Chapter 195 Visiting Qingcheng

The Governor of Shuzhou is at the bottom of the nine governors-general. Most of the other governors-general are in charge of two states, but the Governor of Shuzhou is in charge of one state. One reason is that Shuzhou is vast in area. Except for being slightly smaller than Xizhou, it is far better than other states. In terms of population, Shuzhou is even better than Xizhou. The second reason is that Shuzhou is in chaos before the world is in chaos, and Shuzhou is not stable after the world is settled. This place is also connected to the southern border, and the chieftains often revolt, so the court specially set up a governor here.

The governor is in charge of military and political power, and under him are the governor who is in charge of civil affairs and the admiral of military affairs who is in charge of military affairs. Under the admiral of military affairs is the garrison general.

Looking at the entire Shuzhou, there are a total of four garrison generals, namely the general of Shuzhong, the general of Jianmen, the general of Jinxiu, and the general of Nanjiang.

The four garrison generals are of equal rank, but the order of rank is different.

Among them, the Southern Xinjiang General is mainly responsible for preventing local chieftains from rebellion. He has the most soldiers under his command, and they are the most elite, ranking first. Jinxiu Prefecture is the capital of Shuzhou, and Jinxiu General ranks second. Jianmen Pass in Jiange Prefecture is the gateway to Shuzhou, and its location is dangerous, so Jianmen General ranks third, and Shuzhong General can only rank somewhere.

Speaking of Shuzhong Prefecture, there is also a Quanzhen Taoist family here, the Tang family.

This is a rather special family, slightly inferior to the Yao family, Pei family, and Qi family, and slightly better than the Shangguan family, Xu family, and Ji family, between the two, and the Tang family is very low-key and rarely leaves Shuzhou.

There is another Zhang family in a similar situation. This Zhang family is not the Taoist Zhang, one of the three major families in the world, but is inherited from the lineage of Zhang Suqing, the prime minister of the previous dynasty. They have lived in Jiangling for generations and occupied Huzhou. Although they are very important, they are more low-key than the Tang family. Even when the Zixianshan case happened at their doorstep, they never showed up. When Zhang Jiaoling joined Quanzhen Dao, the Zhang family did not rush to associate with Zhang Jiaoling, like a hermit. Therefore, when people talk about the Zhang family, they usually talk about the famous Zhengyi Dao Zhang family. If you distinguish between the two Zhang families, you usually call Zhang Yuelu's Zhang family Shangqing Zhang and this Zhang family Jiangling Zhang.

Although Wanshou Chongyang Palace is located in Qinzhou, Shuzhou is the root of Quanzhen Dao. In addition to the Tang family, the Qi family and the Ji family have also lived in Shuzhou for generations. There are two mountains in Shuzhou. One is Tiancang Mountain, which is the location of the Shuzhou Daofu and the home of the Ji family for generations. The other is Shushan, which is covered with emerald clouds and black makeup, like a beautiful lady with long and thin eyebrows. It is also called Emei. It was originally one of the four famous mountains of Buddhism. Buddhism and Taoism coexisted. After the dispute between Buddhism and Taoism, it was taken over by Taoism and became the home of the Qi family for generations.

On the contrary, the Pei family is somewhat different. Their ancestral home is in Qizhou. They are close neighbors and friends of the Li family. They should have been Taiping Dao people, but they became members of Quanzhen Dao by various coincidences. However, it is also being cleaned up. It is true that it is good to take shelter under a big tree, but a tree cannot grow under a big tree. Staying away from the big tree of the Li family can go to a higher level.

This is the complexity of the situation of Quanzhen Dao. There is no main trunk like the Zhang family of Zhengyi Dao and the Li family of Taiping Dao. They are scattered and have their own calculations. It is difficult to integrate. There is serious internal friction, which leads to the fact that Quanzhen Dao has the strongest strength, but is suppressed by Taiping Dao. In other words, Quanzhen Dao can still maintain this framework without moving and defending, but if it really decides to move, turn defense into offense, or even attack from all sides like Taiping Dao, the situation is hard to say. At least the senior leaders of Quanzhen Dao do not have this confidence.

Before coming to Shuzhou, Qi Xuansu did some homework. He did not rush to Shuzhong Prefecture, but went to Qingcheng of Tiancang Mountain first.

This is where Shuzhou Daofu is located.

Qi Xuansu went to Shuzhou Daofu, of course, not to find the real person in charge of the prefecture, Qi Jiaozheng, to talk about the Qi family, but to see Ji Daoren. Qi Xuansu remembered that Ji Daoren, who had done him a favor, said that he was nominally a deputy palace master in Shuzhou Daofu. There were only nine deputy palace masters in total, so it should not be difficult to find one.

Qi Xuansu rode the wind all the way and saw from afar a sea of ​​bamboo forests covering thousands of acres. When the autumn wind blew, the bamboo sea swayed with the wind, like thousands of blue waves.

If it was summer, the bamboo sea would be as cool as early autumn, without any heat. Now it is late autumn, and the bamboo sea is a little cool.

This bamboo sea belongs to Tiancang Mountain, because the bamboo forest is evergreen all year round, and the peaks of Tiancang Mountain are surrounded, like a city, so it is named "Qingcheng".

To be fair, the various Taoist palaces and Taoist mansions of Taoism have never been the same, but each has its own style, and they are all located in beautiful places. Just walking through the various Taoist mansions and Taoist palaces of Taoism is an excellent travel experience.

