Journey to the head

After hearing Wang Yu's answer, everyone felt that although it made sense, it was also biased.

An atmosphere of discussion has now formed in the classroom. The head of the sect, Lu Qian, is still perfecting his answer, and everyone can express their own opinions.

Zheng Duan couldn't help but interject, "Interpersonal communication and favors are naturally formed rules. Helping each other, looking out for each other, and being accommodating in small matters are things that cannot be prohibited."

"Perhaps Master Wang can't realize it, but even if he is the head of the sect." Zheng Duan paused, "The head of the sect can't treat all disciples equally. He will always take better care of and pay more attention to those he likes."

"This is human nature and cannot be avoided. I can't say that because I have a good relationship with someone and I have solved some problems for him or provided some convenience, it is against the rules and regulations. Wouldn't that require us to be completely heartless and desireless?"

However, his voice became smaller and smaller under Wang Yu's gaze, and he smiled awkwardly.

Unexpectedly, Wu Yan hesitated and spoke: "If we use public power and interests to deal with those who are weaker than us, or those who need to gain benefits from us, such as subordinate sects, it is indeed inappropriate. But what about facing the strong and the upper sect?"

Everyone was stunned for a moment, and Wu Yan continued: "Master often teaches us how to behave, especially when facing a strong person. Appropriate words and attitudes may win us more benefits."

"It is true. We tried hard to flatter and make friends with the Spirit Beast Sect and the Wild Fox Zen of the Xuanwei Sect. This greatly helped our sect's strategic situation and we benefited a lot from it. In the process, Master——"

She glanced at Lu Qian again, and seeing that he was looking at her with a smile and an encouraging expression, she felt relieved and continued, "Master himself often goes to the two major sects to make friends with the leading figures, and gives away all kinds of gifts that are also very valuable. Do you still want to conclude that Master has violated the sect rules?"

"Since our Yunshan Sect can gain benefits from other major sects through gift giving and flattery, then what's wrong with our subordinate sects trying to gain benefits from us in this way?"

Everyone nodded silently, quite surprised at Wu Yan's idea. In the past, Wu Yan had a stiff attitude towards outsiders and was never very interested in the whole process of welcoming and seeing off guests, but now she has made very obvious changes and progress.

And her ideas were indeed very sharp, pushing the debate to a more intense level.

Wang Yu closed his eyes: "Whether it is the Spirit Beast Sect or the Xuanwei Sect, they have not hired the right people, so they have gained some benefits for our sect under our friendship offensive. That is why we must be more vigilant and not let this happen in our Yunshan Sect."

"A thousand-mile dam collapses because of an ant hole. Perhaps one day these huge structures will collapse because of the borers in the pie."

But his answer obviously did not satisfy everyone, and he did not really explain the key points clearly.

Where should we draw the line between "friendship" and "violations" so that people can see it clearly and be convinced, and so that the situation can be truly clarified and the disciples of Yunshan can behave themselves?
At that moment, everyone turned their eyes to Lu Qian, even Wang Yu was no exception. Now, only the answer of Yunshan Sect Master, Tianyuanzi Lu Qian, could make the final decision. Lin Le was also ready to record.

But Lu Qian smiled helplessly: "I can't give an accurate answer either."

The hall was silent for a moment, and everyone's eyes widened. Could it be that their own leader was also unaware of something?
Lu Qian sorted out his thoughts and said slowly: "Everything in the world is never black or white, and not everything can have a clear boundary. As the saying goes, if the water is too clear, there will be no fish. Complete purity is not necessarily a good thing."

"There is indeed a conflict between human feelings and laws. When should we talk about human feelings and when should we talk about laws? What counts as human feelings and what counts as laws? Also, if we talk about laws when governing our people and human feelings when flattering our superiors, then everyone will be confused and puzzled."

Lu Qian looked around and smiled, "So, instead of trying to figure out the boundaries and differences between the two, it's better to go straight to the essence of the two."

