Taiping Inn

Li Xuandu found that he had underestimated the power of the Confucian hermits. It was true that the Confucianism was weakened, but that was compared with the Confucianism in its heyday. The current Confucianism, no matter how weak it was, how lacking in succession, was still a behemoth. Just like a prosperous empire, it could not perish due to a single reason. It would not perish due to famine, civil strife, foreign enemies, or corruption. Only when these reasons were added together and erupted at the same time, the court was corrupt, the famine caused civil strife, and foreign enemies took advantage of the opportunity to enter, then it would truly perish.

The Confucianism was the same. The Taoist sect was only an external enemy, just one of the many conditions for destroying or defeating the Confucianism. Other conditions were needed to truly defeat the Confucianism.

The current situation of the Confucianism was like a ship in a storm. It was far from being destroyed and people died. If it was handled properly, it could still survive the difficulties. The seven Confucian hermits were the ballast stones of the Confucian ship, ensuring that the ship would not be overturned by the waves. Similarly, for the Taoist sect, this is just an opportunity, a hope, and it is far from a time to win. It cannot be black and white. We cannot simply think that the Confucian sect has no hope of winning, nor can we simply think that the Taoist sect has no hope of winning. In fact, both sides are still in a stalemate, and both have hope of winning. The victory or defeat depends on the strategies of both sides.

Li Xuandu left the Misty Rain Tower, thinking about the information revealed in Li Daoxu's words.

The remaining two people who did not show up, one is the leader and the other is the strategist.

The so-called strategist is the main person who makes plans, while the leader is in charge of the overall situation. There is no doubt that these two people are the core figures of the Confucian sect, that is, the Chiyang Weng and the Dragon Old Man among the Seven Hermits. From the titles of the two people, it can be seen that one is "Weng" and the other is "Old Man", both of whom are old people. I think they are similar to Situ Xuance and Zhang Haishi. Although they are from the same sect as other junior brothers, they are older, naturally have deeper prestige, and higher cultivation.

Li Xuandu, through the news from Su Lianrong, can be sure that the chief priest of Wanxiang Academy has invited all the Confucian hermits, and all the Confucian hermits have arrived at Longmen Mansion. But even in the situation today, these two hermits did not show up, and they are still hiding behind the scenes. What are they going to do? Are they watching from the sidelines and staying out of it? Or are they lying in ambush and setting up a net?

Another point is that Jin Chansou is from the faction of Long Laoren and Chiyang Weng, and the Jade Void Sword Fight was proposed by Jin Chansou. In other words, this decision was not a momentary impulse of Jin Chansou, but was decided by Long Laoren and Chiyang Weng a long time ago, but they did not want to show up, so Jin Chansou came forward to propose it.

The Confucian School must have some ulterior motives when proposing the Jade Void Sword Fight. I don't think it will be a gentleman's fight, but now there is still some time before July 15th, so it might as well agree to it first, at least not to lose to the Confucian School in momentum, and then make a long-term plan.

As for more, Li Daoxu didn't say anything more. Li Xuandu knew his master's temper very well, so he didn't continue to ask, but said goodbye and left.

Now he decided to use another source of information, which was the Qingping Society he secretly formed.

Calculating the time, it was the day of the Qingping Society, so after Li Xuandu returned to Qingping Garden, he dismissed his attendants, took out the "Little Purple Mansion", and convened this month's Qingping Society.

Qingping Society is not mandatory to participate, so it is normal for some people to be absent, but this Qingping Society is unexpectedly complete. Li Xuandu thought about it and understood that after all, Longmen Mansion had made such a big fuss, but because only many high-level people from the Confucian and Taoist families were directly involved in this matter, there was little news that could be leaked. I believe that many people are paying attention to the situation in Longmen Mansion and hope to get some news from him.

Li Xuandu sat at the head of the table. After greeting everyone, the long-unseen "Huanxisha" palace official took the initiative to speak, "May I ask the city lord, is there something big happening in Longmen Mansion?"

Li Xuandu answered directly: "The Taoist sect attacked the Confucian sect."

"Who are involved?" The palace official's attitude towards Li Xuandu was always very casual, even though Li Xuandu had already been engaged to Qin Su.

Li Xuandu said: "There are four people from the Taoist sect who have taken action, namely: the Great Heavenly Master, the Great Sword Immortal, the 'Heavenly Sword', and Li Xuandu. The Confucian sect has the 'Demon Sword' and seven top Confucian masters."

As soon as this was said, the whole hall was shocked, so that no one spoke for a long time.

There are a total of six immortals on the latest Laoxuan list, and four of them appeared in Longmen Mansion today, and the rest are all top masters. Such a grand scene is almost comparable to the change in the imperial capital.

Everyone felt something was wrong, because the appearance of so many big figures meant that the conflict between Confucianism and Taoism was no longer the minor fights of the past, but was constantly intensifying. The decisive battle did not start in one day, but there must be a gradual process, and they might be witnessing this process.

Li Xuandu knew that this news could not be concealed for long, and he was willing to spread the news at this time and exchange it for other news. So Li Xuandu asked again: "Is there anything else you want to ask?"

The "Huanxisha" palace official was not polite, "What is the result of this matter?"

