Ming Dynasty: Gain one supernatural power every day

"Miaoyun, what are you laughing at?" Zhu Di's eyesight was so sharp that he immediately noticed Empress Xu covering her mouth on the other side of the screen.

Zhu Gaoxu immediately came over, his stubble-covered, square face magnified several times on the screen, his voice so loud the entire marching column could almost hear: "Mother, what are you laughing at?"

Empress Xu managed to suppress her smile, put down her handkerchief, and regained her dignified demeanor: "It's nothing, it's just that the second prince looks quite dashing in his armor. Sitting on the tiger in this military uniform, he does resemble your father back in the day."

When Zhu Gaoxu heard Empress Xu praise him, his mouth almost stretched to his ears. He immediately puffed out his chest and continued to talk at length: "Mother has such good taste! I knew it. I specially chose this armor. It matches the color of the Tiger King's fur perfectly..."

Zhu Gaoxi watched this scene quietly from the side, a slight smile playing on his lips.

As soon as he saw Empress Xu smile and heard her praise his second brother, he could roughly guess what his mother was laughing about.

I guess Empress Xu's sense of humor is the same as mine. Just imagine, a big, square-faced man with a full beard suddenly appears close to your screen and zooms in on you. This kind of image is sure to make anyone laugh.

As for the praise that followed, it was probably because the Empress Dowager couldn't bear to directly say that her second brother's appearance was just a joke, so she gave him a way out.

Zhu Di, unusually, didn't contradict his second son. He carefully examined Zhu Gaochi's face, nodded, and casually echoed Empress Xu's words: "Hmm, the Prince of Han does look quite dashing. His beard is a bit messy, but it's understandable given the battlefield's casual approach."

Before Zhu Gaoxu could continue to be smug, he said to the screen, "Alright, none of you have ever seen the process of this army marching, have you? I'll show you what it looks like when the army marches."

He turned the jade tablet around and scanned the surrounding generals. Zheng Heng, Xue Lu, Zhang Fu, and others were riding lions alongside him when they suddenly noticed that the emperor's jade tablet was pointed at them, and the face of Empress Xu was reflected on the screen. They quickly bowed and paid their respects from the lions' backs.

Zheng Heng, with the loudest voice, took the lead and shouted, "This humble general pays his respects to Your Majesty the Empress!" Xue Lu and Zhang Fu also greeted her in unison.

Empress Xu nodded slightly on the other side of the screen and replied, "Generals, you have worked hard."

Zhu Di then turned the jade tablet around and slowly scanned the vast army behind him. Tigers led the way, lion riders brought up the rear, and rhinoceroses and elephants carried siege equipment and followed slowly behind. Banners fluttered and swords and spears were everywhere. The entire official road was completely blocked by this unprecedented army of beasts.

On the other side of the screen, Kunning Palace fell silent for a moment.

Zhang Yan spoke first, her tone full of emotion: "This scene is just too grand..."

Unusually, Mr. Weng spoke up: "I have never seen such a sight before. Those rhinoceroses and elephants, walking on the official road, are taller than houses, and from a distance they look like moving mountains."

When the jade tablet reached Zhu Gaoxu, he immediately perked up, straightening his chest, pulling in his stomach, turning his face to the side, and gripping his sword, changing angles three or four times in a row, as if afraid the camera would miss any of his heroic posture.

Zhu Gaoxi was speechless at his second brother's behavior. How could his second brother be so dramatic? In his previous life, he could have been an internet celebrity.

Watching this unfold, Mrs. Wei was anxious, thinking about how her second son was making a fool of himself again. She quickly shouted at the screen, "Second son, ride carefully! It would be embarrassing to fall off the tiger's back!"

"I won't fall! My Tiger King is very stable!" Zhu Gaoxu replied, his body becoming much more docile, no longer twisting and turning to find the right angle.

Empress Xu looked at the dark, monstrous army on the screen, her gaze finally settling on Zhu Di.

He rode on the back of a tiger, looking rather handsome and spirited, almost exactly like he did back in Beiping when he led the Yan army into battle.

Empress Xu looked at her husband on the screen, her gaze softening slightly. She said softly, "Your Majesty, please be careful out there. Annam is rife with miasma and the terrain is treacherous. Although the Fourth Prince is powerful, you must not be too careless. This is his first time on a campaign. On the battlefield, swords and spears have no eyes. Please take good care of him and forgive him if he does anything wrong."

Then she turned to Zhu Gaoxu, her tone becoming more serious, like a mother's: "Second brother, you too, don't just focus on charging forward, be careful. Also, your fourth brother is going to war with you, so as the second brother, you need to take good care of him during the march and on the battlefield. Although he is better than you in terms of supernatural abilities, he has no experience in battlefield affairs, so you, as the older brother, need to keep an eye on him."

Finally, she looked at Zhu Gaoxi, her eyes holding a thousand unspoken words, but what she uttered was only the most ordinary advice: "Xi'er, be careful out there, eat well, and rest well. If you don't understand anything, ask your second brother and your father. If you are wronged, tell your mother. Your mother is waiting for you to come back home."

Zhu Gaoxi nodded and replied with a smile, "I understand, Mother. Don't worry, Father and Second Brother treat me very well..."

Zhu Di chimed in, his tone resolute: "Don't worry, would I let the Fourth Prince suffer any injustice while I'm out here? He's the apple of our eye now. Not to mention me, even that brute Second Prince protects him like the apple of his eye."

Zhu Gaoxu thumped his chest loudly beside her: "Mother, you can rest assured! I will make sure that the Fourth Prince is completely unharmed. If anyone dares to harm him, I will be the first to object!"

"Besides, I've fought wars my whole life. What haven't I seen? I'm riding the Fierce Tiger King now, ten times more majestic than during the Jingnan Rebellion! Mother, after we've defeated Annam, I'll catch you an Annamite monkey as a pet."

