In addition to the charter business, each branch has several sailings from Baoshi every day. No matter whether the passenger boat is full or not, it will leave on time. In order to arrive on time. Cargo ships should travel together as much as possible, with 6 to 1 in each team
2 ships, each fleet is assigned a steward, who is responsible for purchasing and negotiating along the way, and there is also a waterway escort and a number of full-time security personnel, who are responsible for the safety of the ship. If a passenger liner has to pass through an area with poor public security, it must also be equipped with a number of security personnel.
Because the passenger boats are dispatched on a scheduled basis, each outer locker can also be used to receive and send letters.
This is not Zhang Xin's first creation. The four-person ship in this space and time has already handled this kind of business. Commercial activities in Jiangnan are frequent and people move a lot. In addition to sī letters, there is also a great demand for the circulation of various business letters. Of course, Zhao Yingong will not give up this business opportunity. If conditions permit, he also wants to open up passenger and cargo transportation and postal routes from Beijing to Jiangnan, and from Jiangnan to Guangdong. Of course, this kind of business involving cross-head office accounts must be coordinated by the General Administration Bureau in Guangzhou.
Mao Sansheng worked intensively in various places to organize the passenger and cargo transportation companies of Jiangnan Headquarters according to this routine, especially to win over joint ship owners. Zhao Yingong knew that this matter was not easy. If the boat owners could not be provided with sufficient benefits, why would the boat owners come to participate in the joint venture and suffer the threat of recruitment?
He knows that the current talk of "joining a joint venture can increase business volume" is purely empty talk. To win over boat owners, the first step is to find a backer for the boat owners so that they feel safe and secure.
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, Yan Shenggong's Mansion took in a large number of "households" from the common people. Many fishermen in the Weishan Lake area voluntarily pledged their money, preferring to serve the Kong family by sending fish and shrimps in order to get the support of Duke Yansheng's Mansion.
The Australian brand cannot be promoted in Jiangnan, and Eunuch Yang cannot be said to be powerful in Jiangnan. He has to find other local forces to act as a protective umbrella.
To this end, he and Jin Lige went to visit the Catholic Church in Hangzhou.
The Catholic Church in Hangzhou is located near Tianshui Bridge. This land was purchased by Yang Tingjun in 1627, and a small church was built here, along with a priest's residence and a monastery. At this time, missionary Guo Jujing presided over the residence. Guo Jujing was fully responsible for the missionary activities in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and was equivalent to the highest person in charge of the Catholic Church in Jiangnan.
Tianshuiqiao Catholic Church does not appear to be a church from the outside because it was originally renovated from a mansion. If the cross on top of the chapel inside could not be seen from outside the courtyard wall, passers-by would not notice that it was originally a "Cross Temple".
This place is the headquarters of the Catholic Church in the entire Jiangnan region. Jin Lige couldn't suppress the excitement in his heart and made a sign of the cross regardless of whether people were still on the street.
Zhao Yingong asked Jiying, his personal servant, to come and post a message. Within a moment, the door was already open.
Two people came out and welcomed them in.
The buildings in the courtyard are much the same as outside. A slightly Gothic-style building was built here. One of the doors with stone steps has many windows on all sides and is decorated with many strange flower patterns. Looking through the open door and window, the roof is very high. There is another mansion next to the Catholic Church for the priests to live in. After Zhao Yingong and his party informed, Guo Jujing appeared quickly.
This is a tall and burly Italian, with a long beard that has turned gray but is still very beautiful, and a high and raised nose. However, his curly hair was combed straight up according to the Chinese style. Like the Chinese Confucian scholars, he wore a square scarf and a white straight quilt.
Guo Jujing has always been famous among missionaries for her "long and beautiful beard and burly figure". He was born into a noble family in Tuscany, Italy, and was very elegant and well-mannered. So much so that in the "Guo Jujing Incident" that caused chaos in Guangdong in 1606, there were rumors among Guangdong officials and people that the Portuguese wanted to support him as emperor of China. Although he is now in his seventies, which is a very old age in this time and space, he still looks very healthy. He once studied Chinese specifically in Macau and preached in Shaozhou, Nanchang, Nanjing, Shanghai and other places. Since the year he first arrived in Macau, this missionary has been in China for nearly forty years. . He speaks Nanjing Mandarin very fluently. He had a high status among missionaries. When Matteo Ricci entered Beijing, he was the agent in charge of teaching affairs in Nanjing and other places.
Seeing Zhao Yingong and Jin Lige arriving, he lowered his rank and greeted them with a smile.
When Father Terry Ge saw this priest, he was so excited that he couldn't help himself. Among the first batch of missionaries who entered China to open up the situation, Matteo Ricci, Xiong Sanba, Jin Nige and others had already passed away. Among the original "pioneers", only Guo Jujing is still alive and continues to preside over academic affairs.
"Padne!"
"Hello, my brother." Guo Jujing greeted him with a smile.
