The literary giants of the late Ming Dynasty began by copying books

Wang Wenlong said with a smile: "I believe in Taoism, not Taoism. Taoism emphasizes the unity of nature and man, and natural will. It believes that people should act according to natural methods, harvest in autumn and store in winter, go to bed early and get up early, rather than worshiping anyone." Ghosts and gods, I don’t believe in ghosts and gods.”

Pang Di shook his head and said: "The Lord is the Creator, which is different from the ghosts and gods in Chinese culture who only have some magical powers. The Lord is not a ghost or god."

Zhang Ruitu nodded while listening, and said with praise: "Mr. Pang's words were very clear."

Wang Wenlong smiled and said: "Then we are the same. Taoists believe that Tao is the creator. Tao produces one, which produces two, two produces three, and three produces all things. According to this, the Lord and Tao in Catholicism are the same thing."

Zhang Ruitu and He Qiaoyuan blinked, knowing clearly that Wang Wenlong was arguing, but suddenly realized that his logic was stricter.

Both of them have read Taoist classics. Thinking about it this way, Tao is actually more advanced than God, because Tao is born from nothingness, and God is an entity after all. Wang Wenlong is already speaking modestly. To be correct, According to this statement, God should be born from the Tao.

Pang Di, this was the first time I heard such a statement. I couldn't refute it for a while and couldn't help but feel a little angry. He was only in his twenties this year and couldn't help but say:

"Mr. Jianyang misunderstood. God is the creator of all creation. How can something like 'Tao' be comparable?"

After Pang Di said this, I noticed that both He Qiaoyuan and Zhang Ruitu looked a little uncomfortable, and I instantly understood that I was losing my temper.

Zhang Ruitu originally wanted to come up and persuade me, but he was a little unhappy when he heard Pang Di's words. Although he appreciated Catholicism, he didn't like the local doctrine to be belittled in this way, so he simply didn't speak.

In fact, the Donglin Party members of the Ming Dynasty supported Catholicism probably because they wanted to find a faith that could unite the lower classes.

The Donglin Party was generally worried that Buddhism had been developing toward the literati at this time, and Confucianism itself did not have a sufficient philosophical system to counter the influence of Buddhism among the common people.

They seem to feel that the more secular Catholicism can be combined with Confucianism to direct believers' efforts to issues such as national defense and economy, rather than worshiping Buddha and seeking immortality every day.

The relationship between the Donglin Party, Qingliu and the Catholic faith at this time was probably a strategic one.

However, Pang Di and I were brought to the cultural gathering by He Qiaoyuan, and I have some friendship with him. Now that Wang Wenlong has tricked me into a blind corner, he just can't defend Pang Di and me. At this time, the two sides started arguing, and He Qiaoyuan couldn't help but look embarrassed.

Pang Di didn't want to offend Wang Wenlong. He also shouldered the mission of preaching. After the silence, he smiled and apologized: "Mr. Jianyang, maybe I don't know enough about Eastern philosophy. Maybe there is no essential conflict between us."

"It's easy to talk, but collisions between different ideas are inevitable." Wang Wenlong also said that the Jesuits were by no means a hostile force to the Ming Dynasty at this time.

Sooner or later, the Jesuits will understand that the Ming Dynasty is too powerful and cannot be defeated by them. The missionary policy of the Ming Dynasty will eventually turn to moderate preaching.

Macau has the best artillery foundry in the Far East at that time, the "Bugalau Cannon Foundry", as well as Western artillery technology and firearm control theory, how to calculate charges and build bastions, Wang Wenlong doesn't know these things anyway, the original history In order to preach in China, the Chinese Jesuits taught many apprentices and helped establish the artillery force in Liaodong. Unfortunately, Sun Yuanhua's artillery force, taught by the Jesuits in the original history, later rebelled and went to the Manchu Qing Dynasty.

After returning from the party, Wang Wenlong had dinner with Shen Yixiu and Li Guoxian. Seeing that it was time to rest, the three of them opened two rooms, one large and one small next to each other. The sound insulation effect of the inn was extremely poor. Wang Wenlong thought that he would stay with Li Guoxian that night. In the big room, Shen Yi repaired to the small room. After thinking for a long time, he made the final decision: "I will sleep in the small room tonight, and you two will sleep in the big room."

After saying that, he ran away quickly.

Shen Yixiu and Li Guoxian looked at each other, and Li Guoxian stood up proactively: "Sister, I'll make the bed."

Although Shen Yixiu was jealous that Wang Wenlong went to Li Guoxian, but after seeing Li Guoxian busy, his heart softened and he told his maid not to do anything, and they made the bed together.

The two girls, young and old, started chatting while lying on the bed.

"My father's family is a businessman. The garden is very rustic, with only two small buildings. Your garden in Suzhou actually has a lake. Can you row a boat?"

"Of course. When it snows, there will be snow on the lakeside and the lake won't freeze. We can row a small boat and put a stove on the bed to make tea."

"I really envy you. You must be spotted by many young talents in the Shen family in Suzhou."

"I don't even look down on them. In fact, few of those young talents are good-looking. They are far from tolerable in terms of their romantic appearance."

"He is not romantic. Let me tell you quietly, he couldn't even untie a girl's bellyband the first time. He must have been a vegetarian for more than 20 years."

