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

The studio lighting was adjusted to a solemn, cool tone. Zhu Dijun stared at the three words on the whiteboard, remaining silent for a few seconds, as if offering a respect that transcended time and space.

"Hai Rui. The most ruthless man in the Ming Dynasty, a madman who forged moral standards into steel bones."

Zhu Dijun walked to the holographic control panel and tapped his fingertips on the keyboard. An image of an ordinary thin-skinned coffin was projected onto the center of the large screen.

"In the forty-fifth year of the Jiajing reign, this minor official, holding the position of Chief Clerk of the Yunnan Provincial Department of the Ministry of Revenue, did something that terrified the entire court. He bought himself a coffin, placed it in his home, then bid farewell to his wife and children and dismissed all the servants in his household."

Zhu Dijun lowered his voice.

After settling his affairs, he carried a document titled "Memorial on Public Security" and walked alone into the power center of the Ming Dynasty.

The coffin on the screen gradually faded, replaced by a long memorial with ink still wet.

"This memorial was later known as the greatest memorial in the world. What did it say?"

Zhu Dijun pulled out his pointer and pointed to the sentence marked with a red circle.

"In the past, officials who criticized the emperor would do so indirectly, citing classical texts and using celestial phenomena as a pretext. Hai Rui didn't play those games; he directly attacked Jiajing Emperor in his face!"

"He criticized the Jiajing Emperor for neglecting court affairs for over twenty years, indulging in religious ceremonies, favoring Taoist priests, and undertaking massive construction projects in the Western Garden. He condemned the emperor for indiscriminately bestowing official titles upon Taoist priests and condoning official corruption, leading to widespread poverty among the people. His most scathing remark, which directly pierced the Jiajing Emperor's heart—"

Zhu Dijun suddenly raised his voice and read out the famous judgment, word by word:

"The people of the world have long been dissatisfied with Your Majesty! For the people of the world have long been dissatisfied with Your Majesty! The name Jiajing means that every household is impoverished and has no money!"

In the live stream, the netizens who had just been vehemently criticizing the civil officials were completely dumbfounded.

"Translated, it means: The whole world has long been fed up with you! Your reign title is Jiajing, which actually means that you've thoroughly searched and looted every household, leaving them penniless!"

Zhu Dijun spread his hands out.

"What does it mean to 'go all out' in person? This is it! Hai Rui was essentially pointing his finger at Jiajing in front of the entire world and cursing him: 'You are a complete and utterly incompetent ruler, a tyrant, a thief who plunders the people's wealth!'"

Parallel universe. The 45th year of the Jiajing reign.

Xiyuan Study.

The "Memorial on Governance" in Zhu Houcong's hand had been crumpled into a ball of waste paper. He was breathing heavily, his face turning purplish-red. The so-called detachment he had cultivated through immortality was shattered to pieces at this moment.

"Insolence... Insolence!!!"

Jiajing slammed the paper ball to the ground, then abruptly stood up and grabbed his whisk, smashing it wildly.

"How dare a mere sixth-rank official insult me ​​like this! I have executed the Yan faction, quelled the Japanese pirates, and painstakingly maintained the Ming Dynasty. What does he know?! What does he know?!"

Jiajing paced frantically inside the palace, pointing at Lü Fang outside the door and roaring:

"Summon the Embroidered Uniform Guard! Arrest Hai Rui for me! Throw him in the imperial prison! I want to interrogate him personally to find out who his accomplices were and who ordered him to do this!"

Lu Fang knelt on the ground, trembling like a leaf, and kowtowed repeatedly.

On the sky

Zhu Dijun continued, pointing to Hai Rui's memorial:

"Jiajing was furious and originally intended to execute Hai Rui immediately. Hai Rui himself had long anticipated this outcome, otherwise why would he have bought a coffin? But please note that the one who truly pushed this dramatic exchange between the emperor and his minister to its climax was neither Hai Rui nor Jiajing, but the Grand Secretary, Xu Jie."

Zhu Dijun brought up a portrait of Xu Jie on the screen. In the portrait, Grand Secretary Xu had a smile on his face, like a kind old grandfather next door.

"The emperor wanted to kill someone, but Xu Jie stepped in to mediate. Xu Jie went to the West Garden and subtly persuaded the enraged Jiajing Emperor. His words were extremely clever." Zhu Dijun imitated the slow, deliberate tone of an old politician.

