Pawn Crossing the River

After finishing the business, Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu had to go home no matter how reluctant they were. After all, the ugly daughter-in-law still had to see her parents-in-law.

Zhang Yuelu took out the gift he had prepared and gave it to Qi Xuansu, and explained the price and origin in detail, asking Qi Xuansu to remember it and not to expose any flaws.

The two of them walked down the mountain road to Shangqing Town, which is located on the mountainside. In this way, it is very different from entering Shangqing Town from the front. According to Zhang Yuelu, if you climb all the way up from the Antarctic View, you will see a huge archway and a stone tablet for the prince to dismount, and even many shellings. trace.

This can be traced back to the internal fighting between the Taoist sects before Xuansheng integrated the Taoist sects. The Quanzhen Taoist lineage launched a massive attack on the Zhengyi sect. The Heavenly Master Zhang Jingxiu was not in the Dazhenren Mansion at that time. The Earth Master Xu Wugui personally sneaked into the Dazhenren Mansion and destroyed the formation. The true disciples secretly brought artillery and bombarded Shangqing Town. At that time, half of Shangqing Town was destroyed. Later, Zhengyi rebuilt Shangqing Town. In order to warn future generations, there are still many traces of shelling.

But as the two of them walked down the mountain from the mountain, they couldn't see any of this.

Qi Xuansu said: "So, the Heavenly Master and the Earthly Master were incompatible?"

"Yes, there was a saying at that time called the 'battle between heaven and earth'. After Earth Master Xu Wugui made a surprise attack on Dazhen Mansion, Zhengyi and his colleagues launched a massive attack on Beiman Mountain in order to retaliate, forcing Xu Wugui to abandon Beiman Mountain and escape far away. . In the end, they fought to the end and passed away together," Zhang Yuelu said, "The first Quanzhen Taoist master after Xuansheng integrated the Taoist sect was a disciple of Earth Master Xu Wugui, whose surname was Shangguan. Personally command the bombardment of Shangqing Town. You have played Xuansheng Card, so you should know."

Qi Xuansu nodded and asked, "How is the relationship between Zhengyiyi and Quanzhen Tao now?"

Zhang Yuelu looked at him strangely: "Didn't you study history in Wanxiang Taoist Palace? After Xuansheng integrated the Taoist sects, in order to eliminate the past hatred, he not only suppressed the dissidents of the Zhang family and the Li family, and promoted the Zhang-Li peace talks, but also Facilitating a marriage, the then Celestial Master and the then Earth Master became a Taoist couple, which is the Shangguan Daren we just mentioned. Now her portrait and tablet are not only enshrined in the Wanshou Chongyang Palace of Quanzhen Taoism, but also in the In the family temple of Dazhen Mansion, so even if I join Quanzhen Taoism, it is justified. "

"One more thing, after all, Taiping Dao and the Li family are powerful. If the Zhengyi Dao and Quanzhen Dao continue to fight among themselves, I am afraid that the Taiping Dao fisherman will benefit and ascend to the position of Grand Master for the third time. Therefore, the past grievances and grievances Let’s forget about resentment for now. It won’t be too late to bring it up again when Quanzhen Dao becomes more powerful or Zheng Dao becomes more powerful.”

"In short, the two big ships of Zhengyiyi and Quanzhendao rarely collide, but they are still on good terms in general. Although they have not formally formed an alliance, they can be regarded as quasi-allies. Because of this, some people think that the Earth Master personally promoted I’m showing my favor to Zheng Yiyi.”

Four months ago, Qi Xuansu was still wandering around the rivers and lakes. He didn't even pay much attention to the identity of the seventh-grade Taoist priest, so he didn't pay much attention to these Taoist battles. After listening to Zhang Yuelu's explanation, he had another doubt and asked: " Even if Taiping Dao is powerful, it’s not that powerful, right? I don’t think there are particularly many Taoist priests in Taiping Dao, so the three Dao should be roughly equal.”

Zhang Yuelu said: "Because Taiping Dao has a good relationship with the imperial court and has the help of the imperial court. We Zhengyi have been married to Quanzhen Dao, and the same is true for Taiping Dao and the imperial court. Let's not talk about Mrs. Xuansheng. She is the eldest son of Emperor Gaozu. Female, my Majesty, Daxuan, has passed through eleven emperors, and six queens are from the Li family. The current Queen Mother is from the Li family, and she is the niece of the great master of Taiping Dao. The late Empress Yuan of the current emperor is also from the Li family. "

Qi Xuansu was speechless and said: "I didn't expect that the Li family is still a descendant. But Master Qingwei has just entered Beijing to face the saint..."

Zhang Yuelu already knew what he was going to ask and explained in advance: "In the past, the court's support for Taiping Dao and the Li family was under the table, that is, in secret. Now the Li family wants to bring this relationship to the table. Let His Majesty the Emperor publicly intervene in the election of the Grand Master as Master Zi Daji."

"Do you think that Master Qingwei's visit to Beijing this time is to form an alliance with His Majesty the Emperor? The Li family and the Qin family have already been allies who advance and retreat together. This meeting with the Holy Spirit is just to tell the world, to test all parties. If there is no real alliance, can the emperor take great risks to intervene in Taoist affairs without a real alliance? guest."

"So, Qingwei Zhenren's face to face is a big event. It is a big event related to the pattern of the Taoist sect. Maybe the Taoist sect will soon be uneasy."

Qi Xuansu thought about it carefully and realized that this was really the case.

