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

Zhu Dijun took a sip of water to moisten his somewhat dry and hoarse throat.

He tapped the screen on his computer and brought up the portrait that had been demonized countless times in later generations.

The young man in the portrait has a delicate face but exudes an indomitable fierceness, and his eyes are as sharp as a drawn sword.

"Family members, we just talked about how Zhu Jianshen used the Western Depot as a weapon to stab the lungs of the civil official group."

"But on the tip of this knife stands a person who has been thoroughly vilified by history and even hated by civil officials to the point of wanting to be reduced to ashes."

Zhu Dijun's voice lowered, carrying an inexplicable solemnity.

"I tell you all, during the reign of Emperor Xianzong, Wang Zhi had another identity besides being the emperor's most trusted servant."

"He was the Marquis of Champion during the Chenghua era of the Ming Dynasty!"

boom!

These two words, like a thunderbolt, instantly exploded on the main plane of countless worlds and timelines!

The Great Han Dynasty.

Inside the Weiyang Palace, Liu Che smashed the wine cup in his hand to the ground with a loud bang.

His eyes, which had once surveyed the northern deserts with an air of dominance, were now wide open in a stare.

"The Marquis of Champions?"

"My Qubing is a champion marquis, unparalleled throughout history!"

"How dare the Ming Dynasty of later generations allow a eunuch to bear this name?!"

Liu Che's breathing became heavy; for him, it was as if some kind of faith had collapsed.

The Tang Dynasty Era.

Li Shimin was also stunned. He turned to look at Changsun Wuji beside him.

"Auxiliary machine, did I hear that right?"

"The title of Marquis of Champion is the achievement of sealing the wolf's lair and residing in the Xu, the ultimate feat a martial artist can attain."

"What right does a eunuch have?"

At this time, the Ming Dynasty, during the reigns of Hongwu and Yongle, fell into a deathly silence.

Zhu Di suddenly stood up. The anger that had been building up because Liu Daxia had burned the archives was now somewhat diluted by a sense of absurdity.

"The Champion Marquis among Eunuchs?"

"Sanbao, who is by my side, is a navigational genius who has made great achievements in battle. I have only granted him the official titles of Director of the Inner Palace and Imperial Eunuch."

"Zhu Jianshen's grandson actually raised a Marquis of Champion?"

Above the sky, the live stream chat had completely flooded the screen.

"Holy crap! Streamer, don't scare me! Isn't Wang Zhi that powerful eunuch who wreaked havoc on the court?"

"Huo Qubing, the champion, is Wang Zhi worthy of the title? The contrast is too great!"

[“Hey, don’t be fooled by history books! Let’s see what the host has to say!”]

As Zhu Dijun looked at these doubts, a knowing smile appeared on his lips.

"I know that everyone's first reaction is disbelief."

"In historical records, Wang Zhi was described as 'young and cunning' and 'manipulating the law and power'."

"But look at his background."

The scene shifts to a landscape of towering mountains.

"During the Chenghua era of the Ming Dynasty, the Yao people revolted in Dateng Gorge, Guangxi."

"Wang Zhi was captured and taken back to the capital as 'spoils of war' by the government troops who were suppressing the rebellion during that bloody twilight."

"He was just a child then, having lost his parents, his hometown, and was cruelly castrated and sent to that cannibalistic inner palace."

"He should have withered away in this deep palace, like a weed."

But he didn't.

Zhu Dijun's voice became more impassioned.

"He was 'clever in his youth' and thrived in the palace, deeply favored by Zhu Jianshen. He was adopted by Consort Wan, making him, in some ways, Zhu Jianshen's godson."

"Zhu Jianshen was eager to understand the people's conditions outside the palace, so he sent this fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy with two captains to change into civilian clothes and secretly go out to observe."

"Wang Zhi lived up to expectations; he not only saw the suffering of the common people, but also the scheming and despicable behavior within the Ming court!"

"He became friends with Wang Yue, the Censor-in-Chief, who was also a lone official who was not favored by the civil service."

At the age of sixteen, he was appointed as the director of the Western Depot, thus initiating the Yang Ye case that shocked the nation.

"At eighteen, while civil officials were still arguing fiercely in court over a few taels of silver in annual tribute, he had already mounted his warhorse!"

