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

"Family members, how much do you know about Liu Jin's reforms as recorded in textbooks and the History of Ming?"

Zhu Dijun tapped his fingers on the table, making a crisp tapping sound.

"All you can find are fragments with unclear wording, edited by civil officials. They wish they could completely obliterate this history."

On the large screen, countless phantom images of ancient books shattered with a deafening roar.

"But today, I will reveal to the public the complete truth that I have pieced together over the past few years by examining countless fragments of documents and combining them with the latest epitaphs and scraps of historical records unearthed by the archaeological team!"

Three large characters, radiating dazzling golden light, were firmly nailed to the center of the sky.

[Zhengde's New Policies]!

"Time period: 1507 to 1510 AD."

"This was the absolute will of Emperor Wuzong of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Houzhao! Led by the eunuch Liu Jin, it was a radical overhaul that touched upon the bureaucracy, finances, military settlements, and the secret service system!"

Zhu Dijun's eyes were frighteningly sharp.

"Before we begin to examine these four 'swords,' we must first understand the true state of the Ming Dynasty in the early years of the Zhengde Emperor's reign!"

The Hongzhi Era of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Youcheng, who was sitting in the Qianqing Palace, suddenly straightened up.

That was the world he left to his son.

In the memorials of civil officials, it was described as a peaceful and prosperous Hongzhi Restoration.

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

"The biggest mess: Corruption in officialdom!"

"The Ming Dynasty's legal code stipulated an examination every three years and a general examination every nine years. By the end of the Hongzhi era, this had become nothing more than a formality for officials to accumulate seniority! Corruption was rampant and inaction was commonplace in the entire Ming bureaucracy. As long as you didn't cause trouble, even if you spent your days drinking tea and playing with crickets in the yamen, you could still get promoted and make a fortune after nine years!"

"Second major mess: Financial deficit!"

"The imperial treasury and the imperial granary have been completely emptied by the civil service under various pretexts. Military pay for the nine key border towns has been chronically delayed. The emperor wants to wage war? No money!"

Zhu Youcheng's face turned deathly pale.

His supposedly benevolent governance, which he was so proud of, was seen by later generations as a sign of weakness that allowed officials to embezzle the national treasury!

"The third mess: the collapse of military settlements!"

Zhu Dijun slammed his gavel down.

"The military settlement system of the early Ming Dynasty, which supposedly allowed 'a million soldiers to be supported without costing the people a single grain of rice,' was rampantly seized by nobles, military officers, and local powerful families! Military households were driven to the brink of ruin, with many fleeing. The nine border defense lines became virtually non-existent!"

"The fourth mess: The loss of imperial power!"

"The cabinet and the civil service have become so powerful that they even tried to turn the emperor into a mere puppet by bribing him with women and cutting off his finances!"

"Without reforms? The Ming Dynasty wouldn't even last until the Wanli era; it would perish directly during the Zhengde era!"

The myriad realms and timelines were utterly silent.

Zhu Houzhao burst into wild laughter inside the Leopard Chamber, tears streaming down his face.

"Well said! I inherited a complete mess!"

Faced with this situation, Liu Jin, representing Emperor Wuzong, took the first decisive action—[the rectification of officialdom]!

Judy Jun drew a huge red cross on the screen.

"Abolish the nine-year standardized test system that allows you to coast through the years! Implement an extremely rigorous dynamic assessment system!"

"The Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of War monitor officials' performance in real time, conducting on-the-spot inspections and special audits. If they find you unqualified today, they'll strip you of your post tomorrow!"

The entire court of civil officials felt their scalps tingle.

Without the nine-year protection, their power could be taken away at any time!

"But that's not ruthless enough."

A cruel smile curled at the corner of Zhu Dijun's lips.

"Liu Jin unleashed a devastating weapon, the core of the entire Zhengde Reforms—the rice-fining system!"

"Aren't the officials of the Ming Dynasty fond of corruption? Don't they like to deplete the national treasury?"

Liu Jin ordered: All corrupt and derelict officials shall be fined rice and forced to transport it to the border, according to the severity of their crimes!

"Serious offenders will be fined 1,000 shi of grain! Minor offenders will be fined several hundred shi! Even retired officials who are enjoying their retirement at home will still be punished if it is discovered that they had bad deeds during their previous tenure. Their retirement salary will be halved!"

boom!

This is nothing short of a blatant conspiracy to confiscate property and wipe out the entire family!

The chat in modern live streams has gone completely crazy.

"Holy crap!!! This is so awesome!"

"Corrupt officials who embezzle money think they can live a peaceful retirement? Dream on! Dig them out and continue to punish them!"

"Filing people to pay taxes and send them to the border—using corrupt officials' money to support the soldiers on the frontier. This Robin Hood-style approach is absolutely brilliant!"

The Hongwu Era.

Zhu Yuanzhang slapped his thigh suddenly, his face flushed with excitement.

"What a brilliant idea to punish people with rice! Why didn't we think of that back then?"

"He embezzled our money, so he has to return it with interest! To fill the hole in the military pay for the nine border regions. This Liu Jin is truly a talent!"

"This method of fining rice has punished a total of 267 high-ranking officials and corrupt officials."

