Pawn Crossing the River

Secretary Qian is Qian Wan. Although Master Cihang likes to take his young apprentice Xiao Yueru with him and often lets Xiao Yueru do some secretary's errands, Qian Wan is the real secretary of Master Cihang.

It cannot be said that Master Cihang has any dissatisfaction with Qian Wan. This has nothing to do with Qian Wan.

Among the three Shenzhi Masters, Cihang Master has the most disciples, more than the disciples of Qingwei Master and Donghua Master combined. Among the many disciples of Cihang Master, Cihang Master’s favorite is not to follow him. Bai Yingqiong, the oldest disciple, is not the most promising and outstanding Zhang Yuelu, but Xiao Yueru, the youngest closed disciple. She is the last of the eight generations of disciples, and after that she will be the ninth generation of disciples. Bai Yingqiong was short of twenty-three years.

The reason is not complicated, it is just human nature to prefer the youngest. The youngest son and grandson are the lifeblood of the old lady. Bai Yingqiong and Zhang Yuelu were both married and established people, so they would not be jealous of this. They treated this junior sister more like a junior.

Speaking of which, Master Cihang may look young, but he is actually in his sixties. It is not surprising that he has this mentality. She asked Xiao Yueru to be the secretary more for training than for any dissatisfaction with Qian Wan, so Secretary Qian, Assistant Manager Qian, should not be underestimated either.

After Qian Wan heard Qi Xuansu's voice, she didn't hesitate at all: "Chief Qi, Master Cihang just has time now. You wait a moment, I will report to Master Qi."

Soon, Master Cihang's voice came from the other side: "Tianyuan, is something wrong?"

"Can't I greet the real person if I have nothing to do?" Qi Xuansu and Tantai Qiong did not deal with each other, but when facing this mother-in-law, she had a different face. Qi Xuansu did not deny that there were factors affecting status, but he could not say that Qi Xuansu was snobbish. Yep, the key is that Tantai Qiong is too outrageous sometimes.

Master Cihang smiled, "Chief Qi, you always go to the Three Treasures Hall for nothing. If you want to greet me, you don't have to use 'Yun Zhongxin, stop being so glib here. Hurry up and say something."

Qi Xuansu then turned to the topic, "That's it, does the real person know Zhou Mengyao?"

There was a brief silence for Master Cihang over there.

Qi Xuansu waited patiently.

In fact, Master Cihang's silence meant answering without answering. If Master Cihang didn't know Zhou Mengyao, then she didn't have to be silent and just gave a negative answer. It was precisely because Master Cihang knew Zhou Mengyao that she kept silent. She was probably thinking about Qi Xuansu's intention of suddenly asking Zhou Mengyao.

"Where did you know this person?" Master Cihang's voice sounded again, "Although in a sense, we are all in the same circle, and she is also a contemporary of our generation, but with Qi

Niang is different. She is alienated from the rest of us due to some problems. On the contrary, Qiniang is very familiar with her. "

This corresponds to many of Qi Xuansu's guesses.

The "people like us" mentioned by Master Cihang should generally refer to the upper-class families of Taoism, not only the three major families, but also many lesser families such as the Pei family, the Qi family, the Su family, the Shen family, and the Lu family. What they have in common is that their ancestors are all elders who followed Xuan Sheng in rebuilding the Taoist sect.

Qi Xuansu was able to get into this circle mainly because of his triple status as adopted son, son-in-law, and disciple. Only by himself, he was at most the second Wang Jiaohe.

There is no doubt that Zhou Qingchen is considered a member of this circle, whether starting from Shen Changsheng's side or Zhou Shuning's side. This is one of the reasons why he retained his identity as a Taoist priest in the end. Nowadays, Zhou Mengyao, as a descendant of Zhou Qingchen, is certainly recognized as a member of this circle, but due to historical issues, he has become too alienated from other people.

Under other circumstances, Master Cihang would never say something so explicit. It is this circle and we are the same people. This is not conducive to unity. This also shows that Master Cihang did not regard Qi Xuansu as an outsider, but as a true one of his own.

At this time, Master Cihang meant that he felt that Qi Xuansu knew about Zhou Mengyao from Qiniang.

Qi Xuansu did not hide anything, "I just met with Master Wan Miao from the Shuzhou Taoist Office. He told me some things about Qi Haoran, and he mentioned Zhou Mengyao among them."

Cihang Zhenzhen said, "Qijia

thing? I was somewhat impressed, but I didn’t pay too much attention at the time. "

"That's it. Qi Haoran was his name after he left the Qi family." Qi Xuansu said.

Master Cihang said, "I probably know what you want to ask. Do you think Qi Haoran's matter is related to Zhou Mengyao?"

"Yes." Qi Xuansu's answer was very concise.

Master Cihang did not answer directly, "About this matter, involving Quanzhen Taoism, why don't you ask Qiniang or Master Donghua?"

Qi Xuansu said, "Qiniang, you have a hard time. As for my master, I had a conversation with him a long time ago. In his words, Quanzhen Taoism also eats from separate pots. Does he know anything about the Qingping Association?" "Duo, that's the private land of the Yao family."

Master Cihang was not surprised, "He, the second head of Quanzhen Taoism, can't even speak of understanding him. How can I, an outsider, understand it? My family members know their own affairs. You

You have to ask the Yao family or the Zhou family. "

Qi Xuansu took advantage of the situation and said, "To say that Zhenren doesn't understand it at all, that's not entirely true. Didn't Zhenren also serve as the leader of Huashengtang for a period of time?"

