Ming Dynasty: Gain one supernatural power every day

After Zhu Di finalized the personnel arrangements for all the court officials, Zhu Gaoxi immediately stood up, bowed, and said, "Father, I have sorted out quite a few items this morning, and I originally intended to invite you and my brothers to take a look at them together. Please follow me."

After saying that, he turned and led the way, and the group went straight to the study.

Upon entering the room, Zhu Di immediately noticed a large number of newly added books on the bookshelf that he had never seen before. The bright and flashy colors of the book covers made them stand out incongruously from the simple and elegant old thread-bound books placed next to them.

A layer of brocade was spread in the center of the desk, and underneath it was a round object, the nature of which was unknown.

Zhu Gaoxi walked slowly to the table, took out the books, and handed them to Zhu Di, several princes, and Yao Guangxiao.

Zhu Gaochi took a copy of "Complete Treatise on Agriculture" and casually flipped through a couple of pages. The book was filled with detailed records of all the methods for farming, water storage and flood control, and was also accompanied by exquisite illustrations.

He sighed inwardly. The foundation of the Ming Dynasty was agriculture. After years of war, the people had suffered greatly. If the methods in the book were true and could be implemented, the people of the world would suffer much less.

Zhu Di received the book "Tiangong Kaiwu" (The Exploitation of the Works of Nature). He turned to the chapter on iron smelting and steelmaking, staring intently at the diagram of the blast furnace structure. He secretly calculated that if he could build such a tool to smelt refined iron according to the diagram, the weapons, armor, and military equipment of the Ming Dynasty would be unparalleled in the world, and the Ming Dynasty would naturally be invincible.

Yao Guangxiao was assigned the "Barefoot Doctor's Handbook." After skimming through a few pages, he found that the book contained simple treatments for common folk ailments and methods for identifying and harvesting wild herbs. He couldn't help but secretly admire Prince Rui for truly inheriting the Daoist ancestor's teachings; even the books he casually picked up contained effective remedies for the world. If this book were to spread among the people, he wondered how many poor people it could save.

Prince Zhao, Zhu Gaosui, held the "Illustrated Gazetteer of Geography and Products of Various Countries in the World" in his hands, and the more he read, the more shocked he became. He had only known that the Ming Dynasty possessed the fertile land of the Central Plains, and had never imagined that there was such a vast territory beyond the Central Plains. As he read page by page, his shock was evident in his expression.

The Prince of Han, Zhu Gaochi, was assigned a vernacular novel titled "The Overbearing Prince Falls in Love with Me." At first glance, the title seemed strange and unusual; he had never read such a book before. He patiently turned the first two pages and soon became completely engrossed, oblivious to his surroundings.

At first, he didn't understand why his fourth brother handed him such a book, but as he looked at it, he thought: My fourth brother really understands me. This story is really well written.

Suppressing the turmoil in his mind, Zhu Di asked with barely concealed excitement, "Fourth Prince, were these scriptures also bestowed by the Dao Ancestor? Are all the events recorded in them true?"

Before Zhu Gaoxi could speak, Zhu Gaosui, seeing his second brother engrossed in his book, saw this as a good opportunity to curry favor with his fourth brother and spoke up first: "Father, it must have been passed down to my fourth brother by the Dao Ancestor. How could something passed down by the Dao Ancestor be false?"

As he spoke, he was still holding the geographical atlas, flipping through it when suddenly his eyes widened, and he quickly handed the scroll to Zhu Di: "Father, look here!"

As the pages of the book are opened, a complete and magnificent world map unfolds before your eyes, with the five continents and four seas clearly marked. The vast Ming Dynasty occupies only a corner of the East.

The book's side pages provide detailed descriptions of unique local products: Luzon is famous for its sweet potatoes, South America has corn and potatoes, and India is covered with cotton and sugarcane. Each crop is listed with its place of origin and ocean shipping routes.

Zhu Di took the scroll, examined it carefully, and after a long silence, he finally raised his voice and asked, "Is what the book says true? Are there really such distant and exotic lands in the world, with such high-yield crops?"

Zhu Gaosui immediately responded, "Father, my fourth brother has never lied to us. This map is incredibly detailed, even marking ocean routes clearly. It cannot be fake!"

Zhu Di immediately raised his voice: "Eldest son, second son, third son, and Daoyan, all of you come over and take a closer look!"

Everyone gathered around at the sound, but Zhu Gaoxu was so engrossed in the novel that he didn't hear Zhu Di speak at all.

Zhu Gaosui turned his head and saw that his second brother was engrossed in reading. He immediately called out, "Second brother, Father is calling you. Come here quickly!" He wondered what his second brother was so absorbed in reading. Could it be a cultivation manual?

