I'm sure of the prosperous age of Kangxi and Qianlong!

Chapter 210

Zhu Yijiong was so confident, on the one hand, because the Portuguese were already in decline during this period. Even if Pombal turned the tide, it only prevented Portugal from continuing to weaken.

Because he was eventually expelled.

The second is the surrender of Nan'ao Island.

At the same time that Zhu Yijiong launched the Jianghuai offensive, Guangdong in the south was finally finished under Lin Jun's offensive.

Zhaoqing Prefecture only held on for a month before surrendering Lin Jun, followed by Gaozhou and Leizhou Prefectures.

In the huge Guangdong Province, only Qiongzhou and Lianzhou are still in the hands of the puppet Qing Dynasty.

Qiongzhou is isolated overseas and Lin Jun does not have a strong enough navy.

Lianzhou is backed by Guangxi. If you want to attack Lianzhou, you must first go to war with the Qing army in Guangxi.

Nan'ao Island has completely lost its supplies and is an isolated island, so it has been officially contacted to surrender to the Ming army long ago.

Well... Lan Tingzhen, who had previously followed Shi Shibiao to attack Taiwan, was the last to win.

Because his son refused to surrender, he was killed by the Qing soldiers on Nan'ao Island, and his head was used as a surrender certificate.

Now Nan'ao Island has become a naval base of the Ming Army on the coast of Guangdong. The relevant report was reported in the form of a memorial by Fujian Governor Wu Sidao at the beginning of the month.

Although the Ming army does not plan to launch a large-scale attack on Guangdong for some time in the future, it is not impossible to carry out a small-scale strategic attack.

……

The next day.

"The Macao mission wants to see you?"

Zhu Yijiong was a little surprised. They had just met yesterday, and the conversation had broken down.

Did Xue Yingcheng reach an agreement so quickly?

Zhu Yijiong was confused, but he still made some preparations, and then went to the side hall to receive the Macau envoys for the second time.

After half an hour.

Arriving at the side hall, the envoys entered the hall to see them.

Only then did Zhu Yijiong realize that the leader of the mission, Gerst, who had argued with him yesterday, was not there. Also absent was Xue Yingcheng. The two interpreters from Honglu Temple who accompanied him into the palace were the same.

Two interpreters are the minimum configuration of Honglu Temple, just to prevent someone from misinterpreting or deliberately misinterpreting.

This specification was obviously not suitable for an envoy, and Zhu Yijiong became even more surprised.

"His Majesty the Special Envoy of Pope Innocent XIII, Patriarch Alexander Jiale, pays homage to His Majesty the Great Emperor of China!" The leader of the envoy said to Zhu Yijiong who was sitting on the throne (the following are all translated by the interpreter).

pope?bishop?
What the hell?

Zhu Yijiong was stunned and quickly asked in detail. After a while, he realized that these people were not an envoy at all.

This group of people was actually missionaries who came to Nanjing with the Macao mission to which Guest belonged.

However, these people did come to see themselves as the emperor, and their purpose seemed to be to obtain the right to preach.

"You...are Jesuits?"

Zhu Yijiong didn't know much about this aspect. Even the name of the Jesuits was so straightforward that he could remember it so clearly.

The man quickly said with excitement: "Your Majesty, we are not the Jesuits. The Jesuits are heretics that do not conform to Catholic doctrine and are not recognized. We are recognized by His Majesty Pope Innocent XIII. of the Dominicans.”

Dominicans, also called Dominicans.

Yes, it is the Dominican order that has waged a long-term religious struggle with the Jesuits in China, and at the same time rejected the "Matteo Ricci Rules" and prohibited Chinese believers from worshiping their ancestors and Confucius.

Likes to burn people to death, the famous Inquisition is a product of the Dominican order.

In the beginning, the Jesuits had the upper hand in China, and Catholicism was the Chinese translation of the name that was born during the Jesuit period.Although the Jesuits spread Catholicism, their methods were relatively mild and they respected traditional Chinese customs.

The "Matteo Ricci Rules" are a set of rules formulated by the Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci based on Chinese customs. They recognize the traditional belief of Chinese believers in worshiping ancestors and worshiping Confucius, and endorse and explain it.

But soon, as the Jesuits lost power and the Dominicans came to power, the Holy See began to change its attitude.

The former Pope Clement XI even sent special envoys to China several times to order Chinese believers not to worship their ancestors or worship Confucius, otherwise they would be excommunicated.

This aroused Kangxi's dissatisfaction. He was not allowed to worship ancestors and worship Confucius, which seriously damaged the foundation of imperial power.

Kangxi negotiated with the Holy See several times before and after, and even wrote many letters to explain that Chinese ancestor worship did not belong to the worship of gods. He also sent French missionaries who had good relations and were more moderate to mediate, but all failed.

It wasn't until the year before last that Kangxi couldn't bear it anymore and finally issued an order to completely ban and expel Dominican missionaries.

Catholicism was completely bankrupt in China, but this did not include French missionaries.Because France was an ally of the Qing Dynasty.

Ironically, the Catholic issue that even Kangxi failed to solve finally succumbed to Puyi's hands.

The reason was that the Japanese people visited their shit toilet. Some Catholic students refused to worship, and the Japanese military headquarters was angered.

