Chapter 1 Bai Yingqiong
There are two kinds of morality, one is recognized by oneself, and the other is imposed by others.
The morality recognized by oneself is both a constraint and a force.
The morality imposed by others is just a constraint.
The Taoist sect has its own moral code.
Some people recognize these moral codes, and then these moral codes will become his spiritual pillar, and he can get strength from them and move forward.
Some people do not recognize these moral codes, and regard these moral codes as shackles and constraints. They are in them, and they are tortured every day, thinking about breaking free and changing all the time.
Now, how many people still recognize and how many people do not recognize is really a difficult question to answer.
In Jinling Prefecture, there are probably more people who do not recognize it, otherwise two major cases would not involve this place. Or maybe this place is too prosperous and easier to squeeze out money.
In terms of size, Jiangnan Daofu can be regarded as the first Daofu of Daoism. It is located at the intersection of three forces. To the east is the sea, to the south is Chuzhou Daofu of Zhengyi Dao, to the north is Luzhou Daofu of Taiping Dao, and to the west is Huzhou Daofu of Quanzhen Dao. Therefore, even the Cihang lineage, which is close to the water and gets the moon first, cannot control Jiangnan Daofu. It can only have a great influence on Jiangnan Daofu.
Since no force can completely control Jiangnan Daofu, naturally there will be no strong lord.
In this case, Jiangnan Daofu is somewhat similar to Kunlun Daofu. The chief deputy lord and the second deputy lord become very important, and can even stand on equal footing with the lord. In some Daofus with strong lords, the chief and second lords can only be submissive and be yes-men. Because of this, the real person in charge of Jiangnan Daofu is not ranked high in Jinque.
Bai Yingqiong is now the chief deputy lord of Jiangnan Daofu. From the perspective of position, she is the closest to her mentor, Cihang Zhenren, but she is also the closest to Cihang Zhenren in age. They are more like sisters than master and apprentice. When Cihang Zhenren abdicates, she will not have much time left and will not be able to work for a few years.
In this case, if Bai Yingqiong must take the position, then her opponent is not her junior sister Zhang Yuelu, but her master, Cihang Zhenren. But the reality is that Cihang Zhenren is the candidate for the Grand Master recommended by Zhengyi Dao. To be an enemy of Cihang Zhenren is to cut oneself off from Zhengyi Dao. Whether Bai Yingqiong has this idea or not, she can only choose to accept the reality.
In fact, she knew this result more than ten years ago and had accepted her fate. With her status and position, she was determined to become an important celebrity in the Cihang lineage.
If we compare it to the imperial court, and regard the position of Cihang Zhenren as the emperor, then she is probably a role like a minister of state. Therefore, after Cihang Zhenren designated Zhang Yuelu as the successor, she did not mean to embarrass Zhang Yuelu. Instead, she decided to take the initiative to befriend this junior sister who was not familiar with her in the past and pave the way in advance.
Bai Yingqiong did not live in Zhenwu Temple on weekdays. She had a house in Jinling Prefecture. It was not luxurious. There were no pavilions, towers, or water diversion into the house. It was just a courtyard with two entrances. It was very low-key. However, those who knew Bai Yingqiong's identity called this place "Bai Mansion". Of course, Bai Yingqiong was not the only one with the surname Bai in Jinling Prefecture, but when it comes to "Bai Mansion", it specifically refers to this place.
The small living room in the back house of Bai Mansion turned on the cooling talisman array to block the scorching heat outside, and it was even a little cold.
"I'm freezing to death!" Bai Xiaojin shouted. She was only wearing a single silk dress, and she could not stand the coldness of the talisman array. After all, this talisman array still had some defects and could not control the temperature just right, so it was inevitable that it was too cold or too hot.
Bai Yingqiong's smile was so natural and sincere only in front of her beloved daughter. However, she still sat upright, letting her daughter shake her hand, but she just smiled without moving.
