At the end of the forty-one-year period, Shenzhi Zhenren Qi Jiaozheng led thirty-six high-ranking Taoist priests from Quanzhen Taoism to visit Yunjin Mountain, including many second-grade Taiyi Taoist priests.
Qi Jiao, the head of the Shuzhou Taoist Prefecture, presented gifts and greetings from the Earth Master to the Heavenly Master. On behalf of Quanzhen Taoism, he went to the family temple of Dazhen Mansion to worship Shangguan Wan, the first Earth Master after Xuan Sheng Zhongxing Taoism.
At the same time, she is also the wife of the first heavenly master after Xuansheng Zhongxing Taoism. At this point, Quanzhen Taoism and Zhengyi Taoism can be regarded as having the same ancestor.
On the eighth night of the twelfth lunar month, the Heavenly Master personally held a banquet in Dazhen's Mansion to entertain a group of high-quality Taoist priests from Quanzhen Taoism. Some high-quality Taoist priests from the Quanzhen Taoism, headed by Zhang Kucheng, accompanied him. However, the specific content of the conversation was unknown to outsiders.
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Because the Earth Master is the rotating Grand Master, who exercises the authority of the Grand Master and is in charge of Yujing, he cannot come in person. Master Cihang and Master Donghua respectively serve as the Master of the Duzhi Hall and the Master of the Ziwei Hall, respectively controlling the Taoist sect.
The financial power and the personnel power were all on duty in Yujing City and could not come forward, so these two Zhengtong and Quanzhen Tao's second-largest figures were not directly involved in this matter.
There is also the war in the Western Region Taoist House, which has not completely ended yet. The master of the Western Region Taoist House cannot leave easily. The master of the Qinzhou Taoist House replaces the earth master in the Wanshou Chongyang Palace. As a result, Qi Jiaozheng can only do this.
The head of Shuzhou Daofu came forward.
On the ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, Qi Xuansu had just finished a night of qi training when he found Zhang Yuelu waiting outside his door.
"What's the matter? It's so early?" Qi Xuansu couldn't help but ask after opening the door.
Zhang Yuelu was holding a food box in his hand, which contained a bowl of porridge and a basket of steamed buns. Zhang Yuelu had never touched Yang Chun Shui with his fingers. After all, you can't expect a person who is fasting to cook. This would be too difficult. This is what Zhang Yuelu has never done.
I bought it from the Taiping Inn in the town. It is said to be an inn, and it also functions as a restaurant, but it lacks the function of a hotel.
Zhang Yuelu walked into Qi Xuansu's room and put his breakfast on the table. The small steamer with overlapping drawers was steaming. It seemed simple, but it had a lot to say. Back then, Xuan Sheng liked this kind of food very much. You can start from the first drawer
You can see six small steamed buns with different shapes and colors: the white ones are fine noodles, the black ones are thin buckwheat noodles, the yellow ones are glutinous rice noodles, fine grains and coarse grains, meat fillings and vegetarian fillings, omnivorous ones, which are really exquisite.
Qi Xuansu was used to eating Zhang Yuelu and watching, so he was not polite. After washing his hands, he took the chopsticks, picked up a steamed stuffed bun with plain stuffing and put it into his mouth.
Zhang Yuelu took the opportunity to look at Qi Xuansu's palm and found that it had completely recovered as before.
Qi Xuansu didn't have the habit of being silent while eating and sleeping. After swallowing the bun in his mouth, he asked again: "I always feel that you have
What happened? Did something big happen?"
"There is indeed something going on." Zhang Yuelu didn't like to be pretentious and went straight to the point, "I just heard the news that the head master of Shuzhou Taoist Palace, led by the thirty-six high-quality Taoist priests of Quanzhen Taoism, arrived at Dazhenren Palace yesterday."
