The Great Ming Demon Pill: Your Majesty, please address me as the Crown Prince!

Zhu Di was starting to lose his composure.

Who's so good at comforting people?

He said somewhat unconvinced.

"Don't talk nonsense, you brat."

"Regarding the reduction of the power of the princes, my grandfather admitted that he only considered his own interests and did not take into account the entire Ming Dynasty."

"But apart from that, my grandfather devoted himself wholeheartedly to the Ming Dynasty."

"Where else have they done to harm the Ming Dynasty?"

"Over the years, my grandfather has worked diligently and conscientiously, without ever enjoying any luxuries."

Zhu Zhanjun muttered to himself.

"Where did you not enjoy yourself?"

"In the sixth year of the Yongle reign, you did not send Huang Yan to Korea to deliver an oral message: 'Go to Korea and tell the King that there are beautiful women, and select a few to bring to the capital.'"

"In the seventh year of the Yongle reign, you still disliked the last batch of birds sent as 'some were too fat, some were too mottled, and some were too short, none of them were very good,' and ordered that another batch be selected."

"North Korea has temporarily banned marriage nationwide just for you, and is selecting beauties specifically for you."

[Ding! You have obtained a golden treasure chest!]

Zhu Di was somewhat embarrassed.

"Little monkey, what did you say?"

Zhu Zhanjun coughed lightly.

"I say that Grandfather's opinion is brilliant."

Zhu Di: "..."

He rubbed his somewhat stiff face.

"Zhanjun, you haven't finished speaking yet!"

"You just said that my grandfather did more than one thing that led to the downfall of the Ming Dynasty?"

"You'd better explain yourself clearly, what else is there?"

Normally, he would never discuss such things with a little kid.

However, Zhu Zhanjun has already proven his ability.

This kid is a genius!

Zhu Zhanjun scratched his head and chuckled.

"Grandpa Emperor, didn't you reduce the power of the princes?"

"They also carried out a peaceful reduction of the power of the princes and supported the imperial family."

Zhu Di's lips twitched slightly.

Leaving aside the impact on border defense caused by the reduction of the power of the feudal lords.

He believed he had done a good job in this matter.

Zhu Yunwen, the eldest nephew, implemented a policy of weakening the power of the princes, which resulted in the deaths and rebellions of many princes in various regions. Ultimately, this led to Zhu Yunwen seizing the throne.

When he came to power, his methods of weakening the power of the princes became much more lenient.

None of them rebelled, and he took most of the military power into his own hands.

But judging from this kid's tone, could it be that there are problems with peacefully reducing the power of the princes and supporting the imperial family?

He said lightly.

"Zhanjun, you just said that the Emperor's reduction of the power of the princes was the abandonment of the life-saving measures left by the founding emperor."

"But putting aside the potential dangers of reducing the power of the princes, the Emperor's peaceful reduction of the princes' power and the support of the imperial family should not have been a problem in essence."

"What do you mean?"

Zhu Zhanjun spoke with righteous indignation.

"Grandpa, is everything alright?"

"This is a huge problem."

"This is even more serious than you abandoning three lines of defense."

"If we abandon the three lines of defense, we can simply retrain our troops or establish other systems to manage the army and defend the northern border."

"If you think about it carefully, you can still come up with other methods."

"But Grandfather, your peaceful policy of reducing the power of the princes and supporting the imperial family has sown the seeds of the Ming Dynasty's inevitable demise!"

Zhu Di stared wide-eyed and shook his head repeatedly.

"Impossible, absolutely impossible!"

"Grandpa Emperor's peaceful reduction of the power of the princes—how could a little child like you possibly understand all the benefits?"

"When Zhu Yunwen seized power, he cut off the princes' fiefdoms, forcing the Prince of Xiang to commit suicide by fire. The princes of Qi, Dai, and Min were either deposed as commoners or imprisoned within high walls."

"This led to the Jingnan Campaign, where uncle and nephew fought each other, plunging the world into turmoil!"

"Grandfather reduced the power of the princes without resorting to violence or loss of life, allowing all the princes to preserve their wealth and enjoy their old age in peace."

"To prevent fratricide, military power should be centralized in the central government."