Zhu Dijun continued pushing forward with a cold smile.

"But this is just the appetizer. The second cut—[reforming finances and taxes]!"

"Liu Jin dispatched imperial censors to strike directly at the border towns of Ganzhou and Liangzhou. Their aim was directly at the powerful princes and hereditary nobles!"

"A forced land survey and reclamation operation! They managed to uncover hundreds of thousands of hectares of fertile land that had been concealed from these powerful families!"

"Confiscate all of it and confiscate it! Redistribute it to the deserter military households!"

The Zhengde reign of the Ming Dynasty.

Those nobles who had just been criticizing Liu Jin for misruling were now all paralyzed on the ground.

They had occupied the land for decades, but Liu Jin cut it all back with one stroke.

Cutting off someone's livelihood is like killing their parents.

This is the real reason why they were willing to risk their lives to instigate a mutiny and kill Liu Jin!

"In order to support open source, Liu Jin also revoked the right to issue salt permits and cracked down on smuggling networks involving collusion between officials and businessmen."

"At the same time, we implemented a policy of exempting taxes in years of disaster and reducing taxes in years of plenty, and stopped collecting all miscellaneous taxes arbitrarily imposed by local governments. We drastically reduced the burden on the people!"

"The third step, as we mentioned before, was to establish an inner bureau and send eunuchs to local areas to supervise the military and taxes."

"Directly divide and lock up the financial and military power of both civil and military officials!"

Zhu Dijun spread his arms wide, as if displaying a perfect work of art.

"Family members, in the short span of three years from the third to the fifth year of the Zhengde reign..."

"The Ming Dynasty has miraculously experienced a strong short-term recovery!"

"The national treasury is full again! Border troops' salaries are fully paid! Military settlements have been restored, and border defenses have been strengthened! The administrative efficiency of officials has increased dramatically!"

"Imperial power has reached an unprecedented level of centralization!"

"Sixteen-year-old Zhu Houzhao, along with his close associate Liu Jin, together delivered an epic defibrillation shock to this corrupt empire!"

The data on the large screen climbed steadily, and golden light illuminated the entire universe.

Emperors throughout history were mesmerized by it.

Such a reform effort, such immediate results, is simply miraculous!

however.

The golden light lasted only three seconds.

The edges of the screen were quickly swallowed up by thick black blood.

Zhu Dijun's voice instantly plummeted to freezing point.

"However, it threatened the vested interests of everyone in the world. This vengeful monster has finally bared its fangs."

"This extremely harsh reform caused widespread fear and insecurity throughout the government and the public."

"Liu Jin offended civil officials, nobles, military generals, and even local powerful figures. He offended everyone he could!"

Finally, in the fifth year of Zhengde's reign, which is 1510 AD.

"Zhu Zhifan, the Prince of Anhua, launched a brazen uprising in the Northwest under the banner of 'purging the emperor's corrupt advisors and eliminating Liu Jin'!"

"What's even more deadly is that the civil officials have seized upon the cracks within the eunuch faction."

Zhu Dijun pointed out the sinister face of a eunuch.

"The supervising eunuch Zhang Yong! He was turned by civil officials and, taking advantage of the opportunity to quell the rebellion, directly exposed Liu Jin's so-called seventeen major crimes to Emperor Wuzong!"

"Weapons, imperial seals, and jade belts, among other contraband, were found in Liu Jin's home."

"As for whether these things were truly Liu Jin's private stash, or whether the civil officials and Zhang Yong planted them together, there is no way to verify it now that they are dead."

"As a result, Liu Jin was sentenced to death by slow slicing, which lasted for three days!"

"And all the reform laws he implemented were abolished by the civil service with extremely brutal speed—completely!"

"The Ming Dynasty has once again returned to that old road leading to the abyss."

In the live stream room, endless sighs filled the screen.

A path that could have revitalized the Ming Dynasty was thus abruptly cut off.

"In the traditional historical view of the History of Ming, Liu Jin is condemned as a cunning and ruthless eunuch who brought disaster to the country and the people."

Zhu Dijun stared directly at the camera, his eyes full of disdain.

"But the Cambridge History of China, Volume 1: The Ming Dynasty, and the Republic of China, provides an extremely objective assessment."

"Liu Jin attempted to establish an administrative system in which civil and military officials were subordinate to eunuchs, an unprecedented move in the history of the Chinese Empire. His downfall ended the substantial attempt to directly control the empire through eunuchs."

"This is the true historical significance of the Zhengde Reforms!"

"but……"

Zhu Dijun suddenly changed the subject.

He leaned forward, bringing his face close to the camera, a strange and unpredictable smile playing on his lips.

"Family members, I have finished explaining the general framework of the reform."

"But history's most deadly poisons are often hidden in inconspicuous corners and snippets of conversation."

"Do you know just how outrageous and inhumane those civil officials, driven to desperation, committed during this reform?"

"Next, I'm going to take you to see something..."

"A terrifying abyss that even history books dared not record in detail. It all started with Liu Jin's reforms."

The screen went completely black instantly.

Only a mournful baby's cry remained, suddenly shattering in the darkness.