Chapter 188 Quanzhen is divided into three factions
The team set off on April 25th, and there were not too many or too few people to see them off. Among the people who came, there were many people with extraordinary status, including King Cheng, Mo Dezheng, Second Assistant Liu Yan, the Crown Princess, the Imperial Preceptor, Jiang Xian,
The head of Yunmen, the little princess... Although it has only been a few months, He Qizhou clearly feels that the little princess's face and figure are quickly losing their childishness. It seems that the future figure and appearance will be somewhat similar to Xiaoxue. Jiang He
Liu Yingzhi and Liu Yingzhi also appeared in the crowd seeing him off. They both found an opportunity to say goodbye to him elegantly and solemnly, with a little reluctance in their eyes. He Qizhou just pretended that he couldn't understand, and he didn't even ride on the yellow horse.
He dared to look back, for fear that his glance would cause some misunderstanding among those people.
The end point of this trip is the southeastern foothills of the Altai Mountains. The group will first travel more than 2,000 miles northwest for about half a month to the Anxi Prairie in the northwest corner of Suzhou. Although this grassland is only a hundred miles wide, it is already
It is the largest pasture in Daqi, so it has barracks and guards. After a short rest, it takes three to four days to cross a vast desert, and then find the desert and the grassland at the foot of the Altai Mountains. Every summer, there are
Herds of wild horses migrate here from the plateau deserts further west.
Since it was already the tenth trip, the armament hall was still very well prepared. The team basically consisted of one person and two riders, and there was also a team of mules specially used to come to the tent. Because of the poverty in the northwest, the horse team also carried a lot of food, as well as doctors and school teachers.
Workers followed, including two chefs. After passing Lanzhou, the conditions were difficult, and we basically had to set up camp every night.
Usually, taking into account climate factors, everyone must return to the Anxi grassland before the end of August, but this year due to tensions with the Northern Zhou Dynasty, the return time is set to the end of July at the latest. This stipulation is mainly because Suzhou has always been the main attack area in the north.
In one direction, if Suzhou is lost, the Anxi prairie will not be protected, and the return path of the military personnel will naturally be cut off. The most likely time for the Zhou Dynasty to attack is from August to September, which is the time of the food harvest.
, Zhou Qi can support the battle by fighting and replenish supplies at any time, so for the sake of safety, the armament hall has set a time requirement for the return trip.
Two days later, when the team was approaching Mount Huashan, He Qizhou and Ling Yue left the team and headed south, arriving at Mount Zhongnan the next day. Because they had been here once to cause trouble, several gatekeeper disciples recognized He Qizhou and saw the disciples who accompanied him.
It turned out to be Elder Lingyue, and he regretted being so disrespectful.
When He Qizhou was in the team, he would naturally call him Lord Lingyue Jijiu or the deputy curator. The day the two of them walked together was rather awkward, but He Qizhou was still "generous" and suggested calling each other by their first names, so they went all the way to the foot of the mountain.
He Qizhou still called Lingyue Dao directly, which made those Quanzhen disciples look at him with admiration!
He Qizhou was just Lu Baogen's private disciple, unlike Zhang Mufeng who had a layman's certificate from the Quanzhen sect, so he was arranged in a guest room in the back mountain. Not long after, Lu Baogen, who had presided over the ritual, hurried over and detained him as soon as he arrived.
He Qizhou's pulse gate. He had heard about Xiao Qizhou's assassination for a long time. He also wrote to ask twice during the period. After hearing the pulse, he was surprised and happy. What was surprising was that He Qizhou recovered so quickly after being seriously injured. He was delighted.
What's more, the energy in his body is much more abundant than it was three months ago.
He Qizhou told Lu Baogen that the good recovery from the injury was mainly due to Dr. Mo's superb medical skills and his knowledge of medicine. The newly prepared wound medicine was even more effective than the one from the Arms Academy because it used the best materials. He also said
I have learned about practicing Qigong at the bottom of the lake. I only started to resume practicing the full set of Huazhen Gong a month ago. Now I can practice it for ten weeks at the bottom of the lake at one breath, and I can also practice it for four weeks during normal meditation. I have accumulated skills in these days.
It's getting faster and faster, and the fifth pulse already feels a little loose.
Lu Baogen wiped away his sorrow and let him live in peace. He Qizhou initially thought that Lu Baogen was worried about his injury, but later he found that this was not the case. Lu Baogen was still a little worried when he left.
The guest room he lives in is halfway up the back mountain. There are four small tile-roofed houses in total. They are quite simple. A Taoist priest will bring him three meals a day. The residence is some distance from the Taoist temple on the top of the mountain. It takes about one stick of incense to walk.
.Today is April 28th, and there are still three days before his resignation on the first day of May. He Qizhou had already walked around the Taoist temple when he went up the mountain in the morning. After Lu Baogen left, he wandered around in the valley for a while because he was bored. When he returned,
When I was living in the middle of the mountain, I found that two more young Taoist priests had moved into the neighboring house. I didn't take it seriously at first. However, at noon the next day, three more Taoist priests moved into two houses, two middle-aged and one young.
Now He Qizhou was a little confused. Logically speaking, there were so many guest rooms on the mountain for Taoist priests. Why would they all live in this simple house behind the mountain? He was too embarrassed to directly ask the new neighbors, who already looked familiar.
The little Taoist priest who delivered the meal quietly asked about the situation.
The little Taoist priest said: "The day after tomorrow is the day to choose the new leader, and the main immortals from all over the country will naturally come. The mountain was full of people yesterday, so we can only arrange people in front of the mountain and behind the mountain."
