Early the next morning, everyone from the Taoist sect took a boat to the Jade Palace in Xuan Shang Beifang.
Whether the Jade Emperor is big or not, compared with the Wanshou Chongyang Palace, the Wanxiang Taoist Palace, the Taiping Palace, and the Daxueshan Palace, it is indeed smaller. It can be said that it is small, but it is definitely not small. It is well-deserved in the imperial capital where every inch of land is precious.
The first palace in China is far inferior to many royal palaces.
Such a huge Taoist temple will naturally not lack a place for each person to live. As a Taoist priest of the fourth grade offering wine, Qi Xuansu also has the position of director, so he was assigned a separate courtyard, and there was also an exclusive Taoist priest who was responsible for taking care of his daily life.
daily life.
Of course, if you are willing to buy a private house outside, the Imperial Capital Taoist Office will never stop you, let alone take back the allocated residence. However, the housing prices in Imperial Capital are astonishing. If you want to buy a house outside, I am afraid that not ordinary Taoist priests can do it. ??
Qi Xuansu has no idea of going out to live for the time being, just because he is short of money. If he lives in the Jade Palace, he will not only save the rent, but also save daily expenses.
Then there is the arrangement of positions. In the past, although Qi Xuansu was the Taoist priest in charge, it was a false position because he had no specific subordinates and no specific responsibilities, so he just had an empty name. But this time he came to the Imperial Capital.
In the Taoist government, the vacuous position was changed to a real position, just like the Hanlin in the Hanlin Academy released local officials. Although the grades were equal, the actual power was not equal at all.
A poor Hanlin scholar, even a fourth-rank lecturer, can only rely on his salary to survive. If his family is not in a good situation, he may have to borrow money to survive. But a prefect of a place, who is also a fourth-rank scholar, is known as "three years"
Qing Zhifu "one hundred thousand snowflakes and silver", the difference is huge, not even a tiny bit.
The same is true for Qi Xuansu today. He used to be a bare-bones chief, but now he has become a real power chief, and he is still biased toward military positions.
The Taoist priests and spiritual officers of the Taoist sect are very similar to the civil servants and military generals of the previous dynasties. In the previous dynasty, the civil servants controlled the generals, while in the Taoist sect, the Taoist priests controlled the spiritual officers. In many cases, the spiritual officers charged into battle, but the Taoist priests were responsible for the command.
However, Taoist priests cannot be completely regarded as civil servants, because the Taoist priests themselves are even more powerful than spiritual officials. They are somewhat similar to the governors and admirals of the Daxuan court. The governors do not mean they are purely civil servants. Most governors are
He is a man who is both civil and military, a general and a prime minister. It is undeniable that the number of Taoist priests in the Taoist sect has increased more and more in recent years, but the real people at the top have still maintained a considerable quality.
Cut down enemies with swords and plan strategies.
In addition to Shangsantang, local Daofu also has a certain number of spiritual officials, such as Kunlun Daofu and Xiyu Daofu. These two Daofu have more spiritual officials than other Daofu. In local Daofu, they can directly
Taoist priests who lead spiritual officials can all be classified as "important positions". If a young man is placed in such a position, it means that he will be reused.
Qi Xuansu was assigned such a position at this time. He had two deacons and Taoist priests and four fourth-grade spiritual officials under his command. Each fourth-grade spiritual official had nine subordinates.
Nineteen spiritual officers, plus four fourth-grade spiritual officers, totaling four hundred people.
There are only so many people in some small gangs in the world, but these small gangs are just a ragtag group of people, and they cannot be compared with the elite spiritual officers of the Taoist sect.
After Qi Xuansu learned about the official appointment from Shi Bingyun, he was silent for a long time, and then asked: "What are my specific responsibilities? The imperial capital has its own heavy troops to guard it, as well as major government offices, hidden dragons and crouching tigers. It seems that it is not our turn to guard it." Imperial Capital.”
