Shuntian Prefecture in the Ming Dynasty. Matteo Ricci returned to his residence after the end of the previous dynasty. The haunted house of Dongyue Temple has now been completely converted into a Catholic church. His missionary process in Shuntian was not too smooth. He wanted to
Spreading the Christian faith among the people, but ordinary people are just happy with these things. What's more, in a world where there are real gods and ghosts, although the magic power of Christ can be fulfilled, it is not as convenient and quick as the folk temples in various places.
.
"You, God, can't do it either. My brother said he believes in your teachings, but he still wants to be a loyal believer. If he just believes in it casually, it's not enough, and he doesn't have many manifestations. Who can believe that?"
"Your brother must have made a mistake. He doesn't just believe in it casually. How can you believe in a god if you believe in it casually? How can gods and Buddhas bless you if you are not sincere?"
"Bishop Li, what you said is wrong. There are many folk gods on the side of the road, but you are a very reserved god. The earth gods here are not picky about food. What are they? You go to his temple, or whatever
Write his name on the roadside and put a stick of incense on it. He will come down immediately to bless you without saying a word! The speed is so fast that a gust of wind will come!"
The leader of the migrant workers gave a thumbs up, boasting about the speed of a certain civilian god's work.
"There are high-ranking officials in the capital who believe in your teachings. That is because they have time to study your God's writings. We are all illiterate white men. You ask us to study God's writings? I'm sorry, your twisted
I can’t understand the text!”
Matteo Ricci was preaching to these migrant workers at the dock. He was rebutted by these migrant workers, accompanied by all kinds of ridicule, saying that although you have become a high official, God is a bit embarrassed. How can you attract this?
What about the believers?
You say you want people to believe you sincerely and don't have any second thoughts. People and gods don't care about this. They want the incense you don't want. They protect the people you don't bless. They can do things you can't do, but you don't.
They dare to do whatever they dare to do!
This is the people’s god!
Matteo Ricci shook his head repeatedly, saying that foreign monks were fond of reciting sutras. But it was not until the Ming Dynasty that we discovered that this was not the case. In the past, the incense of the folk gods was only strong on the South China Sea side, where there were many Dharma and teachings, and each one had his own.
There are many forces divided in the region, so as long as you have a good relationship with the local religious community, Christian missionary activities will not be hindered.
But it’s not possible in Suncheon now.
Due to the issuance of the decree to enshrine the gods, all kinds of grass-headed gods, folk gods, and monsters from all over the world, those seeking peace, those seeking surrender, those seeking surrender, and those seeking a way out, all gathered to temporarily stay near Shuntian, waiting for the orders from above.
By arranging work, those who accumulate faith and gain popularity are often more likely to be favored and promoted in advance. When the court sees that you have popularity, it will feel that you have not done too many evil things, and political review will be much more relaxed.
This has resulted in the current situation.
Grass-headed gods, lonely ghosts, folk gods, and all kinds of monsters want to help the old lady cross the road a hundred times a day. At the same time, they carry out a large-scale sweep of the evil ghosts nearby in order to compete for two or three incense sticks. Their bottom line is getting lower day by day.
, at first there were gods, just like God, they felt that as a folk god they were at least a god and they had to be more reserved, but soon they found someone on the road handing out incense sticks in bundles and eggs at the same time.
If you don't look down, you won't be able to earn this bit of incense.
Rolled to death.
"The competition for employment is fierce these days. If you say that you don't look down on your face, but you still have a high airs, no one will believe you. Everyone is very busy, and I will definitely give you the incense that I can give you. You can do it for everyone."
Things happen as soon as possible
You handle it quickly and efficiently. Everyone goes to add incense to your temple. Isn’t this belief just spreading? It won’t take many days to spread to the Forbidden City. Your rise to the top and become a god is just around the corner.
"
The leader of the migrant workers shook his broken cattail leaf fan and acted like a beggar version of Zhuge Kongming. He analyzed the current competition situation among the gods one by one and then explained it to Matteo Ricci.
Matteo Ricci thought for a moment.
I feel this is a bit troublesome.
Light believers will not receive too many blessings. These rules are not set by you but by God. How much faith, how much good deeds, how many believers you need, and then to what level you can advance to, there are rules and regulations.
, I can be shameless, just send eggs, what's so rare about it, but God doesn't allow it, I am also a clever woman who can't make a meal without rice.
"Bishop Li, here, here!"
Matteo Ricci was standing at the pier. He was obviously a popular man in front of the emperor today, but when he stood here with his hands tied, he looked a little downcast. His big gray beard was shaking. When he turned around, he heard someone calling him. Look,
When he passed by, he found that he was a boatman wearing a bamboo hat. The latter came forward. Just when Matteo Ricci was about to ask what was going on, he didn't seem to recognize this man, but he was hugged by his shoulders and started talking and laughing.
