The timing was slightly different from Luo Wanhua's expectation. The importance the Jesuits attached to entering China was beyond the emperor and his imagination.
In May of the ninth year of Wanli, Luo Mingjian met with Luo Wanhua in Bago. Governor Luo then reported to the emperor, asking the court to allow Fan Li'an, Luo Mingjian and Matteo Ricci to serve as special envoys to the Papal State and the Governor of Goa.
, went to Beijing to see the emperor.
Fan Li'an received Luo Mingjian's letter in Japan in August, and because Goa was relatively close to Bago, Matteo Ricci received the order from Archbishop Vincennes earlier.
In October of the ninth year of Wanli, the three of them had gathered in Macau. After unremitting efforts, Fan Li'an and Luo Mingjian finally opened a breakthrough for missionary work in China, and were highly praised by the Goa Jesuits.
As the inspector of the Papal State in the Far East, Fan Li'an asked Luo Mingjian to come from the bishop of Goa. Luo Mingjian learned Chinese because of his instructions.
This time Matteo Ricci brought a letter from Archbishop Rodríguez Vincennes of India, in which he expressed high praise for Fan Li'an and Luo Mingjian: "Both are pious, true missionaries rich in moral character and knowledge.
He has done outstanding work with noble courage and is about to spread the gospel of God to a new fertile soil.”
Vincennes also promised to Fan Li'an that he would report their great achievements to the Pope and apply for the positions of the leading archbishop and bishop of China respectively. When Matteo Ricci heard the content of the letter, he expressed extreme envy.
Fan Li'an and Luo Mingjian expressed their indifference to this. To be honest, Fan Li'an did not trust Vincennes to truthfully report their achievements to the Pope - the possibility of stealing the results for himself was greater.
As the eldest brother of the three, Fan Li'an must protect the fruits of their victory. He has personally written to the Pope, describing how he opened the situation, and explained to the Pope that he will adhere to Xavier's missionary strategy - assuming the Chinese Emperor allows it
If they start missionary activities.
When Fan Li'an returned to Macau this time, he also brought four Japanese who had converted to Catholicism. They were assistants assigned to Fan Li'an by the three famous names, Arima Harunobu, Otomo Sorin and Omura Juntada. These famous names heard about Fan Anli's missionary work in China.
After that, I hope to arrange a secret mission to enter Beijing and obtain some information about the movements of the Ming Dynasty.
After all, the entire Burmese War was fought smoothly by the Ming Dynasty, and the results of the war shocked the entire East and South Asia. Although Japan was in a war, it was not difficult to know the news because of its close contacts with the Franji people.
The Ming Dynasty in this time and space has shown its greatness. The knowledgeable people among the major Japanese lords cannot help but think about the future relationship between their own families and the Ming Dynasty. It is necessary to send someone to understand the situation.
Fan Anli also informed Luo Mingjian and Matteo Ricci of the situation in Japan and the missionary situation: After the Erchuan War in the sixth year of Tianzheng (the sixth year of Wanli), the Dayou Zonglin family, the most loyal servants of Christianity, lost the support of the people and was now conquered by the pagan Shimazu.
The family was defeated step by step.
Takeda Shingen's successor, Takeda Katsuyori, launched an army to attack the Tokugawa family this year. However, before Fan Li'an left Japan, Takeda Shingen had already betrayed his family and the Takeda family would be destroyed in an instant.
The biggest event in Japan this year is not the war between the Tokugawa family and the Takeda family, but the "Kyoto Army Horse Exercise" organized by Oda Nobunaga in Kyoto in February. Fan Anli heard that Emperor Masachika attended the exercise.
At present, the largest military and political force in Japan is Oda Nobunaga. When Fan Anli returned from Japan, he heard that the Oda army had captured most of the land in central Vietnam. Fan Anli judged: "If nothing happens, Japan's Warring States Period is about to end.
Oda Nobunaga will take full power."
For the Catholic Church, the expansion of the power of Oda Nobunaga, who has a good impression of Christianity, is welcome, at least it is good for missionary work. With the expansion of the power of the Oda family, the number of Christian believers in Japan has grown to 150,000
, there are more than 200 churches in total.
Fan Anli said that the foundation laid by predecessors such as Gago, Algarseva, and Saint Xavier has now developed to a very prosperous period. But no matter how well Japan develops, it is still insignificant to the entire East because it has the largest fertile soil.
in China.
During his trip to Japan this time, he met many upper-class nobles. The most common question he encountered was, since the "Kiroshidan Sect" is so good, why don't the smart Ming people believe it?
