Smuggling Daming

Father John and Priest Nader are also worrying about the mission. After all, they know that their way of preaching is wrong, but they can't think of a good way. Now they heard Zhou Zhong say that there is a better way to help them preach , This made both of them very happy, and Father John leaned forward and said excitedly: "Sir Zhou, please tell me!"

I saw that Zhou Zhong didn't speak immediately, but took a sip of tea leisurely. It seemed that he was trying to whet his appetite, but he was actually planning in his mind how to hook Father John.

"Father John, you and Priest Nader have also been in Daming for a year, and you probably know the customs and customs of our Daming very well. Speaking of which, there are two main religions in our Central Plains, one is our native Taoism, and the other is Daoism. One is Buddhism that came from Tianzhu, but both Taoism and Buddhism have been spread in the Central Plains for hundreds of thousands of years. It can be said that it has long established a firm foundation in the hearts of the people. With a foreign religion like yours, And without any foundation, it is absolutely difficult to preach in Daming and other places!"

Hearing Zhou Zhong's analysis, the two priests also nodded repeatedly. After nearly a year of understanding, the belief situation in Daming and other places is indeed as Zhou Zhong said. Taoism and Buddhism have already been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and there are many believers, even among the princes and nobles of Ming Dynasty, there are also supporters of these two religions.

"It is difficult for you to spread religion in Daming, but it is not without chance. For you, the most important thing now is to gain a firm foothold in Daming, and if you want to gain a firm foothold. You must do two things , the first is to build a church that belongs to you, and the second is to have certain believers."

I saw Zhou Zhong continued to analyze, but at this time Priest Nader couldn't help but said: "Dear son, I also agree with the two things you said, but it is not realistic for us. One thing is to build a church, but our doctrine stipulates that we priests cannot own property, so the cost of building a church is generally donated by believers. But we don’t have any believers at all, so for us these two things are basically the same thing , In this way, if we want to gain a firm foothold in Daming, we must have certain believers, but if we want to have believers, we cannot meet the two conditions for establishing a firm foothold, so we have fallen into an endless loop. I am afraid that this problem No one can unravel it except Almighty God!"

Priest Nader analyzed Zhou Zhong's words from his own situation, and they were very reasonable, but Zhou Zhong smiled lightly after hearing this, "Priest Nader, there is an old saying in China that says "do as the Romans do, and adapt to local conditions." If you Catholics want to preach in the Central Plains, you must make changes according to the situation in our Central Plains. This point of Buddhism is your example. Now you can take a look at the Buddhism in our Central Plains and the native Buddhism in Tianzhu. Great changes have taken place, but it is also because of this. Buddhism can develop so prosperously in the Central Plains, and even overwhelmed the local Taoism. So far, the number of followers may be more than the total population of Europe. Don’t you feel tempted? ?"

Zhou Zhong didn't speak big words. Europe in this period had just emerged from the shadow of the Black Death, and its population had dropped sharply. Although Zhou Zhong didn't know the exact number, it was definitely much smaller than the population of Ming Dynasty. It is the main religion of Ming Dynasty, and its influence is absolutely beyond imagination. It is not too much to say that more than half of the population of Ming Dynasty are Buddhists, so he said that the number of Buddhists in Ming Dynasty is more than the total population of Europe, even if it is a bit exaggerated , but not far from the truth.

Sure enough, when Zhou Zhong said that the Buddhists in Ming Dynasty were about the same as the total population of Europe, both Father John and Priest Nader showed fanaticism in their eyes, and Father John couldn't wait to ask: "Young Master Zhou, I would like to ask, what is the total population of Daming? We have been trying to find out this question, but few people know it?"

Zhou Zhong smiled when he heard it. How many people did Ming have? Not to mention ordinary people, I am afraid that even the Emperor Zhengde of the Ming Dynasty and several cabinet scholars could not tell clearly. After all, Daming has no descendants. The census can only be estimated based on the population reported by the following state capitals. However, due to various considerations in each state capital and the existence of a large number of hidden households without household registration, the population reported by each state capital is not only untrue , and there is even a huge difference with the real data, which is simply uncountable.However, according to Zhou Zhong's data from later generations and his own estimates, the total population of Ming Dynasty in this period was definitely over [-] million!

