Pawn Crossing the River

The Grand Master made an appointment with Master Qingwei to have tea together. This was the first private meeting between the two after the election.

Many people are paying close attention to this meeting, but few people know what the two talked about.

The meeting place was chosen in the Weiming Hall of Zixiao Palace. Gong Jiaojun, the secretary of the Grand Master, and Shen Yuqing, the secretary of Master Qingwei, left after serving tea. There were only two people in the hall.

The scale of this kind of private conversation must be very large, and many things that are difficult to say in discussions, things that are not easy to say in public, and even quite incorrect things can be said.

It's still the not-so-serious small coffee table. It was here last time that Qi Xuansu and others discussed the matter of reopening the land trade route. This small coffee table is actually intentional. Starting from the fifth generation of great masters, it has gone through three great masters, and may usher in the fourth great master. It can be regarded as witnessing the changes in history.

The Grand Master and Master Qingwei sat opposite each other, each leaning back on the chair, relatively relaxed.

But what the two talked about was not as easy as it seemed.

After all, the identities of the two of them are here. They are not vulgar women, so they cannot specifically talk about their parents' filial piety. For them, it is enough to mention such trivial matters occasionally, there is no need to mention them specifically.

"About Fenglinzhou and Nanyang's anti-Taoist sect, it gave me a lot of thinking. After nearly two hundred years of expansion, the Taoist sect has the largest territory far exceeding that of previous dynasties. However, the problems we face are also more complicated. You personally Having been in charge of the Fenglinzhou war, he should be deeply touched." The Grand Master got straight to the point.

Master Qingwei said: "My biggest feeling is that many contradictions do not exist in isolation, but are the result of the combined action of multiple factors."

The Great Master said: "Today there are only you and me, so I won't talk about the correct nonsense. In my opinion, there are four factors plaguing the Taoist sect now, which we cannot solve in a short time.

"The first factor is that the core family of the Taoist sect is in power. Since the core family has the power, there must be internal forces outside the core family. It is said that the beauty of a gentleman is cut off after five generations. We are already seven generations of disciples. It is also within this law. They are not willing to have the power of the Tao sect concentrated in the hands of some core families, and demand more power and benefits. However, because they are still members of the Tao sect, under the rule of the Tao sect, they are better than others. People who are not from the Taoist sect are much better off, so they fight rather than break up. They want more of the pie. They want more power and benefits, but they are unwilling to leave the Taoist sect or overthrow the Taoist sect.”

Master Qingwei said: "Wang Jiaohe is a representative of this type of people. Although Wang Jiaohe was suppressed, it is foreseeable that there will be more Wang Jiaohe in the future. In essence, the distribution of power and interests is not resolved. There will be endless problems like this.”

The Grand Master continued: "The second factor is the overseas areas. To be precise, it is the issue of Xidaomen and the Southern Continent. We have given a lot of support, and we must be asking for it, but Xidaomen also has its own interests and demands. , now that there is the threat of the Steam Gospel, of course they are willing to bow in front of Dao Sect, but when the external threat disappears, they will inevitably seek so-called 'independence', trying to get rid of the control and influence of Dao Sect, and become a separate pole. "

Master Qingwei said: "This issue has already been discussed at the original Jinque meeting. I remember that it was the first time Tianyuan attended the Jinque meeting. I opposed it at the time. A full-power Taoist envoy is not enough. The Taoist must Deeply interfere with the Xidao Sect, take strong control of the Xidao Sect, and push the Xidao Sect back to the Dao Sect when necessary. "

The Grand Master was not angry: "This time, that time."

Master Qingwei knew that the Grand Master's attitude had changed, and perhaps some consensus could be reached between the two.

However, the Grand Master did not talk about this issue in depth, and instead said: "The third factor comes from local forces. These local forces are not powerful factions in the Central Plains, but Fenglinzhou Weiyuan Kingdom, Nanyang Dayu Kingdom, including In some areas of the Western Regions, Silla and other places, national forms that do not belong to the Central Plains Dynasty have emerged in these places. The resistance forces in these places exist in the form of a merger between some people within the Taoist sect and local local forces.

"As the first factor I just mentioned, the demands of some people within the Taoist sect cannot be satisfied in the Taoist sect, so they will inevitably look for a place that can satisfy their interests. How the Taoist sect started, they will imitate the cat. Some people in the local local forces After seeing the power of the Taoist sect, they were eager to get this power in order to get rid of the Taoist sect's control, so the two sides hit it off, while digging for outstanding talents from the Taoist sect, and at the same time they were playing double-dealing."

Master Qingwei said: "The typical representative of local forces in this kind of place is Chen Shuhua. The alliance between Wang Jiaohe and Chen Shuhua is almost inevitable. When the Taoist sect is strong, they only seek greater power and more benefits, but when the Taoist sect is weak, "

The Grand Master said: "Compared to Nanyang, I think the problems in Fenglinzhou will only be more serious. Compared with the pioneering efforts of the ancestors of the past generations, you and I are considered people who have maintained the status quo. These issues must be considered. We cannot let the ancestors pass on the If your foundation is destroyed in our hands, it will be recorded in the history books.”

