Emperor Ming Dynasty

Chapter 878
According to common sense, the more sincere you are to the Catholic faith, the more obedient you should be.

But in reality, it is the opposite.

For example, France, known as the great filial son of the Catholic Church, was imprisoned in Avignon for 70 years. It is the plenipotentiary of secular rulers who hold high the "Gallicism" to deal with secular affairs.

Germany, known as the pope's milk cow, Henry IV, after being humiliated by Canossa, returned to his country to stabilize the order, and then went to Rome to abolish the pope.

Of course, the eldest son of the Catholic Church is more reserved. As early as the 15th century, the election of senior Spanish clergy belonged to the king; the church court must accept the king's supervision, and the church and priests must pay property taxes to the country; With king's sanction...

Of course, it is precisely because of this that these Catholic countries are keen to fight religious wars.

Because the property of the Catholic Church is basically in their pocket, and the bishop is very obedient. The Protestant wants to rebel, and the pope can't stand it, and they can't stand it. This is tantamount to digging their flesh.

In modern times, when politics and religion were separated, the right to appoint and remove bishops returned to the Holy See.

Therefore, Zhu Yixi had no choice but to be a dutiful son!
"Let Wei Kuanguo come to see me."

The emperor ordered casually.

Now preaching in China, they are Jesuits, Dominicans, and Franciscans!
Among them, the Jesuits adhered to the rules of Matteo Ricci, called themselves Western Confucians, and actively integrated into Ming Dynasty. They often had beards and hair, wore square scarves, and wore robes. They were the same as Han people except for their appearance.

Moreover, the Jesuits like to build hospitals, schools, hold princely official positions, "sacred priests" (confessional priests) and other activities!
Therefore, the Jesuits are the most widely preached.

The General Director designated Daming as a Jesuit province, and the churches in Guangdong and Guangxi in Daming were still managed by Macao; Beijing, Shandong, Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Henan were assigned to the North China Diocese; Nanjing, Huguang, Sichuan, Zhejiang, and Fujian were assigned to the South China Diocese.

The current president of Daming Jesuits is Wei Kuangguo, the third president after Matteo Ricci and Tang Ruowang, who is responsible for managing the missionary work of the entire Daming Diocese.

Soon, Wei Kuangkuang, who served as the deputy supervisor of Qin Tianjian, came to the front quickly. This is a unique position for missionaries, and there is little opposition from the court.

"Your Majesty, Wei Kuanguo, I have seen His Majesty—"

"Get up!"

The official robe is loose, the black gauze hat is square, and the words are correct and round. From a distance, he does not look like a Westerner at all.

"How many members of the Society of Jesus are there in Daming Diocese?"

The emperor said softly, the crisp sound was like pearls falling on a jade plate, it was extremely loud, and in an instant, the whole hall was suddenly quiet, only the sound of Wei Kuanguo's rapid breathing.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, there are more than [-] priests and about [-] congregants. Half of them are in Songjiang Mansion and Suzhou Mansion in Jiangsu Province, and the rest are in Beijing and Tianjin."

Wei Kuanguo didn't dare to hide anything, and described it in detail.

He understood that even if he didn't say anything, Jin Yiwei would investigate clearly in a few days.

Although he didn't understand what the emperor was thinking now, but now the priests were following the rules, and it was impossible for them to violate them.

"2 people, not bad."

The Emperor murmured softly.

2 people sounds like a small number, but in fact it is [-] middle-class and above male church members, which can be described as strong!
After all, Jesus would like to take the upper-level route.

In this case, building a few churches is like playing games.

"The bishops of each diocese are appointed and dismissed by the Vatican themselves?"

Hearing this, his whole body was shocked, and he had to bow his head, screaming inwardly!

But the emperor probably doesn't know much about the situation in Europe...

"Yes, the Jesuit bishops of the diocese are appointed and dismissed by the Holy See of Rome, including the presidency of Jesus and other teaching positions!"

"However, how did I hear that in France, England, and Spain, bishops everywhere must be nominated by their lords before they can hold office?"

This statement makes it impossible to refute it, because it is very easy to be verified. Once you lie, the consequences are unpredictable.

Wei Kuanguo could only nod his head hard: "That's true, but there is a special reason..."

"The Daming Diocese is a special new diocese, so the top and bottom are also appointed and dismissed by the Holy See, so it is special—"

"Da Ming is no exception."

The emperor said directly: "You go and tell Rome that since the Daming Diocese has been established, then don't be greedy and command by remote control."

