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

In some parallel universes, during the Hongwu reign of the Ming Dynasty.

Inside the Fengtian Hall, the air seemed to have solidified into a block of iron.

Zhu Yuanzhang stared intently at the sky, his deeply lined face contorting with convulsive muscle contractions.

His eyes were no longer crimson, but a grayish-white after they had burned out, filled with a raging fire that could incinerate the entire world!

Zhu Jianshen, Zhu Youcheng... were "treated" to death by the imperial physicians.

Zhu Houzhao... drowned, and his achievements were erased.

Zhu Houcong... lost seven of his eight sons, and suffered a fire two years later.

Zhu Yijun... has a limp and rotten teeth, and dares not seek medical treatment!

Zhu Changluo and Zhu Youxiao... died suddenly from taking medication!

Zhu Youjian... hanged himself on Coal Hill!

Each name, each bloody crime, was like a red-hot iron spike, piercing his heart!

Those are all his descendants! They are the bloodline of the Zhu family! They are the future heirs to the empire he fought and died for!

"puff!"

A mouthful of blood suddenly spurted from Zhu Yuanzhang's mouth, staining the dragon table in front of him red.

"Father!" Crown Prince Zhu Biao exclaimed in alarm and rushed forward.

"Get out of here!"

Zhu Yuanzhang shoved him aside, his eyes, which had once swept away all heroes, now fixed intently on the three distorted faces of Yu Qian, Wang Wen, and Chen Xun on the sky.

He saw it.

He saw that beneath the fig leaf of "benevolence and morality" lay centuries of hidden greed, malice, and fangs that devoured their master!

"Good...good...what a fine civil service group!"

Zhu Yuanzhang's voice was hoarse, like a broken gong, and every word he uttered was stained with blood.

"We've killed our whole lives, slaughtered our whole lives... We thought we'd wiped out all those with ill intentions!"

"So...so that's where the root of the problem lies!"

"We were wrong... We didn't kill enough! Not nearly enough!"

He slammed his fist on the imperial desk, and the solid desk cracked under his blow!

"Li Shanchang! Liu Bowen!"

He roared, pointing to the names of the two chief civil officials of His Highness.

"Tell us! This is what you read in your books?! This is your 'way of sages'?!"

"To assist the monarch? To uphold the state?!"

"fart!"

"You are a bunch of ungrateful wretches! A bunch of maggots sucking blood from our Great Ming Dynasty!"

"We gave you high-ranking positions and generous salaries, we made you bring glory to your ancestors! Is this how you repay our descendants?!"

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

Zhu Yuanzhang, as if possessed, pointed at the sky, at the void, and at all the civil and military officials, and issued the most vicious curses and the most resolute orders.

"Issue my decree! From this day forward, anyone who forms cliques for personal gain will be executed without mercy! Anyone who criticizes the emperor will be executed without mercy! Anyone... anyone who has any connection with the beasts in the Heavenly Canopy will have their entire family exterminated!"

"We'll let these book-weary bastards know what's what!"

"This Ming Dynasty, its surname is Zhu!"

"This is our land!"

……

The Qianqing Palace during the Yongle reign.

Zhu Di's face was colder than the ice outside the palace.

He didn't roar like Zhu Yuanzhang, but the chilling murderous aura emanating from him made Yao Guangxiao, who was standing next to him, feel his heart pound.

He foresaw Zhu Houzhao's fate.

That younger generation, who, like him, loved to personally lead troops into battle and make a name for themselves on the battlefield, ended up dying an "accident" and being falsely accused of being a tyrant.

He saw a replica of Zhu Qizhen.

He saw his own reflection.

"hehe……"

Zhu Di let out a low, cold laugh, a laugh devoid of any amusement, only chilling coldness.

"Good tactic."

"If you can't beat them, smear them. If you can't smear them, assassinate them."

"If we can't kill them, we'll wear them down."

"This is our 'good subject'!"

He slowly stood up, walked to the map, and his gaze fell on the area marked "Jiangxi".

Yu Qian was from Ji'an, Jiangxi Province.

Chen Xun was from Ji'an, Jiangxi Province.

Although Wang Wen was not from Jiangxi, many of his political allies came from there.

"The Jiangxi Gang..."

Zhu Di uttered these three words softly.

