Chapter 5 Deficit and Slogan

gIn the next period of time, Qi Xuansu will speed up to finish the things on hand and prepare for "retreat".

Qi Xuansu's main task is still the word "money".

As Chen Shuwen said, the Taoist sect and Daxuan are actually in an upward expansion stage, and there should not be such a financial deficit in the downward stage. The key is that the Taoist sect launched two large-scale wars in succession due to internal struggles, which caused financial constraints in a short period of time, similar to the backlash caused by Lan Dazhenren's four consecutive use of "Taiyi Fa Jue" in a short period of time. It is not that Lan Dazhenren's realm is insufficient, but that he used it too quickly. If it is used separately, it will never be like this.

There is no need to say much about the Fenglinzhou War. Qi Xuansu is a personal experience and knows it very well.

As for the Western Region War, Qi Xuansu caught up with the tail end. When he joined Tiangang Hall, it was already the end. One of the divisions of Tiangang Hall was completely lost in this war and merged into other divisions. This is why Zhang Yuelu reorganized the Yaoguang Division.

The brutality of this war was even greater than the battle in Fenglinzhou, because in the battlefield of Fenglinzhou, the Taoist sect had a large number of vassal troops of the Prime Minister's Mansion, while in the battlefield of the Western Regions, the Taoist sect personally went to the battlefield.

The cause of this war was the Taoist sect's policy towards the grassland countries.

During the Li Dynasty of Daqi, the national power reached its peak, and its emperor was called Tian Khan. The territory was vast, including the Western Regions and the grasslands in addition to the Central Plains. The Great Jin after Daqi was weak, lost cities and abandoned land, and only the most core 19 states were left.

In the late years of Dajin, the Golden Horde went south, the Great Jin perished, and the Golden Horde entered the Central Plains and established a short-term rule. At this time, the Golden Horde reached its peak, and the grasslands, the Western Regions, the Rakshasa Kingdom, and the Central Plains were all under its control. Its troops pointed directly at the Western Continent and made an expedition to Fenglinzhou.

Later, it was the Wei Dynasty that overthrew the rule of the Golden Horde and made it withdraw from the Central Plains, but the Golden Horde still retained the Western Regions and the grasslands. When Daxuan replaced Dawei, it gradually recovered most of the Western Regions and part of the grassland during the Daqi period, which was the origin of the Xiting Protectorate and Beiting Protectorate.

It was at this time that Luosha Kingdom also got rid of the control of the Golden Horde.

Although a lean camel is bigger than a horse, the Golden Horde is still huge and occupies a vast grassland. But the Golden Horde has been completely divided and turned into dozens of tribes of different sizes. Some still worship shamanism, and some convert to Buddhism.

Between the Eastern Taoism and the Western Holy Court, shamanism is a buffer, which is also one of the five religions of the "Heavenly Court".

Therefore, the situation in Xiting and Beiting is very complicated. Taoism continues the policy of Daqi. Of course, there are reasons for the Li family. The Li family has always claimed to be descendants of Daqi. From Li Laojun to the Li royal family, there is a clear vein, so they highly respect the Qi system.

However, the system of Daqi does have its merits. At that time, Li Qi was the top of the world, with the most advanced productivity, culture, the most powerful army, and the largest territory. This is incomparable to the later Jin and Wei dynasties. Its system is also fundamentally different from the dynasties under the Confucian system.

Nowadays, the benchmark of Taoism should be Daqi, not the traditional Dawei.

Looking at the history of grassland tribes during the Daqi period, one after another, small tribes that had never been heard of became large tribes that dominated the grassland with the support of Daqi, and then threatened Daqi, and were eventually destroyed by Daqi and other tribes. Their status was replaced by new tribes that followed Daqi, and so on and so forth until Daqi weakened.

Some people say that no matter how prosperous the country is, the common people are still a "bitter" word. This statement is not correct in the most prosperous years of Daqi. Because during the Daqi period, every war was plundered, similar to today's Westerners, not only cattle, sheep, gold and silver and other property, but also people were directly sold as slaves, so there are so many Kunlun slaves and Hu Ji in Daqi's poems. A large number of slaves replaced civilians. In horizontal comparison, before the rise and fall of Da Qi into war, Da Qi was not necessarily the fairest, but the lives of ordinary civilians must be better than those of other dynasties.

Driven by huge interests, Da Qi could not fear war, maintain a huge territory, and even fight to support war.

But the situation of Taoism is different from that of Da Qi. Taoism began to be civilized. It could no longer openly plunder, let alone sell captives as slaves, which led to a sharp increase in the cost of war.

This Western Region war is not essentially different from Da Qi's several wars of annihilation. Although it maintained the authority of Taoism and greatly deterred separatist forces, the subsequent handling of Taoism was too civilized. Not only did it not gain any benefits, but it paid a huge cost.

This is the problem.

What Qi Xuansu has to do is to make up for the deficit.

There is a first deficit, and there will be a second one. The rise and fall will happen in a blink of an eye.

There are five specific ways to solve the deficit.

The first way is to make breakthroughs in productivity and make the pie bigger.

The second way is to increase revenue through large-scale external financial input.

The third method is to wage war and plunder abroad, the Da Qi model.

The fourth method is to reform internally, let the vested interests cut their losses and cut costs.

The fifth method is to exploit and plunder the civilian class.

The difficulty of the five methods is from difficult to easy.

The first method is the result of the Taoism in the past 200 years. Starting from Xuansheng, the four generations of great masters have made unremitting efforts to make Dawei to Daxuan, from mainly farming to mainly industry and trade, to make the pie bigger, to feed everyone, and to benefit from everyone from top to bottom.