After all, Bai Yingqiong and Cihang Zhenren were not much different in age, so it was not difficult to imagine that she had a daughter, and this daughter was only a few years younger than Zhang Yuelu, so she could be considered a young girl.
"It's better to turn down the talisman formation." The person sitting opposite Bai Yingqiong spoke, it was Zhang Yuelu, who was dressed in a Taoist formal dress, quite majestic.
Bai Yingqiong shook her head and said, "I indulged her too much, making her lose her dignity in front of the guests." She said to her daughter, "If you feel cold, wear more."
Bai Xiaojin muttered, "Why don't you wear more."
"Xiaojin!" Bai Yingqiong pretended to be angry.
"It's okay." Zhang Yuelu smiled, "I'm not hot."
Bai Yingqiong was startled, and then said in surprise, "Does it mean that my junior sister is about to become a celestial being?"
In addition to being able to ride the wind, celestial beings can also be immune to cold and heat.
"It will probably be this year." Zhang Yuelu nodded.
Bai Yingqiong smiled and said, "This is a happy event. Does the master know about it?"
"Yes." Zhang Yuelu said, "The master often writes to me."
Bai Yingqiong half-jokingly said, "We didn't have such treatment back then. We can't compare."
Zhang Yuelu shook her head and said, "Senior sister is making fun of me."
Bai Yingqiong knew very well that it was appropriate to stop talking. If she continued, she would be suspected of being weird. She took the initiative to change the subject: "In this case, why don't you thank the master?"
This was said to her daughter Bai Xiaojin.
Bai Xiaojin was a little reluctant, but she did not disobey her mother. She said crisply, "Thank you, master."
After that, she came to the corner of the small living room and twisted a wooden mechanism, and the coldness in the room immediately decreased a lot.
Zhang Yuelu came to visit today, and naturally she has established a good relationship with this senior sister. She believes in the moral principles of Taoism, but is not pedantic. She deeply understands that the more friends the better, so she must rely on the strength of her senior sister.
Bai Yingqiong originally wanted to make friends with Zhang Yuelu, but Zhang Yuelu took the initiative to visit her, just because she was sleeping and gave him a pillow. In addition, the two of them were from the same school, so naturally they had a very happy conversation.
However, the two of them were not ordinary women, and coupled with the age gap between them, there was not so much gossip to talk about, and they soon got down to business.
"I heard that another group of people are coming over? It seems that Jinque attaches great importance to it this time." As a local official, Bai Yingqiong is not as well-informed as Zhang Yuelu about many arrangements and transfers in Yujing.
Zhang Yuelu said: "There are a lot of people coming. After all, there are lessons learned from the Jiangnan case. If there are fewer people coming, I'm afraid the same mistakes will happen again."
Bai Yingqiong smiled, not displeased.
The Jiangnan case was an opportunity for her to take the position. After the incident, the original palace master, chief deputy palace master, and second deputy palace master were all transferred away. However, the Cihang lineage headed by Cihang Zhenren, in the Jiangnan major case She played a very positive role, which led to her taking over as the chief deputy palace master, so she did not shy away from the Jiangnan case.
Bai Yingqiong asked again: "Do you know where these people come from?"
"The specific list is in the hands of Master Lei. I have not asked about it, but I heard from Master Pei that it seems to be mainly disciples of Quanzhen Tao. After all, Master Donghua is now in control of Ziweitang. In terms of personnel, , or take the initiative," Zhang Yuelu replied.
Bai Yingqiong nodded: "That's the best. This case started in Zixian Mountain, and the Yanqing Chamber of Commerce and the Yuan family that were silenced are both in Jiangling Mansion. That is the territory of Quanzhen Taoism. It's up to Quanzhen Taoism to come forward to investigate clearly." Within reason.”
Zhang Yuelu said thoughtfully: "It's just that the two deputy hall masters of the Li family and the deputy hall master Lu Yushu are a bit difficult to deal with."
