Dongjiadu Catholic Church, located in the French Concession of Shanghai, is the seat of the Episcopal Office of the Nanjing Diocese under the Universal Church in Rome.
Although the vanguard of the Taiping Eastern Expedition led by Shi Dakai, the seventh son of Heavenly Father, has set up a camp outside Nanjing, the main force of the Taiping Eastern Expedition led by Heavenly Father’s second son Hong Xiuquan, Holy Spirit Yang Xiuqing, and fifth son Wei Changhui are also on the way. They came along the Yangtze River, but the papal Bishop of Nanjing, Zhao Fangji, was still sitting in the Dongjiadu Bishop's Office and had no intention of going to Nanjing to welcome the arrival of the gods.
However, this servant of the Heavenly Father who is elderly, mentally weak, and in poor health is not dawdling around. He is still working very hard to serve the Lord, even if he does not rest on Sundays... even though he does not personally host it. Sunday Mass, but still in his office, wearing reading glasses and reading "Secret Report on the Discovery of the Devil in China". This is obviously a report written randomly by a drunk Orthodox priest. The old bishop does not know a single letter. Will believe it!
But he is a Catholic bishop. Whether he believes it or not is one thing, and whether he can do his job is another matter. Even if he does not believe that there are devils in the world, he still has to read the report patiently and then write to the Universal Church in Rome. An "Analysis Report on the Secret Report on the Discovery of Devils in China" was used to explain that what appeared in China was not the real devil, but a liar.
In addition, the bishop was instructed by His Majesty the Holy See of the Universal Church in Rome a month ago, ordering him to thoroughly investigate the Christian rebellion that occurred in southwest China.
His Majesty the Holy See also asked him in a letter to him to try his best to personally meet the leaders of these Christian rebellions and, if possible, to guide them to become believers in the Roman Church.
Originally, the bishop wanted to use the excuse of being too far away to go. But he didn't expect that this group of Christian rebels were very considerate of him, an old man. They fought from the mountains of southwest China to the southeastern city of Nanjing in a very short period of time... maybe even more In a few months, they can reach Shanghai!
And when that time comes, there may be a question mark as to whether the Nanjing Diocese of the Roman Church can still exist.
Because many Chinese gentry from the Huguang area have traveled thousands of miles to seek refuge in the Shanghai Concession under the protection of the British and French these days, and they have also brought some news about the Chinese Christian rebels.
If the news is true, the leaders of this rebel army include the second son of God, the third son, the fourth son and the Holy Spirit, the fifth son, the sixth daughter, the sixth son-in-law, the seventh son, the adopted son and the archangel... and maybe a Satan!
This lineup of Christian rebels is really...the old bishop was speechless!
The only three members of God's family are God himself, Christ, and the Holy Mother... How do you want the bishop to meet such Christian rebels? Point at their noses and call them fakes? Will you meet them in advance? What’s the risk to God? Otherwise, he won’t be able to knock each one of these God’s family members?
Therefore, the old bishop had made up his mind not to meet "God's Chinese family" no matter what. As soon as the Taiping Army approached Shanghai, he would run away immediately.
"Dong dong dong..."
The door of the bishop's office was suddenly knocked by someone, and then a hoarse voice full of anxiety was heard: "Your Excellency, Father Hunter, please step out, a Chinese official is here!"
"What?"
Bishop Zhao Fangji was stunned, and immediately stood up, walked to the door, opened the door, and saw an elderly deacon standing outside the door. He was a little thin and Chinese.
"What's going on?" Zhao Fangji asked. "That official came with twenty or thirty armed entourages, and was accompanied by Wu Daotai's grandson." said the Chinese deacon.
"Is there another lesson plan?" Zhao Fangji frowned, "It's really not the right time!"
"I'm not sure if it's a lesson plan," the Chinese deacon showed an expression of indignation, "but Consul Aitang is already negotiating with the visitor." Zhao Fangji breathed a sigh of relief: "That's good, I'll go right away!"
"Mr. Consul, you don't have to be so nervous. I don't mean any harm. I'm just here for Sunday mass."
At the entrance of Dongjiadu Catholic Church, Luo Yaoguo was smiling and speaking in Oxford-accented English to the unhappy-looking French consul Aitang.
He just came to worship God, but he didn't expect to be blocked outside the church door by a group of false believers - he had seen God, Ji Du, and the Holy Spirit in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and no one could stop him!
