Why are the people of China all like this? They look like they are not easy to deal with.
The bishop thought to himself.
"According to what Mr. Li said, people from your hometown are used to being straightforward, so I won't beat around the bush. May I know why you have come from afar?"
Ricci immediately translated, "General Xiao is asking why you are here."
The bishop nodded and replied cautiously, "Dear General Xiao, I am here under the will of His Highness the Pope. I want to establish a peaceful and friendly relationship with General Xiao, so that both of us can get along and communicate peacefully and amicably. We welcome General Xiao to visit Rome."
Ricci immediately translated.
"Welcome me to Rome? Haha, good, good. I also yearn for the customs of your hometown, but now I am busy with secular affairs. I am afraid I do not have the time. It doesn't matter. When there is a chance in the future, I will definitely visit your city. But did you come all the way here just for this? "
The bishop said, "Of course, it is not just for this. His Highness the Pope also hopes that General Xiao can allow our missionaries to spread the doctrine of God in this land. You have been in contact with our missionaries for a period of time. You should be very clear that the doctrine of God is to guide people to do good, abide by order, and worship God."
Ricci explained one by one.
He was also looking forward to it. To be honest, he had been with Xiao Ruxun for three years, but Xiao Ruxun had never said that he supported him in preaching. Instead, he was very interested in the mathematics, science, Spanish, Portuguese, and Latin that he mastered. Not only did he translate "The Fundamentals of Geometry", but he also translated many other works of Greek sages, especially works on mathematics.
Ricci gradually felt that he was more like a teacher who was spreading Western culture and science than a missionary. He was here to spread the doctrine of God, not to spread mathematics and science. If you want to learn mathematics and science, you can look for talents in this field. Why are you dragging me, a missionary, to learn these things? What's the point of dragging me, a missionary, into this?
This is a good opportunity to go to Europe. As long as you ask for craftsmen and not scholars, there will be people who will follow you! Why do you have to drag me, a missionary?
In the past three years, he had helped Xiao Ruxun translate the works of the Western Renaissance and the Greek period. He had translated about five or six books, but he had only had a few opportunities to spread his doctrine. He had not even talked to a few people about the deal, let alone let them accept his doctrine. When he lived in Guangdong, he could at least make a few good friends who were willing to accept the doctrine. But now, he had no chance.
However, Matteo Ricci was unwilling to leave because he knew that Xiao Ruxun had absolute power in this land. As long as he agreed to allow Catholicism to preach here, more than a million people wouldn't be able to escape. Matteo Ricci also knew that there weren't many Confucian scholars here, so there wouldn't be much resistance to spreading the doctrine. As long as he agreed, then this matter would be settled, and Catholicism would have a base in China.
But he did not think about it. How could Xiao Ruxun not know what he knew?
Xiao Ruxun already knew, so he found things for Ricci to do, so that he would not have the time to go out and fool people. He could only stay in the office to translate the compilation and write down the Western classics that he had memorized.
This guy's memory was very good, and he had his own special memory method. The legendary Memory Palace Method was passed down to China by Matteo Ricci. To this day, there were still many people learning it or opening cram schools to teach Memory Palaces.
It was precisely because of his strong memory that Ricci could almost write down the Western classics that he had memorized completely. Then, with his own Chinese level, with the help of Xiao Ruxun, he translated these Western classics together. This was Ricci's main work in the past three years.
Don't think that it was simple. This was a very time-consuming thing. Sometimes, he could only translate one or two pages in a day. Moreover, Xiao Ruxun did not have time every day.
When Xiao Ruxun had no time, he would find Chen Longzheng to replace him. Ricci once tried to develop Chen Longzheng as his first believer in Myanmar. However, Chen Longzheng, who was full of romantic idealism, was completely immune to Christianity. He was not bewitched by Ricci at all. Instead, he told Ricci about the ancient sages and legends of China.
Yes, Chen Longzheng taught the stories of sages such as Confucius and Mencius to Ricci in nine chapters and eighty-one sections, so that Ricci could further understand the history of China, especially the cultural history, as well as the local customs and legends, and so on. This made Ricci forget that he wanted to develop a follower, and he was almost counter-attacked by Chen Longzheng.
Ricci finally realized that Chen Longzheng was a fool, a fool who could never develop into a Catholic. If this was in medieval Europe, such a person could not escape the fire of the Religious Court of Inquiry. But in sixteenth-century China, Ricci had no way to deal with him. He could only try to maintain his faith and not be bewitched by Chen Longzheng.
But in the process, Ricci gradually realized that if he wanted to preach in China, he must understand Confucianism and get in touch with Confucian scholars.
However, the bishop did not know. He only knew that if he asked for Xiao Ruxun's consent, he could get the pope's favor and have the opportunity to be elected as the next pope, reaching the peak of his life.
But Xiao Ruxun did not seem to care much about this.
"You people are really interesting, Mr. Lee. I won't say anything else. Let me ask you, how is the life of the people under my rule? Are they able to eat? Is their life guaranteed? Is someone bullying them? Are they not simple and kind? Do they not abide by the laws of Marquis Zhennan's Mansion? "
Ricci thought to himself, "You're killing the conversation by saying that …"
But it was true that the greatest function of Catholicism was to control people's thoughts, to control people's hearts, to keep them in order, to achieve the effect of fooling and weakening the people, and to cultivate excellent taxpayers.
Note that it was taxpayers, not citizens. Citizens knew their rights, knew the rights they could get after paying taxes and abiding by the law, and dared to defend their rights when their rights were violated. On the other hand, taxpayers only knew how to pay taxes, honestly paying taxes, knowing nothing and doing nothing.
Governments all over the world hoped that the people under their rule were taxpayers, and taxpayers were the ideal people in the eyes of the rulers.
Catholicism was used by the Roman government for the purpose of cultivating taxpayers.
But the more than one million people under Xiao Ruxun's rule were almost like this. They lived a stable life, did not cause trouble, and did not quarrel. They worked from dawn to dusk to farm and do business. The hardworking Chinese people were something he had never seen before.
Xiao Ruxun also paid great attention to protecting the lives and safety of the people under his rule, and protecting their interests. Therefore, these people also paid great attention to maintaining the Marquis Zhennan's Mansion, abiding by the laws and regulations, and creating an ideal society — Plato's ideal society.
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