I

   Chapter 883 879 [Bard]

  The envoys arrived in Nanjing with the envoys, Lu Tianxiang brought the imperial guards back to the palace, and Zhang Ruifeng took people to Honglu Temple to report.

  The Department of Advising Agriculture has also become extremely busy, and they have to quickly receive and resettle the seeds, saplings, and livestock brought back from various countries.

   Pascal stayed for several days, and was finally allowed to wander around Nanjing City.

   But instead of going shopping, he visited the Society of **** in Nanjing.

  The Chinese Society of Jesuits is headquartered in Macau, but it has been declining day by day. One is that there is no stable source of funds, the other is the lack of new missionaries to supplement, and the third is that two missionaries were executed the year before last.

  At that time, I was checking the officialdom and farmland. I checked and found out that there were missionaries in Hangzhou who even collected tithes from believers. Those two missionaries were poor and crazy. They gave up the mission of the Jesuits to preach for free, and forced believers to give money through spiritual intimidation.

  As early as the Wanli period, there were more than 300 believers in Hangzhou. By the end of the Chongzhen period, it had grown to thousands of believers.

   Now it’s all over, the missionaries in Hangzhou were beheaded, and the Chinese believers who participated in the money-raising were all dispatched to Heilongjiang with their families.

  After this incident, the Jesuit missionaries were all too frightened to make further troubles.

   Now, many missionaries of the older generation have passed away. The new generation of missionaries came from the years when Zhao Han ascended the throne, and the youngest was almost forty years old.

   Pascal visited Tang Ruowang, and the two communicated in French.

"These are the posthumous works of Mr. Rich (Matteo Ricci) and Mr. Allenni (Aleni). You can read them here slowly. I am going to apply for a job at the Qintianyuan." Tang Ruowang actually ran away after finishing speaking. , hurried to work in Qintianyuan.

   Pascal was thrown there alone, and he hasn't recovered for a long time.

   Pick up one of them, the title is "The Truth of God". These four characters were written in Chinese, and they were crossed out with a brush, and they were rewritten as "Tianxue Shiyi".

  This book has been widely circulated. Not only has it been published many times in China, but it was also translated into Korean and Japanese as early as the end of Wanli.

  The edition that Pascal got was written in Chinese by Matteo Ricci, with a preface written by Chinese believers, and then translated into Latin by missionaries, and then deleted and revised again in the Datong New Dynasty. It is impossible for this book to be published in Europe. The reason why it was translated into Latin is to read it specially for the missionaries who just came to China.

  Flipping the pages and reading a few pages carefully, Pascal's mind was full of question marks.

  What the **** am I looking at?

  The opening chapter is the four sons of the Six Classics of China, and then it is about Yahweh. Then they said that Buddhism plagiarized from east to west, plagiarized Chinese Confucianism, and misappropriated Christian scriptures—these are the prefaces written by Chinese believers.

  Skipping the preface written by Chinese believers, Pascal read Matteo Ricci's article directly.

   Matteo Ricci’s article has been revised by Emperor Zhao because it criticizes saints and classics, but the general content is still preserved.

  After reading a few pages, Pascal was completely dazed.

  What is Tai Chi? Why do believers need to understand Tai Chi?

   What is empty? Why do religious believers refute Kong's theory?

  What is the three souls? Doesn't man have only one soul?

  The three fathers are gods, kings and family kings? I have only heard of the Trinity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Why have I never heard of the "Three Fathers"?

   Pascal, who was originally confused, almost became insane on the spot after reading this book.

  This is what Matteo Ricci and other Jesuit missionaries did. In order to gain the support of the emperor and Confucian scholars, they even put forward theories such as "three fathers", respecting Jesus, the king and the elders together.

  From the end of the Ming Dynasty to the middle of the Qing Dynasty, the teachings on the Chinese side have long been changed beyond recognition.

  Historically, the etiquette dispute between the Holy See of Rome and the Chinese Society of **** lasted for more than two hundred years. The contention is not just worshiping Confucius and offering sacrifices to ancestors, but the more core issue is that the teachings have been tampered with. No wonder the Pope of Rome at this time not only denied the Jesuits, but even broke off diplomatic relations with Portugal, which supported the Jesuits.

  Wake up from the brink of cerebral hemorrhage, Pascal hurriedly changed a book, and got "Zhu Zi Yu Lei" translated by Ai Julius in his later years. Compared with the Chinese content, the Latin version has been revised a lot, and the name has also been changed to "Chinese Philosophy and Ethics".

  “The Chinese believe that the universe was originally in a state of chaos, which is called ‘Tai Chi’ by the Chinese. Tai Chi derived Yin and Yang…”

  The yin and yang here are explained as yin and yang in Latin. Although it is a bit off track, Pascal from France is easy to understand.

Pascal murmured: "Chaos Taiji generates yin and yang, and yin and yang coexist with rules. Through different combinations of yin and yang rules, the sky and the earth, men and women, and all things are born... Although it is not a creation of gods, it seems to make sense. God, what the **** am I reading? Is this a book of demons? If you bring it back to Europe and publish it, the author will definitely be burned to death."

  The book of demons originating from the East gradually caught Pascal's eyes, as if a devil tempted him to continue reading.

  “The qi that the Chinese refer to, I understand it as the substance that makes up the universe. The reason that the Chinese refer to, I understand it as the soul, rules, and morality hidden in the universe…”

"However, Chinese people tend to virtualize 'Qi' and concretize 'Li'. For example, virtues such as steadfastness and integrity are called integrity by Chinese people. At this time, Qi is no longer a substance. The original meaning of the word Li is The texture of matter. The meaning of reason, as well as messengers, matchmakers, judges, courts..."

