Wanli Xinming

Chapter 237 Interpretation
Shen Shixing was a student of Zhang Juzheng. After the reform in the seventh year of Wanli, he was promoted from the position of the right servant of the Ministry of Officials to the Minister of Rites.At this time, he was not thinking about why the King of Luo County could be declared as the heir by the emperor, because it was self-evident.He thought more about why the emperor made his first statement on this relatively informal occasion.

After Zhu Yijun had the eldest son, all the subjects in the world were relieved, and Empress Dowager Li also dispelled the emperor's choice of Zhuang Jingjia as the empress on that day-the emperor's move really avoided the dispute between the descendants.

After the birth of King Luo Jun, no minister urged Zhu Yijun to establish a prince early to consolidate the country.Because there is no dispute about the inheritance of King Luo County, as long as he can grow up safely, the empire will be his sooner or later.

Although Zhu Yijun did not express his position, among the many children, the most concerned about the King of Luo County.The King of Luo County was two and a half years old at this time, and Zhu Yijun had already judged that the child did not have any physical defects, so the rest was education.Carrying him out today is to let him have the first perceptual understanding of the world.

Between the emperor's words, Luo Mingjian translated in a low voice, and translated the emperor's words to Ines and Matteo Ricci.He is very familiar with certain Chinese vocabulary, and naturally translates "world all states" into "empire", but he does not know that what Zhu Yijun said is the original meaning of the word.

Seeing the emperor's warm attitude, Fan Li'an boldly said, "Your Majesty, I have the honor to meet the heir of the empire today. Please allow me to present a gift to the King of Luo County."

Zhu Yijun smiled and said, "Yes." Duke Luo was very polite, and said in a milky voice, "Thank you!"

With trembling hands, Fan Li'an took out a beautiful box inlaid with jewels from his pocket - this gift was originally prepared for Zhu Yijun, but since the King of Luo County is here, Fan Li'an still has this idea of ​​emotional intelligence.

The box was opened by Fan Li'an, and there was a vertical cross the size of an adult's palm inside. Although it was made of silver, it was blackened and worn out.Fan Li'an explained: "Your Majesty, this is the cross worn by His Majesty Pope Nicholas V for half his life. It has been more than 200 years ago. People in our mission believe that this gift represents His Majesty's virtue and generosity. This is also an item that can protect His Royal Highness, please don't dislike it."

The inner official beside Zhu Yijun walked down the pill, put the box on the tray, checked it carefully, and handed it to Zhu Yijun.

Zhu Yijun forwarded it to King Luo County: "You have to thank others."

Luo County King still said to Fan Li'an in a milky voice: "Thank you." After speaking, he grabbed it and played with it. Since the first time he saw the cross, he asked, "Is this a small sword?"

Zhu Yijun smiled and said, "No. This is a cross. The Son of God they believe in was crucified on the cross, so these people use the cross as their sacred object."

After Zhu Yijun said this, Fan Li'an and others were overjoyed.None of the Ming people they met along the way knew the origin of the cross.And the emperor said casually, at least that he has a certain understanding of Christianity.

The King of Luo County shook his hand, threw the cross on the tray, and said, "I don't want it anymore."

Zhu Yijun picked up the cross with a smile and said to King Luo County, "Can you tell me why you don't want it?"

King Luo Jun couldn't say anything, just said: "I don't like it."

Shen Shixing bowed and said, "Your Majesty, the King of Luo County can't bear to hear the tragic incident. What is not 'benevolence'? This minister congratulates His Majesty." Hello."

Zhu Yijun smiled and said, "That's it. The child is very young and can't understand the truth. Fan Li'an, tell me about this Pope Nicholas V."

Fan Li'an bowed and said, "Yes. Your Majesty, my Chinese is not as good as Luo Mingjian, can I tell him?" Zhu Yijun glanced at him after hearing this, and nodded with a smile.