Zhu Gaoxu reluctantly put down "The Domineering Prince Falls in Love with Me" and quickly stepped forward.

Upon seeing the countless overseas territories on the map, a thought suddenly struck him. If he had known before that there were such vast territories overseas, he would not have competed with his elder brother for the position of crown prince. Even if he could go abroad and become the ruler of a country, he would not want to go. After all, he could tell which was better, being a king or becoming an immortal.

Zhu Gaoxi stepped forward, reached out and lifted the brocade on the desk, revealing the globe in its entirety. It had a brass base, was painted with enamel, and featured the deep sea in dark blue, the continents outlined in light green and pale yellow, and the territory of the Ming Dynasty marked in vermilion.

"What is this?" Zhu Di frowned slightly and stared at the round bronze ball for a long time.

Zhu Gaoxu walked around the table, bent down and looked up from underneath: "Fourth brother, what are you doing with such a big bronze ball? And it's painted with all sorts of colorful things on it."

Zhu Gaochi walked closer, examined it for a moment, and pondered, "The text marked on this... Great Ming, Luzon, Japan, Nanyang... Could this be a map? But what map is drawn on a ball?"

Yao Guangxiao hadn't spoken since the moment the silk cloth was lifted. He had been a Buddhist for decades and had traveled the world in his youth, reading countless geographical records and maps. He had a vague idea in his mind that the theory of a round heaven and a square earth might not be entirely true.

Looking at the slowly rotating bronze sphere before him, with the continents and oceans clearly marked on it, a vague idea in his mind was suddenly illuminated by a light.

Zhu Gaoxi gently placed his hand on the globe, looked around at everyone, and said calmly, "Father, brothers, masters, this is where we live. The earth beneath our feet is not flat, but a sphere. A very, very big sphere."

The study was quiet for several breaths.

"A sphere?" Zhu Gaoxu's eyes widened, and he circled the globe again. "Fourth brother, what did you say? We live on a sphere? Won't the people underneath fall off?"

Zhu Di stood with his hands behind his back in front of the globe, staring at the vermilion area marked "Great Ming": "Fourth Prince, do you mean that my Great Ming is on this sphere? Just this big?"

"That's right." Zhu Gaoxi pointed to the vermilion area with his finger. "This is the Ming Dynasty." Then he gently moved the globe, his finger sweeping across the ocean and pointing to another continent.

"This is America. You can get there by going east from the Ming Dynasty, crossing the ocean. There you can find corn, potatoes, and sweet potatoes, all high-yield crops that can produce thousands of kilograms per acre. There are also chili peppers, peanuts, and tomatoes, which are things we don't have here."

He pointed to an archipelago: "This is Luzon. Sweet potatoes grow there, and it's the closest to the Ming Dynasty; a fleet can make a round trip there in a year."

Zhu Di's gaze followed the movement of his finger, looking at the place names he had never seen before, at the land that was many times larger than the Ming Dynasty, and his breathing gradually became heavy.

He stretched out his finger and gently moved it on the globe, looking at the shipping routes and resources marked by silver lines on the surface: "Are these places... all real?"

"Absolutely true." Zhu Gaoxi took the "Illustrated Gazetteer of Geography and Products of Various Countries in the World," turned to the corresponding page, and handed it over. "If Father Emperor does not believe it, he can send someone to take a trip along the route shown in this book. Luzon is the closest. Zheng He's fleet went there. When they return this time, we can ask them to confirm."

Yao Guangxiao finally spoke: "When I was young, I traveled all over the world and once looked through the maps left over from the previous dynasty at the Imperial Observatory. At that time, I was puzzled as to why sailors returning from long voyages said that when the ship sailed out to sea, they saw the mast first and then the hull, as if the sea was curved. Today, seeing this object of Your Highness, my long-standing doubts have been resolved in one day."

He clasped his hands together and bowed deeply to Zhu Gaoxi, saying, "Your Highness is indeed a disciple of the Dao Ancestor. This humble monk admires you."

Zhu Di remained silent for a while, then flipped through several other books. When he came across the book that Zhu Gaoxu had just seen, he thought: "Why is there a storybook here? A domineering prince. I am the emperor, I don't read such books that are beneath my dignity. I just saw that there are many more storybooks over there, one called 'The Supreme Emperor's Favor for One Person.' This book suits my taste. I'll take it back and read it later."

He glanced through the books, growing more and more astonished. Closing the thickest one, he suddenly looked up at Zhu Gaoxi and burst into laughter: "Fourth Prince is truly the unicorn of the Zhu family! Heaven truly blesses the Ming Dynasty, heaven blesses my Zhu family!"