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

The sky above did not pause despite the bloody coup in the Ming Dynasty. The images flowed like ripples on water, and the white light of the studio once again illuminated the vision of the ancients.

Inside the modern live-streaming studio, Zhu Dijun holds a laser pointer and turns to face a brand-new electronic data board.

"Hey everyone."

Zhu Dijun's voice is crisp and clear, without any hesitation or ambiguity.

"Previously, we exposed Xu Jie, this old schemer, and also revealed Xu Guangqi's comprador background. Some netizens privately messaged me asking, what were those European missionaries up to when they traveled across the ocean? Wasn't it simply to spread the Gospel of God and, incidentally, to engage in some cultural exchange?"

He chuckled and brought up the cover of a yellowed foreign book on the screen, its title spelled out in ancient cursive letters.

"If this kind of rhetoric were presented a few hundred years ago, it would have made those Jesuit colonial gurus laugh themselves to death. Look here, folks. 1585. The thirteenth year of the Wanli reign of the Ming Dynasty. At this time, Nurhaci was still playing in the mud in the mountains of Liaodong, and our Ming Dynasty was still the absolute hegemon of East Asia. Meanwhile, in faraway Rome, a book was quietly published, called 'History of the Great Chinese Empire.' The author was the Spaniard Mendoza, and the people behind the scenes who funded and polished it were a few Jewish capitalists."

Zhu Dijun opened the photocopied book and projected a translation onto the public screen.

"Let's see what kind of amazing existence the Ming Dynasty was in the eyes of Westerners at that time. Mendoza did not hold back his praise in his book. His original words were: 'The Chinese emperor used his own money to set up academies and schools in every city, where people learned to write, read and arithmetic, and even to study natural or moral philosophy, national laws... For this reason, everyone learned to read and write, even the poorest people.'"

He tapped his knuckles on the table, making a clicking sound.

"This is not me bragging. This is historical record from the West themselves! In an era when Europe was still largely illiterate and commoners were not even allowed to read the Bible without permission, the Ming Dynasty's basic education coverage rate seemed like cutting-edge technology to them. Mendoza even emphasized in his book with horror that, given China's vast territory and extremely advanced weaponry at the time, if the Chinese emperor had wanted to, conquering the entire world would have been an easy task!"

The studio screen switched, with a series of reconstruction images of Ming Dynasty shipyards and firearms camps flashing continuously.

"A common man is innocent, but possessing a treasure is a crime."

An extreme coldness flashed in Zhu Dijun's eyes.

"The Ming Dynasty was too fat, overflowing with wealth, yet it closed itself off and lived its own life. How could those Western bandits, who had just embarked on the Age of Exploration and whose pirate genes were ingrained in their bones, not drool over this piece of meat? The History of the Great Chinese Empire reveals an extremely fatal detail at the end. Missionaries, merchants, and colonial officers and soldiers all over Europe were trying every means, regardless of cost, to buy all kinds of books and technical drawings from China! They knew that there was a vast treasure trove in the East filled with technology and wealth, and because the Ming Dynasty's scholars and officials did not pay attention to it, the cost of acquiring it was extremely low."

"We have a motive, we have a goal. But the Ming Dynasty is not the Americas, not the Native Americans they can slaughter at will with a few hundred musketeers (Note 1). Forced robbery won't work, so what do we do?"

Judy Jun placed his hands on the edge of the control panel and leaned forward.

"Infiltration! Find the mole! Locate the cracks in the Ming Dynasty's defenses from within. This task can't be entrusted to red-haired, blue-eyed foreigners. Thus, a cultural traitor, arguably the most notorious in the Ming Dynasty, was brought into the scene."

He slammed the laser pointer in his hand, and the name popped up in the center of the screen: [Qu Taisu].

"Our Mr. Qu Taisu comes from an exceptionally noble family. His father was Qu Jingchun, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites who was recently dismissed by the Jiajing Emperor. It was a family of the highest-ranking scholar-officials."

Zhu Dijun's tone was harsh.

"Logically speaking, someone from a prestigious family should be able to live a peaceful life as a wealthy man, right? But this young master Qu is different. Not long after his father died, he did something so disgraceful that he disgraced the family—he committed adultery with his elder sister-in-law, Xu! This matter caused a huge uproar, and his elder brother, Qu Ruji, in a fit of rage, directly used family law to expel this immoral beast from the family and erase his name from the family genealogy."

What did Qu Taisu do after being kicked out of his home? He wandered around with his wife and children, becoming obsessed with alchemy. He squandered the last bit of money he had brought with him on his journey through all sorts of tricks, like turning stones into gold. In the seventeenth year of the Wanli reign, this old man ended up in Guangdong, penniless. The gears of fate completed their meshing in this most sordid quagmire. In Guangdong, he met a man. A Jesuit missionary, Matteo Ricci.

Zhu Dijun drew a line on the whiteboard where interests converged.

"Initially, Qu Taisu approached Matteo Ricci purely to profit from Western alchemy. But upon contact, he discovered that the red-haired devil's mathematical and astronomical knowledge was far more reliable than his alchemical furnace. Qu Taisu was quick-witted; in no time, he not only mastered the basics but could also create his own astrolabe. Ricci was astonished. A head of intelligence desperately needing a local guide, and a degenerate scoundrel abandoned by mainstream society, craving power and money—they were like dry tinder, a perfect match!"

Zhu Dijun clapped his hands, and the rhythm suddenly quickened.

"His association with Matteo Ricci was only the first step in Qu Taisu's betrayal of his country. The real nuclear-level damage he caused lay in his fundamental transformation of the Jesuit missionary strategy."

Two portraits appeared on the holographic screen. On the left was an early missionary dressed in a gray robe, with a shaved head, and dressed like a monk; on the right was a "great Confucian scholar of Western learning" dressed in a scholar's robe and with an elegant demeanor.

"When Westerners first came to China, they knew nothing and thought Buddhism was popular, so they all shaved their heads. As a result, they ran into obstacles everywhere and couldn't even get past the local officials. Qu Taisu pointed out the problem incisively."

Zhu Dijun imitated the tone of the ancients:

“Brother Xitai, your approach won’t work. The Ming Dynasty’s scholar-officials valued Confucianism and looked down on Buddhism. If you dress up as a monk, they’ll consider you a lowlife. How can you expect them to accept your God if you don’t first become one of them?”

"A single word awakened him from his dream. In 1583, under the planning of Qu Taisu, Matteo Ricci took off his monk's robes and put on Confucian robes. He grew his hair long and his beard was styled. From a marginal 'Indian monk,' he transformed into the eloquent 'Master Xitai.' This was the most successful cultural disguise in the history of human espionage! The code to the fusion of civilizations was handed over to the colonizers by this utterly unscrupulous scion of a noble family as a pledge of allegiance."

The large screen froze on Matteo Ricci's incongruous Confucian scholar attire.

"Even with the painted mask on, one still needs a stepping stone. Qu Taisu used his remaining family connections to introduce Matteo Ricci to Zhang Huang, a renowned scholar of Neo-Confucianism in Nanchang at the time, who was also the head of the Bailudong Academy and one of the Four Gentlemen of Jiangxi. This set off an absurd drama in which the literati and officials of the Ming Dynasty collectively suffered from severe calcium deficiency and recognized a thief as their father."

----split line----

Note 1:

Australia has been confirmed to have been under Ming Dynasty control during the Xuande era. Unfortunately, it was lost due to a global backlash from barbarians. This account uses European sources and has been modified, but it is still far more reliable than some current Ming and Qing histories. Furthermore, Europe was also part of China, but sadly it has become the territory of barbarians.