Pawn Crossing the River

The Jinque discussion finally came.

According to Xuan Sheng's original design, the Jinque Council consisted of only thirty-six Master Shenzhi, followed by the Grand Master and the Deputy Master. However, in subsequent practice, many changes occurred.

For example, the position of Pingzhang Dazhen was added. Generally, he was promoted from the senior Shenzhi Zhenren. He could also participate in Jinque discussions and had the right to vote, which made the actual number of Jinque exceed 36 people. .

In addition, the fictitious position of the Grand Master's wife has gradually become an actual position, assuming the responsibility of "Vice-Queen". Especially when the Grand Master is unable to take charge of the affairs for some reason, the Grand Master's wife usually steps in for her. This is from The unwritten rules passed down from Mrs. Xuansheng. Therefore, when the highest level of the Taoist sect attends, there are usually five people by default, with the Grand Master in the middle, the Grand Master's wife and the three deputy Master Masters on the left and right.

Of course, there are exceptions. For example, the wife of the Grand Master also serves as the Deputy Master, the Great Master, or the Grand Master has no Taoist companions, and there are cases where there are not enough people to make up five people. It cannot be generalized.

Talking back to Jinque, from a legal perspective, all Pingzhang Dazhen and Shenzhizhen have the same political status, and together they form Jinque, the highest authority of Taoism. Theoretically, all important decisions must be decided by Jinque's vote, but in practice, the real people of Shenzhi have important positions, and it is impossible to leave the Taoist government and the Taoist palace behind and attend meetings in Yujing all day long. discussion.

Therefore, Jinque was divided into big discussion and small discussion. The so-called grand meeting is similar to the Taoist meeting. All high-quality Taoist priests from the Taoist government participate in it, and everyone expresses their opinions and votes. The so-called small discussion is similar to the palace master's discussion, which is limited to the deputy palace master level in a small area.

To put it bluntly, the big meeting means that all Jinque members are present. Except for some special circumstances, there are usually only two things. One is to elect the members of the small meeting, and the other is to elect the chief leader, which is equivalent to a shareholders' meeting. Xiaoyi is the board of directors, elected by the former, responsible for handling the daily affairs of Jinque, representing all members of Jinque, and exercising the powers of Jinque.

In fact, Xiaoyi has become the highest authority of the entire Taoist sect. According to the regulations, the number of people for the small discussion is twelve, but in actual situations, it will range from nine to twelve people, and they are usually selected from those in Beijing. In this regard, Jiutang's headmaster has a huge advantage, so in Jinque's ranking, the headmaster is higher than the headmaster.

The trick that the Fifth Dynasty Grand Master played back then was to first make the nine real Masters become members of the small council, and then use the Grand Master’s power of personnel appointment and dismissal to let the head of the Nine Halls concurrently serve as the assistant minister of Zixiao Palace, and then directly ask Zixiao Gong Fuli ordered to bypass Jinque. unless

Jinque directly promoted the process of deposing the Grand Master, otherwise it would be impossible to restrict Zixiao Palace.

In this way, the Grand Master will truly be dictatorial and monopolize power.

It can be said that it is not difficult for a powerful headmaster to bypass Jinque or suppress Jinque. One is the Zixiao Palace, and the other is to ensure that there are enough of our own people in the Golden Palace. After all, power comes from below. As long as enough people are willing to obey his orders, even without the title of Grand Master and the mechanism of Golden Que, he still has great power.

However, it is quite difficult to do this perfectly. Under normal circumstances, the Taoist sect can be regarded as having three separate poles. The Grand Master is an independent pole, the three deputy chiefs, Da Zhenren, are one pole, and Jinque is another pole.

For example, the Grand Master can appoint and remove the Deputy Master, the Great Master, through a series of procedures, which has been practiced by the Five Dynasties Grand Master. At the same time, the deputy head master Da Zhenren can also unite to declare the decree of the chief head to be invalid. The sixth generation of the chief head has already experienced this.

For another example, the Grand Master can veto the resolution passed by Jin Que, which was practiced by the Grand Master of the Five Dynasties. Jinque can also pass a resolution rejected by the Grand Master through a general meeting with a two-thirds majority. The Sixth Generation Grand Master has also experienced this.

The deputy head master, Da Zhenren, could not directly intervene in Jin Que's decision like the chief head master, and could only use his influence to make a fuss about the voting. Jin Que cannot directly interfere with the appointment of the deputy head master Dazhen. The deputy head master Dazhen must be nominated by the chief master and then voted on. This is also the reason why the three deputy head masters Dazhen are usually the leaders of the three ways. If If he is not the leader of the Three Paths, even if someone else is nominated, he will not be able to pass the vote.

But having said that, Zhenzhi Zhenren is all the subordinate of the deputy headmaster Dazhenren. If the deputy headmaster really wants to give orders, it is impossible not to listen. Many powerful deputy headmasters Dazhenren have also intervened in Jinque affairs, such as Xuansheng Dong Huang, Yao Zu, etc. during the period of seclusion.

Nowadays, the position of Grand Master is vacant, and the three deputy Grand Masters take turns to serve as the rotating Grand Master. This has led to a problem. Zixiao Palace cannot play its role. The rotating Grand Master cannot be strong enough to directly bypass Jinque. It is also impossible to normally exercise the power of the Grand Master to veto Jinque's resolution. Any matter must be resolved through Jinque.