Qi Xuansu walked all the way, from Taiping Palace in Taiping Mountain to the palace in Daxue Mountain, from Shangqing Palace in Yunjin Mountain to Wuxu Palace in Xijing Prefecture, from the summer palace in Beimang Mountain to Wanxiang Taoist Palace in Longmen Prefecture, and then from Wanshou Chongyang Palace in Difei Mountain to Qingcheng in Tiancang Mountain. The scenery he saw was unique.

The mechanism of Taiping Palace, the white snow of the palace in Daxue Mountain, the cliff of Yunjin Mountain, the distant view of the summer palace, the upper palace of Wanxiang Taoist Palace, and even the formation of Wanshou Chongyang Palace and the bamboo forest of Qingcheng all left a deep impression on Qi Xuansu.

Qi Xuansu did not dare to fly directly into Qingcheng, but landed on the ground early and climbed the mountain on foot.

There were spiritual officials checking his identity, but seeing that Qi Xuansu was dressed as a fourth-grade Taoist priest, they were very polite. When Qi Xuansu showed his certificate, they knew that Qi Xuansu was not only a member of Quanzhen Dao, but also from Ziwei Hall, the head of the Nine Halls, and they were even more polite. After learning about Qi Xuansu's purpose of visit, he even personally led the way for Qi Xuansu, which made Qi Xuansu sigh. In the past, he had never received such treatment when he went to Luzhou Prefecture and Zhongzhou Prefecture.

Under the guidance of the two spiritual officials, Qi Xuansu arrived at the outskirts of Qingcheng.

The core of Shuzhou Taoist Palace is called Shangqing Palace - there are four Shangqing palaces in total in Taomen, namely Shangqing Palace at Jin'ao Peak in Taiqing Mountain in Langya Prefecture in Qizhou, Shangqing Palace at Qionglin Peak in Yunjin Mountain in Wuzhou Shangqing Prefecture, and Qingcheng Palace in Tiancang Mountain in Shuzhou Shangqing Palace, Shangqing Palace on Cuiyun Peak of Mang Mountain in the north of Longmen Prefecture.

The most famous one is of course Shangqing Palace in Yunjin Mountain, so when mentioning Tiancang Mountain in Shuzhou Taoist Prefecture, Shangqing Palace is usually not mentioned, only Qingcheng in Tiancang Mountain.

Shangqing Palace is the real residence of the head of the palace. The deputy palace masters are scattered around Qingcheng with Shangqing Palace as the center. Ji Daoren is only in name and often travels around, so he does not take care of things. Therefore, his residence is far away from Shangqing Palace and is located in Qingcheng. The outskirts of the city are very simple and made of local materials. The whole building is made of green bamboo, almost blending in with the surrounding bamboo forest.

Qi Xuansu was lucky. Taoist Ji did not go out for a wander today, but stayed in Qingcheng, Tiancang Mountain.

After the Lingguan reported it, Taoist Ji did not put on any airs and went out to greet him personally.

"The ancients said that after three days of separation, scholars should treat each other with admiration. The last time I saw Brother Qi, Brother Qi was still at the Yuxu stage of cultivation. Now that we meet again, Brother Qi has already become a heavenly being. He has advanced so fast that Zhang and Yao , Li Zhiliu is nothing more than that," Ji Daoren said with a smile.

There are many people in the Taoist sect who are indifferent to fame and wealth, but there are almost no people who don't even care about realm cultivation. After all, the fundamental purpose of the Taoist sect is to seek immortality. If you don't even want immortality, it would be too indifferent. The same is true for Taoist Ji. He didn't care much that Qi Xuansu was promoted to the fourth level of wine priest, but he was surprised by how quickly Qi Xuansu's cultivation level improved.

Qi Xuansu said humbly: "First, I followed Qingxiao. I benefited a lot and had some chance encounters. Later, I went to the Wanxiang Taoist Palace to further my studies. Under the earnest guidance of Master Sun, I became a heavenly being."

"This is Master Sun from the Wanxiang Taoist Palace. He is an old man of the 'He' generation and a loyal elder." Taoist Ji nodded, "Brother Qi is indeed lucky to have the teachings of Master Sun."

Taoist Ji invited Qi Xuansu into the main hall of the bamboo building. Although the bamboo building looks simple from the outside, it is the residence of the deputy hall master after all. It is not just Taoist Ji who is here alone, but also his subordinates, so the interior is really... It has been carefully polished. Not only is it not shabby, but it has an air of tranquility.

A Taoist priest brought tea to the two of them.

Qi Xuansu said: "I feel ashamed to say that I have known Senior Ji for a long time and received many favors from Senior Ji. I still don't know Senior Ji's name."

Ji Daoren smiled and said: "Since I call Mr. Sun Master Master, and I am a member of Quanzhen Taoism, it is natural that I belong to the generation with the word 'jiao'. My name is Ji Jiaozhen, and Quanzhen Zhen is just the difference between 'jiao Zhen' and 'Jiao Zhen'." The word "real" has a homophonic sound. Ever since I was a child, my brothers and friends have often made fun of me with these two words. As time went by, I stopped mentioning them. "

Qi Xuansu coughed slightly and turned to say: "I heard that Zhao Fu'an, the commander-in-chief of Shuzhong, had an arm broken when he left Baidi City. In addition, someone visited me when I was recuperating in Huasheng Hall. I."

While talking, Qi Xuansu took out two small wine gourds from the Xumi objects. The word "Ji" was written in seal script on the gourds.

Ji Jiaozhen did not deny it, and said with a smile: "It's a small effort, not worth mentioning."

Qi Xuansu said sternly: "For Senior Ji, it's just a little effort, but for me, Qi Xuansu, it's a deep feeling of kindness. It's always easy to add icing on the cake, but it's difficult to provide help when it's time."