Pawn Crossing the River

On New Year's Day, fireworks are allowed in Yujing. Qi Xuansu bought a lot from the store under the name of Tianjitang. In fact, he didn't care. The key is that Xiao Yin likes them.

Qi Xuansu gave red envelopes to the Taoists at home and gave them a holiday. Those who were willing to go home for the New Year would be reimbursed for their travel expenses. Those who were unwilling to go home for the New Year, or who were homeless, would stay in Yujing to celebrate the New Year with him.

In the end, a few people decided to stay, and Qi Xuansu had people prepare a New Year's Eve dinner, so they could celebrate the New Year together regardless of their status.

Xiao Yin took a few hasty bites, then ran to the yard to set off fireworks. She even felt that it was not enough. She climbed up to the roof with a large bundle of fireworks that was taller than her. It was like shooting with a "thunder gun" and flying everywhere. All, and even some of the fireworks flew to Li Changge's home.

Li Changge's mansion was dark. Not only the male owner Li Changge was not there, but also the female owner Qin Henghua. She had gone back to the imperial capital, because the New Year's Day was still an important festival for the imperial court, and now she should be with all the royal family members. .

The left-behind Taoist of the Li family poked his head around for a few times, and after realizing that it was Xiao Yin, he retracted his head. Now everyone knew that there was such a big figure as Xiao Yin. To put it mildly, he was the Little Sage Qitian. To put it bluntly, she is the devil incarnation. People who are not afraid of her are generally not as knowledgeable as children, and people who are as knowledgeable as her often cannot afford to offend her, so they have to take a detour.

In normal times, Taishangfang is very deserted, because most of the people who can buy houses here do not live here, but are scattered in various local governments. However, this year is an election year, and many Shenzhizhen and old Taoist priests have come here. When you go to Yujing, Taishangfang is a rare lively place.

After setting off the fireworks, Xiao Yin had enough of her addiction and went back to her room to sleep.

Sleep on time to thrive.

Qi Xuansu did not have such a leisurely mood. After all, there were only fifteen days left before the general election, and he had too many things to arrange.

On the first day of the new year, Xiao Yin was still sleeping soundly, while Qi Xuansu had already gone out.

Of course, Qi Xuansu did not want to pay New Year greetings, but wanted to meet Lingguan Jiazi and Lingguan Dingmao, who arrived in Beijing secretly last night.

At this time, the six first-grade spiritual officials were all in the spiritual official's mansion, waiting for the opportunity to move.

The Lingguan Mansion is not in Yujing, or even on Yuxu Peak, but on Yuzhu Peak.

Qi Xuansu left Yujing, came to Yuzhu Peak, and passed the ice lake where the flying boat was docked. The Lingguan Mansion, standing in the vast wind and snow, was vaguely visible.

However, Qi Xuansu did not enter the Lingguan Mansion through the main entrance, but went around in a circle and came to a secret portal.

There are no ordinary spirit officer guards here, only Jiachen spirit officer is waiting here.

Seeing Qi Xuansu coming from a distance, Jiachen Lingguan came forward to greet him: "I have met Master Taiwei."

"There is no need to be polite between you and me." Qi Xuansu waved his hand, "Is everyone here?"

Jiachen Lingguan said: "Reporting to Master Taiwei, everyone has arrived and is waiting for Master Taiwei."

Qi Xuansu said: "Okay, please lead the way."

Under the leadership of Jiachen Lingguan, Qi Xuansu entered the Lingguan Mansion from this secret portal, walked through a long corridor, and came to a meeting hall. There was only one entrance and exit door, no windows, and special formation protection to ensure Hidden enough.

At this time, there were five first-grade spiritual officers standing in the meeting hall. Together with the Jiachen spiritual officer who was leading the way for Qi Xuansu, there were exactly six first-grade spiritual officers.

There are no Lingguan Fangguan, Dingmao Lingguan, or new Jia Shen Lingguan. When he first arrested the Jiashen Lingguan, Qi Xuansu had seen the Jiazi Lingguan, but at that time the Jiazi Lingguan was fully armed and had lowered his mask, so he never saw his true appearance.

Judging from the appearance, Jiazi Lingguan is already quite old, and his beard has turned white, showing his vicissitudes of life. After all, Lingguan is not as good as a Taoist priest and needs external help. His own cultivation is not very strong and will inevitably be eroded by time.

Ding Mao Lingguan is no longer young either, but he is a little younger than Jiazi Lingguan.

The newly appointed Jiashen Lingguan is relatively young and has the appearance of a middle-aged man.

Six first-grade spiritual officers saluted Qi Xuansu.

Qi Xuansu returned the gift and went straight to the point: "I won't say anything unnecessary. I come to see you this time, not only on behalf of myself, but also on behalf of Master Donghua and Master Cihang. Speaking more broadly, I still represent Taomen."

Qi Xuansu used words very cleverly. Since the marriage of Donghua Zhenren and Cihang Zhenren, he has changed his words. He will not mention Donghua Zhenren separately, but will put Donghua Zhenren and Cihang Zhenren together and treat them as a whole. , rather than two separate individuals.

In a sense, this is a bit like co-governing. If Donghua Zhenren is successfully elected, then Cihang Zhenren, the wife of the great leader, will definitely have real power, not just a vase decoration. The difference between the two lies in the priority. Master Donghua is definitely the main one, and Master Cihang is the secondary one. Therefore, Master Donghua is in front and Master Cihang is behind.

