The envoys arrived in Nanjing with their envoys, Lu Tianxiang took the imperial guards back to the palace, and Zhang Ruifeng took people to Honglu Temple to report.
The Agriculture Department has also become extremely busy. They have to quickly receive and place the seeds, saplings, and livestock brought back from various countries.
Pascal stayed for several days and was finally allowed to wander around Nanjing.
But instead of going shopping, he visited the Jesuits in Nanjing.
The headquarters of the Jesuits in China is in Macau, but it has long been in decline. First, there is no stable source of funding, second, there is a lack of new missionaries, and third, two missionaries were executed the year before last.
At that time, I was conducting an inventory of officialdom and farmland. After checking, I found that there were missionaries in Hangzhou who actually levied tithes from believers. The two missionaries were so poor that they abandoned the Jesuit mission of free missionary work and used spiritual intimidation to force believers to pay tithes.
money.
As early as the Wanli period, there were more than 300 believers in Hangzhou, and by the end of Chongzhen, the number had grown to over a thousand.
Now it's all over. The missionaries in Hangzhou were beheaded, and all the Chinese believers who participated in making money were sent to Heilongjiang with their families.
After this incident, the Jesuit missionaries were all too frightened to dare to do anything more.
Now, many of the older generation of missionaries have passed away. The new generation of missionaries are from the few years since Zhao Han ascended the throne, and the youngest one is almost forty years old.
Pascal visited Tang Ruowang, and the two communicated in French.
"These are the posthumous works of Mr. Ricci (Matteo Ricci) and Mr. Alleni (Ai Julius). You can take your time and read them here. I'm going to Qintianyuan to attend the funeral." Tang Ruowang actually ran away after saying this.
, rushing to work in Qintianyuan.
Pascal was left there alone and did not recover for a long time.
I randomly picked up one of the books. The title of the book was "The Real Meaning of Tianzhu". These four words were written in Chinese. Someone made a cross with a pen and revised it to "The Real Meaning of Tianzhu".
This book has been widely circulated. Not only has it been published many times in China, it has also been translated into Korean and Japanese as early as the end of Wanli.
The version Pascal got was written in Chinese by Matteo Ricci, with a preface by Chinese believers, and then translated into Latin by missionaries, and then edited again in the Datong Dynasty. It is impossible for this book to be published in Europe.
, the reason why it was translated into Latin was specifically for missionaries who had just come to China to read.
After turning over and reading a few pages carefully, Pascal's mind was filled with questions.
What the hell am I looking at?
It starts with the Chinese Six Classics and Four Sons, and then mentions Jehovah. Then it goes on to say that Buddhism has plagiarized from east to west, plagiarized Chinese Confucianism, and appropriated the meaning of Christian scriptures - these are the contents of the preface written by Chinese believers.
Skipping the preface written by Chinese believers, Pascal went directly to Matteo Ricci's article.
Matteo Ricci's article was ordered to be revised by Emperor Zhao because he criticized saints and classics, but the general content is still retained.
After reading a few pages, Pascal was completely confused.
What is Tai Chi? Why do you need to understand Tai Chi if you believe in religion?
What is emptiness? Why do religious believers refute the theory of emptiness?
What are three souls? Don’t humans only have one soul?
The three fathers are gods, the king of the country and the king of the family? I have only heard of the trinity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Why have I never heard of the "three fathers"?
Pascal, who was already confused, almost became a psychopath after reading this book.
This is what Matteo Ricci and other Jesuit missionaries did. In order to gain the support of the emperor and Confucian scholars, they even put forward theories such as the "Three Fathers" to respect Jesus, the king and the elders together.
From the late Ming Dynasty to the mid-Qing Dynasty, the teachings in China had been changed beyond recognition.
Historically, the liturgical dispute between the Holy See and the Jesuits in China lasted for more than two hundred years. The dispute was not just about worshiping Confucius and ancestors. The core issue was that the doctrine had been tampered with. No wonder the Roman Pope at this time,
Not only did they deny the Society of Jesus, they even broke off diplomatic relations with Portugal, which supported the Society of Jesus.
After waking up from the edge of a cerebral hemorrhage, Pascal quickly changed a book and picked out "Zhu Xi's Language" translated by Aiulius in his later years. Compared with the Chinese content, the Latin version has been revised a lot, and the name was also changed to "Chinese Philosophy and Ethics"
.
"The Chinese believe that the universe was originally in a state of chaos, which is called 'Tai Chi' by the Chinese. Tai Chi evolved into Yin and Yang..."
The yin and yang here are explained as yin and yang in Latin. Although it is a bit off, it is easy to understand for Pascal from France.
Pascal muttered: "Chaos Tai Chi derives from yin and yang, and yin and yang coexist with the rules. Through different combinations of yin and yang rules, the sky and the earth are born, men and women and all things are born... Although it is not a creation of gods, it seems to make some sense.
.God, what am I reading? Is this a book of devils? If it were taken back to Europe and published, the author would definitely be burned to death."
The devil's book originating from the East gradually made Pascal unable to take his eyes off it, as if the devil was tempting him to continue reading.
"What the Chinese call Qi, I understand as the matter that makes up the universe. What the Chinese call Li, I understand as the soul, rules, and morality hidden in the universe..."
"However, Chinese people often make 'Qi' virtual and concrete 'Li'. For example, virtues such as steadfastness and integrity are called integrity by the Chinese. At this time, Qi is no longer a substance. And the original meaning of the word Li is
The texture of matter, the meaning of reason, as well as messengers, matchmakers, judges, courts..."