"He led the Ming Dynasty's iron cavalry out of Shanhaiguan!"

"That battle was called the Third Chenghua Plunder!"

"He personally annihilated the rising Liaodong Jurchens and Buryat people, who were the ancestors of the later Manchu Qing dynasty!"

"He uprooted the ambitions of those who dared to covet the Central Plains, slaughtering them until rivers of blood flowed in Liaodong, and deterring foreign tribes from looking south for decades!"

Zhu Dijun's words were like knives.

Under the sky, Zhu Di's eyes lit up.

As an emperor who spent his entire life on horseback, he knew all too well the weight of the words "ploughing the court".

"Killing Buryat wild boars for hides? A complete sweep of the enemy's territory?"

"Good! Well done!"

Zhu Di slapped his thigh, and his previous prejudice against Wang Zhi vanished instantly.

"Whether he was a eunuch or whatever, if he could expand the territory of the Ming Dynasty and terrify foreign tribes, he was a son of the Ming Dynasty!"

On the sky, Zhu Dijun continued:

At nineteen, he went to war again and swept through the Mongol court!

"Like Huo Qubing back then, he marched straight in without any supplies, searching for the enemy's whereabouts in the vast desert."

"He routed the Tatar prince, leaving him in disarray, and terrified the remaining forces of the Northern Yuan!"

"At twenty-two, he reached the pinnacle of his life."

"But at this age, at the height of his fame..."

"He has disappeared in Nanjing."

Zhu Dijun's voice suddenly turned extremely cold.

"Just like Huo Qubing back then, he suddenly vanished from the world at the prime of his life."

"Historical records say that he was demoted to Nanjing, stripped of his official post, and eventually died a virtuous death."

"That is, what is known as a peaceful death."

"But family members, please use your brains and think about it."

"A eunuch who possessed countless scandals about the civil service and was a war god who could lead troops into battle and was renowned throughout the nine border regions."

"Would those civil officials, who dared to threaten even the emperor and burn even the archives, let him die a 'good death'?"

Zhu Jianshen sat in the Qianqing Palace, looking at the descriptions of Wang Zhi on the sky, his palms already covered in cold sweat.

Wang Zhi, who was standing next to him, was now deathly pale and trembling all over.

"Jingliang is dead..."

Wang Zhi muttered to himself. Looking at his own spirited reflection in the sky, and then thinking of that tragic end, he felt a chill run from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

He is only seventeen years old and is the director of the Western Depot.

He hasn't been to Liaodong yet, nor to the desert.

All he knew was that he wanted to be loyal to His Majesty and wanted to imprison all the civil officials who had insulted His Majesty.

But he never expected that his final destination would be this mysterious disappearance.

Above the sky, Zhu Dijun let out a cold snort.

"Look at this passage, everyone. This is how it's written in the 'Veritable Records of the Ming Dynasty' and the 'Biography of Wang Zhi'."

"In the nineteenth year of the Chenghua reign, Guo Tang, the governor of Datong, submitted a memorial stating that Wang Zhi and General Xu Ning were at odds, which might delay border affairs."

"Zhu Jianshen then transferred Wang Zhi to Nanjing."

"Subsequently, the censor Xu Yong impeached Wang Zhi for deceiving the emperor, and Zhu Jianshen actually 'accepted the opinion,' demoting him to the rank of Fengyu, stripping his comrade-in-arms Wang Yue of his title, and dismissing all those involved from their posts."

Judy slammed her hand on the table, making the microphone vibrate loudly.

"That's utter nonsense!"

"Who was Zhu Jianshen? Was he the kind of foolish ruler who would be so frightened by a few words of impeachment that he would cut off his own arms?"

"He spent ten years purging over eight thousand officials using the capital's official examination system. Would he really let a mere censor's memorial break his sharpest blade?"

There is only one truth.

Zhu Dijun took a deep breath, his eyes filled with sorrow.

"That was a premeditated, coordinated assassination attempt by the civilian government!"

"They first used the serious charge of 'delaying border affairs' to force Wang Zhi to leave the army he depended on for survival."

"Then, on his way to Nanjing, Wang Zhi prepared to investigate and deal with the major landlords and merchants in the southeast during that vacuum period when they were no longer under the protection of the Western Depot and elite officers..."

