Pawn Crossing the River

Early the next morning, Qi Xuansu and Huangfuji changed into casual clothes and headed to the Lion City.

In Huangfuji's opinion, the arrangements made by the Taoist government were all prepared in advance and nothing real could be seen. He wanted to see what the real Nanyang looked like and how it became an important financial pillar of the Taoist sect.

Qi Xuansu had been running Nanyang for a long time, so he still had quite a lot of confidence and confidence. Coupled with Zhang Yuelu's new policy, it did add a bit of new atmosphere, so he agreed to a private visit incognito. In principle, no notices are given, no greetings are given, no reports are given, and no accompanying persons are required.

The two set out at Yinshi and arrived at the Lion City at Maoshi, which happened to be the time when the city woke up from its slumber.

The streets were already bustling with people, including local Nanyang people, Central Plains people and Westerners, sailors, merchants and hawkers. Of course, Taoist priests are indispensable.

Qi Xuansu and Huangfu Jizhu just walked around and looked at various shops and some Taoist service points.

The Taoist sect cannot maintain its rule and govern the place by relying on just a few immortals. It is not difficult for immortals to destroy a city, but it is difficult to build a city. It is even more difficult to make a city prosper.

Therefore, the real foundation of Taoism is still these low-level Taoist priests.

Generally speaking, any governance structure is a triangle. The higher you go up, the smaller the number of people, and the further down you go, the more people there are. Therefore, the number of Taoist priests at the bottom is quite large.

There is no vacuum in power. If you don't occupy and exercise some power, someone else will help you exercise it. Therefore, it is absolutely impossible not to send the imperial power to the countryside. It must be pushed to the end with one stick. This is incomparable to Xidaomen.

Xidao Sect only controls military power and some upper-level power, but the power at the bottom is very empty, so Huangfuji is very interested in the bottom-level construction of Taoism.

This has to mention the Taoist exam system. Compared with the Confucian imperial examination, the Taoist sect has relaxed restrictions, increased the number of people, and lowered the upper limit. After all, Confucian scholars start at the seventh or sixth grade. The Taoist sect starts with only the ninth rank, which is a bit similar to the Juren, more like directly canceling the first level of the Jinshi.

If you want to become a ninth-grade Taoist priest, you have to pass two exams. Qi Xuansu is the best among them. His Taoist priest status was obtained based on his own ability, not arranged by Qiniang.

Interfering in a major exam is a typical case of small benefits and high risks. Once something goes wrong, it will immediately become a big deal, and the benefit is a small ninth-grade Taoist priest status. Those who have the ability to interfere in the major exams do not need to do so, and those who want to do so generally cannot interfere in the major exams.

It is generally easy for real dignitaries to resolve their identity as Taoists. They can just go through special channels, such as Lin Yuanmiao and Xiao Yin. The so-called special channel is to directly grant Taoist priest status. It is a step further than granting Taoist priest status to the same person. Real big shots have several quotas in their hands and can be allocated flexibly.

Since Zhang Yuelu implemented the New Deal, in addition to cracking down on corruption, he has mainly focused on combating laziness and inaction, which has been very effective. At least it is a new scene in the Lion City. After all, the Lion City is right under Zhang Yuelu's nose.

At the very least, these low-level Taoist priests dare not do anything openly. They always talk nicely and solve problems seriously, which is more practical.

Of course, these Taoist priests also scolded Zhang Yuelu, saying that it was hard to make a living as a Taoist priest nowadays. With just such a small amount of money, so many arrangements, and pressure at all levels, if this continues, I will resign directly and become a wild Taoist priest.

In Zhang Yuelu's view, this is not enough. If we want to completely reverse this trend and eradicate it ideologically, there is a long way to go.

But in Huangfuji's view, this is not the case. It's not that he has no experience at the bottom. He knows very well what a low-level official is like. Harming people's lives is no exaggeration. It's not a fairy tale for a low-ranking official to accumulate tens of thousands of furniture. Ordinary people will lose some skin if they fall into the hands of these people. The key is that they don't even bother to pretend, so they just have to clearly mark the price.

But the Taoist priests in Lion City, at least on the surface, don't see any problems. Not to mention what is going on secretly, the Southern Continent cannot even maintain fairness on the surface, so why talk about secretly and privately?

This is what shocked Huangfu.

Then there is the application of Western learning. Different from the extreme radicalism in the Southern Continent, Taoism shows the tolerant mentality of the Celestial Empire. Just use it if it is useful. There is no shame. Therefore, Western learning is very popular. Not only are there many Westerners, There are even traces of Westerners in many habits, and Western items can be seen everywhere in daily life, such as sofas, etc., which are rarely seen in the southern continent.

Huangfuji couldn't help but reflect for a moment, was the Southern Continent a bit too extreme?

The two came to a Western-style park. There were many benches for people to rest and a small lake where many people were walking.

A peaceful and peaceful atmosphere.

It is difficult to see this kind of scene in the Southern Continent, where there is always a weird state of tension, as if happiness is associated with original sin and suffering is noble. Enduring hardship is like a medal, it can be shown off. Whoever endures more hardship will have a sense of superiority, while happiness is shady and can only be enjoyed secretly. If anyone dares to put happiness on the table, It was like being sentenced to death and having to dig up graves and exhume corpses.

