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

The crimson spotlight in the studio flickered wildly, like the violent heartbeat of the Ming Dynasty on its deathbed.

Zhu Dijun stood in front of the holographic screen, ripped off his suit jacket, and threw it hard in the corner of the podium. He grabbed a mineral water bottle from the table, took a big gulp, and his eyes revealed an almost manic excitement.

"Family members! In the last chapter, I mentioned that in the twenty-sixth year of the Jiajing reign, the Ming Dynasty was fighting on four fronts, and only managed to hold on thanks to a few exceptional individuals. But did you think this was the beginning of a comeback?"

Judy Jun let out a cold laugh that could blow off the roof, and casually slammed a year onto the whiteboard with a pure black marker.

[The 27th year of the Jiajing reign!]

"Completely wrong! This is the year of ultimate destruction, when the Ming Dynasty's meat grinder is in full swing, personally smashing down every single pillar that supports the heavens!"

The large screen suddenly shook violently, and the map of the Northwest was instantly covered by a shocking expanse of blood.

"In the first month of the twenty-seventh year of the Jiajing reign! Just after the New Year, the northwest defense line delivered a massive, super-sized nuclear bomb to the imperial court!"

Zhu Dijun slammed his pointer down hard on the spot in Ningxia Town.

"Ningxia Garrison, one of the nine key border towns of the Ming Dynasty, has been thrown into chaos!"

Four bloody characters crashed onto the screen—【Ningxia Mutiny】!

"At that time, the Northwest border troops were being embezzled to such an extent that they didn't even have grass to chew on! Taking advantage of this, the forces led by Bo Bai, a Mongol who had surrendered, instigated a mutiny! The rebel army, like mad dogs, captured Ningxia Town and directly killed Zhang Wenjin, the Ming Dynasty governor, in the street!"

Zhu Dijun pressed his hands firmly on the podium, getting close to the camera, the veins on his forehead bulging.

"Kill the governor! Occupy the border town! These rebels are even colluding with the Mongol Tatar forces in the Hetao region. Their urgent military advance is aimed directly at the military heart of the Northwest—Guyuan!"

In a parallel Hongwu era of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Yuanzhang stared intently at the four characters "murder the governor" on the sky, his calloused hands gripping the imperial desk so tightly that his nails cracked.

"Rebellion! Border troops killed a high-ranking official! Are these soldiers from the nine border regions truly Ming soldiers, or just the swords of those barbarians?!"

On the sky, Zhu Dijun's voice carried an extreme sense of oppression.

"The Northwest is in such a terrible state, what was Zeng Xian, the Governor-General of the Three Border Regions appointed in this time of crisis, doing?"

"In the first month of the lunar calendar, he stubbornly submitted to the Jiajing Emperor a plan worth 22.4 million taels of silver for the recapture of the Hetao region! He also enlisted the help of Grand Secretary Xia Yan, and the two of them exerted tremendous pressure in court, demanding that war be waged!"

On the left and right sides of the holographic screen, the portraits of Xia Yan and Zeng Xian were highlighted and enlarged, exuding a desperate fervor.

"But sitting in the Western Garden, Emperor Jiajing, looking at the memorial about the Ningxia mutiny and then at the pitiful two million taels of silver in the national treasury, completely broke down in mentality in late January!"

Zhu Dijun suddenly turned around and wrote down the eight-character death question uttered by the Jiajing Emperor on the whiteboard!

Is there a legitimate reason for this attack?!

Are there enough provisions for the troops?

"Family members, do you understand the significance of these ten words?!"

Zhu Dijun grabbed the blackboard eraser and slapped it onto Zeng Xian's name.

In modern terms: "Do you even have the right to fight this war?! Do you even have any money in your pocket?!"

"In the Emperor's eyes, Ningxia Town just rebelled and killed the governor. You, Zeng Xian, command over 100,000 troops, and now you're recklessly demanding over 20 million taels from the national treasury! You and Xia Yan, one inside and one outside, do you actually want to fight the Mongols, or are you planning to lead your troops into the capital and force the Emperor to abdicate?!"

A venomous snake slowly peeks out from the shadows of the screen—Yan Song.

"At this critical juncture, when suspicion of imperial power reached its absolute breaking point, Yan Song struck. Swift, precise, and ruthless—a single blow to the throat!"

"On the day of Guiwei in the first month! The Embroidered Uniform Guards were dispatched in all directions! They went directly to the Northwest, put the Governor-General of the Three Borders, Zeng Xian, in chains, and escorted him to the capital! On the same day, an imperial edict was issued from the Western Garden, ordering the court to punish those officials who spoke in support of Zeng Xian, and the Grand Secretary Xia Yan was directly dismissed from office and ordered to return to his hometown!"

"March, Gui Si day!"

Judy Jun's voice shattered instantly.

"At the West Market execution ground! Zeng Xian, the only governor-general of the three border regions in the Ming Dynasty who dared to propose driving the Mongols out of the Ordos Loop, was accused of [being greedy for personal gain, deceiving superiors and cruel to subordinates, and embezzling government funds], and with a single stroke, his head was severed from his body!"

The studio lights were all switched to a stark white, like the cold glint of a blade flashing on an execution ground.

A parallel Yongle era in the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Di tilted his head back and closed his eyes. He understood all too well the machinations of emperors. Zeng Xian's death wasn't because he had actually embezzled a lot of money, but because he had touched the most sensitive nerve of imperial power—uncontrollable military power and immense financial control. But he also knew that once this knife was wielded, the backbone of the Ming Dynasty in the north would be completely severed.

"The heads in the north have already rolled, but this meat grinder is only just getting warmed up."