Then, the Pope publicly issued an order that Catholics could visit the toilet. Later, when Manchuria was established, the Catholic Church continued to announce that Catholics could worship their ancestors and worship Confucius.

Although Zhu Yijiong didn't understand the history and grudges involved, he felt disgusted just after hearing the other party's request relayed by the interpreter.

In his previous life, he didn't like to believe in religions, especially when he saw those religions asking believers to donate money... Haha.

However, Zhu Yijiong still maintained the restraint of the emperor and did not get angry directly. He just issued an eviction order: "I will never agree to your treaty with the Pope. Worshiping ancestors and worshiping Confucius is a traditional Chinese custom. How can it be forbidden by you? You don’t have to come again in the future.”

The interpreter quickly translated Zhu Yijiong's words. Jiale below heard this and became a little anxious.

I finally got to Nanjing with the Portuguese, how could I be driven away like this?

Jiale quickly stepped forward: "Your Majesty, the great Emperor of China, this is our gift to you."

As he said that, he held up a brocade box.

Still brought a gift?
The previous guest missions brought no gifts, only a letter from the Portuguese Parliament in Macau. These missionaries actually brought gifts.

Zhu Yijiong took the brocade box and opened it. It was a small box of ointment. When he smelled it, there was a faint fragrance: "What is this?"

"Your Majesty, is this aphrodisiac?"

When Zhu Yijiong heard the name, he didn't react at first, but his expression suddenly changed.

Afurong, also known as longevity ointment and opium.

"Come here, arrest all these daring villains!"

Zhu Yijiong immediately ordered the arrest of all missionaries including Jiale.

The scene suddenly became very chaotic. The two interpreters on the side even looked confused and didn't know whether they should continue to translate.

Afurong, when it was first introduced to Persia, was called opium. When it came to China, the pronunciation of the word "A" was pronounced as "crow", and it became opium.

Another popular name for afurong is Fushou Ointment, which was given by Emperor Wanli of the former Ming Dynasty.

Some scholars even believe that Emperor Wanli did not go to court for 40 years.In addition to his own leg disease, he was addicted to Fu Shou Ointment in the harem and was unable to go to court because of his long-term addiction to Fu Shou Ointment.

When later generations excavated the Dingling Tomb of Wanli, through sampling and analysis, they indeed found the content of morphine in Wanli's bones.

The main active ingredient of opium is morphine.

Morphine can suppress pain and coughs and produce a sense of pleasure and excitement. It is not surprising that opium was valued in ancient times when antibiotics and narcotics were lacking.

For thousands of years, opium's image has been that of a medical wonder.Although the ancients did not understand the ingredients and mechanism of action of opium, its medicinal value has been understood by the East and the West for a long time.

Galen, one of the two core founders of ancient Western medicine theory, once regarded opium as a miracle drug that could cure all diseases.

Influenced by India and West Asia, Chinese medicine has gradually classified opium as a strange medicine since the eighth century. Opium was widely used in imperial prescriptions before the Ming Dynasty and was often given to emperors.

It was only in the past 100 years that the image of opium really began to deteriorate. Europeans and Arabs mainly swallowed opium to treat diarrhea and relieve pain. Only the Qing Dynasty used widespread smoking to satisfy their "opium addiction."

Opium smoking in the Qing Dynasty was also related to the development of smoking habits. Tobacco was introduced to China from North America in the middle and late Ming Dynasty.At that time, opium was often added to smoking to show one's status.

By the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, the trend of smoking had spread throughout the upper class society. Even Li Zicheng, the former Dashun Emperor, loved smoking.

In the early Qing Dynasty, the Qing court banned smoking, but it was not strict. In the early Yongzheng years, the Qing court finally stopped smoking.At this time, tobacco was grown on many lands outside Beijing, and smoking habits spread all over the country.

The custom of mixing opium and tobacco for smoking came from the Dutch who were driven away by Zheng Sen, the king of Yanping County, decades ago.

However, although Yongzheng allowed smoking to be legalized, he officially issued the first decree to punish the opium trade in the seventh year of Yongzheng.

However, Yongzheng was not aware of the dangers of opium, but simply believed that the hedonistic trend of opium smoking was widespread, and opium trading required communication with overseas countries, which would endanger the stability of the country.

Moreover, Yongzheng's ban was actually of no use. The so-called ban was basically in vain. The people below still sold what should be sold and smoked what should be smoked, and no one cared about it at all.

During the Qianjia period, the popularity of opium smoking began to spread even among the bureaucrats and gentry. Drug addicts penetrated into the whole society, and a large number of civilians also joined the ranks of opium smokers.

Without these Dominican missionaries making a special trip to Nanjing, it might have taken Zhu Yijiong a long time to realize that the people under his rule, and perhaps even many officials within the system, were heavy opium smokers.

It's a pity for these Dominican missionaries. Jiale really doesn't know the dangers of opium. Even the whole European countries only know that taking too much opium can indeed lead to addiction, but it is just like alcohol addiction.

But they don’t know, can Zhu Yijiong not know?

　I have been thinking about a question, why do many Ming and Qing novels completely ignore opium, which appeared in China very early?
　　"Hahaha, the chapter names have been harmonized"

　　
　
(End of this chapter)