Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 17 Buddha, Laojun, and God

"Xu Guangqi was born in the 41st year of the Jiajing reign. In the 9th year of the Wanli reign, he passed the Jinshan Guardian Academy examination and taught in his hometown. In the 21st year of the Wanli reign, he went to Shaozhou, Guangdong, to teach, where he met the Italian Jesuit missionary, Guo Jujing." Zhu Changluo pulled a piece of paper from his pocket, on which was written Xu Guangqi's life story. "In the 28th year of the Wanli reign, he went to Yingtian and met the Jesuit Matteo Ricci. In the 31st year, he was baptized in Nanjing by the Jesuit Luo Ruwang and entered the Church, taking the name Paulus."

Xu Guangqi's face turned pale in an instant, and sweat poured down. He quickly knelt on the ground and kowtowed, saying, "Your Majesty! The Jesuits are not like the White Lotus Sect. We are not an obscene cult and have no intention of rebellion!" The worst prediction had indeed become a reality.

In the 44th year of the Wanli reign, Shen, the acting Minister of Rites in Nanjing, implicated Catholic missionaries in China three times for alleged ties to the White Lotus Sect and their alleged involvement in illegal activities. Xu Guangqi submitted letters of defense, but to no avail.

In July of the 54th year of the Tang Dynasty, foreign missionaries including Wang Fengsu and Xie Wulu were arrested in Nanjing and subsequently taken to Macau. In December, foreign missionaries including Pang Di'e and Xiong Sanba were also taken from Beijing to Macau. From this point on, Catholicism in China was devastated.

"If I want to deal with the Jesuits, do I need to summon you to the capital to discuss this matter?" Zhu Changluo placed a piece of paper with Xu Guangqi's biography in front of him and ordered, "Stand up!"

Xu Guangqi heaved a sigh of relief upon hearing this, and stood up and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me for my rudeness."

"You are forgiven." Zhu Changluo nodded.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Xu Guangqi bowed again.

Zhu Changluo looked at Sun Chengzong and sighed helplessly. Sun Chengzong returned Zhu Changluo's equally helpless smile. It was Emperor Shenzong, who hadn't attended court or taken care of government affairs for years, who had become "interested" in the Nanjing Incident and personally approved it, ordering the banning of Catholicism in China.

However, Zhu Changluo did not suffer from Zhu Yijun's paranoia, and he was well aware that Catholicism in China had no connection with the White Lotus Sect. Moreover, the real threat to the country and the ancestral temples was never these external things.

The fundamental reason why the White Lotus Sect was able to gain so much support was not because it colluded with foreign religions, but because the grassroots governance of the Ming Dynasty was rotten to the core.

"Xu Shaozhan, what do you think of what my teacher just taught?" Zhu Changluo asked.

"Teacher Sun is certainly much better than a country teacher like me." What do you think? It's very well said. But he immediately realized that the emperor was not asking about "teaching" but "content."

The Emperor had the Imperial Tutor teach the prince about Western learning, and this was definitely not without purpose. Was the Emperor trying to introduce Western learning?

"In the 34th year of the Wanli reign, you collaborated with Matteo Ricci to translate Geometry's Elements. After completing the translation of Geometry's Elements, you translated Measurement Principles. In the 35th year, you returned to your hometown to observe mourning for your father. You cross-referenced Measurement Principles with Zhoubi Suanjing and Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art, and compiled Measurement Similarities and Differences; you also wrote Pythagorean Theorem to explore the Shang Gao Theorem." With every word Zhu Changluo said, Xu Guangqi became more afraid.

Do the factory guards know me so well?
Sun Chengzong was also secretly shocked. His Majesty had just ascended the throne and was able to control the East Factory and the Embroidered Uniform Guards like an arm. For the Ming Dynasty, was this a good thing or a bad thing?

However, Zhu Changluo had no need to, and did not, have the Imperial Guard investigate Xu Guangqi. He knew so much about him because his undergraduate thesis was on "Xu Guangqi and the Spread of Western Learning to the East." He had no idea that further study would lead him to a Qing history researcher.

In a sense, he is a fan of Xu Guangqi.

"I have read all these works, they are very good." Zhu Changluo praised sincerely.

Xu Guangqi's nose suddenly felt sore upon hearing this. He had been lobbying for the court to respect his research and new scholarship for more than a decade, even resorting to the effort of befriending the Donglin Party.

But except for a very small number of people who agreed with him, the vast majority of officials regarded Western religions and Western learning as cults and heresies similar to the White Lotus Sect, which eventually led to the complete banning of Catholicism.

If the new emperor summoned him to Beijing not to strike Catholicism in China again, he must have wanted him to have a deeper understanding of Western learning, or even to introduce it in its entirety.

Xu Guangqi decided to seize this opportunity: "Your Majesty! Western religion is by no means heresy, and it has never had the intention of overthrowing the world. I am willing to protect it with my life and property." He first gave the emperor a reassurance.

"Yeah." Zhu Changluo nodded and motioned him to continue.

