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

Two days later.

7:30 PM.

In the modern internet world, Zhu Dijun's live stream screen was still completely black, but the number of viewers had already surpassed a staggering five million!

The barrage of comments scrolled like a blizzard, all urging the broadcast to start.

At the same time, countless parallel and intersecting worlds exist.

Qin Dynasty, Han Dynasty, Tang Dynasty, Song Dynasty, Ming Dynasty...

Countless emperors, generals, ministers, peddlers, and laborers from all dynasties put down their unimportant tasks. They stepped out of the main hall and the thatched huts, raised their heads, and stared intently at the enormous screen of light in the sky.

In the fifth year of the Zhengde reign of the Ming Dynasty, in August.

Flames soared into the sky from the inner city walls of Beiping.

Emperor Wuzong Zhu Houzhao, covered in blood, stood amidst a mountain of corpses, leaning on his chipped sword.

He did not give the order to break out. He simply stared motionlessly at the sky above.

hum-

A faint crackling sound of electricity resounded throughout the universe.

The live stream suddenly lit up!

Judy Jun's angular face, exuding extreme calmness, appeared before everyone.

"Good evening, everyone. Welcome to my history live stream."

Without exchanging pleasantries, Judy Jun grabbed the gavel on the table and slammed it down.

boom!

"Haven't seen you for two days, so let's skip the small talk and get straight to the point!"

Following on from the previous episode, let's delve deeper into the rebellion of the Prince of Anhua in the fifth year of the Zhengde reign—a rebellion that was extensively documented in the History of Ming and described as sweeping across the entire country!

On the big screen, a yellowed copy of the "Veritable Records of Emperor Wuzong of Ming" suddenly crashed down.

Zhu Dijun tapped his long, slender fingers on the screen and read aloud a passage of obscure classical Chinese.

"The fifth day of the fourth month in the fifth year of Zhengde's reign."

"The Ming Dynasty Veritable Records state: Zhu Zhifan, the Prince of Anhua in Ningxia, colluded with local commanders He Jin and Zhou Ang, among others. During a banquet, they brutally murdered Jiang Han, the General of Ningxia, as well as members of the inspection team sent by Emperor Wuzong to Ningxia to investigate the military farms, including the eunuch Li Zeng!"

"Then, they released the prisoners, burned down the palace, looted the treasury, and launched a brazen rebellion!"

Four large, blood-red characters exploded on the screen.

"The rebels' slogan was extremely loud—'Kill Liu Jin, purge the emperor's inner circle!'"

In all the myriad realms and timelines, everyone held their breath in awe.

On the inner city wall of the Imperial Palace in Beiping during the fifth year of the Zhengde reign of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Houzhao heard this familiar slogan and his teeth clenched so tightly they rattled.

"A huge event, right? It shook the world, right?"

Zhu Dijun suddenly leaned back in his chair, a chilling sneer curling at the corner of his mouth.

"But, family!"

"What if I told you that in reality, this rebellion, which historians have lauded to the skies, never even broke through the gates of Ningxia City?"

The live stream chat suddenly stopped.

The era of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly straightened his posture, his brows furrowing into a tight knot.

"They didn't even leave the city gates? Then how did it become a nationwide rampage, and they even overthrew the capital?"

On the sky, Zhu Dijun's gaze was like a scalpel, slowly peeling back the mask of history.

"The army sent by Emperor Wuzong to quell the rebellion in the capital did not even reach the border of Ningxia."

"This massive rebellion was quelled by the local Ningxia army itself!"

"How many days did it take?"

Zhu Dijun held up two fingers and waved them in front of the camera.

"Eighteen days!"

boom!

The entire universe was in an uproar.

Eighteen days? A rebellion?

This guy hasn't even figured out how to allocate supplies for his army yet! And this is supposed to be a coup that threatens the very foundation of the nation?!

"I bet there are quite a few online novelists in the live stream right now who enjoy writing time-travel historical fiction, right?"

Zhu Dijun pulled over a whiteboard and drew a big question mark on it with a marker.

"Fellow authors, what is the most important prerequisite for writing a story where the protagonist rebels?"

Money? Food? Reputation?

