Pawn Crossing the River

Qi Xuansu's adventurous actions in the Southern Continent will not affect the normal operation of the Eastern world at all, and most Taoist people do not care about what has happened, what is happening, and what will happen in the overseas Southern Continent.

What they care more about is their own affairs, daily work, interpersonal relationships, weddings and funerals, etc.

Especially weddings and funerals are big events. Even though Taoism claims to have abolished Confucian ethics, it is still the same old ways in its bones.

On the one hand, Taoism needs to be converted into Confucianism, but on the other hand, it needs to unify the three religions with Taoism as the core. It seems very contradictory, but it is not contradictory in nature. The reason is that the influence of Confucianism is too deep, the inertia is too great, and it cannot be removed. The only way is to de-Confucianize the surface, unify the three religions internally, and re-skin some things from Confucianism to continue to serve Taoism. .

These two measures are essentially repairs and deletions of the Confucian system.

For example, the clan system is part of Confucian ethics, and Taoism has actually inherited it. These aristocratic families within the Taoist sect all operate according to the clan system.

The so-called ancestors, the most holy master said: "The ancestors have merit and the lineage has virtue."

Ancestor is the pioneering work, Zong is the virtue of maintaining success.

Take the Zhang family as an example. It was founded by Zu Tianshi, and the word "ancestor" in Zu Tianshi comes from this. It has been passed down to this day, and all the other Zhang Family Celestial Masters are sects. Zhang Zu was the one who pioneered the Taoist sect and was one of the ancestors of the resurgence of the Taoist sect, not the ancestor of the Zhang family.

In the same way, Li Zu is also one of the ancestors of the Taoist Zhongxing, not the ancestor of the Li family.

Xuansheng is different. He is a pioneer, because he did not keep the inheritance of his ancestors, but created another inheritance of his own. It has gone beyond the scope of the Li family and he is the ancestor.

To put it simply, it is to open a new family tree, starting from Xuansheng, and counting from the previous Li family.

However, there is a problem here. Because Xuansheng's cultivation was too high, he left no heirs or even adopted sons. There was no one in his family tree, so he was considered extinct.

The Li family was unwilling to accept that Xuan Sheng's great influence was lost to outsiders. At this time, Donghuang stepped forward. I picked up two families on one shoulder, inheriting my father's legacy and my brother's legacy. This two families are not two families, nor two sects, but two families, one is the original Li family, and the other is the Li family founded by Xuan Sheng.

So now the Li family has two ancestors, one is Taishang Daozu, called the "Great Saint Ancestor", and the other is Xuansheng, called the "Holy Ancestor", which is like forcibly merging the two Li families. Strictly speaking, only the descendants of the Donghuang lineage can claim to be descendants of Xuansheng, and the legal principles come from the brothers of the Donghuang. Others cannot take advantage of Xuansheng's light.

If Xuansheng had left behind descendants, then there would now be two Li families within the Taoist sect.

In this way, there are essentially two sects within the Li family. Therefore, it is difficult to hear the opinions of the main sect and the small sect in the Li family. In essence, the adopted son sect and the son-in-law sect occupy the position of the small sect. The direct descendants of the Li family are all major sects and there are no minor sects.

The Zhang family has no such experience, so there is only one ancestor, the Ancestral Heavenly Master, and there are no two Zhang families.

Precisely because there is only one Zhang family, the distinction between the large sect and the small sect is so obvious.

In fact, Zhang Yuelu doesn't like this small sect identity. She is too restricted. Now that the Zhang family has pushed her, there is essentially no one available. In addition, the Tianshi values ​​​​Zhang Yuelu and has to compromise. It is better to take advantage of one's own family than to take advantage of someone with a foreign surname. There is no other way.

If Qi Xuansu becomes the Zhang family's surrogate son-in-law, then he and Zhang Yuelu will be the Xiaozong of the Zhang family, and they may temporarily hold power. When they are no longer alive, the Xiaozong will still be the Xiaozong.

But it would be different if Zhang Yuelu married Qi Xuansu. Because Qi Xuansu didn't know who his parents were, they all said he was the adopted son of the Yao family. In fact, the Yao family didn't recognize him, and Qi Xuansu didn't want to recognize him either. He just recognized Qiniang. In essence, Qi Xuansu was the ancestor himself, and Zhang Yuelu married him. If Qiniang was not included, then the two of them were at the top of the family tree. From a patriarchal perspective, that was really comfortable.

Regardless of whether there are any descendants, there are no irrelevant elders pressing down on it.