In fact, there is another point that the Grand Master did not mention, but Master Qingwei knows very well, that is, the Daxuan Court, this "lower Taoist sect" is the largest local force and the greatest threat to the Taoist sect. It can be said that ringworm and scabies are a disease in other places, but the Daxuan court is the elephant in the room.

Master Qingwei took a sip of tea and fell into deep thought.

Even if you don't care about your fame in this life, what about your fame in the world after you die?

The headmaster deliberately waited for a moment before saying, "The fourth factor comes from within us. The power structure today is very different from that of the Xuansheng period. Except for the Zhang family and the Li family, which are still standing, other families will inevitably rise and fall, and will inevitably form a situation where a few families are the core and the others are vassals. As for the Yao family, it was only after the Xuansheng passed away that it really developed and grew."

Qingwei Zhenren already understood what the headmaster was going to say.

As expected, the headmaster continued, "The conflict between the Taoist family and the poor family is inevitable, because if the Taoist wants to gain greater benefits, it will inevitably cultivate more talents. It's like the emperor and the ministers. The emperor can take back all the power, but the emperor's energy will inevitably not be able to take care of both. The bigger the country, the more things there are. If you want people to help, you have to share power. If you share power, you will strive for greater power. This is an unsolvable problem.

"When the Taoist sect expands, it keeps making the pie bigger, and the contradiction is not obvious, but when it stops expanding, it is the beginning of the intensification of internal contradictions. But if the expansion is carried out in an unordered manner, it will exceed the limit of the ability of the Dao Sect, and instead make the local forces of the second and third factors grow one after another, and eventually become too big to be eliminated, and leave the Dao Sect, or even become the host. "

Qingwei Zhenren sighed and said: "You can't take care of both dilemmas. The four factors are entangled and affect each other, and it is difficult to solve them in the end. Take the contradiction between the noble families and the poor families as an example. The rise of the five generations of the Grand Master is very telling, and the counterattack against the five generations of the Grand Master is even more telling. The two sides have almost torn their faces. Now it seems that it was the Third Master who suppressed the power of the poor families with thundering means. In the end, whether it was Brother Dao who became the Grand Master, or me or Su Daoyou who became the Grand Master, they actually represented the noble families. "

The Grand Master said incisively: "The problem is here. The power of the poor families has only been suppressed, not disappeared. It's like the water of a long river. It's better to dredge it than to block it. If you just block it, you will eventually create a river on the ground, and there will be a day when it will be unsustainable. That's why I want to overturn the case of the five generations of the Grand Master and ease these contradictions. "

Zhiqing Wei Zhenren looked at Donghua Zhenren: "If it follows the law of nature, the river will naturally change its course if the silt accumulates, and it is impossible for the heavenly river on the ground to appear. The problem is that the people on both sides of the long river cannot afford the cost of the river changing its course, so if they insist on blocking it, it can be regarded as man conquering nature and going against the will of heaven. I am only afraid that the Grand Master's painstaking efforts will eventually go to waste."

"Zhiqing." The Grand Master called the courtesy name with a lot of warmth between Taoist friends, "You are a person who understands the great cause and always puts the interests of Taoism first. I admire you very much. You have made great sacrifices for the overall situation of Taoism this time and have endured a lot of pressure. It is really difficult for you."

"Maybe this is my blessing. Now Taoism is facing internal and external troubles. It seems that the merit of eternity is just one step away, but in fact, one step into the air will lead to eternal damnation. The Grand Master has the most difficult time. "Qingwei Zhenren's words were very sincere. Whether they came from the heart, the Grand Master heard that they were at least not empty words.

The Grand Master also really got to the point: "In theory, the most difficult thing to repay in life is the kindness of parents. But nine out of ten sons think that it is their parents' duty to be kind to them, so it is natural to take care of them. So sometimes the closest relationship is not between father and son, but between master and disciple. Sons take their parents' kindness for granted, and disciples take their master's kindness as a reward. "

Zhenren Qingwei was silent.

Both of them were sonless, but they talked about father and son.

Zhenren Qingwei couldn't help but think of Qi Xuansu and Li Changge.

This made Zhenren Qingwei think deeply. After all, the person in front of him was the Grand Master. When the situation was turbulent, he knew that he was not his confidant. Why did he say this? And these words obviously pointed to the next generation of disciples. What is the mystery?

Zhenren Qingwei did not respond, but just looked at the Grand Master and listened attentively.

The Grand Master said: "In this situation, looking at the next hundred years, internal and external troubles are inevitable. The disputes among the three sects are extremely inappropriate. It doesn't matter who is the Grand Master. What is important is to maintain the overall situation of the Dao Sect and ensure the unity and stability of the Dao Sect. So I hope that in the next election of the Grand Master, whether Tianyuan wins or Yongyan wins, we still have to put the overall situation first. "

Zhenren Qingwei had to express his position: "What the Grand Master said is very true, and it should be so. "

The Grand Master finally said: "You, me, and Zhisheng, the three of us represent the three paths, and we also represent the Dao Sect. We must work together to overcome the difficulties. "