Wanli Xinming

Chapter 363
Although the Ming Mission was valued by Gregory and the Holy See XIII, it was a guest from afar after all.With the health of Gregory XIII taking a turn for the worse, the vortex in Rome did not have much impact on the mission's itinerary.In addition to many forces buying low-level members of the mission and inquiring about Carlo Medici's movements, the mission's various investigations and document transcriptions are still proceeding step by step.

But the calm was soon broken. On the day before Christmas in 1584, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Castana, who baptized Xu Guangqi, made an urgent appointment with him.Xu Guangqi didn't know what was going on, and he didn't dare to neglect, so he hurriedly took Wang Jiaping to St. Peter's Cathedral to ask for an audience.

Cardinal Giovanni had a thick goatee and a thick beard, his nose was not as high as that of the Europeans, his chin was protruding, and his lips were a bit overwhelmed.But as the most likely candidate for Pope, no one dares to disrespect him a little.

After Xu Guangqi saluted according to Catholic rules, Giovanni got up to return the salute to the head of the Chinese emperor's representative mission-this is what the cardinal and Xu Guangqi do these days.Immediately, Giovanni stopped greeting and asked directly:
"Your Excellency, I heard that you have a prescription for malaria."

Xu Guangqi was startled when he heard the words, knowing that some members of the mission must be bribed-this is inevitable.Although the Daming Mission has undergone numerous confidential trainings, it is difficult for the members to have malaria and be cured of such life information without being leaked. Some ale and gold coins can make those warriors say that these are not specifically emphasized. confidential information.

He rubbed his nose and smiled and said: "Yes. Ge Hong's "Elbow Reserve Emergency Prescription" in the Jin Dynasty of my country 1000 years ago contained a method for treating malaria. Later, the medical school improved the prescription, and China is no longer helpless against malaria. .”

Giovanni was so anxious that it didn't matter who Xu Guangqi was talking about Ge Hong. He immediately asked, "Does the mission still have this prescription?"

Xu Guangqi frowned and said: "Your Excellency. Before the mission, His Majesty the Emperor forbids the mission to provide treatment to anyone. Of course, except for the 'smallpox prevention law'-because no medicine is guaranteed to be effective. If the mission treats others at will, It’s easy to get into disputes.”

Giovanni smiled bitterly and said, "Your Excellency, of course I understand His Majesty's caution. But what you don't know is that His Majesty the Pope has been suffering from malaria and has been suffering from it for the past few days. Today he started to have a fever again."

Xu Guangqi got this news from the Grand Duke of Tuscany when he was in Florence, but he still put on a surprised expression and said, "Oh? Really? I didn't know about it. I thought His Majesty's poor health was just temporary— —”

When Giovanni heard this, his eyes suddenly turned cold, and he looked him up and down.Xu Guangqi knew that it was difficult to deceive him with such a clumsy lie, so he could only continue to explain with a wry smile: "Your Excellency, I bear the emperor's order, and I can only pretend not to know some things."

This is not Xu Guangqi lying, because in order to take advantage of the traversers, Zhu Yijun did prohibit Xu Guangqi from using doctors to treat others in Europa—especially kings and nobles, so as not to cause too much butterfly effect.But in fact, this butterfly effect is inevitable-the Grand Duke of Tuscany is still alive, and Ferdinando has become a prisoner is the best proof.

Giovanni snorted, and said coldly: "Your Excellency, the one suffering from malaria is His Majesty the Pope. He is God's spokesperson on earth—now I have to doubt the piety of your belief." Xu Guangqi was taken by him Stay, momentarily dumb.

Wang Jiaping, who had been listening to the interpretation in a low voice, saw that Xu Guangqi was not easy to answer, and said with a smile, "Your Excellency, can you say this to Earl Xu Guangqi as a threat from the Catholic Church to the Chinese mission?"

After hearing this, Giovanni's face was clouded.He calmed down and said, "This is my personal opinion on His Excellency the Earl, because he is a believer."

Although Wang Jiaping had a smile on his face, Giovanni could tell that his smile was a typical "smile on the skin but not on the flesh".Then he snorted and said, "However, it is my emperor's decree not to allow other people to be treated, and even the personal actions of His Excellency the Earl represent the mission."

Upon hearing this, Giovanni closed his eyes and thought for a while.It soon became clear that if Wang Jiaping objected, Xu Guangqi could not give the order to treat the Pope.He turned his attention to Wang Jiaping, nodded to him and said, "Your Excellency, what price will the Holy See pay for His Majesty's treatment?"

