At the end of the thirty-fifth year of Wanli, in January 1608 AD, the Italian missionary Jin Nige, the assistant of the Chinese Jesuit Bishop Matteo Ricci, and the Italian priest Guo Jujing who had just come to Nanjing to preach at the invitation of Xu Guangqi, these two Chinese and Western cultures Famous figures in the history of exchanges came to Quanzhou Port together.
Jinnige, this is a Chinese name with four characters. The original name is Nicholas Trigo. He was born on March 3, 1577 in Douai, France. It is located in Flanders, a country in Western Europe. Historical place name. The era when Ginnigo lived was under Spanish rule. People called this place "Belgium" after the Belgian tribes who lived here in ancient times. Douai, Ginnigo's hometown, was conquered by France more than half a century after his death. It was included in the territory of France. However, Tourney, an important place for its religious life, is still in Belgium. Therefore, from now on, it is natural for the Ginny Court to be regarded as a French person. Therefore, the French are studying the history of Sino-French exchanges. When he came to China, he was generally regarded as the first French Jesuit to come to China without hesitation.
Jin Nige entered the Society of Jesus on November 9, 1594. It was originally not until March 1607 that he completed all the studies required by the church. However, after the Taiwanese Diocese of the Society of Jesus was established a few years ago, Bishop Baradas asked Jesus The church headquarters reported that they were in urgent need of manpower, so he was sent to the Far East to preach in 1605. He set off from Lisbon, Portugal. In the autumn of 1607 (the 35th year of Wanli), he arrived in Nanjing via Zhaoqing and began his missionary career in China. Jinni Pavilion in Nanjing studied Chinese with two priests, Gao Yizhi and Guo Jujing. It didn't take long for news that Taiwan's inspector general had banned Christianity and closed churches. At the same time, the literati and gentry in Fujian who opposed Catholicism also began to instigate the ban on Christianity.
At that time, many people in Nanjing expressed a very hostile attitude towards Catholicism. If celebrities like Xu Guangqi were not there to support Catholicism, these Western monks might have been driven out of Nanjing long ago.
Matteo Ricci was very worried and did not want to see the missionary career he had worked so hard to create be damaged by the ban on Christianity on a remote island. He was not ignorant of Taiwan. When no one in the court or government paid attention to Taiwan, he I had already paid attention to Yin Feng, the founder of the China Company, because of the book "Travel to the East and West". Baradas and You Wenhui all came to Taiwan under his order.
This time, he didn't understand what happened in Taiwan, so he sent a letter in Beijing, asking Jin Nige to go to Taiwan to inquire about the situation, and if possible, do some mediation work to solve the problem of banning Christianity.
In the original historical time and space, Jin Nige was the earliest inventor of the Chinese Pinyin scheme. However, he had just come to China now and was not familiar with the situation, so he had to ask Father Guo Jujing for help. When Yin Feng led people to besiege Macau two years ago, Guo Jujing As the negotiator of the Macau Municipal Government, he had dealt with Yin Feng before, and he immediately agreed to Jinnige's request.
Therefore, the two missionaries appeared at Quanzhou Port together.
Quanzhou was an important place for Catholic missionary work in China during the Yuan Dynasty, but now there is no trace of Catholicism. In the third year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1575), the Spanish helped the Ming Dynasty defeat Yin Feng's ancestors under the city of Manila. The heroic Archbishop Lin Feng, an Augustan priest, arrived in Quanzhou from Manila and asked for rewards from the Fujian government. He also asked Xingquan Taoist officials for permission to stay and preach, but he was refused and was driven away. History It seems to be a joke. Now, Yin Feng's Chinese Company has occupied most of the Philippines and firmly controls the coast of Fujian. However, the Jesuit missionaries Jin Nige and Guo Jujing are going to set out from Quanzhou to ask the Chinese Company to lift the ban on preaching. .
At this time, there are still more than 300 Chinese company guards stationed in Quanzhou City in the name of government officials and regiment training, assisting the Quanzhou prefecture's yamen in managing the post-disaster Quanzhou City. The tax officials at the port have long been replaced by personnel sent by the Chinese company. They spent a large sum of money to get on a merchant ship that was not owned by the Chinese Company. The owner of the ship was a Zhejiang businessman who was related to the governor of Fujian, so they dared to let two Western missionaries on board.
The boss of the ship led the two people to the cargo hold at the bottom and whispered to them: "The owner of the Huaxing Alliance has strict orders. All Western missionaries who want to take a ship to Taiwan, oh, that is, Dongfang, must go to where they are. The port's semicolon report is filed. You'd better not come out before arriving in Taiwan,"
The two missionaries looked at each other and nodded helplessly.
However, the journey was unexpectedly smooth and they arrived at Taiwan Port safely and smoothly.
In fact, Yin Feng did not order a ban on Western missionaries entering Taiwan. In fact, he only ordered that the identity of the missionaries be strictly verified and Spanish missionaries not allowed to enter.
Those Chinese company employees who handle port affairs in Quanzhou do know the difference between Spaniards and people from other countries, but ordinary people and ordinary businessmen have no idea that there are national differences between these Western bearded men who all look the same. Therefore, Fujian There are rumors circulating along the coast that Taiwan Port prohibits the entry of Western missionaries.