Luo Mingjian took a deep breath, knowing that this was a very rare opportunity created by Fan Li'an.He made a quick belly and bowed and said, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty. His Majesty Nicholas V, commonly known as Tommaso Barentucelli, loved to read when he was a child. When he was nine years old, his father died of illness. , the family fell into poverty, and even failed to complete college."

"Later, when he became a young missionary, he used all his income to buy books and even took out a lot of debt for it. There are few Greek and Latin authors that he did not study, and he Combining profound biblical knowledge and extreme religious piety with versatile humanism."

"Later on, after the death of His Majesty Eugene IV, Barentuccili was elected Pope, titled Nicholas V. 'Who would have thought,' he once said, 'that a poor, penniless priest could become An honorable pope?'"

King Luo Jun was at the age when he liked to listen to stories. When Fan Li'an told it, he listened quietly.When he said this, his lips moved slightly. Luo Mingjian had been secretly observing Zhu Yijun and his expressions, and stopped when he saw that he had something to ask.

The King of Luo County asked, "Isn't his father the emperor?" Shen Shixing sucked in a breath of cold air, thinking that it is indeed a dragon species, and Fang can pay attention to the throne from the story at the age of four!

Luo Mingjian's heart thumped, for fear that Zhu Yijun would be displeased.When I peeked, I was relieved to see that the emperor still had a smile on his face.He smiled and replied to the King of Luo County: "Go back to Your Highness, priests cannot marry and have children, just like monks in Buddhism. Therefore, every pope is selected from learned people."

King Luo Jun asked this question only because he had known since he was a child that he would take over as the emperor in the future.For Luo Mingjian's explanation, he only half understood, so he said "oh".

Zhu Yijun took over the conversation and said warmly: "Son, today your father taught you a truth. When you are listening to others, don't interrupt him. If you have any questions, wait until he has finished speaking before asking them." With a sigh, he said in a low voice, "The emperor remembers it."

After Zhu Yijun finished educating the children, he motioned for Luo Mingjian to continue.Luo Mingjian once again sorted out the life of Nicholas V in his heart, and guessed the emperor's intentions, so he continued: "After His Majesty Nicholas V became the Pope, he was determined to become a good Pope, rebuilding the city of Rome; restoring classical literature , art and knowledge."

"He sent many messengers to Athens, Constantinople, Germany, and England to seek, buy, or transcribe Greek and Latin manuscripts, whether pagan or Christian. He established a large scribe and The editorial center invites all well-known Italian scholars to come to Rome to translate the classical masterpieces of Greco-Roman.”

"By the time he was called by the Lord, the Vatican Library had already collected [-] volumes and [-] catalogues, making Rome the intellectual center of the entire Europa. It is precisely out of respect for knowledge that the Church of Rome has The entire continent of Europa has achieved its present dominance. Your Majesty, Your Majesty, this is His Majesty Nicholas V as I know it."

Zhu Yijun raised his head and glanced at Luo Mingjian, secretly applauding his comprehension and language skills.Shen Shixing heard from the side that the entire knowledge center of Europa only had [-] volumes of books, and involuntarily let out a snort from his nose.Heart said: "I am a landlord's house in Daming, and the collection of books may exceed [-] volumes."

Seeing that the Duke of Luo County had finished listening quietly, Zhu Yijun asked him, "Tell me about it. Why did Nicholas V, mentioned by priest Luo, become such a great pope?"

Prince Luo didn't answer, although he didn't appear impatient, but when Luo Mingjian spoke the last paragraph, he was just there to study the strange clothes of the priests, and he didn't listen at all.When his father asked, he pretended to be deaf and dumb, and played with Zhu Yijun's moustache.

Zhu Yijun motioned to Wei Chao and said, "He's a little tired. Let him go to the Queen's place to rest." When Duke Luo heard these words, he immediately jumped off Zhu Yijun's knees, bowed slightly, and said, "The emperor has retired." Pao Zi ran towards the back of the throne, and Wei Chao quickly trotted to keep up.

