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

The north wind howled, whipping up the withered grass and dust on the official road.

A black torrent of 30,000 iron cavalry is tearing apart the desolate winter landscape of the North China Plain at an almost brutal pace.

The sound of horses' hooves was so dense and thunderous that the ground trembled slightly.

This was neither an imperial tour nor a military exercise.

This is an armed migration heading towards wealth and power.

In the eyes of every soldier burned a flame called "greed," a fire of desire that Peng Shi had ignited in the Fengtian Hall and that Zhu Dijun had completely detonated.

However, before this large army arrived, something even faster than warhorses had already drifted like dandelion seeds on the cold wind to the prosperous Jiangnan region.

Huai'an Prefecture, Shanyang County.

Several ragged canal porters sat in a cheap liquor shop by the dock, drinking murky rice wine while mysteriously humming a tune they had just learned.

"Emperor Jingtai waved his hand."

"Let's take a trip to Jiangxi, Zhejiang, and Fujian."

An old, weathered man tapped a broken bowl with his chopsticks, keeping time, a strange light gleaming in his eyes.

"Strike down the local tyrants and capture the evil gentry."

"The poor, yet spirited!"

The surrounding drinkers, mostly poor laborers, stopped what they were doing and listened intently.

"Land will be distributed so that every family will have some."

"Good days, every day!"

When the last line was sung, the entire tavern fell into a deathly silence.

Everyone's breathing became heavy.

Distribute land?

Does every household have one?

These two words were more distant to them than the gods in heaven, and more tempting than gold on the ground.

"Old Zhang, where did you hear this nonsense? How dare you talk about the emperor like that? Don't you want to die?" A man swallowed hard, his voice hoarse.

The old boatman chuckled and lowered his voice.

"What nonsense! This news came from the capital! It's said that the current Emperor Emeritus, the former Emperor Jingtai, is leading a large army south to seek justice for us poor people!"

"He wants to give all the land belonging to those ruthless, exploitative officials in Jiangnan to us peasants!"

boom!

These words were more explosive than the nursery rhyme itself.

The entire liquor store instantly erupted in chaos.

Doubt, disbelief, but more than anything, a frantic longing that has been suppressed for countless generations.

The same scene was playing out at an astonishing pace in various prefectures, towns, and villages in Southern Zhili.

Storytellers in teahouses, peddlers on the ridges of fields, and even beggars wandering the streets and alleys are spreading this simple, catchy, yet groundbreaking nursery rhyme in all sorts of ways.

It was like a spark that fell into the seemingly peaceful fields of Jiangnan, which were actually already piled high with firewood.

The first to be ignited were the garrisons that were already on the verge of collapse.

In Yangzhou Garrison, in a remote centurion post.

Zhang Debiao, a centurion, was furious because several of his soldiers had deserted.

"A bunch of ungrateful wretches! I was doing them a favor by having them cultivate a few acres of land for Master Wang! And they dared to run away!"

A fawning little flag came forward.

"My lord, please calm down. Where can these poor bastards run off to? Catch them, give them a good beating, and they'll behave."

"Arrest them? How can we arrest them?" Zhang Debiao kicked over a stool. "There are only about a hundred people left in the garrison who can still move! If they keep running, I'll be a lone centurion!"

Just as he was getting furious, a soldier tumbled in.

"M-Master! Something terrible has happened! Outside...outside..."

"What's going on outside?!"

"Those soldiers outside...they...they're rebelling!"

Zhang Debiao was startled and rushed out of the lobby.

On the small training ground inside the compound, the remaining seventy or eighty military households had spontaneously gathered together.

They carried all sorts of weapons, including rusty sabers, gleaming wooden sticks, and even a few hoes.

The numbness and fear of the past were gone from their faces; in their place was a kind of reckless madness.

A veteran who was usually the most timid was now standing at the front of the crowd, shouting at the top of his lungs.

"Brothers! We've had enough!"

"We are military households! We are soldiers guarding the Ming Dynasty! Not slaves to those lords!"

"Now, the Emperor Emeritus has arrived with the Heavenly Army of the Capital Garrison! He's here to uphold justice for us!"

He raised his arms and shouted the nursery rhyme.

"Strike down the local tyrants, capture the evil gentry! Distribute land, so that every family may have some!"

"Distribute land! Every family will have some!"

The crowd responded with a thunderous roar.

Zhang Debiao was stunned. He felt the fury that could tear him apart, and his legs went weak, almost causing him to collapse to the ground.

