" Judy Jun's voice suddenly rose!

"When Deng Maoqi had just rebelled and his forces were still weak, the Imperial Censor Chai Wenxian concealed the rebellion and failed to report it! He watched helplessly as the rebels grew stronger!"

"When the rebels had gained momentum and required a joint effort from several provinces to suppress them, another imperial inspector, Wang Cheng, used the pretext that 'the rebels wanted to surrender' to prevent the army from advancing, thus missing another crucial opportunity!"

"One is in charge of arming, one is in charge of concealment, and one is in charge of delaying!"

"A complete service!"

"If this isn't a premeditated scheme to harbor and nurture bandits, then what is?!"

Dead silence.

All of space and time fell into a deathly silence.

The evidence is irrefutable!

Interlocking steps, leaving no room for error!

This is no coincidence; it's a meticulously planned conspiracy!

The orthodox timeline.

Zhu Qizhen looked at the familiar names on the sky: Liu Hua, Wang Cheng, Chai Wenxian... They were all imperial censors sent down by the court, representatives of civil officials!

He always believed that the chaos in the southeast was caused by local officials forcing the people to rebel.

But he never expected that these censors who were supposed to be on the emperor's behalf were actually the mastermind behind everything!

They are using the blood of people from Fujian, Zhejiang, and Jiangxi provinces to drown the evidence of their corruption!

"brute!"

For the first time, a chilling killing intent, not belonging to a young man, burst forth in Zhu Qizhen's eyes!

"These are all my subjects!"

On the sky, Judy Jun seemed to hear his roar, and then, he gave the ending to this farce.

"Afterwards, Zhu Qizhen's thunderous wrath descended."

"After being impeached, Censor Liu Hua committed suicide, but Zhu Qizhen did not let him off the hook. He ordered the confiscation of his property, his wife and daughters were sent to the laundry department as slaves, and all the men were exiled to Tieling Guard as soldiers!"

"Censor Chai Wenxian, the mastermind behind raising a tiger that would ultimately cause trouble, was ordered by Zhu Qizhen to be executed by slow slicing, and his entire family's property was confiscated!"

"Imperial Censor Wang Cheng, execute him in the marketplace!"

"Family members, tell me, was Zhu Qizhen a fool?!"

Don't faint!

Not dizzy at all!

This is absolutely ruthless and decisive!

Zhu Yuanzhang looked up at the sky and, for the first time, showed a hint of approval in his eyes for his unworthy descendant.

"Just like us!"

"This is the way to deal with these lawless civil officials! We have to kill them! Kill them until they're terrified!"

Zhu Di nodded slightly, noting that Zhu Qizhen's handling of the situation was reminiscent of his own style back then.

However, what Judy Jun said next made everyone's hearts sink again.

"Zhu Qizhen's iron fist quelled the rebellion in the southeast, but it failed to quell the corrupt heart of the civil official group."

On the sky, a memorial appeared after the rebellion had been quelled.

"Yang Ning, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice of Jiangxi Province, reported: Many prefectures and counties under the jurisdiction of the Jiangxi and Zhejiang Provincial Administration Commissions, which are close to Fujian Province, have been harassed by bandits. It is advisable to suspend the Qing troops. This was approved."

"Family members, look!" Zhu Dijun's voice was full of sarcasm. "After the chaos in the Southeast, the civil service immediately jumped out and said what?"

"They said that because of the thieves and the devastation in the area, the Qing troops should be suspended!"

"The true intentions have been revealed!"

"After going through such a long and complicated process, and with so many deaths, their ultimate goal was still just these four words—to halt the Qing army's advance!"

"Using the corpses of people from several provinces to achieve their own political goals!"

"I must say, this was a vicious scheme!"

"Sacrificing the people to become nourishment for the civil service!"

"However, they still underestimated this young emperor!"

"Zhu Qizhen pacified Luchuan, then the southeast, and followed the trail from small rebels to leaders, and from leaders to local officials... The sword of investigation will soon fall on those high-ranking officials in the capital who are remotely directing everything!"

"The civil service has been pushed to the brink!"

"They must immediately shift their focus, otherwise, when the renowned general Wang Ji, who conquered Luchuan, and the renowned general Chen Mao, who pacified the southeast, return to Beijing with their victorious armies..."

"Faced with this arrogant, ruthless, workaholic young emperor, they will be utterly annihilated!"

"And so, an even more insane, more vicious, and more massive conspiracy began to brew."

"The only hope for the civil service is..."

"To provoke a war on a much larger scale!"

"Let the North descend into chaos too!"