Chapter 172: Reprimand

Leaning on two figure-8 copper rings, Guan Huan and Bi Xiaoqing fell from the top of the cliff to the ground in a very standard rappelling position, and after pulling away the rope, they quickly ran towards the predetermined place, where there were still their own people waiting to answer. They didn't even have to run for their lives to avoid pursuit, they just had to hide in the carriage and avoid the range that the Daoming Sect could search during the most tense time. No matter what kind of explanation the Daoming Sect made afterwards based on what they had discovered, it could not affect the fact that Guan Huan and Bi Xiaoqing had already carried out an extremely successful operation. After the puja, the congregations dispersed, and in a few days it was the New Year, and everyone rushed back to reunite with their families. And there are some not very authentic believers or hypocrites among them, who originally had the idea of receiving the relief food from the Daoming Sect and going home for the New Year, let alone staying for even a second more in order to wait for the results of the investigation. When the results of the Dominion investigation come out, in this era when there is no radio and no television, it is impossible to have half an influence on these believers who already have preconceived impressions. And when the time comes, even if those explanations reach the ears of the believers, according to the psychology of the general public, who see is believing and hearing is false, it is doubtful how convincing they will be.

Since Ye Tao and his party were already far away, they were not in a hurry to catch up at this time. Anyway, it's okay to meet again in Dongping.

Ye Tao was not easy on the return trip. Although leading the team to practice is a bit anticlimactic, this time there is still a lot to gain from the close contact with the sect organization of the Daoming Sect, the contact with the believers and clergy, and the contact with the ordinary people of Xiling who are not believers. On the way back, since there was nothing to do in the carriage, Ye Tao also took some time out and began to write a report.

In Ye Tao's view, the social class division in Xiling is far simpler and clearer than that in Dongping, and the gap between the rich and the poor is even greater. The social status gap is also wider...... This also means that the social contradictions in Xiling are more acute. This can also be attested to by what happened around the Li Family Castle, the temporary headquarters of the Thunder Yin Demon Sect. After the Li clan was completely annihilated by the sudden force, after Zhuo Xianchen began to greatly reduce the economic burden of the tenants and others who depended on the Li clan, the surrounding area immediately settled down. Later, when Zhuo Xianchen left, the newcomers quickly reached an understanding with the local government, and the tenants and farmers who were still waiting began to take the people who controlled the Li Castle as a matter of course. Even under the instigation and persuasion of the peasant who was released, someone had already sworn allegiance and began to accept the leadership of the Thunder Yin Demon Sect without hesitation.

The rise of the Dominionists. On the one hand, the sharp social contradictions were alleviated by religious doctrines, which relieved the rulers of Xiling, especially the big families in the places where the social contradictions were most deeply felt, but at the same time, it had a great deal to do with the strong economic power that alleviated the survival plight of some people. It was impossible for the Daoming Sect to sustain its financial support for the poor and helpless for a long time, and the initial religious salvation complex was quickly shattered by more realistic economic pressures. On the one hand, the Daoming Sect had to continue to provide relief and propaganda to the poor people, and on the other hand, to seek the support of the Great Shi clan and the Xiling government, who continued to accept donations from the big families and used the donations more efficiently in missionary activities. In addition, they continue to grasp the financial resources through fanatics and various other channels, and finally a relatively good dynamic balance has been reached. In such a process, Daoming Sect gradually grew into a religious force that was faintly combined with the Xiling regime. This combination did deviate from the goal of salvation at the beginning of the founding of the Daoming Sect, but it gave the Daoming Sect a taste of sweetness. Out of control. The question is how much influence the Daoming Sect has on Xiling now, and how much trust the rulers of Xiling have.

In Ye Tao's view, there are many problems in Daoming Sect:

The first is their union with the regime. They have to seek a transformation from an ordinary, demagogic religion to an orthodox religion that can attract the attention and beliefs of all strata of society. There are many factors that will make the Daoming Sect feel pain.

They need to keep building temples, shrines, and more magnificent landmarks, instead of casually gathering cult congregations, and they also need to make concessions to the Xiling regime in many ways, and even have to control their own power while carrying out this difficult work, so as not to let the power of the Daoming Sect cause the Xiling rulers to be vigilant and even have to take decisive action before they are strong enough to do anything. But their balance, at least for now, seems to be working well. After the triage force they established was broken off in Yunzhou, the losses of defeat were greatly reduced. With an ultra-high casualty rate but no collapse, it won the unanimous praise of the Xiling government and the opposition, and allowed the further expansion of the scale of the Guardian Army. Naturally, with the expansion of the power they wield, and the powerful weapons they have at their disposal to deceive people's hearts, they have more chips to win the support of more forces in Xiling, or even take refuge.