The philosophical thoughts of Neo-Confucianism in the Song and Ming dynasties gradually made Pascal forget his confusion and corroborate his previous scientific research with these Chinese cosmology.
Although Neo-Confucianism in the Song and Ming dynasties explained the universe very outrageously, it was far stronger than the theological cosmology.
At some point, Pascal closed the book and looked out the window, lost in thought: "Maybe, I can forget about God for a while and try to learn some Eastern philosophy."
…
Prince Charles took two country boys, John and Thomas, to Fanlou, the most prosperous tavern in Nanjing.
The waiter saw their faces clearly, and the reflection in his pupils instantly turned into three fat sheep. He nodded and bowed and said: "Three guests, please come in quickly!"
The British guy sat down in the lobby, looked around, and found that the pub was really big, bigger than the pubs in Guangzhou.
After more than a year of sailing at sea, Charles has learned daily language and imitated Pan Wei's tone of voice and shouted: "Bring up the good wine and good food!"
"okay!"
The waiter ran to the counter and said in a low voice: "The fat sheep can speak Chinese. Don't rip off the money too hard, otherwise it will cause trouble again."
Not long after, the waiter came back with the wine jar: "The top grade Magu wine is produced in Jiangxi. I loved drinking it before the Long Live Lord of the dynasty started his army, and so do the princes and nobles of our new dynasty in Datong!"
The waiter spoke so fast that Charles could only clearly hear "Long live the Lord".
Long Live Lord, he knew that this was the honorific title given to the emperor by the Chinese people, and he had come to the right place. As soon as he entered the tavern, he could drink the emperor's favorite wine.
Charles quickly opened the seal, poured the wine, picked up the chopsticks, picked up the peanuts and threw them into his mouth. This extremely skillful move was noticed by the waiter, who immediately ran to the counter and said: "These three fat sheep
, I’m afraid it’s been a long time since I came to China, so the price will be lower.”
The third shopkeeper immediately crossed out the original price and re-wrote a relatively higher price for the wine. Then he also changed the price of the appetizers.
"It's delicious, it's delicious," John said while chewing fried peanuts with salt. "When I arrived in Guangzhou, I realized that peanuts can be so delicious. The Chinese are really good at cooking."
Charles picked up a piece of duck leg and wrapped it in a dipping dish.
Putting it into his mouth, the delicious taste of Jinling roast duck immediately made this guy's eyes wide open. He secretly made up his mind that when he became king in the future, he must send someone to China to learn how to cook roast duck.
No, no, no, I can learn it myself and bring the skills back to England!
Thomas drank a glass of Magu wine, smacked his lips and exclaimed: "It tastes good!"
Charles also drank quickly. This sweet glutinous rice wine really suited his taste. He said with emotion: "It is indeed the wine that the Chinese emperor likes to drink! If you can drink this kind of wine and eat this kind of duck every day, you will not be a king."
That’s okay too.”
The three of them came very early and drank for half an hour before normal diners entered the store one after another.
However, there were more and more diners, and the lobby was filled up in no time.
The waiter even brought a bench, and the diners sat on the bench, ordered whatever food and drinks they wanted, and started eating.
Charles was dumbfounded. He felt that the lobby of Fan Tower was too wide and there must be no seats available. But to his surprise, there were not enough tables. Are all Chinese civilians so rich?
Suddenly I heard a diner on the second floor leaning on the railing and shouting: "Why don't you come, Mr. Liu? If you don't come, we will leave!"
"Yes, please come out quickly, Mr. Liu!"
"If I can't see Mr. Liu today, I'll smash your bird shop!"
"Haha, Zheng San, if you dare to smash Fan Lou, I will drink three bowls of urine to show you that you are a man."
"..."
The diners upstairs and downstairs started making noises and joking.
Finally, an old man stepped in and went straight to the small stage in the lobby.
"Mr. Liu is here, don't make any noise!"
"What did Mr. Liu say today? I want to listen to "Sui and Tang Dynasty"."
"I'm tired of listening to "Sui and Tang Dynasties", Mr. Liu should still talk about "Water Margin"."
"..."
In normal times, although there are many guests in Fan Tower, it is impossible to fill up the lobby and add stools.
Today is a special case because Liu Jingting is here!
This old gentleman is the originator of Yangzhou Pinghua.
"Poof!"
With a clap of wood, the whole place fell into silence.
Liu Jingting waved his fan and said: "Today, thanks to the favor of the shopkeeper, I am invited to come to Fanlou to have a talk. I used to talk about "Sui and Tang", "Western Han Dynasty", "Water Margin" and "Three Kingdoms". Let's change it today. Preface of the Imperial Court
As many of my friends must know about the investigation of those who criticized the land administration, the old man was also arrested and imprisoned for a while. The feeling of being in jail is really unpleasant."
"Ha ha ha ha!"
This remark made the whole room laugh.
Liu Jingting continued: "I still couldn't figure it out at the time. Later, my friends begged for mercy and the government found out the truth. Finally, I escaped. My old friend recommended me to go to the military camp to tell stories to the frontline soldiers. The missionary officer in the military camp told me
I talked about a lot of things about farmers, and I deeply feel that people’s livelihood is very difficult, and today’s land administration is the right one. Today, I will tell you about my newly compiled "The Biography of the White-Haired Girl"!"
"good!"
Liu Jingting is a heartthrob. No matter what he talks about, as long as he takes the stage to tell stories, even if he is talking nonsense, he can still attract a round of applause.
Liu Jingting was already giving a lecture, and Prince Charles asked confusedly: "Is this a Chinese bard?"