Pawn Crossing the River

Jing Tianming sent people to send the eight severed snake heads to the Xiujing camp. After screening, Qingwei sent one of the snake heads to Pingjing, once again putting pressure on the royal family of Pingjing and forcing them to surrender.

The Taoist sect was able to kill the Yamata no Orochi without sending out the immortals, which meant that it was not difficult for the Taoist sect to capture Pingjing. However, the Taoist sect did not want to cause greater casualties, so it gave Pingjing a chance to end with dignity. .

Of course Pingjing understands this truth. The reason why Feigong Xizi desperately escaped is because only if she is alive, the royal family is qualified for peace talks.

Of course, if you can't win on the battlefield, you can't get what's on the negotiation table. Such peace talks are just a unilateral surrender by the royal family.

Soon, a reply came from the royal family, accepting Daomen's conditions.

According to the content of the first peace talks, the royal family agreed to punish the criminals who provoked the war, including many important officials of the court, including Minister Zuo. Dismiss all those who are fighting against Taoism, and abolish Tianmen’s status as a state religion. All armies were reorganized according to the standards of Taoism, the aristocratic system was reformed, the land system was reformed, the royal family was downgraded to the royal family, and became ministers to the Daxuan court. The royal family only existed as a symbol and no longer held real power. Toyotomi Prime Minister's Office took over all the rights of the Pingjing court and its subordinate yamen at all levels.

In addition, the Taoist sect also put forward additional conditions. The three major artifacts should not be left in the hands of the downgraded royal family, but should be kept by Fenglinzhou Taoist House. In fact, at this point, the royal family does not have much say. The key depends on Feigong Xizi. Perhaps the national master had first defeated the incarnations of the three main gods and then killed the dragon with one sword, which had frightened the courage of Higong Xizi. The last Saio agreed to this condition without insisting too much.

The reason why the royal family agreed so happily is because the Taoist sect has had an excellent reputation over the years and has never done anything reneging on its word, so there is no need to worry about settling the score later.

In this way, the balance that Taoism hopes for is achieved.

Toyotomi Prime Minister's Office holds real power, and the royal family only serves as a symbol. However, there are Daitengu and Higiya Hiko in the royal family, which can act as a check and balance to Toyotomi Prime Minister's Office. Fenglinzhou Taoist Mansion is in the middle of balance, rather than on which side it specifically stands. However, mutual checks and balances do not mean starting a cruel party struggle, so Qingwei Zhenren asked Toyotomi Hidemo to marry Jixiangmiya Tamako to ease the relationship between the two parties through marriage.

After the royal family agreed to the terms of surrender, Pingjing opened the city without blood, and the Taoist army officially entered Pingjing. The leader of Fenglinzhou led the royal family members to greet them, which meant the royal family's surrender.

After the army entered the city, the Fenglinzhou royal family submitted letters of credence to the Daxuan court, expressing their submission as vassal, requesting canonization, and submitted the proposed two country names "Fenglin" and "Weiyuan" to the Daxuan Emperor for ruling. Emperor Daxuan finally chose the new country name "Fenglin", and in the name of the emperor of the suzerainty, he conferred the title of King Fenglin on Fenglinzhou, which was equivalent to the princely title of the Daxuan court. He also gave him a gold seal, an edict, a crown, a crown, and a title. Jiuzhang, Guiyu, Peiyu, Feizhu, Qizhaiguan, Xiapei, gold pendants, scriptures, colorful coins, etc.

Since then, all the kings of Fenglin Continent have been granted the title of King Fenglin as a matter of routine. They can only call themselves orphans or widowers, and are not allowed to call themselves me. Ministers can only call themselves king or highness, but not emperor or majesty. Otherwise, it is considered arrogance.

At the same time, the Daxuan court also stipulated that King Fenglin's official uniform was a red python robe with gold patterns, and Queen Fenglin was decorated with a phoenix. Princesses, princesses and concubines are decorated with flower patterns. Chizhai clothing is a licensed prince-level clothing. As the queen of Daxuan, Queen Fenglin and the princess cannot overstep the rank of Tianqing Zhaiyi.

In the past hundred years, the Taoist sect has made huge changes in Fenglinzhou. Most of the middle-level people have imitated the Central Plains. They have to learn everything from clothing to manners and customs, and even the accent of speech. The closer the accent is to Imperial Capital, the more authentic it becomes. Many Japanese people are proud to speak fluent Chinese Mandarin. Many even like to mix in some obscure Central Plains vocabulary in their daily Japanese communication, and use the two languages ​​​​to show their uniqueness. advanced.

Only the upper class still retained traditional costumes. After the royal family became a minister, the Daxuan court directly stipulated the royal family's clothing, which was to implement "change of clothes" from top to bottom. If you are proud to imitate the Central Plains, then the common people at the bottom will naturally follow suit.

Another point is that since the practice of cross-dressing requires bundling up and wearing a crown, shaving your head into a moon-shaped head will not allow you to bunk up your hair and wear a crown, so naturally you have to grow your hair. This is how easy it is to grow hair.

Next is the reform of the title system. Because the royal family has been reduced to the royal family, the prince and concubine princes have been cancelled, and divided into six levels of county princes and dukes. The original princes were demoted to county princes, and the concubine princes were demoted to princesses. The Toyotomi family The head of the family is also a county prince, and he is the only county prince with a different surname, and then they are divided in order.

At this point, it is nominally a top-down reform of the royal family, but in fact it is operated by the Taoist sect behind the scenes. In other words, what titles can be awarded to feudal lords in various places depends not only on their own strength, but also on the attitude of the sect.