When it comes to skills and experience, Zhang Yuelu is still young after all, and is still not as good as Bai Yingqiong. He came here today with the intention of asking for advice. Bai Yingqiong did not disappoint Zhang Yuelu and directly gave his opinion: "I borrow Zhong Kui to fight ghosts. You can't deal with them." , you can use other people’s hands to deal with them.”
"Whose hand can I borrow?" Zhang Yuelu asked immediately.
Bai Yingqiong whispered: "Ning Ling Pavilion."
Zhang Yuelu fell into deep thought.
Bai Yingqiong continued: "Among the three Taoists, Taiping Tao is said to be the most powerful. In fact, it is not the case. The most powerful is Quanzhen Tao. It's just that Taiping Tao is the most united and has the most consistent internal voice. It's like five fingers holding a hand. With only one fist, the Taiping Dao was the strongest and had its back against the imperial court, which forced the other two groups to form an alliance to fight against the Taiping Dao. "
"Before Xuan Sheng unified the Taoist sects, the Taoist sect was divided into five, southeast, northwest, and middle. The North Taoist gate entered the imperial capital and became the royal family and nobles. The South Taoist gate became the Zhengyi Tao, the East Taoist gate became the Taiping Tao, and the Middle Taoist gate became the Quanzhen Tao. The West Dao Sect was divided into two, and some people followed Tantai Yun to other countries, and some people from the original Ge Zao Dao were included in the Quanzhen Dao. From an innate point of view, the Quanzhen Dao was better than the other two."
"As for the day after tomorrow, there is the Zhang family on Zhengyi Road and the Li family on Taiping Road. The advantage is that the family in-laws are the link and they will be extra united. The disadvantage is that the clans will become cliques, blocking the ascending channel and inevitably solidifying. The longer time goes by, the more obvious the disadvantages will be. On the contrary. It's because Quanzhen Taoism doesn't have such a big family, and there is a Wanxiang Taoist palace for blood transfusion. There are teachers without distinction, and the situation is better. Talents have emerged in large numbers in recent years. However, there are also disadvantages. There is no family-style family, but there is a school with master and apprentice as the link. There are too many internal factions and they cannot be integrated into one place, and they have no strength but cannot form a fist.”
"Ning Lingge is from Quanzhen Taoism. He was thrown out of the position of the master of Tiangang Hall by the Li family. Do you think he has any resentment? The weight of a master of knowledge is not that light. His lineage, in the There are also quite a lot of forces in Jiangnan."
Zhang Yuelu understood somewhat: "Thank you, senior sister, for your guidance."
As a saying often says in scripts, corrupt officials will be more treacherous, and honest officials will be even more treacherous.
Zhang Yuelu wanted to carve a bloody path in the Taoist sect, but he had no skill or cunning, and his passion alone was far from enough.
Today's Taoist sect has face-saving human relations and sophistication, and various unwritten rules, etiquette, favors, and connections, all of which are interconnected and intertwined into a network. In this environment, if you want to do things, you have to act in accordance with the rules on the surface.
If you are independent and insist on character, you will naturally be rejected by this system, and in the end only your passion and ideals will be left.
To put it bluntly, if you cannot destroy this system from the outside, you can only admit and use this set of rules to climb up. Only by reaching the top can you change. To put it bluntly, only by becoming a Grand Master can one be qualified to talk about changing the Taoism.
But then again, in this world of mortals, temptations are everywhere. It is easy to get lost and forget your original intention by using compromise methods in order to realize your ambitions and ideals. It is truly rare to be able to know the world but not be worldly, to be ruthless in means but bright in heart, to follow the crowd on the outside but unwilling to follow the crowd on the inside.
At this point, Zhang Yuelu has done quite well. She has not forgotten her original intention, but she has not shown her sharpness to the point that everyone is afraid. Most people's evaluation of her is that she is willing to work and serious.
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