Pawn Crossing the River

Outside the scope of the Western Regions actually controlled by the Taoist sect is the sphere of influence of the Western Regions Buddhism. The word "Western Regions" is somewhat unworthy of the name.

In any case, the dispute between Buddhism and Taoism ended with the victory of the Taoist sect. Kunlun and Yujing are also within the broad scope of the Western Regions. How can others snore beside the couch? Therefore, the Taoist sect must expel the Buddhist sect.

The reason why many people in the Taoist sect believe that the Taoist sect failed to win the dispute between Buddhism and Taoism is that the Taoist sect did not complete the task. It did not make Buddhism a vassal of Taoism like Confucianism, and it did not completely eliminate Buddhism, leaving hidden dangers.

This is undoubtedly a high standard and strict requirement. It can also be seen that the proud mentality of the Taoist sect is that a small victory is considered a loss, a medium victory is not a win, and only a big victory is considered a real victory.

From the perspective of Buddhism, the dispute between Buddhism and Taoism in the past was undoubtedly a complete defeat for Buddhism. The Central Plains Buddhism was destroyed, the Western Region Buddhism was forced to retreat again and again, and the Nanyang Buddhism and Fenglinzhou Buddhism also failed one after another, and finally became a complete failure. Although the Central Plains Buddhism was rebuilt later, it was actually a mere decoration, like a sign with a gorgeous building painted on it. From the front, it looks decent, but from the side or from the back, there is nothing, not even a beautiful exterior.

The failure of Buddhism led to the rise of two major factions within Buddhism.

One major faction was the surrender faction, which advocated admitting defeat, admitting that Buddhism was inferior to Taoism, and relying on Taoism like Confucianism in exchange for an improved situation.

The other major faction was the radical faction, which advocated using any means to fight back against Taoism, revive the Buddha, and conduct a second Buddhist-Taoist dispute. This included but was not limited to uniting with external forces such as Shamanism, the Holy Court, and the Heavenly Gate, supporting the Nanyang Buddhism and Fenglinzhou Buddhism to launch large-scale Taoism-repelling actions, and supporting secret societies such as Lingshan Witch Cult and Zhiming Cult.

The two factions often fought each other. During the Five Dynasties, the Taoist sect gave great support to the surrender faction within Buddhism, or the pro-Taoist sect, so the pro-Taoist sect had the upper hand during this period.

However, with the death of the fifth generation of the Grand Master and the rise of the sixth generation of the Grand Master, the aristocratic families that had been strongly suppressed by the fifth generation of the Grand Master began to rebound.

Although the grievances between the Zhang family and the Li family have a long history, the aristocratic families headed by Zhang and Li have always had a consensus: these "Taoist nobles" are the founders of Taoism, especially the original shareholders such as the Zhang family and the Li family who brought capital into the shares, and they regard themselves as the masters of Taoism.

Those who rose to power later, or the children of poor families, no matter how high their positions are, are just the "stewards" of Taoism. This idea is deeply rooted in the bones, so no matter how high the position of the children of poor families is, they can be killed at will, but the children of aristocratic families can always be given a break, and at most they will be imprisoned for life.

However, the fifth generation of the Grand Master is an exception. The son of this ordinary citizen actually forced the heads of the three major families to the highest position in Taoism, and established a career second only to Xuansheng. How can this be allowed? A steward actually became the master, isn't this against Tiangang? What do you want to do?

As for Qi Xuansu, he is a half exception. Of course, he is not from an aristocratic family, but he does not have the ability of the five generations of great masters, so he cannot be said to have started from scratch. There is no need to be shy or flatter yourself. His first step was to rely on Qi Niang's power and nepotism to get ahead.

Nowadays, it is said that Qi Xuansu has a lot of grassroots experience, but this "grassroots" also depends on who you compare with. Compared with the children of aristocratic families, Qi Xuansu's starting point is indeed very low, but compared with the real grassroots Taoist priests, Qi Xuansu's starting point is already their end point.

