Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 50 A Gift to the Emperor

After receiving the order from the governor's office, the Xiangshan County government did not dare to neglect it at all and immediately ordered the county magistrate to take the yamen runners and a team of county soldiers to Macau.

Seeing the situation at the Xiangshan County Court, the Jesuits in Macau assumed some disturbance had occurred within the imperial court, signaling a second Nanjing Incident. In reality, however, the presence of troops at the county court was merely a formality and a defense against bandit attacks. Guangdong had always been unstable, otherwise Chen Bangzhan would not have been appointed as the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War and the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi.

The misunderstanding was quickly resolved, as the county soldiers did not arrest anyone, but instead gave the Jesuits an invitation letter from Xu Guangqi. Although the expression and tone of the Xiangshan County Magistrate's voice were very different from the word "invitation", the content of the letter could not be false.

The letter stated that the new emperor had taken the throne and brought about a revolution. The emperor was not only interested in modern mathematics but also very pleased with the new army sponsored by the Jesuits. In light of this, the emperor graciously overturned the verdict of the "Nanjing Incident" and partially lifted restrictions on the Jesuits.

The letter also stated that Xu Guangqi, having won the emperor's favor for his well-written speeches, had been promoted to the positions of Minister of Rites and concurrently Minister of the Imperial Academy. Upon assuming this position, Xu Guangqi submitted a memorial emphasizing the usefulness of the Jesuits to the imperial court, which the emperor approved, granting them the privilege of an audience in Beijing. The Jesuits were urged to depart immediately without further delay.

In addition to the official letter from the imperial court, there was also a letter from Xu Guangqi personally addressed to the Jesuits. In it, Xu Guangqi explained that the emperor intended to incorporate "Western-style Tongzhou soldiers" into the palace guards, and that the court would need to train troops to combat the Jianzhou bandits. Therefore, he requested that the Jesuits bring as much money, personnel, literature, guns, and artillery as possible when they traveled to Beijing. He stated that if they could gain the emperor's favor, they would have the hope of spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ throughout China.

After receiving the letter, Long Huamin, the second President of the Society of Jesus in China after Matteo Ricci, was ecstatic.

Sixty-eight years had passed since Francis Xavier arrived and died on Shangchuan Island in Guangdong in the 31st year of the Jiajing reign. During this time, they had sought audiences with the Ming emperor numerous times. However, with the exception of a unique encounter with Matteo Ricci in the 29th year of the Wanli reign, the Jesuits had no further contact with the supreme ruler of the empire.

Going to Beijing to meet the Chinese emperor, promoting European science and culture to him, and opening the door to missionary work in China from top to bottom through the emperor has been the dream of the Jesuits since the first generation of Jesuits came to China.

After decades of contact and exploration, the missionary groups coming to China finally began to realize and acknowledge the differences between the Ming Dynasty or Asia and Europe.

Since Zhu Yuanzhang founded the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty maintained a dominant position over its neighboring states. After the completion of the Great Wall, the northern problem shifted from enemy invasions to chronic border conflicts. Aside from the devastating defeat at Tumu Fortress in the 14th year of the Zhengtong reign and the brief Gengxu Incident during the Jiajing reign, the empire's northern gateway—the capital—had never been threatened by foreign enemies.

The relationship between the Ming Dynasty and its surrounding regimes was not an equal relationship between countries, but a vassal relationship between the monarch and his subjects. In the court's cognition, the status of Europeans was probably lower than that of Koreans, and at most slightly higher than that of Japanese pirates.

During the initial period after the Jesuits arrived in China, the attitude of most Ming Dynasty officials toward the Jesuits was not hostile but rather indifferent. In other words, "it seemed as if not only no one supported them, but also no one opposed them." They were simply foreigners, to be appeased if possible and suppressed if not. This situation persisted until Matteo Ricci began reading Chinese literature and delving into Chinese classics.

He used a delicate key to open the vent of the Chinese Empire, but this also shocked the defenders of Confucianism. The Nanjing Incident in the 44th year of the Wanli reign was an attack launched by Ming Dynasty scholars against the Jesuits. Since then, the Jesuit missionary activities in China have been completely hit and stagnated.

However, even so, the initiators of the attack had to portray Christianity as a cult no different from the White Lotus Sect in order to gain the attention of the court and the emperor.

Now that Xu Guangqi had suddenly ascended to a high position, he not only persuaded the emperor to overturn the penalty for the religious case but also secured an audience with the Jesuits. This fully demonstrated that the over 30,000 taels of silver he had previously invested in Xu Guangqi had not been wasted. So Long Huamin immediately began his fundraising spree.

Because Carlos, who was appointed as the Governor of Macau in the 44th year of the Wanli reign, did not take up his post, Macau did not have a Governor appointed by the King of Portugal at that time. Under the three administrative offices sent by the Xiangshan County Government, the organization that managed Europeans in China was the Macau Council.

Under the control and management of the Ming Dynasty, the Macau Council had no military attributes and relatively weak administrative attributes. Its greatest significance was to reconcile conflicts of interest among maritime merchants and to ease relations between Portugal and the Ming Dynasty.

To put it bluntly, the Macau Legislative Council is a place where the pie is divided. The biggest annual debate is how much money should be spent on bribes to which officials. Once the amount and the recipients are determined, the discussion then continues with which businesspeople should contribute how much.

The Society of Jesus is the most influential organization in Macau, holding considerable influence within the Council. To raise funds and supplies, Long Huamin, in his capacity as president of the Society of Jesus and a member of the Council, requested the convening of a special meeting of the Council.

At this special meeting, Long Huamin read the invitation letter from the Ministry of Rites to the assembled members, emphasizing the emperor's high regard for the Jesuits. He then cited various setbacks, including the Battle of Tuen Mun and the Nanjing Incident, and portrayed this audience with the emperor as a religious and commercial opportunity bestowed by Jesus Christ.

When the atmosphere was almost created, Long Huamin directly asked all the major businessmen to donate money and materials according to the meaning of Xu Guangqi's letter.

The Macau Council had a history of bribing Ming Dynasty officials, so they had no objection. So, under the leadership of the Jesuits, the Council quickly assembled a shipload of gifts worth over 800,000 taels of silver.

The ship's gifts included not only rare treasures collected by major maritime merchants, but also guns, cannons, and books specifically requested by Xu Guangqi in his letter. This generous gift not only represented the Jesuits' respect for the emperor, but also reflected the major maritime merchants' anticipation of meeting him.

They hoped to capitalize on the Jesuits' support and seize this opportunity to open a new port besides Yuegang in Haicheng County, Zhangzhou Prefecture, Fujian Province. It would have been even better if the emperor had allowed them to build a port in Tianjin to accommodate Portuguese merchants.

After preparing everything, Long Huamin led a complex but not very large delegation and embarked on a journey to Beijing.

This delegation not only includes the backbone of the Jesuit Order in Australia and representatives of the top five business contributors, but also a 60-member mercenary group.

In his letter, Xu Guangqi explained that the emperor had taken a liking to the Tongzhou soldiers he had trained using Western-style military training methods and was planning to incorporate them into the Imperial Guard. Now that the emperor wanted to train more soldiers, and Xu Guangqi wanted him to lead even more, he suggested hiring a team of mercenaries to serve as instructors in Beijing.

(End of this chapter)