Ming Dynasty: Gain one supernatural power every day

After seeing Yao Guangxiao off, Zhu Gaoxi closed the door to his study and began to count the batches of gourds that had been delivered that day.

The batch of gourds that the ministers brought in the afternoon had just been refined. Most of them were space gourds, the kind with a volume of over 100 cubic meters. They now had several in their hands, the largest of which had a volume of over 200 cubic meters.

The falcons and golden eagles were also identified using the Beast Taming Technique, but unfortunately they were all ordinary birds of prey with no divine beast bloodline. They were just like raising a few more flying pets.

As he accumulated more and more gourds, he felt like he had become a wholesaler. He had hundreds of items of various sizes in his hands. He had just sent out a batch of gourds to his subordinates that afternoon to carry wild beasts, and the rest were piled up in the jade gourds and could hardly fit any more.

Forget it, let's save it for when we go to war and distribute it according to military merits. After all, we're so rich, this is just a drop in the bucket.

Inside the palace, the meeting between Zhu Di, the Crown Prince, the Prince of Han, the Prince of Zhao, and several key military generals finally ended.

The army will set off tomorrow; the marching route and the configuration of the vanguard and rearguard will be finalized one by one.

Even though Zhu Di was full of energy, he was somewhat tired. The crowd bowed and took their leave, filing out of the palace gate in single file.

As soon as he stepped out of the palace gate, Zhu Gaoxu couldn't hold back any longer. He walked out with the wind, muttering, "Hurry home to see my fierce tiger king! I haven't fed him for so long, I wonder if he's hungry."

Zhu Gaochi followed behind and heard the Prince of Han muttering about the tiger again: "Second brother, you've never cared about your sister-in-law this much, have you?"

Zhu Gaosui then added insult to injury: "Second brother, I really feel sorry for sister-in-law. She has managed the entire palace for so many years, and you treat her less well than you treat this tiger."

Zhu Gaoxu paused, turned around, and glared at his two brothers: "What do you know? Don't try to sow discord! My wife and I have a great relationship! This tiger is the King of Tigers, how can you compare it? It's going to the battlefield with me tomorrow!"

Zhu Gaochi gave an "oh" sound, his tone lingering with a meaningful undertone: "So what my second brother means is that since your wife doesn't need to go to the battlefield, you don't need to worry about her."

Zhu Gaoxu, too lazy to argue, flicked his sleeves and strode forward: "I'm not talking to you anymore! I'm going back to see my Tiger King, don't let my darling go hungry!"

Reaching an open area outside the palace gate, he summoned his somersault cloud, leaped onto it, and flew towards the Prince of Han's residence in a flash. Zhu Gaosui also took off with him. Zhu Gaochi was close to the Eastern Palace, just a few steps away, so he didn't bother to ride the cloud.

Inside the Prince of Han's residence, Zhu Gaochi had just descended from the clouds and hadn't even had time to stand properly when Zhu Zhanhe and Zhu Zhanqi rushed out of the main hall, grabbing his legs on either side and shouting, "Father! The big tiger! We want to see the big tiger!"

Lady Wei also came out and stood under the eaves, holding a round fan in her hand, with a half-smile on her face.

Zhu Gaoxu was so bothered by his two sons that he had no choice but to summon the white tiger out of the house. He held down the tiger's head with one hand and stopped the two children with the other, letting them play with the tiger for a while.

He stood guard by his side, never leaving his side. Although the tiger had recognized its master, it was still a ferocious beast weighing seven or eight hundred pounds, with tremendous strength. With a simple flick of its head, it could knock a child several steps away. How could he dare to leave the children alone with the tiger?

The white tiger was quite docile, lying on the ground with its eyes half-closed, letting the two cubs rub and knead its head, occasionally flicking its tail and making a low purring sound in its throat.

Zhu Zhanhe tiptoed to reach the tiger's ear and rubbed it vigorously. The ear twitched twice, and he chuckled. Zhu Zhanqi squatted next to the tiger's paw and cautiously reached out to touch the paw, which was bigger than his head. He then quickly withdrew his hand, glanced at his father, and seeing that the tiger did not react, reached out and touched it again.

Zhu Gaoxu watched from the side, a smile unconsciously spreading across his face.

After the two children had their fill of fun, he led the white tiger back to its cage and personally fed it several large pieces of raw meat.

The white tiger lowered its head and tore at the chunks of meat. He squatted beside it, stroking the tiger's fur casually with his large hand, muttering, "You must be starving, my darling. Eat up. Tomorrow we go to war, you'd better make me proud."

The white tiger didn't even raise its head, letting out a low growl, whether it was in response or simply focused on eating its meat was unclear.

Zhu Gaoxu fed the cage two more pieces of meat, then clapped his hands, stood up, closed the cage door, checked the bolt again, and then returned to the main hall to eat.

The situation was similar in the Crown Prince's residence and the Prince of Zhao's residence.

Zhu Gaochi returned to the East Palace, where Zhu Zhanji was already waiting in the courtyard with his younger siblings. Even the youngest princess, Jiaxing, stood on tiptoe beside him and asked, "Where is the tiger that Fourth Uncle gave to Father?"

Zhu Gaochi had no choice but to summon the tiger, and the children cheered and surrounded it. He had his food brought to the porch, and he ate while watching the tiger, never daring to take his eyes off it for a moment.

Zhang Yan stood beside her. Although she knew that the tiger would not harm anyone once it recognized its master, it was still a real tiger, and a mother's instinct was to be vigilant.

Zhu Zhanji was the boldest; he reached out and touched the tiger's paws. Zhu Gaochi shouted from behind, "Don't touch the paws!" and he pulled back, because the tiger's paws were the sharpest part, and touching them could easily cause a scratch. The children played with the tiger for a while before Zhu Gaochi took it back and told them to go back to their rooms to rest.

