When Luo Mingjian heard what Governor Luo said, he felt puzzled at first. Then he suddenly realized that although Governor Alfonso was humble in his words in the letter, he still showed Portugal's dominant colonial position in the East when it came to occupying Burma.
sense of superiority.
In order to explain clearly the source of the Portuguese's sense of superiority at this time, it is necessary to give a brief description of the past exchanges between Portugal and the Ming Dynasty.
In the seventeenth year of Yongle (1419), the Portuguese Prince Don Alfonso Enrique, Duke of Viseu, also known as Prince Henry, set out to discover the Madeira Islands after establishing a navigation school and an observatory.
The beginning of a great journey to open up sea routes.
In the tenth year of Hongzhi (1497), Vasco da Gama led 4 ships and 150 soldiers and sailors to the west coast of India.
In the twelfth year of Hongzhi, that is, two years later, da Gama's fleet returned to Lisbon and made a net profit of sixty times the voyage cost, which caused a sensation throughout Europe. Manuel I bestowed upon him the highest honor and granted him two titles.
town, and authorized Vasco da Gama to have tax-free privileges on some Eastern goods.
The route opened by Vasco da Gama not only marked the opening of the east-west route, but also became the first driving force for Europe's large-scale expansion.
In the fifth year of Zhengde (1510), the Portuguese Albuquerque led 1,500 soldiers to occupy Goa, allowing Portugal to gain its first solid stronghold in the East; the following year, he led his troops to occupy Malacca (Manchuria).
Canada), controlled all maritime trade from East Asia to Europe, and based on this, established the Lisbon-Goa-Malacca colonial system.
After this system was established, although the Portuguese did not open up official relations with the Ming Dynasty, they basically monopolized the smuggling trade between China and Europe. A large amount of wealth gathered in Lisbon from China, Japan, the Spice Islands and India, making Manchuria
Nuer I became the richest monarch in Europe.
In the third year of Zhengde, Manuel once asked a lot of questions about China to the captains heading to the east: "Where did they (referring to the Chinese) come from, and how far did they travel? When did they arrive at Malacca or other places where they trade?"
Where? What goods are they bringing...Are they cowards or warlike? Do they have weapons or artillery?...Are they Christians or pagans? Is their country big? Does it have more than one king?
?Where does their territory extend to? Which countries are they neighboring..." and so on.
In the sixth year of Zhengde (1511), Albuquerque met five Chinese merchant ships in Manchuria for the first time and met Chinese people. At that time, he thought the Chinese were civilized people. Later, at the request of the king and the attraction of discovering new wealth,
Next, Albuquerque sent fleets to visit the Ming Dynasty twice in the ninth year of Zhengde (1514) and the tenth year of Zhengde.
There is no record of these two visits in official historical records. The first person to mention the visit in the 10th year of Zhengde was the Italian Andrea Cosari, who wrote in a letter to the Italian Duke of Medici in the 10th year of Zhengde:
"Chinese merchants also crossed the Great Gulf to Malacca to buy spices. They brought musk, rhubarb, pearls, tin, porcelain, raw silk, and various exquisite textiles such as brocade from their own country..."
"The Chinese are as skilled in craftsmanship as we are. But their eyes are a little smaller and their appearance is uglier. They dress similarly to us and wear the same shoes as us."
"Although many Chinese people say they believe in or partially believe in our religion, I can confirm that they are all pagans."
“Last year, some of us sailed to China and the Chinese didn’t allow them to land... However, they all made huge profits. They said they made as much money shipping spices to China as they did to Lisbon because they were so big
Part of it is located in the cold zone, and there is a huge demand for spices..."
This was the first recorded exchange between Western colonists and the East. According to later historical data, during these two visits during the Zhengde period, the second visit mission was led by Tomei Pires and arrived in Guangzhou first.
However, misunderstandings caused by the firing of salutes and poor treatment by the Guangzhou authorities led to the mission's ill-fated fate.
After Tomei Pires explained the misunderstanding and demonstrated the "sincerity" of the gifts and exchanges - that is, bribery, they finally obtained permission from Governor Chen Xixuan to go to Beijing with the gifts for Wu Zong.
But God seemed to be joking with Eastern and Western civilizations. When he and the envoys were trekking to Beijing, one of his colleagues, Simon Andrade, who was very flashy and cruel, took a share of the money given to him by the King of Portugal.
The approval document to go to China, despite Albuquerque's obstruction, set out from Malacca with four warships and arrived at Tuen Mun Island in Guangdong.
After Simon Andrade entered Tuen Mun, he followed the example of the Spice Islands and forced the islanders to build forts and set up artillery. When Guangdong officials went to negotiate, the reason he gave was that the Ming government did not want to
Fight against pirates, so they can only protect themselves.
What was even more speechless was that he erected a gallows on a small island near Tuen Mun and hanged a Chinese "pirate" there - a move that completely angered the court.
Simang put all the previous efforts of Tomei Pires in vain. The censors Qiu Daolong and He Ao attacked Portugal, which was called Franji at the time. In addition to Simang's rude actions towards the Ming Dynasty,
The censors also questioned the mission as to why Franji occupied Manlajia, a vassal of the imperial court, without permission.
Of course, the unlucky Tomei Pires couldn't answer. Although Wu Zong said, "No one in Franji understands etiquette. As time goes by, he will deal with us according to our rules." But he was already seriously ill at the time and could not take charge of this time.
major diplomatic action.
As a result, Tomei Pires did not receive the honor of meeting the emperor and was taken back to Guangzhou and imprisoned. At the same time, Wang Hong, then the inspector of Guangdong, gathered a hundred armed ships to attack the Simang fleet on Tuen Mun Island.
and attack the fortress.
