Pawn Crossing the River

After the Ise War came to an end, Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu got a half-month holiday.

There are mainly two reasons. The first is the public reason. The two of them used "Twin Swords" three times in a row, which caused a huge burden and suffered backlash. They need time to recuperate. No one can fault them. The second reason is difficult to mention on the table. During the time when Li Changge and Yao Pei were away, the two made too many military exploits and broke the balance between the four of them. Now they naturally have to make amends. They cannot Let the other two catch up and at least narrow the gap. M..

In short, this is a reasonable disguised form of snow. Although no one can share the profit or deduct the merits of the two people, it is enough to prevent them from having the opportunity to make meritorious deeds.

By this time, the overall situation has been decided, manpower is abundant, and this operation has become more feasible.

Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu were not very dissatisfied.

There are two reasons for this. The first reason is that the two of them really want to take a rest. Since entering Fenglin Continent, the two of them have hardly had much rest, and the "combination of swords" three times in a row has really put a great burden on the two of them. The second reason is that they have accumulated enough military exploits.

The two of them calculated it in private. Qi Xuansu was the most exaggerated. He escorted Toyotomi Hideshige, captured the key smugglers of Jiangnan Province, recruited Suzuka Imperial Palace, retrieved the head of Shuten Doji, killed Hieizan Munezen alone, and fought with Kabuto. Chen Lingguan worked together to kill Gui Shanxing, worked with Zhang Yuelu to kill the Jingshi Priest of the Ping clan, worked with Zhang Yuelu and Li Tiangang to kill Honganji Xianru, and worked with Yao Pei, Li Changge, and Zhang Yuelu to kill the Grand Priest of the Shrine.

This does not include some trivial details, such as leading a group of principals back to the camp successfully after the crash of the flying boat, detecting information about Westerners' involvement in the situation in Fenglinzhou, participating in the attack on Kobe Castle, participating in the peace talks in Jincheng, leading the team to attack the Omiyama Mountain, etc. .

With so many merits added up, at least four "Tian Zi Gong" are enough to be promoted to the second level Taiyi Taoist priest. Nominally speaking, second-grade Taiyi Taoist priests do not need to look at merit. It is a recommendation selection system. However, the recommendation selection must also have a standard basis. Military merit cannot be ignored. Even the recommendation of the Grand Master will take the impact of military merit into consideration, not to mention He is a second-grade Taiyi Taoist priest.

The main reason is that a considerable part of Qi Xuansu's achievements were done in conjunction with other people. If Qi Xuansu had done all of these alone, such as killing Katsura Zenyuki, Honganji Pinanyu, and Omiyaji alone, it would be even more unimaginable. Promoted to chief level.

Even if Qi Xuansu gave up part of it to Zhang Yuelu and got another piece of "Xuan Jade" and needed to offset part of it, there would still be at least three "Tian Zi Gong" left.

However, Zhang Yuelu also analyzed the pros and cons for Qi Xuansu. According to the Taoist style, even if Qi Xuansu has made great achievements, it is unlikely that Qi Xuansu will be directly promoted to the second-grade Taiyi Taoist priest, because it is too fast. Qi Xuansu was promoted to the third-grade Youyi Taoist priest just a few years ago. He was promoted to the second level Taiyi Taoist Priest in less than half a year. No matter how well he lived up to his reputation, he would easily attract criticism.

It is conceivable that by then, all kinds of rumors will come out. For example, Qi Xuansu was the illegitimate son of the sixth-generation master, and Zhang Yuelu did not marry down, but married up. It is said that the tea is cold, and the Sixth Generation Master can still have such power after ascending to the throne. Qi Xuansu's biological mother must also be an extremely powerful person. Looking at the Taoist sect, there are only a few women who meet the requirements. Knowing Qiniang There are not many people, so they might involve Master Cihang. In the eyes of some people, it all ties together. Master Cihang deliberately married his apprentice to his son so that the wealth would not flow to outsiders.

But we can't rely on Qi Xuansu not to be promoted. This is unfair, so the Taoist sect will most likely adopt a compromise strategy, dividing one step into three steps.

The first step is to convert Qi Xuansu into a regular official, that is, to change his job grade into the official third-grade Youyi Taoist priest grade. This is beyond doubt and no one will question it.

The second step is to promote Qi Xuansu to the second position of Deputy Palace Master. Qi Xuansu has made such a great contribution. It is reasonable and reasonable for him to be promoted in his position, and it cannot be lowered. After all, he has risked his life for military achievements. However, according to the internal practice of the Taoist sect, no third-grade Youyi Taoist priest has ever held the second-ranking or chief-level positions. Then there are two solutions, one is to let Qi Xuansu serve as the acting deputy palace master, and the other is to continue with the job level, but it is the job level of a second-grade Taiyi Taoist priest.

Zhang Yuelu prefers the latter option, which is to let Qi Xuansu have a position tied to his position. Only when he serves as the second deputy palace master can he be considered a second-grade Taiyi Taoist priest.

Strictly speaking, this isn't really a real person, and it won't cause much backlash.

After the first two steps have been laid, the third step is a matter of course. As long as Qi Xuansu establishes a firm foothold in office and makes some achievements, combined with his previous achievements and correcting him in the name of compensation, he can become a veritable official. The second-grade Taiyi Taoist priest.