Qi Xuansu, who was about to pick up the second bun, suddenly froze and slowly raised his head to look at Zhang Yuelu: "The master of Shuzhou Taoist Palace led thirty-six high-quality Taoist priests of Quanzhen Taoism to visit Dazhen Palace. On the other side, Qingwei Zhenren
I led thirty-six high-ranking Taoist priests from Taiping Dao to the Imperial Palace to meet the Holy Spirit. They were all numbered thirty-six. I’m afraid it’s not a coincidence, right?”
"Of course it's not a coincidence." Zhang Yuelu said, "Taiping Tao wants to test the reactions of all parties. This is the reaction given by Quanzhen Tao and Zhengyi."
Qi Xuansu lost his mind about eating and said: "The underlying meaning of this is that if Taiping Dao and the imperial court join forces to force His Majesty the Emperor to intervene within the Taoist sect to elect the Grand Master, then Zhengyi Dao and Quanzhen Dao will join forces."
"Yes, this is an alliance." Zhang Yuelu nodded.
"In this case, wouldn't the Taoist sect be...divided?" Qi Xuansu said hesitantly.
Zhang Yuelu said: "So in my opinion, now it's a matter of fighting a wolf with a straw, because both sides are afraid."
"What do you mean?" Qi Xuansu asked.
Zhang Yuelu tapped the table with his fingers: "Not only are we afraid of the split of the Taoist sect, Taipingdao is also afraid of the split of the Taoist sect. After all, Taipingdao is also a member of the Taoist sect. Taipingdao keeps moving in order to lead the Taoist sect, not to destroy it.
, what good is a fragmented Taoist sect to them? If the Taoist sect cannot maintain the balance of yin and yang with the imperial court, even if Taiping Taoist wins the position of chief master, it will only become a vassal of the imperial court. For them, it is better to maintain the status quo.
At least it can maintain a relatively aloof status."
Qi Xuansu suddenly said: "I understand, everyone does not want the Taoist sect to be divided, and they all want the position of the great leader, so Taiping Tao wants to force Quanzhen Tao and Zhengyi to retreat through external ties to the court, while Quanzhen Tao and Zhengyi are willing to give up.
They would rather be broken than destroyed, vowing not to retreat to the death, and let Taiping Dao throw the enemy into the trap. Now it depends on who has the stronger determination, whether it is Quanzhen Taoism and Zhengyi who take the initiative to surrender, or Taiping Dao who takes the initiative to give in. If they don't give in, they will always be tough.
I'm afraid it's inevitable that something will go wrong."
"That's probably what it means. Once you fail to grasp it, the consequences will be disastrous.
It's hard to predict." Zhang Yuelu didn't hide his worry, "If a war breaks out, who will benefit the most? It's the imperial court, so the imperial court is most interested in civil strife in the Taoist sect. There are also those secret associations who will take the opportunity to stir up trouble and add fuel to the flames. Just imagine, if the imperial court is on the side of the imperial court.
Fire Taiping Dao, while creating tension between the three paths, or even getting involved personally, for example, if people disguised as Taiping Dao take the initiative to attack Taiping Dao and Zhengdao, what will be the result?"
Qi Xuansu was silent for a moment, and then slowly said: "If something like this happens, Quanzhen Taoism and Zhengyi will be in a dilemma. If they don't fight back, they will bear pressure from within. If they fight back, the situation will be completely out of control. Regardless of the three
Neither the deputy head master Da Zhenren nor anyone else can stop it."
Zhang Yuelu sighed: "Xuansheng said that it is easy to start a war, but it is difficult to end a war. I believe that the three deputy masters all understand this simple truth, but understanding is one thing, whether the situation is
Whether it will develop as they envisioned is another matter."
Qi Xuansu started eating steamed buns again, eating them very quickly, regardless of whether they were meat or vegetable, one bite at a time. After finishing the bowl of white porridge, he said: "This reminds me of the big case in Jiangnan you mentioned. Everyone understands one thing.
, you can take the opportunity to enrich yourself, but you can’t go too far, and at least you have to restrain yourself. These principles are extremely simple, but the problem is that everyone expects others to practice this principle.”