He finally realized that the situation was hopeless.

These military households, whom he had treated like livestock, were no longer livestock.

They are going to become human beings!

……

The central army.

Shi Heng rode up to Zhu Dijun's side, his face showing a hint of unconcealed worry.

News of the large-scale desertion of soldiers from garrisons along the way, and even the mass defection of some, had already reached his ears.

"Your Majesty," he carefully chose his words, "is what we're doing... somewhat inappropriate?"

"Once this nursery rhyme spread, almost every garrison along the way was in chaos. This...this is tantamount to inciting popular uprising and shaking the very foundation of the nation!"

Shi Heng was genuinely scared.

He knows how to rob people.

He was good at killing.

However, this approach of directly undermining the foundation of the imperial court's rule was beyond the comprehension of this military general.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Dijun merely let out a sneer with an ambiguous meaning.

He reined in his horse, turned his head, and looked at the marquis who had been blinded by greed.

"Minister Shi".

His voice was soft, yet it carried a chilling edge.

"What's the pretext we're using for this southward trip?"

Shi Heng was taken aback, and subconsciously replied, "Jing... Jingnan..."

"That's right, to quell the rebellion." A cold smile curled at the corner of Zhu Dijun's lips. "To quell the rebellion of the dynasty and purge the evil ministers from the emperor's inner circle. Since it's a 'rebellion,' what's wrong with using some swift and decisive measures?"

"Do you think we're just sightseeing?"

His voice suddenly rose, carrying an undeniable authority.

"Have you all forgotten the military pledges you made in the Fengtian Hall? This battle allows only success; failure is not an option!"

"Being able to win over the people in these areas, making them willingly serve us, provide us with intelligence, cheer for us, and even take up arms against the gentry's militia, is called achieving twice the result with half the effort!"

Shi Heng was speechless after hearing these words.

Judy Jun didn't give him time to think and continued:

"As for the garrison system?"

He let out a disdainful snort.

"Is this system, which was long ago ruined by treacherous officials like Yu Qian, Chen Xun, and Wang Wen, who colluded with the wicked Empress Sun for their own local cronies' selfish interests, still going to be kept around for the New Year?"

"Military households have been reduced to private slaves, and military farmland has been wantonly seized! Is this still the kind of garrison established by the founding emperor? It's rotten to the core!"

"Those military households who escaped, if they follow us, will have meat to eat, land to share, and will be able to survive! They are our most loyal source of soldiers!"

"This gives them a way out, and it also gives us an opportunity—an opportunity to re-establish a new military system in Jiangnan, and even throughout the entire Ming Dynasty, one that obeys only our commands!"

Shi Heng's mind was buzzing.

He didn't quite understand those grand principles about systems.

But he understood the last sentence.

A new military system!

We only obey ourselves!

Doesn't that mean that Shi Heng could become a founding member of this new system in the future?

The thought of that endless wealth and overwhelming power instantly replaced his unease with ecstasy.

"The Emperor Emeritus...is wise!"

Shi Heng dismounted and knelt on one knee, his voice trembling with excitement.

"This humble general...this humble general is dull-witted! This humble general understands!"

Judy looked down at him, her eyes completely unmoved.

Not far behind them, Peng Shi and Xu Youzhen, also on horseback, exchanged a knowing glance.

In their eyes, there was a deep, unspeakable fear.

Shi Heng, this military man, only saw the benefits.

But these intellectuals who manipulated power saw the truly terrifying scheme behind that statement.

Reshape the military system!

This retired emperor's sword was not only aimed at the wallets of the gentry in Jiangnan.

His real purpose was to use this "Jingnan" campaign to completely destroy the military household system, the foundation of the Ming Dynasty that Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang had personally established and that had sustained the Ming Dynasty for nearly a hundred years!

Then, on this ruin, he will build a new machine of violence that belongs entirely to him!

This is... shaking the very foundation of the nation!

This is a conspiracy that is a hundred times more terrifying than treason!

The two felt a chill run down their spines and up to the top of their heads. When they looked at the seemingly frail figure in front of them, it was as if they were looking up at an unfathomable demon god.

They knew that from the moment they stepped out of the capital, there was no turning back.

The ship, named "Jingtai New Deal," was rushing toward an unknown and turbulent deep sea at a speed they could not imagine.

Or, join him in creating an unprecedented new era.

Either we'll be swallowed up completely by this colossal wave.