"Is this Beijing?"
Chongwenmen, the first of the eight major gates, makes hundreds of thousands of profits every year, and is now densely packed with people.
The high sun was extremely dazzling, baking the entire earth to a fever pitch.
The donkey cart carrying coal moved slowly, dropping a piece of cake from time to time, causing the vine hands who had been waiting for a long time on the roadside to scramble for it.
Pedestrians on the road couldn't help but hold their heads high when they saw the majestic city of Beijing. They were inexplicably shocked.
At this time, a carriage came, and they consciously lined up to pay the entry tax.
In the car, several priests wearing wigs, draped in loose white robes, with glasses on their noses, their brown-green eyes constantly looking for gaps, observed the bright scene.
"Ordinary people wear shorts and shorts, wear hats on their heads, stoop humbly, and have sallow faces and skinny faces. They are similar to the common people outside Rome."
"Those wearing robes and holding their heads high must be their nobles, right? Are there many people showing courtesy?"
"No, they are scholars, or ordinary people who have received medals and honors, just like our seminary students, who rely on knowledge to gain status."
In the carriage, the skinny priest explained in standard Mandarin to another priest with black hair and a high nose.
There were countless conversations like this between the two people along the way. In order to better integrate into the Ming Dynasty, the official language must be smooth.
"The Ming Dynasty is too big."
At this time, the priest who was sitting on the other side watching sighed: "It took half a month for the ship to go north from Macau, and now it takes three to five days to travel on land. This is wider than the entire Europe."
"If these people accept the gospel of God, after I die, I will definitely go to heaven and enjoy God's mercy."
Hearing this, several people fell into a fiery situation.
"I wonder if the Ming Emperor will receive us?"
"The Governor of Macau asked us to come here because of the conflict between the Netherlands and the Ming Dynasty. For the sake of diplomatic relations between the two countries, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty will definitely receive us!"
After a few discussions, the carriage stopped and came to the gate.
"Two carriages, how many people?" the tax collector asked angrily.
"Seven!" the groom said hurriedly.
"I do not believe!"
The tax collector sneered and stepped forward.
Although the carriage was gorgeous, it looked like it was rented, and the few guards were vulnerable. This kind of person must be a rich man from out of town. How could he get there without paying a fortune?
Hey, why didn't you stop me? This is a female family, and men and women are on guard—
The tax collector walked more slowly.
You ungrateful animal.
Gritting his teeth, the tax collector felt like he was fighting a fool and was unlucky.
Helpless, he could only open the car curtain.
"Ghost——"
What appeared in front of him turned out to be a green-faced and fanged hell demon, which frightened him so much that he even took a few steps back and his legs became weak.
The scream immediately startled the surrounding people, who quickly took a few steps back to avoid it.
At this time, the car curtain was opened, and several evil spirits in white robes revealed their true appearance.
At this time, the children were crying, the old people were trembling, ready to lose their breath at any time, and many timid ones were even scared to the point of urinating.
The huge Chongwen Gate instantly became a mess, as if someone had robbed it.
"Hello, we are from Macau."
The evil ghost clearly spoke standard Mandarin, leaving the tax collectors and policemen speechless in surprise.
These words are actually more standard than them.
“It turns out they’re Portuguese!”
At this time, a man came on horseback and couldn't help laughing when he saw that Chongwenmen was in chaos.
As he said this, he walked directly to the carriage, ignoring everyone's surprised looks, and said, "Are you from Macau?"
"That's right!" The leading priest was overjoyed: "We were requested by the Governor of Macau and the Dutch to come to Beijing to negotiate with your country."
"You must have paperwork?"
"Of course, if you don't have paperwork, you won't be able to come to Beijing."
After saying that, he handed over the paperwork.
The Ministry of Rites is worthy of it, and the signature is just a main thing.
"It's okay, these are a group of Western monks."
Zheng Sen shouted, and the situation immediately returned to normal.
"Where are the people who protect you?"
Zheng Sen felt strange, why were these Hongyi allowed to run wild? What if they scared the children?
"They went back in Tianjin."
The big-nosed priest should be the person in charge, and his words are very sincere.
Obviously, for such Western barbarians, the Ministry of Rites must feel that they are not as good as Korea, Ryukyu and other countries, so naturally they don't care.
Furthermore, it is a few days' journey from Tianjin to Beijing. With Kanhe, the inns can be accommodated, so where can manpower be allocated to take care of this group of people.
After a long time, Zheng Sen said: "I will take you to the Ministry of Etiquette!"
After a while, Dongchang investigated everything about what happened outside Chongwen Gate and submitted it to the emperor.
"missionary--"
Zhu Yixi muttered, and then he remembered the group of people who built ships for him in Nanjing.
Oops, it’s been so long that I almost forgot about it because it’s so useful.
"Macau sent people here to discuss the establishment of an embassy, and also to help the Dutch barbarians speak for themselves."
Yang Le said softly: "The people in the Ministry of Rites are extremely hostile to the embassy's own affairs and make things difficult in every possible way. It must be because of this that they did not send anyone to protect them this time, which led to this incident."
"outrageous!"
The emperor uttered a word and then stopped talking.
But Yang Le understood that this was when the emperor began to become dissatisfied with Jiang Yueguang, the Minister of Rites.
These old ministers are stubborn in their opinions. Even if they obey on the surface, they will secretly reject them.
The embassy started talking about it last year, but now, during the Mid-Autumn Festival, the ground has not been painted yet. The emperor's patience has reached its limit.
"Since the Ministry of Etiquette won't do it, then I will do it."
Zhu Yixi glanced at Yang Le, turned around and said, "Dongchang will find a piece of deserted land in the inner city, and let these Western barbarians build an embassy."
"Yes!" Yang Le was delighted and hurriedly responded.
Being able to do things for the emperor means that he is still useful and has power.
"Let the cabinet draft a decree. Except for the eight major customs areas, Western barbarians are not allowed to build churches privately, let alone preach privately."
Soon, the three members of the cabinet borrowed the oral edict, pondered it over, and quickly approved this innocuous imperial edict. After submitting it to the emperor, it was then sent to the six departments for publication in all provinces.
Through Dongchang's actions, the Ministry of Rites immediately understood the emperor's thoughts and took action.
"The barbarians in Macao spread the word, and the Dutch begged for peace and were willing to give up their officials. They just wanted to be able to do business with the customs and build an embassy in Beijing."
Jiang Yueguang had a dark face and reported the report helplessly.
"It's business!" Zhu Yixi nodded and said, "Allow him, but tell the Portuguese that the land we borrowed for repairs in the past was not to sell the land to him."
"How dare you appoint a private governor and build a new city wall in a land of a mere size. It's so audacious."
"The land of Macao will return to the jurisdiction of Xiangshan County."
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