The memorials about the great debate were submitted on November 20th, but Emperor Wanli, who was deep in the palace, did not reply for a long time. Just when the ministers thought that the memorials were about to be kept again, on the 16th of the twelfth lunar month, Emperor Wanli issued an edict. He ordered the two missionaries Wang Fengsu and Xie Wulu who were involved in the Nanjing Mission Case to be escorted to Macau and not allowed to preach in the Ming Dynasty again. Among the believers, Zhong Mingli and Zhang Cai, the first offenders who gathered to cause trouble, were sent to the army and imprisoned. Zhengyangmen Church was sealed off. The remaining priests and religious officials Everyone will not pursue it; the Datong calendar has repeatedly made mistakes, and the Ministry of Rites and the Qintian Supervisor should start revising the calendar as soon as possible and not use the Western calendar for the time being; the Hanlin Academy can open a translation bureau to translate Western calendars, geography, medicine, farmland, and water conservancy Books can broaden your horizons and correct your shortcomings——
The emperor also sent a special edict to the two cabinet ministers Fang Congzhe and Wu Daonan, saying that the cabinet ministers should review the questions and memorials, draft votes and comment on them, and allow the common people to govern in an orderly manner, so that they can work for the emperor and share the worries, and they must work together in harmony and put national affairs first. , the memorials submitted in the future must be signed by the chief minister, and other cabinet ministers can attach them if they have any objections.
Of course Emperor Wanli did not allow Fang Congzhe to resign, but Wu Daonan was also important to him. There were only these two ministers in the cabinet now. If Wu Daonan was driven away, the staff would inevitably push the ministers away, and it was certain that there would be fierce fighting. This is consistent with Emperor Wanli's "ruling by inaction" was contrary to Emperor Wanli's, who only wanted to maintain the status quo.
For Fang Congzhe, the emperor's reaffirmation of the powers of the chief minister saved his face, but Wu Daonan was not deprived of power because of this, and could still object to the votes of the chief minister. The Ming Dynasty cabinet was very different from the prime minister system of the previous dynasty, and the cabinet did not make decisions. The power and administrative execution power are only a deliberation body, and the power of the cabinet has shrunk after Wanli came to power. Former Chief Minister Ye Xiangshou once said, "The establishment of cabinet ministers is just a literary aide, and its importance is limited to voting. The power of appointment is related to The prime ministers of the previous generations were definitely not the same. They used powerless officials to do powerful things, and they had to blame powerless officials for powerful things. This is why cabinet ministers have always had no perfect reputation." So it is said in this chapter. When the power of the cabinet is declining, there is not much difference in the powers of the first assistant and the second assistant, and all matters must be decided by the emperor——
Emperor Wanli did not respond to Shen Que's request to declare a ban on Catholicism, nor did he respond to Xu Guangqi's request to invoke the Western calendar to revise the Datong Calendar. This was the Wanli Emperor's usual method of dealing with disputes among foreign ministers. Shen Que expelled Wang Fengsu and others as he wished, but did not After failing to ban Catholicism, Xu Guangqi opened a translation bureau as he wished, but the purpose of introducing the Western calendar to modify the Grand Unification Calendar was not achieved. The debate was very vigorous. After several months, it went in a big circle and returned to the starting point. Nothing seemed to happen. Change, this was the political situation of the Wanli Dynasty.
Shen Que was dissatisfied with this result. He wanted to win the approval of the conservative forces of the government and the public by banning Catholicism. However, the emperor did not issue a ban on Christianity. He only expelled two Jesuits, and Catholicism continued to spread in the Ming Dynasty. This is really true. It was Shen Que's failure, and everyone in the capital knew that he lost to Zhang Yuan in the debate, which damaged his reputation. Xi Fang Congzhe admired him and hinted that after the Beijing inspection next year, he would be promoted to the position of Minister of Rites in Beijing. The Minister of Rites in Beijing could be Shen Que was not as good as the Minister of Rites in Nanjing, which made Shen Que feel happy. His purpose of suppressing Catholicism was precisely for this purpose, and he would continue to work hard in the future.——
Xu Guangqi regretted not being able to save Wang Fengsu and Xie Wulu, but Zhang Yuan was satisfied with the result. Wang Fengsu's preaching in Nanjing was too public. If he stayed in the Ming Dynasty, sooner or later he would arouse strong opposition from conservative Confucian gentry and Buddhists. , and now, due to the expulsion of Wang Fengsu and Xie Wulu, the Jesuits in the Ming Dynasty must adjust their missionary strategies. This is what Zhang Yuan is happy to see. The most important thing is that Zhang Yuan opened a translation bureau to achieve the purpose of translating Western classics. It seems that nothing has changed in the great debate, but Zhang Yuan is the only one who understands the subtle changes——
Because of the debate at the Imperial College, more than 6,000 volumes of Western books were sold out at the Hanshe Bookstore on Dengshi Street. Many scholars also asked Wu Ling about Matteo Ricci’s memory method. Wu Ling was very smart and did not say that he did not have this book, but only said vaguely.