"Your Majesty, please calm your anger. Hai Rui is mentally unstable, a stubborn fool. The reason he submitted this memorial is to seek death, hoping to earn himself a reputation as an upright official for all time. If Your Majesty were to kill him, you would only be doing him a favor. It would be better to imprison him and leave him to languish, so that the world can witness Your Majesty's magnanimity."

Judy Jun snorted coldly.

"Listen to this, this is what you call real brainwashing rhetoric. Jiajing was very concerned about his reputation, and when he heard this, he thought, 'Why should I help Hai Rui achieve his reputation for loyalty?' So the death sentence was postponed, and Hai Rui was imprisoned indefinitely in the imperial prison."

He turned around and used a marker to draw a hidden line on the whiteboard indicating the transfer of benefits.

Why did Xu Jie protect Hai Rui? Was it because he admired Hai Rui's integrity? Don't be naive.

Extreme contempt flashed in Zhu Dijun's eyes.

"Hai Rui didn't just criticize the emperor; in his memorial, he also cursed the entire court, calling them all incompetent officials who held their positions without doing any work. Xu Jie, as the Grand Secretary, was the most severely criticized. He secretly wished he could tear Hai Rui apart alive."

"But he must protect Hai Rui! Why?"

Zhu Dijun placed his hands on the table, looking directly into the camera. "Political opportunism! The reputation of the Jiangnan civil official group has long been ruined—land annexation, corruption, and obstruction of reform. Xu Jie desperately needs a 'moral arch' to whitewash himself. Protecting Hai Rui is equivalent to establishing a lofty and glorious image of a 'leader of the upright stream who tolerates upright officials' in front of the scholars of the world."

"He was using Hai Rui's life to paint himself and the entire Jiangnan civil official group with a glittering gold paint! This is the dirtiest side of the undercurrents in the court. The purest loyal minister has become a bargaining chip used by the most cunning politicians to buy people's hearts."

The viewers in the live stream suddenly realized that the sense of loss at the shattering of the historical filter, mixed with the fear of the politicians' ruthless tactics, permeated every barrage of comments.

"Hai Rui was in prison, while Jiajing was panting heavily in the Western Garden. The transfer of supreme power in the Ming Dynasty was entering its final countdown amidst this extremely distorted tug-of-war. Xu Jie was about to begin paving the way for his 'new dynasty.'"

The studio lights turned a dark gold, conveying the oppressive and fervent atmosphere before the change of regime.

"Hai Rui's imprisonment was merely an interlude at the end of the Jiajing reign. The one who truly guided the empire's direction in secret was Xu Jie's ever-extending hand, like an octopus."

Zhu Dijun swiped on the holographic control panel and brought up a personnel structure chart of the cabinet.

"Let's take a look at the cabinet structure in the 45th year of the Jiajing reign. At this time, the second-ranking minister, Yan Ne, used illness as an excuse to resign and return to his hometown, thus vacating his position. Who took his place? Gao Gong and Guo Pu."

He ran his laser pointer over the names one by one. "On the surface, the cabinet now has four people: Xu Jie, Li Chunfang, Gao Gong, and Guo Pu. It seems to be a system of checks and balances, with everyone discussing and deliberating."

Zhu Dijun suddenly slammed the laser pointer onto the podium.

"Nonsense! The final decision-making power over major military and political affairs, as well as the promotion and appointment of officials nationwide, is firmly in Xu Jie's hands. Those three people are, at best, his seals of office. And outside the cabinet, Xu Jie has planted an extremely crucial hidden mole."

At the edge of the screen, Zhang Juzheng's portrait slowly appeared.

"Zhang Juzheng, Xu Jie's most prized student. He not only works odd jobs in the cabinet, but he also has another extremely prestigious identity—the lecturer of Prince Yu. That is, the teacher of the future Longqing Emperor. At the same time, he is also responsible for monitoring Prince Yu to see if this Prince Yu will be like his father, Jiajing, and pretend to be something he's not. If he is a monster like his father, kill him as soon as possible along with his younger brother, Prince Jing. If not, continue to make him a puppet."

Zhu Dijun's speech quickened, becoming highly rhythmic.

"It can be said that Xu Jie's move was a double gamble, binding them together in advance! Through Zhang Juzheng, Xu Jie tightly tied the cabinet and the future crown prince together. Whenever there was a major national event, Xu Jie would give Zhang Juzheng a heads-up, and Zhang Juzheng would go to the Prince Yu's residence to give him a heads-up. This was equivalent to the new boss being completely brainwashed by the old employees even before the change of dynasty!"

