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

"Family members, let's keep demolishing!"

Zhu Dijun stood in front of the big screen, his laser pointer frantically drawing red circles on the timeline of "August of the fifth year of Zhengde".

"As we mentioned earlier, the civil service and noble families staged a coup in the Fengtian Hall, completely sidelining Zhu Houzhao. Immediately afterwards, their henchmen launched a ruthless and widespread arrest campaign throughout the streets and alleys of the capital!"

Zhu Dijun opened a photocopy of the "Veritable Records of Emperor Wuzong of Ming" and pointed to a clear break in the record.

"Look closely! From the outbreak of the mutiny on August 11th to its end on August 14th at the Fengtian Hall, the Ming Dynasty's Veritable Records contain absolutely no substantial record of August 12th and 13th, after Liu Jin's arrest! Large sections are blank!"

Why is it blank?

Zhu Dijun's lips curled into a cold, extremely contemptuous smile.

"Because in the past few days, the civil service clique colluded with nobles to carry out an extremely bloody purge of members of the imperial faction loyal to Zhu Houzhao! Do these self-proclaimed 'righteous' and 'serving the country and the people' dare to write such a despicable act of murder, robbery, and factionalism into the history books? If they did, how could they possibly achieve lasting fame?!"

Inside a modern live streaming studio.

The barrage of comments, which had been excited by the historical revelation, suddenly fell into an eerie silence for a few seconds.

Immediately afterwards, a barrage of comments filled the screen, carrying an indescribable sense of oppression.

"The laughter eventually faded... History, this makeshift organization, is just a rehash of the same old formula."

"History records say it was a righteous act, but behind the scenes it was all about shady power struggles. This isn't describing Emperor Wuzong at all; it feels more like watching a modern workplace power struggle involving factionalism and purges!"

"Body-eliminating those who oppose you, then rewriting history to become a national hero—this tactic is all too familiar."

Ignoring the comments on the screen, Zhu Dijun abruptly pressed the Enter key.

On the big screen, with a loud "bang," several so-called "physical evidence" images were displayed!

Several rusty weapons, two suits of armor, and a roughly carved stone seal.

"After the coup was brought under control, the civil service immediately confiscated Liu Jin's property!"

According to the "Veritable Records of Emperor Wuzong of Ming," the civil officials found weapons, armor, and even a counterfeit imperial seal in Liu Jin's home.

Zhu Dijun gripped the table tightly with both hands, staring intently at the camera like an enraged lion.

"Using these few so-called 'stolen goods,' the civil service clique fabricated nineteen capital crimes against Liu Jin!"

"And of these nineteen charges, the most crucial, absurd, and laughable one is—"

Four large, blood-stained characters filled the entire screen of the live stream!

[Rebel! Declare! Emperor!]

At this moment, all realms and timelines seemed to be collectively frozen in place.

At the Weiyang Palace of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che, spat out the mouthful of imperial wine he had just taken a sip of.

"What the hell?!" Liu Che stared wide-eyed at the sky as if he were a fool. "A eunuch... becoming emperor?!"

In the Taiji Hall of the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin, who was reviewing memorials, suddenly paused with his vermilion pen, a drop of crimson falling onto the paper and spreading. The expression on the face of this Heavenly Khan, who had spent his life on the battlefield, was extremely complex.

Inside the live stream, Zhu Dijun had already launched a relentless barrage of sarcastic remarks.

"Family members! Looking back on our five-thousand-year history!"

"We've seen powerful relatives usurp the throne, like Wang Mang! We've seen wives usurp the throne, like Wu Zetian! We've seen emperors force their own fathers to abdicate, like Li Shimin! Even in modern times, we've seen savages who dared to ascend the throne and declare themselves emperors just by finding a village chief in the deep mountains and forests!"

Zhu Dijun grabbed the gavel from the table and slammed it down heavily!

boom!

"But has any of you ever seen an old eunuch, castrated and childless, go on to become emperor?!"

"What's he after?! He doesn't even have any descendants. Who will he pass the throne to? His adopted son?! Which feudal lord or official in the entire land would kneel and kowtow to a eunuch and shout 'Long live the Emperor'?!"

A chilling murderous intent gleamed in Zhu Dijun's eyes.