Zhu Dijun gave the audience no chance to breathe, and the red laser pointer was suddenly flung from Datong toward the southeast coast.

"At this time in the south, Zhu Wan, the governor of Zhejiang, had no idea that his biggest backer in the court, Xia Yan, had already fallen from power! This tough governor was brewing the most extremely violent blow in the history of the Ming Dynasty's coastal defense in the spring of the twenty-seventh year of Jiajing's reign!"

The image on the big screen was instantly replaced by towering flames and warships.

"April of the 27th year of the Jiajing reign! The Battle of Shuangyu Port broke out!"

"Shuangyu Port, in the southern part of the Zhoushan Islands! At that time, it was the largest international smuggling trading center in all of Asia! Chinese merchants, Japanese ronin, and Portuguese colonists gathered here! They built forts, villas, and hospitals here, practically creating a state within a state, independent of the Ming Dynasty!"

Zhu Dijun slammed his pointer heavily onto the screen.

"Zhu Wan could no longer tolerate it! He dispatched his deputy Lu Tang, who assembled a full 380 Ming warships and over 6,000 elite troops, and, taking advantage of the dense fog and high tides, launched a devastating surprise attack on Shuangyu Port!"

"How did you fight? No negotiations, no offer of amnesty! Just a direct fire attack!"

boom!

On the holographic screen, flames roared. Hundreds of warships spewed fire across the sea, smashing through the smuggling group's defenses.

"The Ming army used hundreds of fire ships to fill the waterway, burning Shuangyu Port to the ground! They captured and killed thousands! They captured the notorious smuggling boss Li Guangtou alive, and drove the arrogant Portuguese forces out of the Zhejiang waters like ducks!"

"A moment of peace reigned! This was the fading glory of the Ming Dynasty's martial prowess!"

The live stream chat exploded with comments, the screen filled with slogans like "This is amazing!" and "The Ming Dynasty is mighty!"

"Was it good?"

Zhu Dijun suddenly stopped, a cruel sneer curling at the corner of his mouth. He pulled up a chair and sat down, letting the studio lights shift to an oppressive, dark blue.

"But don't forget, what Zhu Wan burned down was the entire Jiangnan civil official group and the Fujian and Zhejiang gentry's maritime ATM."

The towering flames on the big screen suddenly went out, turning into stacks of cold, yellowed memorials.

"The smuggling tycoons have gone completely mad. Millions of taels of silver have been poured into the capital! In March, taking advantage of the arrival of the Japanese tribute envoy, all the officials in the court launched a collective attack like flies smelling blood!"

Zhu Dijun stared coldly at the names of the officials on the screen.

"What did they impeach Zhu Wan for? [Excessive power, arbitrary killing of innocent people]! They said that Zhu Wan didn't kill pirates in Shuangyu Port, but law-abiding citizens going to sea! Merchants going to do legal business with foreigners!"

"How did the Jiajing Emperor handle it?"

Judy Jun let out a chilling, ominous laugh.

"This emperor, who had just executed Zeng Xian, was extremely sensitive to the phrase 'excessive power.' He immediately issued an edict to compromise!"

Two red crosses were fiercely drawn across Zhu Wan's name.

"Zhu Wan is demoted to 'Inspector'! His military power is immediately revoked! The maritime ban is officially lifted! Those Japanese pirates and smuggling groups, who had been finally scattered, laughed arrogantly upon receiving the signal from the court to loosen the restrictions, and immediately returned with renewed force!"

In a parallel Zhengde era of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Houzhao kicked the bronze wine vessel out of the hall and drew his embroidered spring knife, hacking wildly through the space. "Cowards! A bunch of cowards! The peace that our soldiers fought so hard to achieve has been sold out by these worthless, empty-mouthed scholars! I will kill these traitors who have brought ruin to the country!"

On the sky, Zhu Dijun stood up, walked slowly to the whiteboard, and drew a huge tombstone with a black pen.

"All the resistance failed. In October of the 27th year of the Jiajing reign, this meat grinder came to its final slaughter."

"October, Guimao day".

"Xia Yan, the Grand Secretary of the Ming Dynasty, was definitively convicted of treason by the Jiajing Emperor because of Yan Song's final addition: 'He coerced the emperor and the people, and colluded with close attendants.' He was forbidden from committing suicide or maintaining any semblance of dignity; instead, he was taken to the marketplace and publicly beheaded!"

A bloody, phantom-like human head crashed down on the screen.

"The Ming Dynasty lasted 276 years. The only Grand Secretary to be beheaded in the street. His blood stained the red carpet on Yan Song's path to the pinnacle of power."

The entire studio fell into a deathly silence, with only Judy Jun's extremely hoarse voice echoing through the room.

"Xia Yan is dead, Zeng Xian is dead, Zhu Wan has been stripped of his military power and is only a little time away from committing suicide by poison. In the twenty-seventh year of Jiajing's reign, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty and his civil officials, with their extremely perfect bureaucratic rules, personally sent the most capable and daring people in this empire to hell."

Zhu Dijun leaned slightly forward, his eyes fixed on the camera as if gazing from the abyss.

"Yan Song monopolized the power of the cabinet, officially beginning the 20-year era of 'Yan Party dictatorship.' Meanwhile, along the southeast coast, due to the destruction of Shuangyu Port and the tragedy of Zhu Wan, the armed smuggling groups that lost their bases became completely corrupted and merged with the real Japanese ronin."

He casually tossed the pointer onto the table with a dull thud.

"A bloodbath, lasting over a decade and rife with carnage, known as the 'Jiajing Great Japanese Pirate Raid', has already brandished its blood-dripping butcher's knife, knocking on the gates of the southeastern Ming Dynasty. My family, the real hell has only just begun to open!"