I don't know how many people have been mixed up for a lifetime and can't get a ninth-grade Taoist priest, and they are still Taoist children until they die. Some people are only seventh-grade Taoist priests when they retire.

Qi Xuansu started as a seventh-grade Taoist priest, and he has never worked in a grassroots Taoist temple in a remote area. Compared with ordinary Taoist priests, Qi Xuansu is actually an elite. He was born in Wanxiang Taoist Palace and directly entered Tiangang Hall. The so-called "poor family" and "mud legs" are just the views of the children of aristocratic families on Qi Xuansu, not the views of most people. After all, even if the sons of noble families do nothing and just muddle through, they are at least fourth-rank Taoist priests, such as Zhang Yuyue.

Today, the poor families in Taoism are no longer the poor families in the past. In the past, the poor families referred to those farming and reading families that were not as good as the gentry. They could support scholars who left their jobs, which was still much better than ordinary people. Today, the poor families refer to poor families and poor children.

The "Qi Xuansu" without Qi Niang are actually a very embarrassing group within Taoism, neither up nor down.

Not up, because their families do not have the ability to support them, do not have the ability to operate, and do not see any hope. They can only rely on themselves or rely on luck.

Not down, because this type of Taoist priests are not the lowest level, they live a good life, look down on this and that, and really let them go to the low-level Taoist temples in remote areas, they still feel wronged, thinking that it is a pearl thrown in the dark, and that Taoism has buried their talents, and they start to talk about the character of literati and the darkness of Taoism. In essence, they feel that they have not sold themselves for a good price, and Taoism is a black-hearted buyer who does not know the goods and maliciously lowers the price.

What is "up"?

The family paves the way for them, and they have their own resources. For example, the three Taoists. This kind of people have the willingness and ability to achieve results, have great ambitions, and cherish their reputation. They will not ask themselves all day whether they can walk to the other side of the thin ice. Instead, they are more willing to do things and are not afraid of making mistakes. Anyway, they have the family to support them and have enough room for trial and error. Qi Xuansu in the later period is also in this state.

What is "down"?

If you are really born in poverty, even if you are assigned to a real grassroots position by the Taoist sect, it is better than your past life, and it can be regarded as "getting ashore". Not only are there not so many dissatisfactions, but you feel satisfied.

The overall logic of the Taoist sect is: the children of the aristocratic families are responsible for taking over, passing on from generation to generation, which is the upper structure. The poor children are responsible for working diligently, which is the lower structure.

The Taoist sect does not need the so-called middle level. Because there are still some upper-level aristocratic children who will fail in the competition and be eliminated, and they will occupy some middle-level positions. It is also necessary to leave a channel for promotion for the poor children at the bottom, give them hope, and give them some hope, so that they will work harder, and the promoted poor children will also occupy some middle-level positions.

In this way, there are not many middle-level positions left.

These people who are neither up nor down are not as good as the children of the aristocratic families in terms of resources and family background. In terms of hard work and competition, they can't compare.

From this point of view, Qi Niang is really a blessing to Qi Xuansu. It was she who shamelessly came forward to find Donghua Zhenren and Cihang Zhenren to pave the way for Qi Xuansu, treating Qi Xuansu as a son, and making others think that Qi Xuansu is the adopted son of the Yao family. This made the Taoist families regard Qi Xuansu as half of their own people and give him relatively equal treatment. No one shared his credit. Otherwise, no matter how much Qi Xuansu has done, he can't be promoted so quickly.

When Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu get married, he will really become a member of the Taoist family, and he will have nothing to do with the children of poor families. This cannot but be said to be a kind of sadness, but also a reality.

Therefore, Qi Xuansu is so grateful to Qi Niang and treats Qi Niang as his own mother. As the old saying goes, the treatment of his own son is no more than this. In comparison, Qi Niang's withholding of a little money is simply insignificant. Many people want to kneel down to give money, but there is no such a way.