After Jinnige landed ashore, he still felt a little distrustful of himself. He curiously said to Guo Jujing: "Dear priest, the port officials here don't seem to collect taxes.
Guo Jujing smiled: "The port we are in is owned by the China Company, which is under the jurisdiction of Yin Feng, the actual ruler of the island. His merchant fleet is currently along the coast of Fujian and may be the largest along the coast of China. Those anchored in the port Most of the ships belong to Chinese companies, and some from Nanyang, India and other places have shares in Sinochem, so this is a free port and simply does not collect port taxes."
Jinni Ge was slightly surprised: "God, no wonder the officials here are so honest. They are not allowed to collect taxes at all. When I landed in Guangzhou, those greedy tax collectors asked me for money in broad daylight."
Guo Jujing said: "You are wrong. When I came here the year before last, the board of directors of the local company publicly sentenced a person who took advantage of his power to embezzle money to be exiled. According to my observation, compared with the officials from the imperial court on the other side, the officials here are almost inferior. This can be regarded as an example of honesty and integrity. Yin Feng, the local supreme ruler, often says: Under his instructions, all corruption and bribery will never be allowed to occur."
"This is also possible. In China without God's care, at least their upper-level officials are still smart and wise. Look, Father, someone has come to pick us up,"
As soon as the two missionaries entered the city, they found themselves greeted by Bishop Baradas of Taiwan, who was wearing a monk's robe, and several Chinese monks.
"Welcome, God bless you, you are finally here," Baradas saw the two of them and pulled them together very excitedly: "That's great, the respected Father Matteo Ricci is in good health."
"God bless him, he is still in good health and can serve our Lord for many years." Jinnige crossed himself on his chest and asked curiously: "Master Bishop, how did you know that we are here? We have just You have arrived, and it seems that your movements are still free,"
Baradas smiled bitterly: "When you got on the ship in Quanzhou, someone flew a pigeon to report it to the relevant officials here. You can't imagine how tight the Chinese company's control over the coastal areas of Fujian is. The people here are He is a supporter of the China Company. Not all imperial decrees are valid here, so please pay attention to your words and deeds. The most powerful and influential people here are businessmen, especially those who own shares in the China Company. They can directly question the company. The upper level also enjoys many special rights; such as priority in unloading goods at the port, priority in purchasing land, etc. In short, I think this place is more like Venice, Italy, a republic of merchants. Of course, although there is a board of directors in name, Institutions, but generally speaking, it is still a dictatorship. Captain Yin Feng Yin has unparalleled influence and has many supporters, especially among the poor people. He has a high prestige, so I hope you will, at any time, Don’t say any inappropriate words to him in public,”
He looked at the crowds coming and going around him and said with a wry smile: "Our church has indeed been closed down, but as far as most of our missionaries are concerned, we are still free."
Jinnige represents Matteo Ricci and the Jesuit Mission in China, and Guo Jujing only came to help voluntarily, so it was the young missionary Jinnige who took the initiative to ask questions. As he followed, he asked curiously: "Mr. Bishop , I saw a huge temple with luxurious decorations after I landed ashore. Could it be that Buddhists have a lot of power here,"
Baradas replied: "Are you referring to the Mother's Palace on the edge of the pier? That is not a Buddhist temple, but a temple of the ocean goddess believed by Chinese coastal residents. Businessmen and fishermen here are superstitious about this goddess, even in Some of our believers also secretly go to worship her. Now there are about 70,000 residents on the island, and there are about 70,000 to 80,000 temporary residents. Most of them work in factories and farms here and travel regularly to both sides of the Taiwan Strait. There are also There are local indigenous residents, hundreds of blacks, thousands of Malays, many of our believers, and about 400 Europeans have settled here..."
Baradas stopped, pointed with a gloomy face to the east of the city and said: "Not far away, near the trade market, a Jewish settlement has recently appeared. There are about 200 people from Mexico and Manila. Jewish businessmen from Goa or Africa live there, and some of them are even shareholders of the Chinese Company. Just a few days ago, the company's board of directors decided to allow them to build a small synagogue,"
Jin Nige and Guo Jujing were both surprised. Guo Jujing couldn't help but said: "When I came to Taiwan and Hong Kong the year before last, there were only a dozen new Christian businessmen here. Where did these Jews come from?"
"Yin Feng, the big owner of the China Company, issued an order last year to allow the Jews to retain their own national beliefs and to settle in Taiwan as long as they agreed to work for the company... Starting from the year before last, the Inquisition in Madrid and the Inquisition in Lisbon jointly established operations in various colonies. The properties of those new Christians were searched, and a few were hanged and burned to death. Therefore, a large number of Jews came here this year under the call of the Chinese Company," Baradas said helplessly, referring to the actions of the Inquisition in his country. But it is difficult to evaluate him from any standpoint.
You Wenhui is a native of Macau. He studied under Guo Jujing. He also interjected at this time: "Not only that, since the Yin Dadong family here reconciled with the imperial court, their business has been growing and growing, and the population under their jurisdiction has also increased. , so three Buddhist temples and five or six Mazu Temple of the Sea have appeared locally; Muslim businessmen from Quanzhou also built a mosque here,"