Pawn Crossing the River

Qi Xuansu was not surprised by the so-called "channel elimination bill".

Over the years, the Holy Court has been secretly promoting "Tao Wo", slandering the East as a threat to the West, and the West should unite to deal with the East. There was even a "famous painting". The apostle with wings behind him symbolizes the Holy Court, leading the seven Valkyries that symbolize the Western countries. They are standing by the sea. On the other side of the sea, an Eastern dragon is carrying a cross-legged figure. The sitting orientalist is coming towards the west and calls it "the dragon's roar".

This so-called "road elimination bill" is nothing more than an extension of the "road disaster".

As for whether this bill can be implemented, it is hard to say. If it is the mainland of the Western Continent, the Holy Court will definitely not allow this bill to be implemented. It is not because the Holy Court is magnanimous, but because the Taoist sect is powerful. The Holy Court is not sure of defeating the Taoist sect. They have extremely close trade relations, but they dare not break their skin.

It's just that the situation in the New World is a little complicated.

Although this is also the sphere of influence of the Holy Court, there are also distinctions between schools.

There are three major sects of Taoism: Zhengyi Dao, Quanzhen Dao, and Taiping Dao. Each major sect has many tributaries, and some have died out, such as Gezao Dao and so on.

The same is true for the Holy Court. After entering the era of steam revolution, the "steam gospel" began to rise rapidly. They were between the traditional Holy Court school and the Officine Council. They believed that "steam" was the gift of the supreme will and the gospel of the goddess. , as steam was widely used, steam evangelicalism became more and more powerful, especially in the New World where the Holy See lacked a foundation.

In other words, the Steam Evangelicals are the actual rulers of the Northern Continent. They belong to the Holy See in name, but in fact they have great independent power. When necessary, they may not obey the orders of the Holy See. Nor will he deliberately keep in step with the Holy See.

As we all know, the reason why the Holy Court forces in a broad sense lost the Southern Continent was because of fierce internal fighting within it, and who were the two parties involved in the internal fighting? It was the disagreement between the traditional forces representing the Holy See and the newly rising steam evangelical forces over the ownership of the New World that eventually led to internal strife.

In this regard, Steam Evangelicalism is quite similar to Xidaomen.

If Xidaomen completely obeyed Daomen's orders, then Daomen would not have to send an angel to coordinate and stabilize the situation.

This time, Daomen's statement was actually somewhat coerced by Xidaomen. Daomen did not want to express its attitude, at least not yet. Daomen wanted to maintain the status quo for the time being and wait until the internal conflicts within Daomen eased before considering the next thing.

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However, a series of actions by Xidaomen and Tawanting have created an established fact, leaving Daomen without any room to move around. There are only two choices left, either to express support or to oppose. In this case, Daomen could only choose to support it.

After the Taoist sect made its support clear, the Holy See in the Western Continent was not as furious as imagined, and even a little gloating about the misfortune. Instead, the Steam Evangelicals reacted greatly because their direct interests were threatened, and even proposed the Taoism Exclusion Act. set.

In fact, the Taoists in their eyes are not the Taoists in the Eastern Continent or the Daxuan Court, but the Xidao Sect in the Southern Continent. This bill is actually specifically targeted at the Xidao Sect.

Regarding this point, Xidaomen will definitely not make it clear to Daomen. They are eager to tie Daomen completely to their chariot, so they will definitely exaggerate the "Exclusion Act" as a declaration of war against Daomen, in order to kidnap Daomen again.

This statement is not pleasant to hear, and it is even suspected of destroying and alienating the "brotherly relationship" between the two sects, but in fact it is exactly the same thing. Dao Sect has many interests, and it is necessary to take into account all aspects. It is impossible to invest all the energy in the New World. This is just one of the many matters of Dao Sect. Xidaomen undoubtedly hopes that Daomen will give more attention and assistance to the New World, so they have to use some means.

According to the situation mastered by Qingwei Zhenren and Qi Xuansu, until the results came out, they only discovered some clues and made some speculations. Xidaomen and Tawanting did not officially notify Yujing of their intention to take action. , which resulted in the passivity of Daomen.

Of course, Xidaomen does not dare to go too far. If the Daomen is angered and causes the Daomen to give up support, it will lead to the destruction of Xidaomen itself, so this method is also controlled within a certain range.

In fact, the Grand Master of the Five Dynasties had already foreseen this, so in a secret meeting, the Grand Master of the Five Dynasties proposed to strictly prevent external forces from interfering in the highest decision-making of the Taoist sect. The external forces here include and are not limited to the Daxuan court, nobles from various countries, Xidaomen, and Confucianism. sect, Western forces headed by the Holy Court, etc.

The Grand Master of the Five Dynasties said that if an external force can participate in the competition for the Grand Master's ownership and achieve the purpose of influencing the decision-making of the Taoist sect, then the Taoist sect will be kidnapped by this external force and do things that harm its own interests. .

