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

Above the vast expanse of countless worlds, the images on the celestial screen flickered slightly.

The uproar surrounding Zhu Dijun's shocking resume on the modern internet continues to escalate across various social media platforms. Countless netizens' comments have flooded the live stream like snowflakes.

Worship, awe, reverence.

But Zhu Dijun, in the center of the picture, simply picked up the teacup beside him with a calm expression and took a small sip.

He casually tapped the keyboard, instantly hiding the file on the screen—a file that would shame countless geniuses to the point of suicide.

"Alright, family."

Zhu Dijun's voice, coming through the microphone, possessed an irresistible magnetism and penetrating power, instantly silencing the clamor across the internet.

"My personal life experiences are not worth mentioning."

"Let bygones be bygones, and there's no need to overthink it. This is a serious historical review livestream, and I'm not the main character today."

He raised his head, his deep, cold eyes staring directly at the camera.

"Let's continue talking about Emperor Wuzong."

This statement came out.

Viewers in the modern live stream almost spat blood onto their screens.

"What the hell?! A six-disciplinary PhD, a hand-crafted mechanical wolf, an extreme genius protected by the state—you call that insignificant?!"

[“Jun-ge, that was a perfect stunt, I give it full marks, I'm afraid you'll get arrogant if I give you any more!”]

"This is too Versailles! Is this the relaxed feeling of a true master?"

And the Ming Dynasty throughout its various dynasties.

Upon hearing Zhu Dijun's dismissive "not worth mentioning," countless civil and military officials wished they could disappear into the ground.

Yongle Time and Space.

King Zhu Gaosui of Zhao was so excited that he trembled all over, pointed at the sky and laughed heartily:

"Listen to this! Listen to this! This is my descendant! Unperturbed by favor or disgrace, regarding worldly fame as fleeting clouds! Such magnanimity is beyond the comprehension of you poor, pedantic scholars!"

Prince Zhu Gaoxu of Han rolled his eyes, but he couldn't hide the jealousy in them.

The Hongwu reign of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded in satisfaction. With such a peerless genius protecting him, how could his Zhu family's empire not last for thousands of generations?

On the screen above, Zhu Dijun's expression showed he was fully focused on his work.

Background screen switching.

From the magnificent Leopard House in the Forbidden City, we traveled south across thousands of mountains and rivers, finally settling on a miasma-filled, mountainous southwestern frontier.

The Ming Dynasty, Yunnan.

"Family members, as we mentioned earlier, Emperor Wuzong Zhu Houzhao, through establishing the Eight Tigers, building the Leopard House, and setting up the Inner Imperial Factory, finally completed the consolidation of core power in the capital in the second year of Zhengde."

"He broke free from the cage that the civil service had set for him and grasped the hilt of the knife."

"But opening up the gates between the inner court and the capital garrison does not mean that he is secure in his position as emperor."

Judy Jun's fingers swiped across the screen, drawing out a faded, yellowed melody.

"At the end of the second year of Zhengde's reign."

"A memorial from the southwestern border region traveled thousands of miles to the Directorate of Ceremonial and was presented to Emperor Wuzong's desk."

The person who submitted the memorial was named Cui An.

"His identity is that of a eunuch who is in charge of the Yunnan garrison of the Ming Dynasty!"

On the screen, the ghostly figure of a eunuch appeared, kneeling on the cold brick floor, holding a blood-stained memorial aloft with both hands.

Zhu Dijun's tone gradually turned cold, revealing a chilling murderous intent.

"The contents of this memorial were like a resounding slap in the face to all the Ming Dynasty civil officials who advocated the 'Hongzhi Restoration' and called themselves 'pure officials'!"

"This also allowed Zhu Houzhao, who had just seized power, to truly see for the first time just how appallingly corrupt the local finances of the Ming Empire had become!"

The Hongzhi Era of the Ming Dynasty.

Inside the Qianqing Palace.

Emperor Hongzhi, Zhu Youcheng, who was still filled with fear and anxiety because the future Empress Dowager's palace would be burned down by a "fire dragon", suddenly raised his head.

