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

On the large screen in the live stream room, a scarlet warning box flashed frantically.

Zhu Dijun pressed his hands firmly on the live-streaming table, staring down at the camera like a ferocious beast about to devour its prey.

"Many brainless fans came to my page to curse me, saying that Wang Yangming was already a universally recognized sage during the Ming Dynasty, and that I was wantonly smearing him for the sake of traffic!"

"Today, I'll use the official records of the Ming Dynasty to slap your faces to pieces!"

Zhu Dijun slapped the whiteboard with his backhand and shoved an extremely glaring copy of the "Veritable Records of Emperor Shizong of Ming" into the very center of the screen.

"Open your eyes and see clearly! When Wang Yangming was alive, he did indeed receive the title of 'Earl of Xinjian' for suppressing the rebellion of Prince Ning. But what was the status of his philosophy of mind at that time?"

Zhu Dijun loosened his tie, pointed at the text on the transcript, and shouted it out, word by word.

"In the Ming Dynasty, when the official ideology favored Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, his philosophy of mind was considered heretical and unorthodox! It was repeatedly criticized and relentlessly suppressed! Even during the reign of Emperor Jiajing, how did he evaluate this man whom you consider a perfect figure throughout history?"

The red laser pointer scribbled heavily across several lines of text.

The Jiajing Emperor's assessment of him consisted of only eight words: "Exaggerated achievements, questionable character!" This was the official Ming Dynasty verdict on him during his lifetime! He received absolutely no respect befitting his so-called "sage" status!

In the fifth year of the Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty, inside the Fengtian Hall of the Forbidden City.

As Zhu Houcong sat on the dragon throne, he listened to the proclamation from the heavens and tapped the Hetian jade paperweight in his hand on the imperial desk, producing an extremely crisp sound.

"Minister Wang."

Zhu Houcong's smile turned extremely sinister as he looked down at Wang Shouren, who was trembling on the gold bricks. "So this is how I evaluated you in the historical records of later generations. Exaggerated achievements, questionable character. These eight words are most fitting for you, who traded friends and disciples for titles."

The officials below remained silent. Even the Grand Secretaries from Jiangnan, who had previously tirelessly recommended Wang Shouren to the Jiajing Emperor, now buried their heads in their pants. The Emperor had not only believed the imperial edict, but now the official records had reached a definitive conclusion; who would dare touch this festering sore?

In the sky, Zhu Dijun's relentless bombardment continued.

"Since he was merely a controversial Confucian scholar in the Ming Dynasty, how exactly did he come to be known as 'half a Confucius' and 'a perfect man for all time'?"

The large screen instantly displayed a timeline spanning hundreds of years.

"Family members, here is a top-secret account of how Wang Yangming was forcibly elevated to the status of a 'sage' by later generations! Pay close attention: his reputation as a sage didn't originate in the Ming Dynasty, but rather after its fall, during the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, it was forcibly promoted by a group of ulterior motives!"

Three names were heavily displayed on the screen: Huang Zongxi, Wang Shizhen, and Liang Qichao.

"Huang Zongxi, a thinker from the late Ming and early Qing dynasties; Wang Shizhen, a scholar from the Qing dynasty; and Liang Qichao in modern times! These three people were the core driving forces that elevated Wang Yangming to a divine status!"

Zhu Dijun grabbed the blackboard eraser and fiercely wiped away the messy lines on the whiteboard, then wrote a sentence in red pen.

"These days, toxic motivational quotes are everywhere, saying that Huang Zongxi praised Wang Yangming as 'unprecedented since Confucius and Mencius, none have been so profound and insightful.' It's said that Huang Zongxi acknowledged him as a sage."

That's utter nonsense!

Zhu Dijun kicked the live broadcast platform, making a loud noise.

"Huang Zongxi's original words did not refer to Yangming as a sage at all! His true meaning was—[Yangming revived the way of the sage, making it possible for everyone to become a sage]! Do you understand? Do you understand? Huang Zongxi was talking about an academic concept that everyone could pursue, but in the mouths of those writers who were engaged in the deification movement, it was forcibly distorted into the idea that Wang Yangming himself was a sage on par with Confucius and Mencius!"

