Pawn Crossing the River

Qi Xuansu asked: "What opportunity?"

Qiniang softly uttered three words: "Tiangang Hall."

Qi Xuansu was startled again.

The structure of the Taoist sect is similar to that of the imperial court. In addition to the "official offices" in various places, there is also the central "imperial court", which people in the Taoist sect call it the ancestral court.

The imperial court has always had the saying of "six ministries and nine ministers". In the previous dynasty, "six ministries" and "nine ministers" had their own meanings. However, in the Daxuan court, the six departments and the nine ministers were combined. Nine high-ranking officials, including the six ministers, the official envoy, the minister of Dali Temple, and the censor of Zuodu, are the head of the public ministers, and are collectively called the "six ministers and nine ministers".

The Taoist ancestral court followed the example of the nine ministers of the imperial court and set up nine halls, which were run by nine real people who were directly subordinate to the Grand Master. The "Ziwei Hall" mentioned by Qiniang before was the head of the nine halls, which corresponded to the official department of the imperial court and was in charge of personnel assessment. , Taoist priests' grades are promoted and lowered through the hands of Ziweitang.

Tiangang Hall is also one of the nine halls, and its status is probably equivalent to the military department of the imperial court.

Although Tiangang Hall does not have the thousands of troops of the Ministry of War, it is the most populous hall among the nine halls. It specializes in patrolling the four directions and suppressing the heretics that oppose the Taoist sect, the evil spirits and ghosts that cause trouble in the world, and the secret associations without the Taoist sect's permission.

Although the Qingping Society does not oppose the Taoist sect, it is a secret association without the permission of the Taoist sect and is also the target of suppression by Tiangangtang.

Qi Xuansu couldn't help but said: "Qiniang, if you ask me, a member of the Qingping Society, to go to Tiangang Hall, isn't this a sheep entering a tiger's mouth?"

Qiniang said earnestly: "As the saying goes, wealth can be gained through danger. If you want to go further, you must either have resources or merit. Personal connections, basic qualifications, and beauty are all considered resources. The problem now is that you have no resources. Qingpinghui can be regarded as your resource for the time being, but it cannot be shown openly, so you can only rely on merit, but merit does not fall from the sky. If you want to make contributions, going to Tiangang Hall is the best choice. "

Qi Xuansu pondered for a moment, but still said in disbelief: "How many people want to enter the nine halls of the ancestral court, but they don't have this way. Even if they want to pray to the gods with a pig's head, they may not know which way the temple door opens. Qiniang, you... With just one word, I can enter Tiangang Hall?"

Qiniang laughed and said: "Yes, with just one word from me, you can enter the Tiangang Hall, but you have to strive for your own success. The rules of the Tiangang Hall are innate people and seventh-grade Taoist priests. These two are indispensable, otherwise you will be considered a real person. It’s impossible to become a disciple.”

"Tiangang Hall..." Qi Xuansu pondered, "When you enter Tiangang Hall, you have the opportunity to make meritorious deeds. With merit, you can be promoted to a sixth-grade Taoist priest. After being promoted to a sixth-grade Taoist priest, you can be cultivated by the Taoist sect. With cultivation, You can improve your level of cultivation and strive to leave the Qingping Society as soon as possible.”

"That's the truth." Qiniang was still smoking a long cigarette, "It would be good to have peace, but it can be seen that if you don't get the glory, fighting and killing is not a long-term solution. To get ahead in the Taoist sect, that is the bright road. I am still waiting for you one day. Where's the 'Puihui Sword'?"

The so-called "Sword of Wisdom" is not a three-foot long sword, but a ribbon ornament that can only be used by Taoist practitioners. It is about three feet long and has an arrow-shaped lower end. Its meaning is "but with the power of the Sword of Wisdom, one can escape from the five suffering gates of sinking." , meaning the first is to cut off worries, the second is to cut off lust, and the third is to cut off greed and anger. Therefore, people often use "Pei Huijian" to refer to the real people of Taoism.

Qi Xuansu sighed: "I don't dare to think about it."

Qiniang is indeed the person who knows Qi Xuansu best, and she hit the nail on the head: "If you really don't dare to think about it, why are you sighing?"

Qi Xuansu was speechless. From a seventh-grade Taoist priest to a second-grade Taiyi Taoist priest, the gap is like going from a seventh-grade county magistrate to a minister, which is difficult to reach the sky.

Qi Xuansu put aside these unrealistic thoughts for the time being and asked: "Qiniang, how do you plan to arrange for me to enter Tiangang Hall?"

Qiniang said: "You asked the wrong person about this. I just reported your situation and let others take care of it. How exactly it will be handled is not something we can know, but I have already said that Qingping will Qingpinghui has vast magical powers, so you can rest assured.”

After Qi Xuansu heard this, he stopped asking any more questions.

After saying this, Qiniang dropped her businesslike face, blew her cigarette, and said: "After talking about business, it's time to talk about our private matters. The one who opened the house was fifty ruyi coins, and the other one hundred peace coins. When will the life-saving money be settled?”

Qi Xuansu coughed lightly: "Qiniang, given our friendship, what is life-saving money? Isn't it natural for you to save me?"

Qiniang followed the good example and said, "Okay, let me put it another way. When will the commission for hiring me to kill someone be settled? In short, every time I kill someone, I can't return empty-handed."

Qi Xuansu touched his shoulder bag and said, "I didn't earn the one thousand Taiping money from the 'Inn'. The total of all my belongings now doesn't even amount to one hundred Taiping money."

Qiniang said lightly: "Didn't you pick up a flying sword?"

