I, the Ming Dynasty, can still save me

Chapter 184 Tang Ruowang comes to Beijing (please subscribe)
"Teacher Tang Ruowang, we have arrived in Beijing."

Behind the slightly swaying curtain is a missionary who looks very young, with a tall nose and deep eyes. He is wearing a traditional Chinese robe, but there is a cross hanging on his chest, and he is still muttering something.

Now after hearing Zheng Zhilong's instructions, he immediately stopped praying, opened the curtains of the carriage, and looked outside.

"This is the capital of the Eastern Empire. Lisbon really looks like a small town compared with here. Even Paris in France is far inferior."

When he saw the five-foot-high city wall and the endless flow of people, he couldn't help but sigh with Zheng Zhilong.People passing by the carriage glanced in and were frightened to see such a tall-nosed, deep-eyed foreigner with yellow hair and green eyes. Some even fled in fear after seeing it.

"It was the same for the first time I saw him. After all, Beijing is the place where the emperor lives. It is certainly not comparable to places like the West."

Hearing this, Zheng Zhilong also answered proudly.He was really annoyed with this foreign priest at first and didn't want to come to Beijing with him at all. However, his uncle Huang Cheng did business in Macau all year round and was very well-informed about the court's news.

After learning that the emperor ascended the throne, he reopened the maritime ban and was also very interested in Western France. He ordered the purchase of artillery in Macau and hired gunners and cannon casters. This allowed his uncle Huang Cheng to see business opportunities.

Originally, his goods were only traded between Nanyang and Macau, but for some reason in recent years, the number of merchant ships from Nanyang to Macau began to decrease. Later, I found out that this was because the Western countries started to fight, so this made Huang Cheng I have the idea of ​​​​opening up business in the north.

At this time, the artillery purchased by the imperial court in Macau, as well as the cannon casters and gunners hired by the imperial court were already in place. At the invitation of Xu Guangqi and Li Zhizao, Tang Ruowang, the new missionary who arrived last year, also went to Beijing together.

But after all, Tang Ruowang had just arrived in Macau and his Chinese was not very fluent, so he needed a translator.At this time, Zheng Zhilong, who can speak Spanish and Portuguese, is just a suitable candidate.

Therefore, Huang Cheng asked his nephew to accompany Tang Ruowang northward. While serving as a translator for Tang Ruowang, he could also gain experience and try his luck to see if there were any opportunities.

This made Zheng Zhilong, who longed for a career, extremely reluctant. He originally wanted to take a boat with his uncle to Manila, Luzon this year to see the world. Why did he suddenly have to work as a translator for this missionary? The gap was too big.

But he really couldn't defeat his uncle, so he had no choice but to get up. He got up in December and spent the Spring Festival in Nanchang. Although there were some difficulties from some officials along the way, with the approval from the Ministry of War, everything was fine.

As a Jesuit missionary who could come to China, Tang Ruowang was a talented person who was proficient in astronomy, geography, science and technology. Zheng Zhilong benefited a lot from talking and learning with him all the way, and he grew to respect this man who was more than ten years older than himself.

At this moment, Li Zhizao's student Zhang Tao also came over and gave Zheng Zhilong instructions.

"First officer, I will go into the city and go directly to the Ministry of Industry later to hand over these artillery pieces to the Western gunsmiths and gunners. You will take Mr. Tang Ruowang to the house of Mr. Xu Guangqi, my mentor, with the address I gave you earlier." He said that today they are hosting a banquet in honor of Mr. Tang Ruowang at Mr. Xu Guangqi’s residence.”

Zheng Zhilong has no problem. He is not familiar with the place in the capital, so he can naturally follow Zhang Tao's arrangements.

Seeing Zheng Zhilong nodding in agreement, Zhang Tao nodded and said goodbye to Tang Ruowang, and then called for the carriage behind him to turn around and drive towards the east gate of the capital, leaving only Zheng Zhilong, Tang Ruowang and the three carriages.

Since time was not pressing, after Zheng Zhilong entered Beijing, he strolled around slowly in his carriage while hurrying on his way.

There were shouts coming and going, and the names of the shops were clearly written on various vertical banners: Dashilar Songjia Shoes, Zhaojiahui Yijiu, Liujialeng Noodles on Shunchengmen Street, Liu Cuijiaxiang of our hospital, Diaojia Pills, etc. , a dazzling array of things to see.

There were also people coming and going on the road, including scholars from far away who came to Beijing to Kaoenke, vendors shouting and walking in the streets, and market customers shopping leisurely, making it a lively scene.

But what surprised Zheng Zhilong the most was that there were many children on the street. There were many folded paper booklets in the big cloth bags around their waists. They were walking back and forth on the street, holding these booklets high and shouting:

"The imperial edict of the Wenhua Palace is approaching, and the ministers of the DPRK and China are among the suggestions and suggestions. Today's new "Da Ming Daily" is only [-] cents per copy. Come and buy it, come and take a look!"

"The imperial court wants to reform the salt tax and reintroduce the method of opening up the country. The details are in the "Da Ming Daily", [-] cents per copy, come and buy it, come and take a look!"

"Selected Hanlin Commentary, all articles written by Jinshi masters, imperial examinations and children's studies, one hundred copies!"

Along with the shouts of these newsboys, some passers-by stopped and bought a copy. These newsboys also skillfully took out the newspapers, and everything felt normal.But Zheng Zhilong was greatly shocked. He now felt like Grandma Liu was rushing into the Grand View Garden without knowing what to do.However, out of curiosity, he also called the newsboy, paid for one, opened it and started reading.