Suffering is even connected with morality. Suffering and abstinence must be morally noble. On the contrary, it is morally defective. ..

This weird worship of suffering probably does not come from Taoism. Taoism has always advocated frugality and has something to do with Confucianism. After all, when heaven is about to entrust a person with a great responsibility, he must first suffer his will, strain his muscles and bones, starve his body and become depleted. its body. It also has some relationship with the Eastern Church branch of the Holy See.

Why does this happen? How to get rid of this phenomenon?

This is what Huangfuji has to think about. After all, Huangfuji, as the core figure of Xidaomen in the future, also has great ambitions and must do something to achieve something. Huangfuji knows very well that no matter how aggressive Tawanting is, It is impossible to penetrate the steam gospel in the north, and ultimately we have to return to the theme of development.

Therefore, Huangfu Ji came here this time not only to establish a friendly relationship with the Taoist sect's senior officials, but also to learn something from the Taoist sect's governance experience.

It is true that Lion City is a developed area and can be ranked high in the vast territory of Dao Sect. In those unknown and remote areas, it is definitely not like Lion City. But Huangfuji didn't compare the Lion City with ordinary cities in the southern continent. He used New Paititi, but the result still disappointed him.

Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu took charge of Lion City one after another. The Lion City under the rule of their husband and wife was far better than Xin Paititi, which Xidaomen had spent countless efforts on.

No wonder that the vast Nanyang, with Lion City as its economic center, can become one of the important financial pillars of Dao Sect.

The two left the park in the central district and entered the northwest district, which was a relatively chaotic area.

Then Huangfu Ji saw a rather Western-style building here, with a Chinese-style plaque hanging on it, which read: "Eight Tribes of Alchemy Union."

Huangfuji knows these words. As a person from the New World, he also knows what alchemy is, but he feels that it is inconsistent. Babuzhong is a Buddhist term. It was later used by Taoists in the Babuzhong plan. Now it is used by Westerners. When combined, it is truly a fusion of Chinese and Western styles, with a myriad of atmospheres.

Qi Xuansu happened to know this place and introduced: "That is an industry jointly established by the Eight Tribes and the Ziguang Society in response to the Taoist government's call. It is mainly engaged in the localization of Western alchemy and its application for people's livelihood. It is still in its infancy, mainly recruiting Some apprentices of civilian origin. In Lion City, the control of some secret associations is not so strict, and they are allowed to operate some gray industries. This can also be regarded as a pilot window for Taoism. On the premise of severely cracking down on some extreme secret associations, others are allowed. Moderate and clandestine societies normalized.”

Huangfuji once again lamented the openness and tolerance of the Taoist sect. Alchemy was like heresy in the Southern Continent. Of course, the higher-ups would understand it and control its use, but if civilians at the bottom dared to learn alchemy privately, they would be punished and executed.

Although this is a tough measure taken as a last resort when facing a strong external enemy, it is indeed a bit extreme. Compared with Daomen, it does lack the ambition and magnanimity of a big country.

Yangyang Taoist Gate is, after all, the supreme state of heaven.

Huangfu walked around the so-called Alchemy Guild with great interest. Shangguan Ya was not there, nor was the Yuheng Star Master. There were only a few ordinary teachers training the newly recruited apprentices.

The apprentices sat neatly behind their desks, flipping through brand-new books according to the instructors' requirements.

These apprentices have light in their eyes.

This kind of spiritual outlook is lacking in the Southern Continent, which has not yet completely gotten rid of slavery.

Huangfu Ji also sat in for half an hour outside the classroom, listening to the teachers talk about the origin of alchemy and its relationship with theology. He did not modify it or add some political factors, but simply described it, once again demonstrating what the heavenly state should have. magnanimity.

It's like a beautiful woman is never afraid of being called ugly because she knows it's false. If an ugly girl is told that she is ugly, that is a puncture in her lungs.

Lies won't hurt, the truth is the sharpest knife.

To be fair, apart from the solidification of classes and frequent internal fighting, Dao Sect is still very good. Although there are reasons for this to be set off by peers, it is unrealistic for Taoism to have such a vast territory and be able to divide the world with Westerners without advantages.

The Northwest District was originally very prosperous, but many places involved in the slave trade have been shut down by Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu, and have not recovered yet, which makes the Northwest District a little deserted.

Fortunately, Huangfu Ji was not interested in these slave trades at all - the most indispensable thing in the New World was slaves, regardless of whether it was north or south. These slaves can be sold for high prices in Nanyang because the Taoist sect severely cracks down on the slave trade. Things are rare and valuable. In those countries that retain slavery, it is really nothing.

The two went all the way to the port along the northwest district.

Then Huangfuji saw a huge Western iron-clad ship slowly sailing into the port, with the Holy Court's flag hanging high on it.

"What is this?" Huangfuji asked.

Qi Xuansu said: "They are merchant ships of the West Posuzhou Company under the name of the Holy Court. They are legal here."

Immediately afterwards, another cargo ship docked next to the armored ship, with a five-color flag hanging high. It could be vaguely recognized that this flag was a mixture of the leaders of the Taoist, Buddhist, Confucian, Holy Court, and Shaman families. .

"What is this?" Huangfu Ji looked strange.

Qi Xuansu replied: "That is the merchant ship of the 'Tianting', and it is also legal here."