"Really or not? Wang Jianyang doesn't know how to untie a woman's bellyband?"

"What did I lie to you about? I almost tied the threads to death."

"How could such a thing happen? Hehe, I also thought about his stupidity. The first time he got on my father's boat, he..."

"I thought of one more thing. We just met at that time..." The two sisters discussed it until midnight, and finally came to a conclusion: Wang Wenlong looked smart to outsiders, but he turned out to be a fool who didn't understand women's thoughts. No wonder he was in his twenties. I haven't touched a woman in years.

After a discussion, the relationship between the two people improved a lot.

Turning around, Wang Wenlong found that Shen Yixiu and Li Guoxian's sister were making out. Shen Yixiu always looked at him and smiled, thinking that the two of them probably said something interesting last night.

Wang Wenlong remembered that in his previous life, he had read on the Internet that if two people were together, as long as they found someone they could debase together, their relationship would be much better.

Wang Wenlong didn't know which unlucky guy had been disparaged by them, but it was none of his business, so it didn't matter.

Wang Wenlong was in the post station sorting out things to go to Xiamen, but Pang Di came to visit him all the way.

Wang Wenlong stood up to greet him.

Pang Di sat down and expressed his apology first: "I apologize to sir for my abruptness yesterday."

This man is really capable of bending and stretching. No wonder he became the first batch of elite Jesuits to successfully missionary to China.

"Yesterday it was just a conflict of opinions and I just said a few words. I don't think I have any grudges about it." Wang Wenlong looked at Pang Di and said, "You must have other things to say when you come today."

Pang Diwo smiled and said to Wang Wenlong: "Sir, he is not from the Ming Dynasty. He must know more about what the Jesuits do than the people in the Ming Dynasty. I won't sell it. I want to know if you are hostile to the Jesuits?"

Pang Di is actually only a man in his twenties. Although I pretend to be a virtuous person to other Ming Dynasty people, I still have a true temperament after all. After hearing what he said, Wang Wenlong really appreciated him in his heart and said bluntly: "I have seen the behavior of Catholic priests in the West. I don't like Catholicism as much as the Jiangnan scholar-officials do, but it's not to the level of hostility. Yesterday I just had some opinions on your current missionary methods. I wonder what you think?"

Ponti said: "The figures I respect most are Saint Xavier, who preached in the Far East, and Father Costa, the brave missionary."

Xavier was one of the founders of the Jesuits. His missionary work in Asia had many setbacks, but he still successfully spread Catholicism to Malacca and Japan. He was highly respected by Europeans at this time and was called "the greatest missionary in history." ".

As for Father Costa, who is also a Jesuit, he advocates learning from methods used in other colonies, using force as a backing to open the door to missionary work, and conducting religious brainwashing on the people in the colonies, because only this method of missionary work is the most stable and solid.

Xavier and Costa represented perseverance and force respectively. Wang Wenlong could not have imagined that the young Ponty had such thoughts.

He couldn't help but smile and shake his head.

Seeing Wang Wenlong's disdainful expression, Pang Di said, "I only said this to Mr. Jingguan because I knew he had lived in the West since he was a child. But looking at Mr. Jingguan, do you think my idea is wrong?"

Wang Wenlong smiled and said: "China is not a barbaric island with backward civilization, nor is it a chaotic Japan. China has its own profound and long-lasting ideological system, and European Catholic thought is even more deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. If you want to use Xavier's It is absolutely impossible to change the minds of Chinese people through stubborn preaching."

Wang Wenlong said: "I dare to assert that in a few hundred years, when many Europeans may no longer believe in Catholicism, the Chinese people can still stick to the essence of ideas from ancient Confucianism and Legalism."

Pondy retorted: "How can Europeans not be Catholic?"

Wang Wenlong smiled and said: "Aren't the Netherlands and Britain soon becoming Protestant countries?"

"Well, that's just a group of rebels!" As a Jesuit, when the dispute between Catholicism and Protestantism was brought up, Pang Di couldn't hold back for a moment and couldn't help but sigh in his heart. Wang Wenlong is indeed a figure who knows the situation in Europe, far from the Ming Dynasty. Scholars are so easy to fool.

The struggle between Catholics and Protestants these days is extremely fierce. In a dozen years, the Thirty Years War between the German Protestant princes and the Catholic princes will begin, directly wiping out about 30% of the population of the German states. The Catholic army captured the Protestant city of Magdeburg and killed all the tens of thousands of residents. Eight years later, the city's population recovered to 450 people. In German, the word Magdeburg was directly born. Word meaning "genocide" or "total destruction and looting."

Wang Wenlong stopped irritating him and said: "You have also been in China for several years, and you must be able to understand that the concepts in the minds of the Chinese are born from a philosophical system, and it is very difficult to change. Xavier That approach doesn’t work.”

Pang Di nodded: "The influence of Chinese traditional thought is indeed far-reaching."

Wang Wenlong said: "As for using force as a backing for missionary work to open the door to China, that is even more of a joke. There is no such thing as destroying the Portuguese."

Pang Di thought for a while and asked sincerely: "I wonder if Mr. Jianyang can give us some pointers?"

(End of this chapter)