Pawn Crossing the River

With the deepening of exchanges between the East and the West, a wave of Western learning has gradually emerged over the past hundred years.

The so-called Western learning, in addition to learning and exchanges to learn from each other's strengths, also moved some Western habits to the East.

For example, an auction. The rules are simple. The price of the auctioned items is not fixed, and the final product will be awarded to the highest bidder. There must be more than two buyers, only then can there be competition. Therefore, "auction" is also called "bidding".

In fact, there was similar behavior in the Eastern Continent in the past, but it was not systematic. After the maritime merchants introduced this set of rules from the West, it spread immediately. The black market led by Qibaofang is particularly fond of this kind of behavior. Qi Xuansu once participated in it as a Jianghu person, but because of the lack of money, nothing was photographed.

There is a saying that overcorrection must be overcorrected. At that time, the Jin Dynasty felt that the previous dynasty of Daqi was divided into vassal towns, and throughout the dynasty, it always suppressed the generals. This dynasty was aware of the civil servants' factionalism and the eunuchs' interference in politics in the previous dynasty. It also paid great attention to the balance between civil and military affairs. It did not allow civilian officials to suppress military generals. Military attachés could also ascend to the cabinet and become prime ministers. They even directly abolished the twenty-four yamen of the inner court headed by the ceremonial supervisor.

The same is true for Taoism. Before Taoism, Confucianism dominated the world's orthodoxy. Taoism felt that in the later period of Confucianism, it was self-contained, unreliable, and unreliable, so it paid great attention to the promotion and appointment of young people and various innovations, so it was easy to accept new things, and then In addition, Daomen itself is the largest maritime merchant in the world, so this trend of Western learning has also spread to Daomen.

There are also biddings within the Daomen, usually handled by Shibotang, mainly for various precious goods that are small in quantity but in high demand. Huashengtang and Tianjitang will occasionally hold biddings, mainly to promote their own products. Even Beichentang and Tiangangtang have also held auctions. Beichentang sells the property of various criminals, and Tiangangtang sells confiscated trophies. . However, the Ziwei Hall and the Ancestral Sacrifice Hall never participated. After all, the Ziwei Hall cannot be allowed to sell Taoist crowns and ceremonial documents, nor can the Ancestral Temple and Sacrifice Hall be allowed to sell benevolence, righteousness, and morality.

This kind of bidding is mostly participated by high-quality Taoist priests, and some people from the imperial court and Confucianism can also be invited to participate.

On the tenth day of the twelfth lunar month, Zhengyiyi and Quanzhen Taoism will jointly hold a bidding in Shangqing Palace.

The specifications of this bidding are much lower. The Celestial Master will not attend, and neither will Zhang Jucheng and Qi Jiaozheng, the two great advisors. This is mainly for the sake of relationship, and nominally all the proceeds from the bidding will be used for this purpose. The pension for the spiritual officials who died in the war in the Western Regions is an additional pension, that is, the pension stipulated by the Taoist sect is still paid as usual, and is allocated by the Duzhitang. This pension is an additional increase, which is almost two pensions.

However, the corresponding threshold was also lowered a lot, and Zhang Yuelu received the invitation.

To be fair, with Zhang Yuelu's reputation and status, it is very reasonable to receive an invitation. It would be abnormal not to receive an invitation. After all, in a sense, Zhang Yuelu is the best proof of the good relationship between Zhengyiyi and Quanzhen Taoism. , is obviously a child of the Zhang family, but he was promoted by the Earth Master. The more the occasion is like this, the more Zhang Yuelu is asked to come out and show his face, it may have some meaning as a mascot.

In addition, Tantai Qiong, Zhang Kuqi, Zhang Yuyue, and Dong Baijing, who had just arrived at Yunjin Mountain, also received invitations.

Originally, Qi Xuansu thought that he would probably fall into some kind of embarrassing situation, and he was already prepared to face it. However, to everyone's surprise, Qi Xuansu also received an invitation. This invitation did not come from Zhengyiyi, but from Zhengyiyi. It comes from Quanzhen Taoism. It is said that a real person from Quanzhen Taoism invited Qi Xuansu by name.

This made Tantai Qiong think deeply. Could it be that Qi Xuansu had some relationship with the Qi family of Qi Jiaozheng? There could be some stories unknown to outsiders, such as the bloodline left by the Qi family. She knew that Qi Jiaozheng had always had a good relationship with Zhang Ju. Although Tianshi was the patriarch, he was still the deputy head master after all. He had many affairs to deal with, and Zhang Jucheng was the de facto head of the family. If Qi Jiaozheng was the head of the family, If he comes forward to propose marriage, Zhang Jucheng will most likely agree.

For this reason, Tantai Qiong specially used her contacts to inquire about it, and found that the matter had nothing to do with Qi Jiaozheng, the real person who knew the truth. It was another Quanzhen Taoist who invited Qi Xuansu, and this real person was not even in Shuzhou. hold office.

In addition, Tantai Qiong also heard the news that Qi Xuansu was injured by Chen Fu'an, the commander-in-chief of Sichuan Province, in Baidi City. However, when Chen Fu'an left the city the next day, he was intercepted and the two sides fought. , someone saw a thunderstorm with their own eyes, and in the end, Chen Fu'an was seriously injured, and even had an arm broken, and left in embarrassment.

Afterwards, neither the Shuzhou Provincial Government nor the Governor of Shuzhou made any movement, as if the matter had never happened.

