Thursday, good for going to work, good for... collecting a salary?
Li Banjia woke up early and, out of habit, picked up his phone to open the "Nine-Five Supreme Simulator". Sure enough, the [Imperial Treasury] balance had changed from yesterday's 320 taels to 321 taels.
[System Prompt: Daily salary (Rank 9 Junior) +1 tael has been deposited into the Imperial Treasury.]
"Not bad, a daily wage of one yuan, a monthly income of thirty, my ironclad rice bowl!" Li Banjia thought with satisfaction. Although this bit of money wasn't even enough to buy a decent cup of coffee, who doesn't love the joy of getting something for free?
After being promoted to "Rank 9 Junior", the [Imperial Court] interface also looked visibly a bit "more luxurious"—the "Draft Version" that originally followed the words "Zichen Palace (Draft Version)" had changed to "Initial Construction Version", and the pixel grain of the background image seemed to have become slightly more delicate.
Wang Mengmeng's entry still hung lonely in the [List of Officials]:
[Documented Female Official (Rank 9 Junior): Wang Mengmeng | Loyalty: 80 | Current Status: Energetic (Standby) | Supporting Ability: E (Potential D)]
The most crucial part was that the [Issue Imperial Edict] button was now highlighted and available!
Li Banjia curiously tapped into it, and a scroll-like interface unfolded, with several options appearing on it:
[Diligent Edict]: Issued to a designated official, slightly enhancing their focus and efficiency when executing specific tasks. Consumes [Imperial Treasury Silver] -2, or [Imperial Majesty] -1. (Current Imperial Majesty: 0)
[Pacification Edict]: Issued to a designated official, slightly increasing their loyalty (effect is significant when loyalty is below 60). Consumes [Imperial Treasury Silver] -5, or [Imperial Majesty] -2.
[Reward Simulation]: (Grayed out, prompts that the imperial treasury must be abundant or special items are required)
"Imperial Majesty?" Li Banjia noticed this new term. A system pop-up window appeared right on cue:
[Tutorial: Imperial Majesty and Loyalty]
[Imperial Majesty: The embodiment of imperial prestige, obtained through completing important tasks, making wise decisions, successfully managing the imperial court, and other actions. Can be used to issue some advanced edicts, or produce a deterrent/encouraging effect on officials.]
[Loyalty: The core attitude of officials toward His Majesty. Affected by His Majesty's Charisma, fairness of decisions, task rewards and punishments, and certain edicts. High loyalty can improve task completion quality and efficiency; excessively low loyalty may lead to dawdling, errors, or even "resignation" (loss of the official). Your Majesty, please balance benevolence with majesty and treat your subjects well.]
"Goodness, there's even KPIs and the risk of resignation?" Li Banjia's eye twitched uncontrollably as he read. "This is more troublesome than being a real boss!"
His main task today was to continue refining the detailed "brilliant idea" proposal for Zhao Dezhu. They had to present it on Monday, and time was tight. The data Wang Mengmeng organized yesterday had helped tremendously, but the report still needed some more intuitive charts to support the arguments.
"Clang—!" The system task arrived again.
[Trigger Tutorial Task: [Initial Trial of Imperial Majesty - Diligent Edict].]
[Task Objective: Aiming at the refinement work of the "brilliant idea" proposal, issue a [Diligent Edict] to official [Wang Mengmeng], assigning her to make data charts and ensuring the chart quality reaches "Good" or above.]
[Task Reward: [Imperial Majesty] +5, [Imperial Treasury Silver] +30.]
"Just in time!" Li Banjia thought, this task was truly timely help.
He opened [Issue Imperial Edict] and selected [Diligent Edict]. The target person was naturally Wang Mengmeng.
The edict content box popped up, and after a moment of thought, he typed: "We hereby order Documented Female Official Wang Mengmeng to turn the competing product data summarized yesterday into PPT presentation charts, requiring them to be clear, aesthetically pleasing, and professional. Be sure to complete them before leaving work today, no delays allowed."
System prompt: [Issuing this edict requires consuming [Imperial Treasury Silver] -2. Confirm?] (Insufficient Imperial Majesty, automatically chose silver for payment.)
