Pawn Crossing the River

g In the next period of time, Qi Xuansu will step up his efforts to finish the matters at hand and prepare for "retreat".

Qi Xuansu's main task is still the word "money".

As Chen Shuwen said, Daomen and Daxuan are actually in an upward expansion stage, and should not have experienced such a financial deficit in the downward stage. The key is that Daomen launched two large-scale wars in succession due to internal struggles, resulting in a short period of financial deficit. Tightness is similar to the backlash caused by Master Landa using the "Taiyi Technique" four times in a short period of time. It is not that Master Landa has insufficient cultivation, but that he has used it too hastily. If used separately, it will never be like this. .

There is no need to say much about the Fenglinzhou War. Qi Xuansu has experienced it personally and knows it very well.

As for the war in the Western Regions, Qi Xuansu had caught up to the end. When he joined Tiangang Hall, it was already at the end. One division of Tiangangtang was completely lost in this war and merged into other divisions. Only then did Zhang Yuelu reorganize the Yaoguang Division.

This war was even more tragic than the Fenglinzhou war, because in the Fenglinzhou battlefield, the Daomen had a huge army of servants of Prime Minister Toyotomi, while in the Western Region battlefield, the Daomen died in person.

The cause of this war was the Taoist sect's policy towards the grassland countries.

During the Qi Dynasty of the Li family, the country's national power reached its peak, and its emperor was known as the Khan of Heaven. His territory was vast, including the Western Regions and grasslands in addition to the Central Plains. The Jin Dynasty after Da Qi was weak and abandoned its cities and lands, leaving only the core nineteen states.

At the end of the Jin Dynasty, the Golden Horde Khanate went south, the Jin Dynasty was destroyed, and the Golden Horde Khanate took over the Central Plains and established a short-lived rule. At this time, the Golden Horde reached its peak, with the grasslands, the Western Regions, the Rakshasa Kingdom, and the Central Plains all under its control. Its military front was directed towards the Western Continent, and it launched an expedition to Fenglin Continent.

Later, the Wei Dynasty overthrew the rule of the Golden Horde and made it withdraw from the Central Plains. However, the Golden Horde Khanate still retained the Western Regions and grasslands. When Daxuan replaced Dawei, they gradually recovered most of the Western Regions and part of the grasslands during the Daqi period. This was the origin of the Xiting Protectorate and the Beiting Protectorate.

At this time, the Rakshasa Kingdom also broke away from the control of the Golden Horde.

Although a skinny camel was larger than a horse, the Golden Horde was still huge and occupied vast grasslands. However, the Golden Horde has been completely divided and turned into dozens of tribes, some of which still worship shamanism, while others have converted to Buddhism.

Between the Taoist Gate in the East and the Holy Court in the West, there is Shamanism as a buffer, which is also one of the five religions of the "Heavenly Court".

Therefore, the situation in Xiting and Beiting is very complicated. The Taoist sect has continued the policies of Daqi. Of course, this is due to the Li family. The Li family has always claimed to be descendants of Daqi. There is a clear line from Mr. Li to the Li family. , so the alignment system is highly respected.

However, the Da Qi system does have merits. At that time, Li Qi was at the top of the world, with the most advanced productivity, culture, the most powerful army, and the vastest territory. This was something that the later Jin and Wei could not compare with. , and its system is also fundamentally different and different from the previous dynasties under the Confucian system.

Nowadays, the target of Dao Sect should be Da Qi, rather than the traditional Wei Dynasty.

Throughout the history of the grassland tribes during the Daqi period, one small tribe after another that had never been heard of, with the support of Daqi, became a large tribe that dominated the grassland, and then threatened Daqi, and was eventually led by Daqi to other tribes. After being destroyed, their status was replaced by new tribes that followed Da Qi, and so on until Da Qi weakened.

Some people say that no matter how prosperous the country is, the common people are still suffering. This statement is not correct when Daqi is at its most powerful. Because during the Daqi Dynasty, every war was plundering foreign countries, similar to today's Westerners. Not only cattle, sheep, gold and silver and other property, but also human beings were directly sold into slavery. That's why there are so many Kunlun slaves in Daqi's poems. , Hu Ji. A large number of slaves replaced civilians. In horizontal comparison, before Da Qi prospered and declined and fell into war, Da Qi may not be the fairest, but the life of ordinary civilians must be better than that of other dynasties and generations.

Driven by huge interests, Da Qi was not afraid of war, maintained a huge territory, and even used war to support war.

But the situation in Daomen is different from that in Daqi. Daomen has begun to talk about civilization and can no longer openly plunder, let alone sell prisoners into slavery. This has caused the cost of war to rise sharply.

This war in the Western Regions is not fundamentally different from the several wars of annihilation in Daqi. Although the authority of the Taoist sect was maintained and the separatist forces were greatly frightened, the follow-up treatment of the Taoist sect was too civilized. Not only did it not gain anything, but it also cost incurred huge costs.

That's the problem.

What Qi Xuansu has to do is to make up for the shortfall.

There is such a thing as a deficit, there is a first time, there is a second time, and the prosperity and decline can happen in the blink of an eye.

There are five specific ways to solve the deficit.

The first way is to make breakthroughs in productivity and make the pie bigger.

The second method is large-scale external financial input and open source.

The third method is to engage in war and plunder, the Daqi mode.

The fourth method is to reform internally and let vested interests cut off their wealth and reduce expenditures.

The fifth method is to squeeze and plunder the civilian class.

The difficulty of the five methods is from difficult to easy.

