Great Ming Dynasty Wen Chao Gong

Chapter 152 Matteo Ricci meets Emperor Wanli

The two brothers Nurhachi and Shuerhaqi walked and chatted, and soon arrived at the meeting hall.

It was getting late at this time, but the lights in the meeting hall were still on. The two brothers went in and saw that military advisor Gong Zhenglu was still writing furiously.

"Two leaders, please wait a moment. Gong will finish writing the article soon." When Gong Zhenglu saw the two people arriving, he didn't even have time to salute, so he said hello and continued writing.

Nurhachi looked at Shuerhaqi and the two sat next to him and waited.

"Dudu Nu, Dudu Shu, the letters to North Korea and the Horqin Ministry have been written. The letter to North Korea can be written in Chinese. I have also finished the letter to the Horqin Ministry, but it is really inappropriate to only have a Chinese version. , My Mongolian literature is not very good, and I don’t dare to show my shame, so I also asked the Great Khan to find someone who is proficient in Chinese and Mongolian languages ​​​​to translate the letter." Gong Zhenglu said.

"Mr. Gong, thank you for your hard work. In fact, you don't have to finish these two documents today." Nurhaci said as he took the two letters and read them.

"Today's work is over. The two governors trust Gong so much, entrust me with such an important job, and give me so many rewards. How dare I not do my best?"

"Those rewards are nothing. I briefly read these two letters, and they are very well written. When Horqin and the envoys from Korea arrive, I will give you heavy rewards."

"Thank you very much, Governor Nu."

"Since you admire Wang Hua and want to settle in the capital, it's not impossible, but let's forget about running a church. As you know, the Ming Dynasty just fought a war with the Japanese country, and the people in the capital have no regard for foreigners and foreign things. In fact, it is not that welcoming. If you build that church and make the people suspicious, it will not be good for you."

"Your Majesty is holy."

"Matteo Ricci thanks the emperor for his kindness."

"I have met Matteo Ricci. Several of their foreign monks wanted to settle in the capital, and I agreed. But they wanted to build churches and schools in the Ming Dynasty. I thought about it, but I still couldn't make the decision. At that time, Fo Langji The businessmen relied on tricks to lease the land of Macau in Guangdong. Although the rent was paid, it became a country within a country. They had a few foreign monks, but they would have more people later with their families. It would be troublesome, I still can't open this hole for them. "

"Matteo Ricci, although you are not an official envoy sent by the Pope of Christianity, you came to Ming Dynasty under the order of your Pope and paid tribute with so many gifts, so I still want to summon you."

"Reporting to your majesty, that's because when I traveled in the Ming Dynasty, I found that the Ming Dynasty valued cultural learning and respected scholars regardless of wealth or poverty. The scholars in the Ming Dynasty were also very eager to learn new knowledge. Although they thought I looked strange, when I By showing my knowledge of mathematics, astronomy, etc., the scholars of the Ming Dynasty would be very enthusiastic to follow me and learn. So I decided to follow the Romans, wear a Confucian robe, and socialize with the scholars of the Ming Dynasty."

"These ancient classics are too difficult to understand. The Four Books and Five Classics often mentioned by Ming Dynasty scholars. The first four books also seem difficult to me, but I will study hard."

In this way, Matteo Ricci's request to build a church and a school in the capital was politely rejected by the emperor. But after all, he had obtained the right to settle, and Matteo Ricci left with great gratitude. This time, the emperor received a few more gifts. There are two sculptures, two chiming bells and some miscellaneous gifts.

"Since you are wearing this Confucian robe, you cannot just wear the clothes. Have you read the Chinese classics?"

Not long after Matteo Ricci left, the emperor thought for a while and sent someone to call Zhang Xiao.

"Your Majesty, if we cannot build a church, can you allow us to build a school?"

"This is natural. We missionaries all follow His Majesty's rules."

The two were having a heated discussion, but they didn't notice a complicated expression flashing across Gong Zhenglu's face.

"Matteo Ricci, since you are a Christian priest, although I don't understand the rules of your Christian religion, you priests should have their own clothes, right? Why do you wear Confucian robes? This Confucian robe is What I, a scholar from the Ming Dynasty, wear, you can also be considered a scholar from Xiyi. You are a guest from afar, so it’s okay if you like to wear it. I just want to ask you why you chose this Confucian robe."

"When did peace return? As soon as we made some progress, the tribes next to us began to want to suppress us, especially the Ye He tribe. When we were attacked by the Ye He tribe, the court ignored it, but now they let us and Ye He We all live in harmony, it’s really unreasonable.”

In the Imperial Palace in Beijing, Matteo Ricci finally met Emperor Wanli, whom he had longed for for many years.

