The Ming Dynasty: Starting with the Somersault Cloud, Old Zhu was so envious he cried!

"I can't conjure up food."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes darkened; he realized he had been too greedy.

The ability to create things out of thin air is already an incredible feat of the immortals; how could they possibly pray for enough food to sustain millions of people?

But the next second, Old Zhu heard the little guy shout in a clear voice, "But I can conjure up fragrant rice!"

After saying that, the little guy put his hands together and silently said in his heart: I want fragrant rice!

In the blink of an eye, a white light suddenly appeared above the food tablecloth.

The next second, an enormous wooden barrel appeared out of thin air, filled to the brim with fluffy, white rice, steaming hot, its rich aroma instantly permeating the entire palace.

Zhu Yuanzhang was dumbfounded.

He couldn't conjure up grains, but he could conjure up steamed rice, and it was even the finest rice that even the Hongwu Emperor had never tasted before!

Is this how you punctuate my sentences?

Who taught you that?

Give us something good to learn!

Zhu Yuanzhang, his face dark, muttered to himself.

If you weren't my son, I'd whip you until you were spinning in circles, like a top.

But soon, his attention was drawn to the wooden bucket of rice that appeared out of nowhere.

After a moment of stunned silence...

He strode to the wooden tub, completely ignoring the scalding heat hitting him.

He grabbed a handful of fluffy, plump white rice and eagerly stuffed it into his mouth.

The piping hot, soft, and sticky rice grains slowly melt on the tip of the tongue, and the rich, mellow aroma of rice instantly fills the entire mouth.

"It smells so good, so wonderful!"

Zhu Yuanzhang was moved to tears at this moment.

If he had had a bite to eat like that back then, why would he have rebelled?

Now, millions of disaster victims within the Ming Dynasty are finally saved!

"Hahaha, truly Heaven blesses me, Zhu Yuanzhang, Heaven blesses the Ming Dynasty!" Zhu Yuanzhang laughed heartily.

He looked down at the little guy on the ground, excitedly opened his arms, and wanted to pick him up in one gulp.

The little guy realized something was wrong and tried to slip away, but he was too slow and was quickly scooped into Old Zhu's arms.

Ignoring the little guy's objections, he gave his round little face a few big kisses.

After they had enjoyed themselves to the fullest, Zhu Yuanzhang happily put the man down on the ground.

The little guy had his head drooping, his face listless, and he looked utterly dejected.

Oh no, I'm not clean anymore.

I was actually kissed by an old man!

A moment later, Old Zhu looked down at the dejected Zhu Ming and asked curiously, "Ming'er, how did you conjure up such a big bucket of rice out of thin air?"

Zhu Ming gave him a disdainful look, then bent down to pick up the food cloth from the ground, held the mesh cloth in the air, and said matter-of-factly, "Of course it's thanks to this, not you!"

Before Old Zhu could even ask a question, the little guy took the initiative to explain the functions of the food tablecloth.

"This is called a gourmet tablecloth. Just make a wish on it, and whatever you want to eat, it will appear for you!"

The voice just fell,

Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao rushed forward, pushing the original owner of the food tablecloth to the side.

Then, each of them reached out and pressed one hand on the tablecloth, and they eagerly closed their eyes and made a silent wish.

They were all eager to try out this top-tier magical artifact for themselves.

Zhu Yuanzhang silently wished for a tender and juicy braised pork knuckle, while Zhu Biao secretly longed for a roast duck with crispy skin.

The two held their breath and waited quietly for the food to appear.

After a while, the two slowly opened their eyes and found that the tablecloth was completely empty.

Not to mention braised pork knuckles and roast duck, there wasn't even a trace of heat; they couldn't conjure up anything at all.

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned immediately, quickly turned to look at Zhu Ming beside him, and asked with a puzzled expression, "Ming'er, what exactly is going on?"

"We just made a sincere wish, but why can't we conjure up anything?"

"Could it be that some kind of spell is needed?"

Zhu Biao, standing to the side, nodded in agreement.

The little guy crossed his arms, tilted his head slightly upward, and sneered, "Of course I can't conjure it up. This treasure is bound to its owner, and I can only use it from beginning to end."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang's face instantly showed deep disappointment, and his shoulders slumped involuntarily.

However, this frustration only lasted a moment.

His eyes suddenly lit up, and he immediately straightened his back.

It's okay if I can't use it myself.

But tomorrow is his own son.

This treasure is in your own child's hands, so rounding up, it's practically in their grasp!

Zhu Yuanzhang shook off his earlier disappointment and immediately pulled Zhu Biao along, then gestured for Empress Ma to come closer.