Zhu Gaosui returned to his residence, summoned the tiger out so the children could see it for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, and then cleanly and neatly put it back in its cage.

Princess Zhending stood in the courtyard, holding her little ragdoll cat, looking at where the tiger had gone in. She pouted and said, "Father, Yao Yao hasn't had enough of petting it yet."

Zhu Gaosui bent down, picked her up, patted her head, and said, "I'll show you again when I get back tomorrow. It's dark today."

Princess Zhen Ding nodded as if she understood, then looked down at the ragdoll cat in her arms and said seriously, "Then when the tiger comes back tomorrow, let it be friends with the cat."

Zhu Gaosui smiled, a rare occurrence, but didn't tell her the consequences of a tiger and a cat becoming friends. He simply carried his daughter back to the main hall.

Back at Prince Rui's residence, the officials were also preparing to return home. Today, they each received their own lion mounts.

Zheng Cong, Xue Bin, and Zhang Ni, the three military generals, circled their respective lions several times, becoming more and more satisfied with them, wishing they could ride them back to their own yards for a couple of rides right then and there.

But the thought of the journey home, with darkness already falling, and the prospect of riding a lion back, would terrify his family. If he didn't scare them to death, his father Zheng Heng and Xue Lu would surely beat him up.

Alright, alright, the group put the lion into the gourds of several beast-controlling generals and obediently rode the clouds back to their residence.

Zhu Gaoxi leaned against the cloud-shaped bed in his study, closed his eyes, and waited for that familiar notification sound. The night watchman's drum sounded; it was three in the morning.

[Ding! It's time to check in for tomorrow. Do you wish to claim today's special ability?]

"receive."

[Ding! Sign-in successful! Congratulations, host, on obtaining a new divine power—Godhood through National Fortune.]

A translucent, pale gold panel surfaced deep within my consciousness.

Host: Zhu Gaoxi

Age: 18 (adjustable)

Number of check-in days: 13

Acquired supernatural powers: Power of Creation, Immortal Body, Sword Control, Culinary Delight, Divine Craftsmanship, Rat Talisman Power, Light of Time, Myriad Heavenly Book, Somersault Cloud, Gourd Heaven, Monkey Talisman Power, Beast Taming, and Divine Ascension to the Throne of the Nation.

National destiny becomes a god

[Divine Power Effect: The host is bound to their country; the stronger the country, the stronger the host. Controlling 50% of the global territory allows the creation of a supreme divine kingdom and unlocks the Investiture of the Gods.]

Below the panel, there was also a progress chart. Zhu Gaoxi clicked on it and the data was clear at a glance.

[National Destiny Ascension to Godhood - Progress Panel]

Bound country: Ming Dynasty

Current territory under its control: approximately 7%

Investiture of the Gods: Not yet unlocked (will automatically unlock when you control 50% of the territory)

Earth God: Automatically unlocks when the ruled area reaches 50%.

Celestial: Automatically unlocks when 80% of the territory is under control.

Zhu Gaoxi stared at the "approximately 7%" for a long time before silently putting the panel away.

During the Yongle era, the Ming Dynasty's territory was indeed only this large. In name, there were more than a dozen vassal states that paid tribute, including Korea, Annam, Champa, and Ryukyu.

However, although these vassal states were nominally subjugated, the actual ruling power was not in the hands of the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty had no say in matters such as taxation, garrisoning troops, and appointing and dismissing officials.

When calculating the effective area under its control, the system simply excluded them all, so the territory actually controlled by the Ming Dynasty accounted for only about 7% of the global land area.

He then carefully reviewed the system description regarding the definitions of Earth Gods and Heaven Gods.

Earth gods are similar to the local deities in Journey to the West, such as the Earth God, Mountain God, and City God, who govern the land and protect the people of their region.

The gods are even higher; they are the ones who govern the laws of heaven and earth, such as wind, rain, thunder, lightning, the sun, moon, stars, and the changing of the four seasons.

To put it simply, the Earth Gods are like low-level civil servants, while the Heavenly Gods are like central government ministries. But the system also clearly states that both the Heavenly Court and the Underworld must be built by themselves.

The Investiture of the Gods only gives you the qualification to be a god. As for the Heavenly Palace of Lingxiao and the Underworld Palace of Yama, you have to build them yourself brick by brick.

Zhu Gaoxi felt a headache coming on when he thought about this.

This is much more troublesome than conquering the country. At least in war, there's Zhu Di leading hundreds of thousands of troops into battle, veteran generals like Zhang Fu and Zheng Heng arranging the troops, and my second brother riding a white tiger roaring in front of me.

He only needs to unleash a few supernatural powers, transform into a few ferocious beasts, and scatter some provisions from time to time; the rest will naturally be taken care of by others. But what about the Heavenly Court and the Underworld? Who can build these things for him?

You can't expect those Confucian scholars to design the upturned eaves of the Lingxiao Palace, or have those eunuchs figure out the torture instruments for the eighteen levels of hell. If you let them do it, they'll probably only be able to come up with something like an egg waffle party at best.

In the end, he would have to do it himself. He would have to draw up blueprints, set rules, and select people. Just thinking about it gave him a headache. He turned over, buried his face in the cloud pillow, and sighed sullenly.

Forget it, there's always a way out. Let's take Annam first. With only 7% of the world's territory under our control, we can't even touch the threshold of the Earth God. Worrying about the Heavenly Court and the Underworld now is just needless anxiety.

Annam is the appetizer, Luzon is the practice; let's conquer the rest of Asia first. A 7% empire is still a long way from becoming a god on the Investiture of the Gods, but he has plenty of time.

Tomorrow the army will set off, and the conquest of the world will begin in Annam.