However, it is not easy to encounter, it requires the right time, place and people, and it is easy to fail. If the Taoism failed to defeat the Confucianism, or was taken advantage of by the Buddhists, there would be no breakthrough today.

The second method, which is Qi Xuansu's current method, is to make a fortune from the war because of the sudden outbreak of a large-scale war between the three Western countries. However, the disadvantage is that it is difficult to sustain and replicate.

The third method is difficult to implement because the Taoist sect claims to be civilized and has to have a legitimate reason.

The fourth method is Zhang Yuelu's proposal. To put it bluntly, it is to redistribute the benefits. Since the pie cannot be made bigger in a short period of time, the way of dividing the pie should be changed. However, there is a premise that the class is not completely solidified and the channels for class ascension are retained.

So Zhang Yuelu is a moderate reformist, while Li Changge advocates the third method, which is to follow the Daqi model, which is not moderate. Whether it is moderate or not is determined by comparison.

The last method is the easiest and the most useless. To put it bluntly, it is bullying in the nest. Can't deal with outsiders, and can't bear to cut meat from oneself, so can only bully the people? Almost every dynasty will use this method, and eventually die from this method.

As for Qi Xuansu, he certainly wants to use the first method, which is good for you, me and everyone, but the first way is the most difficult.

The reason why Xuansheng was able to do it was really the result of the right time, right place and right people. The world was unified, and Xuansheng's authority could forcefully promote this matter. In addition, Xu Zu laid a good foundation, strengthened exchanges with the West, learned new technologies from the West, and finally achieved the perfect integration of magical powers, Taoist methods and mechanical technology. Today, this road is almost at the end. The key is that the end of the law is coming, and we can no longer continue on this road. We must find a new way.

If he became the chief teacher, how should he find a way out? How to break through the existing technical strength?

Now looking at it again, the creation project is really Xuansheng's biggest and most visionary hand.

Of course, some people also said that it is not limited to a certain road. A little breakthrough in technology, a little external input, a little plunder, a little reform, and a little squeeze can also alleviate this problem.

This involves a problem. These methods are actually conflicting. You can't go to war with the outside world while reforming internally. This is equivalent to fighting on two fronts, which will lead to a comprehensive collapse.

This is why Xuansheng decided to go to war with Buddhism and immediately stopped all actions to integrate the three paths, and stopped clearing and suppressing the Confucian sect. Therefore, Zhang Yuelu and Li Changge are naturally hostile and incompatible. Either Zhang Yuelu is out or Li Changge is out. There is no situation where the two coexist and join forces.

There is also external input finance. In addition to making a fortune from war, it is usually necessary to sell some things. It is better to buy than to make, and it is better to rent than to buy. This contradicts the first point. People are always short-sighted. Take the current situation as an example. Selling military equipment is like making money by lying down. Who is willing to develop new things? Enough!

After Qi Xuansu came back from the Wanxiang Taoist Palace, he began to think about this problem. If he was just a real person in charge of the house, then his emphasis on art and light on Taoism would not be a big problem, but if he was a big head teacher, he had to consider it. You must have your own ideas and use a straightforward and concise slogan to explain your ideas.

For example, Zhang Yuelu's slogan, Change the Tao Sect, has been shouted for many years and is widely known. Or the slogan Li Changge has proposed in the past two years, using the sword of Taoism to fight for more for Taoism. Or Yao Pei's construction of a harmonious Taoism.

Qi Xuansu has not thought of his own slogan yet.

Make Taoism great again?

To this day, without Qi Xuansu formally proposing a policy program, concept and slogan, many people have expressed confusion and doubts on different occasions, and even attracted criticism from the upper level.

This also makes Qi Xuansu very distressed.

There are five ways in total. The last way is to make the people suffer. For the top leaders of Taoism, they dare not say anything, and whoever says it will die. In the first four ways, Zhang Yuelu took the fourth, Li Changge took the third, and Yao Pei took the first, which is in line with the positioning of Quanzhen Taoism that focuses on creation.

Qi Xuansu seems to be able to start with the second way. He is now on this road, but the difficulty of this road is second only to the first way. If you are not careful, you will become a traitor and be infamous for thousands of years.

However, Qi Xuansu also has an idea. Chen Shuwen said that he would go to sea to seek cheap resources and then expand. The basis for the first expansion of the Dao Sect was Nanyang. Cheap resources are actually a kind of external input. Today, Nanyang is constantly developing and is no longer cheap. It has even become a part of the Dao Sect, and needs to be treated equally.

So can we seek a second Nanyang? Once again relying on technological advantages and relying on a large amount of cheap resources to develop rapidly.

As for where the second Nanyang is, Qi Xuansu believes it is the New World.

The Dao Sect will not turn the New World into its own territory, but can help the indigenous people of the New World develop. However, this kind of help is not free, and it needs to be exchanged with resources.

To achieve this, we must first help the indigenous people of the New World defeat the invaders from the West.

Now it seems that the Dao Sect has already seen this by laying out the New World early through the Western Dao Sect.

The key is the disagreement after defeating the Western Holy Court. If it is Li Changge's path, then it is necessary to completely occupy the New World and degrade the indigenous people to inferior people. It is a bit hard for outsiders, but the benefit is still cheap for their own people. It is nothing more than the upper class eating the big head, and the ordinary lower class following the soup. If it is Qi Xuansu's path, it will be more gentle, both sides are equal, develop together, and exchange resources.