Zheng Zhilong planned to purchase wasteland on the outskirts of the city, build a luxurious mansion, and then invest in building a school and hire famous teachers from all over the world to teach.
I had just selected the wasteland, planned to pay for it, and asked the government for approval to build a house. But I was told that Zheng Zhilong’s household registration was not in Fuzhou, and he had to change his household registration first before he could purchase the wasteland specially approved by the government.
It’s useless for Zheng Zhilong to show off his identity as a marquis!
After getting angry, Zheng Zhilong had no choice but to be honest and obedient. His son had already hired the eldest princess (Zhao Zhenfang) and even selected an auspicious day to get married. There was no need to cause trouble at this juncture.
Zheng Zhilong could only live temporarily in a small house in Fuzhou City. Today was Sunday, and he stopped by Sanshan Church to worship.
In the whole of China, Beijing is the headquarters of the Society of Jesus, Macau is the rear area of the Society of Jesus, Jiading is the discussion base of the Society of Jesus, and Fuzhou is the academic center of the Society of Jesus. There used to be Nanjing, and since the Nanjing Mission Plan, the Society of Jesus has been in Nanjing
Power was uprooted.
Zheng Zhilong came to Sanshan Hall in a sedan chair and soon met Father Ajulius.
Ai Julius is the associate bishop of the Jesuit Diocese of Southern China and is responsible for managing the academic affairs of Nanjing, Jiangxi, Hunan, Sichuan, Zhejiang, and Fujian.
He is known as "Confucius from the West". He was a good friend of the late chief minister Ye Xianggao. He knew several cabinet ministers in Tianqi and Chongzhen dynasties, more than a dozen ministers and countless governors.
Historically, after Chongzhen hanged himself, Ai Julius summoned southern missionaries and went to Nanjing to help Shi Kefa resist the Manchus. Unfortunately, these missionaries had only reached the halfway point when the Nanjing court was finished.
Throughout Fujian, Ai Julius built more than 20 churches.
The Sanshan Church in Fuzhou was not only used for missionary work, but also published more than 80% of the books of the Jesuits in China.
Only a few of these books are related to the Bible, and most of them are about astronomy, calendar, geography, mathematics, philosophy, medicine, etc. Especially astronomy, philosophy and geography have a great influence among Fujian scholars, and Christianity is developing
Fujian and Confucianism are highly integrated.
If allowed to develop, Christianity will most likely become Sinicized like Buddhism and become a type of Chinese Christianity.
Even like the Eastern Orthodox Church, it established its own branch and became...Jingzhengjiao?
The Chinese Nestorian stele was discovered by Ai Julius!
Zheng Zhilong walked into Sanshan Hall and found that Ai Julius was baptizing people. He stood nearby and watched with interest.
Not long after, there was a noise outside the church.
An official wearing official uniform but carrying a long sword rushed to the door of the church and shouted: "Surround this place immediately!"
Ai Julius calmly continued the baptism.
He had long been accustomed to it, and was even wanted by the court for "contemplating Confucianism and slandering Buddhism."
Tang Tianlu entered the church with a sneer, and did not interrupt the other party's spellcasting. He just stood there quietly and watched.
Many Datong scholars developed by Xu Ying have now become officials in missionary offices at all levels. For example, Tang Tianlu is the director of the Propaganda and Education Bureau of Fuzhou Prefecture, responsible for the ideological education work in Fuzhou as a whole.
This man is a fanatical believer in the idea of Datong, and is proud of his status as a sword-carrying scholar. Even when he became the director, he still carried a long sword on his back all day long.
Tang Tianlu has long been tired of seeing Sanshan Hall!
Finally, the baptism was completed.
Aiululu walked up to Tang Tianlu, cupped his hands and said, "Excuse me, what is the purpose of your visit?"
Tang Tianlu took out the search warrant jointly issued by the Fujian Mission Office and the Fuzhou Prefect, and said expressionlessly: "Your Majesty has ordered that Christian churches in various places must register with the government within one month. Those who fail to report within the time limit will be demolished immediately!
From now on, Christianity must obtain government approval wherever it builds a church. Except in churches, Christianity cannot preach anywhere!”
Eulius breathed a sigh of relief. As long as he did not directly impose religious bans, he would report to the government tomorrow. He was a little scared of the religious bans. Sanshan Hall had been suppressed for twenty years, and it was not until a few years ago that he finally
recover.
"Since it is the emperor's order, I must obey it and report to the government tomorrow." Ai Julius said.
Tang Tianlu also said: "Your Majesty has ordered that the Christian missionary books cannot use God, Heaven, God to refer to foreign gods."
"This..." Ai Julius suddenly turned pale.
Aurelian was even more radical than Matteo. He had read the Four Books and Five Classics and studied Zhu Xi very well. Therefore, he knew how to preach, which was to localize Christianity in China just like Buddhism.
The path he chose was to directly integrate Christianity with Confucianism!
Zhao Han's order will cause Ai Julius's hard work to be wasted.
Tang Tianlu ignored this person and ordered: "Search the books immediately and any books containing the words "God, Heaven, God" are confiscated and burned!"
Officials from the Mission Bureau, as well as officers seconded from various yamen, immediately rushed into various rooms of the church to search.
Moreover, the search was very violent, and the boxes and cabinets were rummaged through, making a lot of noise.
Zheng Zhilong stepped forward to persuade: "Little brother, of course your Majesty's order should be implemented, but it is not necessary..."
"Shut up!" Tang Tianlu scolded.
Zheng Zhilong immediately became angry. He was once the overlord of the sea, how could he tolerate a minor official scolding him? He immediately said angrily: "I am Zheng Zhilong, your Majesty's personal title of Marquis of Zhenhai!"
