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

"Family members, as we just mentioned, Jiajing wanted to rejuvenate the army in a desperate situation."

Zhu Dijun pressed the remote control in his hand suddenly.

The darkness on the big screen was instantly torn apart!

Two extremely cold and austere portraits of ancient military generals, exuding a strong sense of killing intent, suddenly filled the entire screen!

Two large, scarlet characters, as if carved by a knife, crashed down on their heads—[Wang Xian]! [Ma Fang]!

"Family members! Look closely at these two faces!" Judy Jun grabbed the pointer and slammed it hard against the screen.

"These two were the true iron-blooded war gods of the early Jiajing era! They are not like Wang Tang, who came from a mining background, nor are they comparable to Peng Ze, who in the Zhengde era relied on smuggling and void-based enemy searching to create an absurd 'Great Victory in Subspace'!"

In the modern live broadcast room, with Zhu Dijun's roar, the barrage of comments from millions of netizens was instantly ignited by the hellish joke of "the great victory in subspace".

"Hahaha! That old man from Pengze has finally been dragged out and whipped!"

"A grand victory concocted by a smuggler-turned-corrupt official is utterly worthless!"

"I really want to see what Peng Ze's expression is right now. He's probably pissed himself several meters away!"

A parallel universe of the Ming Dynasty. Autumn of the eleventh year of Zhengde.

Inside the Leopard Room of the Forbidden City.

The strong smell of alcohol filled the air, but it couldn't suppress the terrifying, deathly silence that almost froze the hall.

Yang Yiqing, the once arrogant cabinet minister, and Peng Ze, the Left Censor-in-Chief who had just been exposed by Tianmu for orchestrating a "great victory on the border," were kneeling on the cold bluestone slabs, one on each side.

Emperor Wuzong Zhu Houzhao sat on the dragon throne above, toying with a white jade wine cup in his hand, his eyes revealing an extremely cruel mockery.

The spoilers from the sky were like a scalpel, stripping away all the mud from the very bottom of these civil officials' clothes. Zhu Houzhao knew Peng Ze all too well what kind of person he was, but today, he wanted to see how these hypocrites, spouting benevolence and morality, would turn on each other like dogs right in front of him.

"My dear Minister Yang."

Zhu Houzhao drew out the word, his voice full of sarcasm.

"What do you think of this Minister Peng, who orchestrated the 'Great Victory in Subspace' within the celestial canopy?"

Yang Yiqing knelt on the ground, his back soaked with cold sweat, which had already soaked through his crimson official robes.

He knew that the Emperor was forcing him to take a stand. Peng Ze had stirred up a fire far too big; so big that if he dared to say even a single good word in Peng Ze's defense, Zhu Houzhao would use this opportunity to uproot the entire civil service!

Sacrifice the pawn to save the king. This is the only way out.

"Return to Your Majesty."

Yang Yiqing abruptly straightened up, his face as taut as iron, his voice completely flat.

"Regarding Peng Ze's so-called great victory at the border, I believe that we only need to send the Embroidered Uniform Guard to the border to conduct a detailed investigation and verify the heads of the spoils of war, and we will immediately know whether it is true or not."

Zhu Houzhao narrowed his eyes and let out a cold laugh:

"Oh? What if it's fake?"

Yang Yiqing closed his eyes and squeezed out four words with extreme determination through clenched teeth:

"Deceiving the emperor and trespassing! Such behavior should naturally be punished according to the law, without any leniency!"

Upon hearing this, Peng Ze, who was kneeling to the side, felt as if he had been struck by lightning!

His face turned deathly pale, his whole body trembled violently and uncontrollably, and his teeth chattered.

He understood Yang Yiqing's meaning all too well. This was a warning, but more importantly, a death order!

You, Peng Ze, should take the blame for deceiving the emperor all by yourself and obediently die. The cabinet will protect the lives of your entire clan. But if you dare to falsely accuse others in the smuggling network in front of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, your entire clan of nine generations will be implicated and burned alive!

A discarded pawn! Peng Ze had become a completely useless, discarded pawn!

Inside the modern live-streaming studio, Zhu Dijun didn't care which civil official in the ancient world was facing despair; his scalpel had already precisely sliced ​​towards a new target.

"Family members, let's sweep that disgusting scum of Peng Ze into the cesspool of history. Today, let's talk about these two truly remarkable and legendary figures!"

Zhu Dijun's laser pointer was fixed on the portrait on the left.

"First! Wang Xian!"

