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

The bells that signaled the end of court had long since faded, but the bloodshed and greed in the Hall of Supreme Harmony seemed to still linger in the air of the Forbidden City.

Zhu Dijun and Zhu Qizhen walked one after the other on their way back to the inner palace.

The eunuchs and palace maids around them had already been replaced by the trusted men sent by Menda and Xing'an. They kept their heads down, deliberately suppressing their breathing, not daring to make a sound.

Finally, the two brothers stopped in front of the ruins of Nangong.

This place was once Zhu Qizhen's prison, but it was recently burned to the ground by a fire. The charred beams and broken bricks and tiles exuded a sense of deathly stillness in the setting sun.

Zhu Dijun waved his hand.

The guards and eunuchs silently retreated a hundred paces away, leaving this place of destruction to the two emperors of the Ming Dynasty, both past and present.

"You're insane!"

Unable to contain his shock any longer, Zhu Qizhen turned around abruptly, staring intently at Judy-Jun, his voice trembling with excitement.

"Brother, you saw it all today! That pack of hungry wolves! That pack of greedy, vicious dogs!"

"If you allow them to divide up the gentry of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Fujian under your leadership today, they will dare to turn their butcher knives on the Zhu family's imperial clan tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow they will dare to covet the dragon throne beneath your backside!"

"You're inviting a wolf into your house, feeding a tiger to cause future trouble! You're digging your own grave! You've gone mad!"

Zhu Qizhen's questioning reflected the fear that any normal emperor would feel.

However, Zhu Dijun's face remained completely expressionless.

He looked at his elder brother, whose face was contorted with fear, and spoke calmly.

"Brother, I'm not crazy."

"On the contrary, I am more clear-headed than ever."

His voice was soft, yet carried an undeniable weight.

"Don't be fooled by the fact that I'm feeding them meat now; I'm also preparing an unexpected gift package for them in the future."

Zhu Qizhen was taken aback: "What kind of big gift package?"

Judy Jun's gaze fell upon the scorched earth, as if she were conceiving a completely new blueprint.

"One, an anti-feudal gentry land program."

This tongue-twisting and unfamiliar term left Zhu Qizhen completely bewildered.

Judy Jun didn't keep them in suspense and continued:

"As for the content, I already have a plan in mind, which I call... the Land Revolution."

"The first step is to use the power of the imperial court to investigate all land and population in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Fujian, and to redefine them by class."

"The second step is to mobilize the most oppressed tenants and vagrants, under the supervision of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot, to seize the landlords' property! Burn all their land deeds, debt contracts, and account books! Distribute their livestock and houses to the penniless poor tenants! As for the gold and silver found, all of it should be turned over to the national treasury!"

"Step three!"

Zhu Dijun's voice suddenly rose in pitch.

"Remeasure all land in Jiangxi and Zhejiang, and redistribute it equally! Make the distribution plan public, mark the boundaries, and write the landowner, place name, and area on the labels!"

boom!

Zhu Qizhen was struck dumb, staggered back a few steps, and looked at Judy Jung with the eyes of someone looking at a monster.

He finally understood.

This is hardly a division of spoils.

This is going to completely uproot the social foundation of the entire Jiangnan region, and even the entire Ming Dynasty, which has lasted for over a thousand years!

This is worse than rebellion! This is an attempt to overthrow the entire gentry!

"You..." Zhu Qizhen pointed at him, his lips trembling, unable to utter a single word.

Is the "Zhu Qiyu" before us still the younger brother who said he would die for his country at the Duke of Ying's mansion?

Do not!

This is a complete madman! A madman who wants to drag the royal family, the gentry, the clan... everything into the abyss of destruction!

Looking at Zhu Qizhen's pale face, Zhu Dijun sighed, a hint of weariness and loneliness in his eyes.

"Brother, I had no choice but to do this."

His voice sounded incredibly desolate in the evening breeze amidst the ruins.

"The Little Ice Age was already showing signs of it."

"And you've seen the true character of the officials in the court today. Relying on them will certainly not change anything in the future."

"Since that's the case, I might as well sow the seeds of change in this land beforehand!"

Judy Jun turned around abruptly, his eyes shining brightly in the twilight. He spoke slowly and deliberately, uttering a sentence that would send chills down the spine of any emperor.

"The Ming Dynasty is doomed!"

"The world must not perish!"

"The Han people must not perish!"

"The civilization of the Han people must not be severed!"

Zhu Qizhen was completely stunned, his mind went blank, and he was utterly shocked by these words.

He opened his mouth blankly, as if asking a question on instinct.

"Brother... what is... the Little Ice Age?"

"Brother, listen to me."

Judy Jun's voice became low and solemn, as if he were revealing a terrifying secret concerning the survival of the world.

"The so-called Ice Age is when the entire world becomes extremely cold, most of the land is covered by ice and snow, and countless lives are wiped out. While the Little Ice Age is not as terrifying, it will still cause a significant drop in temperature."

"And this has led to a large-scale global reduction in food production."

"Famine followed by famine, then plague, then widespread displacement, then social unrest, then... dynastic change!"

He looked at Zhu Qizhen and said something even more chilling to him.

"In the history of China, there have been three such Little Ice Ages, and each one corresponds to the collapse of a powerful dynasty!"

"The first instance was from the end of the Shang Dynasty to the beginning of the Western Zhou Dynasty!"

"The second period was from the late Eastern Han Dynasty to the Three Kingdoms and Western Jin Dynasties!"

"The third time was from the late Tang Dynasty and Five Dynasties period to the early Northern Song Dynasty!"

"And the fourth time, Your Majesty..." Zhu Dijun's eyes seemed to pierce through the mists of history, seeing the destined future, "...the end of our Great Ming Dynasty!"

"The Shang Dynasty, the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty—which of them wasn't a powerful dynasty that once dominated the world? But in their later years, besides intense internal conflicts, they all faced natural disasters brought about by the Little Ice Age!"

Historical records state that after Emperor Yi ascended the throne, floods, droughts, locust plagues, and earthquakes occurred one after another! During the late Eastern Han Dynasty and the late Tang Dynasty, starvation was rampant, and people even resorted to cannibalism!

Judy Jun's voice was like the judgment of the end of the world.

"Brother, I can now almost predict the future fate of our Great Ming Dynasty!"

"Due to the influence of the Little Ice Age, the north suffered a severe drought, resulting in crop failure, outbreaks of plague, and millions of refugees! Foreign tribes from beyond the Great Wall seized the opportunity to migrate south!"

"We've encountered the same dead end as the Shang Dynasty, the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the Tang Dynasty! This is an inescapable predicament; we have no choice but to face it head-on!"

He paused, his tone filled with endless sarcasm and disappointment.

"I dare not gamble, I dare not gamble that a figure like Empress Deng Sui of the Eastern Han Dynasty will emerge among future generations. As a regent empress dowager, she faced the Little Ice Age at that time and managed to provide a complete solution for future generations."

"But what about our Empress Dowagers?" Zhu Dijun's lips curled into a cold smile. "Apart from the empresses of Emperor Taizu and Emperor Taizong, who were relatively virtuous, the rest, including our 'good mother,' you've seen it all—they're nothing but a bunch of short-sighted, power-hungry good-for-nothings!"

"Rely on them? Rely on those civil officials who only know how to fight amongst themselves? Rely on those nobles whose bodies have been hollowed out by wine and women?"

"No, Your Majesty."

Zhu Dijun looked at Zhu Qizhen, who was completely stunned, and spoke slowly.

"I can't count on anyone."

"I can only rely on myself, and my elder brother and nephew Jian Shen, who will carry on my legacy!"