For example, Toyotomi Chiyo, she is the younger sister of Toyotomi Hidetsugi. With the death of Toyotomi Hidetsugi, she is destined to become a marginal figure in the prime minister's palace. It would be good to be granted the title of county head, but because she is a benchmark figure promoted by the Taoist sect. , the Taoist sect was extremely advanced, so he was directly canonized as the princess, equivalent to the princes and princesses, and even on an equal footing with Toyotomi Hidemoto.

There is also Asai Yoshishin. Although his ancestor was a feudal lord, he has long since declined. In terms of strength, he can only be a viscount at most. However, because of his great achievements, he was canonized as a marquis. Also canonized as a marquis was Maeda Masao, who chose to surrender to Daomen.

Yagyu Munamasa, who had always firmly supported and supported the Taoist sect, was canonized as a duke. Yagyu Munamasa was unwilling to accept it and gave up the title to his son. The Taoist sect specially granted him a second-rank Taoist priest who was born with the same Taoist priest and received the same treatment as Suzuka Gozen. This time Yagyu Munamasa The righteousness is to accept it gladly.

Of course, Master Qingwei and Master Zhang Qihan will not do these things personally. At most, the people below will prepare the list and submit it to them for review and approval. It is mainly decided by the Fenglinzhou Taoist Office, the Ancestral Hall, and the Ziwei Hall.

Qi Xuansu, as the deputy head of Ziwei Hall, is also among them. He had no interest in these princes and princes. He just proposed to make a woman named Fan Ji a viscount. The reason was very good. There were too few women among the nobles of Fenglinzhou, and most of them were princesses from the royal family. , County Lord, cannot reflect the Taoist concept of equality and needs to be focused on.

This reason is of course high-sounding and involves the moral correctness within the Taoist sect. No one can object to it, at least not openly. In addition, the majority of the interests here are concentrated at the Duke level, and a small viscount is really insignificant. Moreover, Qi Xuansu did not interfere with the ratings of these princes, which was equivalent to giving up his share. Many people were happy to reciprocate, so they directly designated Fan Ji from viscount to earl.

As a result, Fenglinzhou gained an additional countess.

For people in the Taoist sect, he is not a count of the Daxuan court, but it is just a matter of writing, which is nothing.

When Fan Ji learned that she was about to be canonized as an earl, she was not only happy, but also a little afraid. She deeply felt the power and background of Qi Gaogong.

Officially, he could make himself, a small person who could only be granted the title of baron, jump two levels to become an earl. In terms of business, he could also introduce the leading businessmen in the Central Plains to himself. What kind of power is this? ?

But Qi Gaogong has been very busy, either participating in the war or on the way to the expedition, and he seems very mysterious.

Therefore, Huan Ji became more and more curious about Qi Gao Gong. She was a good dancer and had already established some connections with a Taoist priest stationed in the local area regarding Taiping money. When hosting a banquet, she began to ask insinuating questions about Qi Gao Gong. matter.

Taiping money and wine can always quickly bring people closer together. In addition, this is not a confidential topic. The deacon Taoist priest directly said everything he knew: "Qi Gaogong? You mean Deputy Qi Hall Master, that is really amazing. He is a young and talented person. Many people say that he is the fourth best in the Taoist sect. Do you know who can be called a 'show'? First, he must be young and cannot be more than thirty years old. Second, he must be young. He must be good enough to be able to compete for the title of Grand Master.”

Great leader!

Fan Ji's pupils contracted slightly, she was both shocked and felt some indescribable pressure.

That is not comparable to King Tianmenzhai or Emperor Fenglinzhou. The Great Master of Fenglinzhou Taoist Palace, the Master of the Army, and even the National Preceptor are all subordinates of the Great Master.

That is the leader of the Taoist sect, and even the leader of the entire Eastern world.

The deacon Taoist priest drank too much, and regardless of Fan Ji's reaction, he said to himself: "It's certainly a bit far to talk about the title of Grand Master. The seventh generation of Grand Master has not been selected, so it will be the turn of the eighth generation of Grand Master. , it will be decades later. Let’s talk about the present. Jinque issued an order to commend Deputy Hall Master Qi. Master Zhang Dazhen personally read out the commendation order and spread it to everyone. What kind of treatment is this? The master will soon be promoted to the second rank, which is one of the top three positions in the Taoist government. Once he becomes the second rank, his rank will also change, that is, he will be promoted to a real person. Do you know what it means to be a real person under the age of thirty? "

Not all deacon Taoist priests are as free as Qi Xuansu. Having been in this environment for many years, they naturally know the nine and twelve grades of Taoism in detail, what are the age limits, qualification requirements, and even the factional battles among the top officials. They can all speak eloquently.

Fan Ji was not only shocked but also shocked. The master was too far away and no one could predict what would happen in a few decades. She could still be relatively calm and just regarded it as a good prospect. But what was about to happen was different. She thought Qi Gaogong was already great, but she didn't expect that she would change her name to Qi Zhenren in the near future.

Titles such as high-gong mage, mage, and Taoist priest are just names given to Taoist priests by outsiders, and are not used by Taoists themselves. However, "Zhenren" is common both inside and outside the Taoist sect, which shows that the status of the first level of Zhenren is aloof. Only by becoming a real person can you be considered to have entered the upper echelons of Taoism. Therefore, real people are also called the best among high-quality Taoist priests.

The deacon Taoist priest must have been drunk and drunk, and half-dreamed: "A real person who is less than thirty years old, and a real person who is forty years old, as long as he doesn't die in the middle, even if he can't be a great leader, he can be a deputy." It’s not a problem to teach the great master.”