Chapter 764: Video Teleconference
After five consecutive months of hectic work, including all types of conferences and matters that had to be taken care of, Hell finally welcomed some respite commencing from 5th September.
Of course, this only applied to the normal public servants. They looked on through bloodshot eyes as the red circle of approval was finally inscribed onto their planned schedule, and collective earth-shattering cheers instantly rang out across the entirety of Reflection Palace, as well as several of the nearby office pavilions that had been temporarily rented.
The past five months of intensive work had been extremely arduous. They worked day and night, and Yin spirits didn't need to rest, so they would only meditate with their eyes closed for an hour whenever their souls were truly unable to handle any further punishment. After that hour, they would dive back into the endless piles of documents that awaited them.
They had to make detailed classifications of all living beings, including Yin beasts and even insects, across the entire nation, as well as tally their numbers...
They also had to make thorough reports of all of the resources in the nation...
There was also the development of the remaining major roads that had to be addressed, and every single day, there were countless charts and maps being sent to Ashmound City from all around the country...
In addition to that, there was the registration and distribution of identification documents to all netherworldly citizens across the nation...
Then came the assessment, classification, and tallying of specific registrations in the manufacturing and business industries...
After that was registration, assessment, and development of all of the nation's tourist attractions...
And that was only barely scratching the surface.
The entire Qin Empire had become a well-oiled machine, and all of these public servants were like cogs that ensured the machine's smooth operation. Only on this day was the first phase of work prior to the official founding of the nation completed.
This work hadn't just begun five months ago. In reality, it had commenced as far as close to four years ago, when Hell had first deployed its troops all over the nation. With each province that was conquered, an enormous amount of work was created, and when it was confirmed that a nation was to be founded, a gargantuan war of statistics inevitably followed.
Of course, there were countless changes in personnel during this period of time. Some were not suited to this type of work and were transferred to other workplaces, while others excelled and persevered to the very end.
Unfortunately for Qin Ye, Arthis, Oda Nobunaga, Oda Nobutada, the Harken, Zhao Yun, and all of the other high-ranking officials, there was still no time for them to rest.
"There are roughly 800,000 species of Yin beasts, including birds, reptiles, and amphibians. Among them are around 1,800 species of freshwater-dwelling Yin beasts, fish... and roughly 600 species of insects, as well as other categories such as invertebrates. " Qin Ye gently set down the report in his hand as he cast his gaze toward everyone present. "127 monarch beasts were discovered, and 27 have been slain, while the remaining 100 have expressed a clear intention to submit to our administration."
This was a spacious conference hall, and there were currently at least 100 Emissaries of Hell present, all of whom were rapidly taking records.
On this day, a work summary meeting was being held, heralding the conclusion of this phase of work. The next phase that was to follow was the founding of the nation!
Everyone was under immense pressure and stress every single day during this time, but no one was complaining. A brand new empire was slowly being forged by their efforts, and the sense of achievement they derived from this was enough to motivate them through any degree of suffering!
They were playing a role in the establishment of a dynasty and witnessing the birth of a new era! They were so close to the finish line; no one would dare to get complacent at this critical juncture.
"And that's only the animal species; there's an even greater number of plant species, but I won't go into detail there. What I want to say is..." Qin Ye's voice was trembling slightly with excitement as he spoke. "That our land is very wealthy, but this wealth is hidden in nature, and our job is to uncover it and make it our wealth. This responsibility will rest on all of your shoulders."
He took a sip of tea before continuing, "Before we tap into the vast treasures of the land, we're still an impoverished nation. The Yin spirits that come down from the mortal realm won't care about how massive a change this government has just undergone, nor whether Hell has collapsed before in the past. All they'll care about is their quality of life. Of course, there's a vast disparity between the quality of life here and that of the mortal realm, and what we have to do is convince these netherworldly citizens to ignore this disparity. Five years... Maybe even three years is all it'll take for us to recover by a considerable extent. I'm confident that we're capable of doing this, but during this time, I'll be counting on all of you."
He rose to his feet and extended a deep bow toward everyone present. All of the Yin spirits present were stunned for a moment before erupting into thunderous applause.
The meeting concluded, and the top-tier administrators of the Qin Dynasty departed amid a sea of vehement discussion. There was no silence or detachment, everyone was full of motivation and yearning toward the rise of this new empire. They had endured and witnessed too much adversity and hardship in the past, and that was what drove them to strive to make the Qin Dynasty a better place.
