After the Mass, Nurhachi was very satisfied.
Giulio Alvarez bowed respectfully to the king of the barbarians. He knew very well what these country bumpkins needed. As a missionary, he knew the inferiority and pride of these barbarians. As long as they were given face and exaggerated praise, these barbarians were actually quite easy to fool, and the missionary work could continue.
After the Mass, Giulio Alvarez left alone. He still lived a poor life. He didn't need servants, didn't get close to women, and didn't covet money. At most, he had an individual prayer room, but the room was empty, without any extra furnishings. All the Nuerhachi and the other Zhenrens and Han people were very surprised by his behavior; they felt that he was both different and mysterious.
Ai Jurius had already taught Jian Nu all the secrets of the Church Organization. This had greatly benefited the Jurchen higher-ups in the process of putting it into practice, and they had also given him a lot of trust. But now that he had learned all the secrets, Ai Jurius had slowly become a rubber stamp. When he needed to use it, he just had to shout it out and use it.
Nurhachi originally wanted to appoint Giulio Alvarez as Vice Pope, but Giulio Alvarez refused. He said that he didn't need any power or status in the world, and only wanted to spread the teachings of the Lord. This noble and unquestionable attitude of not wanting any benefits was really puzzling. The Jurchen higher-ups, including Nurhachi, had discussed this many times, and even questioned him face to face, but they couldn't get an answer.
After leaving the church, Giulio Alvarez walked alone in Shenyang City. The passers-by and soldiers on the road all bowed to him with a smile. Because compared to the aloof and unapproachable Pope Nurhachi, this Father Ai was easy to approach, and he was willing to help the poor and give alms.
Giulio Alvarez didn't criticize the Jurchen higher-ups for taking all the benefits. From the bottom of his heart, he was still quite disgusted with these barbarians. However, he let them do as they pleased and even deliberately pushed them behind the scenes, allowing Nurhachi to claim that he was the reincarnation of Jesus.
"But the power of monopolizing faith is really powerful." Giulio Alvarez walked out of the city. Although it was midwinter, there were still people working in the fields. The slaves became very peaceful under the influence of their faith. They worked hard without complaint and no longer complained about being lazy. They only hoped that their piety could be exchanged for a chance to ascend to heaven, and they firmly believed in it.
The slaves were leveling the land and building a training ground. Female Zhenren's power had greatly developed last winter and this spring. They had reaped a good harvest in a year of cultivation, so they began to get restless. As far as Giulio Alvarez knew, the Female Daoist's military strength had exceeded 300,000. They were wantonly organizing the army and staking it all on a single throw of resources. Now, there were so many soldiers that there was no place for them to train.
"Crazy, really crazy!" Giulio Alvarez sighed at the slaves who were working hard. He liked to walk around inside and outside the city every day, greeting and chatting with people he knew or didn't know. This was something that the Female Daoist and the Han people never did. The latter thought that their status was high. Although they were religious, they still felt that it was beneath their status to be with the untouchables.
On the training ground outside the city, some slave soldiers were training. Some of them used spears and other cold weapons, but about a quarter of them used matchlocks. These matchlocks were recently made – the Portuguese craftsmen from Macau arrived in the capital with the dream of making a fortune, but they were soon attracted to this cold and barbaric land by higher wages.
The skills of the Portuguese craftsmen were quickly learned by the Han craftsmen, which made Giulio Alvarez most amazed. The Han people learned everything quickly. They were a truly civilized race, different from the ignorant people of India, and different from the barbaric Female Daoist. His evaluation of the Han people was – really a terrible group of people. Fortunately, they had begun to believe in the Lord.
In addition to the Portuguese, Giulio Alvarez also saw the Dutch. At first, he thought that they were also Portuguese, but in fact, he soon realized that the two sides were different. The Portuguese came from Macau, but where did these Dutch come from? He didn't understand.
Giulio Alvarez once talked to these Dutch, but they refused to talk in depth, as if they wanted to keep a secret. Until one day, a Portuguese craftsman revealed a clue – the Dutch came from Japan. They brought a lot of gunpowder, matchlocks, and cannons made by the Japanese to the Female Daoist, and even served as army instructors.
"From Japan? That's probably a new trade route. " Giulio Alvarez knew that the trade route had always been the biggest secret of the sea merchants. A monopoly trade route could bring huge profits. Obviously, these Dutch people who came out of nowhere were not willing to share this secret.
Under the training of the Dutch, the Female Daoist's slave army grew very fast. They had more and more matchlocks and cannons, and they trained every day. It seemed that they couldn't wait to go into a war.
According to Giulio Alvarez's observation in Shenyang, the war should start in two or three months. Because at that time, the Female Daoist's army should have finished training, and their food should have run out – they could either go out and grab the spoils of war and survive, or starve to death. This was very similar to the practice of many European royal families.
"The Lord said that those who betray it will be punished, and those who borrow its power will be destroyed." Regarding the Female Daoist's preparation for war, Giulio Alvarez has been watching with cold eyes. "All the glory belongs to the Lord, and no mortal can touch it."
The whisper of prayer in Latin attracted the attention of outsiders, and Giulio Alvarez noticed that someone was approaching from behind. Without waiting for him to turn around, a woman's voice asked him: "Father Ai, what are you praying for?"
"I pray that the Lord will bless this land." Giulio Alvarez turned around and bowed slightly. Standing behind him was the wife of Pope Nurhachi, the woman named Abahai. She had a beautiful appearance, a clever mind, and great curiosity.
"I think you're lying." Abahai, who was wearing a thick fur winter coat, looked at Giulio Alvarez with contempt.