This made Tantai Qiong even more confused about Qi Xuansu. He was obviously an ordinary young man from the Wanxiang Dao Palace. Why did he suddenly have a background? Is it a coincidence? Or is the real person not showing his face?

Although mother and daughter are at odds, Tantai Qiong will never deny her daughter's intelligence. If this person can get into her daughter's eyes, maybe her daughter has discovered some unknown inside stories.

But Tantai Qiong was wrong about one thing. She made the mistake of judging others by herself. Whether she said that Zhang Yuelu had not suffered or that Zhang Yuelu was a good scholar, Zhang Yuelu always had an idealistic and romantic color about him. This is also true. It was Zhang Yuelu who was most upset about Qi Xuansu, but Tantai Qiong always used her own utilitarianism to figure out Zhang Yuelu's thoughts, and she would naturally come up with a completely different answer.

If it depends on family background, wouldn't Li Tianzhen be better? In terms of family background, how many people can compare to Li Tianzhen?

Qi Xuansu himself was also shocked. He couldn't figure out which real person invited him. Could it be Daoist Ji? Otherwise, they are the masters of Tiangang Hall, and these two masters are the only ones who know about this little person Qi Xuansu.

But even these two real people have no reason to take the initiative to invite Qi Xuansu. It is reasonable to say that they invited some people and also invited Qi Xuansu, such as inviting all the deacons of Yaoguang Division, including Qi Xuansu. , but it is really unjustifiable to specifically invite Qi Xuansu by name.

In the end, Zhang Yuelu made the point: "You'll know if you go and see me. Isn't it because I invited you to meet you?"

So Qi Xuansu went to Shangqing Palace with Zhang Yuelu.

This is also the first time Qi Xuansu has seen the tip of the iceberg of the upper Taoist sect, because this matter was brought forward by the Shangqing Palace. The standard is not high compared to the night banquet on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, but in fact the standard is very high, and there are many second-grade Taiyi Taoist priests in attendance. , there are even more third-grade Youyi Taoist priests.

The main venue for bidding is located in the auditorium of Shangqing Palace.

The so-called auditorium is similar to the layout of Jinque.

The layout of the Golden Tower is not complicated. It is much larger than the auditorium. There is a Xumizuo in the middle. There is only a simple rosewood chair with armrests on it. That is the position of the Grand Master.

There is a huge three-legged covered copper incense burner behind the seat. The cover of the burner is engraved with Bagua images. In the center of the north wall directly above the copper incense burner hangs a very plain white framed nave with four words on it. A big word: "Peace in the world."

The Grand Master's chair faces south, and there are twelve seats in each of the other three directions: east, south, and west. There are thirty-six seats in total, corresponding to the thirty-six true practitioners. And at the top of every twelve seats is another chair with superior specifications, a total of three seats, corresponding to the three deputy head masters. The seats of the other great masters of Pingzhang will be distributed on the left and right sides below the Xumizuo where the great master is located. After the thirty-six seats, there are the seats of ordinary real masters for observing the proceedings, about one hundred and eight. , neatly arranged, and the spacing is far less loose than the thirty-six seats.

The auditorium is similar, except that the seats for the three deputy head masters have been removed and replaced with a whole row of seats for twelve people. The remaining seats are not deliberately divided into three camps.

However, when Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu came over, the door to the auditorium was closed before the time came. Those who arrived early were lingering in the hall outside the auditorium. As for the big shots, they were the last to come over, so naturally there was no need to wait. .

At Zhang Yuelu's request, both of them wore casual clothes instead of Taoist formal clothes. The reason is that Taoist formal attire has different levels. Qi Xuansu, a seventh-grade Taoist priest standing here, will inevitably attract many strange looks. He is not standing out from the crowd, but Zhang Yuelu was afraid that Qi Xuansu would be embarrassed, so he took the initiative to accompany him in casual clothes. Originally, at Zhang Yuelu's age, wearing the formal attire of a Taoist Priest of the Fourth Grade Wine Ceremony was extremely revealing.

It is said that a man is judged by his clothes. Zhang Yuelu was dressed in a pale white dress, and his demeanor was very different from usual. He was dignified and elegant, but also revealed a bit of gentleness. He was not as heroic as a man on ordinary days.

Qi Xuansu's clothes were bought by Zhang Yuelu. He was wearing a moon-white robe with gold piping and patterns, square-head cloud shoes with black patterns on a white background, a jade-inlaid belt, and a white jade crown, which actually revealed a bit of chicness. The young master means that the roughness of the Jianghu people has disappeared.

The two of them stood side by side, looking like a perfect match for each other.

Many people around also noticed the two of them. Most of them recognized Zhang Yuelu, the proud daughter of heaven, but did not recognize Qi Xuansu. They couldn't help but be particularly curious about this young man who was close to Zhang Yuelu, and they all speculated on Qi Xuansu's identity.

Some people say that Qi Xuansu was born in the Yan family, and had already made a marriage contract with Zhang Yuelu, and this time he came to prepare for the wedding.

Some people also say that Qi Xuansu is a young leader of the Qi family of Quanzhen Taoism. This visit to Dazhen Mansion with his elders is to add to the quasi-alignment between Zhengyiyi and Quanzhen Taoism, and to have a beautiful ending with the marriage of the two parties. After all, it was never a secret that Master Qi and Master Zhang had a good relationship.

Tantai Qiong and Zhang Kuqi arrived a little later and were traveling with Zhang Yuyue and his wife. Those who didn't know better thought they were a family of four and Zhang Yuelu was the richest daughter of the Zhang family.