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

"A brazen mutiny at the foot of the capital?!"

The Ming Dynasty, the Yongle era.

Inside the Fengtian Hall, an extremely valuable half-person-high cloisonné enamel incense burner was kicked over with a heavy kick!

Incense ash and glowing embers were scattered all over the ground, instantly burning several black holes in the precious Western Region carpet.

Emperor Yongle (Zhu Di) of the Ming Dynasty paced back and forth in the main hall like a raging tiger. His eyes were bloodshot, and his heavy breathing sounded like a bellows in the deathly silent hall.

"Recipient of the Jingnan Campaign Merit Award... Five Military Commands..."

Zhu Di suddenly turned around, staring intently at the sky, the veins on his neck bulging!

"These military officers who followed me in conquering the world and are fed on the blood of the Ming imperial family! How dare they rebel right under the emperor's nose?!"

"Rebellion is bad enough, but they've allied themselves with those civil officials who would love to skin military officers alive?!"

Zhu Di gritted his teeth, a surge of extreme humiliation and rage rising to the top of his head!

This isn't a rebellion against Zhu Houzhao at all! It's a slap in the face to the entire Ming imperial family! It's the foundation left by Zhu Di that's turning against his descendants!

"check!"

Zhu Di grabbed Ji Gang by the collar, who was kneeling on the ground, and lifted him up by force.

"Dig out those disloyal beasts in the Five Armies Commandery, one by one! Skin them alive! Slice them to death!"

But in the Hongwu era.

Zhu Yuanzhang gripped the armrests of the dragon throne tightly, his fingernails oozing a glaring crimson.

The founding emperor, who had emerged from a mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​blood, did not fly into a rage. But the murderous intent emanating from his eyes, which were like abysses, instantly lowered the temperature of the entire hall to freezing point.

"What a magnificent Ming Dynasty court... what a splendid assembly of civil and military officials."

Zhu Yuanzhang's voice was icy cold.

"The Beijing garrison guards we fought so hard to build up have become their private army. The cabinet we established has become a sharp blade to strangle the emperor."

At the same time.

This bone-chilling cold spread wildly across the sky and throughout the ages!

Inside the Xianyang Palace of the Qin Dynasty, Emperor Qin Shi Huang unconsciously gripped the Dingqin Sword at his waist, a look of extreme horror flashing in his eyes.

At the Weiyang Palace of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che, held his wine cup in mid-air, letting the wine spill onto his clothes, completely unaware.

In the Taiji Hall of the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin felt a chill run down his back, and cold sweat instantly soaked through his inner clothes.

Song Dynasty, Yuan Dynasty...

At this moment, countless emperors who held the highest positions in the world felt their scalps tingle with fear!

They put themselves in Zhu Houzhao's shoes, and an indescribable fear gripped their hearts like a venomous snake.

Civil officials colluded with military generals, and relatives of the empress colluded with eunuchs.

Interest groups from all over the world, in the capital city right under the emperor's nose, banded together to rebel against the emperor for the sake of their own money!

If the Ming Dynasty today is the future of their respective dynasties...

After they die, are their descendants sitting on the dragon throne truly emperors, or merely pigs and dogs on the chopping block of these ministers?!

The modern internet world.

Inside the live stream room.

Zhu Dijun did not continue to exaggerate the bloodshed of the mutiny.

He suddenly raised his hand, covered his cheek, and rubbed it vigorously twice. His originally cold and stern aura suddenly transformed into a long, helpless sigh filled with disappointment and frustration.

"Family members."

Zhu Dijun lowered his hand, looked directly at the camera, and his eyes were bloodshot.

"Speaking of which, I have to curse that idiot Zhu Houzhao again!"

The viewers in the live chat were momentarily stunned.

One second they were exposing the insidious nature of the civil service group, how come they've suddenly turned their attention back to Emperor Wuzong?

Zhu Dijun grabbed the gavel on the table, but instead of slamming it down, he gripped it tightly in his hand.

"In fact, this occurred before the major mutiny that broke out in August of the fifth year of the Zhengde reign."

