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

Zhu Dijun's question echoed in the live broadcast room.

After a brief pause, the barrage of comments exploded like never before.

Viewers flooded the chat with various speculations and angry comments.

The screen was filled with condemnations of the civil service.

As Zhu Dijun looked at the comments, his sneer became even more pronounced.

"Family members, you have made tremendous progress."

"No longer be misled by the grand and elegant rhetoric in official history books."

"Then let's thoroughly expose the truth behind this 'defeat at Yutailing'."

"Look at these upright gentlemen, what heinous things they've done on the border."

Zhu Dijun held up three fingers on the screen behind him.

"There are three fatal, inexplicable points of contention in the historical records regarding this battle."

"First."

A photocopy of the original text about this battle from the "Ming Shilu" (Veritable Records of the Ming Dynasty) appeared on the screen.

Zhu Dijun drew a heavy line on one of the lines of text with a red pen.

"According to the Ming Shilu, the Tatar enemy army had camps stretching for twenty li."

"Family members, this is a major defeat recorded in official history that resulted in the loss of a deputy commander-in-chief, a guerrilla general, and over three thousand casualties for the Ming Dynasty!"

"However, the historical records don't even mention the specific number of enemy troops!"

"They only vaguely said 'a continuous camp stretching for twenty li'."

"This is utterly absurd!"

"Does the Ministry of War not even know how many troops the enemy has before sending the General of Datong with 20,000 men to their deaths?"

The Yongle Era of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Di snorted coldly.

He fought in wars his whole life and was very familiar with the format of military reports.

"They didn't even dare to specify the exact troop strength."

"This military report is utter nonsense!"

"Either they're lying about military intelligence, or they're hiding something and afraid to report the truth!"

On the sky, Zhu Dijun raised his second finger.

"The second point of suspicion is even more outrageous."

Who exactly was the enemy leader in this battle?

"To be able to defeat 20,000 elite Ming border troops head-on in a fortified city like Xuanfu."

"This is definitely not something that a few thousand scattered soldiers could do."

"At least tens of thousands of Tatar main forces are needed!"

"At that time, there was only one person on the northern grasslands who had the ability and prestige to command an army of this size."

A portrait of a Mongol Khan riding a warhorse and holding a scimitar appeared on the screen.

"The Little Tatar Prince, Borjigin Batumonke!"

"The great victory at Yingzhou in the twelfth year of the Zhengde reign was achieved by this young prince personally leading his army to fight against Zhu Houzhao."

"But!"

Zhu Dijun suddenly raised his voice.

"The name of this young prince cannot be found anywhere in the official records of the defeat at Yutailing!"

"There isn't even the name of a single well-known Tatar general!"

"Are these 20,000 Ming soldiers fighting a bunch of ghosts?"

The era of the Zhengde reign of the Ming Dynasty.

The veins on the back of Zhu Houzhao's hand, which was gripping the knife, bulged.

He immediately suspected there was something wrong with the battle report.

That's why he withstood the pressure and sent Zhu Hui to investigate and get to the bottom of things.

Zhu Dijun raised his third finger, his eyes becoming extremely sharp.

"The third point of doubt, and also the most crucial flaw."

"motivation!"

Why did the enemy invade the border in the first year of the Zhengde reign?

"Family members, let's open the historical records from March of the seventeenth year of the Hongzhi reign."

A yellowed memorial was displayed.

"It was the year before the defeat at Yutailing occurred."

"This young Tatar prince, Batumonke, has just sent an envoy to the capital to submit a memorial to the Ming court."

"What is his purpose?"

"They are requesting tribute and demanding the opening of border markets!"

"He needs the Ming Dynasty's tea, ironware, and silk."

"He is eagerly awaiting the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty's reply."

Zhu Dijun slammed his hands on the table.

"A steppe Khan who has just sued for peace and desperately needs trade to maintain his rule."

"What reason is there to suddenly amass tens of thousands of troops a year later to attack the Ming Dynasty's strategically important town of Xuanfu without warning?"

"Is he crazy?"

"He had absolutely no motive to start this war!"

Three points of doubt were raised.