Shi Bingyun said: "The current situation in the Imperial Capital is that there are almost no major cases related to secret associations, and various small cases are almost constant every day. Major cases related to temples and court affairs are decided by His Majesty the Emperor, and it is not our turn. Even if the Taoist sect really needs to intervene, the Da Zhen people will personally intervene. Other cases are handled by the Criminal Department, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and the Dali Temple's Three Law Departments. There is no need for us to get involved. We can just stay away. Therefore, our responsibilities are only two-fold. The first is to arrest various evil cults hiding in the Imperial City, and the second is to correct some issues related to moral ethics."
Qi Xuansu was not surprised or unfamiliar with the first one, but the second one made him confused: "Moral atmosphere?"
Shi Bingyun smiled when he heard this and said: "It seems that you have never stayed in a local Taoist government. Except for a few special Taoist houses such as Kunlun Taoist House and Xiyu Taoist House, this is the responsibility of almost all Taoist houses, similar to the Confucian sect back then. Maintain etiquette."
Qi Xuansu immediately understood: "Although our Taoist sect criticizes the Confucian etiquette, saying that the etiquette imprisons thoughts and restricts people's hearts, we have to admit that there is no circle without rules. There must be a clear moral standard and law that cooperate with each other to restrain the world. , and implement it with forceful means.”
Shi Bingyun nodded: "That's what it means. All local governments have the responsibility to correct moral trends. I just handled a case not long ago, and it was called cultivating outstanding women. From appearance and posture, behavior and speech, dress to playing and playing chess Painting and calligraphy are taught by experts, and there are various strategies to attack men, such as how to judge the size of a man's property, etc. In fact, they are just like raising thin horses. This is a corrupt moral atmosphere, so I call this group of people They were all buttoned up, took off their brocade clothes, put on coarse linen clothes, and sent them to work on the farms outside the city. This was to combat unhealthy tendencies and promote the 'thrifty' virtue of Taishang Taozu."
Qi Xuansu asked a fatal question: "Raising thin horses is a bad moral custom, but what about prostitutes in the brothel? Is it a bad moral custom?"
Shi Bingyun was silent for a moment and said slowly: "This is our problem. In principle, this is true, but in reality, as long as it is approved by the court, we cannot force it.
.In the final analysis, the two standards are inevitable and inevitable."
Qi Xuansu lamented: "No wonder in the past, Confucianism was criticized. It was full of benevolence, righteousness and morality, but full of men stealing and women prostitutes."
Shi Bingyun sighed: "Whoever holds the position of co-owner of the world will be scolded."
Qi Xuansu asked again: "Where is the so-called limit of the court's permission?"
Shi Bingyun had a headache. This kid didn't seem to understand anything, and the questions he asked were more difficult than the last. It was not like someone who didn't understand could ask them. However, she still patiently explained: "The so-called Dinggu innovation, to put it bluntly, It is a profound qualitative change in the development process of economic material and worldly people. After Daxuan replaced Dawei, of course Dinggu reform was also required, but Dinggu reform was an extremely complicated process, which was filled with a lot of contradictions and struggles. There are ideological conflicts between the old and the new, conflicts of interests, etc. Many people who advocate innovation change their faces when it comes to their own interests. It can be said that there is me in you and you in me, which makes innovative measures sometimes unsustainable. Do not obey authority, lest you cause irreparable mistakes by being too radical."
"At this point, there are two very significant examples, one is to rectify eunuchs, and the other is to rectify prostitutes. The former is a torture of men, and the latter is a torture of women. Both of them should be completely abolished. Today we Let’s not talk about the former, only the latter. On this point, in fact, before Emperor Gaozu entered the customs, he had already started trial implementation in prefectures and counties in Liaodong. The reasons are very complicated. The main reason is of course not because of morality, but because of the people at that time. Due to the lack of population in Liaodong, the shackles of ethics on women had to be lifted, allowing women to go out of the house and participate in various labors to make up for the lack of population. However, this reason cannot be put into words, so in name it is still based on morality. Promote and publicize at all levels.”