An extremely impressive resume instantly popped up on the big screen.

"Wang Xian, courtesy name Weigang, was a native of Dongping, Shandong. He passed the imperial examination in the third year of the Hongzhi reign!" Zhu Dijun slammed his gavel. "Pay attention to his background, everyone. He was a genuine civil official! But he was also a hard-working and pragmatic man who experienced three rises and three falls, ultimately rising to the position of Minister of War and Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince through his outstanding military achievements!"

"During the Zhengde era, Wang Xian served as the governor of Liaodong and Datong. He made real contributions on the battlefield against the Mongols. When Zhu Houzhao led the southern expedition, he was in charge of supervising military supplies, and the logistical support was flawless. For this, he was promoted to Minister of War!"

Zhu Dijun picked up a black marker and drew a wildly undulating curve on the whiteboard.

"But in the first year of the Jiajing reign, Emperor Shizong had just ascended the throne. With a new emperor came a new court, and Wang Xian was impeached and dismissed by the censors, forced to pack his bags and go home. And what happened? By the fourth year of the Jiajing reign, facing the northwest defenses completely ruined by the civil official group and border smugglers, Jiajing discovered that those argumentative civil officials in the court were utterly incapable of withstanding the Mongol cavalry!"

"The eighteen-year-old emperor defied public opinion and directly issued an edict to reinstate Wang Xian, appointing him as the Commander-in-Chief of the Three Border Regions, in charge of military affairs in Shaanxi, Yansui, and Ningxia! This is what it means to be appointed to a critical mission!"

On the whiteboard, Zhu Dijun wrote four large characters in red pen: "[Great Victory at Shijiudun]!"

"In the fifth year of the Jiajing reign! Tens of thousands of Mongol cavalry from the Jinang tribe stormed deep into the Ming Dynasty's border! If Peng Ze were here, he would probably be hiding in the city writing another empty battle report, fearing they would flee at the mere mention of it. But how did Wang Xian manage to win?"

Zhu Dijun gripped the podium tightly with both hands, his eyes blazing with murderous intent.

"He didn't go into seclusion! He personally mobilized his troops, dividing them into multiple routes, and launched an extremely fierce combined attack on the main Mongol force at Shijiudun! After a bloody battle, the Ming border army beheaded more than three hundred Mongols on the spot!"

"Family members! More than three hundred heads! This is not killing innocent people to claim credit; these are genuine spoils of war cut from the necks of the Mongol elite! When this battle report was sent to the capital, Emperor Jiajing was overjoyed and immediately issued an imperial edict praising him and bestowing upon Wang Xian the title of Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince!"

The era of the Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty.

Sitting in the West Garden Abode, Zhu Houcong looked at the sky, a cold smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

What he needs is a ruthless person who can fight tough battles. As long as you can bring back the heads of the Mongols, I can give you all the dignity you desire.

In the live broadcast room, Zhu Dijun spoke at an extremely fast pace.

"After this battle, Wang Xian thoroughly oversaw the border defenses. He improved the fortifications, rectified military discipline, and painstakingly recovered the embezzled military pay from the border areas, distributing it to the soldiers, thus transforming the northwest defense line into an impregnable fortress!"

"In the sixth year of the Jiajing reign, Wang Xian returned to the capital and became the Minister of War of the Ming Dynasty! Upon taking office, his first move was to crack down on the rotten Ming capital garrison! He formulated a system of troop-based training, strictly prohibiting the garrison commanders from shirking training and even more strictly forbidding them from using soldiers as private servants to build houses! All the old, weak, sick, and disabled were eliminated! With this one move, he managed to preserve a central army that was ready to fight at any time for Jiajing!"

The scene on the big screen switched to Datong City, which had been engulfed in bloodshed earlier.

"In handling the aftermath of the Datong Mutiny in the twelfth year of the Jiajing reign, Wang Xian demonstrated extremely shrewd political composure! In the early stages of the mutiny, he was extremely firm, advocating that the ringleaders be punished! However, when Governor-General Liu Yuanqing's assault on Datong failed, a stalemate ensued. Wang Xian immediately changed his strategy, supporting the court's decision to cease hostilities and offer amnesty despite pressure from both the court and the public. Through this combination of firmness and leniency, Datong, a crucial border town, was ultimately resolved peacefully, avoiding complete destruction!"

Zhu Dijun threw down his pen and sneered repeatedly.

