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

Fengtian Hall has been completely transformed into a bustling vegetable market.

No, it's even crazier than a vegetable market.

It was a pack of jackals, starving for hundreds of years, devouring the carcass of a giant beast.

A huge map was laid out on the ground. Shi Heng and other military generals, their eyes bloodshot, held the salt fields and canal wharves of Lianghuai firmly in their hands.

Meanwhile, the civil officials in the north surrounded the mines, tea plantations, and customs checkpoints, refusing to budge an inch.

"This piece is mine!"

"Bullshit! This is something our Ministry of War has had its eye on for a long time!"

"Lord Wang, leave some room for maneuver; it's better to meet again in the future. You can't take everything!"

"Screw you! If we don't rob them now, we won't even get soup when we get there!"

They've lost all civility and dignity.

All notions of propriety, righteousness, integrity, and a sense of shame are shattered in the face of immense benefits that could tempt even gods and Buddhas.

Zhu Dijun ignored them.

He simply had a young eunuch bring a bowl of ginseng tea to Peng Shi, who was still breathing slightly.

"Minister Peng, for the safety of your clansmen, I have sent people to escort them to the capital."

Zhu Dijun's voice carried a hint of warmth.

"Of course, you can send them somewhere else if you wish."

Upon hearing this, Peng Shi was moved to tears and immediately knelt down.

"Your Majesty, I thank you for your divine grace! Even if I were to be shattered to pieces, I could not repay you!"

He knew that the emperor was trying to reassure him.

He exposed the true nature of the gentry in Jiangnan, and those people wished they could tear him apart. If his family were still in Jiangxi, the consequences would be unimaginable.

The emperor's actions were a genuine attempt to protect him.

Get up.

Judy Jun offered a helping hand.

"You serve the Ming Dynasty, so naturally I will protect you."

Overnight, from dawn to late at night.

As the lights in the Fengtian Hall were about to go out, this mad gluttonous feast finally came to an end.

A "contract" spanning dozens of pages, filled with densely packed divisions of interests and stamped with the seals and handprints of all the civil and military officials in the north, was presented to Zhu Dijun.

Everyone looked exhausted, but their eyes shone with excitement and satisfaction.

They are about to become the newest and wealthiest nouveau riche in this empire!

Zhu Dijun glanced at it and then stamped his jade seal.

"The contract is complete."

"Seven days from now, we will gather the supplies needed for the army and set off. Those guys from Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Fujian will not easily hand over their wealth; we will need to do it ourselves."

"Furthermore, my esteemed ministers, some envoys from Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Fujian have come to visit. How should we speak to them? I need not instruct them on what to say, am I?"

"We know."

----split line----

night, deeper.

The Imperial Guard's prison.

This is the most sinister and despairing place in the world.

The damp air was filled with a nauseating stench of blood, decay, and mold.

In the deepest cells, powerful figures who once held sway over the government were imprisoned.

Yu Qian, Chen Xun, Wang Wen.

Their hair was disheveled, and their official robes were torn to shreds, covered in mud and blood, making them look like beggars.

Yu Qian leaned against the cold wall, staring blankly at the small window above his head that let in no moonlight.

He couldn't figure it out.

He just couldn't understand it.

He was clearly in a situation where both puppet emperors were destined to lose, so how could he have turned the tables in just a few days after Zhu Jianji's death, transforming from a puppet into a powerful monarch, and from a powerful minister into a prisoner?

How did he become a prisoner? How did he become a traitor?

How did the Jingtai Emperor, whom he helped to ascend the throne, become... a demon from hell whom he didn't recognize at all?

"Squeak—"

The heavy prison door was opened.

A beam of fire pierced the darkness.

Yu Qian and the others subconsciously squinted, and when they saw who it was, their pupils suddenly contracted!

Zhu Qiyu!

He was dressed in a simple black casual outfit, with only two eunuchs carrying lanterns following behind him. He stood quietly outside the prison gate, looking down at them.

"My three beloved ministers, how have you been?"

Judy Jun's voice, tinged with a mocking laugh, sounded particularly jarring in the deathly silent cell.

"Zhu Qiyu! You tyrannical and incompetent ruler! You cruel and incompetent tyrant!"

Wang Wen was the first to react. He struggled to the cell door, grabbed the cold iron bars, and roared madly.

"You matricide prisoner! You've committed heinous acts! You deserve a terrible death!!"

