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

On the big screen, the blood faded, turning into an extremely heavy and helpless sigh.

Zhu Dijun leaned back in his chair, rubbing his temples with his long fingers. His usually cold and stern eyes now held a hint of weariness and disappointment.

"Why……"

"Family members, sometimes when I research this period of history, I feel a mix of satisfaction and rage, to the point where I want to smash the table!"

"I don't even know if this is some kind of traditional gene ingrained in the Zhu family?!"

Zhu Dijun sat up abruptly and pointed at the portraits of the emperors of the Ming Dynasty on the screen.

That is—[too much success makes you arrogant]!

"From Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, to Emperor Yingzong Zhu Qizhen, and then to Emperor Wuzong Zhu Houzhao."

"These grandfathers and grandsons, seemingly enjoying smooth sailing and in control, became completely arrogant! To the point that they lost their empire and even their lives!"

The Ming Dynasty, during the Hongwu era.

Inside the Fengtian Hall, Zhu Yuanzhang, who had been sitting upright, ready to watch his grandson wreak havoc, suddenly turned as black as the bottom of a pot.

He suddenly widened his tiger-like eyes, pointed at the sky, and began to curse.

"Bullshit! When have we ever been arrogant? We've conquered this land and governed it; every single day has been like walking on thin ice!"

On the sky, Zhu Dijun seemed to hear his protest, and a cold, extremely amusing smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

"Of course, Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang of the Ming Dynasty was alright."

"This founding emperor, who came from a beggar background, after being arrogant and severely beaten by reality several times, was able to calm down immediately, became ruthless, and never dared to be arrogant again."

Zhu Yuanzhang's outstretched finger froze in mid-air. He coughed awkwardly twice and sat back down on the dragon throne.

Fortunately, our descendants were sensible and left us some face.

"But what comes after that... especially the great Ming war god Zhu Qizhen, and our protagonist today, Zhu Houzhao."

Zhu Dijun slammed his fist on the table in anguish.

"They were just drifting along, and somehow they lost their lives!"

"Alright, enough chit-chat. Let's get straight to the main course!"

The large screen instantly split in two, and an extremely detailed personnel assessment file of the Ming Dynasty military poured down like a waterfall.

"Look at how Emperor Wuzong Zhu Houzhao offended civil officials while simultaneously ruining the careers of military generals!"

"These are all original documents from the 'Veritable Records of the Ming Dynasty' and the Ministry of War's top-secret archives. I will post them all in the comments section after the live stream, so everyone can verify them themselves!"

Zhu Dijun typed on the keyboard, pulling the timeline back to that crazy moment.

"The year is December of the third year of the Zhengde reign."

"According to the ancestral laws of the Ming Dynasty, the sons of military officers can directly inherit their fathers' official positions."

"At that time, Zhao Duo, a supervising secretary of the Ministry of War, submitted an extremely critical memorial to Emperor Wuzong."

On the screen, the yellowed memorial was highlighted with a scarlet horizontal line to emphasize its core content.

Zhu Dijun read out the passage that pushed the Ming Dynasty's military generals into the abyss, word by word.

"The assessment of sons of military officers in garrisons across the country who inherit their positions is often rife with fraud and favoritism. It's exactly the same as the civil service examinations in the capital, rendering it a mere formality and completely losing its meaning!"

"Family members, what this means is: These sons of generals are all useless good-for-nothings who inherited their positions through back channels and bribery! They're completely incapable of fighting on the battlefield!"

The Zhengde reign of the Ming Dynasty.

Inside the Leopard Chamber, Zhu Houzhao looked at the memorial, his chin slightly raised.

Zhao Duo is right. I thought so too back then.

What I need are proud and fierce generals who can fight the Mongols, not a bunch of spoiled brats who only know how to fight crickets in the capital!

On the sky, Zhu Dijun's voice suddenly rose in pitch.

"Faced with this memorial, a more prudent emperor might have taken a slow and gradual approach, like boiling a frog in lukewarm water, and gradually reformed the situation."

"But who is Zhu Houzhao? He's a madman who just finished humiliating the civil officials!"

"February of the fourth year of the Zhengde reign!"

"Emperor Wuzong, using Zhao Duo's memorial, bypassed the Ministry of War and issued a decree that shattered the very backbone of the Ming military!"

