Ming Dynasty: Gain one supernatural power every day

Zhu Gaoxi directed several eunuchs to move the mahjong tiles to the pavilion in the back garden.

The pavilion is located next to the artificial hill, open on all sides, and the fragrance of osmanthus blossoms wafts from the courtyard. Half of the stone railing is covered with green vines. A square table is placed in the center of the pavilion, with four chairs on each side.

Zhu Gaoxi opened the brocade box and dumped the mahjong tiles onto the table. With a clattering sound, one hundred and forty-four sandalwood dominoes were spread all over the table.

"Mahjong." Zhu Gaoxi sat down at the table, pushed the tiles into the center of the table and began to shuffle them. "Come, sit down, I'll teach you how to play."

The three of them took a step back in unison.

"Your Highness, this servant wouldn't dare!" Little Snot shook her head like a rattle-drum. "How could a mere servant like me dare to sit at the same table as the Prince... Besides, these tiles are so precious, if they were bumped or damaged, my life wouldn't be enough to pay for it!"

Qiu Tang also lowered her head, her voice a few decibels higher than usual: "Your Highness, this is against the rules." Yue He hid behind her and whispered in agreement.

Zhu Gaoxi shuffled the cards noisily, without even looking up: "You're not even obeying my orders? Sit down."

Upon hearing this, the three dared not refuse any longer.

Little Snot was the most clever. Seeing that the prince wasn't just being polite but genuinely wanted to teach her, she hesitated for a moment before sitting down first, with half her bottom still dangling off the chair. Qiu Tang sat down slowly, and Yue Tang was the last to sit down. Both of them sat up straight, with their hands on their knees, ready to stand up and serve at any moment.

After sitting down, Little Snot stared at the pile of cards on the table for a long time, then suddenly asked cautiously, "Your Highness, this thing... looks a bit like mahjong?"

"Mahjong?" Qiu He tilted her head. "I saw the imperial concubines playing it in the palace. It's a colorful deck of cards."

"Mahjong? It's similar, but not the same." Zhu Gaoxi arranged the cards.

Mahjong evolved from Madiao, but with more tiles—144 in total—including honor tiles like East, South, West, North, Red Dragon, Green Dragon, and White Dragon. The gameplay is also more complex, with more variations like Pong, Chow, Kong, and Winning, making it more varied and interesting than Madiao.

He began explaining the rules. He demonstrated each step: shuffling the cards, stacking them, rolling the dice, and drawing cards. Everyone listened attentively to his explanation.

Qiu Tang was the quickest to understand and was the first to comprehend it. She even helped explain it to Yue He. Yue He was completely confused. She only knew that two identical cards could be "pong" and three consecutive cards could be "chow," but she was still clueless about how to actually form a deck of cards.

Little Snot understood after listening to it once. After all, she was carefully selected from the palace to serve Prince Rui, so her comprehension was not bad.

The first game lasted for about half an hour. Zhu Gaoxi taught her as he played, and when he touched Qiu Tang's hand to help her arrange the cards, Qiu Tang's ears turned red.

Yuehe hesitated for a long time before playing each card, her fingers hovering over one card, then moving to another, picking it up and putting it down again, muttering, "This... no, no, that..."

Little Snot was urging her on anxiously. After finally printing a card, Zhu Gaoxi said, "This one is good," and she breathed a sigh of relief, her face turning red.

Little Snot was on a winning streak, quickly stacking her cards while chanting "East Wind, South Wind, West Wind, North Wind." Yuehe, on the other hand, became increasingly flustered, discarding cards that could have easily formed pairs several times. Qiutang whispered a reminder from the side, and only then did she exclaim in frustration, "Oh dear!"

Halfway through the game, Yuehe suddenly slammed two cards on the table, blushing as she whispered, "Your Highness...did I win this round?"

Zhu Gaoxi peeked out and saw thirteen tiles, none of them connected, not even a single pair. He was silent for a moment: "That's called bluffing, you're fined three rounds."

Yuehe covered her face and lay face down on the table. Xiaobiti and Qiutang also burst out laughing, their shoulders shaking uncontrollably.

After playing a few more rounds, the three gradually got the hang of it. Yuehe was already able to play a complete hand of cards independently, and although she played slowly, she no longer needed to be taught step by step.

Little Snot and Qiu Tang have mastered the game, but the rules still apply, so they started playing commercial mahjong.

Qiu Tang was almost ready to win with a good hand, but she deliberately discarded the tiles that could have won, simply because the Prince had already played those tiles, and she didn't dare to win. Little Snot was even more outrageous; every time she drew a good tile, she would secretly put it back, afraid that her hand would be better than the Prince's.