"What do you know, you little brat?"

The policy of reducing the power of the princes eliminated the three lifelines left by Zhu Yuanzhang, and he accepted that.

However, the strategy of peacefully reducing the power of the feudal lords is inherently flawless.

He has that confidence!

Zhu Zhanjun pursed his lips.

"Grandpa, the wealth and honor you bestow upon the princes is far too much."

"Didn't you even consider whether the Ming Dynasty could afford it?"

"You little monkey..." Zhu Di laughed in exasperation, straightening his back. "There are only a hundred or so members of the imperial clan. My Great Ming Dynasty is rich and vast; can't we afford to support them?"

Zhu Zhanjun stared wide-eyed and pursed his lips.

"Grandpa Emperor, was your arithmetic taught by a military officer?"

[Ding! You have obtained a silver treasure chest!]

Zhu Di: "..."

This kid is mocking him for being bad at math?

Zhu Zhanjun slapped his forehead.

"Alright, Grandfather, bring me a chessboard and some rice."

Zhu Di frowned.

"Get the chessboard? And rice?"

"Zhanjun, what are you going to do?"

"What does this have to do with whether or not our Ming Dynasty can afford to support the imperial family?"

Zhu Zhanjun chuckled.

"Grandpa, please have someone bring it over first, and you'll see in a moment."

Zhu Di muttered to himself.

Is this kid keeping him in suspense?

However, thinking about what Zhu Zhanjun had just said, he felt like he was being scratched by cat claws.

He truly didn't believe that he could be wrong to grant wealth and status to the imperial clan and to reduce the power of the princes.

Zhu Di immediately walked out of the gate of the Imperial Ancestral Temple.

Meng Ji, the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, stood guard at the foot of the steps outside the palace gate, his hands hanging down, his eyes downcast, but his ears constantly listening to the movements inside the palace.

Suddenly, he heard the door open. He quickly looked up and saw His Majesty the Emperor walk out with a rather complicated expression and a slightly furrowed brow.

Zhu Di stood at the entrance of the palace, glanced at Meng Ji, and without saying much, gave his orders.

"Meng Ji".

"Yes, sir," Meng Ji immediately bowed and replied, lowering her head even further.

"Go..." Zhu Di raised his hand and gestured towards the inside of the hall, his words concise and to the point, "Find me a Go board, and be quick."

Upon hearing this, Meng Ji was somewhat bewildered.

The ancestral worship ceremony had just ended, and His Majesty was alone in the Imperial Ancestral Temple facing the ancestors of the Zhu family. Why did he suddenly want to play chess?

He muttered to himself, but quickly replied, "Yes, Your Majesty. This servant will take care of it immediately."

Just as he was about to turn around to arrange the manpower, Zhu Di added another sentence.

"Oh, and also get a small bag of rice, regular rice is fine, bring it here quickly."

"...Rice?" Meng Ji was genuinely stunned. He paused, almost unable to react.

Chessboard and rice?

What is Your Majesty planning to do in the Imperial Ancestral Temple?

Meng Ji was full of doubts.

"This servant obeys the decree."

"Please wait a moment, Your Majesty, I will go and do it immediately."

.....................

After a while.

Inside the Imperial Ancestral Temple.

A chessboard sits on the table, with a handful of rice beside it.

Zhu Di frowned as he looked at the scene.

"Zhanjun, what exactly are you trying to do?"

Zhu Zhanjun chuckled.

"Grandpa, take some rice. Put one grain of rice in the first square, two grains in the second square, four grains in the third square, eight grains in the fourth square, and so on, until the chessboard is full."

Zhu Di looked completely bewildered. He stroked his beard, his eyes wide as if they were copper bells.

"What does putting rice on this chessboard have to do with whether our Great Ming Dynasty can afford to support the imperial family?"

Zhu Zhanjun shook his head and said.

"Grandpa, just release it as you please."

You'll find out for yourself in a moment.

Hey, this kid's keeping us in suspense again!

Zhu Di's lips twitched.

He glanced at the chessboard, and without much hesitation, picked up the rice and began to arrange it.

Place one grain of rice in the first square.

Place two grains of rice in the second compartment.

