Zuo Mengeng and Xu Ruolin arrived late and didn't know what happened. They didn't disturb them and stood quietly behind Xu Guangqi.
Seeing that they were two young men, everyone present did not pay attention, but wanted to refute the argument of the thin old man.
But everyone was thinking hard and couldn't find a way to argue.
Unexpectedly, the old man still had words.
"I have written two articles by myself, and I would like to ask Duke Xuan Hu for advice."
Another man in his early thirties stepped forward and presented two books to Xu Guangqi.
Zuo Mengeng happened to be right behind him and took the opportunity to take over for Xu Guangqi.
At first glance, it seems that they are two books on the calendar.
One is called "Li Yuan" and the other is called "Li Qi".
This was not an area he understood, so he did not dare to interrupt randomly, but handed the book to Xu Guangqi.
Xu Guangqi put it away carefully and his words were still kind.
"Your Excellency has written a great work, and I will sincerely read it. There are so many avenues in the world, and I am only involved in one of them. I believe that stones from other mountains can attack jade. If you can benefit from it, this is your virtue."
These words are quite grand.
The man was obviously here to play football, but Xu Guangqi felt the spring breeze blowing on his face and was not angry.
I sincerely accepted the other party's works and said I would read them carefully.
This magnanimity alone is impressive.
The same was true for the old man. After being stunned, he finally put away his pride.
"Xuanhu Gong is full of elegance and affection, and the younger generation respects him."
Xu Guangqi hurriedly said: "It doesn't have to be like this. The so-called Eastern method and Western method are just techniques of seeking truth. I believe that the most difficult thing is to find truth. You can get it with the Eastern method, and you can get it with the Western method."
Zuo Mengeng listened from behind and couldn't help but nod.
Xu Guangqi’s words have the essence of “it doesn’t matter whether the cat is white or black, as long as it catches mice, it is a good cat”.
But what he said made the old man unhappy.
"Why should Duke Xuanhu raise others' ambitions and destroy his own prestige? Now that Your Majesty has given me permission to prepare for the Eastern Fa Calendar Bureau, I must let the people of the world understand where the power of our ancestors lies."
Before Xu Guangqi could do anything, a Westerner present couldn't help it.
This man is about forty years old, and the most obvious thing is that he has wavy curly hair, which is obvious even under the hat.
"Mr. Wei, we have never slandered your country's academics. We just believe that the East and the West should learn from each other in order to promote academic progress."
You can't tell that this foreigner speaks Chinese very fluently.
But the old man was still full of pride.
"You barbarians, who drink blood like hair and drink blood, have not been civilized for a long time, how dare you advocate learning and clarifying the meaning? Today, the Eastern calendar and the Western calendar each have their own place. Please show your skills and let me see below, what is the use of Western techniques?
Where?"
The Westerners were all filled with indignation when they were called barbarians in person, but they dared not speak out.
After all, they were in a foreign country, and although Xu Guangqi was taking care of them, conflicts really intensified, and they would definitely be the ones to suffer.
The lesson plans that have occurred over the years have made these people understand that Ming Dynasty is not easy to mess around with.
Xu Guangqi originally had a smile on his face, and even when someone knocked on his door, he greeted him with a smile. But when he saw his friend being humiliated, his expression finally changed.
"Mr. Wei is right. Now that His Majesty has approved the opening of the Eastern Calendar Bureau, why not let us work together to repair the calendar."
Xu Guangqi has declared a challenge!
The old man refused to give in.
"Juniors will wait and see."
Having said that, he didn't even stop, he just walked away.
The middle-aged man who submitted the manuscript to Xu Guangqi was a little embarrassed, apologized to everyone, and hurriedly followed.
The Westerners present were talking a lot, with mixed voices, and they were all full of indignation. From the looks of it, they were obviously preparing to show off their skills and compete with the old man surnamed Wei.
With guests present, Xu Guangqi put down the two almanacs and acted as a go-between.
"Dear church members, here is a junior who has both Eastern and Western knowledge. I would like to introduce him to you."
When he said this, everyone's eyes focused on Zuo Mengeng.
Obviously these people knew Xu Erjue and Xu Ruolin, but Zuo Mengeng was the only stranger.
Xu Guangqi called Zuo Menggeng to the front and introduced everyone present to him.
First up is the eldest person here, who looks to be about seventy years old.
"This is President Long Huamin."
Zuo Mengeng didn't know him, but since he was an old man and a friend of Xu Guangqi, it was right to be polite.