His eyes became deep and dangerous.

He thought of the old officials of the Jianwen era, those "loyal ministers" who would rather die than submit, and were eventually executed along with their entire families.

He always thought they were remnants of the previous dynasty.

Now he understands.

That was not the remnant of the previous dynasty, but a spirit, a kind of arrogance and ambition rooted in the bones of these scholar-officials who believed in "sharing the world with the emperor" or even "ruling the world on behalf of the emperor"!

"Great monk," Zhu Di suddenly spoke.

"This humble monk is here."

"Do you think we're being too lenient?"

Yao Guangxiao clasped his hands together, bowing his head respectfully: "Your Majesty, the cycle of Heaven is cyclical, and retribution is inevitable."

"Retribution?" Zhu Di sneered. "Are our descendants their retribution?"

"No." Yao Guangxiao raised his head, his eyes flashing with an eerie light. "Your Majesty, the one in the sky is their retribution."

Zhu Di turned his gaze back to the sky.

That descendant of Zhu Dijun, that madman who overturned the table.

Yes.

He is retribution.

This is the most extreme retribution that has been born from the Zhu family's accumulated resentment and bloodshed over hundreds of years!

……

In other dimensions, things completely exploded.

Kaifeng, Song Dynasty.

Zhao Kuangyin, dressed in military attire, slowly put down the wine cup in his hand.

He didn't look at the sky, but turned his head and looked at his younger brother, Zhao Guangyi, who was sitting below him, his body stiff, with an unprecedentedly calm and terrifying gaze.

"Guangyi".

"Your subject... Your subject is here." Zhao Guangyi's voice was hoarse, and cold sweat had soaked through his back.

"The Shadow of the Candle and the Sound of the Axe..." Zhao Kuangyin asked calmly, "Is it true?"

"Your Majesty! You...you must hear my explanation!"

"No need to explain." Zhao Kuangyin interrupted him, his eyes showing no anger, only a bottomless disappointment and coldness.

"I understand."

"I understand now. That's why later generations said that the Song Dynasty was a 'cowardly' dynasty."

"I understand now. That's why the emperor of my Zhao family wants to 'govern the world together' with the scholar-officials."

"Because... you started this one."

Zhao Kuangyin stood up, his tall figure completely casting Zhao Guangyi into shadow.

"You killed your brother and nephew, usurped the throne, and made a deal with those scholars to silence public opinion."

"You gave them the privilege of not killing scholar-officials, and you gave them dignity."

"You think this is consolidating your throne."

"idiot!"

"You're putting a shackle on our Zhao family's empire that we can never escape!"

"You are telling all future scholars that emperors... can be schemed against, threatened, and even killed!"

"Look at the Ming Dynasty!" Zhao Kuangyin pointed to the sky, "That's the 'good example' you've set, and the 'good fruit' it has borne!"

Zhao Guangyi's face turned ashen, and he collapsed to the ground.

……

The Great Tang Dynasty, Taiji Palace.

Li Shimin gazed at the sky, remaining silent for a long time.

The people behind him, including Changsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, and Du Ruhui, remained silent, not daring to raise their heads.

They seemed to see the emperor's gaze sweeping over them one by one.

"Auxiliary machine." Li Shimin's voice was calm.

"Your subject is here." Changsun Wuji's heart skipped a beat.

"Tell me, if one day, my descendants, like those Ming Dynasty emperors, are 'assisted' to death by your descendants."

"What should I do?"

Changsun Wuji knelt down with a thud, sweat pouring down his face: "Your Majesty! We deserve to die ten thousand times! We are utterly loyal to the Tang Dynasty and to Your Majesty, and have never harbored any disloyalty!"

Li Shimin did not let him get up.

He simply stared at the young man named Zhu Dijun on the sky.

What he tore away was more than just the fig leaf covering up the Ming Dynasty.

What he tore open was the seemingly warm and affectionate, yet incredibly bloody truth, between imperial power and ministerial power since ancient times.

At this moment, whether it was Qin Shi Huang Ying Zheng, Emperor Wu of Han Liu Che, or Emperor Wen of Sui Yang Jian.

All the emperors had the same thought in their minds.

Civil service groups... powerful clans...

This malignant tumor must be removed!

And the methods of that descendant named Zhu Dijun, perhaps... can be learned from.