Chapter 172: Deputy Hall Master Qi
The next morning, Qi Xuansu heard someone knocking on the door. When he opened the door, he saw a strange young Taoist priest.
The young Taoist priest was very respectful: "I am the Taoist priest of Ziwei Hall. I am ordered by Deputy Hall Master Lei to ask Master Qi to go to the main hall of Ziwei Hall to meet her."
Qi Xuansu suddenly remembered that his nominal boss was neither Shi Bingyun nor Donghua Zhenren, but Lei Xiaohuan.
He followed the young Taoist priest out of the alley, got on a deer cart, and went to the main hall of Ziwei Hall.
Qi Xuansu said that it was his first time to enter Zifu yesterday, but it was not accurate. When he left Yujing for Dijing, Donghua Zhenren had talked to him. At that time, he had entered Zifu, but Ziwei Hall was located on the periphery of Zifu, and he could not see Jinque, Zixiao Palace, or even Yaochi at all. Therefore, Qi Xuansu never felt that he had really entered Zifu. Until yesterday, he took the national teacher's boat and landed in Yaochi, and he could see the true appearance of Zifu.
Ziwei Hall is the only hall located inside Zifu. It is easy to leave Zifu, but to enter Zifu, one must go through a strict inspection. Therefore, Qi Xuansu left sensitive items such as the fish talisman at home beforehand.
The two entered Zifu from the side door. Not far away was the main hall of Ziwei Hall. Led by the young Taoist priest, Qi Xuansu came to Lei Xiaohuan's signing room.
Seeing Qi Xuansu coming in, Lei Xiaohuan, who was sitting behind the desk, stood up and walked around the table: "A scholar should be treated with new eyes after three days of separation. When I first met you, I would never have thought that in two years, you would jump four levels from the seventh rank to the third rank."
Qi Xuansu said: "Master Lei is too flattering. I am only a fourth-rank Taoist priest now."
"You will soon be a third-rank Taoist priest." Lei Xiaohuan took out a document and handed it to Qi Xuansu.
Qi Xuansu took the document and took a look. Although he had expected it, he couldn't help but feel happy.
This is a letter of appointment.
The content is not complicated. Apart from those clichés, it mainly talks about one thing. The Qi of the Five Elements Mountain has changed. Qi Xuansu, the head of the Ziwei Hall, participated in calming the Qi and maintaining the integrity of Beilong. He made outstanding contributions and was promoted to the third-rank deputy hall master, with a golden seal below.
There is no rank in the official position of the Taoist sect. The deputy hall master is the deputy hall master, and there is no saying of several ranks. The rank corresponds to the Taoist himself. The reason why Qi Xuansu is promoted to the "third-rank deputy hall master" here is because this is the position rank that has been mentioned. To put it bluntly, Qi Xuansu will only be regarded as a third-rank Youyi Taoist priest when he is the deputy hall master. Once he is relieved of his duties, he will still be a fourth-rank priest.
In addition, this kind of position rank, or temporary rank system, is generally one of the wartime systems. Qi Xuansu can be awarded a position rank, which should be related to the nearby Fenglinzhou war. This also means that Qi Xuansu will most likely be sent to the Fenglinzhou battlefield.
Qi Xuansu read the letter of appointment carefully several times, and was filled with emotion.
"In theory, it should be announced by the head of the hall himself, but because of the Fenglinzhou incident, Donghua Zhenren has been very busy recently and has no time for the time being, so I will announce this appointment to you on his behalf. Congratulations, Deputy Hall Master Qi." Lei Xiaohuan said with a smile.
"Thank you, Master Lei." Qi Xuansu bowed his hands to thank him.
Lei Xiaohuan has always treated Qi Xuansu as his own, and joked: "Now it's good, if you accompany Deputy Hall Master Zhang home for the New Year, no one will say that you are a gigolo. She is the deputy hall master, and you are also the deputy hall master. This is called equal strength."
Of course, despite this, there is still some gap between Zhang Yuelu and Qi Xuansu. Not to mention that Zhang Yuelu is a true third-grade Taoist priest, not a job grade, there is also a difference in the ranking of the two. Tiangang Hall and Ziwei Hall belong to the top three halls. Because Shangguan Jing died in battle, Zhang Yuelu moved up one place and ranked eighth in Tiangang Hall. Qi Xuansu made up for the vacancy left by Qi Jianyuan and became the ninth deputy hall master of Ziwei Hall.
However, Taoism has always advocated streamlining the power structure, so nine deputy hall masters do not mean nine levels. Except for the chief and the second, the other deputy hall masters are nominally equal no matter what their rankings are. It can only be said that the ranking is more likely to reflect the size of the power in hand.
Since Qi Xuansu officially became the "hall official" of Ziwei Hall, he naturally had to understand his responsibilities.
The nine halls of Taoism refer to the six ministries and nine ministers of the court to a certain extent, but they cannot be completely equivalent to the six ministries and nine ministers. Take Ziwei Hall for example. It is equivalent to the Ministry of Personnel of the court, but it often takes into account some of the responsibilities of the Censorate. For example, in the previous dynasty, the censors of the Censorate were often appointed as imperial envoys to inspect the local areas, which were called "governors". As for the governor becoming a fixed local official position, it was a later thing.
Today's Ziwei Hall also has this function. The deputy hall master often acts as an "imperial envoy" to inspect the local area or preside over a case on behalf of Jinque. Lei Xiaohuan often serves as such a position.
Since Qi Xuansu has not been assigned a specific task, his duties are mostly to serve as various special envoys and conveners, representing Ziwei Hall, Jinque, and Daomen to inspect various local Daofu.
