"What do you mean by that?" Xie Qin asked Old Man Zu.

"Zimingtang is part of the Tang Sect. Old man Zu replied.

"So what?" Xie Qin said, "The Nine Poisons Hall is also a part of the Tang Sect, but if the Elders' Association starts a war, it will only be unilaterally with the Nine Poisons Hall, and it can't pull the entire Tang Sect together?"

Old Man Zu shook his head and said, "This is just wishful thinking on our side, whether the Elders' side regards the Tang Sect as a whole or not, we don't know at all." I'm worried that Zhang Xuan will make a fuss about this. ”

Xie Qin was stunned for a moment after hearing this, he didn't understand much.

"What do you mean, old man?" he asked, puzzled.

Old man Zu explained: "Last night's operation, Zhang Xuan acted without authorization behind the back of the elders, and we stirred up the yellow, and he could only suffer a dumb loss." And this time the action is completely different from yesterday, you know, this time we took the initiative to attack Zhang Xuan's stronghold - no matter where and where, it must be one of Zhang Xuan's strongholds, if we really do it, then Zhang Xuan's can completely report to the upper echelons of the Elder Guild that Zimingtang attacked his stronghold for no reason. So who does Zimingtang belong to?"

"Zimingtang is subordinate to the Tang Sect......" Xie Qin said, feeling a little understood.

"That's right. Old man Zu bowed slightly, "Zimingtang is one of the four halls of the Tang Sect, as soon as Zhang Xuan reports this, the upper echelons of the Elder Brotherhood will definitely ask, Zhang Xuan, what do you have to do with Zimingtang? And Zhang Xuanxuan will definitely hide what happened last night and not say anything, this is obvious." He would definitely say that Zimingtang attacked him for no reason. So the second question is, what does this mean for the Elders' Association?"

Xie Qin didn't come up with a reason, and directly urged: "Oh, old man, this time is already very tight, don't sell it to me, just say it." ”

"That's good. Old Man Zu also said directly, "For the Elders, the Zimingtang is a part of the Tang Sect, and if the Zimingtang attacks the Elders, it can be regarded as the Tang Sect attacking the Elders." Although the relationship between the Nine Poisons Hall and the Elders' Association is very tense now, I think that Tang Jiahua must have greeted the Elders' Association, or the two sides have a consensus that the conflict between the two sides is simply a conflict between two gangs, and the Nine Poisons Hall is an independent gang, not a Tang Sect. ”

"Why do you think so?" asked Sechin.

"It's very simple," Old Man Zu said, "If there is no consensus, then the Nine Poisons Hall means that the Tang Sect has a conflict with the Elders' Association, that is, the Tang Sect is going to conflict with the Elders' Association, and this is contradictory to what Tang Zhong said yesterday, right, Tang Zhong?" He looked at Tang Zhong, "Didn't you say yesterday that the Tang Sect has withdrawn from the rivers and lakes since the battle in the last years of the Republic of China, and no longer asks about the world?"

"Yes. Tang Zhong nodded.

"And the Tang Sect has no plans to ask about the rivers and lakes of Sichuan until now, right?" Old Man Zu asked again.

"Yes. Tang Zhong nodded again.

"Well, that's it," Old Man Zu said, "Since this is the case, then the Nine Poisons Hall must have reached a consensus with the Elders' Association, otherwise, as early as when the Nine Poisons Hall's expansion of territory and the friction between the Elders' Association, Tang Jiabao would have managed to suppress the Nine Poisons Hall." Therefore, there must be a consensus, and this consensus, Tang Jiabao should also know. Am I right?" asked Tang Zhong in the last sentence.

"Yes. Tang Zhong nodded again, "There is indeed such a thing, so the castle has a tacit attitude towards the actions of the Nine Poison Hall, including my Ziming Hall and the other second halls, all of them claim to remain neutral. ”

"Then in that case, isn't the Nine Poison Hall independent of the Tang Sect?" Xie Qin asked.

"That's true. Tang Zhong agreed, "In fact, the Nine Poisons Hall is a semi-independent state. The reason why this has become like this is also due to the decline of the system of one fort governing four halls, and the strength of Tangjiabao has also become much weaker than that of four halls. ”

"Then the Nine Poisons Hall did this, and Tang Jiabao claimed to remain neutral, would the Elder Brothers buy it?" Xie Qin asked again.

Tang Zhong smiled: "They can't buy it, it's true, the Nine Poisons Hall is big, and Tang Jiabao is almost powerless to control it." ”

Xie Qin said: "You said yesterday that the reason why the four halls of the Tang Sect got their names is because of the treasures of the Tang Sect that they enshrine, and they also have their own specializations, so what can the Tang Family Fort do?"

"What can you get your hands on?" Tang Zhong spread his hands, "There really isn't anything in the fort, because the Tang Family Fort is made up of hall masters and cadres who have retired in the past, that is, elders, and the sect master is selected from among these people." Then there are some elites selected by the four halls, these people are composed, and these elites are the guards in the castle, responsible for protecting the door master and elders. ”

"Oh...... That's right. Xie Qin nodded.

