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

"Did you remove it?"

Zhu Qizhen murmured the word repeatedly, his face full of bitterness and helplessness.

"Brother, you make it sound so easy."

"That's the entire gentry class of the land! From the previous dynasty to this one, over a thousand years! Their roots run too deep!"

"Their sons are officials in the imperial court; their clansmen are powerful local figures; their protégés and former subordinates are all over the world!"

"If you harm one, you affect many! If you uproot them, you are making an enemy of the entire world!"

"We...we can't win."

This is not cowardice, but rather an emperor's clearest understanding of the ruling structure of this empire.

Imperial power has never been able to act arbitrarily.

It needs to rely on a large bureaucratic gentry group to maintain its operation.

To make an enemy of the entire group is tantamount to suicide.

"Who said it was going to be the two of us fighting?"

Judy turned around, looked at him, and smiled.

That smile, bathed in the afterglow of the setting sun, appeared particularly sinister, even carrying a hint of eerie amusement.

"Brother, have you forgotten?"

"Have you forgotten that group of people in the Hall of Supreme Harmony today, fighting tooth and nail over a piece of land on the map, displaying their utter disgraceful behavior..."

"Is it a hungry wolf?"

Zhu Qizhen was suddenly taken aback.

In his mind, an image flashed before his eyes: those once dignified civil and military officials now acting like street thugs, pushing, cursing, and scrambling for territory.

A chill ran down his spine and up to the top of his head.

"Would they...would they genuinely help us?"

Zhu Qizhen's voice was trembling.

"They're just greedy! A pack of mad dogs blinded by desire!"

Greed is the most powerful weapon in the world.

Zhu Dijun's voice was calm and cold, like that of a master chess player explaining his game.

"I cut off the fattest and most delicious meat from the south and shared it with them. They then became the 'new elite' of the north."

"And every bite of meat they ate was torn alive from the bodies of the old gentry of Jiangnan."

"From the moment they swallowed their first bite of meat, they and the old gentry of Jiangnan became mortal enemies!"

"Brother, think about it. If they want to keep the wealth they've acquired and their new positions, what should they do?"

Following his logic, Zhu Qizhen subconsciously replied, "They... must completely crush the gentry of Jiangnan... so that they can never rise again."

"That's right!"

A hint of approval flashed in Zhu Dijun's eyes.

"This is the most primal and powerful motivation I instilled in them!"

"Hatred and self-interest will drive them to become the sharpest and most obedient blades in my hand! They will want the old forces in Jiangnan to be completely annihilated even more than we do!"

Zhu Dijun paused, then continued:

"This is just the first step."

"The second step is to distribute all the ownerless land that I confiscated from the gentry in Jiangnan to the tenants and vagrants who have nothing and are starving."

"Brother, tell me again."

"When a farmer who is about to starve to death suddenly owns land that he can pass on to his descendants, if someone tries to take that land away from him..."

"What will he do?"

This time, Zhu Qizhen answered without hesitation.

"He'll...fight to the death!"

"right!"

Judy Jun clapped her hands, her voice filled with an air of absolute confidence!

"I gave the bureaucratic class in the North the benefits they'd been dreaming of!"

"I gave the land that hundreds of millions of ordinary people depend on for their livelihood!"

"In this way, I have bound the two largest groups of people in the world tightly to my war chariot that crushes the old world!"

"Although it's temporary, as time goes by, the two sides will become enemies again."

"But what do our current enemies, those self-righteous gentry and landlords, have?"

"Besides a few tattered books filled with classical Chinese phrases, and a bunch of pedantic scholars who only know how to talk big and stab people in the back..."

"They have nothing!"

"They were completely isolated!"

"Once a rift forms, it takes a very long time to mend it. The newly rich in the north are unlikely to relinquish the wealth they have taken from Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Fujian. Meanwhile, the gentry from Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Fujian, who have been divided up, have no choice but to compromise with them in order to seek revenge. They may even rally together the peasants they once looked down upon to fight against them, whether they are from Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, or the north, as long as they can cause trouble for their enemies."

……

[Sky Screen Modern Live Broadcast Room]

"Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! I'm totally blown away! This is an open conspiracy! This is the ultimate open conspiracy!"

["Win some over, divide some, and overthrow some! Brother Jun has figured out the instructors' mindset!"]

"Give the bureaucrats their interests, and they'll be their weapons! Give the people their land, and they'll be their shields! To protect their interests, the bureaucrats, and to protect their land, will become Brother Jun's most steadfast supporters! The only enemy left is the isolated gentry of Jiangnan! This battle hasn't even started, and we've already won!"

"It's not just that. Just like Brother Jun said, in order to reclaim their ancestral property, the Jiangnan gentry would try to win over the peasants they looked down upon to fight against the northern gentry. This gave the vast majority of the peasant class a chance to breathe, and subconsciously told them that they were entitled to own land and wealth."

"I was worried that Brother Jun was too extreme, but now I understand. He's not extreme; he's calculated human nature and self-interest to the extreme! That's the real art of emperorship!"

……

The Three Kingdoms Era.

In the palace of the King of Wei.

Looking at the sky, Cao Cao slapped his thigh in excitement and burst into laughter.

"Wonderful! Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful!"

He pointed to the sky and spoke to Xun Yu, Guo Jia, and others beside him.

"What's so great about using the emperor to command the disobedient? This man is using the interests of the people and officials to control the gentry!"

"He's not fighting a war; he's cutting off the enemy's lifeline! He's completely isolating them, turning them into water without a source, a tree without roots! This tactic surpasses even a hundred thousand soldiers! I am utterly ashamed of my inferiority!"

Shu Han.

Prime Minister's House.

Holding a feather fan, Zhuge Liang's usually calm and collected face revealed, for the first time, an undisguised shock.

He gently waved his fan, muttering to himself.

"This is neither the way of the king, nor the way of the tyrant..."

"This is... the demonic path."

"Using the desires of all people as fuel and the hopes of all people as fire, burn away the old world and create a new one... terrifying, yet admirable."

……

Ruins of Nangong Palace.

Zhu Qizhen was completely impressed by Zhu Dijun's grand and meticulous plan.

Fear, doubt, confusion... all negative emotions vanished.

Instead, there was a profound sense of awe and reverence emanating from the depths of one's soul.

Looking at his younger brother, this familiar yet unfamiliar face, he suddenly felt as if he were not a person, but a god or a demon walking among humans.

But one last question remained in his mind.

"But...Brother..."

Zhu Qizhen's voice carried a hint of worry.

"You might succeed by doing this... but what will history say about you?"

"Inciting riots, abandoning Confucian traditions, associating with corrupt officials, and implementing the cruel policies of Shang Yang and Chao Cuo."