Go aside.
"Bishop Li, here is a letter for you to read."
The boatman wearing a bamboo hat stuffed a roll of paper into Matteo Ricci's sleeve, and then left amid a burst of laughter, as if he was a good friend of Matteo Ricci who had known him for many years. Matteo Ricci became suspicious and went to a secluded place to discuss.
When he opened the roll of paper, he looked surprised at first, then overjoyed, and then horrified. He put the roll away and trotted away in the direction of the Forbidden City.
When Matteo Ricci arrived at the Forbidden City and was lifted into the Dharma Realm in the sky by a cloud, he met Mr. Sange in the new cabinet. After entering it, he saw Emperor Wanli and Master Zhang.
When they met, Emperor Wanli got straight to the point: "Bishop Li, you have a fellow priest in Japan named Ba Fanji, right?"
"Yes. Ba Fanji is an old friend of my subordinates. We crossed the sea together from the West. However, he continued to sail eastward to Japan a few years ago. Later, the monarch in Japan launched a massacre against those who believed in Christianity, so I also
I lost contact with him, and I didn’t expect to hear news from him now.”
Wanli Huangdian nodded slightly and frowned: "Well, I asked you to come here this time to identify his handwriting. There are important things involving him. Please read the specific situation to Tian Yi for him."
After finishing speaking, Tian Yi, the old eunuch beside Emperor Wanli, explained the cause and effect of the matter to Matteo Ricci in detail. Matteo Ricci was naturally shocked.
Bafanji not only escaped the original massacre, but also successfully brought Japan's fifth oldest Tokugawa family onto the Christian warship. This achievement can be said to be huge!
However, Emperor Wanli interrupted Ricci's dream and said bluntly: "Tokugawa Ieyasu, as I heard in the Korean war reports, is a person who puts interests first. What he believes in now must be beneficial to him.
It’s harmless. Christianity was massacred only once by Hideyoshi Hideyoshi of Japan, and I have already asked Jin Yiwei to find out the reason.”
The Ming Dynasty had Jin Yiwei Xizuo in Japan, and they have been sending them there continuously since the 20th year of Wanli. This is not a particularly secretive thing. Although everyone knows that Xizuo is there, the Japanese military has never been able to find where Xizuo is.
, in fact, there are many Jin Yiwei disguised as maritime merchants or monks, and some merchants themselves are even part-time Jin Yiwei spies. They blend into Japanese society and can often find out many things in markets and temples.
"The original suppression of Buddhism was during the period of Oda Nobunaga. It was because Japanese Buddhism had become rampant and corrupt during the Warring States Period, threatening his dominance. Therefore, when Christianity entered Japan many years ago, he adopted a laissez-faire attitude and used Christianity to
to suppress Buddhism.”
"But it is a pity that you did not learn from the problems of Japanese Buddhism. Japanese Buddhism itself was annexed by Shintoism for a period of time, and even the doctrines have changed. It has reached an era of decline, but you think that Christ should replace Buddhism and Shintoism.
As a result, they united, and your crazy missionary behavior found that your followers had grown to hundreds of thousands after Hideyoshi Hideyoshi became the official of Japan..."
"Moreover, some Japanese were captured by the Francois and sent to Luzon as slaves. Some of you knew about this but turned a blind eye. Why was the Francois merchant ship detained, and why did it happen later?
It seems that the massacre occurred not only because of the brutality of the Japanese, but also because, Bishop Li, your colleagues made indelible contributions."
When Matteo Ricci faced Emperor Wanli's question, he simply shook his head: "Although I have been in the East for more than ten years, most of my energy is in translating books. Regarding the situation in Japan, I just learned from other countries.
The missionaries knew a little bit about it, but in reality it was not particularly clear.”
"Your Majesty should have investigated your minister. Everything he said is true and there is no deception."
Matteo Ricci said, but he was also very nervous, afraid of being suddenly convicted of some strange crime.
Emperor Wanli immediately smiled and comforted him: "Don't be so afraid. I am not asking you for a crime. After the Franconian merchant ship was seized by Taira Hideyoshi, not only did he not lower his profile, but he boasted that the Franconian merchant ship was the best in the world.
colonial methods, and also said that you missionaries always serve as the vanguard of conquest."
Matteo Ricci turned pale with fright, and quickly knelt down and kowtowed: "I have no such intention, your Majesty is aware of it!"
This was no longer a hint but an explicit statement. He was talking about Toyotomi Hideyoshi's killing of missionaries. In fact, he was warning himself and others that if they did this in the Ming Dynasty, there would be absolutely no good results.
