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

Battle reports can be deceiving, but the front lines won't!

This famous quote from later generations shimmered with a scarlet light in the sky.

The Hongwu Era.

Zhu Yuanzhang stared intently at the ten characters, his breathing becoming heavy and rough.

He fought his whole life, crawling out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, before he finally established the Ming Dynasty.

He understood the weight of those words better than anyone else.

"Well said! The descendants are right!"

Zhu Yuanzhang slapped his thigh hard.

"A civil official's mouth can turn black into white, and a defeat into a great victory!"

"But where the enemy's horses trampled, how many cities were lost, and how many civilians died—these are things their broken pens cannot conceal!"

He turned to look at the Minister of War, his gaze as cold as if he were looking at a dead man.

"Issue my decree."

"From this day forward, all border battle reports must not only be verified by the Ministry of War, but also cross-checked by the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Censorate!"

"Anyone who dares to falsify battle reports or whitewash the truth will be skinned alive and their entire family, including ten generations of their relatives, executed!"

The Great Han Dynasty.

Liu Che looked at the sky, a flash of understanding appearing in his eyes.

"The front lines don't lie..."

He muttered those words to himself, then threw his head back and laughed.

"The conclusion drawn by later generations is truly insightful!"

"I fought the Xiongnu, reaching the northern deserts, and even the sacred mountain range!"

"This is my battlefront!"

"No matter how those pedantic scholars criticize me for my aggressive military campaigns in court, as long as this front remains, I will be a great emperor for all time!"

Above the sky, Zhu Dijun's commentary was like a heavy hammer, relentlessly smashing the fig leaf of the Hongzhi Dynasty.

"Family members, since we've brought up the front lines, let's take a look at what kind of results these civilian officials who control the army have achieved."

"History books boast that the Hongzhi Emperor's military achievements were outstanding, and the whole world submitted to him."

"But the actual battle lines were retreating again and again, a truly horrific sight!"

The scene changes.

The Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty in the north appeared in the sky.

What should have been a solid defensive line against foreign enemies now appears dilapidated.

"In the tenth year of the Hongzhi reign, the Tatar prince Huoshai led tens of thousands of cavalry south to invade."

"The Mongol warhorses trampled through Datong's defenses!"

In the AI-simulated scene, the sky is ablaze with war.

Mongol cavalry rampaged through the villages, burning, killing, and looting, while the cries of the Ming people shook the heavens and the earth.

"What was Ma Wensheng, the Minister of War who controlled the military, doing at this time?"

"He writes poetry in the capital!"

"He spoke eloquently in court, instructing the emperor to govern with benevolence and to win people over with virtue!"

Zhu Dijun's voice was filled with barely suppressed anger.

"The soldiers on the front lines fought bloody battles, but they received no food supplies or reinforcements."

Why?

"Because the civil officials felt that war was too expensive, and it would be better to save the money to build gardens and pay salaries!"

"The 100,000 Ming border troops were completely suppressed by the civil officials, forced to cower behind the city walls and watch helplessly as the Mongols looted and then swaggered away!"

In modern live streaming rooms, the comments section has completely exploded.

"Holy crap! A hundred thousand troops just watching someone loot? Is this the Ming or Song Dynasty?"

"Winning people over with virtue? Go recite the Four Books and Five Classics while facing a Mongol's scimitar!"

"A civilian official leading troops is a complete joke!"

"What's most infuriating is that even after suffering a defeat, they can still write in their battle reports, 'The enemy has fled, and our army has won a great victory!'"

On the sky, Judy Jun coldly pointed to a yellowed memorial.

"This viewer is absolutely right."

"The Mongols plundered enough and then withdrew their troops."

"As a result, the battle report from the Ministry of War stated, 'Our army fought bravely, beheading dozens of enemy soldiers, and the bandits were routed and fled!'"

"Dozens of heads were exchanged for a large number of people and livestock that the Mongols had plundered!"

"Where did these dozens of heads come from?"

Zhu Dijun's eyes turned completely cold.

"Killing innocent people and claiming credit for it!"

"To cover up their incompetence, civil officials tacitly approved or even instructed their subordinates to murder fleeing Ming civilians, cutting off their heads and using them as substitutes for Mongol heads to claim credit!"

boom!

The myriad worlds and timelines were as if a bomb had been dropped on them.

Yongle Time and Space.

Zhu Di's eyes instantly turned red.

Kill innocent people and claim credit for them.

This is the most heinous and unforgivable crime in the military.

"My people...my subjects!"

Zhu Di grabbed a civil official by the collar and lifted him up.

"Is this what you call benevolence and morality?"

"Is this the kind of minister you've trained to restore the dynasty?"

"You're using the lives of the Ming people to dye your official hats and plumes red!"

The civil official was so frightened that his face turned pale, and a foul odor emanated from his crotch.

Zhu Di threw him to the ground in disgust, drew his long sword, and chopped off his head with one stroke.

Blood splattered on the white marble floor tiles of the Golden Palace.

"deliver an imperial order!"

Zhu Di roared fiercely.

"Prepare the troops! Get the horses ready!"

"I will personally lead the army into battle!"

"I will personally go to the northern deserts and show those Mongols, and those pedantic scholars, how the Ming Dynasty should fight its battles!"

Hongzhi Era.

Inside the Qianqing Palace.

Zhu Youcheng looked at the innocent civilians whose heads had been cut off by their own Ming soldiers on the sky.

His stomach churned violently, and he suddenly leaned against the edge of the dragon throne, vomiting violently.

He vomited yellow fluid, a mixture of tears and snot.

"His Majesty!"

Liu Jian and Li Dongyang rushed forward to help him up.

"Get out of here!"

Zhu Youcheng, with a strength he didn't know he had, pushed away the two Grand Secretaries he had once relied on most.

He pointed to the sky, his fingers trembling violently.

"Look...look at this!"

"This is the empire you have governed for me!"

"This is the victory report you've presented to me!"

Zhu Youcheng's voice was so mournful it sounded like he was weeping blood.

He always thought he was a good emperor. He was self-disciplined and followed the rules of propriety. He never squandered money and listened to the advice of his ministers.

He believed he had truly ushered in the Hongzhi Restoration.

But the sky mercilessly tore all of that apart.

He was not only a puppet, but also an accomplice.

They helped these civil officials drain the blood of the Ming Dynasty and devour the flesh of the people!

What Zhu Dijun continued to tear down was not only Zhu Youcheng's false mask of benevolence, but also the ministers of the Hongzhi era.