"Liu Jin is over sixty years old. Under Zhu Houzhao, he has truly risen to a position second only to the emperor. Unless he's completely brainwashed by ten pounds of Sanlu milk powder, he would never do something so foolish as to be certain death and utterly devoid of any benefit!"

"But why would the civil service force force such a baseless accusation on him?!"

On the whiteboard, Zhu Dijun used a red marker to circle the nineteen charges.

"Because only by setting the charge at the highest level of 'treason' can we succeed!"

"Only then can they legitimately carry out the extermination of nine generations of relatives! Only then can they, under the guise of 'purging accomplices,' uproot and kill every single member of the imperial faction—those loyal to Zhu Houzhao and who had implemented the new policies—in the court, the army, and the local areas!"

In the fifth year of the Zhengde reign of the Ming Dynasty, on the city wall of the imperial city.

Completely under house arrest, Zhu Houzhao gripped the blue bricks of the city wall tightly, his fingernails breaking and bleeding profusely.

"If you want to find fault, you can always find a pretext..."

The young emperor Zhu Houzhao looked up at the sky and laughed bitterly, his voice like the cry of a cuckoo lamenting blood.

"They're not killing Liu Jin...they're using Liu Jin's blood to cleanse my foundation in the court!"

On the sky, a list of names from a horrific purge, like a death knell, began to scroll frantically across the screen.

"Let's see how many of Zhu Houzhao's cronies these civil officials eliminated after seizing power!"

Zhu Dijun spoke extremely fast, like a machine gun firing.

"Grand Secretary Jiao Fang! Minister of War Liu Yu! Minister of Revenue Liu Ji! Minister of Personnel Zhang Cai!"

"These four men controlled the highest administrative, military, and financial power in the Ming Dynasty. Simply because they were promoted by Zhu Houzhao to implement his new policies, they were all accused of being 'Liu Jin's traitors'! They were directly dismissed, transferred, or even imprisoned!"

"Not just the capital! The purge's blade has been aimed directly at Nanjing, the wartime capital!"

"Overnight, dozens of high-ranking officials from the Nanjing Censorate and the Six Ministries, including Li Shan, Minister of Works in Nanjing, and Qu Zhi, Censor-in-Chief, were all dismissed or forced into retirement!"

The list of civil officials had just finished rolling out when a large number of portraits of military generals suddenly appeared!

"Regarding military commanders! Cao Xiong, Commander-in-Chief of Shaanxi and General Who Conquers the West! Mao Lun, Right Commander-in-Chief of the Rear Army Commandery! Mao Rui, Commander-in-Chief in charge of the Grand Canal! Jiao Qi, Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi!"

"These are all generals who command large armies on the frontiers or control the nation's economic lifeline! They have all been stripped of their military power, dismissed from their posts, and exiled!"

Zhu Dijun clenched his fists, his knuckles cracking.

"The worst off are those in the secret service who are actually responsible for protecting the emperor and monitoring the officials!"

The large screen was instantly dyed a shocking blood red.

"Fifty-seven officers from the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Inner Court were imprisoned and severely tortured on the spot!"

"Shi Wenyi, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and fifteen relatives of Liu Jin were all beheaded and displayed in public, without even going through the formalities of trial!"

Zhu Dijun suddenly leaned closer to the camera, his eyes filled with a terrifying ferocity.

"What's the most outrageous thing?!"

"Liu Jingxiang, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, who had already died and been buried before the August 15th mutiny!"

"The civil service clique doesn't even spare the dead! They ordered their lackeys to go to Liu Jingxiang's grave, forcibly dug out his coffin, and in front of the entire city, [opened the coffin! burned the body!]"

boom!

The era of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Yuanzhang slapped the golden dragon-carved pillar beside him with a mighty blow, and the entire hall seemed to tremble three times. Bloodshot appeared in the corner of the founding emperor's eye due to extreme rage.

"Beasts! A bunch of shameless beasts!"

Zhu Yuanzhang roared, like a lone wolf that had lost its mind.

"Killing someone is merely a matter of beheading them, but exhuming the body and mutilating it—this is an attempt to extinguish any hope of those who serve the royal family! These civil officials are utterly despicable!"