"Confirm!" The Imperial Treasury balance became 319 taels.
A barely perceptible stream of golden light (still fifty-cent special effects) flew out from the system interface and merged into Wang Mengmeng's entry. Her "Current Status" seemed to flicker and change to "Diligently Attending to Duties (Edict Blessed)".
Li Banjia put away his phone and walked over to Wang Mengmeng's workstation.
"Mengmeng, morning." He tried his best to make his tone sound both amiable and carrying a trace of unquestionable "leadership aura" (although he felt extremely awkward).
"The data I gave you yesterday—I'd like to ask for your help in turning them into a few PPT charts to use in Monday's presentation. It's mainly comparing our follower interaction volume and content popularity trends with competing products A, B, and C. Try to make it as intuitive and pretty as possible, preferably by today if you can."
Wang Mengmeng immediately put down the work in her hand and looked at him with bright eyes: "Got it, Brother Jia! No problem! Leave it to me!" She seemed to have even more drive and focus than usual.
Li Banjia nodded with satisfaction, though he muttered inwardly, "Could this 'Diligent Edict' actually carry a mind-control effect? She looks like she's pumped on adrenaline."
All afternoon, Wang Mengmeng buried her head in front of the computer, frowning in thought from time to time, her fingers dancing flexibly between the keyboard and mouse. Li Banjia also threw himself into the final polishing of the text portion of the report. With the blessing of [Policy Discourse] Lv.1, he felt that his analysis and phrasing were much more in-depth and persuasive than before.
Near the end of the workday, Wang Mengmeng walked over carrying a USB drive, a trace of anticipation and nervousness on her face: "Brother Jia, the charts are done. Take a look and see if they'll work."
Li Banjia took the USB drive and plugged it into the computer. Several PPT charts unfolded before his eyes—bar charts, line graphs, pie charts, with professional color matching, clearly labeled data, and even a few dynamic effects he hadn't thought of. They were both aesthetically pleasing and crystal clear.
"Mengmeng, this... did you make this?" Li Banjia was somewhat surprised. The quality of these charts was even better than he had anticipated, completely reaching a level where he could report to Zhao Dezhu.
"Mm!" Wang Mengmeng nodded vigorously, looking at him expectantly. "I referenced the chart styles of some industry reports, hoping it can help Brother Jia."
"More than just helping, this is truly a timely rescue!" Li Banjia praised sincerely. It seemed those 2 taels of silver hadn't been spent in vain! "Extremely well done! Thank you for your hard work!"
"As long as it helps Brother Jia!" Wang Mengmeng smiled so brightly her eyes curved into crescents, a happy blush blooming on her cheeks.
The system prompt tone rang out once more.
"Clang—!"
[The task [Initial Trial of Imperial Majesty - Diligent Edict] is complete! Evaluation: Excellent (Edict was appropriate, subordinate gave her all, charts were exquisite, Dragon's heart is greatly pleased).]
[Task Reward: [Imperial Majesty] +5, [Imperial Treasury Silver] +30.]
Li Banjia's [Imperial Majesty] went from 0 to 5, and the [Imperial Treasury] also reached 349 taels.
He looked and saw that Wang Mengmeng's [Loyalty] was still 80, but her "Current Status" had changed to "Deeply Content (Full of a Sense of Achievement)."
Li Banjia inserted the charts made by Wang Mengmeng into his own report, and the professionalism and persuasiveness of the entire proposal instantly rose another notch. Now, he had a bit more confidence regarding Monday's presentation.
"It seems this makeshift troupe of a 'Rank 9 Junior Secretary' plus a 'Documented Female Official' isn't half bad after all." Li Banjia stroked his chin, looking at the system interface, deep in thought.
Managing an "Imperial Court" (with only one person in it) didn't seem that difficult either? He just wondered if, when there were more people later on, it would really turn into a chaotic Shura field.
Tomorrow is Friday, go through the report one last time, and then the weekend... The day of the decisive battle at the Forbidden City's summit (Zhao Dezhu's office) was not far away!