Now when I entered a church, I was actually stopped.
And the person who took the lead in stopping him was the blind French consul in Shanghai - if he stopped an angel from worshiping God, this guy would definitely go to hell in the future!
"Sunday Mass? You...are you a Christian?" Aitang still didn't believe it.
Even if an official of the Qing Dynasty wanted to worship God, he would definitely put on his casual clothes and worship quietly. How could he come so openly and openly in four carriages with more than a dozen followers?
Isn't he afraid of being impeached?
Besides, this official doesn't seem to be too big. The "patches" on his official uniform and the glass beads on his hat indicate that he is just a minor official at the county magistrate level. If he were to be impeached, I'm afraid it would not be a loss of office, but a loss of office. He's going to jail. Also, why does this Chinese county magistrate speak English with an Oxford accent?
He couldn't have graduated from Oxford or Cambridge, right?
"Mr. Consul, why can't I be a believer?" Luo Yaoguo smiled and looked at the French pretty boy in front of him who was destined to go to hell. "I once wanted to serve the Lord all my life! But later I encountered something more meaningful.
He is not telling lies. He is an archangel, and he has accepted God as his deed! If he doesn't "descend to earth", wouldn't he just serve the Lord all his life? "You, you still want to be a priest?" Aitang He looked at Luo Yaoguo in disbelief.
"Absolutely." Luo Yaoguo shrugged.
As an archangel and God's godson, if he wants to go to Rome to recite scriptures, he has to be the Holy See of the Church, that is, the Pope, right? Forget it, don't take Pius IX's job, it's not easy for this old man.
During the revolution of 1848, he was kicked out of Rome by the Roman people for the first time, and ran to France to join Napoleon III. He waited until 1870 to overthrow the Papal States again, and hid in the Vatican as an old man.
"Mr. Consul," Luo Yaoguo said with a smile, "I haven't introduced myself yet. I am Luo Xueyan, chief secretary to Mr. Luo, the governor of Hunan in the Qing Dynasty."
"Luo Xueyan?" The French consul seemed to have never heard of the name Luo Xueyan.
Who told Luo Xueyan to arrive in Shanghai on Friday?
Consul Aitang has to prepare for the weekend on Friday afternoon, so he doesn’t care about anything else. Saturday is the weekend, and he has to worship God on Sunday.
"Mr. Consul..." Wu Jianzhang's grandson Wu Chaoyue knew this Frenchman's style best. He quickly explained in French the purpose of Luo Xueyan's coming to Shanghai and everything related to Luo Xueyan in the past two days. Now Aitang
The consul was really a little dumbfounded.
How much time has it taken? How come so many things happened? If he took a month off, would the Chinese official in front of him be able to deploy an entire infantry division in Shanghai?
"Your Excellency the Bishop is here! Your Excellency the Bishop is here..."
At this time, Bishop Zhao Fangji finally arrived at the door of Dongjiadu Catholic Church with the support of a Chinese deacon.
"Bishop, do you believe there is a devil in the world?"
After Sunday Mass, in a living room in the official residence of Bishop Zhao Fangji, Luo Yaoguo looked at the old Italian in front of him, smiled and asked a question that would trouble many Western figures in the near future.
"I believe," Zhao Fangji nodded, "the devil was also created by God."
"Oh," Luo Yaoguo turned to look at Consul Aitang again and asked in English, "What about you? Mr. Consul, do you believe there are devils in the world?"
"Of course, of course I believe it!" Consul Aitang gave an affirmative answer.
"Okay, I'll give you these two books." Luo Yaoguo said as he took out two "thick" books of "The Great Prophecy" from his sleeve pocket, which were still bilingual in Chinese and English.
"This is..." The old bishop looked at the words on the cover of the book and was stunned.
"The Great Book of Prophecy?" Aitang was confused, "What is this?"
"It's a book that records some prophecies of angels or devils!" As Luo Yaoguo spoke, he pushed these two books in front of Zhao Fangji and Aitang. Aitang took the "Great Book of Prophecy" in front of him and opened it.
It's a stack of "white pound" notes, the top one has a face value of one hundred pounds!
This is a huge sum of money!
At the same time, the old bishop Zhao Fangji also looked surprised, and then he looked up at Luo Yaoguo: "Brother Luo, tell me, what do you want from Consul Aitang and me?"
Chapter completed!