Not to mention that after Zhang Juzheng took good care of his body, he continued to enter the busy work of unlimited blessings. At this time, the Portuguese envoy finally embarked on the long road to meet the emperor.
They disembarked in Shanghai on the 17th of the twelfth lunar month before the Chinese New Year. After entering the customs, they repaired for two days and entered Songjiang Prefecture on the 20th of the twelfth lunar month.
Songjiang Prefecture has three counties under its jurisdiction, namely Huating, Shanghai, and Qingpu, with a total of 13 townships and 50 protections. In the eighth year of Wanli, the total population was more than 2.6 million. What is the concept of 2.6 million - Lisbon is at this time
Europe is known as a big city, with a population of only 150,000. Portugal itself has a population of only 1.5 million.
Although everyone in the mission can be said to be well-informed, they have never seen such a prosperous place. They are all like Grandma Liu who first entered the Grand View Garden. They wish their parents had two more eyes so that they could see the prosperous scene one by one.
Afterwards, Matteo Ricci shouted to God countless times along the way, and said to the envoys: "If these people are turned into the Lamb of the Lord - all of us can be sanctified!"
They chartered three four-wheeled carriages and entered Songjiang Fucheng comfortably. They found a hotel and settled in first. Although they were often watched along the way, everyone was already used to it.
After a brief lunch, Fan Li'an said: "Let's not rest too much. Let's go to the government first to see if there is any news about our mission from the court."
So Fan Li'an, Luo Mingjian, Matteo Ricci and Ines hired a carriage to take them to the government office. Fan Li'an turned in his name and asked to see the prefect.
At this time, the prefect of Songjiang Prefecture was still Wang Yixiu, but he would no longer be so soon. Ever since prefect Wang and Hai Rui cooperated with the emperor to deal with the Jiangnan gentry headed by Xu Jie, their little life had not been too good. Just as he had expected,
Ranked first in various performance evaluations such as money and food, construction, culture and education, etc. year after year.
In the autumn of the ninth year of Wanli, Wang Zhifu accepted three rounds of assessments because he had been on the list for three consecutive years. Before the end of the year, the imperial decree came down, and Wang Zhifu directly jumped from the third rank to the first rank and was promoted to Nanjing Minister of Rites. After the new year, he will take up his post.
.
The prefect was in an exaggerated mood these days and could not hold back the smile on his face, which made some retired cadres in Songjiang laugh at him several times. He had no choice but to live in seclusion and hide in the second hall of the government office to enjoy himself secretly.
After listening to the report from the disciples that Fan Li'an, the head of the Portuguese mission, was asking for an audience, the prefect Wang knew what was coming - what the missionaries didn't know was that the Imperial Security Bureau knew their whereabouts well and had already informed the officials along the way on how to properly deal with the mission.
The principle of response is actually four words: "Loose outside and tight inside". "Tight inside" means to keep the mission within the sight of the Security Bureau, ensuring their safety while preventing them from spying on military intelligence, porcelain, silk, etc.
Technical information on tea and other industries; "waisong" is to make the missions not feel that the court attaches importance to them, and to ask local governments to treat them as ordinary people, so as not to get into trouble.
It is precisely because of this that Guangzhou Customs Commissioner Lei Yingzhi, who was born in the attendant's office, was lukewarm to these people and asked them to find their own ships to go north. After the delegation entered Nanshan Port, under the arrangement of the Security Bureau, the ship they took
From the shipowners to the clerks, many of them are spies. Otherwise, the mission would definitely not need three times the price of a few more ships to bargain with. Well, there are always some things that are inconvenient to record in the Security Bureau's transactions.
The Wang Zhifu had already been informed by people from the Security Bureau, so he did not shy away and met with the four members of the mission in the second hall of the government office.
Luo Mingjian spoke the best Chinese, and he was responsible for communication. He first presented the documents and the gift list together. Wang Yixiu first checked their customs clearance documents and confirmed that these people were the Portuguese missionaries. He suppressed his curiosity about their appearance and took a look.
