Chapter 47: I am an Otaku

  Cao Huachun was put in his place. Yang's heart felt a sense of joy and reform.

  Today is a joyful day. Not only have I settled the group of ministers, but my own proposal has also been implemented, and I can also settle a Mongolian tribe as a deep hand in Mongolia, and I have also dealt with Cao Huachun, and the "Military Intelligence Bureau" has opened.

  Yang Gaizhi was delighted. He thought to himself, everything is going smoothly, except for the money, and the person in charge of the auction, Li Laifu, is not making any progress at all. Yang Gaizhi decided to use his "advanced" experience to help this old man open his eyes.

  "Summon that Li Lai Fu, the one who is supposed to sell things for me. This guy hasn't even sold a single item yet." Yang Guifei complained incessantly.

  "Yes, Your Majesty. I'll go and do it now." Wang Chengen responded, but the sky was already late, and he had to hurry to find someone to see Li Laifu, otherwise it would be too late after the palace gate closed.

  ……

  Li Lai Fu has also been eating poorly and sleeping restlessly lately. He doesn't know if it's a calamity from heaven or the ancestral tomb emitting green smoke, but he was unexpectedly favored by the Emperor and tasked with doing things for him. This is also an imperial decree, although it's not a formal one. It's just that he's secretly doing some tasks for the Emperor. Logically speaking, this should be a very exciting thing, but unfortunately, the task given to him by the Emperor hasn't even started yet. He has disappointed the Emperor's heavy trust in vain. Li Lai Fu is both afraid and anxious. He fears that if the Emperor becomes unhappy, he will lose his means of making a living.

  ……

  "Old master... Outside, there's a little eunuch who says he wants to see you..." The servant hadn't even finished speaking when Li Laifu had already jumped up. Not at all like a man in his 40s or 50s. What was bound to happen has happened... Just as Li Laifu was still hesitating about whether to leave a will for his family and divide up the family property, the little eunuch had already pulled him into the palace.

  ……

  "Li Laifu, I entrusted you with this matter, but you haven't achieved anything at all?" Yang Gaofeng asked abruptly.

  "Li Lai Fu, a humble villager, deserves to die ten thousand times for betraying the sacred trust..." Li Lai Fu had no choice but to kowtow, with his buttocks in the air and his head to the ground.

  "Well, get up and talk about your situation, how come it's been so long without any progress?"

  "The humble subject does not dare to rise, and begs Your Majesty to allow the humble subject to kneel on the ground to answer." Li Laifu still had his buttocks facing backwards, his head knocked against the ground, and did not get up.

  "...Yang Reform is speechless, in fact, when it comes to others kneeling to himself, Yang Reform has an attitude of indifference. Having undergone nine years of compulsory education, he still knows something about "equality for all", but now that he's the emperor, his attitude is: if you want to kneel, then kneel."

  "Then let's talk about why you haven't sold a single painting." Yang wanted to discuss with him the reasons for his failure, summarize the experience, and correct his attitude. Yang didn't believe it. The collection of the Ming Dynasty, which had been accumulated for hundreds of years, was not appreciated by anyone and couldn't be sold.

  "...the humble subject dares to beg, I hope Your Majesty will first pardon the humble subject's crime and not blame the humble subject." Li Lai Fu gritted his teeth again and again, finally deciding to say something. Otherwise, if things continued like this, the Emperor might spare him once, but there was no guarantee he would be so lenient next time. He decided to take a gamble and speak his mind. If not, he would suffocate from holding it in."

  "Alright! I pardon you of all crimes!" Yang reform was puzzled, could it be that there were still some unfathomable secrets?

  "I humbly report to Your Majesty, I, a humble commoner, dare to speak the truth. The antiques and calligraphy given to me by the eunuchs in the palace all have the imperial seal of approval. Not only did I not sell them, but others who saw them were so frightened that they thought I had stolen them from the palace and was selling them off. Now, whenever people see me, they keep their distance, afraid of being tainted by bad luck... I..." As he spoke, he became choked with emotion and tears streamed down his face. A man in his 40s or 50s, sobbing and tearfully unable to speak further. Yang Reform looked on, feeling a strong sense of disgust.

  "What's going on, Da Ban? How can this be?" Yang Gaizhi felt strange. He had clearly told Wang Chengen to take out the things from the palace that were easy to sell and didn't have any obvious imperial marks, so why did he give Li Laifu all these things with clear imperial signs? How are they supposed to sell them now?

  "I reported to Your Majesty, I don't know myself. Since Your Majesty wanted to sell things from the palace, I handed this matter over to the eunuch of the inner transport storehouse." Wang Cheng'en couldn't possibly be in charge of this matter all the time, his main duty was still to take care of the emperor. If he had to pay attention to such trivial matters every day, then the emperor would have to be taken care of by someone else. This is clearly not feasible.

  "What is the Imperial Warehouse? Who is that eunuch? Summon him for me." Yang Reform was puzzled, what is this Imperial Warehouse thing? Could it be the department in charge of managing the treasures of my imperial palace?

  ……

  A moment.

  A eunuch came forward: "Your humble servant Li Zong has come to pay his respects. Long live the Emperor, may he live for ten thousand years."

  "Are you that eunuch... in charge of the inner storehouse?" Yang asked. The eunuch was a formal official title, with the full name being Inner Storehouse Manager Eunuch.

  "Your Majesty, it is I."