Zhu Dijun slammed the marker on the table.

"It's the army! It's about wielding a sword that can cut people down!"

The whiteboard instantly transformed into an extremely detailed genealogy of the Anhua Wang family.

The golden lines extend downwards from Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

"The first generation was Zhu Zhitong, the Prince of Anhua Huiyi. He was the grandson of the late Zhu and lived to be 88 years old."

"The second generation, posthumously honored as the Prince of Anhua Gonghe, Zhu Suiman."

"By the third generation, the last Prince Anhua who launched this rebellion—[Zhu Zhifan]!"

Zhu Dijun's finger jabbed heavily at Zhu Zhifan's name.

"Family members, take a good look at his title and rank."

"He's not a prince! He's a [county prince]!"

"Anyone familiar with the Ming Dynasty's system of princes knows that in the early Ming Dynasty, the nine princes of the border regions held significant military power and were indeed capable of rebelling, such as the Prince of Yan, Zhu Di."

In the Yongle era, Zhu Di awkwardly touched his nose.

"But by the mid-Ming Dynasty!"

Zhu Dijun suddenly waved his hand, raising his voice eight octaves.

"Let alone princes of the second rank, even the highest-ranking princes have had their three bodyguards completely stripped away by the imperial court!"

"A prince who's treated like a pig, who even needs a report to leave his palace. He doesn't even have a fire poker, what does he have to rebel with? Words?!"

Viewers in the modern live stream instantly realized what was happening.

"Holy crap! Yeah, you can't rebel without soldiers!"

"Could it be that those accomplices have more military officers and soldiers?"

Judy Jun glanced at the comments and delivered a fatal blow with a cold smile.

"Some people say that He Jin and Zhou Ang, who followed him in the rebellion, weren't they commanders of the Ming Dynasty? They had troops under their command!"

"There are soldiers, but their numbers are extremely limited!"

A map showing the troop distribution of the Ningxia garrison has suddenly appeared.

"Do you know what the most outrageous thing is?"

"On the fifth day of the fourth month, the day the rebellion broke out, the main combat troops in Ningxia City had already been taken out of the city by Deputy Commander-in-Chief Yang Ying under the pretext of bandit suppression and training!"

The entire room fell silent.

"The city is empty; the main force is out."

Zhu Dijun spoke slowly and deliberately, each word dripping with extreme sarcasm.

"That's why He Jin and his men were able to easily storm into the General's Mansion and commit murder and arson."

"Therefore, with their limited military strength, they dared not leave the city to expand their territory; they could only remain in Ningxia City issuing proclamations!"

"Therefore, if we look at this rebellion of the Prince of Anhua, which was carried out under the banner of 'purging the emperor's corrupt advisors,' using the hardcore standards of ancient rebellions..."

Four large, blood-red characters flashed wildly in the center of the screen.

[A farce!]

"This is all a complete political farce!"

Zhu Dijun's eyes were cold and sharp as knives, ruthlessly tearing apart the embellishments of history.

"What was the actual process like?"

"At that time, Emperor Wuzong, in order to raise money, allowed Liu Jin to seize power. Liu Jin sent people to Ningxia to survey the land and levy exorbitant taxes on military pay. He calculated one qing (a unit of land measurement) as fifty mu (another unit of land measurement), thus doubling the tax!"

"An Weixue, the governor of Ningxia, was an even worse person. He would beat and humiliate the families of his soldiers every day."

"Throughout Ningxia Town, from military officers to ordinary soldiers, morale was extremely low!"

"Just at this moment, Zhu Zhifan, the Prince of Anhua, who was rebellious and had always harbored ulterior motives, jumped out."

On the big screen, a portrait of Qiu Yue, a guerrilla general from Ningxia, appeared.

"After the rebels occupied Ningxia City, Qiu Yue chose to feign surrender."

"He secretly acted as an inside agent, devising a plan to divert the rebels' only remaining main force from defending the city. Then, leading his hidden personal guards, he launched a surprise attack, capturing Zhu Zhifan on the spot while he was drinking and dreaming of becoming emperor!"

"The rebellion was quelled on April 23."