Gift list - a pocket watch and two bottles of wine.
Secretly curling his lips, Wang Yixiu said with a smile: "You Franji people also have black hair, but your eye sockets are deeper and your nose is higher. Well, you look a bit like the people from the Western Regions in our country."
Luo Mingjian smiled and said: "Let me tell you, sir, we are Southern Europeans, and our appearance is different from Western Europeans - they all have pure white skin and generally have blue eyes. We Portuguese have black, brown, and some light blue eyes."
Color. Sir, please see, Mr. Ines has light blue eyes.”
Wang Yixiu hummed and said with a smile: "I haven't received any edict or notice from the court on how to receive your mission. You came to see me. Do you want my help with anything? If it's not troublesome, I can help you a little.
, after all, we are guests who have come all the way.”
When Fan Li'an heard that the Songjiang government office had not received any news from the imperial court about receiving the mission, he felt a chill in his heart, and his expectations of going to Beijing to complete the missionary mission were lowered. But he was an extremely determined person, so he took over the conversation.
: "Thank you, Mr. Wang, for taking care of us. Well, I would like to know how far we have to go to the capital now? How can we get there the fastest?"
Wang Yixiu said with a smile: "There is a canal connecting the capital and our place, and the waterway is about three thousand miles. However, it is now icy and snowy in the north, and the canal is frozen. If you are in a hurry, you can take a carriage and go one stop at a time after the New Year, which is about
I think we can get there in two or three months."
The four members of the mission all gasped, and Luo Mingjian said in a trembling voice: "Is your country's capital at the northern border? Is it so far away from here?"
Wang Yixiu had never really thought about how far the capital was from the border before. He blinked a few times after hearing this, raised his fingers and calculated for a long time before saying: "That's not true. According to the map issued by the imperial court, the capital is farthest from Beishan."
The provincial border is about seven or eight thousand miles away - but after Daning, there are not many people further north. Well, the capital is probably still two thousand miles away from Daning."
The four members of the mission were dizzy after hearing this. They thought to themselves that when Vasco Da Gama visited India, he thought he had reached the end of the world. Who knew there was such a big country in the north of India? This country is bigger than the whole of Europe, and much bigger!
They were so shocked that the four of them were silent for a long time. Wang Yixiu didn't know what they were thinking, so he had to pick up the tea cup and drink tea, and motioned for them to drink too.
Everyone in the mission took a long time to digest, and then Fan Li'an came back to his senses and said: "To be honest, sir, I have been in Japan for many years, and I have also seen the map of the Ming Dynasty in Japan. Although it is much larger than Japan, it doesn't feel as big as you said.
Big—can you show me a map of your country?”
Wang Yixiu shook his head and said: "The map is an important military weapon and is classified. Although the secret level I used is not high, it is not convenient for you to see it. I cannot agree to this for you."
Fan Li'an asked again, and Ines gently tugged on his clothes. Fan Li'an turned around and saw Ines winking at the wall to Wang Yixiu's right.
Fan Li'an picked up the tea, and under the guise of drinking tea, he glanced in that direction, and sure enough he saw a large map hanging on the wall to the east of Wang.
The map was densely packed with circles, lines, and dots criss-crossing each other. It was very complicated. Fan Li'an had never seen such a complicated map before - including in the Portuguese court. Wang Yixiu saw that he was silent again and followed his gaze to the east.
, secretly feeling ashamed in his heart: "It seems that my awareness of confidentiality needs to be strengthened."
He smiled awkwardly and said: "Well, this is a map of Songjiang Prefecture and neighboring prefectures. I use it for administrative purposes. This is also confidential." He winked at the staff beside him, and the staff stood up and walked over to move the wall.
The green curtain on the side was closed, covering the map.
When Fan Li'an and others saw the prefect behave like this, they felt that their mission was not taken seriously again, and they became more and more depressed and silent.