Of course, at the level of Zhengdao, no matter what happens, Zhang Yuelu should be supported as the deputy head master. This is a matter of power.

, does not change due to the clan system, Zhang Yuelu is also the daughter of the Zhang family when she gets married, which is better than the second Celestial Master with a different surname.

Therefore, Zhang Yuelu had never considered the option of marrying into the family, not to mention Qi Xuansu's refusal. Even if Qi Xuansu cried and asked for marriage, Zhang Yuelu would not agree.

Today, Zhang Yuelu has to consider one thing, and that is the issue of getting married.

Although many people around them have already agreed that Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu are a family. For example, if Qi Xuansu goes with the ceremony, Zhang Yuelu does not need to go, because the two of them are one. Zhang Yuelu even called his brother-in-law, and Zhang Yuelu and Qi Xuansu did not object, but From a practical point of view, the two still lack a formal ceremony.

This matter has been decided for a long time, but due to some external force majeure, it has been delayed again and again. From the perspective of ordinary people, one can get married and have children at the age of fourteen. Under normal circumstances, at the age of Zhang Yuelu and Qi Xuansu, a son He is about to get a wife. As a result, the two of them haven't become a Taoist couple yet. It's too late, so they should hurry up and make preparations.

There is of course a reason why Qiniang chose to celebrate the New Year in Jinling Mansion. She discussed with Zhang Jucheng again and gave an approximate date. The reason why she said it was approximate was because she had to wait until Qi Xuansu officially became the Shenzhi before choosing a good and auspicious date. It would sound nice to say it like this - the youngest Shenzhi. Real people get married.

Zhang Jucheng is the quasi-patriarch and eldest son of the Zhang family, and these matters are really within the scope of his responsibilities. Especially after the Celestial Master grows old, the eldest son will be responsible for basically all family-level matters.

The so-called eldest son means the eldest son of the great clan, that is, the future head of the family. In addition to occupying the main part of the family property, he also inherits the title, ancestral home, etc. In the clan, whether it is worshiping ancestors, holding funerals, weddings, or entertaining guests , all dominated by the eldest son.

Correspondingly, Qingwei Zhenren and Yao Yi are the eldest sons of the Li family and Yao family respectively. Master Donghua and Master Cihang are simply the clan leaders.

This is also the reason why Zhang Yuelu wants to leave the Zhang family and go to the Qi family. At the family level, she has no say in her marriage, and even her parents have no say in it. At best, she has the right to make suggestions. In the end, only the patriarch has the say. Calculate.

This time, the Celestial Master, who was the patriarch, took a fancy to Qi Xuansu, and the grandfather and grandson agreed, so they seemed to be very happy, and there was harmony between them. But what if the Heavenly Master disagrees with her? That's a different situation. .

According to patriarchal rules, the patriarch and eldest son have the right to discipline the younger members of the family. If anyone dares to disobey the clan, he will be punished according to the clan.

The Taoist clan wanted to abolish the patriarchal system, but where the Li family and the Zhang family were, they could abolish it wherever they wanted. When Xuan Sheng was alive, each family restrained itself and seemed to have abolished it. When Xuan Sheng passed away, it immediately resurrected.

Facing the Zhang family's patriarchal clan, Zhang Yuelu had no choice.

Zhang Yuelu had a bloody encounter in Nanyang, let alone a head-on confrontation with the Zhang family.

This time Zhang Yuelu suppressed the old Taoist priests in Nanyang. No matter what, it was reasonable. No one could blame Zhang Yuelu on a moral level. They could only say that her methods were wrong, too caring, etc.

It's so difficult to be reasonable. If she goes against the Zhang family, there will be no reason for her to do so. Maybe hundreds of years later, people will say that the patriarchal system is wrong and Zhang Yuelu was right to rebel against the clan. But in the current world, it is wrong for Zhang Yuelu to rebel against his clan, and no one will support Zhang Yuelu. Not to mention that the Zhang family is far more powerful and more difficult than these old Nanyang Taoist priests.

Zhang Yuelu wants to arm-wrestle with the Zhang family. When she becomes the Grand Master or the Grand Master's wife, she will naturally have the strength. But now Zhang Yuelu had better forget it.

Zhang Yuelu understands this truth, and she doesn't have to smash herself to pieces, so she should take a detour - she will go to Qi Xuansu's place to take charge of her own affairs instead of hanging around with the Zhang family.

This is not to say that women have to be dependent on men in order to separate the family. In fact, women can also do it. For example, the princess and the consort would open a separate family tree, which would eliminate the problem of the princess having to be a lowly member of the clan. Of course, marrying a princess from a big family like the Li family does not count.