"It only lasted eighteen days. Not even a slightly bigger ripple was made."

Zhu Dijun picked up his water glass and took a sip to moisten his throat.

"The rebel leader, Zhu Zhifan, was put into a prison cart and escorted to the capital. In the sixth year of the Zhengde reign, he was ordered to commit suicide, and his body was burned as a warning to the public."

"At this point, the matter seems to have been perfectly resolved."

The music in the live stream suddenly stopped.

The light in the entire sky dimmed instantly.

Only Judy Jun's deep, unfathomable eyes stared intently at the camera in the darkness.

"But, family members."

"If this is just a farce orchestrated by an idiotic prince going mad."

"Then why does it occupy such a large section in the 'Veritable Records of the Ming Dynasty'? Why is it considered a turning point during the Zhengde era?"

Zhu Dijun crossed his hands under his chin, leaning forward like a lone wolf eyeing its prey.

"As we mentioned earlier, the Ming Veritable Records is an official history book."

"The greatest political correctness of official histories is that they absolutely cannot, and dare not, record truthfully certain 'special and significant events' involving power struggles at the highest levels of the state!"

The timeline is scrolling wildly across the screen!

Starting in April of the fifth year of the Zhengde reign, the price soared all the way up, finally settling firmly in August!

A blood-soaked, agonizing knife was suddenly embedded in the center of the screen!

"The rebellion of the Prince of Anhua was quelled in April."

"And just four months later, in August of the fifth year of the Zhengde reign!"

"That powerful eunuch, known as the 'Emperor-in-Chief,' and considered by Emperor Wuzong (Zhu Houzhao) as his strongest shield—Liu Jin!"

"He was imprisoned in the capital and subsequently sentenced to the most severe punishment, suffering 3,357 cuts!"

Across countless worlds and timelines, gasps of astonishment filled the air.

On the city wall of the Imperial City of Beiping in the fifth year of the Zhengde reign of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Houzhao, who had been in despair, suddenly shuddered.

He gripped the blue bricks of the city wall tightly, oblivious to the blood flowing from his broken fingernails.

April Mutiny?

So what exactly is this "rebellion that has been raging throughout the city since August" that I am currently facing?!

On the sky, Zhu Dijun's voice carried a chilling undertone.

"Family members, do you really believe that the Ningxia rebellion and Liu Jin's execution are two separate events?"

"wrong!"

"These two events, from beginning to end, are a vicious cycle, a deadly trap!"

"This is a grand scheme orchestrated by the entire civil service, local nobles, and even the most trusted advisors of Emperor Wuzong!"

Zhu Dijun suddenly stood up, grabbed the thick "Veritable Records of Emperor Wuzong of Ming" and slammed it into the wastepaper basket next to him!

"Those literati and officials who wanted to cover up the truth, plus the malicious rewriting of history by the Manchu Qing dynasty to smear the Ming dynasty."

"This resulted in very little truth being recorded in the Ming Dynasty's Veritable Records regarding the Liu Jin incident!"

"I'm putting my words here today."

Zhu Dijun pointed directly at the camera, his momentum unstoppable.

"Regarding the official records of Liu Jin's imprisonment and execution in the fifth year of the Zhengde reign, you can only believe at most one-third of them!"

"If you believe even one more word, you'll be being played like fools by those power-hungry intellectuals!"

The suspense was like a bomb, exploding in the minds of countless people!

The live stream room exploded instantly!

"Holy crap!! We can't trust everything?! Then who's the real culprit?!"

"This is chilling! Could the rebellion in April have been a pretext deliberately fabricated to assassinate Liu Jin in August?!"

"All the bureaucrats in the country have teamed up to play the emperor? The civil officials of the Ming Dynasty are truly lawless. Brother Jun said this two days ago, and we didn't believe it, but now it seems to be true."

"Next."

On the sky, Zhu Dijun sat back down in his chair and pulled over a clean whiteboard again.

"Let's just throw away this bullshit 'Ming Shilu' (Veritable Records of the Ming Dynasty)."

"Using the coldest political logic, let's dissect this most absurd and cruel event since the founding of the Ming Dynasty: the August Mutiny of the 5th Year of Zhengde!"