"Wang Xian was a true military pragmatist! He later submitted several memorials to the Jiajing Emperor entitled 'Strategies for Pacifying the Barbarians,' advocating a defensive approach combined with offensive measures. This memorial directly became the absolute guiding principle for the Ming Dynasty's border defense during the mid-Jiajing period!"

"But family members, what happens to people who don't form cliques and only get things done within the civil service?"

Several red names appeared on the whiteboard in succession: [Zhang Cong], [Gui E], and [Xia Yan].

"He wasn't a proponent of the rites during the Great Rites Controversy, nor did he curry favor with those newly powerful figures who had risen to power through nepotism. He was simply a pure pragmatist! As a result, he was relentlessly impeached by the upright officials in the court! Even Xia Yan, who later became the Grand Secretary, personally joined the fray to tear him apart!"

"In the eighth year of the Jiajing reign, he was impeached and dismissed from office! In the tenth year of the Jiajing reign, he was reinstated as Minister of War! He experienced an extremely surreal rise and fall during the Jiajing reign!"

Zhu Dijun suddenly moved closer to the camera, his eyes sharp.

"Why was he able to make a comeback? Because although Jiajing was an extremely cunning dictator, he was very clear-headed! He knew all too well that those loudly clamoring civil officials in the court were all utterly useless! The Ming Dynasty's defense would collapse without someone like Wang Xian! He could tolerate Wang Xian not taking sides, but he needed Wang Xian's blade to kill for the Ming Dynasty!"

A passage from the History of Ming appeared on the screen.

Even the Qing dynasty historians couldn't find fault with Wang Xian! The History of Ming described him as: "Well-versed in border affairs and possessing the talent to respond to changing circumstances!" This is a truly definitive and final assessment!

Zhu Dijun straightened up, his tone revealing a hint of感慨 (gǎnkǎi, a complex emotion encompassing both admiration and reflection) about history.

"In the fourteenth year of the Jiajing reign, Wang Xian retired and returned to his hometown. In the sixteenth year of the Jiajing reign, he died of illness. The court posthumously awarded him the title of Junior Guardian and bestowed upon him the posthumous name Kangyi."

He now held a modern, real-life photograph in his hand.

The photo shows an ancient stone path with majestic stone horses, tigers and other stone statues on both sides. It is surrounded by a modern protective barrier and has a stone tablet that reads "Municipal Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit".

"His son, Wang Ruxiao, was a Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) in the fifth year of the Jiajing reign (1546) and rose to the position of Governor of Shuntian Prefecture. Father and son, two generations of high-ranking officials! In modern times, the stone statues along the spirit path of Wang Xian's tomb in Dongping County, Shandong Province, have withstood hundreds of years of wind and rain and still stand tall, and have been carefully protected by the government as a key cultural relic!"

In the eleventh year of the Zhengde reign of the Ming Dynasty.

The civil officials, who had just felt a sense of shared sorrow at Peng Ze's abandonment, now stared wide-eyed at the photo of the modern protective monument on the sky.

Jealousy! Extreme jealousy!

What did officials in the Ming Dynasty strive for? To wield immense power in life and enjoy wealth and honor after death. But what they feared most was that their policies would end with their deaths, and even their graves would be desecrated and their ashes scattered by political enemies or future generations!

But this Wang Xian! He didn't form factions, he rose and fell three times, and as a result, not only did he grant titles and privileges to his wife and children during his lifetime, but he also received an excellent posthumous title. Even hundreds of years later, his tomb was still protected by later generations as if it were a treasure!

This is the ultimate achievement that an ancient official could only dream of!

Yang Yiqing stared at the sky, his withered fingers clenched tightly together, his heart churning with turmoil. He had lost even the slightest interest in looking at Peng Ze. "Hard work builds a nation," he thought. "So, people of later generations don't care how much noise you make in the court; they care about how much territory you defend for the country!"

Inside the modern live-streaming studio, Zhu Dijun looked at Wang Xian's photo and slowly put away his teaching pointer.

"Wang Xian was a rare military talent among the civil officials of the Ming Dynasty. But after all, he came from the imperial examination system and was a commander who could strategize and plan in the court."

Zhu Dijun's gaze suddenly shifted, fixing on the portrait of a military general on the right side of the screen, which had remained motionless. It was a pure killing god, his eyes like those of a ravenous wolf in the wilderness, his face bearing indelible marks of hardship.

In the background sound effects, a chilling neighing of Mongolian warhorses and the clanging of weapons suddenly erupted.

"If Wang Xian is the commander-in-chief, then Ma Fang, standing behind him, is the true general!"