Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 52: Even though we are not old friends, we still meet

On the second day after the ship arrived in Tianjin, Guo Jujing, who had tossed and turned all night due to mixed emotions, got up early and stood alone in the inner courtyard of the inn, wandering around.

He arrived in China in the 22nd year of the Wanli reign, having already spent a full 26 years in the Ming Dynasty. In a few days, he would be sixty. Guo Jujing had studied Confucian classics in depth and knew that Confucius said in the "Political" chapter of the Analects: "At thirty, one is established; at forty, one is free from doubts; at fifty, one understands the will of Heaven; at sixty, one's ears are obedient."

Life is like a dream. Guo Jujing never expected that he would reach the age of sixty in the capital.

It wasn't that he hadn't been to Beijing before. Fifteen years earlier, in the 33rd year of the Wanli reign, he had visited this great city. In Beijing, he and Matteo Ricci had a long conversation. Slightly intoxicated by the aroma of foreign lands, they shared their experiences in China and discussed the future of the Holy Church.

They are both Italians, so when they raise their glasses to drink, they can use the full moon in the sky and their long-lost mother tongue to reminisce about the hometown that they will never return to.

At the beginning of the 34th year of the Wanli reign, Guo Jujing bid farewell to Matteo Ricci and agreed to meet again in Hangzhou, known as the "paradise on earth", five years later.

But Matteo Ricci failed to keep the appointment.

On May 5, the 11th year of the Wanli reign, Matteo Ricci died of illness in Beijing.

Guo Jujing still remembers that morning. The boatman, standing at the bow, facing the warm early morning sun, shouted, "Hangzhou!" But he, blinded by the spring breeze, burst into tears amidst the bustling paradise of water.

"Fellow Daoist, have you also come to Beijing to discuss Taoism in response to the imperial edict?" A clear female voice brought Guo Jujing back to reality.

"Fellow Daoist?" Guo Jujing turned around and looked back at the owner of the voice.

She was a young woman in a Taoist robe. Guo Jujing took one look at her, and the lines Liu Yuxi wrote in his prose, "Emerging from the mud without being stained" and "Washing in the water without being coquettish," automatically came to his mind.

"Portuguese?" After Guo Jujing turned around, the woman immediately realized that she had made a mistake.

"My name is Guo Jujing, a Jesuit from Macau." Guo Jujing stood tall and straight, wearing a simple Confucian robe resembling a Taoist robe, with a traditional Chinese hairstyle and clean-shaven temples. From behind, he looked like an old Taoist priest with a flowing white beard and an air of immortality. No wonder the woman had mistaken him for someone else.

"Excuse me, young lady, who are you?" Guo Jujing asked.

"Zhang Shirui of Longhu Mountain, my father is Zhang Xianyong, the 51st generation Heavenly Master of the Longhu Sect of Zhengyi Dao." The word Xianyong was given by Emperor Wanli as a respectful title.

"Master Zhang has also come to Beijing?" Guo Jujing's tone was filled with surprise.

Guo Jujing strongly agreed with Matteo Ricci's ideas and always adhered to the principle of "Sinicization first, then missionary work" and had a good understanding of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism.

"My father was ordered to go to Beijing, but he felt unwell after crossing Poyang Lake. He was afraid that he would not behave properly in front of the emperor when he arrived in Nanjing, so he stayed in Yingtian for a while." Zhang Shirui heard Guo Jujing's expectations, so he did not hide it.

"That's such a pity." Guo Jujing sighed. If he had the chance, he would really like to meet Zhang Tianshi. "Excuse me."

At this time, the president, Long Huamin, came out with members of the Society of Jesus and several business representatives. He came to Guo Jujing and interrupted the conversation between Guo Jujing and the pagan.

"Let's go." Long Huamin said in a bad tone.

I haven't seen this Portuguese man before? Zhang Shirui was keenly aware of Long Huamin's hostility, but she felt it was inexplicable.

"Goodbye." Guo Jujing was a little unhappy, but he said nothing. He just bowed and said goodbye to Zhang Shirui.

"Goodbye." Zhang Shirui smiled and bowed in return.

After all the Jesuits left the inn, a woman in plain clothes, holding a scabbard and with a sharp look in her eyes walked up to Zhang Shirui and asked, "Miss, are we going to Beijing today?" "I'm afraid my father and brother won't be able to come for a while." Zhang Shirui murmured to herself.

Zhang Shirui had a vague feeling that the imperial decree sent to Longhu Mountain was somehow connected to the Jesuit delegation that had recently left the inn. "Miss Ding, let's not wait any longer. Let's go."

Zhang Shirui walked to the counter and took out her customs clearance documents and badge. "Boss, let's do the math."

"Miss Zhang, please put it away. I recognize it." There were very few women staying alone in the inn. In addition, Zhang Shirui was holding a Longhu Mountain sign, so the innkeeper was deeply impressed by her.

"Let me see. By the way, you two will stay in the same upper room for a total of twelve days. Eight cents of silver a day, which is six taels in total." Meals in this inn are paid for immediately, and long-term guests are only charged for the room rate.

"Okay." Zhang Shirui nodded. She took out a dozen silver coins of varying sizes from her purse. "Weigh them and see if they're enough."

"Okay." The shopkeeper took out a scale from under the counter.

"Is your scale accurate?" Ding Baiying walked to the counter and put the knife in his hand into his arms.

"Oh! Look at what you said. My 'Jinkou Store' has been open since the time of Emperor Wuzong. We have been doing honest business." The shopkeeper looked at the knife in Ding Baiying's arms and couldn't help but shrink back.

"Then it's the same upper room, why do you charge the Portuguese man only one or two taels of silver for one night?" Ding Baiying looked at him unkindly.

"You and I..." The shopkeeper was choked. Speaking of which, the Portuguese didn't see this girl when he paid the bill.

"Hmph." Ding Baiying swiped a few medium-sized silver ingots from the counter and weighed them in his hand. "These are enough for six taels. How about weighing them? I'm afraid your scale isn't big enough."

"No need to weigh it. It's definitely enough!" According to normal procedures, the shopkeeper should have put on a fierce look and told the person in front of him to get out. But looking at Ding Baiying's half-smile, he couldn't muster the courage.

Ding Baiying took the remaining silver, took out a silver nugget weighing about one or two taels, and placed the rest in Zhang Shirui's palm. "Girl, let's go."

"This is a black market. Aren't you going to report it to the police?" Zhang Shirui asked.

"My lady, this is the inn closest to the ferry." Ding Baiying said with a wry smile.

"What's wrong with that?" This was Zhang Shirui's first time leaving Jiangxi. And if Tianshi Zhang Xianyong hadn't fallen ill along the way, she wouldn't have gone alone.

"This place is under the jurisdiction of the Tianjin Wei Commandery. Without the approval of the Commandery, no one can do business as an inn near the ferry." As Ding Baiying explained, he inexplicably felt a sense of pleasure in dyeing white paper.

"This is right here under the feet of the emperor!" Zhang Shirui immediately understood what was going on.

"The capital is the foot of the emperor." Ding Baiying snorted and said something nonsense. "Northern Zhili is the capital."

"We have been ordered to come to the capital to meet the emperor. It's just right..." Before Zhang Shirui finished her words, Ding Baiying covered her mouth with her left hand.

"Master Zhang was ordered to come to Beijing to discuss Taoism." Ding Baiying said in a low voice.

Zhang Shirui pushed Ding Baiying's hand away. "Of course I know."

"That's good to know." Ding Baiying nodded. She hadn't realized at this moment that Zhang Shirui's "knowing" and her "knowing" were not the same thing.

(End of this chapter)