"Zhu Houzhao had every opportunity to prevent those powerful nobles who had fought in the Jingnan Rebellion from joining this grand chorus of rebellion!"

On the big screen, the previously airtight diagram of interest group relationships suddenly shattered, revealing a gap!

"Alas! His series of ruthless and outrageous actions have forced those forces that he had already divided to reunite and unite once again, putting a knife to his throat!"

Zhu Dijun pointed at the screen.

"Friends who enjoy reading about the history of the Ming Dynasty, or authors who write fan fiction about the Ming Dynasty, must remember the time point I am about to mention."

"These are fatal details that many history bloggers and historians are unwilling to mention, or simply haven't grasped!"

Four large, blood-red characters crashed onto the timeline of the fifth year of the Zhengde reign!

[April! General Amnesty!]

"Let's rewind to before Yang Yiqing and the traitor Zhang Yong returned to the capital with the Prince of Anhua, He Jin, and other rebellious officials from Ningxia!"

Zhu Dijun's slender fingers flew across the keyboard.

"It was in April of the fifth year of Zhengde's reign that the Ningxia mutiny broke out and rumors were spreading all over the country."

"In order to appease the public and stabilize the situation."

"The twenty-year-old Emperor Wuzong, Zhu Houzhao, issued a general amnesty decree in an extremely weak manner!"

A bright yellow imperial edict slowly unfolded in the live stream room.

"The contents of this edict are extremely simple, yet extremely deadly!"

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

"He directly ordered the implementation of all the reforms he had initiated from the third to the fifth year of the Zhengde reign, spearheaded by Liu Jin—the investigation of military farms, the recovery of treasury deficits, and the dismissal of redundant officials and staff."

"Completely overturn!"

"He slapped himself in the face! He crippled himself! He surrendered completely to the civil officials and the clique of nobles!"

Across countless worlds and timelines, everyone was stunned.

The emperor changes his orders every morning and evening? This is no small matter!

"But family, guess what?"

Zhu Dijun gave a sarcastic smirk.

"Once this edict of general amnesty was issued, the so-called 'popular uprisings' and 'rebellions' that had been causing a great uproar throughout the Zhengde era were finally brought to an end."

"After April, miraculously, they all suddenly disappeared!"

boom!

In the era of the Hongwu Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang slammed his palm on the dragon throne, letting out a wild yet tragic laugh.

"Hahaha! Great! Excellent!"

Zhu Yuanzhang laughed until tears streamed down his face.

"There was absolutely no peasant uprising! It was all a conspiracy orchestrated by these corrupt officials to force the emperor to back down!"

"If the emperor backs down and stops them from making money, the world will be at peace instantly!"

On the sky, Zhu Dijun's eyes instantly turned cold, revealing an extreme sense of repression.

"Just when all the corrupt officials and nobles in the world were celebrating, thinking that the young emperor had finally backed down."

June has arrived!

"The Ningxia rebellion was quelled in an extremely farcical manner by local general Qiu Yue. The Prince of Anhua was captured alive, and the truth of their fake rebellion was completely exposed!"

Judy slammed her hand on the table. Bang!

"The moment when the young Zhu Houzhao, sitting in the Leopard Chamber, received that military report."

"He realized what was happening!"

He realized that he had been thoroughly fooled by the entire court of officials!

The screen instantly turned a suffocating crimson!

"Thus, this hot-blooded young emperor did something foolish in June of the fifth year of Zhengde's reign that plunged him completely into the abyss!"

"He issued a decree directly, reneging on his promise!"

"He has reinstated the reform policies that were previously abolished! And he's going to intensify his investigation into the military farms that have been seized by military officers and nobles!"

The chat in the live stream froze instantly.

Everyone was stunned by this incredible maneuver.

Zhu Dijun gripped the table tightly with both hands, like an angry lone wolf, roaring fiercely at the camera.

"Family members! What is Zhu Houzhao doing?!"