It will be launched later to attract the hearts of these readers, who will come back from time to time and buy other books.
On the 20th holiday of the twelfth lunar month, Wu Ling returned to Lige Old Hutong to report to Zhang Yuan on the business situation of the bookstore. Wu Ling said: "Master, is there any book like 'Matteo Ricci's Memory Method'?"
Zhang Yuandao: "I once asked Jinni Pavilion whether there is a memory method but not a book."
Wu Ling said: "Why not compile a book like this? It will definitely sell well. Many scholars will come to our bookstore to ask about this book."
Zhang Yuan had an idea: Why not combine Matteo Ricci's Palace of Memory and Aristotle's "On Instruments" into one book. The introduction of Western logic would be of great benefit to the chaotic ideological world of the Ming Dynasty.
Cultivate a kind of rational thinking. Logic is a tool for sorting out thoughts and knowledge. The production of theory and science depends on logic. The Ming Dynasty's technology was very developed, but it could not produce systematic scientific theories precisely because of the lack of logic.
Zhang Yuan immediately ordered Wu Ling and Laifu to go to Xuanwu Gate to invite Jinni Pavilion to come here. By the way, he also invited the bookstore owner Yuan Chaonian to discuss the matter.
Uncle Yao drove Wu Ling off and went to Xuanwumen. Zhang Yuan entered the inner courtyard and went to Shang Danran's room to play with his son Hongjian. After two heavy snowfalls in November, the weather has been fine so far. However, due to the cold, the snow in the courtyard was cleared.
The big snowmen piled up did not melt, and it seemed that they would only melt in the spring. Shang Danran said: "The winter in the capital is very cold, but the indoors are warm. I'm not used to it. I've been getting a little angry recently and haven't slept well.
Lian Hongjian also had a hot blister on his mouth, and he was crying from the pain. He took some refreshing medicine powder yesterday and it felt better."
Zhang Yuan picked up his son and saw that the pimples on his little mouth were cute. He was grinning at his father, moving his limbs wildly, and making "oh oh" sounds.
Zhang Yuan said: "I got used to it gradually. We are going to live in Beijing for a long time. In winter, we ask the kitchen to cook more mung bean porridge. On weekdays, we make honeysuckle tea to clear away heat." He also saw his wife gently rubbing the sides of her breasts with her hands.
Then he asked: "Is the swelling uncomfortable again?"
Shang Danran's face turned red and he said, "Hongjian no longer drinks milk, so he often has some swelling and pain."
Zhang Yuandao said: "Hongjian's belly is full of food. It seems that your milk supply is really sufficient." He came closer and kissed Shang Danran on the forehead, and whispered: "I'll come to eat at night. It's not convenient now. I'll wait until some guests come to visit."
I will laugh when I think about eating milk and going out to meet guests."
Shang Danran blushed with embarrassment and said, "You have to pay more attention when you speak, my son can understand."
Zhang Yuan laughed and said: "Did Hongjian know it from birth? Haha, look at him, crawling on the ground with his butt raised, how does he seem to understand the words?"
Shang Danran couldn't help but smile when he saw his nine-month-old son holding on to the wall and climbing on the floor.
"Miss, miss, uncle, there is a letter from home."
The cheerful voice of the maid Yun Jin came from outside the door. She quickly opened the door and lifted the curtain and came in. She handed a stack of letters to Zhang Yuan. Zhang Yuan saw that the top letter was the handwriting of his father Zhang Ruiyang and said happily: "The second elder finally replied to the letter.