With one hundred against four, they could not attack for a long time due to the sharp Portuguese artillery fire, and finally had to besieged. Later, the Portuguese waited for reinforcements, and a fierce naval battle broke out between the two sides - at the beginning, both sides suffered heavy losses.
Although the losses were heavy, with their backs to the mainland and an endless supply of small centipede ships, the Ming army finally drove the Portuguese back to Malacca, destroyed the Tuen Mun Island fortress, and captured two ships and 42 people, winning the victory.
After the news of Wu Zong's death reached Guangdong, the Guangdong side executed all the captured Portuguese people, completely cutting off the road to reconciliation between Portugal and the Ming Dynasty. The colonial authorities in Malacca wanted to retaliate and claimed that "a fleet of six warships
We can capture Guangzhou."
The Portuguese were able to make this judgment because the strength of the Ming Dynasty's navy was fully exposed during the Battle of Tuen Mun Island - one hundred against four and unable to win. If the Three Treasures Eunuchs reappear underground, they will weep bitterly.
However, the Malacca colonial authorities' revenge did not take place because at that time, the armed merchant ship owners believed that war was not as important as trade - it would be great to have that time to collect smugglers' goods on the coast of China, why bother to use knives and guns to make everyone have no business?
Do?
Therefore, during the Jiajing period, the "closed-door" Ming Dynasty threw all the profits from overseas trade to smugglers and the Portuguese. The Ming Dynasty and the colonists lived in peace for decades. Until Zhu Yijun led the Ming Dynasty to revive in this time and space, the two sides fought in Myanmar.
Bago only had the second semi-official contact.
In this contact, although the Portuguese showed respect for the army's attack on Myanmar without seeing the Ming Dynasty's navy, it is normal for a maritime empire to have some vague sense of superiority.
...
Luo Mingjian discovered Luo Wanhua's dissatisfaction. From his position, he could explain to the Governor of Goa, or not, because he was not an official of the Goa colony, but a missionary.
Although Luo Mingjian has great influence in Goa because of the Jesuits, he does not have official colonial status after all. Therefore, he is hesitant whether to take over Luo Wanhua's words. Taking over would mean that he has changed from a messenger to a
He became a semi-official negotiator, which would only increase Luo Mingjian’s resistance to preaching in the mainland. [Note 2]
The colonial process in the Western world has been accompanied by the spread of Christianity. It is difficult to say whether wealth or religion played a greater driving role in the colonial process. In a word: "Portugal's maritime empire in Asia - it was a
A combined military and nautical enterprise in a religious model." [Note 1]
Missionaries were very well-behaved when faced with areas that could not be conquered by force. "St. Xavier" became famous in later generations because he realized that missionary work in East Asia must be both flexible and principled, and "missionary
"We should adapt to the local culture" is his core idea.
The extraordinary status given to Xavier by East Asian Christians in later generations should be a victory of historical materialism, and they judged his actions in the historical environment at that time.
Otherwise, East Asian Christians cannot explain that Xavier turned a blind eye to the severe persecution of Christians and Buddhists by the colonial authorities in Goa, and turned a deaf ear to the colonial authorities' oppression of the natives and plundering wealth.
Of course, some people believe that Xavier still did not speak out when the colonial authorities clearly violated the "Ten Commandments" of Christianity - no matter how much powder he applied, he could not cover it up.[Note 3]
After a short thought, Luo Mingjian decided to learn from the great St. Francis Xavier, so he replied: "Dear Governor, in my opinion, Governor Alfonso is not qualified to guide you, the Governor of Myanmar, to
How to do things. As the head of the Goa authorities, he should know very well that by occupying Burma, China has entered both the South and Western Oceans. When he faces a great empire that far exceeds his own strength, humility is what he wants.
The only choice."
When Luo Wanhua heard this, he thought to himself that this was not consistent with what the emperor said. Why are Franji people so easy to talk to?
While he was in the Attendant's Room, he rose from a Hanlin editor to the third rank at a rate of one step per year. Of course, he also experienced repeated whippings from the officialdom. At this time, he showed an unpredictable expression and nodded slightly, half-smiling.
, signaling Luo Mingjian to continue.
Of course, Luo Mingjian was not willing to let the Governor of Goa delay the missionary plan of the Jesuits. He bowed again and said: "Your Excellency, Governor, I am a devout Catholic. My mission is to preach the gospel to everyone who has never heard it.
For this reason, I am willing to sacrifice everything I have in exchange for an opportunity to preach in China - I wonder what your country’s religious policy is like?”
After hearing this, Luo Wanhua thought to himself, "It's here, it's here, just as the emperor expected." In addition to admiring the emperor who was far away in the capital even more, he replied with a smile: "China's policy on religion is very relaxed. Every day
A Chinese person has had the freedom to choose his faith since ancient times, and he can believe in any religion approved by the state."
After hearing this, Luo Mingjian swallowed his saliva and said, "Then, is Christianity allowed?"
Luo Wanhua shook his head and said: "Of course not."
Two small flames of enthusiasm flashed in Luo Mingjian's eyes and were quickly extinguished. He felt that he could only do the next best thing - first try to see if he could win over Luo Wanhua and let him preach in Myanmar.
Unexpectedly, Luo Wanhua continued: "It's not that our country discriminates against your religion, but that we don't know whether your religion is a cult - in our country, it is illegal to spread cults. As for a decent religion, no matter whether it has followers or not
, you can apply for permission.”
"Praise Jesus! Praise the great and broad-minded Emperor!"