Master Cihang was obviously startled, "That's what happened. You were still in Tiangang Hall at that time, and it turned out that you were waiting for me here. Tell me, what do you want to know about Huasheng Hall?"

Qi Xuansu was no longer polite and said what he wanted. "I want to know, is the 'Heart of the Immortal Stone' still there in Huasheng Hall?"

Cihang Zhenren was silent for a moment again.

At this moment, she must have thought a lot. Why did Qi Xuansu ask this? What is the relationship between the "Heart of the Immortal Stone" and Zhou Mengyao? And so on.

Then Cihang Zhenren gave a positive answer. "After I became the head of Huasheng Hall, I visited Huasheng Hall, including many workshops inherited from the creation project. I can say responsibly that during my tenure as the head of Huasheng Hall, the 'Heart of the Immortal Stone' was still stored in Huasheng Hall. As for what happened after I left Huasheng Hall, you have to ask the current head of Huasheng Hall, Xu Dacheng."

Qi Xuansu certainly didn't need to ask Xu Dacheng, because in terms of time, when Cihang Zhenren became the head of Huasheng Hall, Qi Haoran's tomb was already an empty tomb, which was enough to eliminate doubts in this regard.

However, it also revealed the mystery of Zhou Mengyao. Even a big figure like Cihang Zhenren only knew that there was such a person, and didn't know much about the specific situation.

It seems that the only way to seek a breakthrough is through some means of the Qingping Society.

Qi Xuansu ended the call with Cihang Zhenren and left the Da Baoen Temple.

He still had a meeting to attend.

Not long ago, probably when Qi Xuansu was in the Wanxiang Dao Palace, Jinque passed a resolution with a high vote, which was to cancel all preferential policies of Fenglinzhou and implement a closed-door policy.

The war in Fenglinzhou has ended for several years, but it has been going on and on. The remnants of the Zunrang faction are like weeds, always growing again in the spring breeze. This is also to leave a Fenglinzhou that wins the hearts of the people.

Everything has its own disadvantages. If you want to win the hearts of the people, you can't start a killing spree. If you don't kill, there will be many fish that slip through the net, and it will not be clean.

When Qi Xuansu hid his identity and went to Saint York in the northern continent, as a cover, Beichen Hall announced to the public that Qi Xuansu went to Fenglinzhou to handle affairs. When Qi Xuansu just took over as the chief deputy hall master, he didn't see the second deputy hall master Shen Mingxin, who also went to Fenglinzhou to handle affairs at that time.

This matter is the follow-up of the Zun Nang faction. It can be seen that the matter of Fenglinzhou was not a matter of one day or one night, and there were foreshadowings long ago.

The reason why the news of Qi Xuansu's visit to Fenglinzhou was not doubted was that Fenglinzhou had indeed always had problems, and it was reasonable for the high-level officials of Beichen Hall to go there in person.

It was just that the matter of the New World was more urgent, and the attention of the Taoist sect was focused on the New World, so the matter of Fenglinzhou did not make much noise. Now that the matter of the New World has come to an end, the matter of Fenglinzhou has been put on the agenda.

Jinque decided not to eliminate the remnants of the Zun Nang faction by force, but to use economic means. The principle is like the folk method of removing warts, using a thin thread to wrap and tighten the root of the wart, so that it cannot supply blood, and then the wart will slowly wither and eventually fall off.

The specific strategy is to completely blockade Fenglinzhou. Except for the privileges of the Toyotomi Xiangfu, many daimyos, including the former royal family, are not allowed to go out to sea, and all kinds of trade exchanges are cut off. At the same time, all kinds of smuggling are severely cracked down. The fundamental purpose is to make those daimyo poor and unable to continue to support the Sonnōjō faction.

Without money, what is the point of respecting the king and resisting the Tao?

The privileges left to the Toyotomi Xiangfu are the classic strategy of surrounding three and excluding one, so that they will not lose hope and resist to the end, and there is also the way to surrender.

The battle of Fenglinzhou has proved that armed confrontation is not feasible. The Taoist sect wants to blockade Fenglinzhou, and the Sonnōjō faction cannot break it, nor can it beat it, and it has no money. The final result is disintegration and internal strife. Some people turn to the privileged Toyotomi Xiangfu, and a small number of people continue to resist to the end, and eventually have to die.

It is worth mentioning here that the Sonnōjō faction does not represent ordinary civilians. They actually represent the interests of some nobles and samurai classes. Not only do they lack the foundation of the lower-class people, but they also have many contradictions with the lower-class people. There are often cases of villagers attacking lone samurai.

Once the source of money is cut off, it is difficult for them to survive. This is the confidence of the Taoist sect to implement the blockade, and it is also the reason why Qingwei Zhenren repeatedly emphasizes the need to keep a Fenglinzhou that wins the hearts of the people.

We must distinguish who is our friend and who is our enemy, and avoid killing people who can be united and forcing them to the opposite side. Otherwise, we will win one victory after another and eventually fail. In the final analysis, the military serves the government.

When it comes to specific implementation, the three prefectures are mainly Liaodong, Jiangnan, and Qizhou. Among them, Jiangnan and Qizhou are the top priorities. They are the big players in Fenglinzhou's trade. They must conscientiously implement the policies and guidelines of Jinque and cannot waver in the slightest.