The first method is the achievements of Taoism over the past two hundred years. Starting from Xuan Sheng, the four generations of great masters have worked tirelessly to make the pie from Da Wei to Da Xuan, from farming to industry and trade, and to make the pie bigger. Feeding everyone benefits from top to bottom.

However, it is hard to find, and it requires the right time, place, and people, and it is easy to fail. If the Taoist sect failed to defeat the Confucian sect, or was benefited by the Buddhist fisherman, there would be no breakthrough today.

The second method, which is Qi Xuansu's current method, was that a large-scale war suddenly broke out in the three Western countries, so he made a lot of money from the war. However, the disadvantage is that it is difficult to last and difficult to copy.

The third method is difficult to implement because the Taoist sect prides itself on being civilized and requires a famous teacher.

The fourth method, this is Zhang Yuelu's idea, is to redistribute interests. Since the pie cannot be made bigger in a short period of time, then change the way of dividing the pie. However, there is a premise: the class has not been completely solidified, and there are still channels for class advancement.

Therefore, Zhang Yuelu is a moderate reformist, while Li Changge advocates the third method, which is to follow the Daqi model. This is not moderate. Whether it is gentle or not is determined by comparison.

The last method is the easiest and the least promising. To put it bluntly, it’s a mess. Unable to deal with outsiders, but reluctant to take flesh from yourself, you can only bully the people? Almost all dynasties have used this method, and eventually died due to this method.

As for Qi Xuansu, of course he wants to use the first method, hello, me, everyone, but the first way is the most difficult.

The reason why Xuansheng was able to do it was really the result of the right time, place and people. The world was unified and Xuansheng's authority was able to forcefully promote this matter. Moreover, Xu Zu had laid the foundation and strengthened exchanges with the West, learning from The new technology of the West has finally achieved the perfect integration of magical tunnel method and mechanism technology. Today, this road is almost coming to an end. The key is that the end of the Dharma is coming, and we can no longer continue on this path. We must find a new path.

If he becomes a master, how should he find a way out? How to break through existing technical capabilities?

Looking back now, the creation project is really Xuansheng's largest and most far-sighted work.

Of course, some people have said that we don’t need to be limited to a certain path. We can make some breakthroughs in technology, use some external input, plunder a little, reform a little more, and squeeze a little more. All in all, this problem can be alleviated.

This involves a problem. These methods are actually conflicting with each other. We cannot wage war externally and reform internally at the same time. This is equivalent to fighting on two fronts and will lead to a complete collapse.

Back then Xuansheng decided to go into full-scale war with Buddhism, immediately stopped all actions to integrate the three ways, and stopped liquidating and suppressing Confucianism. This was the reason. Therefore, Zhang Yuelu and Li Changge are naturally hostile and incompatible. Either Zhang Yuelu is out or Li Changge is out, there is no possibility for the two to coexist and join forces.

There is also external financial input. In addition to making huge war profits, it usually requires selling some things. It is better to buy than to build, and it is better to rent than to buy. This contradicts the first point. People are always short-sighted. For example, selling weapons right now is like making money while lying down. Who is willing to develop new things? That's enough!

After Qi Xuansu came back from the Wanxiang Taoist Palace, he began to think about this issue. If he was just a real person in charge, then it would not be a big problem if he emphasized martial arts over Taoism. But if he was to be a great leader, then he had to consider it. . You must have your own philosophy and use a straightforward and concise slogan to explain your philosophy.

For example, Zhang Yuelu's slogan, Changing Taoism, has been shouted for several years and is widely known. Or the slogan Li Changge has put forward in the past two years, using the sword of Dao Sect to win more for Dao Sect. Or Yao Pei’s Taoism of Building Harmony.

Qi Xuansu hasn't figured out his slogan yet.

Make Daomen great again?

To this day, in the absence of Qi Xuansu's official policy agenda, concepts and slogans, many people have expressed confusion and doubts on different occasions, and even attracted criticism from the top.

This also made Qi Xuansu very distressed.

There are five methods in total. The last method is to suffer the common people. For the Taoist high-level officials, if they dare to do it but dare not say it, whoever says it will die. Among the first four methods, Zhang Yuelu took the fourth, Li Changge took the third, and Yao Pei took the first, which is in line with Quanzhen Tao's positioning of focusing on creation.

It seems that Qi Xuansu can only start with the second method. He is also walking on this road now, but this road is more difficult than the first method. If he is not careful, he will become a traitor and will be infamous for thousands of years.

However, Qi Xuansu also has some ideas. Chen Shuwen said that he would go overseas to seek cheap resources and then expand. The foundation of Daomen's first expansion was Nanyang. Cheap resources are actually a kind of external input. Today, Nanyang continues to develop and is no longer considered cheap. It has even become a part of the Taoist sect and needs to be treated equally.

So can we seek a second Nanyang? Once again relying on technological advantages and relying on massive cheap resources to develop rapidly.

As for where the second Nanyang is, Qi Xuansu thinks it is the New World.

Daomen will not turn the New World into its own territory, but can help the indigenous people of the New World develop. However, this kind of help is not free and needs to be exchanged for resources.

To achieve this, we must first help the indigenous people of the New World defeat the invaders from the West.

Now it seems that Daomen has already seen this through its early layout of the New World through West Daomen.

The key is still the differences after defeating the Western Holy Court. If it is Li Changge's path, he will completely occupy the New World, relegate the indigenous people to inferior people, and suffer the hardships of outsiders. The advantage is that it is easier for his own family, but the upper class eats the bulk. , Ordinary bottom-class people drink soup along with them. If it were Qi Xuansu's path, it would be more moderate, with both parties being equal, developing together, and exchanging resources.