Arthis, Oda Nobunaga, Zhao Yun, the Harken, and the panel of scholars remained behind. Following a dismissive gesture from Qin Ye, the secretary also exited the room, immediately following which Wang Chenghao instructed the newly assembled group of assistants to close the doors and windows.
Only then did Qin Ye completely relax as he burst into laughter and raised his teacup as he urged, "There's no need to look so serious. These past few months have been utterly exhausting for all of us. Let's all take this time to relax a little."
"That sounds delightful." Lu Ban was so tired that even the netherflames in his eyes had dimmed significantly. During the past few years, he had overseen the creation of the plans and schedules for the cities' development. The blueprints for virtually all of the major cities in the entire nation had been drawn up by him, but despite his exhaustion, his smile was full of satisfaction and fulfillment. "The establishment of a new dynasty was never going to be easy, there's so much work to be done!"
He turned to Qin Ye with a smile and said, "I think that the next task should be the final task and also the most important one leading up to the official founding of the nation."
No one offered a response to this.
Everyone knew what task he was referring to: it was the task of informing all of the international Underworlds of the Qin Dynasty's rise!
If the Qin Dynasty still wanted to play a role on the international stage in the future, then it would have to inform the entire world of its arrival. This was the duty and responsibility of the four pillars.
However, at the same time, they were facing a problem, which was that there was no way they could invite emissaries from other Underworlds to attend the founding ceremony!
After all, no education system had been established yet, and the netherworldly citizens of the Qin Dynasty didn't even know what cultivation was. The power of Hell had to be gradually built up over time, and only with sufficient time would the Qin Dynasty be able to give rise to more Yama-Kings and death gods.
The Qin Dynasty was undoubtedly going to receive criticism if it were to refuse to allow other Underworlds to attend its founding ceremony, and this was the first international problem that the Cathayan Underworld would have to face.
"We have to allow other Underworlds to attend," the Harken said in an implacable voice, finally breaking the silence. "We have to think of a way to meet up with emissaries from other Underworlds no matter what. Otherwise, the weight of public opinion will be too heavy for our nation to bear, and the other three pillars will undoubtedly act against us. On top of that..."
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The Harken sighed before continuing, "The power of our nation is still far inferior to that of the top-tier Underworlds. We've remained silent for over a century. I'm sure countless first-rate Underworlds are itching to lash out at us. The Russian Underworld has already dared to blatantly probe out the state of our nation; the other first-rate Underworlds are most likely also willing to do the same. In addition to that, we have to watch out for the Nordic Underworlds as well. Death Goddess Hela definitely isn't a kind-hearted woman, and there's also the likes of Death God Mutu from Phoenicia and Death God Iblis of the Judaism religion. They've been pining for a spot on the four pillars for far too long. On top of that, the Cathayan Underworld has voted against their application to secure a spot among the four pillars on almost every occasion, and they're even more powerful than the Russian Underworld, so we must be very wary of them..."
Qin Ye massaged his own glabella as he asked, "Why? Why is it always Cathay voting against them as opposed to other nations?"
"Because we're stubborn and do whatever we want," the Harken replied in a resigned manner.
That answer is so befitting of the second King Yanluo's personality that I can't refute it at all...
So this is your excuse for leaving me with such a troublesome problem? You're a terrible ally!
Everyone fell silent once again.
They had to invite emissaries from other Underworlds, but they couldn't allow them into Cathay. This was a self-contradicting problem with no solution!
Right at this moment, Qin Ye noticed that Wang Chenghao seemed to want to say something, but was looking very hesitant, and he was almost infuriated to the point of bursting into laughter. "If you have something to say, then spit it out! You've been my assistant for so many years, why are you regressing in your abilities? Where's the flair you had as a school bully back in Clear Creek County? Hurry up and tell me what you have to say!"
"Ahem... That's all in the past; we all have to grow up at some point, don't we?" Wang Chenghao cleared his throat in an awkward manner before putting on a serious expression. "We want to inform them, but we can't let them see, so how about we contact them via a video teleconference?"
Everyone immediately turned to look at Wang Chenghao, and he couldn't help but shudder in the face of their collective gaze.