If you threaten the rule of the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, the consequences will definitely be much more miserable than if you threaten the rule of Guan Bai in Japan!
"As long as you are clear in your mind, dear, find a time to bring all your fellow Christians to Shuntian. I will give you full rights to use the Dongyue Temple land, and you can build a few more residences for them to live in.
"
Matteo Ricci wiped the sweat from his forehead and replied quickly: "I am a disciple of Christ. Thank you for your forgiveness."
They talk about forgiveness, but they know in their hearts that this is house arrest to prevent the missionaries from causing trouble, and Shuntian is not afraid of them, not only because Zhang Tianshi is here, but also because of the important point, that is, the people here now
There are already too many people and gods to squeeze in.
If the missionaries gather here, it will be much more controllable than running around in places like Hao Keng O. At least here, you can't even drink incense soup.
At this time, Emperor Wanli glanced at the Celestial Master. The Celestial Master understood and continued to suggest to Matteo Ricci:
"Regardless of any sect, once it develops too crazily, becomes too large and bloated, it will be liquidated. I don't shy away from anything. In the history of our Middle-Earth, such things have happened many times."
"Bishop Li is well-read and well versed in both China and the West. He should know about the Three Martial Arts and One Sect's destruction of Buddhism."
"Buddhism has been passed down in our country for fifteen hundred years. Since coming from the east of the White Horse, the reality has gone through many storms. Buddhism is so powerful, but it has had such a miserable past. Christ is the Dharma of the new age, and now it is to be preached in the world.
Dongtu, it’s not impossible, it’s really better to be more restrained.”
Matteo Ricci quickly bowed: "What the Heavenly Master said is absolutely true! Matteo Ricci also thought the same thing. He is preaching madly and goes against the good deeds of Christ. You must not do it!"
The Heavenly Master nodded: "Never forget the past, and you will be the master of the future."
Emperor Wanli coughed lightly, and the Heavenly Master immediately understood. Emperor Wanli continued:
"The people of Qin have no time to mourn themselves, so that future generations will mourn for them; future generations will mourn without taking note of it, which will also cause future generations to mourn for future generations again."
"Has Bishop Li ever read the Fu of Afang Palace?"
As soon as Matteo Ricci stood up and bowed to the Heavenly Master, he was so frightened by Emperor Wanli's words that he knelt down tremblingly.
It’s not fun to ask this question!
You are the emperor, and I am just a missionary. You compare me to the destroyed Qin State. I am not in a position to bear such a comparison!
"Hey, didn't I tell you, Bishop Li, don't be afraid? This Qin is not only the Qin of our Middle Kingdom, but also the Qin of your Western countries. In the past, our Middle Kingdom called a country to the west the Great Qin. I want to come and talk to you about it.
Does the protagonist’s home country also have something to do with it?”
"But no matter which Qin it is, the reasons for its defeat may be different, but its destruction is already an indelible historical fact engraved in history."
Emperor Wanli didn't care about the life and death of Rome. He was just trying to beat up Matteo Ricci, because Ricci recently took over the Dongyue Temple to build a church. He was preaching Christ everywhere, and even many courtiers were "baptized".
This made Emperor Wanli alert.
In addition, after the truth about Toyotomi Hideyoshi's killing of those missionaries was found out, Emperor Wanli could not help but have similar thoughts to Toyotomi Hideyoshi. His first reaction was to kill them all, but when he thought about it again, this would be harmful and useless.
, isn’t that Toyotomi Hideyoshi just taking revenge on Toyotomi Hideyoshi now? He has one more friend and many ways to go, and he has to be artistic when he falls out. Yesterday he smiled at you, and today he came up and gave you a knife and took a blood, no one can bear this change.
Tian Yi didn't say a word. He just looked at Emperor Wanli's eyes and handed the scroll to Matteo Ricci, who was still trembling and wiping sweat while arranging his beard. The latter did not dare to neglect and quickly screened it carefully.
After a while, he responded decisively:
"Your Majesty, this is indeed Ba Fanji's handwriting, and there is no falsehood."
Emperor Wanli and Zhang Tianshi looked at each other, then looked at Mr. Sange, and they started talking:
"It seems that civil strife broke out in Japan, and many famous names including the Kobayakawa family wanted to cross the sea and come to join our empire in an attempt to make a comeback. This matter has great strategic significance in dividing Japan's national power."
"Your Majesty, I think you should accept it. The other party is also a Japanese daimyo. He knows more or less about Japan's geographical environment, Toyotomi Hideyoshi's character, and even Emperor Jimmu's next arrangements. Kinyiwei found out
After all, intelligence is only superficial, and some important information can only be known by people within them."
The three elders agreed that the defection of this group of people should be accepted.