Wang Jiaping just wanted to say "the emperor's order must not be violated", but when he thought that he and the embassy were both at home, if he had a way and didn't try his best to treat the "emperor" of the other party, he might have to move his head. He turned around and didn't say anything.

It is not suitable for Xu Guangqi to speak at this time, otherwise his joining the Catholic Church would be meaningless-the believers have a way to treat the Pope and refuse to provide it.

Facing Giovanni's request, the two leaders of the mission looked at each other.Seeing that Xu Guangqi had no other options, Wang Jiaping gritted his teeth and said, "Your Excellency, we came here with good intentions, but—"

"Your Excellency, what price does the Holy See pay in exchange for His Majesty's treatment?" Before he could finish speaking, Giovanni interrupted him and asked the same question again.

The meaning is obvious, the ball was kicked to the side of the mission.Whether to obey Zhu Yijun's imperial decree or provide treatment needs to be decided immediately.

Wang Jiaping saw that he could not use diplomatic rhetoric to delay, so he stopped looking at Xu Guangqi, and made a decision on his own: "Your Excellency, the mission can send a doctor. I will bear the responsibility for violating the emperor's order—" Xu Guangqi didn't notice it for a while, and interrupted him: "For Nangong, I'll take care of it."

Wang Jiaping secretly scolded Xu Guangqi's teammate in his heart, so he turned a deaf ear and continued: "However, my emperor's golden words are made into a constitution, and the will of the Lord of Heaven, Earth, Man and God cannot be easily violated—"

Giovanni: "Tell me your conditions." Only then did Xu Guangqi understand, feeling ashamed in his heart, and felt from the bottom of his heart that the emperor's appointment of Wang Jiaping as the deputy envoy was extremely correct, otherwise, it would have been absolutely impossible.

Wang Jiaping swallowed, and said to Giovanni: "First of all, although we have the honor of treating His Majesty the Pope, we do not bear any responsibility for bad results."

When Giovanni heard this, the muscles on his face twitched continuously, and he had a new understanding of Wang Jiaping's character.But the pope's life is now in the hands of the mission, and the people's concerns are justified, so they had to agree: "Yes."

Wang Jiaping went on to say: "If this God - that God blesses us, we have cured the Pope. Then the Holy See is obliged to express due gratitude to His Majesty the Emperor. This, um, how to be grateful needs further discussion."

Giovanni smiled wryly, "You might as well talk about your thoughts first. After all, His Majesty's body cannot wait."

When Wang Jiaping heard this, he straightened his back and said, "I'm just raising some personal thoughts. This is the first thing. After His Majesty the Pope recovers, he should express his gratitude to His Majesty the Emperor."

"What does 'worship' mean?"

Glancing at the wonderful expression on Xu Guangqi's face, Wang Jiaping said heartily, "It's a letter of thanks for acknowledging that His Majesty has a higher status."

"It's impossible!" Giovanni's lips trembled a little after he was out of anger. "Under God, among living humans, His Majesty the Pope is the highest. This is an undoubted truth!"

Seeing that she had poked the cardinal's lung tube, Wang Jiaping hurriedly returned the money and said, "At least we must have an equal relationship, this is my bottom line."

Giovanni's face was flushed, and it was difficult to control his emotions for a while.But then he realized that after Ferdinando failed the coup d'etat, the balance of victory was already in his favor, and the Pope's opinion was even more decisive, so he took a deep breath and gradually calmed down: "I will report this to Your Majesty—— I think I can get you a satisfactory result."

"Okay, we have reached an agreement. Secondly, I personally think that we need the right of passage of the Seris business group in Catholic countries-of course, we will pay taxes, but the tax amount will not exceed a certain limit."

The muscles on Giovanni's face twisted, and he really wanted to slap Wang Jiaping's smiling face.He thought for a long time, then said in a hoarse voice: "Your Majesty the Pope may not have that much power." Seeing the contemptuous look on Wang Jiaping's face, he blushed and continued: "Of course, if He issues an order, you can follow it." Negotiate with the king."

Wang Jiaping continued: "Very well, we have reached the second point. Again, I think we need it."

When His Excellency Giovanni, who was sweating profusely, left St. Peter's Church and rushed to the Vatican Church, he was accompanied by Xu Guangqi and the doctors of the mission.The doctor held two small handfuls of Artemisia annua and a large bag of herbs, and smiled at Xu Guangqi, "Why did Wang Shangshu flirt when he returned? He also got malaria?"

Xu Guangqi was full of the urge to laugh wildly, but he said calmly: "The old man is a little excited, um, the matter of joining the cabinet after returning to China will be stable."

(End of this chapter)