"They made their move."

Soon, Zhu Dijun used AI to generate simulated images here.

The scene depicts an ancient road battered by wind and rain.

A young man in plain clothes fought to the point of exhaustion amidst an attack by numerous men in black.

The knife in his hand was broken, and his body was covered with arrowheads.

The leader of those men in black, however, was dressed in a scholar's robe, representing the "pure and upright" school of thought.

"After Wang Zhi disappeared, the civil officials took control of the pen."

"They couldn't wait to alter the records, turning a meritorious general into a powerful eunuch despised by the emperor."

"They attributed the credit for the 'Chenghua Emperor's purge of the court' to the civil officials who were in the rear directing the operation."

"They smeared Wang Zhi's surprise attack in the desert as a reckless act that wasted manpower and resources."

Why?

Zhu Dijun's voice resonates in every time and space.

"Because they're afraid!"

"They fear that the Ming Dynasty will produce another Zheng He, but they fear even more that it will produce a Wei Qing or Huo Qubing who can lead troops!"

"Once the military generals Xun Gui and the palace eunuchs fall completely, the entire Ming Dynasty will become their private property, which they, as civil officials, can take at will!"

"Therefore, Wang Zhi must die, and he must die silently, leaving behind a legacy of infamy!"

The modern live streaming room is absolutely explosive!

"I cried, I really did. A genius who swept through the court at eighteen—what a prodigy!"

"He wiped out Wild Boar Skin's ancestors. If Wang Zhi had lived, Wild Boar Skin would never have existed."

"The civil service is ruining the country! These people who study the classics are blacker than ink!"

The Hongwu Era.

Zhu Yuanzhang's old, cloudy eyes now burst forth with astonishing killing intent.

He looked up at the sky, then at the civil officials kneeling below, trembling with fear.

"What a fine example of 'Jingliang's death'."

"What a fine example of 'deceiving the emperor'!"

Zhu Yuanzhang stood up and slowly walked to the center of the hall, his voice hoarse.

"Biao'er, did you see that?"

"This is the 'sharing of the world with the scholar-officials' that you wanted."

"They not only want my power, but also my life, and they even want to dig out the meritorious officials I left to my descendants from the history books!"

Zhu Biao lowered his head, tears welling up in his eyes.

He always believed that as long as he won people over with virtue, he could bring order and justice to the court.

But today, the bloody truth revealed by the heavens has made him understand completely.

When faced with absolute self-interest, morality is merely a fig leaf used by civil officials to cover up their crimes.

Yongle Time and Space.

Zhu Di laughed loudly, but his laughter was filled with sorrow.

"Zhu Jianshen, you've been a... pathetic emperor!"

"My descendants actually rely on a eunuch to charge into battle, and in the end, they can't even protect him!"

"Sanbao, deliver the message!"

Zhu Di suddenly turned his head and looked at Zheng He beside him.

"Those officials who spend all their time impeaching you for wasting money on your voyages to the West, lock them all up in jail!"

"I want to see who dares to play this 'killing the good' trick in front of me!"

The Chenghua Era.

Zhu Jianshen looked at Wang Zhi kneeling before him, a resolute glint flashing in his eyes that he had never shown before.

He stepped down from the dragon throne and personally helped the boy up.

"Wang Zhi, did you hear that?"

Wang Zhi raised his head, his face covered in tears.

"Your Majesty...I heard you."

"They want you dead, they want me to be their prisoner."

Zhu Jianshen turned around and looked at the gloomy sky outside the main hall.

"Since they say you are a powerful eunuch and that I am a foolish ruler."

"Then I'll show them what a truly tyrannical ruler I am!"

"deliver an imperial order!"

Zhu Jianshen's voice echoed in this ancient palace.

"The Western Depot will no longer be allowed to set limits! Investigate! Investigate who in the capital is colluding with border generals and who is secretly communicating with foreign enemies!"

"besides……"

Zhu Jianshen paused, his tone turning sinister.

"That guy named Xiang Zhong, and that Liu Daxia who burned the files."

"There's no need to wait for a joint trial by the three judicial departments."

"Simply...peel off the skin, stuff it with straw, and hang it outside the Meridian Gate!"

"I want all the civil officials in the land to see just how sharp my blade is!"