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

As dawn broke, Fang Yong, carrying the two largest rough earthenware bowls from his home, hunched over and slipped out of the back door of the rice shop.

He was an apprentice at the "Fengyuhao" rice shop in the south of the city.

Upon hearing that the Prince of Jiyang's Mansion in the west of the city had set up a soup kitchen to provide porridge to disaster victims, Fang Yong's heart began to stir.

What does it matter if it's porridge or not? As long as it fills your stomach, it's a good thing!

He deliberately rubbed some dust on his slightly worn short jacket in the corner of the wall, and messed up his hair, making him look like someone who had fled a disaster.

The porridge kitchen was set up on an open space in Xichenggen, and from afar, one could see a huge crowd lining up in a long queue.

Fang Yong's heart skipped a beat.

Fuck!

So many people!

He quickly jogged to the back of the line and craned his neck to look ahead.

The air was filled with a strange smell, a mixture of sweat and dust.

Most of the people in front were ragged and emaciated; they were the real disaster victims.

Fang Yong was caught in the middle. At first, he felt a little guilty, but once he got hungry, he didn't care anymore.

The line moved extremely slowly.

The sun gradually rose higher, making people's scalps feel hot.

Fang Yong was both thirsty and hungry, constantly licking his chapped lips, cursing the dawdling porridge distributor countless times in his mind.

A woman holding a child next to him was sobbing softly. Fang Yong glanced at her and felt extremely annoyed.

Finally, there were only about ten people left ahead of us.

Fang Yong stood on tiptoe and could already see the situation under the soup kitchen.

Several servants dressed in clean, short-sleeved clothes guarded several large vats, with one person responsible for scooping porridge.

That porridge...

Ok?

The color seems off; it's not the white of rice porridge, but rather a grayish-yellowish-brown.

A hint of doubt flashed through Fang Yong's mind, but he quickly dismissed it.

Who cares what color it is, as long as it's edible!

It was finally his turn.

Fang Yong quickly handed over the two large bowls.

The man scooping the porridge was a stern-faced middle-aged man. He glanced at Fang Yong, said nothing, picked up a long-handled wooden ladle, scooped a full spoonful of porridge from the vat, and poured it into the bowl to Fang Yong's left.

The sound of the porridge being poured into the bowl was dull, almost imperceptible, like a pile of damp dregs.

Upon closer inspection, it wasn't porridge, but a clump of dark-colored bran and finely chopped grains, mixed with only a tiny amount of water to form a paste, with almost no rice grains visible.

A sour smell hit his nostrils, instantly waking Fang Yong up.

Fang Yong was dumbfounded.

He could hardly believe his eyes.

He lined up before dawn for this food, endured the sun for most of the day, and squeezed into a dirty and smelly crowd, only to get this as a reward?

A surge of anger suddenly rushed to his head.

"I'm chovy!"

"Just give me the things!"

"What the hell is this thing?!"

Fang Yong pointed to the yellowish-gray puddle in the bowl, "Is this food for humans? This is pig feed!"

His roar echoed, causing a stir among the people queuing nearby.

Many refugees glanced at him and then fell silent.

A few people in the crowd had a change in expression.

The man distributing porridge frowned, his tone indifferent.

"His Highness Prince Jiyang is benevolent and has allocated grain for relief."

"This is relief food, just enough to stave off hunger."

"Do you want it?"

"Don't let there be people behind you."

"I want my ass!" Fang Yong trembled with rage, feeling utterly humiliated and deceived.

He's a city dweller, an apprentice at a rice shop!

Although we were poor, we had never eaten such a thing that was worse than pigs and dogs.

"The Prince of Jiyang?"

"Pooh!"

"Easier said than done!"

"Are you trying to fool people with this pig slop, or treat beggars like this?!"

Even a dog wouldn't eat this!

He became more and more agitated as he spoke, and when he remembered the grievances of queuing up hungry, a surge of resentment rose within him.

"I thought he was some kind-hearted prince, but it turns out he's just a fame-seeker!"

"They can't bear to waste white rice, so they use this rotten stuff to fill the gap! What a joke!"

"This stuff will actually keep you full? You'll be lucky if it doesn't give you diarrhea!"

"Whoever wants to eat can eat it; I'm not playing along!"

After saying that, he smashed the ceramic bowl in his hand to the ground!

With a "crack," the broken bowl and the grayish-yellow bran paste splattered all over the ground.

Still not satisfied, he spat again towards the porridge pot before turning around, cursing, pushing aside the stunned people behind him, and walking away without looking back.

Fang Yong's outburst was like a stone falling into water, creating ripples.

Following Fang Yong were many others who, like him, were not truly destitute disaster victims, but rather poor households or idlers from the neighborhood who were greedy for free food, or even a few people from relatively well-off families who liked to take advantage of others.

They had originally shared the same thought as Fang Yong, but when they saw with their own eyes that what was being served was bran, they immediately erupted in uproar.

"Is it really bran? Let me see!"

"Really! How...how can anyone eat this?"

"No wonder it tasted weird! Your Highness, Prince Jiyang... sigh!"

"Go away! We waited in line for ages and this is all we get? This is blatant bullying!"

"I thought I'd see some rice scraps, but this stuff's for feeding livestock. Won't they get sick if they eat it?"

"Let's all go! What a waste of time!"

Complaints, curses, and grumbling quickly spread to the back of the line.

Many people immediately lost interest and left the group, leaving only the starving and emaciated disaster victims.

The second floor in the distance.

Yu Qian was shocked and felt a chill run down his spine when he saw this scene.

He took a deep breath and bowed to Zhu Zhanjun beside him.

"Your Highness's wisdom and strategy are truly admirable."

He had previously been ordered by Zhu Zhanjun to allocate funds to buy bran, and at one point suspected that the Prince of Jiyang might have gone mad.

But seeing this scene now, he immediately understood Zhu Zhanjun's deeper meaning.

Although bran is used to feed pigs, it can still fill their stomachs.

More importantly, it can automatically weed out those who want to take advantage, thus allowing more people who truly need it to survive.

At the current grain price, 30,000 strings of cash can only buy a little over 20,000 shi of grain, but if it is converted into bran, it can buy 100,000 shi of grain!

Even if the number of disaster victims in Nanjing reaches 100,000, these 100,000 shi of bran can sustain such a large number of victims for two months!

This prince is truly amazing!

Zhu Zhanjun waved his hand.

"I've done my best."

"Tens of thousands of bushels of rice, that's a considerable profit."

"As the funds are distributed layer by layer, it's inevitable that some people will embezzle them for personal gain."

"Wealth is a powerful motivator."

"Only this bran will not be coveted by others."

"Although the taste is a bit off, it's still edible."

Even if it's livestock feed, but...

"Disaster victims, only those who survive can be considered human."

Yu Qian was shocked, his heart filled with turmoil.

He studied diligently from a young age, dreaming of one day helping the world.

Now, the Prince of Jiyang has given him the most vivid lesson.

Whether it's using bran to screen out those who want to take advantage, to prevent embezzlement, or to ensure that those who truly need it receive relief!

Such profound wisdom cannot be comprehended by anyone who has a deep understanding of human nature and the coldness and warmth of human relationships; these are things that cannot be learned from books!

This prince is truly a genius among geniuses!

Yu Qian felt as if he had been enlightened, and everything became clear.

He took a deep breath and pondered for a moment.

"But if we do that, His Highness Prince Jiyang will surely suffer infamy."

Zhu Zhanjun shook his head.

"It's just a little bit of hardship."

"I'll bear the blame for the suffering of the people!"