Zhu Yijun watched him running fast with his short legs, and the corner of his mouth raised a smile again.

Shen Shixing bowed and said, "Your Majesty, the Duke of Luo County has not yet enlightened, so don't be impatient." Zhu Yijun said, "You are right. I just learned to be a father, and I wish he could become sensible all of a sudden." Shen Shixing waited Smile with you.

Fan Li'an jokingly said: "Your Majesty, I think His Highness is polite and has already shown a noble demeanor. It is very rare to be so young." When Zhu Yijun heard this, he laughed and was very happy.

Gossip and tell a little story, time has passed for a quarter of an hour.Zhu Yijun came out with King Luo County in his arms, just to let him meet foreigners, and at the same time to motivate himself.He manages all kinds of things every day, and doesn't have much time for mushrooms, so he takes the lead:
"I don't have a lot of hatred for Catholicism. Before, I also learned about your teachings and read your Bibles. Except for some descriptions such as killing pagans, in general, your teachings are instructive. good."

When Fan Li'an and the others heard it, Qi Qi breathed a sigh of relief.Then he heard the emperor say: "But please explain, when the Israelites came out of Egypt, because the Amalekites were not good to them, the LORD said, slay them all, and kill men and women, children, sucklings, and oxen, Sheep, camels, etc. are all slaughtered. Similar to this passage, there are many in the Bible, how to explain it?”

If a bolt of lightning rose from the ground and hit the sky, it would not shock Fan Li'an and the others even more.The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty didn't just turn over the Bible, he read it thoroughly.The source of the Bible is easy to explain, some merchants who traded with China had it in the hands of some merchants who traded with China - but it is impossible to explain how such a busy emperor could read such a book as the Bible in such detail.

Although shocked, Zhu Yijun's problem is often encountered by missionaries, Luo Mingjian explained frankly: "Your Majesty, this passage is actually a metaphor. It must be consistent with the sentence in "Exodus": 'Jehovah I swore that I would fight against the Amalekites from generation to generation.' Let's understand together."

Seeing Zhu Yijun's look of questioning, Luo Mingjian said, "When God swore an oath, according to the records of the Old Testament, Amalek had already been wiped out by Him and ceased to exist. Then why do you still swear? This is exactly the interpretation of scriptures. The main point—the Amalekites He said actually refer to jealousy, strife, arrogance, godless, unloving, reckless, selfish, etc. As long as people don’t let God rule in their hearts, they will immediately be punished. Occupied by the spiritual 'Amalekites', and therefore will fight against them from generation to generation."

Han Shan listened, smiled and said, "This explanation is somewhat similar to Buddhism. The evil demons in the Buddhist scriptures require Buddhist disciples to save them, and these so-called evil demons are nothing but greed, hatred, and delusion in people's hearts. "After that, he folded his hands and gestured to Fan Li'an.

When Zhu Yijun heard it, he also smiled and said, "Hanshan is talking nonsense. How did the Buddhist scriptures teach you to kill people? The demons you are talking about are not human beings, but they are what you see in your personal practice. Seeing that he had said something wrong, Han Shan felt a thump in his heart, and quickly nodded in agreement.

Zhu Yijun said to Fan Li'an: "In my country, any words in the scriptures that contain war, killing or intimidation against pagans must not be passed on. If you want to preach, you must delete these scriptures that encourage vendetta."

If it is acceptable to let Fan Li'an and others kneel and grieve their teeth, Zhu Yijun's request to delete and revise the scriptures is far beyond Fan Li'an's authority.As if struck by lightning, he also tried to struggle: "Your Majesty, we have always interpreted this passage in this way - it does not mean to encourage killing."

When Zhu Yijun heard it, he sneered: "Oh? What kind of heinous crime did those heretics handed over to King Europa by the Inquisition to be beheaded, burned, and hanged?"

(End of this chapter)