"Not to mention the school. If you recruit disciples, as long as the number is not large, it doesn't matter. The scholars in the Ming Dynasty all have to study the saints' articles to take the imperial examination. What you teach is the teachings of the Cross. The school Let’s leave the matter aside for now. If your school is built, the scholars of the Ming Dynasty will not be satisfied, and it will not be good for you. When you settle in the capital, don’t go out at will unless you have nothing to do. It’s best to have someone follow you when you go out, so that you don’t get lost. If you want to leave the capital, you must report in advance if you are not supposed to go."

"Needless to say, Korea is the number one vassal state of the Ming Dynasty. In the past many years, it went north to invade my Jurchen homeland. That is to say, I won the battle of the nine coalition forces. In addition, Korea was newly ravaged by the Japanese country. Now it is willing to establish a relationship with me. The states and tribes live together equally. The ancestor of the Horqin tribe is the younger brother of Genghis Khan. Although it cannot be regarded as a golden family, it still has noble blood. As long as we can establish relations with North Korea and the Horqin tribe, and then replace the leader of the Ula tribe with Bu Zhantai, the Yehe tribe will no longer dare to act rashly, and the situation will change for the better by then." Nurhachi said to Shuerhaqi.

"Brother, if we are making such a big show, will the court be unhappy?" Shuerhaqi said after hesitating for a while.

"The power of the imperial court is unpredictable, so we have to accumulate strength, expand our strength, and let the imperial court know that we cannot move casually, so that we can be safe. The battle of the nine-unit coalition has been going on for so long, and the imperial envoys came to our Jianzhou Ministry, that's not Are you still congratulating me? Why didn't you see the court reprimanding me? Shuerhaqi, we can't tie ourselves up and miss the opportunity. Besides, aren't I planning to go to Beijing to pay tribute? The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty will feel the influence of my Jianzhou Ministry Very loyal."

"Brother, you'd better be careful. It's really not peaceful right now."

"Zhang Xiao, Matteo Ricci said he was from Genoa, Italy. After all, he came from afar. I can't ask too carefully some questions. Does Italy have a king? If there is a king, then the Pope and this Italian Which king is older and who is younger? Is this Genoa a small country under Italy?" the emperor asked while staring at the world map.

"Your Majesty, Italy used to have a kingdom, but now it is just a geographical term. Genoa is now an independent city-state in name, but in fact it is still attached to the Franco Kingdom. Now the Italian states are divided, the Holy Roman Empire, the Buddha Both Langji State and France sent troops to intervene, so Italy has been at constant war."

"That's it. By the way, I remembered that King Mohammed II of the Ottoman Kingdom led an army of 100,000 to besiege Constantinople in the East Rome. The East Rome asked for help from the Western barbarian countries. In the end, only the Genoese country sent Thousands of mercenaries helped defend the city. However, Italy as a whole does not look big, and the country of Genoa is even less big. It can also send ships to transport thousands of people to support it. It seems that the country of Genoa still has some abilities. . Where is the country of Genoa?" "Your Majesty, it is probably here. The country of Genoa is a city-state that relied on overseas trade and controlled the trade routes in the Mediterranean with countries such as Venice." Zhang Xiao stepped forward and pointed to northwest Italy. An area along the coast.

"It's so small. It seems that Xiyi's overseas trade is really profitable and it can afford to support so many ships and soldiers."

"Yes, but the rise of the Ottoman state later also greatly affected the interests of the Genoese people. At that time, Constantinople was besieged, and the Genoese state was so enthusiastic about the rescue because it also had considerations of safeguarding its overseas commercial interests. To grow bigger in the Ottoman state, After the decline of trade in the Mediterranean, Genoa turned from prosperity to decline and became dependent on the Kingdom of Franchi. Now the king of Franchi is resorting to military warfare because he relies on the money of Genoese merchants."

"Oh? Doesn't it mean that Franji Country has no money in its own country? Even if there is no money, don't there still be merchants in Franji Country? Why do we need to find foreign businessmen?"

"Your Majesty, there are naturally businessmen in the Franji Kingdom, and the king also borrowed money from them. However, later on, the Francoji Kingdom was heavily in debt. The king directly declared the country bankrupt, and then the Franji merchants who borrowed money also went bankrupt. .So now I can only borrow money from businessmen in Genoa."

"What? Can a country go bankrupt? If it goes bankrupt, wouldn't the country be destroyed? How can I still be a king?" The emperor was a little surprised.

"Your Majesty, the country is bankrupt. It just means that it will not repay its debts. The businessmen of Franji Country are all honest people. If the king does not pay back the money he owes, he will have no choice but to go bankrupt. The king will find another group of people to borrow money next time. Enough."

