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

The oppressive silence in the live stream room was finally broken by a barrage of comments that exploded like snowflakes.

[“Family members, was Wuzong’s ordeal too heavy?”]

"This is so damn frustrating! It turns out that what was written in the history textbook was a whitewashed lie!"

"Four men captured Liu Jin at night? I used to think this was an insult to my intelligence when I learned this story before, but now that it's all in sync, this is clearly a fully armed mutiny in the capital!"

"It's chilling to think about. The civil officials in Jiangnan started their scheme as early as the Zhengde reign. They weren't just subjects; they were practically the shadow government of the Ming Dynasty!"

["Hearing this gave me high blood pressure. These pedantic scholars would even overthrow the Heavenly Stems and Dragons for smuggling. No wonder the Ming Dynasty was later ruined!"]

[“Jun-ge, tell us some historical anecdotes or jokes to calm me down, I’m really afraid I won’t be able to catch my breath and will smash the computer!”]

In parallel universes of different dynasties.

Whether it was an emperor sitting on the dragon throne or a pragmatic civil official standing at the highest level of national power, they all gasped in shock after hearing about the century-long "home-stealing scheme" of the Jiangnan civil official group!

During the Hongwu reign of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Yuanzhang's withered fingers gripped the edge of the imperial desk tightly, his knuckles turning white.

"What a fine Zhejiang Maritime Trade Office! What a fine coastal defense force against Japanese pirates!"

An extremely violent murderous intent surged in Old Zhu's eyes. He suddenly grabbed a vermilion pen and drew two bright red crosses on the Zhejiang and Jiangxi locations on a map!

"Send an imperial decree to the Embroidered Uniform Guard!"

Zhu Yuanzhang's voice boomed like thunder in the hall.

"Keep a close eye on the civil officials in Zhejiang and Jiangxi! Investigate their family genealogies and their land holdings! Anyone who dares to embezzle funds related to coastal defense, without even reporting it, skin them alive on the spot!"

He absolutely could not tolerate the fact that the Ming Dynasty, which he had worked so hard to build, would be gradually emptied out by these local smuggling tyrants a hundred years later!

The Yongle Era of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Di's face was equally somber.

"Shadow government..."

He snorted coldly, drew his sword from his waist, and cleaved the rosewood chair in two!

"As long as I live, these Jiangnan gentry will never dare to rebel! Order the fleets heading to the Western Ocean to strictly enforce the rules of the Maritime Trade Office! Anyone who dares to touch military power will have their entire family wiped out!"

Not just the Ming Dynasty.

In the Weiyang Palace of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che, finished his cup of strong liquor and looked down at his ministers with a cold smile.

"Do you see that? This is the consequence of allowing local powerful figures to seize land and control trade routes!"

Liu Che slammed down his wine cup.

"Continue to implement Sang Hongyang's salt and iron monopoly! Anyone who dares to withhold taxes from the court will face the extermination of their entire clan!"

In the Taiji Hall of the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin stroked his beard, a hint of lingering fear flashing in his eyes.

Powerful clans and local magnates. Although the Tang Dynasty didn't have such rampant smuggling rings, at least not openly, the drama of officials uniting to turn against imperial power still made him extremely wary.

In the Three Kingdoms period.

The atmosphere, however, was extremely strange.

Inside the Prime Minister's residence in Xuchang, Cao Cao was holding a bowl of medicine to treat his headaches when he heard Zhu Dijun on the sky say that he would tell anecdotal jokes to relieve his blood pressure. His hand suddenly trembled, and the medicine spilled all over the ground.

"Are you going to tell unofficial historical stories again?"

Cao Cao's eyes twitched violently, and a sudden, extremely ominous premonition welled up in his heart.

Previously, Liu Bei's appearances on Running Man and all sorts of bizarre anecdotes about Cao Cao have been thoroughly exposed by Tianmu.

"Is it going to be me this time?"