Seeing Zhao Yingong, he quickly came up to him and saluted: "Ah, Mr. Zhao, nice to meet you, nice to meet you, I've been waiting for you for a long time!" He was very experienced in understanding this Chinese style.
"Padne. This is Mr. Zhao. This is the letter I brought from Macau." Father Terry said.
"Ah, easy to say, easy to say. I have received a letter from Mr. President." He said with a smile, and asked politely: "Please invite Zhao Guangshengguang to serve tea under the house."
The Jesuits in Guangzhou wrote to Hangzhou more than a few months ago about the news that Jin Li Ge was coming to Hangzhou. The Jesuits once again instructed Guo Jujing in the letter, asking him to "try to help the [Chinese] people brought by Father Trigg." Guo Jujing was a foreigner, so of course he could not help. The so-called help meant using the power of the Hangzhou Church.
Zhao Yingong smiled and said: "I want to pay my respects to the church first."
"Of course, then please move this way first!"
Guo Jujing led the way, and the group walked through the courtyard together, climbed the steps, and entered the Catholic Church.
Zhao Yingong had never been to a church in the old days, but had seen it in books and movies. He found that this church, which was designed and built in a Western style, was similar to his basic impression. The entire lobby is narrow and long, with a high ceiling and simple religious paintings. There are carved windows lined up on both sides - very Chinese windows are covered with paper, so the church is a little dark.
In the middle is a holy gold decorated with incense lamps and curtains, housing an oil painting of Jesus. Although Zhao Yingong didn't go to church, he had seen many such images in his daily life and didn't take it seriously. This surprised Guo Jujing because whenever Chinese people come here, they will be very interested in the portrait of Jesus: not only because the painting is of a Westerner, but also because of the accuracy and lifelikeness of Western paintings.
The nonchalant attitude of "Australians" is not a false disinterest. Guo Jujing could see that oil painting was not a new and strange thing to this Australian.
In addition to the altar in the center, there are two altars on the left and right, each with a statue of a saint.
"This is St. Peter." Guo Jujing saw Zhao Yingong showing interest in the altars on both sides, so he introduced: "He is holding two keys and pointing to the door of heaven. The other one is the statue of St. Paul. He In the posture of a preacher, holding up the Holy Cross in one hand and pointing to a Latin sentence with the other hand." The priest read it again in Latin, and then translated: "We preach the crucified Christ..."
Zhao Yingong followed him to visit the Notre Dame Church on the right. The layout of the Notre Dame Church is similar to that of the main church, but smaller. According to modern standards, it is a large conference room. There is also a painting inside, which shows the Virgin Mary holding Jesus in her arms.
He estimated that the hall could accommodate about 200 believers, and the Notre Dame Church could also accommodate 20 to 30 people. The size of the Catholic church in Hangzhou does not exceed one thousand people.
It's pitifully small in terms of scale. However, there are a large number of officials and scholars in this church, and they have considerable social influence.
After visiting the church, Guo Jujing invited Zhao Yingong and others to his residence for tea.
The house is very simple, the furniture decoration is completely Chinese, and there are thread-bound books stacked on the bookshelves and desks. If it weren't for the crucifix hanging on the wall, it would be difficult to imagine that this was a European missionary's residence.
He immediately asked Zhao Yingong and Father Trige to sit down. Then a young servant brought tea. Huang Zongxi saw that he was only in his twenties. He was wearing a green robe and a small cap, and had handsome features. He was clearly a Chinese, but there was a small cross hanging in front of his chest. It looked like he had been converted.
The tea is green tea. It seems that the priest has already followed the Romans. Zhao Yingong had already prepared a suitable gift. Although the missionaries came to [China] with the ambition of being martyrs who gave up everything, and were determined to spread the gospel in a foreign country for the rest of their lives, this does not mean that they do not miss their past. living environment.
The gift prepared by Zhao Yingong was a box of red wine. This is Xue Ziliang’s little one in the farm
Brewed in a winery. Of course, the grapes used are not special wine-making grapes such as Cabernet or Pinot Noir, but ordinary fruit grapes. However, for Guo Jujing, who has lived in the interior of China for decades and rarely sees even Europeans, it is still a rare gift, allowing him to soothe his homesickness in his dying years.
"Thank you, Mr. Zhao." Guo Jujing was very moved, and Zhao Yiggong took the opportunity to inquire about church affairs in Hangzhou. In addition to what he wanted to know, Dian Quanzi also wanted to know how powerful the Catholic Church in Hangzhou was.
Guo Jujing is not subtle about this. Although the Hangzhou church is not as important as the Beijing church in terms of status, it is worse than other places in terms of stability. Although Yang Tingyun and Li Zhizao have passed away one after another, their children and disciples are still very enthusiastic about the church. The Yang family, in particular, not only purchased land to build Tianshuiqiao Church, but also donated a piece of Dafangjing land for the burial of missionaries. His daughter, named Yiros, contributed a lot to the church. Therefore, the Yang family has the greatest influence on the Catholic Church in Hangzhou. @.
