It was getting late, and Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu decided to stay overnight in Wanshou Chongyang Palace, and then go down the mountain early tomorrow morning.

There is a place to entertain guests in the Chongyang Palace of Wanshou, and the famous Taiping Temple makes people think of the Taiping Road. However, the Taiping Temple has nothing to do with Taiping Road, it is called this name, which is considered a "guest room".

Zhang Yuelu and Qi Xuansu came to Taipingguan and asked for a room each, but the specifications were different. Zhang Yuelu lived in a suite of high-grade Taoist priests, and Qi Xuansu lived in a single room, and there was a considerable distance between the two, as if he was afraid that Qi Xuansu would have the slightest bad intentions.

Early the next morning, Qi Xuansu woke up from his meditation, pushed the door out, and saw a person sitting at the stone table in the courtyard, which turned out to be Pei Xiaolou.

"Pei Zhenren?" Qi Xuansu was a little surprised, "You came back from Yujing?" When did you come back? ”

"Less than half an hour after I came back, I heard that you just came to Vientiane Dao Palace, so I came directly." Pei Xiaolou did not hide his fatigue, not because of physical fatigue, but because of mental fatigue.

Qi Xuansu sat directly on the stone bench next to the stone table and asked, "What about Lei Zhenren?" Didn't you come back with you? ”

Pei Xiaolou said: "The seven-person investigation team except for one Zhang Qingxiao and one Li Tianlan is still seven people, because I have the smallest relationship and I am a person from Wanshou Chongyang Palace, so I am the first to end the questioning, and the other six people will take a while." Xiaohuan is the leader of the seven-person investigation team, and she may have to drag it out to the end, but my brother said, there is no big problem, let me come back first, I dare not disobey, I can only take the first step. ”

Qi Xuansu asked again: "What is the result of the Jinque discussion?" ”

"What else?" Pei Xiaolou sighed, "It's a mess, pulling each other's skins, they are all people with backers, as long as they don't make a big mistake like escaping, it won't be good, it's nothing more than demerits, accountability, at most a crime of negligence." Li Tianlan, the old fox, can figure it out, when he finally besieges Si Ming Zhenjun, he has to contribute, and he will be able to cover up all the ugliness, and with this, others will be able to speak for him. ”

This was not unexpected by Qi Xuansu, but thinking that he had spent so much effort in Jinling Mansion, but in the end it was such an ending, Qi Xuansu couldn't help but be a little disappointed.

Qi Xuansu remembered something, took out the "gramophone" that he had backed up, and told the story in detail, because Pei Xiaolou was an insider, so Qi Xuansu had no reservations.

After Pei Xiaolou heard it, he put away the "gramophone" and nodded: "It's not a big problem, just leave it to me, I will jointly handle the case with Xu Zhenren, after all, it involves the assistant of Wuxu Palace, and it is reasonable for our two assistants of Wanshou Chongyang Palace to come forward together." ”

Qi Xuansu was completely relieved.

Pei Xiaolou's words changed: "By the way, there is one more thing, it is about you and Zhang Qingxiao, you go and invite her, I will say it together." ”

As soon as Qi Xuansu was about to get up, he heard Zhang Yuelu's voice coming from outside the courtyard: "No need, I'm uninvited." ”

When the words fell, Zhang Yuelu had already walked into the courtyard. She was looking for Qi Xuansu, but she didn't expect Pei Xiaolou to be here.

"Exactly." Pei Xiaolou beckoned to Zhang Yuelu and motioned for her to sit down and speak.

Zhang Yuelu and Qi Xuansu sat on one side, Pei Xiaolou sat alone on the other side, and then he took out two pieces of green rattan paper from Sumeru and slapped them on the stone table.

Green rattan paper is the special paper for writing green words in Daomen, the material used is very precious, the cost is high, the fire ignited when the sacrifice is made is green and red, and the smoke also presents a colorful light, which is very beautiful.

The official letters of the Daomen are all made of green rattan paper.

"What is this?" Qi Xuansu asked.

Pei Xiaolou held down two pieces of green rattan paper with both hands: "Letter of appointment, one for each person." As he spoke, he sent the green rattan paper facing Zhang Yuelu forward.

Zhang Yuelu took the green rattan paper, and it was not surprising that she was really promoted to a third-grade Youyi Taoist, and her rank and position finally corresponded, and she was no longer the deputy hall master with the grade of a fourth-grade sacrificial wine Taoist.

Zhang Yuelu's expression was very calm, and there was no surprise. After all, it was expected, but the grade was improved, there were more monthly cases of silver and subsidies, the various benefits enjoyed were on a higher level, and the various discounts were greater, for Zhang Yuelu, of course, this is a very good thing, but it is not worth being too excited.

Pei Xiaolou said: "It will take a while for the official Sanpin Youyi Taoist Priest Gong and the corresponding 'Zhongji Jing Gong', but this matter is completely decided, from now on, you can no longer be called Master Zhang, but you should be called Zhang Gaogong, in the past fifty years, you are the youngest Master of Gaogong." ”

Zhang Yuelu didn't look proud, but said: "There is Lao Pei Zhenren." ”

Pei Zhenren pushed another piece of green rattan paper in front of Qi Xuansu.

Qi Xuansu took the green rattan paper, although he had expected it, he couldn't help but smile a little.

Break a rule to promote!

The Four Sacrifices Wine Taoist.

