“By the Mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: Prince of Yan Zhu Di has recklessly meddled in court affairs. Effective immediately, he is stripped of his title and reduced to commoner status. He is granted ten mu of poor farmland. Now get out there and farm!”
???
Zhao Dezhu’s heart sank as he stared at the imperial edict. He’d just transmigrated into Zhu Di and figured he’d become emperor, but instead he’d been sent off to farm? His starting situation: a rickety shack, ten mu of wasteland, and not even an ox.
But Brother Zhu was no ordinary man. He might not have been much, but he’d completed nine years of compulsory education and knew how to grind!
Everyday farming:
Drought? Dig irrigation canals, and set up a drip-irrigation system while he’s at it.
Pests? Let chickens and ducks loose in the fields for all-natural pest control.
So poor he has to eat dirt? Set up a barbecue stall at the night market. His secret sauce is so fragrant you can smell it ten miles away.
The farmers next door mock him for being a prince with dirt under his nails? Zhu Di pulls out greenhouse vegetables. “It’s called off-season sales. Get it?”
Then one day, Zhu Yuanzhang pays a secret visit and finds the son who should have starved to death lounging in a chair, counting money, with piles of chili peppers, tomatoes, potatoes, and more in front of him...
Old Zhu is dumbfounded. “What are all these?”
Zhao Dezhu, or rather, Zhu Di, grins. “Father, they’re new varieties. Want a Huazi... I mean, a cucumber?”
