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

As Zhu Dijun's voice faded, the image on the sky changed.

The bright sunshine of Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum is gone, replaced by a dim, oppressive hue.

The camera pans across cracked earth, dried-up riverbeds, and withered crops.

A group of ragged, emaciated people trudged through the wilderness like walking corpses.

Their eyes were empty and numb, devoid of any vitality.

Occasionally, the cries of children could be heard, but they were so weak, as if they might stop at any moment.

"Family members, this is the land of China in the mid-14th century."

Zhu Dijun's voice became incredibly heavy.

"This is the final year of the Great Yuan Dynasty."

Before recounting the experiences of Emperor Taizu, we must first understand what kind of era he was born in.

The scene shifts, revealing a line of shocking text.

Under the rule of the Yuan Dynasty, people were divided into four classes.

First Class: Mongolians.

Second class: Semu people (mainly Khazars and Central Asians)

Third class: Han Chinese. (Han Chinese, Khitans, Jurchens, etc. from the north under the former Jin dynasty)

Fourth Class: Southerners (Han Chinese from the south under the rule of the Southern Song Dynasty)

"Did you see that?"

"This was the policy of the Yuan Dynasty! Blatant racial discrimination and oppression!"

"And our founding emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, along with the vast majority of the Chinese people at that time, belonged to the lowest class—the Southerners!"

Upon hearing this, all the Han emperors of all time and space were enraged!

The Great Tang Dynasty, Taiji Hall.

Li Shimin was so angry that he trembled all over and slammed his fist on the dragon table!

"You bastard! You worthless scoundrel!"

"To classify us, the people of China, as fourth-class inferiors? How dare these barbarians bully us like this! How dare they humiliate us like this!"

This emperor, who was revered as the "Heavenly Khan" and treated all ethnic groups equally, could not accept such a barbaric and vicious system!

The Great Han Dynasty, Weiyang Palace.

Liu Che drew his sword, pointed it at the sky, and roared, "I regret it! I regret not wiping out the Xiongnu back then! These barbarian scum have the opportunity to rule the Central Plains and wreak havoc on the people a thousand years later!"

Wei Qing and Huo Qubing behind him also had murderous intent on their faces, wishing they could immediately put on their armor, mount their horses, and trample the Helan Mountains!

The Great Song Dynasty, Lin'an.

Zhao Gou, who had just been reciting poems and painting with his ministers, was so startled by this scene that his hand trembled and his paintbrush fell to the ground.

He and Qin Hui and others around him were ashen-faced.

They could not imagine the miserable state they, these high-ranking scholar-officials, would be in if the Southern Song Dynasty were to be completely destroyed!

Meanwhile, in the sky above, Zhu Dijun's revelations continue.

"People are divided into four classes, and naturally, the laws are different too!"

"When Mongols kill Han Chinese, they only need to pay compensation equivalent to the price of a donkey!"

"If a Han Chinese attacked a Mongol, their hands and feet would be cut off! If they killed a Mongol, their entire family would be executed!"

"How absurd! How unjust!"

"Human life was as cheap as grass in that era!"

The scene shifted again, revealing an even more horrifying sight.

A Semu (Central Asian) tax official dressed in Yuan Dynasty official robes, accompanied by a group of servants from local landlords and powerful families, barged into a farmer's house.

They stole the last bit of food from the house and took away the only ox they had for plowing.

The male homeowner resisted even slightly, but was then brutally beaten and left lying in a pool of blood.

The woman and child could only hold him and cry out in despair.

The tax official simply watched indifferently, a hint of amusement even playing on his lips.

"This is the infamous 'tax farming system' I mentioned before!"

Judy Jun's voice was as cold as ice.

"The imperial court has sold the power to levy taxes in bulk to these non-Han merchants, landlords, and powerful figures. In order to recoup their costs and earn excessive profits, they will use every means to exploit the people!"

"Besides the regular taxes, there are surtaxes. Besides surtaxes, there are 'regularities,' 'fees,' 'surcharges'..."

"The exorbitant taxes and levies are as numerous as hairs on a cow! Ninety percent of the grain that the people work so hard to grow all year round is stolen by them!"

"What if I can't afford to pay my taxes?"

Judy Jun let out a cold laugh.

"Sell your children, sell your land, sell your house! Until you have nothing left!"

"And when the people are driven to desperation and want to file a complaint with the government, they will find that the county magistrate has long been in cahoots with those tax farmers!"

"Officials protect each other and collude in the same way!"

"The people had nowhere to turn for help and could only watch helplessly as they were driven to desperation!"

At this point, Zhu Dijun paused, his voice trembling with barely suppressed grief and indignation.

"Besides these, there are also natural disasters!"

"At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the Yellow River breached its banks year after year, and plagues raged! Instead of providing disaster relief, the imperial court intensified its tax collection and forced labor!"

"Tens of millions of people died from hunger, disease, and oppression!"

On the sky, the lines of poetry by Tang Wenru, a poet from the late Yuan Dynasty, appeared.

"A bugle call echoes at the city gate, a sign of a bountiful year. But petty officials are greedy, and high-ranking officials are infatuated."

"A noisy thief swarms like hemp, yet not one leaves but ten thousand come."

"Skinning the people, sucking their marrow, when will the people's hearts be satisfied!"

boom!

These few lines of poetry were like a heavy hammer, striking hard into everyone's heart!

They strip the people bare and suck their marrow dry!

This is no longer rule, this is cannibalism!

The Ming Dynasty, Hongwu Hall.

As Zhu Yuanzhang watched the familiar yet tragic scenes unfolding in the sky, he clenched his fists so tightly that his fingernails dug deep into his palms, and blood dripped from between his fingers, but he was completely unaware of it.

His body was trembling slightly.

It wasn't out of fear, but because of the hatred that had been suppressed for decades and had long since seeped into the bones!

He thought of his parents who had starved to death.

He thought of his brother, who had to sell himself into slavery to bury their parents.

I thought of all the villagers who died on their way to escape famine.

"ah--"

A suppressed, beast-like growl escaped from deep within his throat.

The temperature in the entire hall seemed to plummet to freezing point in that instant!

All the ministers, eunuchs, and palace maids were so frightened that they knelt on the ground, trembling and not daring to raise their heads!

They had never seen this iron-fisted emperor, who never showed his emotions, reveal such a... pained and ferocious expression!

Crown Prince Zhu Biao rushed forward and supported the swaying Zhu Yuanzhang, his voice choked with emotion: "Father..."

Zhu Yuanzhang shoved him aside, his bloodshot eyes fixed on the sky, and said, word by word:

"look!"

"Look carefully, everyone!"

"This is the world before our Great Ming Dynasty!"

"This is why...we rebelled!"

His voice was no longer that of an emperor, but a blood-soaked accusation from a survivor!

Above the sky, Zhu Dijun's voice also carried a heavy nasal tone.

"Family members, do you understand now?"

"That wasn't an era; it was a dark, hopeless hell, a place devoid of any light!"

"In such a hell, people cannot live as human beings."

"You can only be a cow, a horse, a pig, or a dog!"

"And our founding emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang, his life began from the very bottom of this hell."

"Because his name is Zhu Chongba."

"A commoner who doesn't even have a proper name..."