Pawn Crossing the River

Wu Niang left first, Qi Xuansu let Xiao Yin go first, and he walked alone at the end.

After this game of chess, Qi Xuansu still had some insights. Without the support of the Taoist system, many things would be difficult to do.

The existence condition of an organization is interest, and the existence condition of power is the right to distribute interests. But the most fundamental basis is how to establish an organizational structure that can generate interests.

The organizational structure of Taoism was gradually established and improved after several generations. The interests that can be generated are extremely huge, and the Taoist high-level represented by the Grand Master and Jinque have the right to distribute these interests.

Qi Xuansu is still suitable for struggling in Taoism. If he really leaves Taoism and starts from scratch, it will be in vain.

Since he wants to struggle in Taoism, he must continue to deal with personnel. The top priority is to help Qi Jiaozheng become the Grand Master of Zixiao Palace. There are several aspects. One is that Qi Jiaozheng wants to become an immortal, the second is the recommendation of Grand Master Jiang, the third is that Qi Jiaozheng is doing a political achievement project, and the fourth is that the Grand Master nods, which is also the most important.

Qi Xuansu is in charge of Jiang Dazhenren and the Grand Master, while Qi Jiaozheng is in charge of the other two aspects.

Qi Jiaozheng's cultivation can use the resources accumulated by the Qi family, and the political achievement project is the ancient trade route in Shuzhou, which has been decided.

Qi Xuansu plans to go to Jiang Dazhenren first to test his opinion. Even if he is the Grand Master, he must respect Jiang Dazhenren's opinion. If Jiang Dazhenren strongly opposes, then the Grand Master will not be able to force it.

After leaving the Return to the True Reality Hall, Qi Xuansu went directly to the Zixiao Palace.

The Taoist palace organization of the Zixiao Palace is called the Miluo Palace, which is just to the south of the Weiming Palace, connected by a long corridor in the middle.

The area of ​​Miluo Palace is larger than that of the Weiming Palace, because the Weiming Palace is only used by the Grand Master, at most with the Grand Master's wife, and others go there to report their work and will not stay for long. But Miluo Palace is a place where many people work, including a Grand Master and nine assistants, so it occupies a larger area.

Jiang Dazhenren usually stays in Miluo Palace.

Qi Xuansu arrived at Zixiao Palace, but the Grand Master and his wife had not returned yet. Because the emperor was about to leave Yujing, the Grand Master would host a banquet for the emperor and his entourage at the Great Yuxu Palace.

Since Qi Xuansu was not notified, he did not need to go. After all, there were so many Chanzhi Zhenren and Pingzhang Da Zhenren, and Qi Xuansu was not needed. There was no need to join in everything.

In name, Qi Xuansu was just a Zhenren in charge of the mansion, and there was no such position as "Little Master". When the matter of Yujing came to an end, Qi Xuansu still had to return to the Daxueshan Palace, and he could not run back and forth. Therefore, unless it was a major ceremony, he did not have to attend such banquets and celebrations of a social nature.

The Grand Master was different. He represented the Taoist sect and was the protagonist of the banquet. Who the supporting roles were and whether there were supporting roles were all minor details, but the protagonist could not be missing, so the Grand Master had to attend. If the Grand Master was not available, there was also the Grand Master's wife.

It happened that the Great Master Jiang did not go either, and was in the Miro Palace.

After the announcement, Qi Xuansu came to the signing room of Jiang Dazhenren in the Miluo Hall.

This was Qi Xuansu's first time here. It was obviously much smaller than the signing room of the Grand Master.

The signing room was a bit messy at this time. There was no chair for receiving guests except a desk. The bookshelf by the wall was empty. There were boxes piled on the ground, and each box was sealed with a seal. It was obvious that the owner of this place was about to leave.

There were files piled on both sides of the table, all of which were stamped with red "top secret". In the space between the files, a purple gold lotus crown appeared, which was Jiang Dazhenren.

The old man seemed to be writing something.

There was no chair, and the owner did not greet him, so Qi Xuansu simply stood there.

He had a hunch that as the dust settled on the seven generations of Grand Masters, Master Jiang had unloaded not only the four Grand Masters’ magical objects, but also a heavy burden. The old man began to deliberately downplay his influence. If he could describe it in four words, it would be “retire after success.”

What he saw today confirmed this speculation.

“Is the competition over?” Master Jiang, who was writing furiously, asked.

“It’s over, a draw.” Qi Xuansu didn’t talk too much about the chess game. Not only was Xiao Yin dissatisfied, but he himself was also dissatisfied.

Then Qi Xuansu naturally changed the subject: "The emperor is leaving Beijing today, and the Grand Master is holding a banquet to see him off."

"You should call him Ziji Dazhenren." Jiang Dazhenren finally finished writing the last stroke of the paper, "No matter what, he is first a Taoist priest, and then the emperor of the court. This is a matter of principle."

Qi Xuansu did not refute: "To be frank, whether Ziji Dazhenren is the emperor of Taoism or Confucianism is a question to be discussed."

"To be precise, he wants to be the emperor of the three religions." Jiang Dazhenren stood up from a pile of files and archives. Compared with usual times, Jiang Dazhenren today seemed more easy-going and relaxed.

