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

The will of the people is like water.

It is docile on ordinary days, but once it stirs up trouble, it can capsize a boat and split the shore!

When the roars from the streets and alleys of the capital merged into a visible wave of sound, repeatedly washing over the majestic palace walls, Sun Jizong felt fear for the first time.

This fear is unrelated to weapons or power struggles; it is a tremor of being abandoned by the world.

"Fake!"

"It's all fake!"

The Marquis of Huichang, who had always remained behind the scenes and boasted of his "unfailing strategies," could no longer maintain his composure as the emperor's brother-in-law. Pointing at the simple yet brutal rice price chart on the sky, his voice changed.

"The heavens are spreading falsehoods and misleading the masses! You have been deceived! Quickly seize the traitors!"

Beside him, Marquis Huaining, Sun Tang, had an even more ashen face. His waist knife was drawn with a clang, the blade gleaming with a chilling aura in the night firelight.

"Sorcery! It must be that eunuch Cao Qin colluding with sorcerers to use sorcery! Issue my order: anyone who hesitates will be punished the same as the traitors and executed without exception!"

However, the roaring and threats seemed particularly ridiculous at this moment.

Whether it's true or not, don't these soldiers who are paid by the army have any sense of right and wrong?

When Emperor Zhengtong and Emperor Tianshun were in power, the salary they paid could be exchanged for rice, enough to feed the wives and children until they were full, and they could even get two feet of new cloth during festivals.

During the years of Emperor Jingtai, rice prices skyrocketed, while the salary remained the same, but the rice jar at home was often empty, and the wife's scolding could lift the roof off!

You live your life one day at a time!

This stomach is from hunger, which I've been consuming day by day!

The Sky Curtain didn't lie!

The two people in front of us are traitors who are trying to destroy the good emperor!

"Whoosh—"

A veteran from the Fifth Army Battalion, standing at the very front, trembled slightly and slowly lowered the long sword in his hand.

He didn't look at Sun Tang or Sun Jizong, but turned his head to look at the street corner where a woman holding a child was crying and shouting at him.

That's his wife.

He recognized him.

His movement was like a spark thrown into a powder keg.

"Clang..."

"Clang!"

More and more soldiers stopped in their tracks, their eyes no longer filled with murderous intent, but only with confusion and struggle.

Finally, a squad leader mustered up his courage and stepped forward. He didn't throw his weapon, but simply clasped his hands in a fist salute to Sun Tang and Sun Jizong from afar. His voice trembled, but every word was clear.

"My lords."

"What the sky said, the brothers have all experienced... With His Majesty here, we can indeed have enough to eat."

He took a deep breath and asked the question that made everyone's heart skip a beat.

"May I ask, Your Excellency, is Lord Cao... truly a traitor?"

This question was like two invisible slaps to the faces of Sun Jizong and Sun Tang!

It was like a ray of light, illuminating Cao Qin's eyes that were almost swallowed by despair!

There's hope!

He saw it!

Beneath those numb faces, hidden by helmets, beat vibrant, living human hearts!

"They are the real traitors!"

Cao Qin, with a strength he didn't know he had, used the broken half of his sword to prop himself up from the pile of corpses.

He was covered in blood, his hair was disheveled, and he looked like a demon crawling out of the underworld, but his eyes were frighteningly bright!

"Brothers! Keep your eyes peeled!"

"As long as His Majesty is on the throne, your rice jars will be fuller for another day! And your wives will have one more day of smiles!"

"Think back to those years in Jingtai! Rice prices tripled! Didn't you all tighten your belts?! Have you forgotten?!"

"Those traitors of the Sun family! What they want are their family's marquises and grand protectors! What they want is to imprison His Majesty back in the Southern Palace so they can continue to lord it over you all!"

Cao Qin pointed to his chest and let out a blood-curdling roar.

"The knives in your hands are for protecting your homes and country! Not for serving as henchmen for these jackals, to kill the emperor who feeds your entire family!"

"Don't let them use you as a pawn!"

"I, Cao Qin, am but a worthless life. To die here today is to serve Your Majesty faithfully! In the annals of history, I have no regrets!"

"And you?"

"What do you want to be? To be traitors aiding and abetting evil, returning home to be gossiped about by your wives, or to be honorable, valiant soldiers of the capital garrison protecting the wise ruler?!"

Every word is piercing to the heart!

Every word is heartbreaking!

Cao Qin's words were like a bucket of boiling oil poured into the hearts of every soldier!

Yes!

Why do soldiers get paid?

All we want is peace and stability, and for our families to have enough to eat.

Now, the emperor has given them a full meal, but their superiors are forcing them to kill the loyal ministers who serve the emperor and to imprison the emperor again!

What kind of logic is this?!

"Clang!"

A crisp metallic thud echoed sharply in the deathly silent street.

It's unclear who was the first to throw away their weapon.

Immediately afterwards, a series of clanging sounds rang out!

Hundreds and thousands of soldiers silently, one after another, threw their long swords and muskets to the ground.

They did not defect, nor did they cause any disturbance.

They simply expressed their stance in the most silent yet resolute way.

This war is unwinnable!

"Rebellion! You...you're plotting a rebellion?!"

Sun Tang was so angry that his three corpses were about to explode. He pointed at the army in front of him that had voluntarily disarmed themselves, his fingers trembling.

He never dreamed that a meticulously planned and seemingly foolproof "suppression of the rebellion" would spiral out of control in such an absurd way!

Through the power of the celestial canopy, we can see the night of the Cao Qin Incident in a certain Tian Shun era.

Xuande Time and Space.

Zhu Zhanji stared intently at the night scene of the Cao Qin Rebellion in the seventh year of a parallel Tian Shun era, which was being played on the screen. Finally, a burning light rekindled in his bloodshot eyes!

He saw it!

He saw the human heart!

"Okay! Okay!"

He trembled with excitement, slammed his fist on the armrest of the dragon throne, and muttered to himself:

"My town...my town...you didn't lose! You didn't lose!"

The Hongwu Era.

Even on Zhu Yuanzhang's usually murderous face, a rare smile appeared.

"I knew it!"

"The people of our Great Ming Dynasty know perfectly well what's going on!"

"Whoever makes them live a good life, they'll follow! These civil officials who've only read a few books and don't know who they are anymore, and these bloated, fat noble relatives, they're nothing!"

Yongle Time and Space.

Zhu Di slowly loosened his clenched fist, his eyes revealing an unprecedented complexity.

Throughout his life, he believed in iron and blood, and that might makes right.

But at this moment, he also had to admit that sometimes, the human heart is indeed more deadly than the sharpest sword!

Emperor Yingzong of Ming, Zhu Qizhen, the war god of the Ming Dynasty, was originally heartbroken, but when he heard the shouts of the people outside drowning out the sounds of fighting in the capital, his eyes inexplicably became moist. His hard work had been rewarded; the people remembered him and remembered his achievements.