It was precisely because of this secret meeting that the Taoist sect began to strictly restrict the origin of Shenzhen Zhenren. Chen Shuhua's background no longer had the possibility of being promoted to Shenzhen Zhenren. Including Xidaomen and the Daxuan court, they have no right to interfere in any matters related to the election of the Grand Master.

The reason is very simple. If Xidao Sect and Daxuan Imperial Court can also affect the ownership of the Great Headmaster, then all candidates for the Great Headmaster must show favor to them and win their support by harming the interests of the Daoist Sect. If any of the Great Headmaster If the candidate is unwilling to compromise, he will not get their support, and his competitors will receive corresponding support. If things go on like this, there will be a strange phenomenon where no one dares to touch the interests of these two parties, and the Xidao Sect and the Daxuan Court will become the ancestors of the Dao Sect.

The Great Master of the Five Dynasties simply blocked this gap completely. Anyone with the above background can only stop at the second-grade Taiyi Taoist priest and cannot go beyond it. On the contrary, ordinary children from poor families without any background can go further without any restrictions, and even ascend to the position of great master.

So Chen Shuhua can either be the chief for the rest of his life, or he can only die.

After the departure of the Five Dynasties Grand Master, these rules were somewhat loosened, and the Li family began to contact Xidaomen and the Daxuan Court, formerly known as Beidaomen, but the conventions still existed and were not broken.

Since it is impossible to influence the decision-making of Daomen from the inside, we have to influence Daomen from the outside through changes in "potential".

Qi Xuansu recovered his thoughts, looked at the floating islands above through the glass window, and asked, "What are those floating islands?"

Strauni followed Qi Xuansu's line of sight and then smiled and said, "That's the upper city. Only the really big shots can live there. It's said that when the empire was at its most glorious, there used to be a floating city. Unfortunately, that floating city has already Fallen, these floating islands are just a poor imitation.”

The so-called "empire" here refers to the great empire that once unified the Western Continent, that is, the Great Qin Empire west of the West Sea.

Qi Xuansu said, "The core area among the five districts of St. York is named the middle city area. So, there is also a lower city area?"

Strawney nodded and said, "There is indeed a lower city. In the history of St. York, there was a serious accident that caused a huge explosion, and due to over-exploitation of the underground, a large number of underground cavities were eventually formed. Under the influence of these two conditions, parts of the city sank into the ground and the sea respectively, forming undersea cities and underground cities, collectively known as Lower City, which are opposite to the Middle City on the ground and the Upper City in the sky respectively.

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answer. "

"By the way, the most complete steam industry system is preserved in the Lower City."

Qi Xuansu hit the nail on the head and said, "As far as I can see, there is already steam billowing and smoke. I really can't imagine what an underground city that retains a complete industrial system would look like, a place where living people can survive." ?"

"In Eastern terms, your Excellency is really insightful and can see through the essence of the matter at a glance." Strawny smiled slightly, "But there is no way, industrial production cannot be separated from a developed transportation system, and it is indeed difficult outside." There is a vast area, but there are no railways or rivers in those places. How can industry be developed? St. York not only has the most complete railway system in the northern continent, but is also located at the mouth of a river, whether it is inland water transportation or sea transportation. , are extremely developed.”

Qi Xuansu took over, "So even if the factory is built underground or under the sea in St. York, it is better than building it on the ground elsewhere."

"That's right," Strawney said. "You can say that the prosperity of St. York is built on the suffering of downtown."

Qi Xuansu looked at Strawney, "It seems you know this very well."

"Not only do I know it very well, in fact all the MPs and bishops know it very well. In St. York, this is a topic that cannot be avoided and cannot be easily touched." Strawney shrugged, "In the words of the priests , this is a necessary sacrifice.”

Qi Xuansu asked again, "How long can people in Xiacheng District live?"

Strawney thought for a moment, "I haven't learned about it in detail. Maybe it's twenty-five years old? It could be thirty-five years old. In short, most people can't live past thirty-five."

Qi Xuansu continued to look out the window, "So a large number of slaves are needed."

Strawney said, "Slaves are property on the plantation side, but they are just consumables here, just like coal and black water. In terms of bidding, the plantation always has an advantage. After all, they have a better preservation of value there. As a long-term investment, slave traders are more willing to pay high prices and transport slaves to the south.”

Qi Xuansu pointed to the Iron Guards on the street outside and asked, "Why not replace them with these Iron Men?"

Strawney then looked at it, "That's the Colt humanoid steam weapon developed by Colt Company, codenamed 'Law Enforcement Officer'. This kind of tin man has countless advantages, but the only disadvantage is the price. . That means the city council spends taxpayers’ money to buy in large quantities.”