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

The screen in the live stream room lit up again.

Judy sat upright in front of the camera, the violence in her eyes completely subsided. In its place was the extreme coldness and rationality that only appears when disassembling cutting-edge machinery.

"Alright, family. We've been talking about Emperor Wuzong Zhu Houzhao for so long, from his ascension to the throne all the way to that earth-shattering coup in August of the fifth year of Zhengde."

Zhu Dijun's fingers tapped lightly on the table, the sound echoing throughout the hall and across countless worlds.

Now, let's look at it from the other side.

"What fatal and foolish mistakes did Zhu Houzhao make in this earth-shattering coup that could have been avoided, or rather, would never have had such a wide-ranging impact?"

The myriad realms and timelines were utterly silent.

The Ming Dynasty, Zhengde 3rd year. Inside the Leopard Chamber. Fifteen-year-old Zhu Houzhao pushed away the trembling Liu Jin beside him, walked alone into the courtyard, raised his head, and bit his lip tightly.

In another parallel universe, the mutiny occurred in August of the fifth year of the Zhengde reign.

Outside the smoke-filled imperial study, blood-soaked Imperial Guards fought desperately against the rebel army's onslaught. Twenty-year-old Zhu Houzhao leaned on his chipped imperial sword, his eyes bloodshot as he stared at the sky.

Martial masters from different times and spaces are all waiting at this moment. They are waiting for their descendants five hundred years from now to give them a powerful, life-saving remedy.

"The first mistake. I've emphasized this before—"

On the big screen, the phantom images of Cining Palace and Qingning Palace were brutally pierced through by a large, blood-red fork.

"The imperial relatives and their families were not completely eliminated in the first instance!"

Zhu Dijun's eyes were like the solid ice of the far north.

"In his mutiny, and even in the bizarre drowning incident of the fifteenth year of Zhengde's reign, these imperial relatives, supposedly protected by filial piety, were all playing the role of cruel accomplices!"

"I must say this: Zhu Houzhao, you are utterly foolish!"

"The most abundant teaching material for an emperor is history books. History books may not contain as many private records of powerful families, and may be filled with embellishments from civil officials, but their strength lies in their vast amount of information!"

The sky suddenly shifted, and an ancient and desolate Han Dynasty palace rose from the ground.

"Go and look up the history of the founding of the Western Han Dynasty!"

"After Liu Bang's death, Empress Lü Zhi succeeded him. Her hands were stained with blood, yet she maintained the unification of the Han Dynasty with an extremely ruthless approach!"

"Even though she was later vilified in historical records by those pedantic Confucian scholars and the civil service, her contribution to extending the life of the Han Dynasty cannot be erased by anyone!"

The phantom images of several Han Dynasty emperors appeared one after another.

"Then look at Emperor Wen of Han, Liu Heng, Emperor Jing of Han, Liu Qi, and finally Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che!"

"This is the ultimate significance of bloodline inheritance in the power struggle for imperial authority!"

Judy Jun grabbed the gavel and slammed it down!

"Emperor Wuzong had no children. This certainly meant he didn't have to worry about his descendants being manipulated or brainwashed by the civil service."

"But on the other hand, you don't have a successor to carry on your own will! The great achievements you couldn't complete in your lifetime could have been passed on to future generations!"

"Therefore, those scheming relatives of the empress in the harem are the first hidden danger that must be eliminated! The civil official group can be kept as tools, but those old women and those empresses and imperial concubines who were chosen and placed in power must die!"

"Whether it's arson, poisoning, or even sending assassins to kill you! Your first priority must be ensuring your absolute safety within the palace, even while you sleep!"

In the third year of the Zhengde reign, Zhu Houzhao suddenly shivered. He recalled the fear of falling asleep every night with his embroidered spring knife as his pillow, and a murderous intent surged in his eyes.

On the sky, Zhu Dijun mercilessly threw a second heavy blow.

"The second mistake was the policy towards the royal family and nobles, which was extremely inappropriate!"

An imperial edict bearing the imperial seal popped up on the screen.

"In the fourth year of the Zhengde reign, you issued a series of edicts, reducing the salaries of princely residences across the country, dismissing officials from these residences, and severely punishing members of the imperial clan for crimes!"

"Family members, is this practice good for the country? Absolutely! The Ming imperial family is indeed a pig sucking the blood of the country."

Zhu Dijun sneered, his tone instantly turning into a sharp interrogation.