Giulio Alvarez drew the cross on his chest and said, "I am a believer of the Lord, I can't lie."
"Don't try to lie to me. You must be hiding something from my man."
"I've done all my duty to inform your husband."
"Then you must have deliberately left something out, or omitted a few words. I know this very well, and so does my man. He knows that you must be hiding some secrets. "
Giulio Alvarez still wanted to defend himself, but Abahai stopped him. "You don't ask for money, you don't want women, you don't want power. It seems that you don't want anything. It must be that the thing you want is so big that you can't get it directly. Don't deny it, I know you men too well. The more ambitious a person is, the more forbearing he is. In this world, I've only met one man who is boundlessly ambitious and straightforward. "
This woman's mind is so sharp …
Giulio Alvarez could only smile bitterly. He knew that no matter how he tried to defend himself, it was useless. This woman had already determined that he was hiding something. But … this woman said that he was ambitious and straightforward. Who was this person?
"Madame, who are you talking about?" Giulio Alvarez was always calm, but his curiosity was aroused.
"My man," Abahai said with a chuckle. She seemed to have held back her words for a long time, and at this moment, she wanted to find someone unrelated to say a few words. Otherwise, she would die of suffocation.
Even with Giulio Alvarez's intelligence, he did not understand what this noble Grand Concubine meant.
Your man? Isn't your man the leader of the barbarians, Nurhachi? To say that he was ambitious was true. He even dared to directly seize the power of God. But to say that he was straightforward, was she scolding him?
Giulio Alvarez did not know the inside story. When Abahai saw him frown in confusion, she knew that she had found a good person to talk to today. She could not help but become even more presumptuous. She happily said, "We women are very pitiful. We can't lead troops to war, nor can we travel for business. We can only stay at home. All we want in life is to find a good man who can make us look good. "
Giulio Alvarez frowned. He felt that there was a hidden meaning in this Grand Concubine's words. He was an expert at playing psychological tricks, and his favorite thing was to brainwash people. But now, he could not figure out what Abahai was talking about. This feeling of confusion gave him a stubbornness that refused to admit defeat. He could not help but reply casually, "Grand Concubine's man is indeed very powerful."
"Of course." Abahai smiled proudly. She had been very sullen during this period of time, and wanted to seize the opportunity to secretly laugh. "My man is invincible in conquering cities and territories. He is going to be an emperor soon.
Alas … it must be hard for him to build such a big foundation in just two or three years. He is really worthy of being a hero of his generation. This is also me. If it were anyone else, they would not be worthy of him. "
Giulio Alvarez agreed with this. He had also inquired about Nurhachi's history in detail. Especially in the past two or three years, from the remote mountain of Hetuala to the colorful world of Liaodong, his power had skyrocketed ten or twenty times in one breath. As far as the territory of Liaodong was concerned, it was a real big country in Europe. It was comparable to that fake Holy Rome.
"Grand Concubine's man leads millions of people and controls the land from east to west. He can indeed be an emperor." Giulio Alvarez said.
"Alas, but he also has many women around him. As long as they are beautiful, he likes them all. He doesn't even avoid that jinx Yehe tribe. I am the least favored one. At first, he tried his best to get me, but now he has given me the cold shoulder for so long. "Abahai's tone was bitter, and the more she spoke, the more explicit it became. The maids around her all looked horrified. They were afraid that if they heard something they should not hear, they would cause trouble.
Giulio Alvarez habitually nodded, but as he nodded, he felt that something was wrong. There were many women around Nurhachi, that was true. He seemed to have married Yehe tribe and so on. But in terms of favor, it should be this Grand Concubine who was the most favored, right? How did it become 'given the cold shoulder for so long'?
The doubts in Giulio Alvarez's heart grew deeper and deeper. This was like a guessing game. Abahai had already given him the riddle, and the answer seemed to be right in front of him, but he just could not see through it.
It was just a casual chat, but Giulio Alvarez was really confused, as if he had been teased by a riddle. Looking at the expressions of the Grand Concubine's maids, it was obvious that this conversation was not nonsense, but had a deeper meaning.
What deeper meaning?
"Madame, as long as your faith in the Lord is sincere enough, you will definitely be able to win back your man's favor." Giulio Alvarez was trying to find something to talk about.
"What's the use?" Abahai retorted happily. "My man doesn't believe in your Jesus at all."
Ah … you finally told me the truth.
Giulio Alvarez was so angry that he wanted to curse. I knew Nurhachi doesn't believe in our Lord at all. He is a man with power and intends to rule everything. He just wants to use our Lord's power to increase his power. Faith is just a tool to him.
Ai Juro also had something to say in his heart, and he had to get it out. At this moment, a fast horse suddenly appeared outside Shenyang City. Abahai looked at the horse and said happily, "Alas, although my man doesn't love me, he still knows to bring me some delicious food from tens of thousands of miles away. I can only rely on myself. "
As the fast horse approached, Abahai raised her hand and shouted, "Stop! Is this the Indian fruit from Tianjin?"
The servant on the horse quickly jumped down, knelt on the ground and said, "Master, this is the Indian fruit that I bought from Tianjin. I didn't dare to delay along the way. It's still very fresh. There are mangoes and coconuts that master likes to eat. But it's cold now, so I have to warm up in a warm room for half a day. "
"Okay, okay, I'm a poor man, and this is all I have left. Go back and eat mangoes. " Abahai turned around and left happily. She did not forget to wave at Giulio Alvarez and said, "See you, Father Ai. I'll chat with you again when I have time."
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