Cao Cao quickly wiped the cold sweat from his brow with his sleeve.

In Jianye, Jiangdong, Sun Quan's eyelids twitched wildly as he stared intently at the sky.

In Chengdu, Liu Bei stroked his beard and coughed twice, causing even Zhuge Liang beside him to sit up straight instinctively.

It's good to be famous for generations to come, but if it's passed down in this clownish way, they'd rather just delete their accounts and start over!

On the screen above, Judy Jun looked at the barrage of comments asking for comfort and jokes, and cleared his throat.

"Alright, everyone, the power struggles during the Zhengde reign were too brutal. To protect your high blood pressure, we'll temporarily cut off this suffocating history."

As Zhu Dijun typed on the keyboard, the blood-red map on the big screen instantly disappeared, replaced by an extremely bright and relaxed background.

"Today's Three Kingdoms fans can rest assured, you are not the victims this time."

During the Three Kingdoms period, Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Sun Quan all breathed a long sigh of relief.

"This time, let's change the dynasty and take a stroll around the Tang Dynasty!"

Zhu Dijun took out a photocopy of an ancient book and waved it in front of the camera.

"The book 'New Tales of the Tang Dynasty' records a job interview experience that can be described as bizarre throughout history."

I would call it—【A Post-2000s Generation's Hardcore Quest for an Official Position in the Workplace】!

"If you're ever interviewing at a big company or taking the civil service exam, you can definitely learn from this amazing guy from the Tang Dynasty!"

Two cartoon character images appeared on the big screen.

One was an old man dressed in official robes with a dignified expression.

The other was a young man dressed in plain clothes, his face radiating arrogance.

"Let me give you some background. The examiner was Wen Yanbo, the Vice Minister of Personnel in the early Tang Dynasty, who later became the Prime Minister. He was an absolute big shot, the Deputy Minister of Personnel in charge of the appointment and removal of officials nationwide!"

"The interviewee was named Pei Lue, an unemployed young man who had just failed the imperial examination and was rejected by the Ministry of Personnel."

Zhu Dijun began to vividly recreate the scene.

"Normally, if you fail the exam, shouldn't you be dejected and go home to retake it? But Pei Lue wouldn't do that! He went straight to Wen Yanbo's office, which was also the entrance to the Ministry of Personnel, and volunteered himself!"

When Pei Lue met Wen Yanbo, he shamelessly declared: "My lord, I have a special skill! I am particularly adept at 'self-deprecation,' which is what you modern people call 'insulting' and 'sarcasm'!"

The live stream chat was flooded with "?" comments.

Zhu Dijun slapped the table and laughed loudly.

"Family members, think about it. Imagine you're being interviewed by the Deputy Minister of Human Resources, and you go up to him and say your specialty is swearing. Wen Yanbo probably thought it was a novel idea and thought, 'Fine, since you're so good at swearing, let's test you on the spot!'"

On the big screen, Wen Yanbo pointed to a clump of bamboo in the yard.

Wen Yanbo said: "Aren't you good at mockery? Come on, compose a poem to mock the bamboo in front of this hall."

"Family members, this question is actually a trap. Bamboo has been a symbol of a virtuous person since ancient times, and it is evergreen. If you criticize it, you'll seem uncultured; if you praise it, you'll go off-topic."

Zhu Dijun picked up the gavel and slammed it down.

"But Pei Lue only glanced at him briefly before blurting out his answer!"

Four lines of Tang poetry were projected heavily onto the screen.

"Bamboo, in winter it refuses to wither, in summer it refuses to be hot. If its belly cannot hold a worthy man, why bother to grow branches and knots on its skin?"

Throughout countless worlds and timelines, many scholars and poets who heard this poem smiled knowingly.

In the Tang Dynasty era, Li Shimin, who had been keeping a respectable air about him, burst out laughing.

"What a silver tongue!"

Li Shimin slapped his thigh and pointed to the sky.

