Longevity begins with slaying demons and eliminating demons

Chapter 185
"Do you have any objections?" Chief Assistant Tan Heming said slowly, scanning the crowd with calm eyes.

"If I remember correctly, it seems that a few months ago, this exorcism official named Gu Xu was just promoted out of the ordinary..." Yin Quan, Minister of the Household Department and a bachelor, frowned slightly.

"That's right," Liu Qu, the cabinet's second assistant, nodded, "Last fall, because Gu Xu performed very well in the promotion assessment process, and because he possessed a rare third-rank cultivation qualification, the head of Luo Si took him from the An ordinary official, directly promoted to the eighth-rank experience of the Exorcist Division.

"There are precedents for this kind of thing. Previously, young geniuses like Chu Langzhong and Shangguan Langzhong were all promoted by the chief minister in the same way from many humble officials.

"And Gu Xu's contribution this time is no less than the capture of a city or a ghost's lair. Without him, not only the entire Qingzhou Mansion would be destroyed, but there would also be a difficult to deal with in this world." Ghost King. In my personal opinion, there is absolutely no problem in giving him an exceptional promotion."

As soon as he finished speaking, two people beside him echoed, "I also agree with Mr. Liu's opinion."

Yin Shangshu thought for a while, and pointed out: "But this Gu Xu seems to be only 17 years old, and he has not yet reached the age of crowning. Does it sound too exaggerated to be an official at the sixth rank before being crowned..."

"I think what this young man did at the age of 17 is much better than what most of the sixth-rank officials of the Daqi Dynasty did in their lifetime," Liu Qu, the second assistant, retorted. For a hero with the same surname, it is undoubtedly a very pedantic expression to limit him with age.

"What's more, not long ago, the emperor appointed him as an 'attendant' and let him be a model for the princes to learn from. It is enough to prove that he is an extraordinary person and cannot be viewed with common sense."

Yin Shangshu didn't speak any more.

Because what Gu Xu did this time was too shocking.If it hadn't come from the mouth of a sage, I'm afraid Yin Shangshu couldn't believe it was true.

Therefore, even if Yin Shangshu wanted to sing against other cabinet ministers, he didn't have much confidence in his heart.

"Does anyone else have any objections?" Tan Shoufu asked again.

No one said a word.

Therefore, Tan Shoufu picked up a pen, and quickly wrote the cabinet's opinions on the "ticket draft" piece of paper, pasted it together with Luo Sishou's memorial, and put it aside.

Afterwards, Tan Shoufu picked up the other two memorials and said slowly, "The second thing we're going to discuss today is still related to Gu Xu.

"Master Guoshi thinks that Gu Xu is extremely knowledgeable in the way of talismans. His talisman cultivation demonstrated in this incident has reached the level of a master.

"The National Teacher hopes that Gu Xu will go to Longmen Academy to take up the post of 'guest lecturer' - take a little time every month to give lectures to the students of the academy who major in talisman Taoism, and share the idea of ​​drawing talismans.

"After all, the 'Long Night' is coming, and talisman cultivators have extremely important strategic significance on the battlefield. The National Teacher wants to improve the ability and efficiency of talisman cultivators to draw symbols as soon as possible before the 'Long Night'."

Longmen Academy is located on the outskirts of Luojing City. It is an institution for practitioners officially established by the Daqi court. It can be understood as the Imperial Academy for monks. To some extent, it can stand up to the three major sects.The students studying here basically have all the talents and backgrounds.

The teaching in the academy is often not low, and it has made a lot of achievements in a specific field-such as talisman, formation, swordsmanship, and weapon refining.

As for Da Qi Guoshi, he served as the "Honorary Dean" in Longmen Academy.

Chief Assistant Tan Heming paused for a while, took a sip of hot tea, and continued: "But Master Guoshi is only the honorary dean of Longmen Academy after all, not the real dean. A lot of teaching, including Dean Li , were not convinced by his proposal.

"They admit that Gu Xu is extremely talented, and they also admire Gu Xu's actions in this disaster in Qingzhou Mansion.

"But from their point of view, Gu Xu is too young, his qualifications are too low, his training time is too short, and he only has a cultivation level of the third level -- and among all the teachings in Longmen Academy, the one with the lowest strength is the fourth level monk.

"In addition, the way of talismans and seals has always been known to be difficult to understand, requiring a lot of time and energy to study and ponder.

"They feel that Gu Xu still needs to spend a few more years to hone his skills and accumulate more experience before he can take on the important task of teaching academy students."

