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Chapter 29 Jesuits

Siyi Museum, a foreign language college established during the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty, was initially divided into eight majors, teaching Tatar, Nzhi, Xifan, Xitian, Huihui, Baiyi, Gaochang, and Burmese languages.

In the eighth year of Zhengde (1513), due to the tense situation in Thailand and Myanmar, an additional [-] halls were built to teach Lanna script (that is, the script used to write northern Thai).

In the year before BC, because the Siamese tribute envoys insisted on submitting their credentials in Thai for several times (in the past, Siam's credentials were all written in Persian), Emperor Wanli set up a special Siam Pavilion.At this point, the top ten language majors of Siyi Guan in the Ming Dynasty were formed.

When it was first established, the Siyi Hall was affiliated with the Hanlin Academy. In the seventh year of Hongzhi (1494), two officials, Taichang Temple Qing and Shaoqing, were sent to "admiral the Siyi Hall", and the superior supervisory unit was also changed to Taichang Temple. .

But the Siyi Pavilion is still located in the Hanlin Academy, which is probably where the Ministry of Public Security will be in later generations.There was no square in the Ming Dynasty. From Chengtianmen (Tiananmen) to Damingmen, all central institutions were located, such as the Liubu, Zongrenfu, Taichang Temple, Honglu Temple, Hanlin Academy, Qintianjian, Imperial Hospital, etc.

The staff of the Seiyi Pavilion came from a relatively complex background. Some were foreign officials, some were foreign envoys who came to Beijing to pay tribute, and some were local intellectuals captured during the war.

In addition to translating the documents required by the imperial court, these staff were also responsible for teaching. Most of the students came from supervising students and recruiting from the society.Because there is a national civil service establishment, applicants are also very enthusiastic.

Matteo Ricci and the three of them stayed at the Siyi Pavilion as temporary staff. Yes, food, food and accommodation were provided here, which was a very good treatment for unaccompanied European missionaries like them who had just arrived in the capital.

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, I am very grateful for your help." As soon as Hong Tao entered the side hall in the backyard of the Siyi Pavilion, Li Zhizao came up with three bearded men wearing square scarves and Taoist robes, and came first without saying anything. He bowed his head, his posture was quite accurate, but his mouth was a bit anxious.

Long and tall nose, cat eyes and eagle beak, fist hair and red beard, good at doing business, wielding a gun to bully the maritime nations, this is the general description of Europeans by Honglu Temple officials.

Tall stature, high nose bridge, cat-like eyes, eagle-like mouth, curly hair and red beard are all summaries of appearance characteristics, some of which are exaggerated.

"Good at doing business" was not a good word in the Ming Dynasty. It meant that the person was restless and had problems with his character.Bullying the weak maritime countries is a very direct assessment, accusing them of relying on force to occupy many ports in Southeast Asia.

But once you actually meet him, you will find that the description given by the official of Honglu Temple is a bit like a freehand painting, with too much imagination.The number of green eyes and red beards in southern European races such as Italy, Spain, and Portugal is very small, so it is a reliable description of the British and Dutch people.

"Guests who have come from afar, please introduce yourself first!" Hong Tao was not polite, accepted the kowtow calmly, sat down first, and began to ask who was who.But I used Latin on purpose, because I wanted to test the quality of these people.As missionaries, most of them have to learn Latin.

"Merciful Heavenly Father, you have finally brought light to believers. Dear Crown Prince, I am Matteo Ricci from the Catholic Jesuits, an Italian, and the Ming Dynasty's name is Matteo Ricci, also known as Xitai. The two of them are My companion, the Italian Jesuit priest Lazzaro Cattaneo, whose Ming name is Guo Jujing, also known as Yangfeng; the Western Jesuit priest Diego de Pantoja, whose Ming name is Pangdi, whose given name is Shunyang."

Hearing that the Ming Prince actually spoke Latin, one of the men with a gray beard excitedly crossed himself on his chest and spoke briefly about their names and origins in Latin at a very fast speed.

"Take the trouble to go and greet Li Zhi..." Fortunately, Hong Tao spoke Latin fluently. Instead of continuing to chat with the three missionaries, Hong Tao turned around and sent Li Zhizao away.

"The Jesuits...Priest Matteo Ricci, as far as I know, this is a very radical and exclusive extremist religious organization. If I report this matter to His Majesty the Emperor, I'm afraid you won't be expelled from the capital." , I might lose my head!" As soon as Li Zhizao left, Hong Tao put away his dull expression, with a playful and evil smile on his lips, and softly made a very serious accusation, along with a real threat.

"No, no, Your Majesty the Crown Prince, we are just spreading the gospel of God, please don't..."

The three missionaries probably didn't expect that the Ming Prince would know so much about the internal factions of Christianity, let alone what the rules were for harming people after they had just saved them. They were a little confused for a while. There were explanations in Latin and prayers in Chinese.

"I know what you want to do, and I don't mind the proper spread of Catholicism in the Ming Dynasty, but not for free. If I can help you get permission to preach in the Ming Dynasty, what return can I get?"

Without outsiders present, Hong Tao completely let himself go, tearing off his mask to reveal his true nature that he had hidden for 20 years, and began to exploit other people's weaknesses for benefit exchanges.And it won't work if he doesn't change. As long as he catches his weakness, it's like being bitten by a bastard.

The weakness of Matteo Ricci and others is their origin, the Jesuits.Maybe they were bullying people who didn't know the details of Europe in Ming Dynasty. They didn't even cover up and directly admitted that they were Jesuit priests.Bu Chengxiang was caught by Hong Tao and fell into a passive situation.

Why does the Society of Jesus become a weakness? As Hong Tao said, it is a very extreme, exclusive, and radical religious organization.It was probably founded in the 16th century with only one purpose: to fight against Protestantism and Lutheranism and to consolidate the status of Catholicism in some countries.

To achieve this goal, expanding the scope of missionary work is one of the means.Matteo Ricci, Pontius I, and Guo Jujing, including most of the European priests who arrived in the Ming Dynasty, were sent by the church to win over believers. It would be best if you could rely on religion to influence high-level attention in other countries.

Don't underestimate this group of missionaries with dreams and fanaticism. They successfully established the Catholic Church in many Spanish and Portuguese colonies around the world, and eventually developed into a state religion.For example, most countries in South America still believed in Catholicism in later generations, and many of them opened up territories for the Pope.

But they should not try to copy this set of things to the Ming Dynasty. Unless they can turn this land into a colony, or impose an official order, all their teachings will be in vain.Even if it is passed in reluctantly, it will eventually be changed to the point where even the Pope does not recognize it.

Emperor Wanli obviously would not allow this religion, which was obviously very keen on power, to cause trouble. He needed a religion that could help centralize power, not decentralize it.Not to mention spreading, as long as the signs are discovered, they will be uprooted.

"..." All three missionaries had no idea about this kind of naked request.They simply couldn't figure out what the young crown prince planned to do, and they didn't know what was needed.

"I need you to do things for me, such as teaching new knowledge and training new skills as a believer in the church. But these things must be under my control and responsible for me alone.

If you agree, I will find a way for you to obtain a missionary license and establish a church as soon as possible.There is no need to make a decision in a hurry. We still have to get along for a while, so we can think about it slowly. "

Originally, Hong Tao didn't have to be in such a hurry to show off his cards, but several people appeared at the entrance of the courtyard, so he had to end the conversation early and put on his expressionless face again.

(End of this chapter)