The key is to have a suitable name for the separation of the family. For Zhang Yuelu, if she wants to separate the family for no reason, there must be many obstacles. When she has the strength to break these obstacles, there will be no need to separate the family, because by then she will probably have already logged in. top. For her at this time

For me, getting married is the most suitable name.

After Zhang Jucheng and Qiniang reached an agreement, they told Zhang Juqi and Tantai Qiong the news and asked them to start preparations.

The couple didn't say anything, they just carried out the clan's decision.

Tantai Qiong didn't like to travel far, but she didn't want to let Zhang Yuelu go home for personal reasons, so she went to Nanyang to see Zhang Yuelu in person.

In fact, getting married in a large family is extremely simple for newlyweds. All they need to do is marry someone else, and other people will take care of the rest, so there is no need to spend any more thought on it.

There are not many things that Zhang Yue needs to know. First, tell Zhang Yuelu the relevant details, such as the dowry list, ceremony date, process arrangements, etc., and see if she has any other opinions. After all, Zhang Yuelu is not an ordinary child of the Zhang family, and he still needs to be respected. her. The second is to customize a wedding dress for Zhang Yuelu. This requires personal measurements and cannot be made on the fly. It needs to be prepared in advance.

Of course Zhang Yuelu had many opinions. First of all, he opposed the wedding dress.

Why is it called the groom's official? Because in the past, there were legal regulations on who should wear what clothes. Businessmen could not wear silk, and ordinary people could not wear official uniforms, with the exception of the wedding day. Even if he is a commoner, the groom can wear auspicious clothes similar to the official uniforms of the ninth rank, and the bride can wear the phoenix crown and harem of Mrs. Gaoming, which can transcend class. So the word "official" in the groom's official name comes from this.

Later, Taoist sects abolished most of them. The most obvious point is that Taoist sects only distinguish grades on their crowns. From the first-grade Taoist priests to the ninth-grade Taoist priests, they all wear the crane cloak.

Zhang Yuelu believes that since the Taoist sect advocates equality, there is no need to do this anymore. It is enough for her and Qi Xuansu to wear the Taoist crane cloak. There is precedent for this. Many people in the Taoist sect get married like this.

In addition, the dowry is simple and the house is not required. She has residences in Xuandu and Taishangfang, so she does not need more houses. It is a waste to be idle.

She can't control Qiniang buying a house for Qi Xuansu, she can always decide what she wants.

Naturally, Tantai Qiong was not happy. Only Taoist priests with no money and power did this. Rich Taoist priests were all doing great things. When the Li family married a princess, the wedding and wedding processions could stretch for more than ten miles. .

Even if they are not compared with the Li family, some respectable female Taoist priests wear several sets of wedding clothes when they get married. Even Western wedding dresses, called wedding dresses, should be tried on because they look so beautiful. After all, women should be pretty and filial.

Zhang Yuelu, a conservative, disagreed even more when he heard this. He only wears white when he is white, so I would be fine wearing a crane cloak.

At the same time, Zhang Yuelu proposed that the etiquette should also be simplified. The procedures of receiving a bride, brazier, worshiping the heaven and earth, and having sex in the bridal chamber should be cancelled, and there would be no need for any exotic animals to pull the cart.

Taoist disciples should take "frugality" as their standard, and Qi Xuansu's apprenticeship ceremony is quite good.

Tantai Qiong has never understood what was going on in her daughter's mind. She even thought for a time that it was because of a bump or something was wrong during her pregnancy. Now she doesn't understand even more: "Zhang Yuelu, let me tell you. , A woman only has this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, if you miss it, you miss it, don’t regret it.”

Zhang Yuelu was holding a book, covering her face. After hearing this, she moved the book in her hand down slightly, revealing a pair of phoenix eyes: "I, Zhang Yuelu, never regret anything I do."

Tantai Qiong was furious, but she couldn't bear to see her daughter and walked away.

The mother and daughter had a bad fight because of this incident.

In the end, it was Zhang Kuqi, an old father, who came to mediate, hoping that his daughter and wife would each take a step back and reach a compromise.

Originally, Qi Xuansu should have come forward in this matter. He was also a party involved and he had to participate in these procedures. If he did not agree to reduce the procedures and dowry, it would be an internal conflict between the couple. .

However, Qi Xuansu couldn't separate himself and had no time to comment.

Because he had already arrived in front of Kukulkan's palace.