  "Li Lai Fu said you always give him some paintings and calligraphy with obvious royal marks, so he can't sell any of them? Is this true?" Yang Gai was a bit annoyed. This auctioning off the royal collection of paintings and calligraphy was his own brilliant idea as a "salary slave" to pay back debts on time. How dare this servant ruin his plan? Did he want the people from the "bank" to come and demand payment? Or the people from the "court" to come and seize the house? Seize the car?

  "I implore Your Majesty, I didn't intentionally want to give him those items with inscriptions and calligraphy, it's just that... sob, I couldn't bear the thought of the imperial collection being taken away by outsiders! Your Majesty! ...It has always been the case that treasures from all over the world flow into the palace, not the other way around! Your Majesty... the reputation of the imperial family is at stake! Your Majesty..." As he spoke, this eunuch named Li Zongyou burst into tears.

  Yang's reform was very annoying, and he encountered a miser. Logically speaking, the treasures collected in the imperial palace would not flow out, even if they did, it would be called a reward, and others who got them would have to wrap them in yellow silk and offer incense, which is completely different from Yang's "selling things".

  "You're treating my words as nothing but a breeze? I said to sell some of the collections... not to take some unsellable things and deceive me..." Yang was also furious, shouting loudly. He didn't want to sell his family's collections to raise money either, but how could he delay the bank's "mortgage"? In a few days, people from the "court" would come to their door to seize their property.

  “……I don't dare……” The eunuch named Li Zongyou was scared out of his wits. He didn't even dare to cry. He knelt there trembling, and if he had known the emperor would be so furious, he wouldn't have made things difficult for Li Laifu. Actually, he still had some private motives. Eunuchs usually stole things from the palace and sold them outside, and they would take a few things that didn't have obvious marks or were easily damaged, which could be reported as "consumed". Li Zongyou was in charge of the inner warehouse, so it was even more convenient for him to handle these things. However, this time, the emperor actually asked an outsider to sell palace goods, which clearly "crossed the line". So, Li Zongyou had a plan. On one hand, he gave Li Laifu some items with imperial marks and on the other hand, he cried out his loyalty in front of the emperor. After doing this several times, the emperor became impatient and killed Li Laifu, so his own business wouldn't be disturbed anymore. He could do whatever he wanted. But he didn't expect the emperor to be so eager to sell his family's things, without caring about reputation or rules at all.

  Yang's reform is a nameless fire burning fiercely in his chest! Since becoming the emperor of this Ming dynasty, he has never been so furious, for the first time having the idea of using imperial power to decide someone's fate.

  "...You, pack up and go to Fengyang tomorrow to guard the mausoleum. I don't want any slaves who can't understand my words..." Yang's expression was terrifying, as if he had made a major decision, but then suddenly calmed down, seeming to have let out a sigh of relief.

  ……

  Inside the room, only the eunuch Li Zongyou's voice could be heard crying and begging for mercy. The guard quickly dragged him out, and his voice grew fainter and fainter. It finally quieted down.

  Yang Gaizhi let out a sigh of relief. Just now, he didn't know what was wrong with him, suddenly flew into a rage, and the words that came to his lips were actually "beheaded". Yang Gaizhi, this young man who was born in New China, grew up under the red flag, and experienced nine years of compulsory education, suddenly woke up, startled out a cold sweat, and immediately changed his words to go to Fengyang to guard the mausoleum, which is where Wei Zhongxian went.

  Clubbing to death is just beating someone to death, it's so cruel. Yang Kai was thinking of killing someone in his rage, and he was shocked by his own behavior! It seems that some factors left in this body are still playing tricks on him, and he needs to be careful. If he's not careful, he'll become the tyrant Chongzhen from history again. Clubbing to death, killing people... once you start, you can't stop. The chaotic situation at the end of the Ming dynasty has just begun, and he can't bear to kill people to vent his anger. What will happen in the future? Will he become a killing maniac? A demon who kills people to vent his anger?

  Yang Reform was shocked in his heart! He was extremely afraid, he was just a house man, a 21st-century online house man, not a ruthless person, nor a killer who could kill without blinking. A special soldier who had crossed over, and there was no such attitude of taking killing as a joke in his heart. Years of education made Yang Reform unbearable to take others' lives for granted.

  Yang was exhausted from reforming, his whole body was sweating, and he didn't feel comfortable at all.

  Wang Cheng'en knelt on the ground, saying he was guilty and had not done a good job with the task entrusted to him by the Emperor.

  Yang recovered after half a day, looking at Wang Chengen with exhaustion, saying: "It's not necessary for the great companion to be like this, get up, and promote another one in the inner Chongyun warehouse. This time it should be done well..."

  ……

  Li Laifu watched the emperor's anger on one side, and a eunuch changed from a high-ranking person to a worthless garbage in an instant. He was so frightened that he didn't dare to raise his head with his head buried, and he wished his ears could be longer to cover his own ears, so as not to hear these terrible voices.

  ……

  Yang Reform sat for a while before feeling better, and Wang Cheng'en carefully handed him a towel to wipe the sweat from his face. Wang Cheng'en couldn't help but think that it was strange how such a small matter could cause the Emperor to break out in such a cold sweat. It wasn't as if it were something serious - at most, it would just be punishing an eunuch. This kind of thing happened every day within the palace walls. But why did the master of this palace, the Emperor, react with such terror?

  Yang Reform sat in the chair with his eyes closed, thinking quickly about what kind of idea he should give to this Li Lai Fu to make some quick, lasting and stable money, so that his wallet would be a little thicker.

  After thinking for half a day, Yang Reform suddenly had an idea and made up his mind.