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

"Family members!"

Zhu Dijun sat on a high stool, and the thick copy of the "History of Ming" in his hand was flung away.

It slammed down in the corner of the live stream room with a "bang".

"I'm going to say something here today that will definitely offend those old-fashioned historians! The official histories of the Song and Ming dynasties, especially those involving the power struggles between the emperor and the prime minister, must be read in the opposite way!"

He suddenly stood up and moved closer to the camera.

"If you follow their writings, you'll find that the Song Dynasty was full of benevolent rulers, while the Ming Dynasty was full of freaks! But if you reverse the logic along the chain of interests, everything makes sense!"

A somber oil painting depicting the Qing dynasty's compilation of the History of Ming was displayed directly on the large screen.

"As for the history books of the Qing Dynasty?"

Zhu Dijun let out a cold laugh filled with extreme contempt. "The Qing Dynasty spent a full century compiling the History of Ming! The unofficial histories of the Manchus are even more accurate than the official histories they compiled! Because the official histories of the Qing Dynasty not only inherited the fine tradition of the Ming Dynasty's civil officials in smearing imperial power, but also added the extremely perverse literary inquisitions and censorship!"

Judy slapped the whiteboard.

"Many viewers asked in the comments: Shouldn't historians be independent of the court? Aren't historians fearless?"

"wrong!"

A huge, bloody red X is positioned in the center of the screen.

"Who are historians? Historians are members of the civil service! They rise through the ranks through the imperial examinations, and their mentors, classmates, and fellow townsmen are all high-ranking officials in the court! They compile history books in the Hanlin Academy, and after finishing this record, they might be appointed as prefects tomorrow, and as Grand Secretary the day after!"

"You expect them to betray their own class and speak favorably of an emperor who suppresses civil officials?! If they dared to write truthfully, the civil official group could ostracize him and ruin his family without the emperor even lifting a finger!"

Zhu Dijun's voice suddenly rose, like a thunderclap in the night sky.

"In the history of China, there has only been one historian in thousands of years who was willing to have his entire family wiped out and even give up being a man in order to restore the truth of history!"

"That was Sima Qian, the Grand Historian who wrote the Records of the Grand Historian! But did he dare to write about Emperor Wu of Han openly? He only dared to hint at it very subtly between the lines! After Sima Qian, there was no more Grand Historian! The rest were all court writers who held onto their official positions!"

Parallel universe. The reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.

Liu Che leaned against the dragon bed in Weiyang Palace, looking at the sky, the muscles at the corners of his mouth twitching violently.

"Sima Qian..."

He snorted coldly, a complex light flashing in his eyes.

"I castrated him, yet he still left behind those insidious words. The historians of later generations are not even worth a finger of his; they are nothing but groveling dogs."

Inside the live stream, Zhu Dijun's commentary has slammed into the modern world in an extremely awkward yet impactful way, moving away from ancient history!

"Family members! Don't think that things like 'controlling information' and 'killing people with a pen' only existed in the Ming Dynasty!"

A visually striking image of modern battlefield ruins dominated the entire live stream screen.

"We must connect theory with practice! We must learn to examine the world today with the insight that sees through the disguises of interest groups!"

Zhu Dijun gripped the table tightly with both hands, his eyes gleaming with a sharp, all-seeing light.

"Take the current international situation for example! Look at Er Mao! Look at the Persian cat!"

The sound effects at the bottom of the live stream room instantly transformed into an extremely oppressive air raid siren.

"Some high-ranking idiots in the U.S. have been completely brainwashed by the modern version of Western 'freedom and democracy'—'civilian righteousness'! They believed those lies cloaked in civilization, and were then deceived, infiltrated, and controlled, dragging the entire country into an abyss of war!"

"What was the result?!"

Zhu Dijun slammed his fist on the table.

"The country was reduced to ruins! Adult men were used as cannon fodder in the trenches! What's even more terrifying and chilling is that the organs of frontline soldiers were harvested and sold on the black market! Corpses were buried directly in the black soil and turned into special fertilizer!"

"The Russia-Ukraine war has lasted 1510 days so far, with 200 million people dead and missing on both sides. Remember, this is a heavily estimated figure. Many people don't believe what Western media say, and the number should be doubled to 400 million. As for where the dead and missing went, Lolita Island is the well-known final destination."

The screen was instantly frozen in awe, and all netizens were shocked by this bloody and cruel modern reality.

"Isn't the Russia-Ukraine war just a modern version of being devoured alive by the civilian bureaucracy?!"

Judy Jun roared at the top of her lungs.

"They've been sold out, and they're still helping those military-industrial complexes and capitalist tycoons count their money! They think they're defending some great value until they die! Isn't that pathetic? Isn't that pitiful?!"

He pointed to the whiteboard with his backhand.

"And look at those comprador forces within the Persian Cat! They've been completely misled by the information cocoon of the outside world, and for their own personal gain, they're ready to sell off national sovereignty and dignity at any time!"

"This is the ultimate weapon of those interest groups that monopolize information and public opinion! They don't need to lift a finger; they can completely hollow out a person or a country, both spiritually and physically, simply through history books, news reports, and so-called 'universal values'!"

Throughout the entire universe, from emperors and generals to ordinary people, everyone felt an extreme chill seeping from their very bones at this moment.

The Hongwu reign of the Ming Dynasty.

Looking at the images of broken walls and ruins on the sky, Zhu Yuanzhang felt nauseous, even though he had killed countless people throughout his life.

"Using human corpses as fertilizer? Harvesting human organs to sell for money?"

Old Zhu clenched his fist.

"Those barbarians who wave the banner of righteousness are even more depraved than the corrupt officials of our Ming Dynasty!"

Inside the modern live-streaming studio, Zhu Dijun toned down his previously aggressive demeanor.

He picked up the laser pointer again and aimed the red light at the profile of the fifteen-year-old emperor.

"So family members, never be fooled by a few words from others. Whether you're looking at history or the news, you must use your interests to make judgments."

Zhu Dijun's voice was low, revealing an eerie calm before the storm.

"Emperor Wuzong Zhu Houzhao failed to see through this trick, which is why he died in the Leopard Chamber and became infamous."

"But do you really think that the fifteen-year-old Jiajing Emperor, who had just arrived in Beijing, wouldn't see through the tricks these civil officials were playing in the 'Veritable Records of Emperor Wuzong of Ming'?"

The image on the big screen suddenly changed.

Inside the dimly lit Xiyuan Abode.

Fifteen-year-old Zhu Houcong flipped through the manuscript of the newly submitted "Veritable Records of Emperor Wuzong of Ming".

He didn't fly into a rage, and he didn't tear up the book.

He simply sat on the futon and let out a very short, yet chilling, cold laugh.

"From the moment Jiajing finished reading this true record."

A cruel glint flashed in Zhu Dijun's eyes. "He had finally grasped the ultimate secret to controlling the Ming Dynasty's civil service."

"Since you civil officials like to kill people with your pens, and since you can disregard the facts for your own benefit."

The large screen suddenly fell into a deathly black, leaving only a single, extremely glaring white character—【Kneel】.

"Then Jiajing will spend the next few decades purging all the chief ministers, ministers, and even the censors who are known as the 'pure stream' in the entire Ming Dynasty court."

"They were all like dogs without any dignity, kneeling at his feet, biting people for him!"

"He doesn't need to write history himself. He'll have the most wicked civil officials kill the most stubborn ones!"