3: Chapter 3: The Fall of the Ming Dynasty Predicted by the Tui Bei Tu

Jiang Zhe looked surprised. "How did you know?"

"This... I guessed." Xiaoyu's eyes flickered evasively. While Jiang Zhe turned to drink water, she stole a glance at the phone's live stream; it was what the viewers were saying.

She saw that the number of people in the live stream had reached a staggering 5,000!

Heavens, the story her brother was telling was so exciting!

Based on this scene, Xiaoyu decided that instead of dancing herself to earn a measly few cents to support the family, it was better to let her brother take the lead!

In just a short while, he had already prompted the viewers to donate over four hundred yuan!

"Impressive!" Jiang Zhe smiled and gave a thumbs-up in praise. "That's right. From the early Tang Dynasty to 2,000 years into the future—which is only 1,400 years from now in 2025—it's no exaggeration to say that Li Chunfeng calculated the 600 years that follow us as well."

"And..."

Suddenly, Jiang Zhe's expression turned cold. "Every single bit was correct!!!"

As soon as he said this, "Hiss—" Xiaoyu felt a sudden cold wind blow past, causing her to break out in goosebumps.

At the same time, thousands of netizens in the live stream sat with their mouths agape, feeling a slight chill down their spines.

"Holy crap, this is getting more and more interesting!"

"All correct? In what way are they all correct?"

"I don't believe they're all correct. Isn't it just an ordinary book of prophecies?"

"..."

Xiaoyu asked understandingly, "Brother, can you give an example? I love hearing them!"

She felt that if Jiang Zhe continued to talk about the tui bei tu and shared his unique insights, the live stream would definitely blow up!

For Jiang Zhe, who doted on his sister, it was a good thing that she liked to learn. It was also time to let her know the profound depth of ancient culture!

"Of course, no problem. Let me find a pen and paper!"

He stood up, scanned the small room, and glanced at the bookshelf to see if there were any books on the tui bei tu.

"The Overbearing CEO Falls in Love with the One-Kilogram Me," "Prince Highness, This Humble Priest is Straight," "The Thousand-Year-Old Fat Count and the Twenty-Year-Old Baseball Player Under the Moonlight"...

"!!!"

With just a fleeting glance, Jiang Zhe saw several startling book titles.

He didn't want to lecture her, so he simply took a pen and paper from the drawer under the computer desk.

Returning to his seat, he began writing and drawing on the spot.

He wasn't just doodling; he was recreating the diagrams and text from the tui bei tu hexagrams from memory.

"Alright, the tui bei tu diagram is done!"

Xiaoyu leaned in to look. Seeing the drawing that had quickly taken shape in her brother's hand, she was a bit surprised. "Brother, when did you become so professional?"

Jiang Zhe held up the paper. On it was a sketch of a wooden house with a horse inside the doorway.

Seeing Xiaoyu's curious expression, he explained:

"As you can see, this is the 32nd Image of the tui bei tu: it foretells the end of the Great Ming Dynasty!"

"What does 'Chen' mean?" Xiaoyu pointed to the character for 'Prophecy' on the paper. "And this one, what does 'Song' mean?"

"'Chen' means prophecy. 'Song' means commentary or ode."

"Ohhh~~"

Jiang Zhe's professional knowledge of the tui bei tu forced the viewers, who had originally underestimated him, to take him seriously.

The fact that her brother could be so serious and possess such strong practical skills without even knowing he was being watched could only mean...

Xiaoyu's brother was very responsible and very capable!

This professional display made the live stream viewers treat the situation with increasing gravity.

"First, look at this image."

Jiang Zhe explained, pointing at the paper:

"The picture shows a horse standing under the eaves of a rural wooden house."

"There is a horse inside a gate. What do you think that means?"

He smiled slightly and deliberately paused, leaving room for his sister to discover and imagine for herself.

Hearing this, Jiang Xiaoyu blinked, her mind racing. She scribbled on the carpet with her slender finger and suddenly had an epiphany: "A horse (Ma) inside a gate (Men)... that's the character for 'Chuang' (to break in/charge)!"

"Exactly!" Jiang Zhe nodded with approval. "When you see the word 'Chuang,' who do you think of?"

No matter how slow Xiaoyu might be, with Jiang Zhe's hint, she couldn't help but feel a chill. "Hiss~~ It couldn't be the Chuang King, Li Zicheng, could it?"

Not just Xiaoyu, but even the live stream viewers realized the seriousness of the matter.

"Impossible! That's impossible!"

"This hexagram from the early Tang couldn't possibly have calculated Li Zicheng from the late Ming!"

"Holy cow, I'm getting goosebumps!"

Some viewers who were looking up information while listening were stunned by Jiang Zhe's explanation.

How could someone from the early Tang Dynasty deduce the existence of the Chuang King at the end of the Ming?

This is totally un-beaver-lievable!