Just look at this newspaper. There are four big characters of Daming Daily in the upper right corner. Below the big characters are not only the date, but also daily fortune taboos. On the left are some court news, such as what the emperor wants to do in the paper on February [-]. According to Hua Dian's edict, the Ministry of Industry has begun construction of a firearms workshop in Tongzhou, and is also recruiting craftsmen. Those who are interested can apply. There are also memorials from some ministers on salt tax, sea opening, etc.

Zheng Zhilong briefly read it and felt that the content was detailed, and he also found a very useful piece of news. The newspaper said that the Tianjin shipyard had begun building ships and put them into the sea. The imperial court was also recruiting craftsmen and sailors, and also encouraged merchants. If you buy a ship and go overseas to do business, you only need to pay the customs duties normally.

This made Zheng Zhilong very interested, and he felt more and more that this trip to the capital was really the right one. The imperial court was so engaged in sea trade, so it seemed that he could write a letter to suggest to his uncle whether he could transport Nanyang goods to Tianjin for sale. This would definitely be a huge profit.

Thinking of this, Zheng Zhilong suppressed his excitement and put the newspaper aside, thinking that the news should be conveyed to his uncle as soon as possible, but before that, he still settled Mr. Tang Ruowang.

With the address given by Zhang Tao, Zheng Zhilong asked several questions on the way and soon arrived at Xu Guangqi's house. He presented the greeting card that he had prepared. The servants of Xu Guangqi's family had already received Xu Guangqi's instructions and immediately invited the two of them. After entering, he also asked the servants on the side to quickly bring the two of them in.

"The carriage behind is full of books brought by Master Tang Ruowang. They are all specially requested by Xu Guangqi and Mr. Li Zhizao. Please handle them with care and do not damage them."

Zheng Zhilong had also read books for several years and knew that these books were brought by Tang Ruowang from the West and were very precious.So I took care of it along the way, just to avoid any damage.

Xu Guangqi's servants naturally understood their master's preferences and valued these Western gadgets and books very much. Naturally, they did not dare to place them randomly and were very careful.

As soon as they entered the mansion, Xu Guangqi and Li Zhizao, who were notified, immediately came out to greet Tang Ruowang.

Since they learned from the letter that Tang Ruowang would arrive today, the two took special leave to wait. After all, this day was too important.

"Master Tang Ruowang, the Lord is at peace. Last year, Master Xiong Sanba wrote a letter saying that a wise and knowledgeable priest had arrived in Macau. I quickly wrote a letter saying that the emperor is now interested in Western knowledge and must let him come to the capital. Ju, I didn’t expect you to arrive so soon. You’ve been working by boat and carriage all the way, so please come in quickly.”

Although Tang Ruowang worked hard to learn Chinese along the way, it was very difficult after all. Now he can only speak some basic words. When he saw Xu Guangqi and others greetings, he also greeted them in fluent Chinese, and then followed Xu Guangqi and others into the main hall.

Fortunately, Zheng Zhilong's Portuguese is very good. With his translation, the communication between them became much smoother.

"Priest Xiong Sanba passed away last year, and Priest Pangdi died three years ago. There are fewer and fewer missionaries in Macau, so after receiving your letter, the Macau church sent me here. I also heard that Now the emperor of the Ming Dynasty has begun to be interested in Western learning and firearms, so he specially brought many books from Macau. I hope to meet the emperor then and give him all these books so that he can put aside his original misunderstanding of us."

Tang Ruowang was a very smart man and knew how to go with what he liked. Since the emperor liked Western learning, he would send more books to the emperor. Moreover, he also knew a lot about Western technology and firearms. As long as he met the emperor, he would like these things. , then the ban on the spread of Catholicism can naturally be lifted. This is also the plan of Xu Guangqi and his two brothers.

Xu Guangqi learned about the deaths of Xiong Sanba and Pang Di from Li Zhizao last year.

In fact, these two people had been to the capital a long time ago and entered the Forbidden City in the name of repairing the chime bell. Pang Diwo was responsible for teaching the ancient Yiqin playing method. The students were all eunuchs.Among them, Matteo Ricci despised the eunuch class after being blackmailed by the eunuch Ma Tang, while Pang Diwo had more contacts with the eunuch group in the late Ming Dynasty and converted many palace eunuchs to Catholicism.

After Matteo Ricci's death, the two took advantage of the errors in the predictions made by the Qin Tian Jian and were ordered by Emperor Shenzong to participate in the revision of the calendar. They were also invited by Xu Guangqi to jointly compile "Elements of Geometry".In the 42nd year of Wanli, the two of them also drew the "Comprehensive Map of the World, the Earth and the Sea" in compliance with the decree of Emperor Wanli, and Pang Diwo wrote the first modern Chinese geography monograph, "Zifang Waiji".

Therefore, they were not only good friends of Xu Guangqi, but also made outstanding contributions to Sino-Western exchanges. Therefore, when Tang Ruowang heard about their deaths, he couldn't help but sigh.

Tang Ruowang also saw their sadness and felt relieved.

“It is the Lord who has accepted them into the Kingdom of Heaven, and they are also lucky, so we should continue to work hard to complete their unfinished business.”

These words also made Xu Guangqi look solemn. It is true that there are many people in the court who are opposed to their Western methods and even hate missionaries. Even if the emperor now uses them in important positions, they cannot take it lightly. They must do something that satisfies the emperor. This will give you a chance to lift the ban.

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(End of this chapter)