On the large screen, the golden imperial edict was unfurled with a resounding boom.

Judy grabbed the gavel and slammed it down hard!

boom! ! !

"All sons of military officers throughout the land who are prepared to inherit their fathers' positions must be sent to their local garrison for practical combat testing!"

"[The sons of the Beijing Garrison, jointly examined by the military officers stationed in the Beijing Garrison and the Ministry of War!]"

"That's not all!" Judy Jun's eyes blazed with extreme fervor.

"Emperor Wuzong not only required them to meet the standards in archery, horsemanship, and horsemanship, but also added an unprecedented requirement—[academic performance]!"

Anyone who can't understand military strategy and tactics will be eliminated!

"Those who fail the exam will be demoted and stripped of their command of troops! As for the sons of top noble families such as dukes and marquises, those who fail the exam will have one-third of their salary reduced!"

The live stream chat room instantly erupted with comments.

"Holy crap! Emperor Wuzong's move is flawless! What does an army value if not strength? Family background?"

"Support! Isn't this just an ancient version of military academy entrance exams? If someone can't fight a war but wants to lead troops, isn't that just a recipe for disaster for the soldiers?"

"Well done! We must break down class barriers and smash the iron rice bowls of these spoiled rich kids!"

Judy Jun looked at the comments and nodded in deep agreement.

"That's right, family members. From the perspective of national righteousness, Emperor Wuzong Zhu Houzhao's actions were absolutely correct and showed great courage!"

"The army is the foundation of a country's defense. If the army is filled with people with connections, national defense will collapse. Everyone has witnessed how the Eight Banners descendants were ruined in the late Qing Dynasty!"

"But……"

Zhu Dijun abruptly changed the subject, his tone revealing a chilling coldness.

"In the meat grinder of politics, sometimes being 'absolutely right' often means 'absolute suicide'!"

The color tone on the big screen instantly turned oppressive and gloomy.

"The hereditary system for military officers was the ultimate ironclad privilege established by Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, for his old brothers and nobles who risked their lives to conquer the country!"

"This is called sharing the fate of the nation!"

"From the Hongwu reign to the Zhengde reign, over a hundred years have passed! The entire military group of the Ming Dynasty had long regarded this as their rightful private property!"

"Especially those garrison officers in the capital and the interior, they've long been spoiled rotten, spending their days raising birds in cages. And now you're suddenly telling them: 'If you don't take an exam, you'll lose your job, and you even have to take an academic exam?!'"

Zhu Dijun slammed his hand on the table.

"This is practically like frying the entire Ming Dynasty military force in oil!"

"In the very month the imperial edict was issued!"

"When the results of the grand examination in February of the fourth year of the Zhengde reign were released, the whole country was in an uproar!"

A set of blood-red data flashed wildly on the screen.

"A total of 71 sons of mid- to high-ranking military officers were personally deemed unqualified by Emperor Wuzong!"

"Peng Zhen and a group of top noble sons have been permanently stripped of their succession eligibility!"

"Zhang Ben and dozens of others were immediately dismissed from their posts and sent back to their original garrison posts for solitary reflection. They will be re-examined in three years!"

"Zhu Houzhao even added an extremely cruel imperial edict: [If they fail the examination again after three years, they will be directly exiled to the Nine Garrisons!]"

Boom!

Throughout countless worlds and timelines, all the military generals who heard these words felt a chill run down their spines.

From a high-ranking hereditary military officer to a lowly, expendable soldier?!

Zhu Houzhao's actions were ten times more ruthless than murder!

The Zhengde reign of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Houzhao, who was still sneering inside the Leopard Chamber, gradually stiffened his smile as he listened to Zhu Dijun's increasingly solemn tone on the sky.

An extremely ominous premonition, like a venomous snake, crept up the young emperor's spine.

On the sky, Judy Jun's execution officially began.

"Hereditary military officers in the mid-Ming Dynasty were practically living on a diamond-encrusted gold bowl!"

"Zhu Houzhao smashed everything without warning. Do you think these warlords, who hold the reins of power, will respond to this capricious young emperor?"

Suddenly, countless red dots representing the flames of war lit up simultaneously on the screen of the Ming Dynasty's nine border defense lines!

"December of the fourth year of Zhengde's reign!"