"In the 35th year of the Wanli reign, I returned to my hometown to observe mourning for my father. Based on my studies of the West, I built farm villas, opened up plantations, and conducted experiments on the introduction and cultivation of imported crops in these plantations." "Based on the results of these agricultural crops, I wrote articles such as "Sweet Potato Notes", "Turnip Notes", "Jibei Notes", "Cotton Planting Methods", and "Diagrams of Planting Bamboo in Daiyuan". In the 41st year, I dug canals and planted rice in Fangshan and Laishui counties, and successively wrote "Yiken Order" and "Draft of Agricultural Book". Recently, I am preparing to compile the agricultural data accumulated over the years into a book, "Taichang Agricultural Policy." This is just flattery.

If his agricultural works could be passed down through the ages, then the emperor who picked up a signature on them would also gain a reputation for being a great author, just like Zhu Di did with the Yongle Encyclopedia.

Changing the "Complete Book of Agricultural Administration" to "Taichang Agricultural Administration"? You old man are really good at it. Zhu Changluo smiled.

There's hope! When Xu Guangqi saw Zhu Changluo smile, he felt that his plan was effective, so he cheered up and continued to demonstrate the practicality of Western learning to Zhu Changluo.

"In the 38th year, my mourning period ended and I returned to Beijing to resume my original post. Because the Imperial Astronomical Observatory's calculations of the solar eclipse were inaccurate, I collaborated with missionaries to study astronomical instruments." Xu Guangqi talked incessantly, with a fanatical look gradually emerging on his face.

Zhu Changluo listened patiently, asking questions and expressing his opinions from time to time.

Gradually, Xu Guangqi began to experience a long-lost feeling. It was truly like the sound of flowing water in the mountains or Boya and Ziqi, moving and touching.

"Lord Xu, I wish to introduce Western learning to bring new vitality to the stagnant Ming Dynasty." By this time, Sun Chengzong had already left the right wing of Huangji Hall. The two princes' lessons were not yet finished, and he couldn't interrupt the Emperor's conversation with Xu Guangqi, so he temporarily moved the classroom to the left wing with the two princes.

"I am willing to share the emperor's worries!" Xu Guangqi answered impatiently.

"Ahem!" Zhu Changluo coughed lightly, adjusting his expression. He put on a worried and sighing look and said, "Mr. Xu, I am very disappointed with the current atmosphere of the Ming Dynasty. I am wondering if we can simply abandon the national system and fully introduce Western systems as the main principles of our dynasty."

Without hesitation, Xu Guangqi said in a resolute tone, "Absolutely not! Western learning certainly has its merits, but Western systems are far inferior to those of the Ming Dynasty. Although I use the word 'Western' to refer to all of Europe, Europe is not a single entity."

"I am familiar with Jesuits such as Matteo Ricci, Pontiac, Zeng Dezhao, and Johann Adam Schall von Bell, but they all come from different countries. Matteo Ricci is Italian, Pontiac is Spanish, Zeng Dezhao is Portuguese, and Johann Adam Schall von Bell is Roman. Since the division of Rome, Europe has no longer had a common ruler. The European countries are like the ancient Warring States Period in China, attacking each other without rest, and the people are living in misery." Xu Guangqi paused.

"Luo once said in his Romance of the Three Kingdoms that the general trend of the world is that after a long period of division, there will be unification, and after a long period of unification, there will be division. Although Europe has a 'God', it has no 'Heaven'. Without 'Heaven', there is no 'Union', and without 'Union', there is no 'People of the World'. All people have no common ruler, only a common ancestor, God. Therefore, Europe has long been divided and cannot be united."

"Without the world, there is no emperor?" Zhu Changluo said casually.

Zhu Changluo's mumbling frightened Xu Guangqi so much that he broke out in a cold sweat. He immediately realized that the emperor was testing him, so he quickly added, "Western learning is the universal method of gezhi (investigating things to gain knowledge). In the late Qing Dynasty, physics, chemistry, and other disciplines were collectively referred to as gezhi. It has nothing to do with Western systems. For example, these numbers did not originate in the West; the West merely quoted them."

"Then don't call it Western Learning, but call it New Learning instead." Zhu Changluo asked, "Will your Western friends accept it?"

"Your Majesty! I have said that in the West there is only God but no emperor. They are willing to abandon their nationality forever in order to spread the gospel of God. If Your Majesty is worried about this, you can follow the example of the Three Wus and One Zong." Xu Guangqi replied.

"The Three Wus and One Zong destroyed Buddhism? Mr. Xu, you just begged me not to take action against the Jesuits, and now you suggest that I follow the Three Wus and One Zong. How do you view your relationship with Western learning and God?" Zhu Changluo looked at Xu Guangqi with a scrutinizing look and asked.

"Just because the Jesuits have no desire to change the world today doesn't mean they never will," Xu Guangqi replied sincerely. "I will be a citizen of the world until I die! I simply want to introduce new learning to bring prosperity to the country."

"Very good. I appoint you as the Minister of Rites and the Minister of the Ministry of Rites. Send a letter to your Western friends in the name of the court, asking them to come to Beijing. As long as they are always the subjects of the Ming Dynasty and the people of the world, it is not a bad idea to have another god next to the Buddha and Laojun." Zhu Changluo nodded.

"The minister obeys the order."

　Tai: stable and peaceful; Chang: prosperous and flourishing.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)