"As for Wang Shizhen of the Qing Dynasty, and Liang Qichao's so-called 'two and a half complete sages in Chinese history,' claiming that he achieved the three immortalities of establishing virtue, establishing merit, and establishing words, that's pure nonsense!"

Zhu Dijun moved closer to the camera, his eyes filled with extreme disdain.

"Those who specifically lauded Wang Yangming as an unparalleled Confucian scholar were the cynics of the Qing Dynasty! Those Jiangnan literati! Why?"

"Because the Ming Dynasty has fallen! These Jiangnan literati, who have spent their lives studying the classics, desperately need a theory to justify their defection and betrayal, just to survive under the knives of Buryat wild boars and to keep their positions as lowly officials!"

"At this point, Wang Yangming's 'extending innate knowledge' became the best fig leaf! As long as I felt that surrendering to the Manchus was in accordance with the Manchu mandate of Heaven, that was my conscience! They used this distorted philosophy of mind to hypnotize themselves, and incidentally, they elevated the founder of this theory to the status of a saint. This is the bloody logic behind why Wang Yangming's philosophy of mind could spread wildly among lower-level intellectuals after the Manchus entered the pass!"

In the modern live stream room, the screen of comments froze instantly, then erupted into a tsunami of "Holy crap!" This kind of mind-altering academic decryption directly exposed the last vestiges of those who worshipped the philosophy of mind.

"It's not over yet!"

Zhu Dijun's speech became faster and faster, like an extremely sharp scalpel cutting open that distorted history.

"Do you think that the Wang Yangming philosophy you buy on the market today is the original version from the Ming Dynasty? Wrong!"

"Wang Yangming's philosophy of mind, as a Confucian doctrine, was definitively defined during the compilation of the Siku Quanshu (Complete Library of the Four Treasuries) by the Qianlong Emperor of the Qing Dynasty! The Qianlong Emperor ordered that it be classified as a Confucian classic in the 'Masters' section of the Siku Quanshu! Remember, the process of the Qing Dynasty compiling the Siku Quanshu was a process of destroying and emasculating Han Chinese culture!"

A yellowed, tattered book image appeared on the big screen.

"The version we can currently see is called 'Yulin Chongshu,' with a total of 38 episodes. This is a censored version produced after the Qing Dynasty frantically edited and removed all texts that might incite Han Chinese resistance!"

"During this process, the Zhejiang School, which had once flourished in Jiangnan, should actually be called the 'Yangming School'! Moreover, the crucial 'Case Study of Popular Confucianism' and 'Case Study of Yaojiang' were born during this period. After several revisions and assimilations by the Manchu Qing dynasty, Yangming's philosophy even veered in an extremely distorted direction in the late Qing dynasty—it gave rise to a religion! It was called the 'Two-One Religion'!"

Zhu Dijun spread his hands with a cold laugh, his expression full of sarcasm.

"Now you understand, right? Why do some people, after reading Wang Yangming's philosophy, not only fail to achieve enlightenment but instead become like fanatical religious zealots, not allowing anyone to question them and constantly spouting mystical 'enlightenment'? Because what they're reading is essentially a censored version used by the Manchus to enslave the Han people—a form of disguised religious brainwashing!"

The entire internet was in an uproar. The defenses of those fans of the philosophy of mind were completely shattered at that moment.

In the Jiajing era of the Ming Dynasty, when Zhu Houcong heard the words "Two-One Religion," a hint of disgust flashed in his eyes. The Ming Dynasty strictly prohibited folk cults, and the fact that Wang Shouren's teachings had become a religion was a capital offense in the eyes of the imperial power.

On the sky, Zhu Dijun put away his smile and directly brought up the black and white portrait of Zeng Guofan, who was revered by countless later generations as a "half-saint".