"It's unbelievable. How many wars has the Franco Kingdom fought? They have so much gold and silver in the entire America, and they can go bankrupt. How can they govern this country? The national debt is so unreliable. Then Zhang Xiao, you Also suggest me to issue some treasury bonds."

"Your Majesty, it's not difficult to borrow again and again. In fact, the king of Folangji is also stubborn. If he has no money, he can still sell mines and land, or borrow more money and return it to the people in front of him. To put it bluntly, Folangji State still cares too much about face and is constantly fighting. If it fights fewer wars, it won’t owe so much money.”

"Since King Fo Langji is borrowing money and not asking merchants to donate money, there must be a mortgage. What did King Fo Langji mortgage?" the emperor asked curiously.

"Flangji State has overseas gold and silver mines. At worst, it promised the merchants that when the gold and silver ships came back, they could slowly repay the debt. I didn't expect that too many treasure-carrying ships were robbed by the British. , and then failed to win the naval battle with the British, which caused the credit of the Franco-German national debt to collapse."

"This has opened my eyes. According to what you said before, if you plan to set up a trading company to issue stocks, if there is news that the ship sinks, or the sailing route is chosen wrongly and nothing is gained, then the stocks sold will be worth a penny. Isn’t it worth it? Or maybe a company claims to be doing something on the surface, but in the end it does nothing and runs away with the money. Doesn’t that mean the people who bought the stock lost all their money?”

"Your Majesty, investing is risky. There are always profits and losses."

"Then your ideas are better than sending mine supervisors to collect mining taxes. The mine supervisors are not only sent out to collect mining taxes, but also collect based on the specialties of various places. This King Fo Langji can't pay back the borrowed money, and he has defaulted on so many debts. This time, Ming Dynasty cannot afford to lose face like this."

Zhang Xiao nodded in agreement.

"Zhang Xiao, you have enough talent and knowledge, but you are too talkative. Sure enough, there are many merchants in Nanyang. If my prediction is correct, your family should also be in business. It's just that governing a big country is like cooking small dishes. , how can it be such a child's play. You have to think more about it in the future."

Zhang Xiao then nodded in agreement.

"Okay, okay, I see that you also like this Western craftsmanship. Matteo Ricci gave me two more chiming bells this time. You can take this big one. If you are interested, take it apart and take a look at it. How does a chiming bell work?" The emperor pointed to a chiming bell beside him.

"I thank you, Your Majesty."

In this way, Zhang Xiao returned home with His Majesty's reward. But before I sat down for a while, I received another invitation from Matteo Ricci.

"Mr. Li, didn't you just meet with His Majesty? Why didn't you rest at home for a while and then came to my place again?" Zhang Xiao asked.

"Li Mou would like to thank Zhang Shidu, oh, Zhang Shaoqing for your help. Because of your generous advice, His Majesty agreed to meet with me. Although I failed to convey the gospel of the Lord to him, I was inspired by the emperor's generosity and erudition. The emperor readily agreed to our request to settle down. Although the emperor did not agree to our request to establish churches and schools, I am very satisfied with this good start. May God bless you."

"Oh? Then you are going to settle here? Do you want me to find you a place to live in the capital? If you don't have enough money, I can rent it to you at a low price first. But I still remind you, don't spread the word to everyone. Good news, especially to His Majesty and His Majesty’s family, otherwise I don’t dare to think about the consequences.”

"I have received Zhang Shaoqing's suggestion. Ming Dynasty is a very rich and civilized country, and I have a lot to learn when I come here."

"It's a good thing to be able to learn. If you want to find some consensus with the scholars of the Ming Dynasty, I suggest you learn piano, chess, calligraphy and painting. You don't have to be good at it, especially painting. Mr. Li, can you paint Western paintings?"

"Western painting? Sorry, I'm not good at painting, although I know some friends who are good at painting. Zhang Shaoqing, I saw a world map and globe in the emperor's study. Although I couldn't see clearly, the paintings on it It is different from our map. Zhang Shaoqing, do you know the author of this world map? I would like to discuss it with him."

"I am the author of that world map."

"Oh?! No wonder Zhang Shaoqing can gain the emperor's favor. You are such a knowledgeable and talented person."

"Mr. Li, if you want to establish a foothold in the Ming Dynasty, it is not enough to rely on some novel gifts. You must also show your European good skills, art, books, science, and mathematics. Otherwise, empty preaching will be unconvincing. . And Mr. Li, you can call me Zhang Zhanshi from now on, because Zhanshi is my highest-ranking official position."

"Thank you Zhang Zhanshi for the reminder. I will send a letter back to Rome about what I saw and heard, and introduce the Ming Dynasty to the Pope. I will also attach Zhang Zhanshi's request."

(End of this chapter)