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

Dead silence.

Like the absolute silence ten thousand meters below the surface of the ocean.

Everyone was stunned by Judy Jun's last words.

He slashed at Xu Youzhen?

Who was the greatest contributor who orchestrated the "Tumu Crisis" and rescued Zhu Qizhen from the living dead in the Southern Palace?

Xu Youzhen, who had just been appointed as the Grand Secretary and was riding high, was second only to the emperor.

How is this possible?!

"What the hell?! Did I hear that right? They're cutting into our own people? And the one who contributed the most?"

"Jun-ge, don't scare me! What kind of crazy move is this? Even discarding a donkey after it's done its work wouldn't be this fast! The millstone was only just used!"

"Is he insane! Zhu Qizhen is insane! He just purged the old officials from the Jingtai era, his power base is not yet stable, and he turns around and kills his most important civil official ally? Isn't he afraid that military generals and meritorious officials like Shi Heng and Cao Jixiang will be disheartened?"

"There's definitely something fishy going on here! There's some shocking inside story we don't know about!"

The audience's reaction was almost identical to that of countless emperors and generals across countless worlds.

Even Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di frowned, their faces full of confusion.

They can understand decisiveness, but they cannot understand this crazy act that is almost like cutting off one's own arm.

In a modern live streaming room.

Zhu Dijun looked at the boiling barrage of comments and slowly spoke.

"I know everyone is confused."

The explanation given in historical records is very simple—internal strife.

According to the "Veritable Records of Emperor Yingzong of Ming", after Xu Youzhen became the Grand Secretary, he quickly had a power struggle with Marquis Wuqing Shi Heng and Grand Eunuch Cao Jixiang. Shi and Cao joined forces to frame Xu Youzhen in front of the emperor for "plotting to usurp power", and then Zhu Qizhen went along with it and exiled him.

This explanation sounds reasonable.

In the struggle among meritorious officials, the emperor would sacrifice one to maintain balance—a common practice in imperial power politics.

but……

"Family members, do you really think that Zhu Qizhen, who shouted 'Obey the Mandate of Heaven, defy the people,' would be so easily used as a pawn by two brutes and a eunuch?"

Zhu Dijun let out a soft laugh, a laugh filled with sarcasm towards the so-called "reliable history".

"His exile of Xu Youzhen was not due to the framing by Shi Heng and Cao Jixiang at all."

"That's just an excuse, an excuse that's out in the open, for the whole world to see."

"What he really wanted to sever ties with was not Xu Youzhen as a person."

"Instead, it was a mastermind, a shadowy figure who had loomed over him since the beginning of his reign, attempting to control his entire life—the infamous Empress Sun Ruowei!"

boom!

It felt as if a nuclear bomb had been dropped on everyone's brain!

Oh right, how could we forget about that wicked empress?

The image of a woman slowly emerged from the sky.

She was dressed in the Empress Dowager's everyday clothes, and her face was well-maintained, making her look gentle and kind.

But deep within those eyes lay an undisguised desire for power.

"She is Zhu Qizhen's nominal mother, Empress Dowager Sun, who is also Sun Ruowei, who was later portrayed as incredibly righteous and noble in the TV series 'Ming Dynasty'."

Zhu Dijun's voice turned icy cold.

"Family members, do you remember what I mentioned before? In the early years of the Zhengtong reign, when Emperor Yingzong was young, who colluded with the 'Three Yangs' to rule from behind the curtain and effectively sideline the young Emperor Zhu Qizhen?"

"It's her!"

"Do you remember? After the Tumu Crisis, who in the inner palace supported the 'Alliance of Emperor Killers' in installing Zhu Qiyu on the throne, completely abandoning their own son?"

"It's her too!"

"This woman never loved her son, because Zhu Qizhen was not her biological son, nor was she the Ming Dynasty."

"All she loves is power!"

"When Zhu Qizhen was welcomed back to Beiping and imprisoned in the Southern Palace, she, as Empress Dowager, ignored him for seven years, treating him like a stranger!"

"But the moment the 'Tumu Crisis' succeeded and Zhu Qizhen regained the throne, she appeared immediately!"

"She still thought of her son as a puppet she could manipulate at will!"

"She thought she could once again emulate her past actions, teaming up with a leader of a civil service group to check and balance the emperor, thereby achieving her goal of controlling the court!"

"And this time, she chose the new Grand Secretary—Seo Yoo-jung!"

The truth is shocking!

【"OMG!"】

"It's Empress Dowager Sun! It's actually her! That poisonous woman!"

"I'm disgusted! For power, he even schemed against his nominal son! Zhu Qizhen was too pitiful! He escaped one wolf's den only to fall into another, and the tiger was none other than his nominal mother!"

"I understand everything now! Xu Youzhen is a civil official, while Shi Heng and Cao Jixiang are a military general and a eunuch! Empress Dowager Sun wants to seduce Xu Youzhen and replicate the situation of the 'Three Yangs' assisting in the government, turning Zhu Qizhen into a second puppet emperor!"

"So Zhu Qizhen's exile of Xu Youzhen wasn't due to internal strife at all; he was declaring war on his mother!"

In the vast expanse of time and space, everyone gasped in shock.

This is no longer a matter of political maneuvering.

This is a tragedy of human relations!

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

Zhu Qizhen, who had just sat on the dragon throne, looked at the sky and his body began to tremble uncontrollably.

There was no anger in his eyes, only a deathly, icy stillness.

That person from later generations laid bare his deepest fears and hatred, revealing them to the whole world in a bloody and raw manner.

That's right.

After he was reinstated, his mother, Empress Dowager Sun, summoned him immediately.

She offered not a word of concern, not a word of comfort.

Her first words were: "Your Majesty, important matters of state should be discussed more with Mr. Xu."

At that moment, Zhu Qizhen understood.

Nothing has changed.

In his mother's eyes, he was still a useless person who needed to be "assisted".

Seven years of confinement in Nangong and the humiliation on the Oirat steppe could not compare to the stinging pain brought to him by that one sentence.

That was the cruelest betrayal and contempt from one's closest relatives.

Therefore, he had to take action.

He had to use the most decisive method to sever all of his mother's tentacles toward power!

He wanted that woman to know that he was no longer her son.

He is the emperor!

Above the sky, Zhu Dijun's voice was like the final verdict.

"So, family members, do you understand now?"

"Zhu Qizhen exiled Xu Youzhen because he didn't care about any internal strife."

"He was using Xu Youzhen's political life to teach his power-hungry mother a profound lesson!"

He was telling Empress Dowager Sun:

"Your era has ended!"

"This knife, seemingly aimed at Xu Youzhen, actually struck Empress Dowager Sun's heart with every ounce of its force!"

"This is the true meaning of 'obeying the will of Heaven and defying the will of the people'!"

"Those who rebel are not only the court officials."

"Even closer relatives who attempt to use kinship and ethics to bind imperial power!"

"This is the first ruthless blow from an emperor!"

"He was also a son, and his most resolute act towards his mother was revenge!"