Qi Xuansu is actually quite satisfied. At least he doesn't have to stay in Yujing all day, and the officials in the capital are always one level higher when they leave the capital. Take Lei Xiaohuan for example. When she was the convener of the seven-member group, even the head of the Jiangnan Daofu had to give her three points.
If there are disadvantages, of course there are, that is, there will not be too many direct subordinates. Not to mention compared with Tiangang Hall, even compared with the Daofu in Dijing, it is much inferior.
This is also something that can't be helped.
Then there is the treatment issue that Qi Xuansu is more concerned about. Because of the job grade, his salary has not been adjusted. Only in terms of job subsidies, he has been changed from the head to the deputy head, and the corresponding increase is 100 yuan in Taiping money. Qi Xuansu originally had a basic salary of 200 yuan per month, plus various subsidies, a total of 300 yuan per month. Now the basic salary remains unchanged, and the subsidy has increased by 100 yuan, so it has become 400 yuan per month. In a year, the total income is 4,800 yuan.
Qi Xuansu was happy, but he couldn't help thinking of Qi Niang.
He had to admit that although Qi Niang couldn't help him get promoted directly within the Taoist sect, she gave him a relatively fair environment. Without this fairness, even if he made contributions, he might not be promoted immediately.
You have to know that the personnel arrangement of the deputy hall master level has to be discussed by Jinque. If you don’t have some background, it is not so easy, especially for young people like Qi Xuansu. There is a suspension system. Even if he has enough merits, he is still in a state of ambiguity. One bad thing is that he needs to train for a few more years. If he can be promoted by exception, it is either because a real big shot has spoken, such as Zhang Yuelu becoming the deputy hall master. Or someone has made great efforts.
In either case, it is inseparable from Qi Niang.
Qi Xuansu wanted to tell Qi Niang the good news, but then he thought that Qi Niang was well-informed and might know it earlier than him, and she was probably still competing for the "card saint" at this time, so he decided not to disturb her.
Lei Xiaohuan led Qi Xuansu to his signing room, which was next door. Because Ziwei Hall is located in Zifu, the floor space cannot be compared with that of Yuhuang Palace. The signing room is naturally much smaller, even smaller than Zhang Yuelu's signing room. There are only three rooms inside and outside. The outer room is where the secretary is, the middle is the living room and study, and the inner room is the quiet room and bedroom.
Qi Xuansu came to the desk. On the table were the clothes and hats of the third-rank Youyi Taoist priest. The main thing is that the head crown has become the "Five Mountains Crown", also known as the "Five Mountains Spiritual Map Crown", which is in the shape of a bucket and engraved with the "Five Mountains True Shape Map".
Next to it are his certificate and the "Zhongji Sutra Certificate" corresponding to the third-rank Youyi Taoist priest. There is nothing much to say about the certificate. Compared with the "Chuzhen Sutra Certificate", the "Intermediate Sutra Certificate" has a similar structure, but it is more gorgeous.
Speaking of which, the issuance and management of certificates and scriptures are also within the scope of the Ziwei Hall's responsibilities, so it saves a lot of trouble. "Zhongji Jinglu" is equivalent to a medium-grade treasure. In addition to the function of the mother-child talisman, it also has the function of "Xun Fu Array". However, it can only bind one object each, which is quite inconvenient.
It is said that after changing to "Shangdong Jinglu" corresponding to the second-grade Taiyi Taoist priest, the restrictions will be relaxed.
Qi Xuansu has already thought about it. The mother-child talisman is still bound to Zhang Yuelu, and the "Xun Fu Array" is bound to the main hall of Ziwei Hall, which is not delayed in both public and private.
Lei Xiaohuan suddenly remembered something and said, "Regarding your secretary, the hall has not decided yet. What do you think?"
According to convention, this kind of close candidate is mostly decided by the deputy hall master himself, and is generally the deputy hall master's close confidant. Take Zhang Yuelu for example, Mu Jin is her secretary. When she was still in Beichen Hall, Mu Jin had already followed her.
Qi Xuansu has been successful for less than two years, so how could he have any confidants? He thought for a moment and said, "When I was working in the Imperial Capital, I had a secretary named Ke Qingqing. She was a member of Master Shi, so I knew her background and was quite easy to use."
Lei Xiaohuan nodded, "It shouldn't be difficult to transfer her from the Imperial Capital."
This is another advantage of Ziwei Hall. It controls the power of personnel, and the transfer of deacons is just a matter of a word.
For Ke Qingqing herself, it was like a pie in the sky. Because of Qi Xuansu's words, she was transferred from the local government to the Nine Halls of Yujing, and to the Ziwei Hall, the head of the Nine Halls. Moreover, she changed from a secretary of the head to the secretary of the deputy hall master. Her future prospects can be imagined. It can be regarded as "one person's success brings success to the whole family" in a sense.
Everyone can go and try it. 】
Of course, if one prospers, all prosper, and if one suffers, all suffer. Ke Qingqing is tied to Qi Xuansu's chariot. If Qi Xuansu can make rapid progress, Ke Qingqing will naturally rise to prominence, but if Qi Xuansu falls, Ke Qingqing will inevitably be doomed. Gains and losses are always two sides of the same coin.
After explaining these things, Lei Xiaohuan finally said: "After Qi Jianyuan died, his subordinates were arranged by the master of the hall to other deputy hall masters, so you have no subordinates for the time being. The specific arrangements may have to wait until the battle of Fenglinzhou is over."
Qi Xuansu said helplessly: "So I am a general without troops."