In the live stream, Zhu Dijun began translating sentence by sentence, his tone full of schadenfreude.

"Family members, listen to how venomous those words are!"

"It doesn't lose its leaves in winter, and it doesn't mind the heat in summer. These two lines are setting the stage. The important part is the last two lines!"

"'A belly cannot hold a national talent.' Bamboo is hollow inside, right? Pei Lue is indirectly criticizing Wen Yanbo, the Vice Minister of Personnel, for being empty-headed and unable to tolerate even a true talent (a national talent), which is why he eliminated me!"

"Why bother with unnecessary complications? Since you have nothing to offer and can't accept me, why are you putting on this show and creating unnecessary trouble? You're basically criticizing the Ministry of Personnel's recruitment process as mere formality and unnecessary complications!"

"Incredible! Using an object to symbolize a person, she directly insulted the interviewer!"

[Wen Yanbo: Just give me your ID number!]

Upon hearing this, Wen Yanbo thought, "So, you're indirectly calling me petty, aren't you?"

Zhu Dijun tapped his fingers on the keyboard, and the image on the large screen changed. Wen Yanbo pointed to a huge screen wall outside the door.

Wen Yanbo sneered: "Fine, you pass. Now, give me another chance to mock this wall!"

"Pei Lue didn't even pause for half a second before blurting it out!"

Four more lines of poetry appeared on the screen.

[“Eight or nine feet high, six or seven steps east to west. Sitting abruptly in the hall, how much does it obstruct the path of the wise?”]

"This one's even worse, it's a direct, head-on attack!"

Zhu Dijun laughed so hard he couldn't stand up straight.

"This wall is tall and wide, a clumsy, dark structure standing in the middle of the main hall. Pei Lue's last line, 'How many talented people are blocked from advancing!' was practically a direct insult to Wen Yanbo: You old codger, just like this wall, occupying the position without doing your job, blocking the path of so many virtuous people!"

Early Tang Dynasty.

Wen Yanbo, who was on duty, looked at his embarrassing past being exposed on the screen and his face turned bright red. He wished he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

The colleagues next to him were shaking with suppressed laughter.

On the sky, Judy Jun's execution was not yet over, but was reaching its climax.

"Being attacked so openly and directly, Wen Yanbo can't take it anymore!"

Wen Yanbo hardened his face and angrily rebuked Pei Lue: "These words seem to be meant to offend me!" He meant, "You brat, are you deliberately trying to slander me, Wen Yanbo, with these two sentences?"

"As a result, Pei Lue demonstrated what true madness and recklessness really mean!"

Zhu Dijun slammed his gavel down, his eyes gleaming!

Pei Lue retorted directly: "If you've already pulled out your rib, how could you have only injured your neck?"

The live stream was silent for a full two seconds.

Then, the screen was filled with "Holy crap!" which completely overwhelmed the server!

"Did everyone understand this incredible pun?!" Judy Jun waved his arms excitedly.

"The 'Bo' in Wen Yanbo's name is a homophone for the 'neck' in 'neck'! Pei Lue is taking advantage of this homophone to the extreme!"

"I'm not just going to hurt your neck! I'm going to rip your ribs out!"

In the Taiji Hall of the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin spat out a mouthful of tea directly onto the imperial desk, laughing so hard he almost fell over.

Emperors throughout history were all stunned by this reckless and unruly style.

To humiliate the prime minister to the point of being unable to back down, and then to try and pull out his ribs—if this happened in the Ming Dynasty, his entire family would probably be in a game of Candy Crush!

"And what happened?" Judy Jun spread his hands, his face full of absurdity.

Faced with this incredibly arrogant and fiercely competitive Gen Z student, Wen Yanbo not only didn't get angry, but instead lowered his head in shame and simply wrote down, "Accept!"

"Pei Lue got himself a job in the system just by using his sharp tongue!"

The entire internet rejoiced, as the pent-up emotions from Zhengde's coup were finally released.