Fan Anli lamented: "Chinese culture has had a great impact on Japan. The popularity of Chinese utensils and poetry in Japan is staggering. If we can open up the situation in China, the spread of the gospel of God will achieve unimaginable success throughout the East.
.”
At the end of November of the ninth year of Wanli, Fan Anli and others completed the formation of the mission. Including the Secretary to the Governor of Goa and others who arrived in Macau with Matteo Ricci, the size of the mission reached more than 30 people. Subsequently, they had already received
When they arrived at Zhaoqing Mansion, where the imperial court had approved Luo Wanhua's inscription, they approved the entry permit for the mission.
The Portuguese mission needed to enter through Guangzhou Customs, which had just put up a sign, because the port of entry was located in Guangzhou City. The mission that wanted to enter from Zhaoqing did not raise any objections, and took a boat into Liuxi River, a tributary of the Pearl River, and arrived at the Guangzhou Pier.
Disembark and go to customs for immigration formalities.
When the mission walked out of the pier plank road, they encountered a large group of Portuguese people, there could be dozens of them. These people were gathered around the door of the government office with a plaque reading "Guangzhou Customs of the Ming Dynasty" hanging on the door, shouting "Wow!"
Fan Anli looked at each other, not knowing what was going on. Just as he was about to drag a fellow villager over to ask, the customs door that was still closed suddenly opened, and a group of red-clad guards rushed out, each holding a wooden stick as thick as an arm.
, beating the Portuguese who surrounded the gate until they howled like ghosts.
A ship owner was so angry that he took out a musket from his waist and fired a shot into the sky. This only stirred up a hornet's nest. The gun-wielding soldiers who were standing at the door to watch the excitement - they and the Jin Yiwei were obviously not on the same team.
They all raised their Wanli 14-type muskets horizontally, looking like they were going to shoot all the ship owners.
Fan Anli and others who were standing in the distance were stunned. Matteo Ricci, who was less than thirty years old and had not yet learned Chinese at this time, stood nearby and yelled: "Are you brave? Lean on you!"
Despite the tense atmosphere, Luo Mingjian still burst out laughing. He then shouted: "We are the envoy authorized by Governor Luo Wanhua to enter the country! Please don't shoot!"
Originally, the scene of the wolf rush was quiet because of the shouting. Then the Portuguese businessmen saw clearly that they were under the gunpoint of the Ming army and quickly calmed down. The leader of the Jinyiwei was a small flag with a ferocious face. He didn't see them.
He continued to make noise, pointed at a fat Chinese-looking man in the crowd, and let him come closer with a hook.
The fat man wore a satin jacket and walked over cautiously. The Ming army flag asked: "Are you Chinese?" The fat man nodded first, then shook his head and said: "No, I am from Ryukyu——
I can speak Chinese."
Xiaoqi frowned and said, "Then can you speak Franji?"
The fat man nodded again. The little flag said: "The interpreters at the customs ate something bad today and had diarrhea collectively. They all went home. Later, the chief of customs will come out to speak. Please translate it. If you tamper with the meaning of your words, I will kill you."
!Did you hear that clearly?”
The fat man nodded and bowed, indicating that he understood. The little flag hit him on the head and asked again: "Did you hear that clearly?!"
The fat man was still nodding, but a Portuguese man next to him couldn't help it and said in weird Chinese: "This officer asked you, do you hear it clearly? You answer it!"
The little flag squinted his eyes and cursed: "Did I ask you to speak? Get out of here!" The Portuguese man had no problem listening to Cantonese. Seeing that he was rude, he raised his eyebrows and revealed a fierce look in his eyes.
Seeing that he was unruly, Xiao Qi said nothing, but the big stick in his right hand was carried by the wind and rushed towards his head. The Portuguese did not expect that this officer could be so barbaric and was unprepared to take the stick with his own Tianling Gai.
Rolling his eyes, Gudong fell to the ground.
There was a roar in the crowd, and these Portuguese people were a little unsteady. Luo Mingjian couldn't help it, and stood in the distance and shouted: "I am an envoy who is going to Beijing to meet with His Majesty the Emperor. I can also speak Chinese and I can translate."
When Xiao Qi heard the words "His Majesty the Emperor", he stopped being arrogant and stretched out his hand to signal Luo Mingjian to come over. Luo Mingjian saw that his face was full of flesh and his calves were a little twisted, so he slowly walked closer while maintaining his demeanor.
The little flag said: "You all wait here." After saying that, he turned around and walked in.