An expression of utter astonishment appeared on his pale, sickly face.

"A memorial from Yunnan?"

"A slap in the face to my 'Hongzhi Restoration'?"

Zhu Youcheng gripped the armrests of the dragon throne tightly.

Throughout his life, he was diligent and frugal in his official duties, and even abstained from women, marrying only Empress Zhang. He reviewed memorials day and night, and listened to the advice of the civil officials, earning him the reputation of "a court full of upright officials" throughout the country.

He believed that the Ming Dynasty under his rule was a peaceful and prosperous place.

How did it become such a complete joke in the mouths of later generations?

On the sky, Zhu Dijun ruthlessly tore off this fig leaf.

"In his memorial to the emperor, Cui An presented Emperor Wuzong with a detailed account of the matter."

"A tangled mess spanning fourteen years!"

"The silver mines in Yunnan were one of the important sources of revenue for the Ming Dynasty."

"From the fourth year of the Hongzhi reign until the death of Emperor Xiaozong of Ming in the eighteenth year of the Hongzhi reign!"

Zhu Dijun slammed his hand on the table, making a loud bang.

"For fourteen years, local officials in Yunnan intercepted, concealed, and withheld funds under various pretexts."

"The total amount of silver owed to the imperial court is a staggering 68,900 taels!"

The moment this number was announced, all of space and time fell silent.

Then, an earth-shattering uproar erupted!

For modern people, tens of thousands of taels of silver may not mean much, but in the mid-Ming Dynasty, it was by no means a small amount.

Zhu Dijun displayed a set of comparative data on the screen.

"Family members, you may think that 68,000 taels doesn't sound like much."

"But let me give you some calculations."

"After the 'Open Market Law' was abolished and the 'Refund Law' was implemented during the Hongzhi reign, the Ming Dynasty's treasury had already been emptied by the civil officials and border generals."

"By the first year of the Zhengde reign, when Emperor Wuzong ascended the throne, the imperial treasury of the Ming Dynasty held only a mere one million taels of silver!"

"And in just one silver mine in Yunnan, due to a deficit in one area, they dared to embezzle nearly 70,000 taels!"

"This is blatant robbery! They're sucking the lifeblood of the Ming Dynasty!"

Hongzhi Era.

"puff!"

Enraged, Zhu Youcheng spat a mouthful of black blood directly onto the memorial on his desk.

"His Majesty!"

The eunuchs inside the hall were terrified and rushed forward to help him up.

"Sixty-eight thousand taels...fourteen years..."

Zhu Youcheng pushed the eunuch aside and stared at the sky with bloodshot eyes.

"When I'm in the palace, to save on lamp oil, I don't even dare to light a single extra candle when reading memorials at night!"

"Even if my clothes are torn, the Empress must mend them before I can wear them!"

"They actually embezzled 68,000 taels of silver from me in Yunnan!"

Zhu Youcheng felt his faith crumble. The officials he regarded as confidants and entrusted with important responsibilities, who hailed him as a wise and benevolent ruler in court every day, were secretly emptying his national treasury!

The Hongwu Era.

Zhu Yuanzhang's face was so gloomy it looked like it could drip water.

"From the fourth year of the Hongzhi reign to the eighteenth year of the Hongzhi reign?"

"In fourteen years, 68,000 taels of silver have vanished without a trace. Has the Ministry of Revenue of the Hongzhi Emperor's court died? Have the censors of the Censorate all gone blind?"

Zhu Yuanzhang gritted his teeth, his eyes flashing with a tyrannical red light.

"Sixty taels is enough to peel the bark and stuff the grass."

"Sixty-eight thousand taels! We'll skin those corrupt officials in Yunnan alive and make them into war drums to hang on the Meridian Gate!"

Above the sky, Judy Jun's cold laughter continued.

"Family members, don't rush to get angry, the best is yet to come."

"As a garrison eunuch, Cui An was essentially a servant sent by the emperor to the local area. Since he discovered this messy account, he naturally had to investigate it thoroughly."