As he said that, the emperor showed a sneer: "I just don't want to, otherwise I can change the abbots of temples and Taoist temples in the world."

It cannot be denied that it is precisely because of Rome's messing around with the Eastern Diocese, direct command, directly ruined the efforts of the Jesuits for hundreds of years.

Of course, also because of this relationship, the interests of the missionaries are naturally on the side of Macau and Rome, and they continue to lobby the court to obtain benefits.

In history, it is precisely because of this that Macao has been able to maintain its special interests for hundreds of years.

"Your Majesty, I dare not decide on such a major matter." Wei Kuanguo smiled wryly.

"There are no two suns in the sky, and there are no two masters in the country. Naturally, the Jesuits cannot be detached from the outside. Naturally, I will appoint and dismiss the Church of Ming Dynasty."

Zhu Yixi looked into his eyes calmly, and said word by word: "If it is difficult for the Jesuits to choose, or if it is towards Rome, then there is no need for the church to exist, and there is no need for missionaries—"

With a lot of preoccupations, Wei Kuanguo left slowly.

There is a saying that religion knows no borders, but missionaries do.

People naturally have positions, and missionaries are no exception. Otherwise, how could the King of France make seven consecutive popes all French.

Cultivating one's own people and making the Jesuits become more enlightened is naturally an urgent matter to be resolved.

After a certain period of time, the Jesuits with the characteristics of the Ming Dynasty can even feed back overseas and contribute to the integration of the Ming Dynasty.

Thinking about it this way, Zhu Yixi was even a little excited!

At this time, at the port of Songjiang Prefecture, another foreign guest came.

Since the opening and closing of Songjiang Prefecture, a large number of visitors from foreign countries have arrived here, which has caused extremely prosperous business.

It is located in the core area of ​​Jiangnan, rich in silk, porcelain, etc., and the people are rich. It belongs to the large parish of the Jesuits and Gyeonggi.

People of all colors, in particular, are hot topics of discussion in the city.

Seeing such a bustling scene for the first time, Nan Huairen even felt he couldn't breathe: there were too many people.

He arrived in Taiwan last year, and then he studied for more than half a year. He was able to speak Chinese for the first time, so he could come to the mainland and start his missionary work.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help getting excited.

At this time, a man came slowly, showing a hint of surprise: "Is it Father Nan Huairen?"

This is a pure Italian accent, which makes people feel familiar.

Nan Huairen was overjoyed: "Yes, God bless!"

"I'm Xu You from the diocese, and I'm here to pick you up."

The carriage was ready, and a group of people quickly got on it.

Soon, they came to Sun's house.

An old lady personally went out to meet him.

This person is not simple, she is the daughter of Xu Guangqi, who has been familiar with Western studies since she was a child, and has been baptized long ago and became the pope.

It is also true that Sun's residence is also an important venue for the activities of the Jesuits in Songjiang Prefecture.

At this time, dozens of people gathered in Sun's house, all of them were wearing long gowns and blue robes, very elegant, brocade clothes and embroidered shirts, most of them belonged to wealthy families.

It's just that there are a few more Westerners in the crowd, but they don't look obtrusive at all.

Without her, because everyone is dressed in the same dress, unless you look closely, you can't tell it at all.

"Father Nan—"

Everyone clutched the cross on their chests, seeing Nan Huairen who had come all the way, couldn't help being pleasantly surprised!
Seeing this group of people, Nan Huairen deeply understood that they were the foundation of the Jesuits, and that Domino would go to the countryside to preach is just a joke, and it is not a big deal at all.

Because these people are full of wealth and nobility in every gesture, even more noble than nobles.

"Everyone, after the news from Beijing reached the Taiwan government, the bishops were also very anxious, but this matter needs to be decided by Rome."

Nan Huairen immediately comforted him, "Everything is going on as usual, so don't panic."

Mrs. Sun came quickly, she looked directly at Nan Huairen, and said in a deep voice:
"In my old age, I have no regrets in my life. I also have a lot of affection for the congregants, especially my father and Father Ma have gone through untold hardships to win this situation."

"Nowadays, the church is at stake. Waiting so easily is not good for the congregation."

"That's right!" Xu You, who was picking up people on the side, couldn't help but add at this time: "I heard that the emperor was furious and was very dissatisfied with the Jesuits, so that recently, the local gentry have retreated a lot. , the congregation did not come to participate in the activities, and the church was much deserted."

Nan Huairen was full of surprise.

Good guy, the believers of Daming are too unsteady, is this completely different from Europa?