However, since he wanted to fool Father Ruowang, Zhou Zhong naturally wanted to exaggerate the data, so he pondered for a while after listening, as if he was really calculating the population in his mind, and finally said: " Father John, at the beginning of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, we conducted a general population check of the whole country. The population at that time was about 6000 to 1 million. However, because there were many years of war at that time, we had just driven away the vicious Mongols. The governance in many places is weak, and many people have not been counted, so the real number must be much higher than the court statistics. It is estimated that the population at the time should be more than 200 million. After nearly [-] years of development, it is estimated that the total population of the country should be More than [-] million!"

What Zhou Zhong said was true and false, many numbers were guessed randomly by him, and no one could prove that he was lying anyway.Father John and Priest Nader heard Zhou Zhong say that the population of Daming was more than [-] million, and they immediately exclaimed. The total population of their entire Europe is probably less than half of the population of Daming. If they can really develop in Daming Out of a diocese, I'm afraid the Pope will personally award them!

Thinking of this, Father Ruo Wang and Priest Nader discussed in a low voice, and finally Father Ruo Wang said: "Young Master Zhou's previous suggestion is indeed very pertinent, and I also think we should make some changes according to Daming's situation. But we are outsiders after all, and we are not very familiar with Daming's situation, so I wonder if you have any good suggestions, Mr. Zhou?"

Seeing that Father John finally took the initiative to ask him for help, Zhou Zhong couldn't help showing a hidden smile. He coughed lightly and said with a smile: "I am not very interested in religious matters. Interesting, but as friends of the two of you, I have a little suggestion. There is an old saying in our Central Plains called "Teaching by example is not as good as preaching." The most important thing is to let others see the benefits of your Catholicism!"

"But...but how should we 'teach by example'?" Father Ruowang had so many old sayings about complaining about the Central Plains, but at the same time he asked with a smile.

"This matter is simple to say. Our chamber of commerce is currently in a period of development. In addition to the fleet, I plan to expand the scale of our chamber of commerce on land, such as our shipyard. Expand the scale to recruit manpower, but our Ming Dynasty implemented the sea ban many years ago, resulting in a serious shortage of shipbuilders, so I plan to recruit a group of European shipbuilders through you!"

Hearing Zhou Zhong suddenly talk about shipbuilding, which had nothing to do with their missionary work, Father John was taken aback for a moment. He was about to say something, but Zhou Zhong waved his hand to signal them to listen to him.

"Ships are the foundation of maritime transportation. Our Ming's shipbuilding technology and European shipbuilding technology have their own strengths, so I want to combine the two shipbuilding technologies to build bigger, faster, and safer seagoing ships. If you can When these craftsmen are recruited, our Chamber of Commerce will naturally be willing to provide the best treatment, and even help them build a church, which will be managed by the two of you, Father John, so that your church will have believers to go to church from time to time , and you can set an example for the people of Daming around you, and under this kind of subtle influence, I believe that in the future, there will definitely be people who are willing to follow you to follow the glory of the Lord!"

After Zhou Zhong said the above words, he kept looking at each other with a smile on his face. Proselytizing and building churches were all pretexts. His real purpose was to recruit a group of craftsmen from shipbuilding or other industries through Father John. If possible, it is best to recruit some artillery craftsmen, so that the chamber of commerce can forge its own artillery.

Smuggling is inherently a very dangerous industry. When encountering other smuggling ships at sea, there is a high possibility of firefights. Therefore, the boatmen on board are not only responsible for the operation of the ship, but also the most important armed force of the fleet.Of course, people alone are not enough, there must be weapons on board, those ordinary swords are certainly not a problem, but ordinary armed merchant ships must have other large weapons, the most ideal of which is of course artillery, but Daming has very strict control over firearms. Strictly speaking, very few of the smuggling fleets can be equipped with cannons, most of them are old cannons eliminated from the coastal thousand households. As for the artisans for casting cannons, there is not a single one in Shuangyu Port.

After listening to the beautiful scene described by Zhou Zhong to himself, Father John and Priest Nader also showed a kind of emotional expression. If it is true what Zhou Zhong said, they can build a church here in Shuangyu Port, and then Some believers from Europe often come to the church to worship. After a long time, they will definitely be able to attract some Daming people to believe in religion. At that time, they will take the first successful step on the road of missionary work in the Ming Dynasty, and they may even be born because of this. recorded in history! (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my biggest motivation.)