Xianglin and Jiaozhi are connected together, one in the south and the other in the north. It is one of the four major provinces of the Ming Dynasty in Nanyang, compared with the three provinces of Jiaozhi, Nanyang, and Zhenghe.
Xianglin Province is neither as populous as Jiaozhi, nor as fast-developing as Nanyang Province's plantation economy, nor is it as geographically comparable to Zhenghe Province.
The people who originally lived in Xianglin Province had a very small population in the city. With the arrival of a large number of immigrants from the Ming Dynasty in Xianglin, the population structure of Xianglin was profoundly changed.
A large number of Ming immigrants quickly filled every exchange in Xianglin, and because Baiyu Port is an important and excellent port near the sea, it is natural that a large number of Ming immigrants gathered here.
In the county office of Baiyugang, the county magistrate Song Mian got up early to perform the ceremony as usual. He was very pious and even wore a white hat on his head and a robe from the Middle East. All the hairpins and hairpins that Mingwen people wore were gone.
Originally, he was not like this before. He was transferred to Baiyu Port as a county magistrate two years ago, where he met and made friends with some people from Persia.
At first, I started learning Persian and Arabic out of curiosity, and then gradually fell into it, and eventually became a religious believer.
From then on, he began to act strictly in accordance with the teachings, and gradually forgot his identity. He even stopped worshiping his parents during the Qingming Festival, and even the ancestors' spiritual tablets enshrined in his home were thrown away.
He was so unfilial that he made his old mother angry to death, but he didn't care about it, and even went so far as to demand that everyone else in the family be religious like him.
Because of this, he had a quarrel with his wife and divorced her who didn't want to be like him.
"Auricularia minu~"
"I wonder when you will be able to allocate funds to build our temple?"
When Song Mian finished the ceremony, a Persian came over and asked.
This Persian named Qom is a devout believer and a scholar with rich knowledge. He has always been committed to spreading the doctrine and developing believers.
Especially after he came to Daming on a merchant ship, he found that Daming was an extremely good religious soil. He kept thinking of ways to stay in Daming, and finally came to Baiyu Port and began to develop believers here.
"Dear Aheng~"
"I also want to allocate funds to build the temple as soon as possible, but as you know, the court has very strict control over this area. I'm afraid this matter still needs to be considered in the long term."
Song Mian shook his head helplessly and said that Qomu had mentioned this matter again and again, but he had no choice because the imperial court had very strict control over it.
"As far as I know, the Ming Dynasty is very supportive of the construction of ports, roads, dams, etc. You can declare it in this name, and then use the money and funds to build temples when the construction is completed."
When Koum heard this, he thought about it and suggested it.
"Okay, this is all the Lord's arrangement~"
When Song Mian heard this, he thought about it and nodded.
"The Lord sees all this in his eyes, and everything you do will be rewarded."
When Koum heard this, he quickly praised it.
"I heard that the Holy See has sent a huge team of missionaries to your capital, the Ming Dynasty. If the Ming Emperor allows their missionary work, I'm afraid the entire Ming Dynasty will become a country of pagans."
"So we must seize the time and act as soon as possible to develop more congregations. You are the county magistrate of Baiyugang. You have the final say here. I think you should take coercive measures and require everyone within your jurisdiction to
Everyone should become religious as soon as possible, otherwise heavy taxes will be levied on them."
Koum thought for a while and then said worriedly.
"I'm afraid this won't work. Baiyu Port is an important transportation port. There are too many ships going south and north. If I do this, I'm afraid I will soon lose the black gauze hat on my head. When the time comes, I will send another person over. This will be very important for us.
It is also a variable for our great cause.”
Song Mian shook his head slightly and said.
This Qomu has been encouraging him to use tough methods to develop his followers, but Song Mian, who is well aware of the laws of the Ming Dynasty, does not dare to do so. He can only turn a blind eye and allow this Qomu to preach vigorously in Baiyu Port.
, using various means to attract people to believe in religion.
"But if we don't use strong measures, our development will be too slow. You Ming people will look down on us foreign things and have no interest in listening to our preaching."
When Koum heard this, he immediately said a little discouraged.
He felt that it was very, very difficult to come to Ming Dynasty to preach, because the people of Ming Dynasty were very confident and looked down on anything from outside.
The people of the Ming Dynasty looked down upon them Persians very much, because many Ming people had many Persian slaves in their homes. When he was traveling in Southeast Asia in the Ming Dynasty, he was often interrogated by officials from various places, thinking that he was an escaped slave.
It was in Baiyugang that because of the support of the county magistrate Song Mian, he was able to live stably and preach here. However, the development was extremely difficult. Only the original Champa and a few Ming people in Xianglin believed in it.