Jinque's discussion seems to be a bit like a single family.

Today, there are twelve people in Jinque Xiaoyi, except for nine

In addition to the master Zhangtang, there are three great masters Pingzhang, including Jiang Dazhen.

As for the role of the chief counselor, the second counselor, and the third counselor, one is to determine the ranking order, and the other is that each of the three has a power, which is equivalent to dividing the power of the Western speaker into three.

The power of the chief is highly variable. If there is a tie, the chief will have one more vote to form the final decision. This cannot be regarded as two votes. For example, if the number of votes is five to four, the chief has one vote. One vote cannot be added to form a tie vote. It must be a tie vote first and then one more vote. In some cases, this power is so powerful that it can influence Jinque's decisions. Sometimes, it's like you don't have the power.

The power of the second seat is to set topics and arrange the order of topics, that is, what should be discussed first and what should be discussed later. What to do when the discussion cannot continue, whether to put it aside temporarily or take other measures, is also decided by the second chairperson, who is equivalent to the host. This power is very stable and cannot be underestimated if used properly.

The third power of Zhenzhi Zhenren is to maintain order. For example, if some people speak too verbosely, Zhenzhi Zhenren are all masters and have abundant physical strength and energy. It is not a problem to speak continuously for three days and three nights. However, the discussion cannot be delayed indefinitely. In order to prevent In this case, the third counselor will be responsible for interrupting the speech, suspending the speech, warning those who speak inappropriately or making personal attacks, stopping the fight, and even have the right to expel them. However, generally no one is discussing the matter. Sometimes they yell at someone or take action directly.

Precisely because the power of these three masters is so important, there is an unwritten tradition in the Taoist sect. The older generation will not get involved in these three positions, leaving only the young people in the Golden Palace, or in other words, those who are expected to compete for the top job. Candidates to teach. Naturally, these three positions are regarded as "reserve positions", and these three masters are regarded as "princes".

Today's Jinque discussion is still a customary small discussion. During the period of the Five Dynasties Grand Master, it was once called "Zixiao Palace Discussion".

The National Preceptor will also attend. Although the National Preceptor will not vote, his presence itself is a huge pressure.

In addition to the Imperial Preceptor, there were many people present at the meeting. Some were here to observe, and some were Deacons Jinque. Deacons Jinque cannot be lumped together with cardinal deacons. Although the two have similar names, there is a huge difference in status. Deacons Jinque have more It is held by a Taoist priest of the fourth grade Jijiu or a Taoist priest of the third grade Youyi, who assists Shenzhi Zhenren and mainly does copywriting work.

Qi Xuansu is a special case. He is a bit like a witness in court. Said he was not involved in it

In the bar, people have more presence than those who are simply observing. Let’s just say he is involved. He is like an object and has no right to “speak”.

Early in the morning, Qi Xuansu changed into the formal attire of a second-grade Taiyi Taoist priest, put on his Hui Sword, put on his golden lotus crown, and went to Zi Mansion.

Speaking of which, he was no stranger to Zi Mansion. After all, Ziweitang was in Zi Mansion, almost next to Jinque. However, this was the first time he actually entered Jinque.

After Qi Xuansu passed the identity check of the spiritual officer, under the guidance of Deacon Jinque, he walked into this magnificent building, which was the only one comparable to the Zixiao Palace. Then he was hit by various familiar feelings.

Although I have never been there before, it still seems familiar.

Because the Taoist halls, Taoist palaces, and Taoist government auditoriums are all designed and built according to the Jinque model. They are very similar, so how can you not be familiar with them?

Qi Xuansu was confident that even without Deacon Jinque leading the way, he would not go wrong.

After walking a few steps, Qi Xuansu saw Master Cihang.

She is the third counselor and is responsible for maintaining order. She is usually the last one to enter the meeting place after everyone enters, and then seals the meeting place. No one is allowed to enter until the end of the meeting.

If you are late, you will be treated as an absence. Absence without excuse will result in a demerit. A total of three unexcused absences will result in a major demerit and criticism. Who will call the name? It is the Third Celestial Master who is responsible for maintaining order.

Qi Xuansu could not help but stop to greet his mother-in-law, and he would not forget to address his duties in formal occasions. On this occasion, Master Cihang was not the master in charge of Tiangang Hall, but the third counselor.

Master Cihang responded to Qi Xuansu's greetings, but he didn't mean to talk more. "Come in quickly, don't be in a hurry to see the scenery. There will be plenty of time to see it in the future. I'm afraid it will take decades to see it until you get tired of it."

These words are undoubtedly a great affirmation for Qi Xuansu. Only by frequenting Jinque can you get bored of seeing Jinque. This is not something that ordinary second-grade Taiyi Taoist priests can do.

Qi Xuansu said goodbye to Master Cihang and walked into the venue without showing any expression on his face.

At a glance, each seat was marked with names, and there were quite a few familiar faces.

Pei Xuanzhi, Li Wugou, Su Yuanyi, Jiang Hedao, Ning Lingge, and Xu Dacheng have all had real dealings with each other, and can even be said to be friends. The rest of them, although not friends, are still friends. The face is familiar and the ear is familiar. We have been in contact with him before.