Is that... Holy shit, it's approval! They're all looking at me with approval! I can't believe I'm seeing approval in Qin Dogballs' eyes! I can die with no regrets now...
Indeed, it didn't take much to make a simple man like him happy.
"Continue," Qin Ye hurriedly urged as he appraised Wang Chenghao with an intrigued expression. Wang Chenghao immediately explained, "Video teleconference technology is a brand new method of communication that allows for the transmission of video and audio data, but doesn't require a physical meeting. I'm sure all of you are aware of what a video teleconference is. The death gods of each nation are very busy individuals, who would want to fly to another country for no reason? We can use this to our advantage to prevent them from physically visiting our nation..."
Before he had a chance to finish, the Harken glared at him and asked, "Video teleconference? How about you tell us the first prerequisite to this piece of technology?"
Qin Ye heaved a forlorn sigh. The first prerequisite was electricity. Without electricity how were they supposed to be able to pull this off?
"Well..." Wang Chenghao scratched his own head in a hesitant manner as he asked, "We only need to connect with the death gods of all of the world's Underworlds, right? Isn't that only a total of 30 to 40 people at most?"
"So? That still doesn't answer the question of where we're going to get electricity from," Qin Ye countered.
If this dumb sack of shit dared to reply with "you are electricty, you are light, you are the only legend...", then he was going to execute him on the spot! [1]
Instead of giving an immediate reply, Wang Chenghao glanced at Zhao Yun, and said, "Well, I figured that General Zhao has used Yin energy as electricity in the past. This method can't be replicated on a widespread basis, but it should at least be able to facilitate contact with 30 to 40 death gods on a single occasion, right? All we need to do is set up a local area network, which can be accomplished by thirteen imperial court guardian squads..."
Qin Ye: "..."
The first part was quite legitimate, but what the hell were these thirteen imperial court guardian squads supposed to be?!
"That's brilliant!" The Harken slammed the table, and due to excessive excitement, it released a powerful burst of Yin energy, causing the entire table to tremor violently. It was so fascinated by the idea that it was even wagging its tongue as it continued, "That's a fantastic idea! Also, if General Zhao were to drag them into this Yin energy network, then we'll be able to infiltrate their nations' protective arrays..."
Before the Harken had a chance to finish, Qin Ye had already turned to Zhao Yun. "General Zhao, would that be possible?"
Zhao Yun immediately rose to his feet before cupping his fist in response. "It is. I am now above the Yama-King level, and a national protective array wouldn't be enough to keep me out!"
His voice was filled with unshakeable confidence.
Qin Ye's breathing was becoming a little heavy as he asked, "Then what if they don't take the bait?"
"They wouldn't dare!" Zhao Yun replied in an implacable voice as his Yin energy erupted forth, and it was as if the entire room had suddenly descended into a boundless abyss, even the Harken's pupils contracted violently upon seeing this.
What incredible power!
Indeed, they were dealing with someone who could infiltrate a nation's protective array at any time and even approach a death god without their detection; who would dare to turn down an invitation from him?
"We're bluffing all of the international Underworlds while secretly infiltrating their protective arrays, killing two birds with one stone... What an incredibly brilliant move!" Zu Chongzhi exclaimed after half a minute of stunned silence. "There's currently widespread doubt being directed toward the Cathayan Underworld, this move will teach them a lesson that they won't forget for at least the next few decades! I can't wait to see the expressions on those death gods' faces when they see General Zhao!"
Indeed, this was a stroke of genius. It was a display of power to the entire world while also dispelling any potential dissatisfaction that the international Underworlds could develop from being denied a visit to Hell.
Qin Ye rose to his feet as he ordered, "Assistant Wang, prepare to contact all of the international Underworlds!"
He licked his lips before continuing, "Tell them that the third Hell is going to be holding its founding ceremony on 1st October! All death gods of all levels are invited to join this video teleconference!"
Wang Chenghao: "..."
Hold on, how were you able to think of all of this?! All I offered was the video teleconference idea! I thought you were all harmless little lambs, but you're all devious wolves!
[1] [My god, this is a real nostalgia trip LOL. These are the lyrics to a song that was super popular in China close to two decades ago (released in 2003). If you'd like to have a listen to this verse, which is the song's chorus, here is a link that starts at the corresponding timestamp: https://youtu.be/gr5fNKK2FaA?t=35]