If it were me, I wouldn't be able to take risks just because of a meeting, but if it were someone from my uncle's family and father-in-law's family, even if I put aside the ancestral relationship, it's even my brother-in-law's family, my brother-in-law's family, or my in-laws' family, it would be different. . Let the news out first and see other people's reactions. If the reaction is not strong, just take action directly. If the reaction is strong, then wait for a while.

While talking, Zhang Yuelu and Qi Xuansu had already entered Shangqing Town. Zhang Yuelu put his hood back on to cover his face, and Qi Xuansu followed suit. This will avoid unnecessary gossip.

Soon, the two came to the gate of an ordinary second-entry house.

The size of the house meant that there couldn't be too many rules, and since it was his own house, Zhang Yuelu pushed the door straight in.

The house was still the same as before. There was only one servant in the yard who was cleaning the yard. When he saw someone coming in, he was startled for a moment. After Zhang Yuelu took off his hood, his face showed joy: "The lady is back, and there are guests. I'll go with you right away." Go and inform the master."

Zhang Yuelu led Qi Xuansu, who was slightly uneasy, to the main hall.

Soon, a middle-aged man who was similar to Zhang Yuelu walked in. He was slender, elegant in demeanor, and had a somewhat melancholy temperament. Although he was an old man with slightly white temples, if you look carefully, he looked quite... It has the mellow taste of a jar of old wine.

Zhang Yuelu stood up and called "Daddy".

This is Zhang Yuelu's father, Zhang Kuqi.

Qi Xuansu also stood up quickly and saluted, "I've met my uncle."

The man smiled and nodded, which made people feel like a spring breeze.

No wonder Mrs. Tantai chose to marry into the Zhang family.

"You are Tianyuan, right? Qingxiao mentioned you in his letter." Zhang Kuqi's attitude was very kind. He stretched out his hand and said, "Please sit down. Qingxiao's mother and cousin went to Xiazhen together and are not at home."

Qi Xuansu was still holding a gift that Zhang Yuelu had prepared in advance. According to etiquette, the hostess or a decent person accompanying the guest should come to receive the gift at this time. But everywhere he looked, except for him and Zhang Yuelu, there were so many people. Zhang Kuqi was the only one in the living room, leaving Qi Xuansu standing there almost not knowing what to do with himself.

However, thinking of the hostess, Qi Xuansu had an idea. Although Mrs. Tantai was not there, Zhang Yuelu was nearby, so he handed the gift back to Zhang Yuelu's hand and said with a smile: "This is my first visit, so it would be disrespectful to give a small gift. "

Zhang Yuelu took the gift he had prepared with a strange expression, and for a moment he didn't know what to say.

Zhang Juqi did not refuse and said, "I feel sorry for Tianyuan's expense."

Qi Xuansu looked at Uncle Zhang without leaving a trace. He could not see through the realm of this uncle, which meant that this uncle was at the stage of returning to his true form. As for whether he would become a heavenly being or not, he could not know. Just ask Zhang Yuelu.

For some specific reason, Zhang Kuqi, who is still a Taoist Priest of the Fourth-grade Wine Festival, is different from Zhang Kuping, who is already a Taoist Priest of the Third-grade Youyi. He does not have too many bureaucratic habits. He is not the kind of person who seems to have no airs but actually has more potential airs than anyone else. His style even reminded Qi Xuansu of the feeling when his master was alive, so the two of them had a good conversation.

No matter what the status is among men, when they are chatting together, they always have to give advice and express their opinions. If they are in the position of a person in power, what should they do and what they should not do? This is probably a common problem among men. So much so that many restaurants and teahouses in the imperial capital have signs saying "Don't talk about state affairs" to prevent some people from talking nonsense and causing trouble.

Qi Xuansu didn't care about this at first, but after entering Tiangang Hall, he became particularly concerned about it. Coupled with Zhang Yuelu's influence, he was naturally not exempt from vulgarity.

So the conversation between the two gradually shifted from how Qi Xuansu met Zhang Yuelu and the development of Tiangang Hall.

Zhang Kuqi said: "Wuzhou and Jiangzhou both belong to Jiangnan and are under the jurisdiction of the governor of Jiangnan. Plus Luzhou, it may not be a good thing for the three states to be managed by one person."

Qi Xuansu was startled for a moment, and couldn't help but look at Zhang Kuqi asking for advice: "Why did uncle say this?"

Zhang Kuqi said: "If Tianyuan is from Jiangzhou and I am from Wuzhou, we are not from the same hometown, but because we belong to the same governor, according to the rules, we are from the same hometown. Do you think this looks like the Taoist sect today? The three major factions? The Li family, the Shen family, and the Lu family are originally three families, but because they all belong to Taiping Dao, they become their own family and the others become outsiders. "

Qi Xuansu didn't know what to say for a moment and could only look at Zhang Yuelu.

Zhang Yuelu said: "This is not Xuansheng's fault. Xuansheng established the three paths of Zhengyi, Quanzhen, and Taiping for transition. In the end, they had to be completely integrated into one. It was just because of the rise of Buddhism that disrupted Xuansheng's plan. Later generations The few great leaders do not have the prestige of Xuansheng and are unable to integrate the three paths, which is why the situation of the three paths coexisting continues to this day."

However, what Zhang Juqi really wants to say is not this problem that has troubled Taoism for many years. He changed the topic: "If you look at the whole world, is Taoism one of the three Taoisms in the eyes of others?"