"After entering the customs and seizing the world, the banner of morality will continue to promote women's independence and autonomy, so places like brothels must be banned. But the problem is that in reality, such places have a certain existence significance , there are needs from both sides. It is not surprising that men have needs. However, some shameless women are used to living a prosperous life similar to that of rich girls. They think that they are born with capital, are indolent, and are unwilling to support themselves. They were willing to work, but just wanted to sell their bodies. There were also many powerful figures secretly adding fuel to the flames, preaching that blocking was better than sparing. The key was that the main focus of the court at that time was on recovering the Western Regions, reforming the tax system, surveying and measuring the world's land, and attacking the gentry. , rectifying the administration of officials, while the Taoist sect’s main focus was on integrating the three internal sects of the Taoist sect, de-Confucianizing, suppressing the ancient immortals, developing creations, and responding to the challenges of Buddhism. They did not pay too much attention to this matter, so the brothel still remained. "
“If we fail to reform when we rebuild the new order, we will think about reform later.
It's very difficult. However, the court did not do anything. It regulated and rectified the remaining brothels. The reason why brothels are said to be places that torture women is because they are filled with a large number of forced prostitution, human trafficking, and lynching. Even illegal actions such as forcing people to die, and engaging in this kind of special business for many years will greatly damage the body and mind of prostitutes. Therefore, the imperial court carried out special rectification on these aspects. All women engaged in such industries must There must be a licensing document issued by the court, and the brothel must also have an official license to operate, and the Jiaofang Division will come down every month to conduct inspections. If any of the above illegal practices are found, the relevant qualifications will be revoked immediately and the parties involved will be severely punished."
"You just asked where the limit of the court's permission lies, and it lies in this document."
"In addition, since our Taoist sect established the Wanxiang Taoist Palace and started to adopt orphans, the 'good old days' when brothels spent a small amount of money to randomly adopt orphans from poor families are gone forever. In addition, we are not allowed to buy and sell people at will, and we are not allowed to force girls into prostitution. It must be based on the principle of women's free will, and brothels are naturally in an immoral position and belong to the lower class. Therefore, the life of brothels is not very easy. Many small brothels have been closed. In other words, except for those black and white brothels without licenses, In addition to workshops, brothels that are still open for business all have big backgrounds and strong backing, and the forces behind them are intertwined. This is evident from the fact that a 'Purple Fairy Mountain' was involved in the second major Jiangnan case."
Qi Xuansu said thoughtfully: "For example, let's take the Li family."
"You mean Li Qingnu." Shi Bingyun smiled, "In my opinion, she is not a prostitute. She is famous in Beijing for her singing and dancing music, but she still retains her virginity. If you were from the Li family,
Are you willing to let her flatter you and make fun of her? And she still bears the surname of the Li family, which is the surname of Taishang Daozu and Xuan Sheng. Without such abuse, the Li family would not make such bad money. In fact, the Li family wants to create
With the reputation of "everyone" and a high air of dignity, it is possible to donate to the emperor in the future. However, considering that His Majesty the Emperor is old, he may not be interested in women, and the Li family may also
Leaving her in the Li family and treating her as an adopted daughter is something no one can predict."
Qi Xuansu couldn't help but sigh, it turned out that the water inside was so deep, Shi Bingyun didn't look very reliable, but after all, it was the junior sister who once competed with Master Cihang. Her words came into the room, and he suddenly understood.
After Shi Bingyun finished explaining, he assigned specific tasks to Qi Xuansu: "In addition to familiarizing yourself with the situation in the imperial capital, your task in the past month is to conduct special investigations and rectification on the moral atmosphere, and to be a moral defender."
Qi Xuansu suddenly asked: "By the way, Master Shi, does the 'Old Qin' you call have such an industry?"
Shi Bingyun laughed dumbly: "With me watching from the side, I'm sorry he doesn't have the guts yet."