"But this touches upon the life-or-death interests of the entire royal family! In the future Ningxia mutiny, the rebels will use the name of the Prince of Anhua as a perfect pretext to launch a rebellion and raise the banner of 'punishing Liu Jin and purging the court of corrupt officials'! They fail to strengthen what should be strengthened and weaken what should not be weakened, which is extremely foolish!"

The Hongwu era of the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Yuanzhang closed his eyes and sighed deeply. This little brat's methods for weakening the power of the princes are even cruder than that good-for-nothing Yunwen's.

Zhu Dijun's fingers flew across the keyboard.

"What's the right thing to do? You should go and examine the political legacy left by your ancestor, Zhu Yuanzhang!"

Four large, golden characters illuminated the screen: 【Dabentang System】!

"Summon all the royal family members, the sons of the founding generals, and the top nobles back to the capital! Stuff them into the Grand Hall!"

"Let you all, bound by shared interests, study together, hunt together, and play football together!"

Zhu Dijun spread his arms wide, unleashing the most ruthless technique of controlling people used by those in high positions.

"Even if you later reduce the privileges of local princes and the special rights of nobles, as long as you have the camaraderie of being classmates with the Grand Master as a foundation, and as long as you hold enough leverage, you can sit down and compromise! You can exchange benefits!"

"Don't be foolish enough to think that just because you're sitting on that dragon throne, you can simply issue a decree and everyone in the world will obediently stick their necks out for you to cut!"

"Your father was poisoned to death by the imperial physician, and your grandfather was also poisoned to death by the imperial physician. Aren't these bloody lessons obvious?"

The echoes inside the hall were deafening.

"You must control military power, financial power, and personnel power! You must balance the four major factions: civil officials, military generals, eunuchs, and members of the imperial family!"

"You've been a complete mess these past few years since you ascended the throne, launching attacks on all fronts. It's been fun to watch, and it's been very satisfying!"

"But you've turned potential allies into mortal enemies! You've pushed centrists, whom you could have won over, into the hands of the rebels!"

Zhu Dijun pointed at the camera, making no attempt to hide the disdain in his eyes.

"To put it nicely, you're like a protagonist venturing into a dragon's den alone. To put it bluntly, you're just a complete idiot who's made enemies on all sides!"

The story takes place in the fifth year of the Zhengde reign. Zhu Houzhao, lying in a pool of blood, coughs up a mouthful of blood. He throws away his broken sword with a bitter laugh, tears streaming down his face. So that's how it is. So, I lost because I "didn't know how to compromise."

"The third mistake, and the death knell that will lead you to your doom—officialdom and finance!"

The live stream then switched to showing empty national treasuries and local granaries.

"In the early years of Emperor Wuzong's reign, both the national treasury and the imperial treasury were empty. This is a fact."

"Go and recover the money and grain, force the officials to repay their debts. This is absolutely correct; any emperor with a sound mind would do the same."

"But the problem is, you're too impatient! What's your rush?!"

Zhu Dijun slammed his hands on the table and leaned forward.

"You were only fifteen when you ascended the throne!"

"As long as you live a healthy life, you can outlive those old wall lamps left over from the Hongzhi era with your own lifespan! What are you afraid of?"

He tore over a whiteboard, picked up a marker, and wrote down five lines of blood-red characters that could serve as the general outline of governance for all dynasties!

"Recovering embezzled funds is absolutely not about ransacking homes like mad dogs! Listen carefully, this is the true five-step method of imperial power politics!"

"First: Cut spending! Stop all unnecessary expenditures, halt all royal projects, and stabilize the nation's basic situation!"

"Second: [Further pursue outstanding debts]! Don't target ordinary people; aim your guns at the wealthy, major salt merchants, and corrupt officials! Target them precisely!"

"Third: [Reform the tax system]! Investigate hidden land holdings, reform the salt laws, and establish customs duties! Cast the net of taxation wide towards those powerful families who evade taxes, and expand the national treasury's tax base!"

"Fourth point: [Curbing Officials]! While cracking down on corruption, we must leave room for officials who actually do the work to earn legitimate gray income! If the water is too clear, there will be no fish; pushing too hard will inevitably lead to a widespread backlash!"

Fifth: [Reduce Expenses]! Gradually suppress royal family expenditures, cut wasteful military spending, and reduce daily palace expenses!

The marker made a screeching sound as it scratched across the whiteboard.