"Those who were executed by the ancestral court, after the shipwreck, they knew that the situation was very dangerous. Duzhitang, Shibotang, and Beichentang had all noticed Jiangnan Daofu, but they still refused to spit out some goods and bring them
Pass the test. As long as the people from Duzhitang and Beichen Hall are gone, Jiangnan Daofu is still under their control. But these people refused to let go. Even if they ransacked their homes and died in the end, they did not pay for it out of their own pockets.
To overcome the calamity, they all hope that others will spit out some, just as they hope that others will be less greedy when they first pass the lard."
"Do you think today's Zhengyi Dao, Taiping Dao, and Quanzhen Dao will be like this? Even if the Taoism splits in the end, no one will retreat. They all hope that others will retreat, and eventually they will all perish."
Zhang Yuelu looked at Qi Xuansu blankly.
Qi Xuansu said: "Although some superiors feel that the difference between them and the people at the bottom is greater than the difference between humans and monsters, but in terms of the most fundamental human nature, how much higher can those big people be?"
Zhang Yuelu said softly "Ah" after a long time, seeming to agree but also helpless.
Qi Xuansu sighed: "You and I speak lightly,
It’s too far away, so it’s useless to talk about it.”
"Then let's talk about something closer to us." Zhang Yuelu changed the topic.
Qi Xuansu asked: "What happened?"
Zhang Yuelu said: "Even if a war is really going to start, it will not happen in a moment. It will take time to integrate the internal affairs, transport supplies, mobilize before the war, and even combine vertical and horizontal lines, etc. Back then, Xuansheng suppressed the Buddhist sect and raised the Taoist sect.
It took us four years to prepare in advance. What I want to say is already close at hand, which is one of the reasons why Zhengyi Dao and Quanzhen Tao responded so quickly this time."
"What on earth is going on?" Qi Xuansu became more and more curious.
Zhang Yuelu said: "After the Sixth Generation of Grand Masters ascended to the throne, the Grand Master's position was vacant. The three deputy Grand Masters took turns exercising the authority of the Grand Master. The Grand Master in charge was called the Rotating Master. This year marks the 40th anniversary of Jiushi.
In the first half of the year, from the first day of the lunar month to the 30th day of the lunar month, the Celestial Master exercises the power of teaching. In the second half of the year, from the first day of July to the 30th day of the lunar month, the Earth Master exercises the power of the chief teaching. Today is the beginning of the twelfth lunar month.
Ninth, there are only two ten days left before the New Year's Eve. From the first day of the first lunar month to the first day of the seventh lunar month, the National Preceptor will become the rotating Grand Immortal and exercise the authority of the Grand Priest."
Qi Xuansu had to admit that this was indeed a matter related to the fate of the two of them. It was said that once the emperor and his ministers were equal, under such a situation, the upper echelons of the Taoist sect should have experienced some personnel changes.
As soon as the Great Master of Quanzhen Dao became the rotating Grand Master, he appointed Zhang Yuelu as the deputy hall leader. Although it was impossible for the Great Master of Taiping Dao to take the initiative to embarrass a junior like Zhang Yuelu, there are no absolutes in the world. Really, because of Li Tianzhen, in
It is not impossible that Zhang Yuelu was dismissed during the personnel changes. Even if Zhang Yuelu was not dismissed as deputy hall leader and transferred to the Requiem Division of the Ancestral Hall, the future would be bleak.
At that time, even if the Earth Master wants to promote Zhang Yuelu, he will have to wait until the Earth Master serves as the rotating Grand Master, or he can only be a deputy palace master in the local Taoist government.
It can be said that Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu are both prosperous and devastated. If Zhang Yuelu leaves Yujing, then Qi Xuansu will probably leave with him. After all, Qi Xuansu has offended Li Tianzhen in a sense, and it is difficult for him to stand out.
After all, such grand propositions as the disputes between the three realms, the rise and fall of Taoist sects, and the general trend of the world are too far away, but personnel changes are a major event that is close at hand.
Qi Xuansu was a layman and suddenly became a little nervous.
Zhang Yuelu sighed: "Let's take it one step at a time."