"Whether it's human feelings or laws, they are all rules made by people. Rules are meant to serve people, and the ultimate goal is to gain a profit."

Lin Le's heart moved, and he had some understanding.

"Humanity is tolerance and smoothness, while laws are constraints and norms. Whether it is understanding human nature or enforcing laws, it is either for one's own selfish interests or to protect the public interests of the sect."

"In this case, the standard for judging everything can only be 'heart' and 'trace'."

Wang Yu hummed, Jiang Qingfeng's eyes lit up slightly, and Wu Yan nodded vigorously.

Filial piety is the first of all good deeds, and there is no filial son in a poor family.

Sexual immorality is the first of all evils, and no one is perfect in the world.

“‘Heart’ is the motivation, and ‘track’ is the behavior and result.”

"Whether it's welcoming or seeing off guests, accepting or giving gifts, or even feasting every day and partying every night, as long as your 'heart' and 'element' do not harm the overall interests of the Yunshan Sect, you should be deemed not guilty."

Hao Qiuguang slapped his thigh and praised loudly: "Master, your opinion is brilliant. I understand it now!"

Lu Qian smiled and continued, "It's just that people's hearts are hard to predict, but their traces can be measured, so most of the time, we will judge right and wrong based on their traces."

Hao Qiuguang became depressed again, thinking that he would not be able to escape the punishment.

"But the expression of his heart cannot be ignored. We can make a rough judgement of his heart from the comments of people around him, his usual behavior, his own confession, etc."

"There are many people who have good intentions but do bad things. Judging purely by 'traces', it is inevitable that there will be bias."

Lu Qian turned to Wang Yu and said meaningfully: "So when making a judgment, we must both abide by the law and show consideration for human feelings. The rule of man and the rule of law must be well combined to form a harmonious and stable governance system."

Wang Yu had no expression on his face. Lu Qian continued, "Of course, strict law enforcement is also for the healthy development of our Yunshan Sect. You should know that only when the Yunshan Sect is sailing smoothly can everyone rise with the tide and gain a brighter path."

"Therefore, any behavior that harms the interests of our faction is digging into the foundation of everyone and must not be tolerated!"

"Don't sacrifice the broad path for the sake of petty gains!"

Everyone nodded, feeling that the words had opened their eyes and helped them to get out of their entanglement and confusion. Lin Le, Wu Yan and others comprehended the words carefully and kept them in mind.

Even Lu Qian himself, after organizing his thoughts and sharing his judgment logic of "heart" and "traces" with everyone, felt that his state of mind was stable, his ego was settled, his heart was clear, and his concept of "gathering the people to follow the kingly way" was further consolidated.

At this time, the morning sun rose and shone brightly. Lu Qian stood up and saw that the people from the Yunshan Sect on both sides were in high spirits and had firm eyes. He felt relieved and smiled.

"Well, after sitting all night, everyone should stretch their legs. We are about to get busy."

"First, settle these cases, and then call all the elders and deacons to hold a general meeting of elders."

"I want institutional reforms, the sooner the better."

In December of the 406th year of Jiashen, the head of the Yunshan sect, Tianyuanzi Lu Qian, came out of seclusion and personally organized a group of elders to try recent cases.

At the same time, led by the Punishment Elder Wang Yu, Su Yan's Supervisory Team, Lin Le's Intelligence Group, Hao Qiuguang's Public Security Department and others cooperated, and based on the clues they had and the intelligence obtained through further investigation, they launched a massive "Operation Winter Thunder".

Operation Winter Thunder did not last long, spanning the entire month of December, but the shock it caused was enormous.

During this operation, a total of fifty-seven inner disciples and sixty-three outer disciples were found to have violated the sect's rules and regulations and were punished.

There are only about 1,200 disciples in Yunshan Sect now, but one-twelfth of them have been found to have problems. The Yunshan disciples who were punished were of both high and low ranks. Even the foreign affairs elder Zheng Duan and the security deacon Hao Qiuguang were reprimanded for improperly interacting with subordinate sects and gaining improper benefits. They were ordered to return the gifts they received and were fined for five years.