Zhu Dijun threw down his pen and coldly surveyed the civil and military officials of the myriad worlds.

"If anyone asks you why you did this, just throw the empty ledgers of the national treasury and the imperial treasury, along with irrefutable evidence of the powerful and wealthy's corruption, right in their faces!"

"Use irrefutable evidence to refute their claims and uphold the moral high ground! Don't act like a madman and blindly send the Imperial Guards to ransack homes and seize property!"

"You think you're decisive and efficient, but in the eyes of that group of civil servants, they're secretly laughing more than anyone else!"

"Because of your mad dog-like eating habits, you provide them with the most perfect excuse in the world to restrict imperial power, suppress you, and even launch a coup!"

In the Tang Dynasty era, Li Shimin, upon seeing the Five Steps Method displayed on the celestial screen, was so excited that he stood up abruptly and paced back and forth in the hall. These descendants truly possess the talent of prime ministers!

During the Hongwu reign of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes gleamed as he nodded repeatedly. "Yes, this is how to govern a country. That brat Zhu Houzhao only knows how to kill; he doesn't understand how to feed someone while simultaneously whipping them."

It's a pity he wasn't Zhu Dijun, a descendant of Zhu Dijun. If he had become the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, he would surely have left a significant mark on history.

"In short, you need to learn to advance and retreat, and to compromise. Be flexible and seize the right moment to strike."

Zhu Dijun's voice gradually lowered.

Don't try to get fat in one bite.

"That Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty, who built the Grand Canal and conquered Goguryeo, took even bigger steps than you. Isn't the lesson learned the hard way how tragically he died?"

The colors on the screen instantly darkened.

Zhu Dijun leaned back in his chair. His eyes suddenly became extremely complex. They contained resentment, humiliation, and the ultimate rationality tempered by the harsh realities of life.

"Family members. Not just Zhu Houzhao."

He looked at the camera, his tone carrying a chilling calm.

"Even I, back then on the streets of Beiping, faced that group of extremely arrogant descendants of mites."

"Even though I was a genius back then, with the added advantage of having six doctorates."

"Because my power was insufficient at the time, and because I was not yet fully developed, under the heavy pressure and mediation of various forces, I still had to abide by the principle of 'putting the overall situation first' and admit defeat."

The live stream room fell silent instantly. All the keyboard warriors shut their mouths at that moment.

Throughout the myriad realms and timelines, everyone could sense the suppressed madness in the man's words on the celestial screen.

Losing is not terrible.

Zhu Dijun's lips curled into a chilling smile.

"What's terrifying is your stubborn pride and inability to accept defeat! What's terrifying is that after you lose, you can't get back up and become a corpse!"

"You are just a mortal with limited strength. You are not a god. This cold reality is not some mindless wish-fulfillment story where you can turn the tables just by shouting!"

"We can't let you act on your whims!"

He slammed his hand on the table and, addressing hundreds of millions of viewers across the internet, issued the cruelest survival rules.

"Today, I am here to warn everyone."

"Whether it's you or me, we've all been beaten down by this damn society."

"If you want to make a name for yourself, if you want to accomplish that grand ambition in your heart."

"Assessing the situation and knowing when to advance and retreat are instincts you must ingrain!"

Even if you are an extraordinary genius, even if you have powerful connections, no one, no family, can remain forever in the limelight!

"When you are in power, if you attack on all sides and incur the wrath of the masses."

"The day you lose power, all the dogs around you will pounce on you and tear you to shreds!"

Please remember this quote from Liu Cixin's "The Three-Body Problem: Death's End": "Weakness and ignorance are not obstacles to survival; arrogance is."

"The reason why Emperor Wuzong Zhu Houzhao was killed in a mutiny in August of the fifth year of Zhengde's reign was because he was too arrogant and failed to recognize his own weakness and ignorance!"

"Furthermore, uniting the majority is strength, and overthrowing the minority is the goal; relying on workers and peasants, winning over the middle, and fighting the die-hards, making more friends and fewer enemies, is the only way for the revolution to succeed. Whether it was the reforms in ancient times or the establishment of New China, success was achieved through this principle."

boom!

These words were like a heavy hammer, shattering the last glimmer of hope in Zhu Houzhao's heart in that parallel universe of the fifth year of Zhengde's reign.

Outside the main hall, the shouts of the rebels were already close at hand.

He was horrified, realizing the enormity of his mistake. His arrogance had ruined him and the loyal followers he had served!