Chen Xun, trembling, roared with all his might, "You tyrannical rulers! You will surely be punished by Heaven! The scholars of the world will surely unite to strike you down!"

Only Yu Qian stared intently at Zhu Dijun, his eyes bloodshot and his voice hoarse.

Why?

"It's very simple."

Judy looked at him as if he were a pathetic wretch.

"Because of you, you have blocked my path."

He paused, seemingly feeling that the explanation wasn't enough, and his smile deepened.

"Oh, by the way, I have some news for my three ministers."

"Today, at the Fengtian Hall."

"I have already signed a contract with all the civil and military officials in the north."

He slowly unfolded the copy of the contract, covered with official seals, in front of the three of them.

"I will divide up the entire Jiangnan region."

"Your fields, your family's saltworks, your fellow villagers' mines, your students' shops..."

"Shi Heng and the others have already been divided up."

"Seven days later, they will lead a large army south to reclaim what 'belongs' to them."

Boom!!

These few words are more devastating than any form of torture!

Yu Qian, Chen Xun, and Wang Wen were stunned, as if struck by lightning.

The color drained from their faces instantly, leaving only a deathly pallor.

Did they break up?

Divide up the entire Jiangnan region?

Their proud foundation, the wealth they had built over generations, the gentry class upon which they relied to oppose imperial power...

They were treated like a piece of pork and divided up by Shi Heng, the brute they despised the most, and a bunch of poor northerners.

"No...it's impossible...you're lying..."

Chen Xun's voice trembled uncontrollably.

"Shi Heng and his gang... they're idiots! How dare they..."

Why don't they dare?

Zhu Dijun smiled.

"Because I gave them a reason they couldn't refuse."

"And you, you can't give them anything."

"A bunch of idiots?"

Judy Jun shook her head.

"No, they are much smarter than you. They know who is truly capable of providing them with meat."

"puff--"

Chen Xun could no longer bear it, and he spat out a mouthful of blood, collapsing to the ground, barely breathing.

"You...you devil..."

Wang Wen pointed at Judy Jun, his eyes filled with nothing but endless fear.

"Thank you for the compliment, Minister Wang."

Judy Jun didn't care at all.

His gaze finally settled on the distraught Yu Qian.

"Lord Yu, haven't you always said that you want to protect the Ming Dynasty and serve the country and its people?"

"Right now, I am doing just that."

"I am saving the Ming Dynasty."

"It's just that I'm doing it my way."

"you……"

Yu Qian's lips trembled. He wanted to refute, but found that he couldn't utter a single word.

Yes, what was he trying to say?

To say that Zhu Qiyu was wrong?

But Zhu Qiyu's actions are solving the biggest problem in the Ming Dynasty—land annexation and depletion of tax revenue!

To say he's cruel?

But he himself wasn't much better. When he was governor, he deceived his superiors and subordinates, and was a den of snakes and rats. He even formed a regicide alliance with Yang Hong, Chen Xun, and Wang Wen.

He discovered that the "Tao" he had upheld his entire life was so pale and powerless in the face of Zhu Qijun's simple, crude, yet core-pointing "demonic Tao".

"Oh, right, there's one more thing."

As if remembering something, Judy Jun's smile turned incredibly cruel.

"After some thought, I decided that to cut the weeds, we must also nip them in the bud."

"After you three ministers have set off, I will send someone to escort your families down to join you."

"All men, set out together."

"As for the women..."

He looked at the three faces that instantly turned to terror and despair, and said slowly.

"I have already promised the soldiers on the border."

"They will become military prostitutes to reward the warriors who shed blood for the Ming Dynasty. You lot have caused them great suffering, leaving them to guard the border hungry, without food or clothing, and without military pay. Now you will use your women to pay off their debts, since they are also beneficiaries."

"The most important thing for a family is that everyone finds their place, right?"

"Aaaaaaahh ...

"Zhu Qiyu!! I'll haunt you even as a ghost!!!"

"You beast! You beast!!!"

The piercing, inhuman screams and curses echoed throughout the entire prison.

This is a punishment ten thousand times worse than death!

Zhu Dijun listened quietly, his smile remaining unchanged.

What does your cursing of Zhu Qiyu have to do with Zhu Dijun?

He turned and walked into the darkness.

Only one sentence remained, echoing repeatedly in their endless despair.

"Just watch."

"Watch as I use your blood, flesh, and wails to forge a brand new future for the Ming Dynasty."

"You will be the first cornerstone of the new era."

"I'm honored."