Not only in the central government, but this reshuffling storm swept through every prefecture and county of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Dijun waved his hands, and a map of the Ming Dynasty's administrative region unfolded on the large screen. Small red dots spread rapidly from the capital to Guangdong, Guangxi, Xuanda, and Liaodong, like a virus.

"With the top leadership secured, the grassroots level cannot be spared either. In that year, Xu Jie launched a ruthless political purge under the pretext of 'eliminating the remnants of the Yan Party.' Provincial governors, judicial commissioners, and military governors—anyone who had any connection with the Yan family or was at odds with the gentry of Jiangnan—were all stripped of their titles under some pretext."

"Hundreds and thousands of vacant positions were crammed into Xu Jie's protégés, fellow townsmen, and former officials who had served Prince Yu's household in his youth. From then on, the Ming Dynasty's court, local authorities, and army could find no force capable of opposing the 'pure stream' (the upright officials). The Ming Dynasty became an impregnable empire built by a group of civil officials with vested interests!"

The parallel universe of the Ming Dynasty.

Coal Hill during the Chongzhen reign.

Zhu Youjian leaned against the tree trunk, listening to the analysis in the sky, tears silently sliding down into his tattered clothes.

"An impregnable empire..."

He shook his head with a bitter smile.

"What an impenetrable empire! They control the court, cultivate their own faction, and are impenetrable. When I ascended the throne, I faced the same net. I thought killing Wei Zhongxian would break the deadlock, but what happened? The entire court was filled with Donglin disciples. I wanted to mobilize troops, but the Minister of War refused; I wanted to collect taxes, but the Vice Minister of Revenue cried poverty. This Ming Dynasty doesn't belong to the Zhu family at all; it's a spoils-sharing ground for these scholars!"

In the studio, Zhu Dijun made his final deduction.

"Everything is ready except for the east wind. That wind is the establishment of an heir."

He wrote the words "forced abdication" on the whiteboard.

"Xu Jie became anxious at this point and repeatedly joined other officials in submitting memorials, requesting the Jiajing Emperor to issue an edict formally establishing Prince Yu as the Crown Prince. Only when the title was confirmed could their faction legally exercise their power."

"Then came the familiar part: sending Jiajing on his way!"

"Where is Jiajing?"

Zhu Dijun turned his head, looked at the camera, and his tone revealed a rare hint of complexity.

"He was shrewd his whole life, but now he can only swallow this bitter pill. In his early years, he believed in the evil prophecy of 'two dragons never meet,' which led to the early death of the second prince. Later, he allowed Prince Jing and Prince Yu to fight each other, and Prince Jing died under mysterious circumstances. Now, the only remaining bloodline of the Zhu family is Prince Yu."

"Jiajing knew perfectly well what these civil officials wanted. But he had no way out."

Zhu Dijun slowly walked down from the podium.

"He stubbornly refused to issue the imperial edict establishing the crown prince, which was his last act of defiance as an autocratic emperor. But he acquiesced and compromised. He unprecedentedly allowed Prince Yu to participate in inquiries regarding border defense and finances."

"What does this compromise signify?"

Zhu Dijun stopped in his tracks, and the lights in the entire studio instantly focused on him.

"This marks the end of Jiajing Emperor's forty-five years of cultivating immortality, when he finally handed over the key to power to the civil service. The smoke-filled alchemy furnace in the Western Garden has finally reached the point of extinguishing its flames."

He reached out and pressed the power button on the control panel. The image on the holographic screen froze on the Forbidden City under the setting sun, the afterglow like blood.

"On the 14th day of the 12th month of the 45th year of the Jiajing reign, the Jiajing Emperor, who was extremely controlling, treated the officials of the Ming Dynasty as tools, and turned the national treasury into his private stash, breathed his last on his sickbed."

Zhu Dijun's voice was extremely calm, yet it possessed a powerful and penetrating quality.

"The old era has ended. But the mess left by the Ming Dynasty—the hidden farmland, the drained national treasury, the distorted rules of officialdom—all fell on the head of that short-lived, thirty-six-year-old emperor who lived in constant fear. In the next episode, we'll see if the Longqing New Dynasty is a restoration of order or just the ultimate feast for the Jiangnan tycoons!"

The live stream abruptly ended, leaving a screen full of ellipses that seemed to hold unfinished thoughts, and endless speculation from netizens about that short-lived new dynasty.