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

The next day, at 2 PM.

Sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, casting bright spots of light on the floor.

Zhu Dijun had just finished a video call with the head of the Tumubao archaeological team. The other party's voice was trembling with excitement as he reported the astonishing discoveries from the initial exploration, which completely confirmed everything seen in the sky.

Immediately afterwards, he received another call from his good friend Li Jiujiang.

"Brother Jun, you're a national treasure now, you'd better be careful when you go out." On the other end of the phone, Li Jiujiang's tone was half teasing and half serious. "I heard that some unidentified foreign organizations are already asking about you."

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing," Judy Jun said calmly.

After hanging up the phone, he glanced at the time; it was exactly the same, down to the second.

He walked to the live streaming equipment, took a deep breath, and then pressed the start button.

Today, he is going to give the Jingtai Dynasty, which was buried under the halo of the "Battle of Beijing," a thorough financial reckoning.

[Modern Live Streaming Room]

Good afternoon, family.

The familiar voice rang out, instantly igniting the entire live stream.

"Today we'll continue our discussion of the Ming Dynasty."

Zhu Dijun's figure appeared on the screen, with the same simple hotel room in the background.

"After yesterday's live stream ended, I saw countless fans asking the same question in the comments section."

Why was Emperor Jingtai, Zhu Qiyu, stripped of his imperial title and given the extremely insulting posthumous title of "Li" (戾, meaning violent or cruel) by his brother, Zhu Qizhen, after reigning for many years?

"In ancient Chinese posthumous titles, '戾' was not a good word. 'Not repenting one's past mistakes is called '戾', and 'killing the innocent is called '戾'. This almost nailed an emperor to the pillar of shame as a tyrant."

"Many people believe this was Zhu Qizhen's personal revenge. But today, I want to tell you that behind this lies the most shocking financial black hole in the history of the Ming Dynasty!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the screen lit up simultaneously across all dimensions.

All the emperors, especially the few from the Ming Dynasty, straightened their posture instantly.

Financial black hole?

What does this mean?

"Before we talk about Zhu Qiyu, we must first talk about money, specifically silver."

Zhu Dijun's voice became serious.

"As is well known, the Ming Dynasty's finances were in a state of chaos for a long time. Silver, as a hard currency, was a crucial source of revenue for the national treasury through its mining and taxation, known as 'silver tax'."

"However, during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Ming, the three Yangs, our 'good ministers,' colluded with the wicked Empress Sun Ruowei to almost abolish all silver mines in the country under the pretext of 'mining disturbing the people'!"

"It wasn't until the ninth year of the Zhengtong reign, after our protagonist Zhu Qizhen assumed personal rule, that he, under immense pressure, ordered the reopening of silver mines and the restoration of silver taxes. It was precisely because of this that the so-called miners' uprisings in Zhejiang and Fujian, led by Ye Zongliu and Deng Maoqi, took place."

Zhu Dijun's words caused emperors from countless time periods to frown.

Judging from this, is this miners' uprising another time that the civil service group has planted a time bomb?

"but!"

Zhu Dijun abruptly changed the subject, his voice rising sharply!

"After the Tumu Crisis, Emperor Jingtai, Zhu Qiyu, ascended the throne. Then, something unbelievable happened."

"This tax, which his brother Zhu Qizhen had painstakingly restored and which brought in tens of thousands of taels of silver annually for the national treasury, completely disappeared from the Ming Dynasty's national financial statements starting from the first year of the Jingtai reign!"

Above the sky, a clear chart suddenly unfolded!

That was a statistical table of silver tax revenue from the Xuande period to the Jingtai period!

During the Xuande reign: the average annual revenue from silver tax was approximately 256,500 taels.

[From the first to the eighth year of the Zhengtong reign]: The three Yangs served as regents, closed mines and banned mining, and the average annual silver tax plummeted to less than five thousand taels.

[From the ninth to the fourteenth year of the Zhengtong reign]: Emperor Yingzong assumed personal rule, reopened the silver mines, and set the annual tax quota at over 62,000 taels. The total annual income of the whole country stabilized at 60,000 to 70,000 taels.

[From the first to the fifth year of the Jingtai reign]: Revenue from silver tax collection—zero!

[Jingtai 6th year]: Silver tax revenue - 7,900 taels.

[Seventh year of Jingtai]: Tax revenue - 16,000 taels.

When that glaring "zero" appeared in the account books of the Jingtai reign for five consecutive years.

The entire modern live broadcast room fell silent for a fraction of a second.

What followed was a volcanic eruption of barrage comments!

"Holy crap!!! Zero?! Five consecutive years of zero?!"

"I'm stunned... A national-level tax revenue, tens of thousands of taels of silver every year, just vanished like that?!"

"Does this even need a question?! Where's the money? Where did it go?! Those bastards must have embezzled it!!"

"My God... I finally understand what a financial black hole is! For five whole years, not a single ounce of silver produced by the country's silver mines went to the national treasury! It all went into private pockets!"

"Chen Xun! Yu Qian! Holy crap! This empire of regicides, they're supporting Zhu Qiyu just so they can line their own pockets!"

"What kind of emperor was Zhu Qiyu?! His own family's money was being emptied, and he didn't even know?!"

Modern audiences immediately grasped the key point.

Meanwhile, the myriad realms and timelines were already consumed by raging fury!

During the Hongwu reign of the Ming Dynasty.

"Beasts! A bunch of beasts who deserve to die a horrible death!"

Zhu Yuanzhang was so angry that he trembled all over. He kicked over the dragon table in front of him and stared intently at the number "zero" on the sky with his bloodshot eyes.

"We knew it! We knew these dogs who studied the Four Books and Five Classics were full of wicked and immoral thoughts! They're trying to uproot the Zhu family!"

"Guards! Drag the Minister of Personnel over here! We want to ask him ourselves how these corrupt officials should be killed!"

During the Yongle reign of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Di's face was so gloomy it looked like it could be wrung out of water.

He didn't roar, but the murderous aura emanating from him, like a mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​blood, made the temperature in the entire hall seem to drop by more than ten degrees.

"What a 'savior prime minister'!"

"What a true 'pillar of the nation'!"

Zhu Di spoke slowly and deliberately, his voice devoid of any emotion.

"What they are protecting is not Beijing, nor the Ming Dynasty."

"What they're protecting is their own path to wealth, a path through which they can recklessly embezzle public funds!"

He looked at Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Gaoxu beside him and said coldly:

"Look closely! These are the subjects you will face from now on! A pack of wolves in human skin, devouring the empire!"

The first year of the Jingtai reign of the Ming Dynasty.

Inside the Qianqing Palace.

"puff--"

Zhu Qiyu could no longer hold on, and a mouthful of blood gushed out, splattering the dragon table in front of him red.

His face was paler than a dead man's.

He looked at the ledger on the sky, at the "zero" for five consecutive years, and felt dizzy and his internal organs were being ripped apart by knives.

He only understands now!

He finally understood!

Why did Chen Xun and Yu Qian always tell him that the national treasury was empty and the military pay was tight?

Why is it that he can't do anything he wants, and can't move an inch?

It turns out it wasn't that they didn't have money!

The money never went into his national treasury!

From the moment he ascended the throne, this emperor, this Son of Heaven of the Great Ming, was a complete, utterly deaf, blind, and foolish man!

A watchdog manipulated by that group of "loyal ministers," guarding their property and facilitating their embezzlement!

"ah--!!!"

Zhu Qiyu let out a shrill, inhuman scream, and rolled off the dragon throne, convulsing in pain on the cold floor tiles.

His throne, his dignity, everything he had—at this moment, all became a colossal joke.