During the discussion in Jinque, the senior Taoist sect who spoke for Qi Xuansu could have said this: "In the past, because Qi Tianyuan was too young, he had to be suppressed. "The Theory of Destiny" says: 'The tree is beautiful in the forest. , the wind will destroy it; if it is piled up on the shore, the current will be turbulent; if it is higher than others, the crowd will not be like it. 'If a young man is too outstanding, he will inevitably attract jealousy. This is also a kind of protection for him."

"Since Xuansheng, I have learned from the mistakes of Confucianism. Taoism has always advocated the reuse of young people. However, how to promote and appoint people is a big question. It is not just about promoting people and putting them in a certain position with a piece of paper. It is too fast. This may not necessarily be a good thing, but it may be just a matter of counterproductive effect. Taishang Taoist Master once said: "Governing a big country is like cooking small dishes." Young people have read a lot and have a lot of theory, but they don't have a deep understanding of the actual situation, so we have to take things for granted. Keep them in check and let them walk slower and more steadily, so that they can better penetrate into reality, accumulate experience, and condense their thoughts.”

"Furthermore, young people are inevitably arrogant. The advantage is that they are full of impetus. The disadvantage is that they tend to put their eyes on the top and ignore interpersonal relationships, which affects internal unity. As a result, things may not be done, but there are many opinions. This requires more pressure. One press makes his talent restrained.”

"But having said that, pressing down does not mean that Qi Tianyuan's contribution to Fenglinzhou can be wiped out. According to my observations during this period, Qi Tianyuan is still a practical and reliable person, and his performance is very good, so I think he should be given To make up for it, give him a lift."

With this transition and buffer, as long as Qi Xuansu himself does not cause problems, it will be difficult for others to object.

It can also eliminate a lot of noise and make Qi Xuansu's resume look better. In any case, Qi Xuansu came up step by step, rather than jumping up directly. Regardless of the Taoist sect or the imperial court, the word "fortunate to advance" is not a compliment.

Qi Xuansu agreed with Zhang Yuelu's analysis and divided one step into three steps. Age is a double-edged sword. Of course, being too old won't work, and being too young won't work either, because qualifications, experience and age are linked. The subtext of saying Qi Xuansu is too young is that Qi Xuansu lacks experience and qualifications.

As for Zhang Yuelu, she is equally young, even one year younger than Qi Xuansu, but her situation is different from Qi Xuansu's. The key is that Zhang Yuelu's qualifications are not bad.

Now it seems that Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu are almost the same, but in fact they are very different. From the beginning to the end, Zhang Yuelu's position and rank were higher than Qi Xuansu's, even in the order of deputy hall master. The main reason is that Zhang Yuelu started early. When Qi Xuansu was still studying in Wanxiang Taoist Palace, Zhang Yuelu had already entered the Taoist system, started to participate in practical work, and climbed up step by step. This was Zhang Yuelu's advantage, so when Qi Xuansu was still a seventh-grade Taoist priest, Zhang Yuelu He is already a fourth-grade Taoist priest.

Overall, it took Zhang Yuelu about ten years to go from the seventh grade to the third grade, while it only took Qi Xuansu three years to go from the seventh grade to the third grade. The gap in seniority was huge.

Looking at the resumes of the two, Qi Xuansu's promotion curve is very strange. For a long time, it has been a slightly upward-sloping horizontal line, which means that he was wasting his time. Suddenly, in recent years, it has fallen off a cliff. All the way up, it is difficult not to raise doubts, so Qi Xuansu will suffer even greater criticism.

On the other hand, Zhang Yuelu's promotion curve is very smooth, always sloping upward, but the magnitude of each increase is within a reasonable range, which makes Zhang Yuelu suffer less criticism.

Therefore, Zhang Yuelu most likely does not need to divide one step into three steps, but can complete it in one step and continue to maintain the momentum of being the first among the three shows.

But generally speaking, the gap between Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu is shrinking rapidly. From being three levels apart at the beginning, they are now almost on equal footing. If this momentum continues, it is not impossible for Qi Xuansu to overtake Zhang Yuelu.

As expected, on the second day after Qi Xuansu began to rest, a commendation order was sent from Yujing to publicly commend Qi Xuansu.

It is worth noting that this commendation order mainly targets Qi Xuansu's direct success in recruiting Suzuka Mountain and indirectly assisting Qingwei Zhenren in recruiting Da Jiangshan, so it does not include Zhang Yuelu, Li Changge, Yao Pei and others.

It reads: "Qi Xuansu can stand at the height of the overall situation, deeply understand the strategic purpose of the camp, go all out to complete the task, actively win over righteous friends from all walks of life, vigorously cooperate with the camp to achieve strategic goals, and make contributions to the successful end of the Ise War. For his outstanding contribution, Jinque decided to commend Qi Xuansu to all Taoist halls, Taoist mansions and Taoist palaces. He hopes that Qi Xuansu will take this opportunity to continue to work hard and make new contributions to Taoism. "

The signature is Pei Xuanzhi, the chief counselor of Jinque.

Along with the commendation order came the document of Qi Xuansu's transformation. From now on, Qi Xuansu is a veritable third-grade Youyi Taoist priest. Even if he no longer holds the position of deputy hall master, there will be no change.

Qi Xuansu had to sigh at Zhang Yuelu's foresight. The first step of the three-step process had arrived so quickly.