"A 17-year-old academy teacher sounds outrageous," Yin Shangshu said lightly, "I'm afraid the students in Longmen Academy are all older than him."

Second assistant Liu Qu pondered for a moment, then looked at Tan Heming, and said sharply: "Mr. Tange, let Gu Xu teach at Longmen Academy... Will it touch someone's cake?"

"Liu Cifu's insight is really extraordinary," Tan Heming nodded, "Because the teachers in Longmen Academy are well paid and have a high status, the number of teachers has always been very limited.

"Especially a title like 'Guest Lecturer' is a badge of honor.

"There are currently several talisman masters who want to fight for the teaching position, and one of them is Dean Li's cousin. If the position is given to Gu Xu in the end, then these people may have to wait a few more years before they can get it again. One such opportunity."

"It's easy," Liu Cifu smiled slightly, "after the Lantern Festival, just find a time to let Gu Xu and those talisman masters show off their talisman attainments in front of all the teachers of Longmen Academy—who is the best?" If they are strong, then this position will be given to whoever. In this way, they can be convinced even if they lose."

"Liu Cifu's method is really simple and rude!" Yin Shangshu commented.

"Liu Cifu's idea is indeed good, but it is not so easy to implement," Tan Shoufu said calmly, "First of all, we need to seek the opinion of the national teacher. After all, the national teacher is a saint in the world. If his attitude is very tough, If Gu Xu is forced into Longmen Academy despite all objections, then no one can stop him except the emperor and a few other saints."

Emperor Tianxing stands high above, hanging down and ruling.

Several saints perform their duties and restrict each other; although they have great power, they cannot rely on their strength to do whatever they want, and often have to follow the rules and procedures to do things.

This is the current power structure at the top of the pyramid in the Daqi Dynasty.

"I think...if Master Guoshi has enough confidence in Gu Xu's talisman cultivation base, then he should agree!" Liu Cifu thought for a moment and said seriously.

After all, these cabinet members are just a group of mortals living in the cracks of practitioners.

They didn't want to offend the national teacher, nor did they want to offend Dean Li and the teachers of Longmen Academy.

After some intense discussions, they finally agreed with Liu Cifu's idea: with the consent of the national teacher, prepare a fair and just competition for Gu Xu and other competitors, and the most outstanding person will be Become a new teacher of Longmen Academy.

"The last thing we want to discuss today is still related to Gu Xu," Tan Shoufu fetched another memorial after finishing writing the "draft", and said slowly, "This memorial comes from the Ministry of Rites. The Ministry of Rites Officials believe that Gu Xu's achievements in this disaster are enough to be awarded a knighthood."

In the Daqi Dynasty, the titles were divided into five categories: Duke, Marquis, Bo, Zi, and Nan, among which there were subdivided levels such as "Guogong", "Jungong", "Junbo", and "Countybo".

According to the ancestral system established by Emperor Taizu, "Those who do not have military merits in the country will not be sealed."

Among them, the titles are divided into "Sky Lord" and "Liujue", depending on the degree of merit.

"Sky Lord", as the name suggests, is a title that can be hereditary and can be passed on to future generations. It not only has fiefdoms, but also Lumi.

The three great clans of the Great Qi Dynasty—the Zhao family in Youzhou, the Chen family in Xiangyang, and the Shen family in Jinling—all of them were hereditary princes.

The "Liujue" is a lifelong title, with only titles and Lumi, no fiefdoms, and no hereditary titles.

Many high-ranking officials of the Exorcism Department have "Liu Jue" on their bodies.For example, Wei Jiusi, a thousand household in Qingzhou Prefecture, was once awarded the title of "Jingyuan Bo"; another example was Tang Hui, the former governor of the Exorcist Department, who was once awarded the title of "Loyalty and Xianbo".

In addition, those who have been knighted can also obtain "Dan Shu Iron Coupons" that can be used to exonerate crimes.

Of course, whether something like the "Dan Shu Iron Coupon" is really useful depends on the emperor's mind.Like the Lu family in Qingzhou, after offending Emperor Tianxing, they still could not avoid the tragic ending of being punished by the nine clans.

In addition, since the Qingzhou Lu family was annihilated in history, Emperor Tianxing has never granted anyone a hereditary title.

This also means that no matter how much credit Gu Xu makes, he can only receive the title of lifelong title.

"It's just that the officials of the Ministry of Rites still have disputes about what kind of title should be given to Gu Xu," Tan Shoufu continued, "According to the Daqi Dynasty's rule that 'non-sectoral military merits cannot be knighted', Gu Xu's achievements this time , it is difficult to measure by the number of ghosts killed according to the previous standards.