It's been an eight-thousand-mile round trip, and it's really exciting to wait for a letter from home."
Zhang Yuan wrote a letter to his family at the end of September, reporting that Dan Ran's mother and son had arrived safely, and asking the elders to rest assured. After three months, he finally got a reply. Zhang Yuan read a piece of letter paper, gave it to Dan Ran to read, and said: "
Both the elders are in good health, but mother misses Xiao Hongjian very much——"
Yun Jin hugged little Hongjian and said, "Young Master Hongjian, come and read the letter written by me and my wife. Everyone likes you——"
Hongjian didn't know what to do, but he stretched out his hand quickly and snatched the letter from his mother Danran's hand. He grabbed it into a ball and was about to stuff it into his mouth. Shang Danran quickly stopped him, coaxing him while opening his son's little hand and taking it out.
He wrote back and said, "Auntie, you know how happy I am to know that Hongjian is so lively and cute."
Zhang Yuan quickly read the letter and said happily: "Sister Yi Ting is amazing. She gave birth to twins, two baby boys."
Wang Wei and Mu Zhenzhen both came over and were very happy for Yi Ting.
Now that he was free, Zhang Yuan went back to his study to polish his ink and pick up a pen to write a reply to his two elders. After writing two letters, Wu Ling came to report that Master Jin and Yuan Chao had arrived, so Zhang Yuan went to the outer courtyard to meet Jin and Yuan and the others to invite Jin.
When Niko was drinking tea, he wanted to talk to Yuan Chaonian about something first, that is, he wanted to make money to buy Yuan Chaonian's bookstore and asked Yuan Chaonian to give him a price.
Yuan Chaonian had long wanted to climb the high branches of Duke Zhuangyuan, and said respectfully: "Master Zhang, Wansheng's bookshop could no longer survive. It was Master Zhang who brought Wansheng's small bookstore back to life. Since Master Zhang wants that bookshop, Wansheng is willing to give it to him."
Wuling, Laifu and the others were not familiar with the place in Beijing, and sometimes they would inevitably stumble when doing things. Since Zhang Yuan wanted to open a bookstore in Beijing, he needed experienced people like Yuan Chaonian. He smiled and said: "Am I going to occupy your bookstore? Let's do that."
, you estimate for yourself how much money all the objects inside and outside your bookshop, including real estate, are worth in total. I will ask my family member Xiao Wu to sign a contract with you. I will pay you for the total value of your bookshop.
For double the amount of money, no matter how large the business scale of the bookstore is from now on, you will own one-third of the bookstore's shares, and you will also get one-third of the profits. It is empty talk, and the contract will be established as proof."
Yuan Chaonian was overjoyed and hurriedly agreed, and immediately went aside to discuss specific matters with Wu Ling.
Zhang Yuan then returned to the tea table and asked Jin Nige with a smile: "Jin Siduo, how do you like this Jiangnan tea?"
Jinni Ge nodded and said: "Good tea." He looked at Zhang Yuan and said: "Zhang Xiuzuan is a rare wise and enlightened official in the Ming Dynasty. He does not use official power to pressure others, and understands that the justice of exchange is the basis for transactions between people.
Code of conduct, the Greek sage Aristotle wrote about contract theory."
Zhang Yuan thought: "I was about to talk to you about Aristotle, but you mentioned it first." He said: "Aristotle is a great Western philosopher. I have heard of his name. This man is rich in knowledge and writings.
Tongsheng, is there something called "Tool Theory"?"
Jinni Ge was surprised and said: "I really admire Zhang Xiu for his erudition. The Theory of Tools is like the Analects of Confucius by your country's sage Confucius. It was not compiled by Aristotle himself. It was compiled into a book by his students and disciples. It is a Western
An extremely important text on philosophy.”
Zhang Yuandao: "I wonder if Reverend Jin has this book. The Hanlin Academy is about to open a translation bureau. This "Tool Theory" should be translated first."
Zhang Yuan only heard about the book "On Instruments", which is the source of logic. He has not read it. And even if he could find this book, no one in the Ming Dynasty knew Latin except missionaries, so he would have to work with missionaries.
This is the main reason why Zhang Yuan tried to protect the Jesuits.
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Desperately begging for all kinds of votes.
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