After playing for a while, he was basically winning the whole time, while the others won occasionally. He felt the game was getting boring, so he yawned, pushed his cards away, and said, "I'm done playing. You three keep playing."

After saying that, he got up, left the pavilion, walked through the corridor, and went to the study.

The study was brightly lit. The windows were wide open, and sunlight streamed in at an angle, illuminating the entire room.

Zhu Gaoxi sat down at his desk, activated the supernatural power of the Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Book, and with a thought, several books fell from the sky. He picked up a novel and began to lean back in his chair to read.

After reading a few pages, he glanced up at the bookshelf next to him. The rosewood bookshelf was quite large, but less than half of it was filled with classics, histories, philosophical works, and literary collections; the majority of the shelf was empty, making it look rather desolate.

Then he had another idea, and with flashes of golden light, a row of new books appeared on the bookshelf.

Aside from some novels to pass the time, there were a few books he specifically chose for Zhu Di. These included "Complete Treatise on Agriculture", "Exploitation of the Works of Nature", "The Barefoot Doctor's Manual", and "Illustrated Treatise on Geography and Products of Various Countries in the World".

The Complete Book of Agricultural Administration contains all the methods for farming, water conservancy, and famine relief. The Ming Dynasty was founded on agriculture, and this was its trump card.

The Exploitation of the Works of Nature (Tiangong Kaiwu) is an encyclopedia of handicrafts, including iron smelting, steelmaking, salt production, textiles, shipbuilding, and gunpowder formulation. The people in the Ministry of Works would be unable to sleep for three days after reading it.

The barefoot doctor's manual introduced how to treat common diseases, how to collect herbs, and which acupuncture points to use. It was much more practical than the prescriptions from the Imperial Hospital that contained dozens of herbs, and it was affordable for ordinary people.

The world's geographical and product atlases clearly indicate where each continent is, where sweet potatoes, corn, and potatoes grow, how far they are from the Ming Dynasty, and how long it takes to get there.

He pondered for a moment, then used his divine craftsmanship to create a globe. It had a brass base, an enamel finish, deep blue for the oceans, light green and pale yellow for the continents, and vermilion markings for the Ming Dynasty's territory. Sweet potatoes were located in Luzon, corn in South America, and other areas with high-yield crops were marked with silver lines…

Zhu Gaoxi took two steps back, looked at it, and nodded in satisfaction. This thing, placed before his father, was more convincing than any memorial.

He knew Zhu Di well; he was diligent, suspicious, and ambitious. He would definitely be shocked to see so many unclaimed territories outside of the Ming Dynasty on the map.

He leaned back in his chair, his gaze fixed on the slowly rotating globe, then suddenly stopped. The globe had moved to the east, stretching like a slender worm along the edge of the Pacific Ocean. He looked westward again, at the English Islands, a tiny place.

It is still Japan. Since ancient times, Japanese pirates have been exchanging ideas with Chinese civilization, from the Tang Dynasty's envoys to the Tang Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty's trade. However, they have never been truly accustomed to Chinese culture. As long as China is strong, Japanese pirates will submit to it. But if China is slightly defeated, Japanese pirates will start harassing it.

He stared at those two places for a long time.

Images from his past life suddenly flooded back: the cannon fire of the First Sino-Japanese War, the bloodshed at Port Arthur, the 300,000 lives lost in Nanjing, the Unit 731 live human experiments, and the virus that continued to harm the Chinese people even decades after the founding of the People's Republic. In his previous life, he was an ordinary person, and when he read these historical accounts, he thought that if he had the power, he would definitely exterminate those Japanese pirates.

This life is different now.

Zhu Gaoxi reached out and gently turned the globe, bringing the Japanese archipelago to his view. He pointed to that area with his finger, tapping it lightly twice next to the silver marking line.

The Japanese pirates must be dealt with first. Never again will they invade China. Instead, the Ming Dynasty's fleet will arrive in Edo Bay four hundred years earlier. National subjugation and genocide will be met with utter ruthlessness.

His finger traced westward again, stopping at the English Isles.

The Empire on which the sun never sets? In this life, the sun will never set on the territory of the Ming Dynasty. My Ming Dynasty is the true Empire on which the sun never sets. The few broken ships of the United Kingdom have not yet been built, and the Royal Navy is still a joke.

By the time the Ming fleet arrived, they had no chance to react. And those who followed the US and took advantage of the chaos—none of them escaped.

These books and this globe, we'll move them into the palace tomorrow. First, let Father know how much territory there is outside, then let Second Brother know that his wars are endless, and he shouldn't even think about the throne; there's plenty of land for him to conquer. After conquering Japan, he'll be the King of Japan…