"Some people think that preventing the birth of a 'ghost king' level ghost is a great contribution to saving the common people in the world, and he can be directly awarded the title of earl.

"Some people also say that he didn't attack the Kongxuan Sanren directly, but only played the role of conveying the news - the saints are still the ones who really attacked the 'fierce gods'. If you rashly grant him too high a title, I'm afraid it won't be possible Convince.

"Because they couldn't discuss for a long time to come up with an outcome, they handed this issue over to our cabinet.

"What do you guys think about this?"

All the ministers present remained silent, and no one answered for a long time.

After a while, Yin Shangshu finally spoke slowly: "According to Daqi's law, 'Titles cannot be granted unless they are specially ordered'. For this kind of matter, let the emperor and the princess directly decide it!"

Tan Shoufu nodded, agreeing with his statement.

…………

Today is the thirteenth day of the first lunar month.

There are still two days left before the arrival of the Lantern Festival.

In the early morning of this day, according to the rules, Princess Zhaoning took a small sedan chair with green curtains to the Kunyuan Hall in the palace early to greet her mother, Chen Anzhi.

"I have met the queen." Princess Zhaoning bowed to the queen.

"Sit." The queen pointed to the chair in front of her and ordered lightly.

Princess Zhaoning sat down in response.

A short silence followed.

Although a warm fire was burning in the West Nuan Pavilion of Kunyuan Hall, the atmosphere between the two was as cold as ice.

"Xiao Wanjun, you have grown up now, and your wings are much harder than before." After a while, the queen finally sighed softly, breaking the silent atmosphere, "In order not to get married, you have really exhausted all means. what!"

"What does the queen mother say?" Princess Zhaoning's expression did not change.

"Stop pretending to be stupid, Xiao Wanjun," the queen's face became serious, "Before, I mentioned to you two suitable marriage partners, one is Zhao Kuan from the Zhao family in Youzhou, and the other is Jinling Shen. Shen Hua of the family.

"But just a few days ago, Zhao Kuan suddenly got married to the female general Zou Wen who was guarding the northeast border. And Shen Hua was exposed to frequent visits to Flower Street and Willow Lane, and keeping pets in private—obviously, she no longer meets the criteria for being a son-in-law. .

"Do you dare to say that these two things have nothing to do with you?"

Princess Zhaoning replied calmly: "Zhao Kuan and Zou Wen are in love with each other. It is inevitable for them to get together. And there is no impenetrable wall in the world. The disgusting things Shen Hua does in private will sooner or later It will all be revealed to the world. What does it have to do with me?"

"You can hide your tricks from other people, but you can't hide it from me," the queen said coldly. "If I guessed correctly, Zhao Kuan went to guard the northeast frontier under your indirect instruction. The censor who went to Jinling City is also a confidant you cultivated in secret."

Princess Zhaoning smiled lightly and did not deny it.

"My queen, you once taught me that in order to achieve my goal, I can use any means," the princess replied with a smile, "I just followed your teaching and tried to avoid marrying someone I don't like by using the means within my power."

"But now that Xiao Shangzhen has lost all his cultivation, and the Chen family in Xiangyang is also facing a crisis," the queen began to reason with the princess, "Xiao Wanjun, you are the princess of a country, and you are also the blood of the Chen family. At this critical time, I hope You can understand the general situation, don't play with your temper like other little girls."

"But, queen mother, have you ever thought that my surname is Xiao, not Chen?" Princess Zhaoning looked at her mother and said seriously, "I belong to the royal family of Daqi first, and then I belong to the blood of the Chen family. When there is a conflict between the royal family and the Chen family, I should stand on the side of the royal family. And my marriage should also be decided by the royal father..."

"But your royal father has ignored ordinary things for a long time." The queen interrupted her with a cold attitude.

"Princess's marriage is not only a family matter, but also a state matter. Da Qi's highest power, the 'right to approve red', is now in my hands," Princess Zhaoning said with a calm smile, "Mother, do you know? As Da Qi The queen, in fact, has already made a fatal mistake——

"You think too much about the interests of the Chen family."

Having said that, Princess Zhaoning stood up and bowed to the queen again.

Then she turned and left the warm Kunyuan Hall.

Since the disaster in Qingzhou, there are still a lot of memorials waiting for her to deal with in the princess mansion, and there are still many important things that need to be decided by her.

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(End of this chapter)