  The philosophical thoughts of Neo-Confucianism in the Song and Ming Dynasties gradually made Pascal forget his confusion, and confirmed his previous scientific research with these Chinese cosmology.

  Although the Song-Ming Neo-Confucianism expounds on the universe is outrageous, it is far stronger than the theological cosmology.

  I don’t know when, Pascal closed the book, looked out of the window and lost his mind: "Perhaps, I can temporarily forget about the gods and try to learn some Eastern philosophy."

  …

  Prince Charles brought John and Thomas, two country boys, to Fanlou, the most prosperous tavern in Nanjing.

  The waiter saw their faces clearly, and the reflection in his pupils instantly turned into three fat sheep. He nodded and bowed and said, "Three guests, please come inside!"

  The British guy sat down in the lobby, looked around, and found that the tavern was really big, bigger than the taverns in Guangzhou City.

  Having been sailing at sea for more than a year, Charles has learned everyday expressions, imitating Pan Wei's tone and shouting: "Bring me good wine and good food!"

"okay!"

  The shop waiter ran to the counter and said in a low voice, "Fat Sheep can speak Chinese, so don't knock too hard, or you won't make trouble again."

   Not long after, the shop waiter came back with the wine jar in his arms: "Top-grade Magu wine, produced in Jiangxi. He liked to drink it before the Longevity of the Dynasty, and our Duke Xungui of the New Dynasty of Datong also loved it!"

  The shop waiter spoke too fast, and Charles could only hear "Long Live".

  Long Live Lord, he knew that this was the respectful name given to the emperor by the Chinese people, and he really came to the right place, as soon as he entered the tavern, he could drink the wine that the emperor liked.

  Charles patted the mud open quickly, picked up the chopsticks after pouring the wine, picked up the peanuts and threw them into his mouth. This incomparably skillful movement was noticed by the waiter in the shop, and he immediately ran to the counter and said: "These three fat sheep, I am afraid they have been in the Heavenly Dynasty for a long time, so the price should be lower."

  The third shopkeeper immediately crossed out the original price, re-wrote a relatively high wine price, and then changed the price of the appetizers as well.

   "Delicious, delicious," John said, chewing salt-fried peanuts, "I didn't know that peanuts can be eaten like this when I arrived in Guangzhou. The Chinese really know how to make food."

  Charles picked up a piece of duck leg, and even knew to wrap it in a dipping saucer.

  Put it in his mouth, the deliciousness of Jinling Roast Duck immediately made this guy's eyes straight. He secretly made up his mind that when he becomes king in the future, he must send people to China to learn how to cook roast duck.

   No, no, no, I can learn it myself and bring the skills back to England!

  Thomas drank a glass of Magu wine, smacked his lips and exclaimed: "It's delicious!"

Charles also drank in a hurry. The sweet glutinous rice wine really suited his taste. He said with emotion: "It is indeed the wine that the Chinese emperor likes to drink! If you can drink this wine and eat this duck every day, you will not be a king." That's fine too."

  The three of them came very early and drank for half an hour before normal diners entered the store one after another.

  However, there are more and more diners, and the lobby is full in a blink of an eye.

  The store clerk even brought a bench, and the diners sat on the bench, ordered some wine and food and started eating.

  Charles was dumbfounded. He felt that the lobby of Fanlou was too wide and there must be enough seats. Unexpectedly, there are not enough tables. Are Chinese commoners so rich?

  Suddenly, I heard a diner on the second floor, lying on the railing and shouting: "Why isn't Mr. Liu coming? If we don't come, we will leave!"

   "Yes, quickly invite Mr. Liu out!"

   "If you don't see Mr. Liu today, your bird shop will be smashed!"

   "Haha, Zheng San, if you dare to smash Fanlou, I'll drink three bowls of urine to respect you, I'm a man."

   "..."

   The diners upstairs and downstairs started to make noise and tease.

  Finally, an old man stepped in and went straight to the small stage in the lobby.

   "Mr. Liu is here, don't make any noise!"

   "What did Mr. Liu say today? I want to listen to "Sui and Tang Dynasties."

   "I'm tired of listening to "Sui and Tang Dynasties", Mr. Liu should talk about "Water Margin"."

   "..."

  In normal times, although there are many guests in Fan Lou, it is absolutely impossible to fill the lobby with additional stools.

   Today is a special case because Liu Jingting is here!

  This old gentleman is the originator of Yangzhou Pinghua.

   "嗙!"

   There was a slap on the wood, and the audience was silent.

Liu Jingting waved his fan and said, "Thanks to the shopkeeper's love today, please let me come to Fanlou to talk about it. I used to talk about "Sui and Tang Dynasty", "Western Han Dynasty", "Water Margin" and "Three Kingdoms". Let's change it today. Many friends must know that those who criticized Tianzheng were investigated, and the old man was also arrested and imprisoned for a while. The taste of eating in prison is really uncomfortable."

"Ha ha ha ha!"

  This remark caused a lot of laughter.

Liu Jingting continued: "At that time, I still couldn't figure it out. Later, when my friend pleaded and the government found out the truth, I finally escaped a catastrophe. My old friend recommended me to go to the military camp and tell stories to the front-line soldiers. The missionary officer of the military camp told me I talked about a lot of things about farmers, and I feel deeply how difficult the people's livelihood is, and the emperor's Tianzheng is right. Today, I will tell you about my new "Biography of the White-haired Girl"!"

"it is good!"

  Liu Jingting is a heartthrob. No matter what he says, as long as he is on stage to tell a story, even nonsense can attract applause.

  Liu Jingting has already started speaking, and Prince Charles asked confusedly, "Is this a Chinese bard?"

  (end of this chapter)