"I've met Mr. Long."
He had no idea that Long Huamin had a very important background.
This man came from Sicily, Italy, and was born into a noble family. He came to the capital in the 37th year of Wanli's reign, and the following year he succeeded Matteo Ricci and became the president of the church in China.
He is the head of all missionaries in China today.
This man lived a very long life and lived to be ninety-five years old.
However, because he concentrated on preaching and made little contribution to the spread of Western science, he is not remembered by history.
But the middle-aged Westerner who spoke just now is much more famous.
"This is Brother Deng Yuhan."
Why is this person so famous?
Because he was a friend of Galileo and had close contacts with Kepler.
Of course, Zuo Menggeng didn't know that Deng Yuhan was the first person to bring astronomical telescopes to China.
If he knew about it, he would be kidnapped to Shandong.
Since he knows how to make an astronomical telescope, he must have good skills in handling lenses and can solve his urgent need.
"This is Brother Li Fangxi."
He was still someone Zuo Mengeng didn’t know.
The last one is much more famous.
"This is Brother Tang Ruowang."
Later, Xu Guangqi introduced Zuo Menggeng to these Western missionaries and greatly appreciated his Western knowledge.
What Xu Guangqi did was just like an elder showing off his younger generation to outsiders. He also asked people to go to the study to get Zuo Menggen's mathematical results and pinyin to show to his friends.
Originally, Xu Guangqi said that Zuo Menggeng was proficient in Western learning, but everyone here didn't believe it.
How much can a young person understand even if he starts learning from his mother's womb?
But after seeing Mathematics and Pinyin, these people's attitudes completely changed.
Among other things, the mathematical expression method proposed by Zuo Mengeng is far more streamlined than the theories currently spread in the West. This will be of great significance to the development and progress of mathematics.
And Zuo Menggeng used Latin letters to create pinyin to improve the learning speed of Chinese, and he was even more shocked.
"Oh my God, Zuo, are you a messenger sent by God? God must have felt our confusion and confusion and asked you to help us, right?"
Several Westerners gathered around Zuo Mengeng, all of them turned into starry eyes.
I don’t blame them for being excited, it’s really because these people’s missionary work in China was not going well.
Unlike other colonies, the Europeans here possess absolute force. Everywhere they go, they say they are missionaries, but in fact they are no different from real God.
Only in China, the government and people here are not used to them.
Not to mention breaking the law, even if they don't break the law, as long as they feel that they have violated their interests, they will immediately deal with them severely.
Even though they had made many friends among officials and recruited many high-ranking officials to join the church, they still felt that their future was precarious.
How could they know that Chinese officials themselves were in danger at this time?
Now I suddenly see a genius with such amazing talent at such a young age. If that isn’t God’s will, what else could it be?
Long Huamin is indeed a man who can live to be ninety-five years old. At this time, he grabbed Zuo Mengeng's arm with excessive enthusiasm.
"I believe you are the gospel sent by God, and you appear here just to save us confused lambs. And what we have to do is to welcome you to where you should be."
Zuo Mengeng was in a daze and didn't know what he was talking about.
Deng Yuhan revealed the mystery beside him.
"Zuo, I will be your baptizer."
Zuo Mengeng couldn't laugh or cry.
"Please, everyone, I didn't say I wanted to join the religion."
It's okay if he didn't say it, but when he said this, all the Western priests became anxious.
"You are God's gospel, how can you not obey God's will?"
"Left, God's will cannot be disobeyed."
This scene made Xu Ruolin and Xu Erjue look at each other in confusion.
Like Xu Guangqi, they are also believers.
But they were able to join the religion because of Xu Guangqi's recommendation, not because of their extraordinary achievements.
Why were these normally gentle missionaries so fanatical when they arrived at Zuo Menggeng?
It was also the first time for Xu Guangqi to see such a scene, and he didn't know how to resolve it for a moment.
Zuo Mengeng couldn't bear the noise anymore and shouted: "Stop!"
This time, it was completely quiet.
Zuo Mengeng let out a long breath and then said: "I'm sorry everyone, you have found the wrong person. I have no intention of joining the religion."
Seeing that this group of people was about to surround them again, Zuo Mengeng got in front.
"I respect your beliefs, and please respect my choice."
Several Western priests looked at each other with unwillingness on their faces, and they all looked at Xu Guangqi in unison.
Who says Westerners don’t know how to save the country through curves?
They also knew where the best place to start was to capture Zuo Mengeng.