Qi Xuansu's expression froze: "Qiniang, have you looked through my satchel?"

Not only did Qiniang not feel guilty at all, but she said confidently: "What else? I didn't look into your bag, but the prescription flew in by myself? With our friendship, you won't mind, right?"

Qi Xuansu could only surrender and said: "My good sister..."

Qiniang interrupted: "Brothers and sisters must also settle accounts clearly. This rule of mine is not for you alone. You should know it."

Qi Xuansu sighed helplessly.

This is really not a rule for him alone. Qiniang was good at everything, but she was greedy, stingy, stingy, and stingy. She was also famous in the Qingping Society. If it had been anyone else, Qiniang would have dared to ask for three hundred peace coins. For Qi Xuansu, it would have been an "extralegal favor".

Qi Xuansu had no choice but to take out the flying sword named "Green Snake" from his bag and put it on the table: "I originally wanted to keep it for my own use."

Qiniang glared at him: "The Li family's flying swords all have special marks. If you still want to keep them for your own use, aren't you afraid that the Li family will come to your door?"

With that said, she picked up the flying sword and began to look at it carefully.

After a while, Qiniang put down the flying sword in her hand and said: "The flying sword is in good condition and has no damage at all. It can be sold on the black market for about 1,500 Taiping. However, because it has the unique mark of the Li family on it, A swordsmith is needed to erase the mark, so the price has to be discounted and can only be sold for about 800 Taiping."

Qi Xuansu took the initiative and said: "Qiniang, you are more familiar with the black market. Why don't you ask you to take care of this flying sword for me? I will give you half of the commission."

Qiniang nodded, took out a small golden abacus from the Sumeru treasure, flipped it a few times, and said: "If it were anyone else, I would take 10% of the commission. For the sake of our friendship, I This time it’s only half a percent, plus a commission of 100 Taiping, plus the 130 Taiping you lent me last year but didn’t repay. We originally agreed that the annual interest would be one cent, including eleven months. Interest, as well as the 50 Ruyi money to open the house this time, rounded up, I will take a total of 300 Taiping money and leave you 500 Taiping money."

The more Qi Xuansu listened, the more his expression dropped, and finally he said feebly: "That's it."

Qiniang quickly put away the abacus and flying sword, and took out five "short sticks" wrapped in red cloth from the Xumi treasures, and placed them neatly in one place.

This is of course not a short stick, but a hundred peace coins stacked together and wrapped in red cloth. It is similar to the ancient times when copper coins were strung together to count as a sling. Because the silver coins do not have a square hole in the middle, they cannot be threaded with a rope. So it can only be wrapped in cloth.

One yuan of peace money weighs seven cents and two cents in total, containing six cents, four cents and eight cents of Kuping pure silver, eighty-nine cents of silver, and one cent of copper. In terms of fineness, it is much better than the scattered silver circulating in the market in the past, and is almost worth one tael of silver.

One stick is one hundred Taiping coins, five sticks is five hundred Taiping coins.

Five hundred taipings was a large amount in previous dynasties, but this dynasty's sea trade was booming, and a large amount of gold and silver from overseas flowed in. The price of silver depreciated slightly, the price of copper rose, and gold, which was originally uncommon, became common. Even the imperial court specially issued gold yuan worry-free money, so five hundred Taiping coins were not that much.

Of course, more and less are relative concepts and cannot be generalized.

For Qi Xuansu, five hundred Taiping coins was not too much, but for ordinary people, it was a large amount.

Nowadays, the expenses of a family of three for one year are only ten yuan of Taiping, and ten years is one hundred Taiping. Five hundred Taiping is enough for an ordinary family of three to spend half a lifetime.

Qi Xuansu only took one of them, and then said: "The other four hundred Taiping coins were exchanged for official tickets, three large tickets, one medium ticket, four small tickets, and ten loose tickets."

Strictly speaking, official notes are not currency issued by the court, but a certificate for depositing and withdrawing money. This is just because many businessmen like to use light official notes to replace large amounts of cash that are difficult to carry when making large transactions. Official tickets gradually took on some monetary functions.

Qiniang put away the cash of 400 yuan Taiping, took out a stack of official tickets, quickly counted out a few and placed them on the table, three with a denomination of 100 yuan Taiping, one with a denomination of 50 yuan Taiping, and four with a denomination of 10 yuan Taiping. Money denomination, ten pieces of one yuan Taiping money denomination. The denomination of one thousand is considered extra large and is not included in this category.

They are all brand-new official tickets, and you can even faintly smell the fragrance of ink, which is fascinating.

Qi Xuansu stretched out his hand to gather these official tickets together. He glanced at the jade bracelet-like Xumi treasure on Qiniang's wrist with some envy. He first put a hundred Taiping coins in cash in his bag, and then put a few large official tickets Keep it close to your body, and finally put a few small official tickets in your sleeve pocket for easy access at any time.

It is not unusual for sleeves to hold items. Pockets are usually sewn into the sleeves. The opening of the pocket is opposite to that of the sleeve, and the pocket is closed in the shape of a trapezoid. In this way, if you put money, letters and other items into your pocket, even if you lower your hands or bow in salute, the items inside will not fall out. It is precisely because one's sleeves often carry money, that's why "two sleeves are refreshing" is used to describe incorruptibility.

Qiniang took out another IOU, and after confirming that it was Qi Xuansu's handwriting, she rubbed her hands together and turned it into fly ash, thus clearing the debt.

Qi Xuansu asked: "Should I go to the ancestral court?"

seven

Mother said: "Get ready to leave, and try to get to the ancestral court before August 15th."