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

As Zhu Dijun watched the comments in the modern live stream, whose worldviews had been completely overturned by the words "loyal ministers to the emperor" and who had begun to imagine a grand drama of "loyal ministers taking the blame and emperors being helpless," a playful smile appeared on his lips.

He gently shook his head.

"Family members, you're half right again."

"Sun Tang's continued presence in the capital is indeed a crucial part of the entire plan. But his role is not that of a 'third-party tool' as you might think, much less a scapegoat to take the blame."

Zhu Dijun's voice suddenly turned cold, carrying a cruelty that followed the unveiling of warmth.

"Because of him, Sun Tang, from the very beginning, stood on the opposite side of Zhu Qizhen!"

"He is the most important pawn planted in the Beijing Garrison by the cabinet civil service group and the powerful relatives of the wicked Sun Ruowei!"

"The so-called 'Cao Qin Rebellion' was launched before he left the capital, not to allow him to 'suppress the rebellion,' but to prevent him, the biggest variable, from completely taking control of the Three Thousand Camps..."

"Strike first, strike hard!"

These words instantly shattered the tragic script of "the ruler and his subjects being of one mind" that had just taken shape in the live broadcast room!

"Holy crap?! Wait a minute! My CPU's fried! Sun Tang's an enemy too?"

"No... wasn't Zhu Qizhen's transfer of him to Gansu simply a diversionary tactic? How did it become the fuse that forced Cao Qin to rebel?"

"I'm completely confused! How many layers are there in this game? Who is the enemy?!"

The era of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty.

Inside the main hall, Zhu Yuanzhang's tense nerves relaxed upon hearing that "Sun Tang is also an enemy."

The cold glint in his eyes grew even stronger.

"That's more like it..."

"Let me tell you, how could an emperor possibly entrust his life and fortune to a general promoted by the previous dynasty!"

"So, the root of the problem lies here!"

"He's been driven to the brink, and he's about to take a huge gamble!"

Yongle Hall.

Zhu Di's gaze also became more solemn than ever before.

"One game of chess, two players."

"Zhu Qizhen wanted to lure the tiger away from the mountain and weaken the opponent."

"Their opponents, however, decided to turn the tables and prepare to completely trap Sun Tang once he left!"

"Therefore, Zhu Qizhen had no choice but to overturn the chessboard!"

Above the sky, Zhu Dijun's voice pulled everyone back to reality.

"Family members, don't panic. The reason you are in such a state of confusion is because, like me, you have all been drawn to the earth-shattering 'Cao Qin Rebellion' in history books."

"But you forget that no storm comes without warning."

"What did Zhu Qizhen, the emperor who had just seized power from a mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​blood, do in the year leading up to the 'Cao Qin Rebellion'?"

Behind Zhu Dijun, the images on the sky rapidly changed, and time was turned back to the fourth year of Tianshun.

That year, Shi Heng was executed, the Shi clan was eradicated, and the entire Ming Dynasty court seemed to usher in a period of peace and prosperity.

But everyone overlooked the fact that Zhu Qizhen's eyes, hidden behind the dragon throne, had already set their sights on a new prey.

"Family members, do you remember the 'Sequel to Tumu Fortress' that I mentioned before?"

"The first thing Zhu Qizhen did after dealing with Shi Heng was to sharpen the sword that had once struck fear into the hearts of all civil officials!"

In the scene, Lu Gao, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, a cruel official with sinister eyes, kneels before Zhu Qizhen and receives the imperial edict to reopen the Zhenfu Division prison!

That prison, a symbol of boundless terror, has once again bared its bloody fangs at the entire bureaucratic system after many years!

"From this moment on, the honeymoon period between Zhu Qizhen and the entire civil service group came to a complete end!"

Zhu Dijun's voice was icy.

"In the first month of the fourth year of the Tianshun reign, the Ministry of Personnel conducted its annual review of officials in the capital. Zhu Qizhen personally intervened, and with a single stroke of his pen, dismissed, exiled, or demoted as many as 930 civil officials of various ranks!"

"In March of the same year, he personally presided over the palace examination and selected 156 new scholars. These people would become the fresh blood for him to enter the court and replace those old fogies!"

"In April, an imperial edict was issued that was enough to cause an uproar throughout the entire civil service—"

"The sons and grandsons of officials of the third rank or above in the imperial court are prohibited from entering the Imperial Academy!"

boom!

When the contents of this imperial edict were released, everyone in all time and space who understood its intricacies gasped in shock!

The Imperial Academy was the cradle of bureaucrats! It was there that they passed down power and formed the foundation of powerful clans!

Cutting off this road is tantamount to digging up their ancestral graves!

"This isn't over yet!"

Zhu Dijun's voice became increasingly impassioned!

"In the same year, he dispatched his most trusted eunuchs to Zhejiang, Yunnan, Fujian, and Sichuan to reopen mining supervision and collect mining taxes!"

"In July, additional silk and colored coins were levied on the most prosperous regions, such as Southern Zhili and Suzhou-Songjiang!"

Each imperial edict was like a resounding slap in the face of the entire civil service!

Reclaim power!

Make money!

Install your cronies!

Smash the gatekeepers!

Every step Zhu Qizhen took touched the most sensitive nerve of the civil service group!

"He's gone mad! He's gone mad! Zhu Qizhen is trying to take on the entire civil service system all by himself!"

"Damn, now I finally understand why those civil officials were targeting him! They're practically trying to smear him to death!"

"It's exhilarating, but Jun-ge is right, he was too hasty! Does he think he's invincible just because he dealt with Shi Heng?"

In the sky above, an official from the Ministry of Works, trembling, stepped forward to present his memorial, earnestly requesting His Majesty to show compassion to the local people and reduce the tax burden.

Everyone could see that Zhu Qizhen, sitting on the dragon throne, had a hint of impatience on his face.

He became arrogant.

After successively bringing down Yu Qian, Wang Wen, and Shi Heng, these once-powerful figures, he developed a misconception that "the world is in his grasp," which made him arrogant and self-willed.

"Drag him out! Exile him three thousand miles away!"

Those six cold words ended that official's career, along with the last vestige of remonstrance in the court.

Judy Jun watched this scene and sighed softly.

"Family members, do you understand now?"

"Zhu Qizhen believed that by eliminating Shi Heng, promoting Cao Jixiang, and handing over the supervisory positions of the three major camps to eunuchs, he had gained control of the military."

"But he was wrong, terribly wrong!"

Zhu Dijun suddenly waved his hand, and the power structure diagram of the three major military camps in the capital was clearly displayed on the sky!

"The Five Armies Camps are nominally under the command of Sun Jizong, the Marquis of Huichang, a relative of the imperial family, but in reality, they have long been infiltrated by the civil official group and riddled with holes!"

"The commander-in-chief of the Three Thousand Battalion, Marquis Huaining Sun Tang, was a general personally promoted by Yu Qian during the Jingtai reign. He was a hero of the 'Defense of the Capital,' and his heart naturally aligns with those civil officials!"

"The only Divine Machine Battalion, seemingly under the emperor's control, is nothing but a decoration without the cooperation of infantry and cavalry!"

"In one year, Zhu Qizhen offended everyone in the court and turned himself into a lonely figure."

"And his only weapon against this colossal wave..."

At this moment, Zhu Dijun's voice became incredibly clear, and incredibly deadly.

"It's fake!"

"He has no military power whatsoever!"