"That's right, it is exactly the Chuang King, Li Zicheng."

Jiang Zhe watched as Xiaoyu kept swallowing; he could understand her shock and bewilderment.

"Brother, you're not lying to me?" Xiaoyu felt her skin crawl, and the surroundings suddenly felt a bit cold.

How could someone from the early Tang possibly predict the late Ming?

Jiang Zhe said solemnly, "100% true!"

Having received Jiang Zhe's confirmation, Xiaoyu's pupils shrank. She felt colder and colder until she finally shivered.

Seeing his sister like this, Jiang Zhe casually threw a pink blanket over her.

"Let's continue looking at the prophecy for the 32nd hexagram—"

"[The horse leaps into the Northern Palace, the dog howls in the West.]"

"[The count of eight and nine is exhausted, the sun and moon lose their light.]"

"The horse leaps into the Northern Palace,"

Jiang Zhe explained in detail, sentence by sentence. "The Northern Palace refers to the imperial court or the palace."

"Xiaoyu, how do you interpret this?"

He threw the question to Xiaoyu.

Wrapped in her blanket, Xiaoyu's eyes darted around.

"A horse leaped over the capital's palace and then stepped on seventeen dogs in the west. After the dogs barked, it started to rain."

Jiang Zhe's face darkened upon hearing this.

"What kind of horse do you have that can leap thousands of meters? And then step on a dog behind the palace? Do you think it's the White Dragon Horse heading west?"

"Pfft, hahaha!"

"What a genius!"

The live stream viewers were thoroughly amused by the siblings' interaction, and a string of small gifts floated across the screen as if they cost nothing.

"Could it..." Xiaoyu looked innocent. "Could it not?"

"Of course not!"

Jiang Zhe picked up a pink inflatable hammer from the floor and bopped Xiaoyu with it. He felt like this sister was a lost cause; her mind was already corrupted!

"Ow! Then how do you explain it!"

"It can be explained like this: Li Zicheng raised his troops in Shaanxi. His momentum was like a howling dog, shaking the world."

"So that's it..." Xiaoyu's eyes instantly lit up. "I see!"

"The most critical part is this line—The count of eight and nine is exhausted."

Jiang Zhe's expression was serious, and his tone grew heavier.

"The count of eight and nine is exhausted. How do you understand that?"

"Sixteen barks?" Xiaoyu muttered sheepishly.

Jiang Zhe's face grew even darker. "Are you obsessed with dog barks or something?"

"Sor-sorry..." Xiaoyu only did it for the show's effect, but if she did it a few more times, her brother might actually get angry.

"This means—"

"The Great Ming Dynasty was founded by Ming Taizu, Zhu Chongba."

"The capital was initially in Nanjing, and moved to Beijing during the reign of Ming Chengzu."

"It spanned sixteen emperors, totaling 276 years."

"That's not right!" Xiaoyu raised her hand to question him. "There were only 16 emperors, but eight plus nine is seventeen."

As soon as she said this, the viewers in the live stream also nodded repeatedly.

"Exposed!"

"Her brother can't explain it away now."

"With Xiaoyu asking this, I know for sure this isn't a script!"

"..."

Many viewers were delighted to see this.

They didn't expect the sister to actually trap her brother.

Even if the sister had just followed her brother's lead, the stream could have continued.

Now they wanted to see how Jiang Zhe would respond.

But unexpectedly, with the next sentence, everyone fell silent.

"What if we add the Chuang King, Li Zicheng?"

"After all, while Li Zicheng existed, this land was still ruled by the sons of Han, wasn't it?"

As his confident words fell, Xiaoyu and the viewers were momentarily speechless.

It seemed...

There was nothing wrong with that logic!

Many viewers felt their faces flush red.

It was indeed true!

Li Zicheng was also a son of Han, and when the capital was occupied—

The Eight Banners army had not yet entered the Central Plains. The 17 emperors calculated by Li Chunfeng definitely included Li Zicheng!!!

A long time passed.

Xiaoyu finally shook her head and woke up from her shock. "Brother, continue!"

Jiang Zhe nodded.

"Look at the phrase 'the sun and moon lose their light.' The characters for 'Sun' (Ri) and 'Moon' (Yue) combined make the character 'Ming,' which refers to the Ming Dynasty."

"Now look back at this phrase—"

"It means: Great Ming has lost its luster, the people are living in misery, it's hard to see tomorrow's sun, and ultimately, the Ming Dynasty will fall!"

Seeing Xiaoyu's extremely interested gaze, Jiang Zhe smiled. "You think this is already amazing?"

"Is there something even more amazing!"

Xiaoyu really didn't care for history originally.

But she didn't expect that coming from her brother's mouth, it would have such a mysterious charm.

It made her unable to stop listening, and the viewers felt the same way.

"Of course there is!" He recited the next four lines: "The poplar flowers fall and the plum blossoms wither; the five-colored flags divide and come from the north!"

