Wanli 1592

Chapter 402 Excellent Civilization

Compared with the Holy See, France today is definitely a good partner. After the Nantes Pardon, France is one of the few countries in continental Europe that forgives Huguenots. Catholics account for more than 90.00% of the nationals. Under such circumstances, France can still tolerate the existence of a minority of heretics, which is indeed very tolerant.

It will be decades before Louis XIV abolished the Nantes Pardon. Now France is definitely a thorn in the eyes of the Holy See. It is also facing the current European overlord Spain. No one can understand anyone.

Xiao Ruxun will not allow the forces under his command to mix with the Holy See, and even the second step after expelling the Spanish forces is to expel the missionaries of the Holy See. Not the time.

He needs to let his commercial forces gain a firm foothold in the European continent, obtain a relatively stable source of funds, and find a new way out for the people of the country to stimulate their desire to go to sea.

China is a traditional and typical inland country. It has been eating in the ground since ancient times. However, it has to be said that China's agricultural environment is not too good. Once the area north of the Huaihe River encounters the Little Ice Age, drought will occur In the age without potatoes, the people north of the Yellow River will suffer from extinction, and the Chinese civilization maintained by agriculture will also encounter crisis. During the entire dynasty, China fell into a strange cycle.

Under the current circumstances, the only way to break this strange cycle is to "go out".

When the "Myanmar model" stimulates the entire inland of China, Chinese people will be surprised to find that this piece of land they have never paid attention to is actually a land full of gold, and the endless ocean is the lifeline of the nation. One of the indispensable supplies.

The sea contains inexhaustible treasures, waiting for human beings to discover and use them.

Accompanied by Matteo Ricci, the cardinal of the Holy See visited Yangon first, and then went to Bago along the straight and wide official road. Along the way, he saw the land on both sides of the road and hard-working farmers , There are also merchants who pull cars back and forth between the two places, and there are a lot of emotions.

"According to what you said, this land was barren three years ago, but it was developed to this point by that Chinese general in just three years? With a population of more than 100 million and hundreds of thousands of businessmen here to do business and Life?"

The cardinal was very surprised and asked Ricci.

Matteo Ricci nodded: "I have never seen such a large population in China. In our hometown, a city with a population of 10 is considered a giant city, but in China, the population of a small county is no less than that." There are several cities with a population of 20 or even a million. When I first entered a Chinese city, I was really shocked by so many people. Even in Myanmar now, the city of Yangon you see, There are also [-] people!"

"China has too many people. It would be great if all these people believed in God!"

The cardinal couldn't help but began to fantasize about such a scene.

Matteo Ricci looked at his longing face and couldn't help but said: "Bishop, I have to remind you that the Chinese have their own beliefs and beliefs, they are very civilized, they can read and write There are a lot of people, their beliefs are very tough, tough to the point of stubbornness, they are not so easy to accept God, I have tried many methods, but none of them can persuade their officials to accept God.”

The cardinal couldn't help frowning: "Even if their officials don't accept it, they still have low-level civilians. It shouldn't be too difficult for those civilians to accept God, right?"

In Europe, the development of Catholicism was very smooth, and it was easy for those illiterate foolish men and women to be fooled. So he couldn't imagine why the Chinese stubbornly rejected God.

"Chinese people have their own beliefs, from officials to civilians. They often worship God, and they also worship their ancestors. They respect their ancestors very much, to the extent that they respect God, and they respect God Their national beliefs, their emperor called himself the "Son of Heaven" and exercised his power to rule China on behalf of Heaven, Heaven and ancestors are the greatest beliefs of the Chinese people."

Matteo Ricci explained a little.

"In that case, why don't they believe in God? Isn't God the master of the sky? Their emperors are all sons of the sky, how can they not believe in God?"

Matteo Ricci hesitated for a moment, and said: "To be precise, they don't believe us. The Chinese are very humble, but they are also very proud. They believe in the beliefs handed down by their ancestors, and they have a very strong belief in it. , think their own civilization is the best, and look down on other civilizations at all."

"So are we?"

The cardinal was astonished.

"Yes."

Matteo Ricci cannot hide.

In this case, this cardinal will not be able to accept it very well. As far as he is widely respected throughout Europe, he is actually discriminated against in China!It turns out that this is the reason why Chinese people stubbornly do not accept God, because they simply look down on missionaries like them.

"The Chinese actually discriminate against us?"

"Although I can't say that exactly, but it's really close."

Ricci spoke the truth.

"This……"

The cardinal was very angry, but he thought of the prosperity and cleanliness of Yangon City, the people on the street, the countless ships in the port, the exquisite Chinese porcelain and silk, and the tea, and even As for an iron pot, those are all Chinese things, products of their civilization, and all of these products are sought after in Europe, which is enough to prove the superiority of Chinese civilization.

Now, Chinese characters and food are also creating a wave of enthusiasm in Europe. Before he came here, the nobles of Genoa had already started holding banquets about China, and they were proud of using Chinese brushes and tableware, thinking that they would use Chinese brushes to write. And using Chinese chopsticks to eat food is a decent representative of nobility, and this perception is rapidly spreading in European aristocratic circles.

A noble lord proposed to use gold and silver to buy the Chinese calligraphy presented by Chen Longzheng to the Governor of Genoa, but the Governor of Genoa refused to sell it; The governor still refused, saying that he would never sell it, and would leave the painting to his descendants for collection.

It works from top to bottom. The aristocrats are so fond of Chinese culture. I believe that this craze will spread to other regions in the near future. It will not only spread among the aristocratic circles, but also among the common people. China’s self-contained advanced civilization will become a civilization in Europe. symbol of.

Will such a civilization really accept God?

(End of this chapter)