Tang Tianlu sneered and said: "I don't care what you are, if you dare to intercede for Christianity again, you are obstructing the government's law enforcement!"
Zheng Zhilong said angrily: "When did I stop you from enforcing the law? The church is such an important place, I just advise you not to make a mess."
"Catch this man!"
Tang Tianlu shouted: "If he dares to resist arrest, he will be resisting the law and will have his property confiscated and his descendants will not be able to serve as officials for three generations!"
Of course Tang Tianlu didn't have this right, but he could report it at every level.
The bigger the noise, the better. Tang Tianlu wanted to demolish Sanshantang. He only believed in Confucianism and Datong theory, and wished that Christianity could be banned nationwide!
Zhao Han is worried about this phenomenon, so when collecting and destroying books, as long as he does not obstruct law enforcement, there is no need for any punishment. Even if a believer is reported, he can just hand over the books honestly.
Ai Julius quickly came to advise: "This fellow believer, there is no need to do this, just let them search."
Zheng Zhilong didn't necessarily want to defend Christianity, he just gave a few casual words of advice. The reason he was angry now was more because he was not respected and had lost face in front of a small local official.
Zheng Zhilong sneered and scolded: "Catch me if you dare!"
"He's arrested over there," Tang Tianlu said to many officials. "If this person resists, he will be killed on the spot. If anything happens, I will take care of it. You don't care, Lord, even if he is a relative of the emperor, he will still be captured and killed."
!”
Zheng Zhilong was a little dumbfounded when many officials surrounded him with knives.
He is not a fool and is very smart.
However, having held a high position for many years and now being honored as a Marquis, Zheng Zhilong did not take the minor officials seriously.
Looking at the posture of those officials, it is possible that he was actually hacked to death on the spot. Where the hell can he reason with him?
"Misunderstanding, it's all misunderstanding, haha," Zheng Zhilong suddenly laughed, "I came to the church today, actually, to renounce Christianity. From now on, I will no longer believe in Christianity and convert to Taoism. Tomorrow I will donate money to repair the Tianfei Temple in Fujian
.”
Zheng Zhilong's mind was spinning very quickly. Not only did he surrender to the small official in front of him, but he also guessed that Zhao Han was extremely dissatisfied with the Yijiao.
In this case, it is just a matter of converting one's religion. Anyway, he believed in both Jesus and Mazu before, and he can just believe in Mazu from now on.
Tang Tianlu pointed at Ai Julius and sneered: "Okay, let him renounce you on the spot!"
While Zheng Zhilong was performing the renunciation ceremony, officials searched for a large number of books, such as "A Brief Account of the Words and Deeds of the Birth of God," "The Meaning of the Birth of God," "Song of the Holy Dream," and "Essentials of the Eucharist."
This is the largest Christian book distribution center in China. Many pamphlets are printed and piled in the church waiting to be distributed.
Tang Tianlu picked up a copy of "Xixue Fan", flipped through it, and said to Ai Julius: "This book is not bad. It would be better if you remove the theology. Give me a copy, and I will take it and present it to Your Majesty."
Ai Julius said: "I am honored that my humble work can be recognized by the emperor."
Tang Tianlu then read "Three Mountains on Learning", which is a book on Taoism written by Ai Julius and Ye Xianggao. The content includes astronomy, Confucianism and Western philosophy.
Then there is the "Zhi Fang Wai Ji", which records global geography in detail.
There is also a "Complete Atlas of All Nations", which belongs to the world atlas.
Others include "Essentials of Geometry" and the like, which are all natural science books.
Tang Tianlu criticized: "You old fool, you are so good at concentrating on learning, and you are talking about it all day long. Your Majesty has ordered that if you meet foreign scholars, they will be sent to Nanjing for an audience. Don't stay in Fuzhou, go to Nanjing quickly.
Bar!"
After searching Sanshan Hall, all kinds of incriminating books were piled outside the church and burned.
Then, Tang Tianlu took people to search Ye's house, which was the house of Ye Xianggao, the late chief minister of the Ming Dynasty.
Ye Xianggao's two grandsons, a great-grandson and a granddaughter-in-law, were all taken to be baptized into Christianity by Ajulius.
Tang Tianlu led people to rush into the Ye family's residence, saying that he was hiding forbidden books. As long as he honestly accepted the search, he would be fine. Anyone who dared to obstruct the search, or found banned books and refused to hand them over, would be banned from serving as an official for three generations.
As soon as this statement came out, the Ye family went crazy and took the initiative to hand in the books.
Not long after, three Bibles and a pile of Christian propaganda pamphlets were handed over.
Compared with being an official for your descendants, being religious seems to be dispensable.
In the following days, Sanshan Church successfully reported to the government to allow missionaries to preach within Sanshan Church. However, all other churches in Fuzhou were banned, and only one church was allowed to exist in a city.
Seeing that the imperial court was serious, Zheng Zhilong Maliao donated a thousand taels of silver to repair the Tianfei Temple in Fuzhou.
From then on, Zheng Zhilong became a devout Taoist believer, and he had completely distanced himself from Western Christianity.
As for Aiulius, this "Confucius from the West" honestly went to Nanjing to meet the emperor.
After Zhao Han communicated with Ai Julius, he found that the other party's Confucianism level was actually lower than that of many local Chinese scholars. Moreover, he was knowledgeable in astronomy, geography, mathematics, geometry, medical physics, and even dabbled in traditional Chinese medicine.
Ai Julius was conveniently sent to be a bachelor and assisted the Qintianyuan Planetarium in compiling the calendar.