The second problem is that in order to serve the Xiling regime. They formed such an organization as the Eagle Hall of the Daoming Sect. Although it has become more and more powerful, it is somewhat alien to an organization like the Dominion Sect, which started as a religion. From Eagle Hall's eagerness to expand its strength, it caused a backlash and general hostility in the Xiling martial arts world. Judging from the imprudent attitude in handling things, the Eagle Hall is likely to become a failed move that affects the reputation of the Daoming Sect. And for religious organizations, their fundamental strength lies in their ability to control as many people as possible to serve their goals. Once the disciples begin to waver, that is when the strength of the Daoming Sect itself will be in trouble. On this issue, if the Thunder Yin Demon Sect is to develop, there is a lot of room for use.

The third problem is that although the Dominican Sect promotes kindness, tolerance, tolerance, and kindness in the doctrinal system, it has not adjusted a more systematic doctrine due to the changes in the congregation it faces during the transition period. Moreover, there is no code of conduct other than doctrine, which is based on the personal understanding of missionaries everywhere. When it comes to recruiting clergy and believers, the criteria are very broad and are largely based on subjective impressions...... In particular, for a period of time, the Dominion Sect used the number of people it brought in as the criterion for evaluating whether the missionaries were qualified, completely ignoring other data such as regional differences and population density, so that there were quite a few low-level believers who relied on coercion and coercion to lure into the Dominion Sect, and the rate of disseminating doctrines was not high.

With these understandings, coupled with a relatively intuitive understanding of the composition of the people in Xiling, Ye Tao expressed his opinions on how to adjust the development model of the Thunder Yin Demon Sect. The first and foremost thing is to adapt measures to local conditions, and pursue the health of the organization rather than the expansion of the number of people. On the one hand, this can avoid conflicts with the Daoming Sect in a short period of time, and on the other hand, it is also necessary for Ye Tao's mind to have a strictly managed membership system. In this regard, Ye Tao especially praised Lei Huang's research on folklore, and hoped that not only the Lei Yin Demon Sect, but even the newly established intelligence bureau that was adjusting its organizational structure should allocate a part of the non-core personnel to understand folk customs, dialects, regional unique habits, etc., not only for the preaching of the Lei Yin Demon Sect, but also for the local governance after the future conquest, these materials can also play a huge role.

The second is to adjust the structure of the missionaries so that the whole missionary contingent seems closer to the proportion of the natural population, otherwise, a large number of young and strong young men who go to the mission with skillful tongues will inevitably be full of suspicion and cause unnecessary trouble.

Others are adjustments to the things that the Thunder Yin Demon Sect used in the mission. For example, Ye Tao's previous vision of printed armbands and stamped metal armbands, because the printing and dyeing technology and metal stamping and forming technology have obvious inheritance and Dongping's unique technology, these plans need to be adjusted on a large scale. The printed armbands were replaced with simple embroidered armbands, while the stamped metal coats of arms were replaced with something made using the much more traditional casting and infusion techniques. ……

There are also some other small adjustments and suggestions, and Ye Tao also recorded them casually.

But when Ye Tao and his party returned to Dongping under the escort of the internal affairs guards who were finally relieved, the first thing he got was not a commendation, but a fierce reprimand from Tan Xiaopei, the lord of Dongping. The general idea is nothing more than that he disregards his personal safety and puts his colleagues in danger or something, but since Ye Tao's trip to Xiling is absolutely confidential, this reprimand will not be seen by anyone except him.

Ye Tao didn't have anything to say about this reprimand. However, going to Xiling this time is a bit of a gain, and it is not in vain to take such a risk. Not only did I have a lot of intuitive understanding, but I also took the opportunity to put on a show in front of the Dominion Religionists. Guan Huan was naturally fascinated, and what he did and what he said gradually spread with the disciples, accompanied by a great degree of exaggeration. He is no longer just a young man, he has simply become synonymous with justice and justice, and has become the No. 1 rumor in the world. Although for a period of time after that, he had to be Ye Tao's chief of guard for a period of time due to his commitment to Ye Tao and the need to avoid the limelight, but compared to the gain of prestige, it was nothing. After all, how many martial arts people have fought to the death in the past few years, it is not as much prestige as he earned by memorizing the short lines that Ye Tao wrote to him.