Under this structure, the Fifth Generation Grand Master, as a child of a poor family, was able to break through the siege and directly kill his way to the position of Grand Master, and even rode on the heads of the three major families. It is conceivable what kind of a fierce man he is.

A saint appears every five hundred years, and the Fifth Generation Grand Master is the saint of Taoism.

So Qi Xuansu felt inferior to him, and Zhang Yuelu highly respected him.

The counterattack of the three major families against the Fifth Generation Grand Master was inevitable.

So there was a trend of completely denying the Fifth Generation Grand Master within Taoism, which made it impossible for many policies during the Fifth Generation Grand Master period to continue normally, including supporting the pro-Taoist sects within Buddhism. This made the radicals within Buddhism begin to rise.

If it weren't for the Sixth Generation Grand Master's late "rebellion", the Third Master also realized that overthrowing the Fifth Generation Grand Master would greatly shake the foundation of Taoism, so he had to pinch his nose and admit it. Otherwise, it would be hard to say how many generations of Grand Masters there are in Taoism today.

But it was too late. The radical faction within the Buddhist sect had already become a climate that was difficult to suppress. Therefore, since the sixth generation of the Grand Master, the Buddhist sect has been constantly taking various actions. In addition to the secret society forces, the Western Region War and the Fenglinzhou War also broke out. Although the Fenglinzhou sect of the extortion of Taoism is mainly based on the Tianmen, the Fenglinzhou Buddhist sect is also involved. The two have a close relationship of gods and Buddhas.

The autumn wind in the Western Region swept across the desert and Gobi, swept across the snow-capped mountains and plateaus, and finally rolled up the fallen leaves and echoed in the Nalanda Temple.

Nalanda.

This is the end point of "Da Qi Xiyu Ji", and it is also the place where thousands of monks come to pay homage. There are tens of millions of Buddhist scriptures, the real ancestral home of Buddhism.

A young monk with his chest exposed walked into the hall.

There are thousands of golden lamps here, arranged layer by layer, extending along the surrounding walls to the extremely high dome, but there is no light at the dome, only darkness.

In the middle of the hall is a golden Buddha, shining under the bright lights.

Four old monks were sitting on the cushions in front of the Buddha. Judging from their clothes, their status was quite high. The old monks all had their eyes downcast and looked drowsy.

The young monk bowed to the four old monks, handed a letter to the leading old monk, and then stepped aside.

The leading old monk opened his eyes, read the letter in his hand, and said: "The time for the Taoist election has been set, no later than the Lantern Festival next year."

Another old monk asked: "Who do we support?"

The leading old monk said: "We don't support anyone, because no matter who comes to power, the situation will not improve significantly. What we want is uncertainty. Only the uncertainty of the Grand Master will involve most of the Taoist energy in the internal, rather than the external. If the position is determined early, it will turn the attention of the Taoist to other places."

"We must ensure that the Qingwei School and the Donghua School are evenly matched, and neither side has a clear advantage."

"The more balanced the two sides are, the better. The more balanced, the more unwilling the losing side will be, and the possibility of not recognizing the results of the election will be The bigger. As long as one party does not recognize the election results, then the only last resort is to resort to force to solve the problem. "

"We need internal strife in the Dao Sect, and we need three Daos to see blood."

"Only when the Dao Sect is in chaos can we have the opportunity to take advantage of the situation."

"Now Pei Xuanzhi obviously has the upper hand, which is not allowed. We must use external forces to support Li Wugui to ensure that both sides return to the same level."

"The Western Region is the territory of Quanzhen Dao, and it is also the place where Pei Xuanzhi has made the greatest achievements, and Fenglinzhou is the place where Li Wugui has made the greatest achievements."

"Therefore, we must ensure that Fenglinzhou is not in chaos through Fenglinzhou Buddhism, and at the same time, the Western Region must be in chaos. Only by going back and forth can we achieve a balance."

"Try to restore and maintain two updates, but it is not recommended to wait."