Luo Mingjian saw that the situation was a bit awkward, so he raised his hands and saluted: "To be honest, sir, we are missionaries from the Papal State. We came to Beijing to see His Majesty the Emperor because we want to preach in your country. Are you willing to listen to our teachings first?"
Wang Yixiu is also a genuine Jinshi. After passing the exam, he did some research on Buddhism and Taoism. Especially during the battle with Xu Jie, he read a lot of miscellaneous books to seek psychological comfort. At this time, his eyes lit up and he said with a smile: "Well, I am very
If you are interested, you can tell me."
Except for Ines, the other three people were all shocked. Luo Mingjian quickly put his best foot forward and explained the doctrines of God's creation, the Trinity, original sin, redemption, justification by faith, heaven, hell and eternal life like an orchid.
explained it once.
Although he gave a high-level summary, it took him more than half an hour to introduce them. Wang Yixiu listened with great interest, and finally commented: "Well, there are many things that are very similar to our Taoism and Buddhism, but it doesn't look like a cult."
Including Matteo Ricci, after listening to Luo Mingjian's translation, the four corners of their mouths twitched at the same time. Luo Mingjian moistened his throat and took over the conversation: "When we were in Myanmar before, Governor Luo Wanhua also said something about your country.
Regarding religious policy, can you please give us a detailed explanation?"
Wang Yixiu listened and said: "Well, I can tell you about this. Last year, the imperial court just promulgated the management method of religion, which can be summed up in these few principles."
"This is the separation of church and state. No matter what religion it is, it is a matter outside the country. It is not allowed to interfere in any political affairs at the court or local level. Officials and local officials who believe in religion are not allowed to govern based on religious likes and dislikes, otherwise they will be removed from office immediately.
If there are serious consequences, he will be sentenced."
Although this article is inconsistent with the current situation of the Papal States in Europe, Fan Li'an and others have been mentally prepared for it, and Christianity has no foundation in the Ming Dynasty. Let alone interfering in political affairs, it is a good thing not to be dealt with. This first article is actually beneficial to them.
of.
Wang Yixiu continued: "Secondly, it is unified management. The imperial court establishes the religious department, the abbot of Buddhism and Taoism, the Islamic imam, etc., all need to register with the imperial court. In other words, those who are not allowed to register by the imperial court cannot be allowed to do so.
The abbot and the imam. What is your abbot’s name?”
Fan Li'an and others felt bitter after hearing this. Luo Mingjian smiled bitterly and replied: "We call our parish priest, priest and bishop."
"Oh, if, I mean if, the imperial court allows you to preach, the appointment and dismissal of priests and bishops must be approved by the imperial religious minister, otherwise it will be against the law."
Fan Li'an and Luo Mingjian looked at each other with sad faces. The Pope cannot appoint and remove bishops with full power. Isn't this a joke on the Papal State?
Luo Mingjian asked: "Is there any more?"
Wang Yixiu continued: "Of course there is, well. The third one is about people. People outside the country need to have a degree to become a monk - that is, to specialize in practice, preaching, doing things, etc. If there is no degree to become a monk,
It’s also against the law.”
The missionaries all accepted this, and Luo Mingjian motioned to Wang Yixiu to continue telling them.
Wang Yixiu continued: "There is also something about religious property. According to the regulations, the court allows a monk to have five acres of land as temple property. There is no tax on these five acres of land. Whether it is a temple, a Taoist temple or a Muslim temple, all of them need
Construction can only be done after obtaining a land permit. The portion of the donations received by each religion for charity are tax-free, and the rest must pay donation tax. Only the remainder after paying the tax can be spent."
After saying this, the missionary's heart felt as if it had fallen into a hole in the ice. At this time in Europe, the parishioners had to pay tithes to support the Holy See. Unexpectedly, in the Ming Dynasty, it was completely the other way around - the priests had to pay tithes to the court.
Tax!
Luo Mingjian numbly said: "Is there any more?"
Wang Yixiu said: "Of course, well, there are more than thirty management methods in total. I asked them to give you one copy. The imperial court sent many - do you know Chinese characters?"