Li Xuandu replied: "Both the Taoist and the Confucian sects were very restrained and had no intention of expanding the conflict, so in the end both sides decided to fight to determine the winner. Li Xuandu faced Qinghe Jushi, one of the seven hermits of Confucianism. Li Xuandu won, and the Confucian sect admitted defeat and promised not to interfere in the affairs of Taoism from now on."

The palace official immediately found a name he had never heard of before and asked: "Who are the seven hermits of Confucianism?"

This is exactly what many other participants wanted to ask, and they looked at Li Xuandu and waited for his answer. This is reasonable. If it weren't for Zhang Jingxiu and Li Daoxu, Li Xuan would not know that the existence of the Seven Hermits of the Confucian Sect. Although all the people in the Qingping Society were people with extraordinary identities, they would not be able to compare with Li Daoxu in any case. I went with Zhang Jingxiu and had never experienced the incident at Dabaoen Temple. There were still a considerable number of people who did not know the existence of the Seven Hermits.

Li Xuan pondered for a moment before answering: "They claimed to be the gatekeepers of the Confucian Sect, and were willing to give up their names and use alias as their names, not to appear in front of others, and hide behind the scenes, so they are also called hermits. These seven The hermits were personally selected, trained and appointed by the leader of the Confucian scholars of the previous generation. Over the years, they have indeed done many great things, called hermits, but in fact they secretly control the Confucian scholars, interfere in the temples, Taoisms and even The world's general trend is like those high-ranking priests of the academy and mountain masters of the academy, and they are all real power figures in the Confucian sect. The difference is nothing more than one in the light and the other in the dark."

In the Qingping Society, some people already know what the Seven Hermits of the Confucian Sect existed, such as Qin Su, and some people completely didn’t know, such as Bai Meiniang, and some people had only a few understandings. They had heard only a few words but didn’t understand them, such as the palace officials. .

After the answer, the people present immediately understood what kind of person the Seven Hermits of the Confucian Sect were.

The palace official nodded and asked, "I wonder what the city lord wants to know?"

Li Xuandu said, "I want to know a lot, but I have to ask you at the end. Now you can ask me questions first."

"Hanting Qiu" asked the eldest princess Xuanzhen, "I wonder what the names of these seven hermits are?"

Li Xuandu replied: "The seven of them are: Zen Master Hu, Qinghe Lady, Mr. Bai Lu, Ziyanshan native, Chiyang Weng, Jinchansou, and Old Man Long."

Princess Xuanzhen knew one of the names and was shocked: "Zen Master Hu, isn't that a monk living in seclusion in Dabaoen Temple?" Coincidentally, Dabaoen Temple is still a royal temple in name, and Princess Xuanzhen is a clan The middle-aged man, when she went to the Dabaoen Temple when she went to Jiangnan, she had a relationship with this Zen Master Hu, but she didn't realize that this person was so hidden.

Princess Xuanzhen is also a meticulous person. She immediately remembered the fire in Dabaoen Temple not long ago, saying that it was a fire caused by the thunder fire hitting the hall. But now it seems that it is not that simple. The fire was not a natural disaster. It was the beginning of the Confucian and Taoist struggle. From this point of view, although the Confucian and Taoist sect did not go to a full-scale war, the battle between the top leaders of the two sides was far more intense than she thought.

From this, it is inferred that Li Xuan can know so clearly that he must have participated in it. In other words, the young man had grown into a real big man at the beginning, and the "sun and moon exchange for a new sky" he said was probably not a false statement. Thinking of this, Princess Xuanzhen was shocked, moved, and felt a little sad.

"Hanting Qiu" Princess Xuanzhen couldn't help but ask, "City Lord, how did the Confucian hermits interfere in the temple?"

Li Xuandu said: "I will only give a few prominent examples. Emperor Wuzong fell into the water and Emperor Shizong encountered several palace changes, which were all behind the scenes of the hermits."

Princess Xuanzhen's body trembled obviously. She is the sister of Emperor Muzong and the daughter of Emperor Shizong. Emperor Wuzong is her uncle. However, the Confucian hermits assassinated her uncle and tried to kill her father several times. When she suddenly heard this news, she naturally felt in her heart. Shocked, even feeling fear.

Princess Xuanzhen asked in a slight trembling voice: "So is the death of Emperor Muzong also related to the Confucian hermit?"

Li Xuan can get the support of Princess Xuanzhen through false deception, but he did not do so and answered truthfully: "Maybe it is relevant, maybe it is not relevant, I don't know yet."

Princess Xuanzhen was a little lost and nodded slightly.

Li Xuandu looked around everyone for a week and saw that no one continued to ask questions, so he said, "Owner of 'Huanxisha', I want to know about Kunlun and Yinyang Sect in the Western Regions."

The palace official thought for a moment, "I can reply, but it will take a few days."

"Okay." Li Xuandu expressed his approval and looked at the eldest princess Xuanzhen, "'Hantingqiu', the owner of the post, I want to know about the King of Jin, the chief assistant of the cabinet, the second assistant of the cabinet, the Jing who has already entered Beijing The recent situation of Zhao Lianggeng, Governor of Chu. "

Princess Xuanzhen’s reply was exactly the same as the palace official, “It will take me a few days too.”

Li Xuandu looked at Mrs. Lu again, "I'm waiting for the reply. If you have anything else you want to know, you can ask me a question alone."