Place four grains of rice in the third compartment.

A short while later.

The squares of the chessboard were already filled with rice.

Zhu Di stared at the seventh square in front of him, lost in thought.

Damn, there's no room left.

He glanced at Zhu Zhanjun, who was smiling beside him, and simply put down the rice in his hand.

"Zhanjun, this is only the first few compartments, and there's already no room for rice."

"The entire chessboard has more than 300 squares; it's impossible to fill them all."

Zhu Zhanjun blinked.

"Grandpa Emperor, if there's not enough room for the rice, we can use the arithmetic the military officers taught us to calculate it!"

"Just imagine how many grains of rice would be needed to fill this chessboard!"

"Grandpa, can you count?"

Zhu Di's eyes widened in disbelief.

Who does this kid underestimate?

Do you really think he's bad at math?

Despite his numerous military campaigns, he was actually quite good at mathematics!

He immediately picked up a pen, ink, and paper from the table next to him and snorted coldly.

"Zhanjun, just you wait and see."

"Grandpa's mathematical skills weren't learned for nothing."

"It's just a chessboard."

Zhu Di immediately began to calculate the next square step by step.

The first square contains one grain of rice!

Two grains of rice in the second square!

The tenth square is 512!

......

The fifteenth square, 16,384.

The twentieth square, 524,288.

Zhu Di suddenly hesitated.

This number doesn't make sense.

After a while.

Zhu Di stared at the numbers before him, lost in thought.

The twenty-seventh square, 67,108,864.

He twitched the corner of his mouth.

Damn it, there are less than thirty.

How come it's already in the tens of millions!

Seeing that Zhu Di remained silent, Zhu Zhanjun smiled.

"Grandpa, why aren't you saying anything?"

Zhu Di snapped out of his daze, saw the smile on Zhu Zhanjun's face, and coughed lightly.

"There are less than thirty squares, but it requires tens of millions of grains of rice."

"This Go board has more than 300 squares. If you were to calculate the final number, it would probably be an astronomical figure."

Zhu Zhanjun clapped his hands and laughed.

"It seems that the mathematics that my grandfather learned from military generals is not so bad after all."

"Grandpa, look at this tiny chessboard. You put rice in less than thirty squares, and it's already worth tens of millions."

"Then may I ask, Your Majesty, that there are only a few dozen members of the Ming Dynasty's imperial family. With the Ming Dynasty's abundant wealth, of course we can afford to support them."

"But what about the next generation?"

"Were there several hundred people at that time?"

"Grandfather, you have taken away the military power of the vassal kings, forbidding them from leaving the city without permission. They must request approval before going to the capital to sweep tombs or enter the capital. They are forbidden from taking the imperial examinations, becoming officials, joining the army, engaging in commerce, or farming."

"Then these feudal lords could only eat, drink, be merry, and have children."

"Just like this Go board..."

"This generation has dozens of people, and after four or five generations, there may be tens of thousands."

"In just two hundred years, the number of members of the Ming imperial family will surge to over a million."

"Our Ming Dynasty's system of hereditary peerage began with this generation of princes."

"The eldest son of a prince shall inherit the title of prince, remain a prince forever, and receive the stipend of a prince."

"And the prince's other sons? They will all be granted the title of Prince of the Second Rank!"

"The eldest son of the Prince of the County inherits the title of Prince of the County, and shall remain the Prince of the County forever, receiving the salary of the Prince of the County."

"And the other sons of the Prince of the Commandery? They will all be appointed as Generals Who Guard the State!"

"All sons of the General Who Guards the Nation will be granted the title of General Who Assists the Nation!"

"All sons of the General Who Assists the State shall be granted the title of General Who Respects the State!"

"All the sons of the General of the State shall be granted the title of Lieutenant General of the State!"

"All sons of the Commandant of the State shall be granted the title of Commandant of the Auxiliary State!"

"All the sons of the Assistant Commandant of the State shall be granted the title of Assistant Commandant of the State, a rank of fourth grade!"

"Grandfather, two hundred years from now, will the Ming Dynasty be able to support millions of lieutenants who do not engage in production or pay taxes?"

[Ding! You have obtained a Prismatic Treasure Chest!]