The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 49: If you don't accept what God has given you, you may suffer the consequences

On the Fortune-class 5 sailing cruiser, Mo Zibu met the foreign monk Pierre mentioned by Ou Tianci.

Unlike the prisoners one imagines, Pierre was wearing a purple missionary robe with a cross pattern. He did not look as shabby as an inmate, but instead looked full of energy.

He was not tall, more than a head shorter than Mo Zibu. He was very wealthy, with a chubby face and a short, round nose, which made him look very approachable.

"Your Excellency, I am Pierre from the Paris Foreign Missions, saluting you!" Pierre took the initiative to come forward and greet Mo Zibu, his tone very humble.

What can I say at this point? The inherent impression of China as rich, civilized and powerful that has been formed among Westerners over the past two thousand years has not completely disappeared.

At this time, Western Europeans were very keen to view the Chinese as white people like themselves.

And although there are obvious racial differences, a large number of missionaries still say in unison:
'The Chinese are very tall and fair, they are wealthy and polite, and are civilized white people like us.'

Please note that it is not Western Europeans praising the Chinese, but actually it is Western Europeans who are flattering themselves.

Because for thousands of years, the inherent impression of Western Europeans is that the Chinese are a tall, white, civilized race.

If this tall, fair, and civilized race looks the same as us, doesn't that prove that we are a tall, fair, and civilized race?

As for the fact that Chinese people in later generations were labeled as Mongoloids and called the yellow race, it was certainly due to the disastrous consequences brought about by the Qing government's chaos in the last sixty or seventy years, which led to the complete loss of national dignity and ethnic status.

So at this moment, when Peter looked at Mozibu, it was not a white man looking at a yellow man, but two equally civilized people having a conversation.

The port country of Ou Tianci is at least the size of a grand duchy in Europe. As the legitimate son of the grand duke (not born to a concubine), Mo Zibu does not have a title, but he deserves the title of lord.

Since everyone else was so polite, Mo Zibu had no reason to speak ill of them.

"I salute you too, missionary who has come from afar. I heard in Hoi An that there is a missionary named Peter in Ha Tien who is very famous. Is that you?"

Peter spoke Cantonese to Mo Zibu, while Mo Zibu spoke standard French to Peter.

The two of them smiled at each other at the same time.

“If this Peter refers to the bishop of St. Peter’s Church in Ha Tien, I think that’s me.

The Lord told me not to be too proud when others praise me, but today, when I received the Lord’s praise, it was like a ray of sunshine finally appeared in the sky covered by dark clouds.

The original meaning of the word Peter is a person as solid as a rock. Jesus’ chief disciple was also named Peter.

So this is a respectful title for Pierre among believers, similar to how Chinese people call their fellow believers the contemporary Zigong or the contemporary Yan Hui.

As for this missionary in front of us, his title of Peter was known to everyone in history because he brought a lot of aid to Nguyen Phuc Anh, which made it possible for Nguyen Phuc Anh to defeat the Tây Sơn army and restore the country.

It became widely known only through the propaganda of the Nguyen court.

Now, those who know his title of Peter must be those who have had in-depth contact with Christianity.

That is why Peter was so excited that Mozibu called him Peter.

Seeing the missionary so excited, an idea suddenly came to Mo Zibu's mind.

From a historical perspective, Peter and the impoverished prince Nguyen Phuc Anh hit it off immediately, and he spared no effort and tried his best to restore Nguyen Phuc Anh's country at all costs. It is very likely because this guy really believed that he was the rock-solid Peter who was willing to sacrifice his life for preaching.

If you don't fool a guy like this when he's handed to you, you'd be letting down God's arrangement.

Therefore, under Peter's expectant eyes, Mo Zibu waved his hand to let the people around him disperse, leaving only Chen Guangyao and the bearded Annan man Wu Wenyong whom he brought away from Rong City as guards.

"Mr. Bishop, do you know what we're going to do?" Mo Zibu asked vaguely, his hands clasped behind his back, facing the sea. Peter pondered for a moment. "The Duke didn't specify, but I imagine it's related to expanding trade from Hexian to Jindannagar."

Mo Zibu shook his head and said, “When I was in Hue, every time I fell asleep, there was always a voice calling me.

He told me that there would be a terrible war in the world and disaster would spread to every inch of land in Central and South China.

I also vaguely saw a huge white elephant wreaking havoc on villages and cities, and I heard its terrifying yet triumphant roar.

As he spoke, Mo Zibu tightened his clothes, as if he was a little afraid of the cold.

A huge white elephant is wreaking havoc throughout central and southern China, and its direction is too obvious.

Central and Southern China? That's quite fitting, Peter muttered to himself.

Hearing what Mo Zibu said, Peter seemed to be hesitant to speak.

In his opinion, Mo Zibu was a lord with great power. He wanted to lead the conversation to God, but was afraid of counterproductive results.

Over the years, he had preached the gospel of God to Chinese dignitaries, and had many experiences of being caught by the angry Chinese, tied to trees and whipped. Peter was already a little scared.

Mo Zibu paused after he finished speaking, and seeing that Peter didn't come up to respond, he thought his hint was not obvious enough, so he quickly took some more drastic measures.

"So I was thinking about how to resolve this disaster, and then I met Captain Manuel Bonn in Hoi An.

He told me that the Burmese king was revered as the White Elephant King, who was brave and good at fighting but also warlike, which should be consistent with the scene I saw in my dream.

And this white elephant king has two of the sharpest tusks.

One was an invincible Burmese soldier under his command.

One was the French slave artillery unit under his command, led by Lieutenant Colonel Bruno.

So I decided to take the brave warriors who dared to fight the devil and break one of the sharpest tusks of the White Elephant King and rescue the French artillerymen who were captured by him.

Mr. Missionary, you are a devout person who is close to God. Tell me, is this voice the call of the Buddha Shakyamuni, or is it the revelation of a god that I have never encountered?"

Peter's eyes suddenly widened and his body began to tremble slightly. The Catholic Church both hates divine revelations and also likes them.

I hate Shenqi because I'm afraid that those low-class people will take advantage of this to cause trouble.

They like divine revelation because when divine revelation appears in people like Mo Zibu, they can quickly see the heavenly water needed for the doctrine to grow rapidly like an oasis from a desert of Jesus Christ.

As for missionary work, the key is to control the upper class, and then it will be easy to control the ruled.

Peter was about to say that this must be a revelation from our Lord Jesus, but years of experience of messing things up and being expelled made him hold back.

"Your Excellency, if you wish to rescue the French gunners captured by the White Elephant King, it is very likely that their devout prayers have been effective."

"Maybe, this may be possible." Under Peter's extremely expectant eyes, Mo Zibu suddenly braked and then changed his posture smoothly.

"Perhaps the truth will be revealed when I arrive in the Kingdom of Arakan. For now, Your Excellency, please take a good rest."

Peter almost vomited a mouthful of blood. He had just entered the climax when Mo Zibu stopped. He felt very uncomfortable being stuck in this position.

At this moment, Brother Pei came running over like a gust of wind, "Dragon Head, Master Li of Jinshan Hall sent an urgent letter. There's a huge fire in Luokun Port. It seems someone is attacking Luokun!"

(End of this chapter)