"Guess who pocketed all 68,000 taels of silver?"

On the screen, the blood-red numbers began to jump wildly.

Ultimately, the result settled on a chilling number.

【273! 】

"After months of undercover investigation and verification, Cui An attached a long list to his memorial."

"A total of 273 officials were involved in embezzling and dividing the 68,000 taels of silver!"

"This isn't just one or two people being corrupt anymore."

Zhu Dijun's finger tapped the screen, almost piercing it.

"This is systemic corruption! The entire Yunnan officialdom, from top to bottom, from the provincial administration to local prefectures and counties, is full of wicked people!"

"Do you know what's most ridiculous?"

Zhu Dijun's gaze pierced through the screen, as if he were looking at the trembling officials in the Ming Dynasty court.

"Among the 273 people on this list of embezzlers, those at the top include not only local civil officials, but also—the local commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard!"

boom!

The Jinyiwei (Imperial Guard) offices of the Ming Dynasty were instantly plunged into an ice cave.

All the commanders of the Embroidered Uniform Guard throughout the ages were so frightened that they knelt on the ground and kowtowed frantically.

What is the Embroidered Uniform Guard?

Those were the emperor's personal guards, the fastest weapon the emperor used to monitor officials and suppress corruption.

Even the hand that holds the knife has colluded with corrupt officials. Where in this Ming Dynasty can one find a clean place?

Yongle Time and Space.

Zhu Di kicked over the imperial desk in front of him.

"The Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard was involved in embezzlement and profit-sharing? Ji Gang! Get your ass over here!"

Zhu Di roared, and Ji Gang, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard outside, tumbled and crawled into the hall, trembling like a leaf.

"See that?! That's the Embroidered Uniform Guard from later generations!"

"Investigate for me! In all thirteen provincial administrations of the Ming Dynasty, if even one official of the Imperial Guard with the rank of a thousand-household commander or higher dares to collude with local officials, I will execute your entire clan, including ten generations of your family!"

But in the Zhengde era.

In the main hall of the Leopard Room.

Fifteen-year-old Zhu Houzhao stared at the glaring "List of 273 People" on the sky, his blood boiling.

He was just feeling proud of his newfound control over the military in the capital.

Looking at it now, the roots of the mighty Ming Dynasty have long since rotted into a pool of pus.

"Excellent...what a glorious restoration during the Hongzhi reign! What a peaceful and prosperous era!"

Zhu Houzhao was so angry that he laughed instead.

He turned to look at Liu Jin and Zhang Yong.

"When will Cui An's memorial be sent to the capital?"

Liu Jin wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said in a trembling voice, "Your Majesty, according to the schedule, the urgent memorial from Yunnan will arrive in the capital in at most three days. However, for a memorial to reach the capital, it must first pass through the Grand Secretariat and the Office of Transmission..."

Zhu Houzhao's eyes instantly turned as cold as ice.

On the sky, Zhu Dijun's voice rang out at that very moment, hitting the very core of the problem.

"Family members."

"At the end of this memorial, Cui An pleaded with his life."

"He implored Emperor Wuzong to immediately issue an imperial edict, dispatching an imperial envoy and top experts from the Imperial Depot to Yunnan to arrest all 273 officials involved in the case and bring them to the capital for execution in the autumn!"

"Logically, with such conclusive evidence, the emperor should have immediately dispatched troops to arrest them."

"But what kind of political situation did Emperor Wuzong face?"

Zhu Dijun gave a cold smile.

"Liu Jian and Xie Qian were seated in the cabinet."

"The six ministries are full of the backbone of the civil service."

"Of these 273 Yunnan officials, which one hadn't studied under a master in the capital? Which one hadn't offered bribes like ice and charcoal to high-ranking officials in the court?"

"To take action against Yunnan is to take action against the core support of the civil service!"

"This is a political earthquake of earth-shattering magnitude!"

"This was also another clash between Zhu Houzhao and the civil service during the second year of the Zhengde reign!"