"Datong, Xuanfu, and Tiancheng, three major border towns, simultaneously sent urgent alarms to the capital, which is 800 li away!"

"The Tatar army is pressing in! Enemy troops are invading the border! The front lines are in grave danger. We request the court to quickly send military pay and reinforcements!"

The Yongle Era of the Ming Dynasty.

Upon hearing these place names while seated on the dragon throne, Zhu Di was so angry he laughed.

"Border incursions? December?"

Zhu Di slammed the memorial in his hand to the ground, sneering repeatedly.

"In December, heavy snow seals off the mountains beyond the Great Wall, leaving even horses without grass to eat. What will the Tartars use to invade the south?!"

"This is clearly those border garrison commanders giving the imperial court a hard time, and using their power to support their own rebellion!"

On the celestial screen, Zhu Dijun's prediction was remarkably accurate.

"This is the most classic old tradition of the Ming Dynasty military group—[legal extortion]!"

"Your emperor wants to take away our livelihood? Fine! Then the situation at the front will be dire! You'll have to empty the national treasury to pay our soldiers, and you'll have to beg us to fight!"

"Then!"

Zhu Dijun's fingers traced three glaring red lines on the keyboard.

"In June of the fifth year of the Zhengde reign! Urgent report from Leping, Jiangxi: Wang Cheng'er and Yin Yongshi have gathered tens of thousands of people in a rebellion!"

"July! Urgent report from Sichuan: Liu Lie has launched a rebellion and captured prefectures and counties!"

"In August! Passes such as Yuling and Nianyushi along the Jiubian border reported again: they had suffered large-scale border raids, the passes had fallen, and the losses of people and property were extremely heavy!"

Ordinary people throughout the myriad worlds were stunned by the intense outbreak of war.

Is the Ming Dynasty about to perish?!

But then, Zhu Dijun's next sentence directly nailed all the officials of the Zhengde reign of the Ming Dynasty to the pillar of historical shame.

"Family members!"

Zhu Dijun stared intently at the camera, his eyes filled with icy mockery.

"I'm going to tell you a chilling truth."

"The so-called 'earth-shattering rebellion' and 'bloody border battles' that I just reported..."

"【It's all fake!】"

boom!

The Zhengde reign of the Ming Dynasty.

Inside the Leopard House.

The Emperor's sword in Zhu Houzhao's hand fell onto the gold brick with a "clang".

He suddenly widened his eyes, staring intently at the sky, his breathing becoming rapid and labored, like a broken bellows.

"Fake...fake?"

He muttered to himself, his face rapidly turning from deathly pale to flushed and extremely ferocious.

On the sky, Zhu Dijun's voice was like a series of loud slaps, striking Zhu Houzhao's face hard.

"Yes! It's all fabricated military intelligence! It's all about killing innocent people and claiming credit!"

"The local governments 'suppressed' those two rebellions in Jiangxi and Sichuan for months, but they couldn't even catch a glimpse of the bandits!"

"Emperor Wuzong was so angry that he publicly reprimanded the local governors, accusing them of condoning the bandits."

"Finally, having no other choice, Zhu Houzhao reluctantly ordered Minister of War Hong Zhong to personally lead the capital troops to annihilate them!"

On the screen appeared an extremely comical military route map.

"Here comes the most classic scene from the Yuuki Kingdom!"

"Liu Lie, the 'rebel' who 'rebelled' in Sichuan and was known as the peerless rebel who roamed the Hunan, Hubei and Guizhou regions."

"Before Hong Zhong's tens of thousands of troops even reached their destination, this guy actually crossed the border from Yunnan and ran away!"

"What's unfolding here is practically a classic example of a 'thousand-mile retreat' in classical military strategy!"

The live stream chat exploded with comments like "hahaha" and "it's terrifying to think about."

"Holy crap! What the hell?! A thousand-mile maneuver! That's even faster than Chang Shenkai!"

"This is hilarious! Even the rebels are actors, all putting on a show in front of the emperor!"

"This is terrifying to think about, brothers! The rebels escaped so easily because the government troops along the way gave them the green light!"

The smile on Zhu Dijun's face vanished instantly, replaced by a suffocating despair.

"Family members, do you find this funny?"

"But when I saw this, I felt a chill run through my entire body!"

"Because there are still experts!"