Then Jiang Dazhenren waved his hand casually and "created" a chair out of thin air: "Sit down."

For an immortal, creating things out of nothing is not difficult.

It's just that this little trick is not very useful, and in most cases it is not necessary.

If there were no chairs made of red sandalwood, how would the world know that I am high and noble?

Qi Xuansu sat opposite Jiang Dazhenren and glanced at Jiang Dazhenren's desk: "What is Dazhenren writing?"

Master Jiang Dazhen also sat down again, not hiding anything: "As for the specific details of the handover, I have worked in this Miluo Hall for decades. There are too many things to hand over. I have already written so much, and there are So much."

Qi Xuansu looked at everything around him again and asked, "Is Master Jiang Da determined to leave?"

"These are my personal belongings. I plan to move them home and leave them to my nephews." Jiang Dazhen said, "I have submitted my resignation to the Grand Master. The Grand Master agreed in principle, but I have to wait for him. Appoint the new Grand Master of Zixiao Palace.”

Although Qi Xuansu had expected it, when he heard this answer, he was filled with emotion for a moment: "When I first entered the Taoist sect, you were the master in charge of the Zixiao Palace. If you don't become the master in charge of the palace, It’s really uncomfortable.”

Jiang Dazhen leaned back in his chair: "I'm old."

Although Jiang Daren will not feel incompetent because of his old age, his time in this world is indeed getting less and less.

"I have to prepare for my death." Master Jiang Dazhen continued, "It has always been the waves behind the river that push the waves ahead, and a new generation replaces the old. In this world, there are fewer and fewer old friends. Some people have died, and some have ascended. After all, I will have this day after I leave this world, and this day is not far away.”

Qi Xuansu said: "But the third division has not yet ascended."

"We are different." Master Jiang Da said with a wave of his hand, "With the cultivation level of the third master, it is actually possible to survive the catastrophe. They are afraid that they will ascend first while the other two choose to take risks and not ascend, so there is a high probability that they will be delayed until I don’t have to do this at the last moment, and for me, the risk of delaying it until the last moment is too high. If something goes wrong and I fail to ascend on time, and the catastrophe falls, I have no confidence that I can successfully overcome it. Even if the Third Division misses the opportunity to ascend, they will still have a chance to fight, which is their confidence. "

Master Jiang Da paused for a moment: "Of course, 80% of the Third Division will not take the risk to overcome the tribulation. Once they fail, they will die. It is not cost-effective and not worth it."

Qi Xuansu understood that it was not that Jiang Daren had no nostalgia for the position of the Master of Zixiao Palace, but that he no longer had any nostalgia for the human world.

Master Jiang Da said: "Tianyuan, let's discuss a what-if, don't be angry."

Qi Xuansu said: "Master, please tell me."

Jiang Dazhen said: "Suppose Qing Xiao is gone, will you still... let's use a Western term, will you start again? Don't answer me in a hurry, let alone perfunctory me, think about it carefully before you do it. Answer me. After all, I’m afraid we won’t have many opportunities to talk like this again. Maybe we’ll meet again in heaven in a while.”

Qi Xuansu thought seriously for a moment and replied: "No. Even if you put aside my relationship with Qingxiao, Da Zhenren also knows that I am not interested in women, and of course, I am not interested in men or hermaphrodites. Interest. If there was no Qingxiao from the beginning, then I would not get married at all, but would live alone for the rest of my life. "

Jiang Daren joked: "You don't like to ask for a wife, but you like to raise a daughter, right?"

Qi Xuansu said: "Actually, my son is fine too, I won't choose."

Master Jiang Dazhen sighed: "It's a pity that I have no son or daughter. But when I was young, I had a Taoist companion."

Qi Xuansu was surprised: "I have never heard of it."

Jiang Dazhen said: "Because she has been dead for forty years."

Qi Xuansu hesitated for a moment: "Can you talk to me?"

"Her name is Lin Yao, and she is a deputy hall master of Kunlun Taoist House." Jiang Dazhen said slowly, "This is the position she held before her death. Her death was an accident. Twenty years before her death, I never mentioned her to others, but after the next twenty years, time will heal all the pain. I think of her occasionally, and I miss her very much.”

Qi Xuansu said softly: "You must have been Taoist couples for a long time."

"Not long enough." Jiang Daren's tone was a little low, "We have been together for thirty-six years."

Qi Xuansu sighed with emotion.

Jiang Dazhen continued: "We are a young couple. After she left, I made the same choice as you. There is no so-called starting over. Why did we become a Taoist couple? Not for some low-level desires, but more Mostly for spiritual support, companionship and sustenance. When she took the first step, I was over fifty and no longer young. Maybe I still have another thirty-six years, but I will never be as young as I was when I was young. mentality.

"The most miserable thing is that there is no youth, and there is no starting over. The first half of a person's life is adding, starting from nothing, and there are more and more people around him. The second half of a person's life is doing subtraction, starting from something to nothing, and the people around him are There are fewer and fewer people. Every time I lose an old friend, my nostalgia for this world becomes less and less.

"Now that Pei Xuanji has been successfully elected as the Grand Master, I no longer have any worries. It's time to leave."