Tang Zhong said again: "The members of Tangjiabao are all from the original four halls, and they were originally the institutions that managed the Tang Sect, and the things they can get their hands on, of course the four halls also have them, and they may play better, that's the case." Therefore, what can really make the castle command the four halls is not strength, but authority. ”

"But doesn't authority come from strength?" asked Sechin.

Tang Zhong smiled: "It is true that part of it comes from power, but the strength in the castle is like this, so it is more of a means for the door master to swoop and close." This means both externally and internally. ”

"Externally, internally?" said Sechin, who was stunned for a moment.

Tang Zhong said: "Externally, it is to deal with the sects on the rivers and lakes. ”

"What about the inside?" asked Sechin again.

"Of course, it's dealing with the four halls," Tang Zhong explained, "The fort is familiar with the entanglement of the interests of the four halls, if any of the halls does not listen to the temperance in the fort, the master of the door can take advantage of the entanglements of each hall and pull up the other three halls to suppress this troublesome hall, that is, pull a gang to fight one." ”

"Why is it so messy?" Xie Qin muttered, "It's obviously still a sect ......"

"My brother still has to settle accounts, not to mention that the four halls have branched out after so many years. ”

Tang Zhong's answer was crude but clear.

"Okay. Sechin said.

Tang Zhong said: "Originally, this was a very effective strategy, but in modern times, several things have happened, which has caused this set in the fort to gradually become unplayable. ”

"What is it?" asked Sechin.

Tang Zhong replied: "First, it was the decline of the system of one fort governing four halls, and the four halls gained great autonomy; second, it was the Republic of China and the Elders' Association that fought for Sichuan, and finally the Tang Men were forced to retire and not ask about the world—yes, the Tang Men were forced, in fact, at that time." In the action of settling accounts after the autumn, the Elder Association has mobilized almost all the Sichuan gangs that can be launched, and those gangs that are attached to the Tang Sect will either see the wind and rudder or be wiped out, which means that the Tang Men has stood on the opposite side of the entire Sichuan rivers and lakes, and if they resist stubbornly, they will only end up in ashes like those disobedient gangs.

"The situation is stronger than people, this Tang Men is very clear, hundreds of years of inheritance, can not be so ruined, after suffering a major loss, Tang Men announced on the rivers and lakes that he will retire from the rivers and lakes. did not surrender to the Brotherhood, but announced his retirement, which was the last bit of dignity that the Tang Sect could retain. Correspondingly, although there was no statement, with the withdrawal of the Tang Sect, there was no big faction in Sichuan that could compete with the Elders' Association, which also represented that the Tang Sect acquiesced to the dominance of the Elder Brothers' Association in Sichuan. There are comings and goings, so the elders' association also acquiesced to this move of the Tang Sect, and they can't force people too hard, otherwise the two sides will not only look bad on their faces, but also suffer heavy losses.

"Of course, this is the helpless choice of the Tang Gate forced by the situation, the Tang Gate has been greatly injured, and the retreat to the rivers and lakes also means that there can no longer be too much intersection with the sects on the rivers and lakes, and the diplomacy of the Tang Gate is equivalent to abolishing it, and everyone lives their lives behind closed doors, and if they don't expand outward, there will naturally be fewer things to fight for power and profit, and there will be no need to bother to do anything in the fort to pull a gang to fight one.

"It should be said that if this kind of life lasts for a long time, it will also weaken people. In the decades that followed, one castle and four halls were almost at peace with each other, and the castle, the Red Fire Hall, the Xuanzhu Hall, and the Ziming Hall accepted this fate, and gradually got used to this life of retreat. Only the Nine Poison Hall did not accept this fact.

Although at that time, they achieved the status of the overlord of Sichuan, but after the founding of the People's Republic of China, the situation gradually stabilized, and the process of modernization also advanced by leaps and bounds, which led to not only Sichuan, but also the entire rivers and lakes were left behind by the times, and the gray society of the rivers and lakes could not be tolerated in the modern society. Therefore, the ass of the Elder Brothers has not been in the position of the overlord for a few years before it was hit, in fact, the blows at that time were all over the rivers and lakes, but because the Elder Brothers were the overlords, they became the focus of attention, so it also declined. And because the Tang Sect had already retired before that, it was not affected.

"The Nine Poisons Hall is unwilling, and has been paying attention to the trends in the rivers and lakes, waiting for the opportunity to move, so the Nine Poisons Hall also knows what will happen to the elders. After that, a few years later, the Nine Poisons Hall gradually transformed and developed. At that time, the hall master was still the previous hall master, that is, Tang Jiaqi's father. ”

"That's right," Xie Qin nodded, "It turns out that the rise of the Nine Poison Hall has already begun in the previous generation. ”

"Yes. Tang Zhong said, "This development was carried out in secret at the beginning, and the castle and the Elder Church were kept in the dark, which was of course because the Tang Sect was cut off all its tentacles and retreated, and the Elder Church was also hit and the overlord declined." And what I said was also an after-the-fact inference, at that time, the Nine Poisons Hall had successfully deceived everyone. ”