Yama Rising

Qin Ye took in the expressions in every single person’s eyes. Some evinced worry, some revealed apprehension, while others were simply deep in thought. Rather than to concern themselves with defences from external forces, it would be prudent to first concentrate on consolidating their forces and establishing stability internally. Cathay… no, Insignia Province couldn’t even properly be considered their territory as yet. It would be highly premature to be pointing their sword at the rest of the world right now.

Time is truly running out…

In fact, I would be the first to be placed on the chopping block.

“In the month that is to come, I’d like everyone to focus all of their attention on developing the monetary system as well as the system of loans and returns. But as soon as all of that has been sorted out, and the inventory of our goods have been completed and verified, we’ll immediately be moving into the planning phase for the various industries of Hell.”

Huang Liangchuan’s eyes flickered slightly. There was something on his lips, but he fought it back with great difficulty.

In fact, this was an issue that not even Qin Ye might have spotted. Yet it was precisely because it was such a critical issue that he simply couldn’t afford to disclose it right now. After all, he would still have to give face to the future King Yanluo of Hell, and not disgrace him in front of everybody.

Gu Qing nodded to signify his understanding.

WHAT?!

Oblivious to the stir he had generated, Qin Ye rambled on, “The commercial district will also have to dovetail with the future residential districts in Hell. Therefore, the next thing we’ll have to look into will be transportation infrastructure. In that regard, we’ll need roads. Hell can’t forever remain so tiny…”

Qin Ye turned around with great surprise. This was fantastic news!

However, it clearly wasn’t the time to indulge in his joy and excitement right now. Notwithstanding the prospects of Hell’s advancement, the multitude of things to be sorted through right now was of far greater importance.

Silence.

What’s the meaning of this?

Thus, he began to applaud his own decision.

The rest of the audience, including Arthis, stared vacantly into the air as they perfunctorily applauded Qin Ye’s wise decision. Several seconds later, when Arthis finally managed to pull herself together, she boldly asked the question that was on everyone’s hearts, “Speaking of which… how serious are you about the name?”

It’s bad enough that the commercial district is going to be called ‘The Dead End’, and yet you even want to call our national expressway the ‘Yellow Springs Road’?! Are you trying to pay your last respects to us as soon as possible? Do you know how sad your friends up in the mortal realm are going to be when they learn of these developments?!

“Yes.” Arthis leaned back into her seat and gazed at the roof, “To be more precise, these are flying Yin beasts that travel as quickly as modern day aircrafts. The strangest part about these creatures is that there naturally exists an interspatial realm within its body.”

The entire room was silent again.

‘The Dead End’, ‘Yellow Springs Road’, and ‘Departure Airport’... Surely there could be no cooler names than that!

“No… none at all…” “Anything that pleases my lord…” “We were just too caught up in the depth of profundity of my lord’s thoughts… please give me some time to extricate myself from these mires…” “My lord… are these names… open to discussion?”

ARRRRGHHH… We refuse to participate in the inauguration ceremonies! Just the mere thought of the horrific sight fills me with embarrassment and shame!

“Alright, if there aren’t any further questions, then let’s move on and look at the final agenda for today.” Qin Ye cleared his throat, “We will be establishing Hell’s military forces very soon. Oda Nobunaga will be taking charge as the commander of the troops for the time being. Naturally, the first and second points mentioned earlier are of the highest priority, while the third and fourth points on the agenda are merely of secondary importance for now. I imagine we’ll only need to revisit these secondary issues some time next year. I’m only mentioning them right now in order to prime you for what is to come.”

“Does anyone have anything else you want to raise for now? If not, I hereby conclude this meeting. Oh, by the way, the prime minister of Hell shall henceforth be Arakshasa. She’ll be based in Hell, so you can report directly to her if there’s anything you need. Apart from that, I’d like all of the contents of today’s discussions to be sorted out and organized, and we’ll engross it as a red-letterhead document to be disseminated accordingly. I’ll carve out a seal for these official documents. Finally, remember to send me daily updates for my perusal. No works are to be carried out without my prior approval.”

Bloody hell! Can’t we have a proper conversation about these things anymore?! I’m just sitting here, minding my own business, and I’m suddenly appointed as the prime minister of Hell?! And it’s fine to be a prime minister, but on what basis should you be working your ass off making money in the mortal realm, while I stay here and do my best to look pretty like a wallflower?!

Besides, I can make money in the mortal realm as well! Who says you can’t make money off live streaming? And you’re telling me that I’ve got to use a genset if I want to play computer games right now? What about internet access?!

Truth be told, Arthis was fully aware that there was no correlation between her existence as a Judge and her inability to access the internet at all.

The internet might not have changed the lives of all human beings, but it had most certainly changed the life of a particular Infernal Judge.

It was Huang Liangchuan.

Huang Liangchuan looked around warily. After ascertaining that they were the only ones left in the room, he coughed lightly and began to speak with caution, “Lord Qin… earlier… I noticed a slight issue that has been bugging me all this while, and I hope that Lord Qin could shed some light on this.”

Huang Liangchuan sat down, and then paused for a few moments as he deliberated over the exact words to use, before finally speaking cautiously, “Lord Qin, about the commercial district, I wonder who is going to be purchasing these goods from us?”

He wasn’t stupid. He simply hadn’t been exposed to such works on a grand scale before. Thus, as soon as Huang Liangchuan probed further at the crux of the issue, he immediately realized where he had gone wrong.

The production lines which he had brought back to Hell weren’t for commercialized goods. Rather, they were mainly for the production of basic necessities. How much were these things worth? Even if every single citizen of Hell bought a single article of these basic necessities, he would sell out in no time. After all, Hell was lacking in every sense right now. Anything that they produced would naturally be snapped up in just an instant.

Or would they no longer sell them?

What if they were to implement governmental subsidies?

You blew hundred of millions in RMB just for these crappy, disposable goods… How are you going to justify having that rewarding cup of hand-ground coffee that day?!

Huang Liangchuan gritted his teeth, “Initially, I didn’t. But… after Lady Arakshasa talked about the situation in the world right now, I suddenly had an idea…”

“Establish trade routes!” Huang Liangchuan nodded earnestly, “Since the underworlds are a reflection of the corresponding mortal realms, then I think we can safely assume that certain goods may be lacking or be in higher demand in certain underworlds. There has to be a market for the goods which we’re producing. In fact, there are no products in the world that there isn’t a market for! It all depends on whether we can match the right product to the right buyer!”

“Production for one’s own consumption is one of the most wasteful and meaningless endeavors possible. It’s only by establishing a trade route that we will truly be able to prosper in the long run!”

1. The chinese words used here are 驾鹤机场. The first two words are actually directly translated to ‘riding a crane’. This refers to the idea that people ride a crane into the sky when they gain immortality, and it is a euphemistic way of referring to a person who has passed on. The joke doesn’t work well in english, so I’ve taken the liberty to simply call it Departure Airport instead, in line with the dad joke that relates both to flight, and can also be used euphemistically to refer to someone who has passed on.

2. A red-letterhead document is an official document with the name of the issuing government agency printed in red at the top, circulated to relevant bodies.