Pawn Crossing the River

There is a Xumi Seat in the meeting place. There is only a simple rosewood chair with armrests on it. That is the position belonging to the Grand Master, and it is empty at the moment.

Behind the seat was a large copper incense burner with three legs and a cover. The lid of the burner was hollowed out according to Bagua images. At this time, faint cigarette smoke continued to flow out of the hollow. In the center of the north wall directly above the copper incense burner hangs a very plain white framed nave, with four big characters written on it: "Peace in the world".

This great leader's chair faces north and faces south. There is a place for people to stand in front of the sumeru seat. There is also a high table three feet high and more than one foot square, which can be used to place speeches and other items. That is the place for speaking.

Facing the Grand Master are the chairs of the twelve council members, arranged in a crescent arc shape. Because of the existence of the Sumeru Seat, the position of these seats is obviously lower than that of the Grand Master's seat, and they will be looked down upon by the Grand Master.

There are four positions to the left and right of the Grand Master, which are slightly lower than the Grand Master's position and slightly higher than the positions of Shenzhi Zhenren and Pingzhang Daren, corresponding to the three deputy Chief Masters and the Grand Master's wife respectively.

At this time, among the four positions, only the position of the National Master was marked with a name, and the positions of the Heavenly Master and the Earth Master were empty, indicating that these two would not attend this meeting.

Not long after, eight Master Shenzhi and three Master Pingzhang arrived at the meeting place one after another. Many of them greeted Qi Xuansu, and they were quite important, such as Master Donghua, Master Jiang D, and even Master Qingwei.

It seemed as if Qi Xuansu was not coming to Jinque for the first time, but was an old face here.

As a new face who came to Jinque for the first time, this treatment made many people watching secretly speechless.

The National Preceptor was the second to last person to enter the venue. After the Imperial Preceptor, Cihang was the last person to enter the venue as usual. Then Cihang Reverend Cihang ordered the venue to be closed, and a full-time spiritual officer closed the door of the venue from the outside.

Everyone sat down separately, with the exception of the Imperial Master, who stood next to the Grand Master's chair and held the back of the chair with his hands, indicating his identity as the Grand Master on duty.

The Jinque deacons began to prepare to record the content of the meeting, including images, sounds, and text.

Master Qingwei, as the second-in-command Master, came to the speaking position in front of Grand Master Xumi's throne, and presided over the discussion facing other participants and spectators.

The first topic of today's discussion is not the wrong issue about Xidaomen, but a seemingly insignificant small issue.

Recently, at the junction of Lingnan Taoist Prefecture and Borneo Taoist Prefecture, a group of people appeared with short hair. They looked like monks but not monks, like monks who had just returned to secular life. In terms of clothing, men wear double-breasted jackets and women wear knee-length skirts. In summary, the clothes are more open and bold than those of Westerners, and the hair is shaved shorter than that of Prairie Golden Tent.

The locals call these thieves who have shaved their heads. They are called sea merchants, who also look like pirates. They claim to be survivors of the Jin Dynasty living overseas. They believe in the holy court and worship the supreme will. They also set up a new Taoist sect to arrest natives and ordinary people. The common people shave their hair to change clothes and have evil intentions. They are suspected of being an emerging secret association. The local government once tried to exterminate them, but failed. Later, they went to the government and asked the Taoist government to send troops for support.

The Lingnan Taoist Office first asked "Tianting" through the Borneo Taoist Office. "Tianting" immediately denied that this group of people was its own branch and only had some business dealings. Considering the overseas issues involved, the Lingnan Taoist Government did not specialize in the matter and chose to report it to Yujing and ask Jinque for instructions on how to deal with these Jin remnants who claimed to be living overseas, whether to exterminate them or recruit them.

A total of three Pingzhang Dazhen participated in the discussion this time. In addition to Jiang Dazhen, the other two were Shi Hesheng and Tang Fengxian.

When you hear the name "Tang Fengxian", you know that this is the ancestor of the Tang family. This ancestor is not false. The Tang family's seniority is "Mu Ru Qingfeng". This "Ru" generation coincides with the "Jin" of the Li family. The generation of "ru" in "Tao is like law" corresponds to that of "Qing" in Tang family, which corresponds to the generation of "Fa" in Li family, and the generation of "Feng" corresponds to the generation of "长".

In other words, Tang Fengxian and Imperial Master Li Changgeng were of the same generation, regardless of their seniority in the Taoist sect, but only in terms of their seniority in family acquaintances.

The Great Master Pingzhang had a hot temper and slapped the table: "Is it necessary to bring this matter to Jinque for discussion? What does Lingnan Daofu do? Can't you just handle it yourself?"

Master Qingwei smiled slightly, signaled Tang Fengxian to be calm, and then said: "I would like to ask fellow Taoists from Lingnan Taoist Prefecture to explain the specific situation."

After that, he left the speaking position, and a deputy master of Lingnan Taoist Palace walked up. He was much older than Qi Xuansu, but obviously much more nervous than Qi Xuansu. Jinque was just Jinque, not the auditorium of the Taoist government. He Unlike Qi Xuansu, he doesn't have so many acquaintances, so he can't be nervous.

The deputy palace master unfolded his speech: "Dear real people, on behalf of Lingnan Daofu, I would like to make the following report."

"According to what we know, these so-called remnants of the Jin Dynasty are not ordinary mobs. They have a strict internal organizational system. They cannot be said to have begun to take shape as a secret association, but are very mature. Their system is similar to that of our Taoist sect's Golden Tower, The cardinals in the West all have certain similarities, but their core members are not elected by vote, but are hereditary nobles."