"Next, let's take a look at this commander who, despite possessing the blood of the Yongzheng Emperor, was a 'mite-turned-Han' general—Zeng Guofan. In order to use Confucianism to rule the Han Chinese army and suppress the Taiping Rebellion, what six insane modifications did he make to Wang Yangming's philosophy of mind?"

The six blood-red numbers were like six nails, firmly fixed on the screen.

"First!"

Zhu Dijun raised one finger emphatically.

Wang Yangming's original concept of "the mind is principle" was forcibly changed by Zeng Guofan to "the mind must conform to principle!"

"What does that mean? Yangming said that your heart is the truth. Zeng Guofan said, no, your heart must submit to 'reason'! What is this 'reason'? It is the rules of the Qing Dynasty! It is the law established by the master! He directly and completely stripped individuals of their right to independent thought, shackled them with the bondage of loyalty to the emperor and love for the Qing Dynasty!"

"Second! Change 'extending innate knowledge' to 'self-discipline and restoring propriety'!"

Zhu Dijun tapped the nameplate heavily on the table with his fingers.

"Conscience is too uncontrollable. What if the Han people think that rebelling against the Manchus is what conscience is all about? That's why Zeng Guofan used self-discipline and restoration of propriety to suppress it! He made you restrain your desire to rebel and obediently abide by the Manchu laws!"

"Third! They've completely distorted 'unity of knowledge and action' into 'knowing something and then doing it, with emphasis on resolute action'!"

"Doesn't that sound very positive?"

Zhu Dijun sneered repeatedly.

"In essence, they just want you to be a mindless workhorse! You're not supposed to delve into why the Qing Dynasty was so rotten; you just need to shut up and carry out the killing and suppression tasks assigned to you!"

"Fourth! They forcibly distorted 'practical training' from its original purpose of 'cultivating the mind' into 'managing affairs'!"

Judy Jun slammed her hand on the whiteboard.

"It's gone from a spiritual elevation to simply working for the Qing Dynasty! The work is training, don't give me any nonsense!"

"Fifth! Completely weaken the part of Neo-Confucianism that liberates thought, and infinitely strengthen Confucian ethics wrapped in Neo-Confucianism! That is, an intensified version of the servile theory of ruler-subject and father-son relationships!"

"Sixth! The eight characters 'Be cautious when alone, maintain reverence, seek benevolence, and practice diligence' completely reconstruct the system of practice in the philosophy of mind!"

Zhu Dijun gripped the podium tightly with both hands, his eyes bloodshot with extreme anger, and his thunderous roar shook the entire universe.

"Family members! Look at these six drastic modifications! This is no longer some kind of self-cultivation philosophy; it's clearly a training manual perfectly suited to the interests of the Manchu ruling class, designed to turn Han people into mindless, bloodless, and utterly subservient slaves who only obey their masters' orders!"

"Zeng Guofan trampled over the corpses of tens of millions of Han people, wielding this enslavement tool he had emasculated and distorted, to earn himself a so-called 'semi-saint' title! Does such a person deserve to be associated with saints?!"

The emotions in the live broadcast room reached an extreme boiling point at this moment. The sanctimonious veneer of history was completely stripped away, revealing only the bloody calculations for consolidating rule.

Standing before the surging barrage of comments, Zhu Dijun shoved the blackboard behind him aside. The large screen instantly plunged into abyss-like darkness.

"Now that we've finished discussing the facade of the Jiangnan civil officials, and the scholarship and smuggling ledgers that these scholar-officials used to deceive future generations..."

Judy Jun spoke in a cold, eerie voice from the darkness, a voice carrying an extremely strange and oppressive quality.

"Then let's take this knowledge of the terrifying execution capabilities of the civil officials in Jiangnan and go back to the fifteenth year of the Zhengde reign of the Ming Dynasty."

The sound effects of flowing water slowly returned.

"Let's go see that final, deadly scheme that was planned for twelve years... the one that ultimately led to Emperor Wuzong Zhu Houzhao's downfall at Qingjiangpu. What exactly was hidden on that imperial ship?"