Among the rest of the disciples, those who received the heaviest punishment had their cultivation abolished and their status as Yunshan disciples revoked, those who received medium punishment were demoted, and those who received lighter punishments were also punished by having their salaries deducted.

Fellow disciples around them were constantly investigated and punished, and even the elders and deacons, the backbones that the leader Lu Qian relied on the most, could not escape. This really shocked and frightened the disciples. For a while, they kept the Yunshan Sect's rules and regulations as desk books, and recited them carefully to avoid breaking them.

And according to gossip, Elder Wang Yu was furious and even prepared to advance "Operation Winter Thunder" into "Operation Spring Thunder", but was dissuaded by the head of the sect.

The thunderbolt exploded, and that was the end of it. If it continued to develop, it would probably seriously damage its vitality.

In addition to the Yunshan disciples, five subordinate sects were also punished to varying degrees. The most serious of course was the Zhao family of Gushan, who sent spies to the Yunshan sect and directly stole the sect's secrets and interests, and the Liu family of Banlan, who committed many crimes, bullied others, and had a lot of blood on their hands.

After the trial, all the direct descendants of the head of the Zhao family in Gushan were beheaded. According to Wang Yu's opinion, the cultivators among other members of the family should all be killed. At the very least, their cultivation should be abolished and they should be demoted to mortals in order to intimidate the people in the territory.

But Lu Qian thought that being too harsh would go against the harmony of nature. There were always innocent people in the Zhao family. If all of them were implicated, it might hurt their own kind and cause suspicion and dissatisfaction among the subordinate sects.

Therefore, the final ruling was to carefully identify and investigate the trajectory of the spiritual energy flow in the bodies of the Zhao family cultivators. Those who practiced the secret techniques stolen from the Yunshan Sect would have their cultivation abolished and be demoted to mortals, and half of the Zhao family treasury would be confiscated.

The rest of the monks in the clan were pardoned, and one of the monks from the side branches was chosen to serve as the head of the Zhao family.

At the same time, the Zhao family was removed from the subordinate sects, and the spiritual vein of Gushan was replaced. From then on, it was punished to be a vassal sect of the Linglu School of Jinxia Peak.

The new head of the Zhao family was grateful for such a verdict, and led all the clan members to thank Lu Qian for his kindness. They were then escorted to the new territory to start a new life.

The direct damage caused by the Banlan Liu family to the upper sect Yunshan Sect was not as great as that caused by the Gushan Zhao family. They simply colluded with Liu Zaijiu to swallow up a lot of downstream businesses of the Yunshan Sect's spiritual medicine industry, and made a lot of money by using overly favorable prices.

His greatest evil was to use the reputation of the Yunshan Sect to bully others, swindle people, bully men and women, and slaughter the weak, thus committing blood debts repeatedly and gaining a notorious reputation.

It's just that the external situation of Yunshan Sect was unstable before, and the energy was not focused inward, so they did not pay enough attention to the subordinate sects at the Qi training level. In addition, some disciples headed by Liu Zaijiu covered up for it, which allowed the Liu family to escape responsibility temporarily.

Unfortunately, now, the motto of Liu He, the head of the Liu family, "Do all the evil things, and nothing will happen if no one knows about it" has become invalid. In the prison of Yunshan Sect, he listened to the sobbing of the Liu family members on both sides, trembling all over, and had no idea where he had miscalculated, so that the news leaked out.

When Liu He heard about the miserable plight of the Zhao family in Gushan at that time, he thought about it again and again, and always felt that his family was like an iron wall. In recent years, the family business has been thriving under his management, and all the family monks have benefited. Everyone is happy, and it is impossible for anyone with a problem in his brain to go and report it.

Only Liu Zaijiu had always been influenced by the pedantic teachings of the Yunshan School, a so-called righteous sect, and often acted with reluctance. Fearing that Liu Zaijiu would lose his mind and surrender himself, he quickly wrote a letter to calm him down.