The entire logical chain was completely locked.

At this moment, the official historical records became riddled with errors, rendering them as worthless as waste paper.

The era of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Yuanzhang's breathing became heavy.

He had already guessed the most terrifying answer.

But he still stared intently at the sky, waiting for future generations to uncover that bloody veil of shame.

Zhu Dijun stood up straight, his gaze as cold and sharp as a knife.

"So, family members."

"Combining these three major doubts with the extremely sensitive timeframe of only six days after Zhu Houzhao's ascension to the throne."

"We can draw a chilling conclusion."

"This so-called defeat at Yutailing was not due to any foreign invasion at all."

"That was the Tumu Crisis during the reign of Emperor Wuzong of Ming!"

boom!

These words resounded like thunder from the heavens, echoing throughout countless worlds and timelines.

"This is either a collusion between the civilian government and a foreign enemy, or simply a bloody mutiny orchestrated by them!"

"Their objectives are extremely sinister; there are two in total."

Zhu Dijun pulled up Huang Zhen and Zhang Xiong's resumes on the screen.

"First, purge the imperialists!"

"Take a look at the backgrounds of these two generals who died in battle."

"Huang Zhen, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Datong, and Zhang Xiong, Guerrilla General of Xuanfu."

"They were all trusted confidants personally promoted and placed on the frontier by Emperor Xiaozong of Ming, Zhu Youcheng, during the later years of the Hongzhi reign, in order to thoroughly investigate the corrupt military affairs in the Northwest!"

"The civil service used this fabricated war to legitimately eliminate the emperor's eyes and dagger left in the Northwest!"

"We will once again firmly grasp control of the northwest border defenses!"

Judy Jun's voice echoed throughout the hall, filled with boundless anger.

"Secondly, and most viciously."

"This is the ultimate pressure and death threat against the new emperor, Zhu Houzhao!"

On the screen, portraits of Ming Dynasty emperors flashed by.

Zhu Qizhen, Zhu Jianshen, and Zhu Youcheng.

"The civil service used the blood of more than three thousand border soldiers and the heads of two high-ranking generals."

"A veiled and cruel warning to the young new emperor."

"Don't be reckless!"

"Don't follow your father Zhu Youcheng's example and investigate some messy accounts in the Northwest."

"Don't follow your great-grandfather Zhu Qizhen's example and try to seize military power. He almost died at Tumu Fortress."

"Don't follow your grandfather Zhu Jianshen's example and try to run the Western Depot. He and his older wife Wan Zhen'er were poisoned to death in the end."

Zhu Dijun stared directly at the camera, his eyes conveying a suffocating sense of oppression.

"They are telling Zhu Houzhao."

"In this Ming Dynasty, it is we civil officials who call the shots!"

"If you just stay in your clay idol, everyone will live in peace."

"If you dare touch anything we forbid you to touch."

"The three thousand dead souls of Yu Tai Ridge will be your fate!"

"You, Zhu Houzhao, don't want to end up like your father, dying an unexplained death on the emperor's bed, do you?"

In a parallel Zhengde era of the Ming Dynasty.

"Bang!"

Zhu Houzhao kicked over the brazier in front of him.

The embers scattered on the ground ignited the carpet.

He ignored the spreading flames.

He simply tilted his head back and let out a burst of extremely shrill and insane laughter.

"good!"

"What a civil service group!"

"What a disastrous defeat at Yutailing!"

Zhu Houzhao suddenly turned his head and stared intently at Liu Jin, who was kneeling on the ground trembling.

In his eyes burned a raging inferno powerful enough to destroy the entire Ming Dynasty court.

"Liu Jin".

"Issue my decree."

"The Eastern and Western Depots, the Embroidered Uniform Guard—get them all mobilized for me."

"I don't care what methods they use."

"I hereby order all the Ministry of War officials who participated in the military report from Yutai Ridge to be imprisoned!"

"I will skin them alive!"

"Don't they like to intimidate me?"

Zhu Houzhao, carrying a blood-dripping embroidered spring knife, walked down the steps one by one.

"I'll let them know today."

"What truly constitutes the descent of a demon king!"