From the five-grade Taoist priest to the fourth-grade sacrificial wine Taoist is a threshold, just like the difference between the Jinshi and the lifting people in the imperial court, of course, the lifting people can be officials, but basically they can only be the eight-grade county priests, teachings, luckier, can be a seven-grade county order, and it will be the end. Even if you have great luck and get the emperor's appreciation, at most you are a court official or a feudal official, and no one has been able to go to the pavilion to pay respects, even if it is a hall official, looking through the history books, it is only a handful.

In the Daomen, the Taoist priest of the Four Grades of Wine is a high-grade Taoist, and is expected to be among the ranks of real people, real people and even Pingzhang real people, which can be described as promising. And in terms of his age, as long as he doesn't make a big mistake, he can retire to the mountains and forests with a real name at the worst, and Pei Huijian is no longer a dream. If he is lucky and has a chance, it is not impossible for him to be ranked in the golden gate after so many years.

Pei Xiaolou said with a smile: "You are the same, the official four-grade sacrificial wine Taoist priest and the corresponding 'Chuzhen Sutra' will take a while, but you can change your words, and I will call you Master Qi in the future." ”

Qi Xuansu served as the chief Taoist priest as a five-grade Taoist priest, in fact, it was also a high-level position, so the promotion of the fourth-grade sacrificial wine Taoist priest just returned to normal, and there was no need to adjust the new position, at most, he would change from an empty head to a real power director, or a master, and he would not become a deputy hall master, deputy house master, or auxiliary manager.

Qi Xuansu laughed: "Master Qi is not as good as Qi Zhenren. ”

"Your kid is not too ambitious." Pei Xiaolou scolded with a smile, "Qingxiao hasn't been promoted, so you're thinking about upgrading to the second grade Taiyi Taoist?" ”

Qi Xuansu waved his hand: "When I become a real person, it is estimated that Qingxiao will be a real person." ”

Pei Zhenren does not deny this: "I think the position of the head of Jiangnan Province is good, and the real person who was born in Cihang's lineage has to go to this position." ”

Zhang Yuelu couldn't help coughing lightly.

Qi Xuansu changed the topic very intimately: "By the way, how is the treatment of the Four Grades Wine Daoist?" ”

Zhang Yuelu didn't care much, but he couldn't help it, after all, he only had one hundred Taiping money left on him.

Pei Xiaolou said: "I have roughly calculated, the Taoist priest of the fourth wine festival of Ziweitang can have two hundred yuan of Taiping money per month, plus various subsidies, a total of three hundred yuan of Taiping money, which is three thousand six hundred Taiping dollars a year." ”

Qi Xuansu was surprised and delighted: "This is too much, right?" I used to mess around in the rivers and lakes, coming and going in the wind and rain, tying my head to the waistband of my trousers, and I was born and died, and I couldn't earn this money for a year. ”

Pei Xiaolou explained: "The reason why it is set so high is mainly to maintain integrity and put an end to all kinds of corruption. In the past, after many people were caught embezzling, they quibbled that the money was too low, they couldn't eat enough, and they had to be greedy. ”

Qi Xuansu calculated and asked: "A four-grade sacrificial wine Taoist priest has 3,600 Taiping money a year, ten is 36,000 Taiping money, one hundred is 360,000 Taiping money, and one thousand is 3.6 million Taiping money, I remember that the four-grade wine Taoist priest has a total of more than 3,000 people, and according to three thousand, that is 10 million Taiping money, not counting the expenses of other Taoist priests and spiritual officials." Will there be too much financial pressure on Daomen? ”

Pei Xiaolou said: "First, not all Taoist priests have such a high amount of silver, and not all Taoist priests have subsidies. You first went to Tiangang Hall, the highest subsidy among the nine halls, and then to Ziwei Hall, which had the highest silver among the nine halls, and the treatment of the nine halls was much higher than that of the local provincial government. Most of the four sacrificial wine Taoist priests can't get your amount, and they usually only have 1,500 Taiping money. ”

"For another example, you had subsidies for alternate sacrificial wine and preparatory sacrificial wine, but these two subsidies are very dead for age, and not many people can get their hands on them, so the account is not calculated like this, and the expenses of more than 3,000 four-grade sacrificial wine Taoists are actually around five million Taiping money."

"Second, the number of spiritual officials is greater than that of Taoist priests, but their case silver is far inferior to that of Taoist priests. According to the statistics of the Duzhitang, the annual income of the Daomen is about 10,000 Taiping money, and 35 million Taiping money should be taken out to support all the Taoist priests and spiritual officials of the Daomen, and the spiritual officials only account for about one-third. ”

"What's more, most of the Taoist priests' routine money is spent on the Daomen, such as the rent in Yujing, the expenses of Tianji Hall and Huashengtang, as well as daily food, clothing, housing and transportation, etc., which is a large amount of return, which is equivalent to the meat rotting in the pot."

"Third, the higher the grade of the Taoist, the better the treatment, but the smaller the number of people. There are more than 3,000 Taoist priests in the fourth grade of sacrificial wine, but there are less than 500 Taoist priests in the third grade, and when they reach the level of Taoist priests in Taiyi, the number is even more stuck, one hundred and eight ordinary real people, and thirty-six real people, adding up to less than two hundred. Further up to the level of the Great True People, you can count them on your fingers, and the Great True people all have private property, and they do not receive silver. ”

"To sum up, there is financial pressure, but it has not reached the point where it cannot be maintained, and now Daomen can have a surplus of about 10 million a year, as long as the sea trade, which occupies the majority of the income, is not unexpected, then there is no big problem."

Qi Xuansu suddenly said, "I see." ”