I never expected that the letter was sent last night and the house was gone this morning.

The roosters crowed and the sky brightened. What appeared in the sky was not only the morning glow and clouds, but also dense escaping lights and four huge streamlined warships.

Yunshan School, Lingxu Zhenyuan Shenzhou.

"Yunshan's Decree!"

"The subordinate Liu family disregarded the law, colluded with disciples, wantonly encroached on the interests of the upper sect, acted tyrannically and harmed the people, and committed numerous atrocities. Their crimes are serious and cannot be forgiven lightly!"

"Order the Liu family members to gather their spiritual power, surrender, and be escorted to Mianlong Mountain to await trial."

"Anyone who disobeys will be executed immediately!"

All the monks of Liu family were panicked and screamed loudly, and rushed towards the head of the family, Liu He. At that moment, Liu He, whose face was pale and legs were shaking, actually had the idea of ​​escaping.

My family has more than 80 family monks and more than 40 vassals from other families. If we drive the mediocre ones to engage in random conflicts to attract attention, and thus cut off the tail to survive, the family elite may still have a chance.
But when he saw a flash of green light, his own mountain protection formation was split directly in half, and Xiao Tianci with a grim face slowly descended, his feet went soft and he knelt weakly on the ground.

The Liu family is finished!

Soon, all the cultivators of the Banlan Liu family and their direct mortal relatives were escorted to the huge prison built in the shade of Mianlong Mountain. They were all detained separately and brought in for interrogation in batches.

Seeing his family members being taken away one after another without any further news, the head of the family, Liu He, finally broke down and cried loudly for mercy in prison.

Lu Qian and Wang Yu interrogated him overnight. After seeing the pile of evidences previously confessed by his family members, the psychological defense of this evil patriarch was completely destroyed, and he confessed all his crimes with trembling.

The first trial lasted one day and one night. At the end of the long night, Liu He, who was completely in despair and only wanted to die quickly, asked the question that had puzzled him for a long time.

"I think I have done everything right, how did you know about my family?"

Wang Yu sneered, "If you don't want others to know, then you better not do it yourself. You can shut up the monks, but can you shut up the mortals? You have hundreds of monks, but thousands of mortal servants."

Liu He's body trembled, staring blankly at Wang Yu, muttering: "So that's how it is, so that's how it is. The Yunshan Sect has planted spies among my family's mortal servants. They turned out to be ants-like mortals. Hahaha."

His expression gradually became crazy, and he suddenly stood up and laughed: "Haha! I'm not wrong, I'm not wrong!"

"If you do all the evil things, you will be fine! This is just a small mistake I made, and you found it!"

"You guys can come up with the idea of ​​using mortals as eyeliner, hahaha!"

"I'm not wrong, I'm not wrong, small bandits should be killed, big bandits should be king!"

Lu Qian looked at him coldly, shook his head, and made the final judgment.

The Gushan Liu family, headed by the head of the family Liu He and his legitimate son Liu Xi, beheaded all the monks who had committed murders, and re-elected a head of the family from the side branches to inherit the family name.

The rest of the Liu family cultivators were treated as accomplices, temporarily demoted to slavery, and assigned tasks such as refining talismans, pills, and magical instruments day and night, and distributing them free of charge to passing cultivators in order to atone for their sins.

Only after thirty years can the status of a subordinate sect be restored.

Throughout December, the top leaders of Yunshan Sect were very busy. On the one hand, they were rectifying the sect, punishing criminals and rewarding good deeds, and on the other hand, they took time out to hold closed-door meetings to study the institutional reforms of Yunshan Sect.

On January 1, 407 Jiashen, at the New Year's banquet, Lu Qian, the head of Yunshan, solemnly announced.

This marks the end of the recruitment of the fifth generation of disciples of the Yunshan Sect, headed by the sect leader's eldest disciple Wu Yan.

From today on, all new disciples will become the sixth generation of disciples of Yunshan Sect. (End of this chapter)