Thinking of this, the cardinal suddenly could not be angry anymore. Instead, he fell into a state of confusion and uneasiness.
"The people of China are very civilized. What's more frightening is that their military and physics are also very strong. I personally participated in the war where this general destroyed Myanmar. He only used thirty thousand soldiers to destroy Myanmar, which had more than a hundred thousand soldiers, and conquered and occupied this place. Before this, Myanmar was the overlord of this area.
General Xiao is indeed very humble, but he is also very arrogant. He is also a Marquis, a noble. Cardinal, when you meet this noble general, please be humble. Do not treat him with an inappropriate attitude. Otherwise, if he gets angry, I don't know what he will do. "
Matteo Ricci kept on admonishing the cardinal.
"Didn't you say that he is very humble and likes mathematics and science? How could such a person …? "
The cardinal asked in surprise.
"That's right, General Xiao does like mathematics and science very much. He would even discuss mathematics and science and technology problems with me, but it doesn't mean that he doesn't have arrogance. He is a Marquis, a Marquis of Burma. He is the lord of more than one million people in this area. He is the emperor here. No matter how much he loves mathematics and science, he can't change the fact that he is an aristocrat!"
Only then did the cardinal realize that he had underestimated this matter.
Yes, he was indeed a Chinese who loved mathematics and science, but at the same time, he was also a noble. He was the same as those very arrogant fat fellows in Europe. They were a group of people who seemed to respect God on the surface, but in reality, they treated God as a joke. They only cared about their own power and status, which would not change because of personal preferences. All the nobles in the world were like this.
It was unknown what this noble general thought about God. If even he had a disdainful view, then the missionary work in China would really be in danger.
And such a person would definitely care more about benefits than so-called so-called faith. Faith was bullshit to people like him. Nothing was more practical than benefits. What benefits could Christianity and the Vatican give this general?
Could they move him?
The bishop did not have any confidence, he could only choose to take one step at a time.
Soon, he arrived at the city of Bogu. The city walls of Bogu were taller and thicker than those of Yangon, and the moat was wider. On top of the city walls, there were pitch-black cannon muzzles and patrolling soldiers everywhere. At the city gates, there were also soldiers interrogating merchants and people. Some were holding flintlocks, and some were holding swords, spears, and halberds. Their armor was bright, and they looked very serious. From time to time, he could also see patrolling cavalry.
The Chinese were really strong.
The bishop had a feeling that a country with a strong military force would not easily accept religion. On the contrary, it would be very easy to eradicate religion. Christianity was initially just a tool of the Roman Emperor, and it developed through the chaos of war. If one wanted to develop in a certain area, the best way was to reach an agreement with the local government and obtain the right to preach, and the exchange of benefits was to unify the minds of the people.
However, Ricci said that China had its own unifying ideology, and the government had its own tools of ruling. There was no need for Christianity at all. On the contrary, if Christianity wanted to preach in China, the biggest threat would be China's own ruling ideology — Confucianism.
According to Ricci's shallow understanding, Confucianism was not only a tool of ruling, but also a kind of culture, a kind of inheritance, and a kind of philosophy. The Chinese said that the ancestors of Confucianism were sages who lived thousands of years ago. They were sages who lived in the same era as the philosophers of ancient Greece. The original purpose of their birth was to educate the people and spread culture to the whole of China.
This kind of culture sprouted and took root in China, and now it had a very deep foundation in China. It was definitely not something that Christianity could easily replace. On the contrary, if Christianity wanted to enter China, it would inevitably be attacked by Confucianism. The scholars of Confucianism would resolutely resist this religious ideology. There would be very few supporters, and it would be very isolated.
The success of Christianity could not be without the help of the government, and the success of Confucianism in China could not be without the help of the government. However, the government of China supported Confucianism, not Christianity. Without the support of the government of China, Christianity would definitely not be able to develop to the state that Europe had.
Of course, there was another way, and that was to use the military to defeat China, and use their own civilization to humiliate China, so that China would fall into ideological chaos. They would hate their own culture, and then completely accept Western culture and abandon their own traditions. Only then could Christianity take advantage of the situation and become the new "Confucianism" in China.
However, was this possible? Would China be defeated by Europe?
At least in Ricci's view, it was the best outcome for China not to attack Europe. Anyway, everyone was so far away, so this was the best outcome. On the other hand, Spain had established a colony in the Philippines, which was very close to China. Their relationship with China was very delicate.
Xiao Ruxun also seemed to be very dissatisfied with the Spanish people in the Philippines who deliberately hid the Chinese immigrants. It was hard to say whether Xiao Ruxun would attack the Philippines.
As for the one or two thousand Spanish soldiers and other indigenous soldiers in the Philippines, Ricci was really not optimistic about them. The Ming Army's navy had fought dozens of battles on the sea, and there were three major battles. They had almost wiped out all the pirates in the South China Sea. Their combat power was quite terrifying, not to mention the powerful 30,000 soldiers. How could the Spanish resist them?
Don't be fooled by their swagger in Europe. This was China's home ground. If they came from thousands of miles away, they did not have enough supplies, and they would run out of ammunition after a battle. China had an endless supply of weapons, ammunition, and soldiers. How could they fight with them? If they really fought, the Philippines would fall into the hands of Xiao Ruxun sooner or later.
The relationship between the Spanish government and the Vatican was very good. If they really fought, would Xiao Ruxun, who had a certain understanding of Europe, vent his anger on the Vatican and even himself?
Ricci suddenly worried about his future and fate.
After a while, their carriage arrived at the Marquis Zhennan's Mansion in the main city of Bogu. This was the political center of the whole of Myanmar, and it was also the residence and office of Xiao Ruxun. The bishop got out of the carriage and looked at the rather imposing and classical building. He took a deep breath.
"Go in!"
Ricci said to the bishop.
"Okay."
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