He Qizhou thought to himself, didn't Master clearly say that he would only call them a few fellow apprentices? Why did so many people come? Sure enough, within half an hour, the last empty room was full again. He Qizhou couldn't bear to be curious, so he
He took the initiative to knock on the door and went to find two young Taoist priests in the neighboring house to inquire about the situation.
The two of them originally didn't want to talk to this lay disciple who was not strong in Taoism, but when they heard that the other party said that he was practicing martial arts with Ling Yue of the leader's line, they became enthusiastic. This time, they were training with their master, Ling Yue of Qianyuan Palace in Qingzhou.
As for the Taoist priests who came to watch the ceremony, it was because some major temples had sent people here, so these younger disciples could only stay in guest rooms on the outside. They were relatively good, and some of them even had to stay at the inn at the foot of the front mountain.
He Qizhou rushed to the Taoist temple on the top of the mountain again, and saw busy figures everywhere. Lingxu and Lingyue were busy arranging accommodation for the groups of Taoists who came up the mountain. When it was getting dark, they finally managed to arrange the accommodation for everyone.
When Lingyue saw He Qizhou, he could only smile bitterly and said: "I don't know who leaked the news. The bigger Taoist temples actually sent people here, but there are not many other people in the world. It's easy to get rid of them when they come. It should be us."
It seems that there may be troubles the day after tomorrow, He Qizhou, if we can't take care of you then, you should be careful."
"Okay. But have so many people come to choose the leader before?" He Qizhou asked.
Lingxu, who had a sad look on his face, smiled bitterly and said: "The whole world is really one family. As long as you are a registered Taoist priest, of course you can come to watch the ceremony. However, under normal circumstances, the only people who are really allowed to discuss the selection of the leader are the ones from the general altar and the candidate leaders.
Disciples of the same generation plus the elders of the Four Great Temples."
"Four major views?" He Qizhou didn't know the architectural system of Quanzhen.
Lingxu said: "The Tiandu Temple in the imperial city of the capital is led by the current national master Yuan Qing; the Baiyun Temple in Daming Mansion in Shandong; the Sanqing Temple in Jinyang, Shanxi; and the Zhenjun Temple in your Jiangling Mansion."
"Ah? The Quanzhen Sect in Jiangling Prefecture is also one of the four great temples?" He Qizhou didn't understand why such a small place could have such a great temple.
"Because most of the Taoist temples in the south of the Yangtze River were Zhengyi, in order to give the Southern Tang Dynasty some face, they promised them not to cross the river to preach. Therefore, Jiangling is the largest Taoist temple in the south of Quanzhen. The master of the temple Yuan Che and the national master are the only ones.
There are two people who are the same generation as Master, and among the four major temples, they are the only ones qualified to participate in the selection of the next head teacher." Lingxu said.
"Ah? So your position as the leader is not secure yet? How many people in the general circle are your equals?" He Qizhou asked in surprise.
Lingxu said: "That's a lot, at least there are about twenty people, including disciples of Master Yuan Qing and Master Yuan Che."
"Why are their disciples in the main altar?" He Qizhou thought to himself, shouldn't they all stay in their own temple?
Lingxu didn't laugh at He Qizhou's ignorance, and said: "Actually, there are two situations. For example, Yuan Qing and Yuan Che were both sent from the main altar, and they had disciples before; there is another situation where people from various places
If you find a good talent, you can apply to be transferred to the general altar. After passing the assessment of martial arts and doctrinal classics, you can be included in the general altar. Do you think that every martial arts competition can really produce so many masters, and they all come out of thin air?"
"So this term of headmaster can't be directly designated by the master to take over?" He Qizhou asked.
Lingxu said: "Of course the teacher has such power! It's just that others also have the right to challenge. You think, if any leader entrusts someone to blame, others can certainly raise their own doubts. This check and balance mechanism is still very important.
It is necessary. It was not easy for my mentor to get the position of head."
"Taoist Priest, tell me about Lu..., no, no, why was it so difficult for Master back then?"
"I might as well talk to you," Lingxu said as he led Qi Zhou and Lingyue into his dormitory, and continued: "Now Lingyue and I share a room, and his dormitory is given to Master Yuan Che."
"Ah? That old man is here too?"
"Well, I guess the Imperial Master will also come! They are actually the resistance behind the election of the leader. With so many people coming here, they must be causing trouble behind the scenes!" Lingxu said.
"Ah? No wonder I didn't see Master talking to them in the capital, and stayed quietly in a Taoist temple." Qi Zhou suddenly realized.
"The selection of the headmaster this time is just a continuation of the last battle. Ten years ago, my mentor passed away, oh, it was my first master, Master Yuantong. When he passed away, he appointed me to take over the position of headmaster. It's just that
Shijiao has been divided into three factions: Yuan and Qing advocated complete integration into the imperial court since his master's generation, and the chief priests should also be appointed by the imperial court. The chiefs of palaces and temples at all levels across the country should receive the same rank as local officials. Therefore,
He had the full support of the Emperor;
Yuan Che's thoughts were similar to his, but he believed that the prince's approach was more pragmatic and would not send a large number of disciples to the military camp, so his faction received the prince's support;
Our sect advocates maintaining the independence of the sect and does not want to be influenced by the secular court. Master explained before his death that our sect can last for thousands of years and will not decline due to the demise of any dynasty. This is because we uphold the concept that the common people in the world are the foundation of the religion.
It's just that I didn't have much prestige in the religion at that time, and my martial arts was commonplace. Some people from the Yuanqing and Yuanche sects raised questions and wanted to re-elect the leader, because it was difficult to judge the superiority of the doctrines. In order to prevent the sect from splitting,
In the end, we can only rely on martial arts to decide who will be the leader."