"They claimed that their ancestors were exiled overseas when the Golden Tent went south to the Central Plains. Now for some reason, they have returned to their homeland and settled under the jurisdiction of Lingnan Daofu. Unlike the secret societies that mainly focus on preaching, they There is a very strong tendency to separatist rule, and they even send out officials to evacuate the government. Unlike ordinary people who occupy mountains and become kings, they also have to convert the people, that is, shave their hair and change their clothes. As for whether they want to restore the Jin Dynasty, it is still doubtful. "

Qi Xuansu was bored. When he was in charge of Borneo, he vaguely heard about such a group of people, but he just thought they were maritime merchants and didn't pay attention to them. Unexpectedly, it has become a trend.

As for the remnants of the Jin Dynasty, so what? The Imperial Master of the Jin Dynasty is helping him take care of his children.

Even if the Emperor of the Jin Dynasty comes back to life, he still has to be an ordinary Taoist citizen under the glory of the Taoist sect, and he is not as good as the Imperial Master of the Jin Dynasty.

Soon, the deputy head of Lingnan Daofu finished his speech. After bowing, he retreated to the auditorium.

"The survivors of the Jin Dynasty, I think they are like the fishing and hunting people of Liaodong. They all like to shave their hair and change clothes." Tang Fengxian spoke first, "My opinion is to kill them all."

Shi Hesheng expressed his objection: "I don't think it's appropriate to punish without teaching. It's better to treat illnesses and save people. As long as they are willing to repent and serve the Taoist sect, they should be compassionate. After all, Taishang Taoist ancestors have something to say, which is called compassion, which is called frugality, and which is said to not dare. First for the world."

Because it was not about fundamental interests, the two Pingzhang masters did not have a heated debate. After expressing their opinions, they said nothing more.

Others didn't even bother to discuss it, just waiting for the final vote.

The fate of a group of people will be decided in a few words from a big shot.

Pitiful? Perhaps even more deplorable.

Jiang Dazhen proposed a compromise plan: "Let's fight first, and then only capture the thieves' heads. The Lingnan Province will interrogate first, and ordinary people will be repatriated to their original places, and those whose origins are unknown will be handed over to Borneo."

Master Qingwei said: "Then let's vote."

In the end, Jiang Dazhen's plan received the most votes and was passed as a resolution. Deacon Jinque formed a paper order and issued it to Lingnan Daofu.

Then came two more issues, neither big nor small.

It was calm and even rarely spoke. It quickly entered the voting process and was passed quickly.

Master Qingwei said: "The last topic of this discussion is a summary of the merits and demerits of this New World War. First, Taoist Qi Xuansu from Beichen Hall will report the specific situation to Jinque."

Everyone was refreshed and the real highlight was coming.

Qi Xuansu stood up and walked to the Xumizuo. Master Qingwei had already moved away.

Qi Xuansu took out the report manuscript that had been revised for several pages and looked around at everyone.

Pressure is coming. This pressure is not only caused by power, but also the pressure of realm cultivation. After all, there are as many as five immortals who can sit here. No wonder the deputy master of Lingnan Daofu was so nervous just now.

Qi Xuansu withdrew his gaze and lowered his head to read the manuscript: "Dear great masters, great masters, and fellow Taoists,

"The main content of the report is some inherent problems exposed in the New World War that just ended not long ago. For example, the rapid development of Xidaomen in recent years has led to the problem that the stalls are too large, such as the internal organization of Xidaomen and Tawanting The problem of unreasonable structure, as well as the problems of combat methods exposed by Tawanting’s army in this war, the problems of radicalization, risk taking, blind action, etc. in terms of strategy.”

The Imperial Master was sitting on the Xumizuo behind Qi Xuansu, showing a slight smile. ..

This report is still very satisfactory.

At this moment, Master Cihang slammed the table and interrupted Qi Xuansu's speech: "Since it is a summary of merits and demerits, why are there only faults and no merits, only losses and no gains? Is this a summary? This is a criticism."

Master Cihang is the one who maintains order. Naturally, no one will accuse her at this time. She is very unscrupulous.

Master Donghua also spoke: "The resolution to assist Xidaomen was passed by Jinque. We are not overjoyed, nor are we incapable of listening to other opinions, nor are we unwilling to admit the various mistakes we made in our strategy. but."

Master Donghua paused for a moment, and then emphasized his tone: "I think that many recent criticisms, discussions and suspicions are not realistic, and are even very abnormal. I don't know if you have heard of it, but there are always Some people are chattering, saying that Xidaomen must draw a clear line with Daomen, break away from Daomen, and stand on its own. They also say that there are a group of filial sons and grandsons of Xidaomen within Daomen, and they use Daomen’s money to feed the unfamiliar ones in Xidaomen. White-eyed wolf, etc. Its intensity is obvious to all, and its intention is also obvious."

Master Donghua looked around: "I emphasize again that we must face up to our mistakes, but merits and demerits always go hand in hand. If we only focus on the mistakes and ignore the good things, we will not be able to move forward."

"Fellow Taoists, Xidaomen has made great sacrifices in order to glue the fragmented Tawanting together bit by bit and put it together into the complete Southern Continent. In order to save the people of the Southern Continent from being enslaved and scalped by the Westerners, I must say that a fair evaluation of Xidaomen and Tawanting is not only related to the fate of the Southern Continent and the New World, but also the major direction of our subsequent development. There is no room for sloppiness and bias. of."