"Sighing that the royal aura of Jinling is exhausted; a branch of spring color occupies Chang'an."

"The poplar flowers fall and the plum blossoms wither," he began to analyze in detail.

"'Poplar flowers' refers to Yang Sichang, who was responsible for fighting Li Zicheng and committed suicide. 'Plum blossoms' refers to the Liaodong commanders with the surname Li, such as Li Ruzhen and Li Fuming, who were executed by Chongzhen."

"The 'Plum blossoms' can also be interpreted this way: Li Zicheng was also beaten until he was broken and incomplete."

"Because of Chongzhen's stubbornness, he destroyed the pillars of the state himself, directly causing the Great Ming to teeter in the wind and rain."

"The second half of the line: 'the five-colored flags divide and come from the north.' The 'five-colored flags' is not a specific reference, but represents the chaotic and disorganized flags of a rebel army."

"And what is this?"

He once again threw the question to Xiaoyu.

No matter how slow Xiaoyu was, she couldn't help but know the answer:

"It refers to Li Zicheng's peasant army. This group of peasants—they came from Shaanxi in the west."

"Correct!"

Jiang Zhe nodded with satisfaction and continued:

"Look at the first line of the second stanza: 'Sighing that the royal aura of Jinling is exhausted.'"

"Great Ming was established in Nanjing. This line laments that the imperial luck of Nanjing has reached its end and is gone."

"Although the Southern Ming lingered on at the end, the sons of Han ultimately did not see a revival!"

Speaking of this, the live stream viewers felt a wave of sentiment.

If the Great Ming hadn't fallen, would there even be the dynasties that followed?

For the history buffs in the live stream...

The late Ming was already beyond saving and indeed deserved to perish—

Exorbitant taxes, continuous natural disasters, people eating their own children... but it should never have fallen into the hands of fools!

"The second line of the second stanza: 'a branch of spring color occupies Chang'an'—"

"The one who occupied the spring color alone was precisely the one who captured the capital and established the Dashun regime—the Chuang King, Li Zicheng!"

"The ode is precisely the thorough interpretation of the prophecy!"

"Combined, it's one sentence—Li Zicheng defeated the Great Ming."

When Jiang Zhe combined the diagram, the prophecy, and the ode...

It pointed directly to the turbulent history of the late Ming.

The shock this brought was quite staggering!

Because many people were watching Jiang Zhe's story for fun, they didn't expect him to explain it so logically!

And there wasn't a single point that could be refuted.

How did someone from the early Tang Dynasty predict the late Ming?

And how did they foresee the specific forces of the late Ming?

There were several hundred years in between. Were Li Chunfeng and Yuan Tiangang really that powerful?

At this moment, Jiang Xiaoyu subconsciously covered her mouth, her mind blank.

She knew her brother wouldn't lie to her, so it could only be that... what he said was true!

Inside the live stream, bullet comments were flying everywhere, and the number of viewers surged to eight thousand!

"Fake, it must be fake, I don't dare believe it!"

"Sorry, it's freaking real, because I have a copy of the tui bei tu in my hand, and I flipped right to the 32nd Image!!"

"Isn't this a bit too damn accurate?"

"The character 'Chuang' converted into a farmhouse and a horse, the sixteen emperors of the Ming plus the Chuang King, the sun and moon making 'Ming'... Heavens, it all shockingly matches up!"

"Was it really written by Yuan Tiangang and Li Chunfeng in the early Tang? How did they know?"

"Is divination really this magical?"

"Streamer, no, streamer's brother, please accept my humble respect!"

"Quick, after Great Ming is Great Qing. I want to know if they predicted Great Qing!!!"

In the video.

Xiaoyu's eyes were sparkling with stars; her gaze toward Jiang Zhe was filled with nothing but worship!

"How did Li Zicheng—no, Li Chunfeng—calculate it? Why couldn't he just explain it in one sentence?"

"For example: At the end of the Ming, Li Zicheng captured Beijing."

"Why make it so complicated with pictures and hard-to-understand words?"

Not just Xiaoyu, but even the viewers nodded in curiosity.

"Xiaoyu is basically my spokesperson!"

"Exactly, why the mystery? Using pictures and cryptic lines is just pointless!"

"Yeah, yeah!"

"If you're divining, wouldn't it be better to write it in plain language?"

Regarding the viewers' curiosity.

Jiang Zhe blinked gently, responding indirectly.

"Regarding this question, you'll naturally know when I talk about the akashic records later."

"Ohhh~~"

Although she didn't know what the akashic records were.

Listening to her brother couldn't be wrong; it must be very interesting!

Xiaoyu's eyes darted around as she asked again, "Then was the subsequent Great Qing also predicted by Li Chunfeng and Yuan Tiangang?"

"Of course..." Jiang Zhe suddenly grinned. "They predicted it!"