This made him feel very dissatisfied. He wanted to use the prophet's preaching methods and encouraged Song Mian to use tough methods to preach.
"Don't be discouraged. That's because they are all lost sheep and don't know the true meaning. Once they know the true meaning and feel the glory of the Lord, they will definitely convert to us."
Song Mian smiled and said.
On this point, there is also a big difference between Song Mian and Qomu. Qomu advocates the use of tough methods to preach religion. Although Song Mian is already a believer, his long-term Confucianism also makes him feel that he should use
Gentle means must be preached continuously and preached in this way.
"However, that method is too slow. If we wait until European missionaries start preaching in the Ming Dynasty on a large scale, we will be late~"
Koum still wanted to fight for it. He knew the situation of the Ming Dynasty. Nanyang was far away from the mainland of the Ming Dynasty. The mountains were high and the emperor was far away. The county magistrate was the local emperor here. He held great power. As long as he was willing, he could do many things behind his back.
But this Song Mian was not willing to do this, which made Koum very angry but he had no choice because he still had to rely on this Song Mian.
Just as the two were discussing how to develop the congregation, a warship arrived at Baiyu Port, and groups of Ming army soldiers disembarked directly from the warship.
These Ming soldiers quickly came to Baiyugang County Government and surrounded the entire county government.
"What are you doing?"
"This is the county government of Baiyugang. Do you soldiers want to rebel?"
Seeing the soldiers who suddenly broke in, Song Mian couldn't help but glare in his heart, and then scolded him very loudly.
"rebel?"
"It is naturally impossible for us soldiers to rebel. It is you who want to rebel, right, Magistrate Song?"
"You are a magistrate of Ming Dynasty and you are not doing your job well, but you still believe in some foreign religion. The imperial court has repeatedly issued orders, requiring governments at all levels to strictly prohibit foreign missionaries from preaching and strictly investigate foreign personnel."
"It would be better for you to take advantage of your authority as the magistrate of Baiyugang County. Even though these missionaries from Persia are preaching here, even you yourself have become a believer."
The leader Baihu looked at Song Mian, then at Coum next to him, and couldn't help but sneered.
Hearing Baihu's shout, Song Mian was immediately speechless and lowered his head.
"Why don't you allow us to preach here?"
"We didn't do anything bad, and we didn't kill people or set fires?"
The caught Koumu struggled hard and kept roaring at the same time.
"It's not allowed, it's not allowed. Is our Ming Dynasty a place where barbarians like you can do whatever you want?"
When Baihu heard this, he immediately said very nonchalantly.
"My Ming Dynasty strictly prohibits foreign missionaries from preaching in our Ming Dynasty, and strictly prohibits foreign personnel from activities in non-established areas. You have seriously violated the laws of our Ming Dynasty."
"Come on, drag him down, lock him up, and behead him tomorrow!"
Hearing Baihu's words, Koum's face turned pale with fright. He didn't expect the Ming people to be so domineering, killing them at will. There was no room for negotiation.
Without waiting for him to defend or explain, he was immediately pressed into the prison of Baiyu Port by several Ming troops, and he and Song Mian were waiting to be executed.
The Ming army acted very quickly. After arresting Song Mian and Qomu immediately, they quickly arrested other Persian missionaries in Baiyu Port.
Because of Song Mian's protection, a large number of Persians and Middle Easterners gathered in Baiyu Port. These people not only preached here, but also used Baiyu Port for smuggling, doing business, etc.
These are serious violations of the Ming Dynasty's laws, because Baiyu Port is not an open port designated by the Ming Dynasty court and is a place where foreign merchants are not allowed to stay or enter.
Doing business here in the Ming Dynasty is very profitable. In the ports designated by the Ming Dynasty, they need to pay a lot of taxes and money, and there are also time limits for staying. But here in Baiyu Port, because of Song Mian's protection,
Not only do they not need to pay taxes, they can also stay freely.
The whole Baiyu Port was in a panic. A large number of Persians and Middle Easterners were arrested. At the same time, officials like Song Mian were also arrested, and some stubborn people were also arrested.
A few days later, at an empty dock in Baiyu Port, under the gaze of everyone, Song Mian, Kumu and others were all beheaded.
"Well done~ I've long been unhappy with these Persians."
"That's right, they keep chattering here every day, saying that if they believe, they can enter the kingdom of heaven, and if they don't believe, they will go to hell. Is there such a curse on people?"
"It's okay now, you're going to hell first."
"That is, what do you believe in these barbarian religions? If you believe in Buddhism and Taoism of the Ming Dynasty, this magistrate of Song County has also been deceived. He has no king and no father. Even after he died, no one was willing to collect his body."