"He broke the most fatal, and also the last, unspoken rule in the power struggles of feudal dynasties—"

"【Breaking promises and having no integrity whatsoever!】"

"You granted a general amnesty, and the nobles, having secured their benefits, are now preparing to withdraw from the anti-monarchy alliance!"

"And now you not only want to back out, but you also want to go and cut their flesh again!"

A complex web of interests is once again tightly intertwined on the screen!

"Furthermore, the Prince of Anhua, who was captured alive, will soon be escorted to the capital! Once he's imprisoned, it will inevitably implicate countless civil officials and meritorious officials who secretly supported him!"

Zhu Dijun raised his voice, making it resound to the heavens!

"The various factions, seeing this, thought: 'Great! This emperor doesn't follow the rules at all!'"

"Since you don't give us a way to survive, you still want to bite us anytime, anywhere."

"Then what the hell are you talking about?!"

"Let's all join forces, flip the table, and kill you, you little bastard!"

The entire internet is in an uproar!

At this moment, countless history enthusiasts felt a chill run from the soles of their feet straight to the top of their heads!

This was the real trigger for the mutiny! The emperor, through his extreme immaturity, personally turned all the neutrals and even the compromisers into mortal enemies!

Zhu Dijun tilted his head back, closed his eyes, and let out an extremely long sigh.

"Family members, history is an extremely strict but excellent teacher."

"He will teach you again and again."

"The same mistakes, the same human nature, the same cycle of order and chaos."

"As long as human nature's inherent flaws remain unchanged, history will repeat itself time and time again, until you truly etch blood and tears into your very bones!"

Zhu Dijun suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze seemingly burning with fierce flames.

"However, later generations never take history seriously."

"In the end, they can only pay the most terrible price, even the cost of national subjugation and annihilation, to learn this exorbitant lesson!"

boom!

Judy grabbed a teacup from the table and smashed it to the ground! Glass shards flew everywhere!

"Here, I must once again vehemently denounce Zhu Houzhao, that utter idiot!"

He pointed at the image of Emperor Wuzong in armor on the screen and started cursing!

"You've already figured out the reasons for the rebellions in various places!"

"Can't you even wait a minute?!"

"Concentrate your forces and defeat them one by one! Use key points to break through the overall situation! Don't you understand this most basic political tactic?!"

Judy Jun's voice was hoarse with extreme anger.

"You were only twenty years old back then!"

"Twenty years old! What are you trying to do, compete with those seventy- or eighty-year-old codgers in the cabinet in terms of speed?!"

"What are you afraid of? What's your rush?!"

"Even if you do nothing, just wait ten or eight years, you can outlive those old foxes like Li Dongyang until they're dead in their coffins!"

The setting is August of the 5th year of the Zhengde reign in the Ming Dynasty.

Blood and fire raged on the inner city walls of the imperial city.

Zhu Houzhao felt as if he had been slapped hard in the face, and he instantly collapsed to the ground.

"Twenty years old..."

He covered his face, and scalding tears streamed through his fingers.

Yes, I was too hasty. I thought that with the Emperor's Sword in my hand, I could cut through everything, but I didn't realize that the more I struggled, the tighter the net tightened.

On the sky, Zhu Dijun's execution continued, each word piercing the heart!

"The civil service and the nobles who control the Five Armies Commandery tested your bottom line with a fake rebellion."

"But in doing the same thing, you also tested their bottom line!"

"Political maneuvering involves winners and losers. Taking a step back is for a better offensive in the future! It's about accumulating strength to wipe them out in one fell swoop!"

The screen went completely dark.

Only Judy Jun's chilling voice echoed in the darkness like a soul-snatching chain.

"And what happened to you?"

"One wrong step leads to another! They have absolutely no political resolve!"

"August!"

A blood-stained sword shattered the screen with a deafening crash!

"Civil officials, nobles, and eunuchs."

"These three groups, which were originally irreconcilable enemies, have formed a deadly alliance because of your reneging on your promise!"

"A decapitation operation targeting Liu Jin, the most powerful eunuch in the Ming Dynasty, and even more so targeting the imperial power itself."

"Under the night sky of the capital."

"Officially, the curtain rises!"