The three men sat around the wooden barrel, discussing how to provide relief to the disaster victims.

Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand and made a decision: "We have a plan. From now on, you won't have to do any other work."

"He spends all day guarding this tablecloth, constantly wishing for food to be produced, and in one day it produces five million catties of grain."

"At this rate, the food shortage for the people in the disaster area will be completely made up in just ten days."

"Five million catties?" Empress Ma's eyes widened upon hearing this, and she raised her hand to punch Zhu Yuanzhang, her tone a mixture of anger and heartache. "Are you kidding me? With your arrangement, grain will be produced non-stop all day long. Are you treating Ming'er like a millstone?"

Zhu Biao also quickly voiced his opposition.

However, his perspective was completely different from Empress Ma's.

"Father, this method will not work."

"Even if Sixth Brother could really conjure up five million catties of grain every day, the disaster-stricken people are scattered everywhere, and many prefectures and counties are hundreds of miles away from the capital."

"Moreover, long-distance transportation of grain takes a lot of time, and by the time it arrives at its destination after all the hard work, most of the food may have become damp, moldy, and spoiled."

"There's no way to feed the people; it's a complete waste of effort."

After listening, Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand and said confidently, "This is a small problem, Biao'er, there's no need to worry."

"You probably don't know this, but tomorrow I learned a supernatural ability to fly through the clouds from the Dao Ancestor. I can fly 108,000 li in a single day."

"The day before yesterday, he even took your mother and secretly flew to the northern desert. He also saved your Uncle Tiande's life. Not only that, he also defeated 100,000 Northern Yuan cavalry on his own."

"So the long journey is not an obstacle for Ming'er at all. Just let him fly to the disaster areas with the food."

Empress Ma's face was full of heartache for her youngest son. She shook her head like a rattle drum, refusing to nod in agreement no matter what.

"No, absolutely not!"

"Traveling all over the country every day, how can my body withstand such torment tomorrow?"

"Even if doing this can save the people, we can't exploit children like this."

"There must be another way, right?"

This is exactly what Lao Zhu was waiting for.

So he deliberately cleared his throat and said in a calm tone, "Since you're unwilling, we actually have another way in mind."

Empress Ma paused slightly upon hearing this, turning her head to look at him with a hint of surprise.

That look was exactly like when Liu Bei was at his wit's end, and suddenly heard Zhang Fei shout in a rough voice: "I also have a plan!"

Zhu Yuanzhang, oblivious to the girl's gaze, continued, "Why don't we have Ming'er travel the world in our place, providing relief to disaster victims along the way?"

"Firstly, it can solve the problem of food shortage in various places, and secondly, it can let the people of the world remember who stepped in to save them from starvation, thus establishing the prestige of the royal family among the people."

Zhu Yuanzhang's idea was good.

But to everyone's surprise, Empress Ma refused without hesitation, her emotions even more agitated than before.

"Absolutely not! Ming'er is only six years old this year, and she has never left my side in all her life."

"You sent a little child out of the palace alone to travel far and wide, where there were wolves and villains everywhere."

"What if we encounter some danger or an accident?"

Zhu Yuanzhang almost burst out laughing when he heard this!

"Are you worried he might encounter danger?"

"With that little guy's incredible ability to transform heaven and earth, let alone encountering some petty thieves on the road!"

"Even if you were to encounter eight hundred fierce generals like Lü Bu at once, do you think they could harm a single hair on Ming'er's head?"

Even if you gathered eight thousand Xiang Yu, let alone eight hundred Lü Bus, they still couldn't defeat a towering giant a hundred meters tall.

However, Empress Ma still shook her head, her attitude unwavering, her heart filled with worry.

"No matter how skilled you are, it's useless."

"Ming'er is, after all, just a six-year-old child. He's simple-minded and has no experience in the ways of the world."

"The people outside are treacherous; those cunning individuals are masters of sweet talk. If you're fooled and manipulated by a few sweet words from a bad person tomorrow, it will be too late to regret it!"

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned, glared fiercely, and raised his voice several decibels: "This won't work, that won't work, you've blocked all my paths."

"Then tell me, what should we do now? We can't just stand by and watch the people in the disaster area go hungry."

Empress Ma was torn between two conflicting emotions.

On one side were impoverished people suffering from hunger thousands of miles away, and she couldn't bear it.

On the other hand, the thought of having young Zhu Ming travel day and night to deliver grain to various places was unbearable.

Her heart ached, and she couldn't bear to part with him no matter what.

She frowned slightly, her tone tinged with difficulty: "How could I bear to watch the people starve to death?"

"But Ming'er is still so young. I, as his mother, really can't bear to put such a heavy burden on him."

Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly became anxious, his voice rising abruptly as he spread his hands: "Then you'd better come up with a solution!"

"We can't just stand by and watch the disaster victims starve to death on the roadside, forcing the desperate people to rise up in rebellion, and then another Zhu Yuanzhang emerges, raising an army to overthrow our Ming Dynasty."

Empress Ma pondered for a moment, and finally relented, nodding in agreement to the plan. However, she then made a condition: "I can agree to the disaster relief tour, but I must accompany Ming'er on the journey out of the palace."

"With me always by the child's side, I can warn him in time if he encounters any traps or tricks, so that this silly boy won't be fooled or manipulated by outsiders."

Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head and rejected the idea without even thinking.

He had been secretly planning this for a long time.

Arrange for Zhu Ming to go on an inspection tour.

Ostensibly, it was about distributing grain along the way to relieve disaster victims.

Secretly, they wanted to take advantage of this opportunity.

This led to the exposure of corrupt officials from various regions, allowing them to trace the source and expose all the parasites both inside and outside the court, bringing them all down in one fell swoop.

If Empress Ma were to accompany them.

These old foxes are all meticulous and well-informed; they noticed that the Empress had disappeared from the palace.

If you are extremely careful and hide all the tricks, you won't reveal the slightest flaw, otherwise the whole plan will be ruined.

Empress Ma and Emperor Zhu had been together for so many years that she knew her husband inside and out.

Seeing how quickly he rejected it,

Empress Ma suddenly realized what was going on, her eyes sharpened, and she looked directly at Zhu Yuanzhang, her tone tinged with anger.

"You, Zhu Chongba, after going through all this trouble, you've been plotting something else all along. Confess honestly, have you been hiding something from me all this time?"

Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes darted away slightly, and he hurriedly waved his hands, denying it outright: "I didn't do it! Don't frame an innocent person!"

Empress Ma gritted her teeth, nodded fiercely, and said with a hint of anger in her eyes, "Fine, you won't tell the truth, huh? Ming'er!"

"arrive!"

Upon hearing his mother call him, Zhu Ming immediately responded.

A small head peeks out from a huge wooden barrel.

A huge bucket full of white rice.

This little guy ate it all up!

There were still a few grains of rice stuck to his face and the tip of his nose, making him look exactly like a little dumpling that had stolen some grain.

Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes widened, almost popping out of their sockets, and he exclaimed in surprise, "You brat, when did your appetite become so frightening?"

"You ate that whole bucket of rice by yourself!"

Zhu Ming scratched his head and chuckled, a few grains of rice still stuck to the tip of his nose, making him look somewhat simple-minded.

Empress Ma stepped forward.

He reached out and steadily pulled the chubby little guy into his arms, glanced at Old Zhu who looked shocked, and said in a defiant tone:

"Since you refuse to tell the truth, I'll take you away tomorrow. We won't get involved in your schemes, and we won't associate with your kind."

Upon seeing this, Zhu Yuanzhang quickly stepped forward to stop Empress Ma, and the tough look on his face instantly dissipated by more than half.

Left with no other choice, he could only sigh and tell the other party the truth about his plan.

Empress Ma's face darkened instantly upon hearing this plan.

He reached out and shoved Zhu Ming, who was in his arms, into Zhu Biao's arms next to him.

He grabbed a book from the table and chased Zhu Yuanzhang around the room.

"Zhu Chongba! You heartless bastard! You actually used your own son as bait to set a trap! Do you even deserve to be called a father?!"

Zhu Yuanzhang was chased and dodged around the pillar, desperately parrying while begging for mercy.

The originally serious meeting suddenly descended into chaos.

While covering his head and dodging, Zhu Yuanzhang called out to Zhu Biao, hoping that his eldest son could speak up for him and stop his enraged sister.

Zhu Biao simply turned his head away silently, his eyes darting around, not daring to get involved at all.

He muttered to himself:

Father, it's not that I'm unwilling to help!

Given the Empress Dowager's current temper, anyone who goes up now will die.

Or perhaps you could do me the trouble?

It's better for one person to be scolded than for two.

In fact, Empress Ma was not really angry; she was just venting her anger through playful fighting.

Otherwise, with her current strong physique, she could easily subdue Old Zhu, instead of just chasing him around in circles with a book.

One punch and Old Zhu is dead!

Ultimately, the proposal was approved.

Let little Zhu Ming travel the world in place of old Zhu!

While providing relief to disaster victims, they also publicized the emperor's benevolence, won over the people's hearts, and established the court's authority.

At the same time, he also took the opportunity of this trip to secretly investigate and find out corrupt officials hiding in various places, and eradicate them one by one.

That's killing three birds with one stone!