Sure enough, missionary work in the Ming Dynasty was not easy, and more efforts had to be made.

"Everyone, calm down." Nan Huairen said in a deep voice, "Going through such catastrophes is also a screening for the congregants. The church doesn't need too many false believers who are not determined."

Xu You said anxiously: "If things go on like this, not only false believers, but even true believers can't handle it. People will inevitably panic, and the good situation will be ruined—"

For a moment, Nan Huairen was speechless.

Afterwards, he went to Suzhou and other parishes to appease the congregants who had been operating for many years, but to no avail.

All the dioceses in Daming were uneasy, the believers were panicked, the congregations were scattered, and even in some places, the county magistrates had already started to seal down the churches.

Everyone understood that this was the emperor's pressure on the Jesuits to agree or leave.

Huge pressure swept over, almost making Wei Kuangguo tired.

It is a pity that the Suez Canal has not yet been completed, and from Europe to Asia, it still needs to go around the Cape of Good Hope, and there will be no news for a year or a half.

But this was precisely the time to cultivate the autonomous tendencies of the Daming Diocese.

Reality will force them to choose.

However, for Beijing and most of the people, there are too few people who believe in the Catholic Church, and it does not affect life at all.

What is closely related to their lives is the official approval of the Civil Information Bureau.

That is to say, in the case of borrowing the post station system, the Minxin Bureau, which undertakes the delivery of letters and goods, and handles exchange, will be widely popularized.

You must know that there are thousands of water and land post stations in the world, located in important transportation areas, and the People's Letters Bureau can use their channels to deliver letters, which will soon spread all over the country and benefit the people all over the world.

In other words, as long as there is a post station, the Civil Information Bureau can reach it.

After years of reforms, the station system is known for being simple and simple. The burden has been thrown away. Over the years, the expenditure has continued to decrease, while the income has increased day by day.

At this time, they were not satisfied with running the inn and other matters, and tried to get involved in the people's trust, but they were stopped by the emperor.

He doesn't trust bureaucrats.

In addition, if the government is allowed to operate Minxin, Zhu Yixi can almost think of it with his heels, which will inevitably delay the delivery of official letters.

Therefore, it is better to leave it to the private sector.

In other words, as long as a small amount of money is submitted by the local civil information bureaus, they can be qualified to stay in post stations, hire camels, hire boats, etc.

After all, sometimes in the wilderness, only the post station has transportation, and can hire boats, mules and horses, which is already considered good.

This is extremely convenient for the Civil Trust Bureau.

The first batch of civil letter bureaus spread across ten provinces in the north, and each of the ten civil letter bureaus submitted a thousand silver dollars to obtain a three-year qualification.

The people are also happy.

Because although the fee is expensive, the family letter is worth ten thousand gold!

In fact, the real beneficiaries are the frontier soldiers who are deeply homesick.

In the past, only generals had spare money and manpower to send letters, and ordinary people could only be pitiful.

Chahar, Chifeng!

The Shunfeng People's Letter Bureau operates Hebei and Chahar, so it has set up transportation points in Chifeng, Chengde and other cities to receive and send letters and goods.

On this day, hundreds of frontier soldiers rushed to the People's Letters Bureau in a swarm, all of them looked excited.

"Quick, why don't you open the door?"

"Those on the carriage are probably our letters?"

"My mother must have sent a letter—"

Soon, the door of the Civil Letters Bureau opened, and a dozen or so men brought boxes of letters, and then tables and chairs, and began to shout loudly:
"Zhang Fugui from the [-]th Regiment and [-]rd Battalion, his native place is Zhang Fugui from Baoding, Hebei—"

The big man in the first row shouted at the top of his voice.

Soon, a guy came to the warehouse and found Zhang Fugui according to the classified shelves of each province.

"Where are you from Baoding Mansion?" The man raised his head and checked the address.

"It's from Suizhou, Baoding Prefecture."

"The sender's name is Zhang Chang?"

"Zhang Changshou, he is my father."

Zhang Fugui couldn't wait to meet him, brought the letter, signed his name, put his fingerprint on it, and opened it eagerly.

"Hahaha, my wife gave birth to a fat boy—"

Zhang Fugui laughed out loud.

"Hey, Lao Zhang, you have been in the army for more than a year, how can you have a son?"

For a while, the whole room burst into laughter.

Zhang Fugui was furious, and said bluntly: "Before I saved up my ten-day vacation and went home, my land will not be plowed by others—"

(End of this chapter)