Zhu Gaoxu chimed in from the side, his voice still as loud as ever: "Mother, don't worry! I've fought all my life, what haven't I seen? Besides, with Fourth Brother here, I'm riding the Fierce Tiger King now, ten times more imposing than during the Jingnan Rebellion! When we come back after defeating Annam, I'll catch you an Annamese monkey as a pet!"

When Empress Xu heard the word "monkey," she chuckled again, quickly covering her mouth with her handkerchief and waving her hands repeatedly, saying, "No need for a monkey. Kunning Palace already has a white tiger and a bunch of cats and dogs. If we raise a monkey, it'll cause chaos."

Zhu Di retrieved the jade tablet and resumed his majestic imperial demeanor.

He looked at Zhu Gaochi on the screen, his tone more serious than before: "My lord, have any major events occurred in the court while I was away for the past two days?"

Zhu Gaochi moved the jade tablet to the side so that Zhu Di could see the mountain of memorials behind him.

The expression on his face was a perfect match for his nickname, "Regent is not easy": "Your Majesty, there are no major issues, but a lot of minor ones. The Ministry of Revenue keeps complaining to me about being poor, saying that the autumn harvest hasn't been completed yet and the national treasury is almost empty."

"The Ministry of Works is pressing for funds to repair the water conservancy project. Song Li is sending three memorials a day to the Wenyuan Pavilion, saying that if the irrigation canals north of the Yangtze River are not repaired before the autumn harvest, he will personally complain to Father Emperor about me... Several vice ministers are arguing heatedly. My hands are almost broken from reviewing these memorials these days. Father Emperor, you are so impressive fighting on the front lines, but it is really not easy for me to manage the accounts in the rear."

Zhu Gaoxu, true to form, chimed in from the other end of the screen: "Of course! Big brother, all you know how to do in the accounts is be stingy! Before, when we were fighting, you always said you had no money. Now that your fourth brother has given you so much gold, you still say you have no money? Are you planning to hide the silver to repair your irrigation canal again?"

Zhu Gaochi shook his head with a wry smile: "Second brother, there's no other way! There's just too much to do lately, and the irrigation canal will benefit the people of the whole country. In the end, someone has to take care of things at home. You just focus on fighting on the front lines, and I'll clean up the mess back home for you."

Zhu Di nodded: "Chi'er is right. Fighting a war is not just about charging into battle; the supplies, money, and manpower in the rear are all indispensable."

"You should oversee the country well and stabilize the rear so that I can act freely on the front lines. If there are any issues, consult with the third prince. The two of you, one a scholar and the other a warrior, complement each other perfectly. Anyway, now that we have the immortal artifact given by the fourth prince, if there are any problems that you can't solve, just tell me, and I will make a decision for you."

Zhu Gaochi bowed and replied.

Zhu Di then turned to Zhu Gaosui, his tone now showing more concern: "Third brother, how's your shipbuilding project going?"

Zhu Gaosui stood amidst the piles of blueprints in the shipbuilding department, with several ship structure diagrams spread out on the table behind him, and a stack of timber samples half a person's height next to him.

Zhu Gaosui replied succinctly, "Your Majesty, the keel of the new ship has been revised three times according to the blueprints given by my fourth brother, and the craftsmen are still studying it. The Ministry of Works said that the timber needs to be dried for a while longer. Lord Song asked me to go to the Ministry of Revenue to ask for silver, and I already told my eldest brother this morning."

He paused for a moment after saying this: "After all, the naval expedition cannot be rushed. We have to wait for the right wind. If we set sail too early, the wind will be unfavorable, and the fleet will not be able to move quickly, which will only delay things. I will proceed steadily and surely, so as not to delay Father Emperor's affairs at the front."

Zhu Gaochi quickly added with concern, "Third brother, can you slow down the shipbuilding? The memorial you submitted this morning asked the Ministry of Revenue to allocate funds to buy timber. Xia Yuanji's face turned green when he saw the memorial. I haven't even finished approving the funds for water conservancy yet, and you've already sent another sum."

Zhu Gaosui remained unfazed: "Even so, elder brother, we can't delay shipbuilding. After we finish fighting Annam, my fourth brother's next step is to fight Japan, and then go to Luzon and Southeast Asia. All these places require sea travel, and we can't do without ships."

On the other end of the screen, upon hearing the words "Fourth Brother" and "Japan," Zhu Gaoxu immediately became agitated, as if struck by lightning: "Yes, eldest brother! After conquering Annam, we must conquer Japan! Fourth Brother's map clearly shows that Japan is overflowing with silver and gold! Don't be stingy!"

He got so excited that he almost stood up from the tiger's back. The white tiger was pinched by him and flicked its tail in displeasure.

Zhu Gaoxu didn't even bother to comfort his beloved mount. His expression turned serious, and his voice suddenly rose several decibels: "And another thing! Fourth Brother, what you mentioned last time about the things the Japanese did in later generations—the Nanjing Massacre, the Port Arthur Massacre—were those beasts even human? Big Brother, have you forgotten? The Japanese are such scoundrels!"

Zhu Gaochi's ears were ringing from his shout, but his expression was no longer helpless; instead, it turned into a rare somber look.

He paused for a moment, his voice tinged with suppressed anger: "How could I forget? The things Fourth Brother said, I feel a tightness in my chest whenever I think about them while I'm reviewing documents these days. I wish I could wipe those beasts out of this world right now."

He took a deep breath, looked at his younger brothers on the other side of the screen again, and his tone returned to that of a concerned older brother, "It's not that we don't have... sigh, never mind, alright, alright, we'll do it all, we'll do it all, after all, we're brothers."