"Family members, do you understand now?"

In the live stream, Zhu Dijun's voice was like a cold wind from the far north, chilling everyone to the bone.

"Twenty-six high-ranking officials of the imperial court, dozens of local officials, and all the key figures who controlled the military, finances, personnel, and intelligence of the Ming Dynasty were slaughtered by these civil officials in just a few days under the pretext of Liu Jin's 'treason'!"

"The power base that Zhu Houzhao had painstakingly built up over three years was completely shattered!"

The image on the big screen suddenly changed.

The bloodstains faded, replaced by an extremely ironic "peaceful" scene.

"The old guard has all died, and those seats are now vacant. Who should fill them?"

Zhu Dijun gave an extremely cold smile.

"Next comes the so-called 'rectification' phase, which is extensively documented in history books!"

"Chen Xiong, whose family property was confiscated by Zhu Houzhao for disobeying imperial orders and for accepting bribes and embezzlement, has had his title restored!"

"Liu Daxia, the Minister of War who was dismissed and exiled for obstructing the new policies, has been restored to his honor!"

"Former Minister of Works Yang Shousui, former Minister of Revenue Han Wen, and others were not only fully exonerated, but were also welcomed back to the capital in grand style and reinstated to their original positions!"

Zhu Dijun took out a photocopy of an ancient book and slammed it heavily on the table.

"The historian Zha Jizuo, from the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, used an extremely insightful sentence in his book 'Zui Wei Lu' to summarize this so-called rectification of disorder—"

"All those things that Liu Jin had granted or taken away, shall be restored to their original state!"

"Translated into lines most familiar to modern audiences, it would be: those corrupt officials, landlords, and powerful figures who sucked the blood of the Ming and Korean dynasties were all shouting from the city walls—'I, Hu Hansan, have returned!'"

Inside the live stream, endless mockery and anger intertwined.

Zhu Dijun pinned a map of the Ming capital's defenses firmly to the whiteboard.

"The civil officials have regained their positions in the court, but what about the military generals and traitorous eunuchs who participated in the coup?"

"The ultimate spoils-sharing feast has begun!"

The four red circles, like four nails, were firmly driven into the heart of power in the Ming Dynasty.

"After purging the officers of the Imperial Party, Duke Zhang Mao of England completely turned the Three Great Camps into his family's private property, achieving an unprecedented peak of control over the Beijing Army!"

"Yang Yiqing, the mastermind behind the coup, has been promoted to the new Minister of Revenue! He has completely seized control of the Ming Empire's purse strings!"

"Yang Ying, the former deputy commander of Ningxia who was investigated for smuggling military funds, was not only pardoned but also promoted to the rank of First-Rank Vice Commander-in-Chief, directly in charge of the defense of the nine gates of the capital! Even a fly flying out of the entire capital would need the rebels' permission!"

Zhu Dijun suddenly pointed to the last three names, his voice hoarse and strained.

"The most outrageous thing, and the thing that would make our ancestors of the Ming Dynasty die with such resentment!"

"Those three eunuchs who betrayed their master and opened the palace gates to let in the rebel army—the Zhang brothers, Zhang Yong, Zhang Rong, and Zhang Fu!"

"Because of their 'meritorious service in suppressing the rebellion,' the civil service collectively submitted a memorial requesting the emperor to grant them higher official ranks and titles!"

"Forced into a corner, Zhu Houzhao could only issue an edict, with tears in his eyes, bestowing upon all three traitors the title of Earl!"

The Yongle Era of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Di kicked the imperial desk in front of him, breaking it completely in two.

"According to the ancestral precepts of the Ming Dynasty, no noble title shall be conferred without military merit!"

Zhu Di pointed at the sky and cursed loudly.

"These three treacherous eunuchs who sold out their masters for personal gain are actually being granted earls?! Have these civil officials abandoned the very foundations of the Ming Dynasty just to curry favor with the inner court?!"

On the sky, Zhu Dijun's eyes dimmed completely, like a stagnant pool.

"From this point on, civil officials controlled the court, nobles controlled the military, and traitors ruled the inner court."

"The three factions of the coup d'état completely transformed the capital of the Ming Dynasty into an impenetrable wall."