Status only provides a name and an opportunity to control power. How much power you can control in the end depends on your own abilities and means.

The six first-grade spiritual officers knew it all, and no one said anything.

Qi Xuansu continued: "Now that the general election is approaching, there must be no chaos in Yujing. The two real people are a little worried and have given clear instructions to guard against some people deliberately sabotaging the election and to resolutely maintain the stability of Yujing. It is up to you."

The six spiritual officials said solemnly: "It is our duty to do so."

Qi Xuansu nodded: "Very good."

Considering that the six first-grade spiritual officers also hold high positions and are all foxes with thousands of years of experience, there is no need to make a high profile here. The people who lead the singing don't believe it, and the people who sing along don't believe it either. As Qi Xuansu said to Zhang Yuelu, it is essentially an internal struggle, which is neither noble nor sacred.

So Qi Xuansu got to the point: "Let's discuss the specific details."

Jiazi Lingguan made a gesture, and a topographic map of Yujing hung down on the wall of the meeting hall.

Qi Xuansu then looked at the map.

Jiazi Lingguan pointed at the map and said: "Yujing is too big. It cannot be completely blocked without using large-scale Lingguan. Therefore, I believe that the scope must be narrowed, that is, the Yujing part should be abandoned, and the main force should be put into Within the scope of Xuandu.”

Qi Xuansu looked at the map and asked, "How is the defense situation of Beichen Hall?"

Jiazi Lingguan said: "I can only use four words to describe it. It's like a criss-crossing canine. If you want to get around it unnoticed, I'm afraid it won't work."

Qi Xuansu said: "In other words, we can only break through forcefully."

Jiazi Lingguan and Jiachen Lingguan looked at each other: "Lingguan Mansion and Beichen Hall do not belong to each other. They are meant to check each other, so this is the only way. With our strength, it should not be difficult."

Qi Xuansu did not dwell on this point and continued: "After entering Xuandu, the next step is Zifu."

Jiazi Lingguan said: "The defense here is actually weak, because the three deputy masters, the thirty-six masters, the great masters Pingzhang, and the election committee of the master are all here and do not need to be escorted. So there is only a guard of honor.”

Qi Xuansu stared at the Golden Que mark on the map and fell into deep thought.

Ding Mao Lingguan, who had been silent all this time, said: "Back then, the sword immortal assassinated Zulong, but the plan was poor and the dagger appeared. There were not so many calculations. Victory or failure all depended on one sword. As a result, the sword missed, and the assassin died on Zulong's side. Under the sword. The situation in Yujing is already very clear. I think there is no strategy at all, it is just a matter of one blow."

Qi Xuansu came back to his senses and said: "There is indeed not much strategy to speak of, so let's implement this plan. If someone attempts to sabotage the election, we will attack Xuandu, advance to Jinque, and decide the matter with one blow."

After the dust settled on the Grand Master’s Election Committee, preparations for the general election began in full.

Under the leadership of Tianshi, the main work is divided into two parts. One part is the election itself, and the other part is the enthronement ceremony after the election. This needs to be prepared in advance, and preparations cannot be started until the end of the matter.

But you can't come too early, and you can't give outsiders the opportunity to interfere in the election of the Grand Master, so you have to seize the opportunity to invite guests.

Among the guests, the Buddhist sect and the Holy Court only sent representatives to attend, which had little impact. As a close comrade of the Taoist sect, the Confucian sect received extraordinary treatment. The three high priests were invited, namely: Zhang Taixu, the high priest of Qi science. , Cheng Taiyuan, the Great Confucian Liquor of Neo-Confucianism, and Wang Taichong, the Great Confucian Liquor of Xinxue, also happen to correspond to the three paths of Taoism.

At this time, the role of the chief of the Grand Patriarch's Election Committee was revealed. When the three Confucian sects' high priests would arrive in Beijing was entirely decided by the chief of the committee, that is, by the Celestial Master.

It is worth mentioning that, as the nominal second Taoist priest, although the emperor cannot run for the Grand Master, he can run for the Grand Master Election Committee.

Of course, this is only theoretical, and it is difficult to operate in practice.

In the past, there was a unanimous opinion within the Taoist sect, and it was almost a consensus to exclude Emperor Daxuan. And not every Daxuan emperor was a strong emperor.

Nowadays, there is no consensus within the Taoist sect, but according to the regulations, Taoist priests who do not belong to the three Taoists are uniformly divided into the Yujing constituency.

Although Imperial Capital belongs to the constituency of Taiping Dao, Emperor Daxuan himself is not a disciple of Taiping Dao, but belongs to the Yujing constituency. The Yujing constituency is actually controlled by the Grand Master's lineage. It is impossible for Jiang Dazhen to allow Emperor Daxuan to be elected as the constituency. There are many reasons for selecting members of the committee, such as there is no precedent, Emperor Daxuan should not interfere in the election, etc. There is always a suitable one.

Since he couldn't even pass the primary election, Emperor Daxuan naturally couldn't compete for the first or second seat of the election committee.

In the end, Emperor Daxuan could only come to Yujing as a guest of the ceremony, but could not actually participate in it.

Since you are a guest, you must also follow the arrangements of the Heavenly Master when you enter the venue, unless you break your skin now.

In this way, time has officially entered the forty-seventh year of Jiushi.