Nanjing, Fengtian Hall in the Forbidden City.
"Your Majesty, this country of Spain is tens of thousands of miles away from China. It takes a year to go back and forth. Moreover, the Spanish country is known as the empire of the world in the West and its territory is extremely vast. Its monarch is also busy with many things and is deeply involved in the disputes between the European countries. I am afraid he does not have the energy. , it is not so quick to react to the changes in the east, where the Chinese continent is located. The matter of uniting the Eastern captives and Korea is mostly made by the Governor-General of the Philippines in Spain..."
It was Tang Ruowang who spoke. He had just been assigned a new assignment, the deputy director of Taixue. The Qintian Prison he was in charge of has now been merged into the newly opened Imperial College. And he himself is also one of the popular candidates for the Seventh Bachelor of Taixue - the Seventh Bachelor is not so easy to produce, and you have to take an exam! And it’s much harder than taking the Taipei exam!
Not only must the assessment focus on mathematics, but also the principles in "Zi Lun Ge Wu Pian". It cannot be passed by rote memorization (it is enough for Taipei students to memorize by rote). You must also understand one or two of them and write a paper. , and also need to conduct a defense.
Therefore, it will take another two or three years for the first class of Seven Scholars to be produced, and the great Confucians must have time to study "Zi Lun Ge Wu Chapter" and "New Arithmetic Science"! It's so difficult, and it's still self-study. I wonder if it will make those elderly scholars cry.
Therefore, at present, Taixue only has officials, no scholars, and no students. It is almost a shell to appease the scholars in the southeast. To a certain extent, "Zi Lun Ge Wu Pian" and "New Arithmetic Science" are also used to appease the scholars in the southeast - go and study hard, and if you are good at it, you will be an official!
Tang Ruowang's foundation in Western learning was much better than that of ordinary scholars, but he had been stumped by several exercises in "New Arithmeticology" in the past two days. When he was praying to God to give him some wisdom, he was summoned to Fengtian Hall by Zhu Cihong Let’s discuss the issue of the “Western Qing Alliance”.
Tang Ruowang was shocked when he heard the news of the "Western Qing Alliance". He was even more surprised than when he saw "Zi Lun Ge Wu Pian" and "New Arithmetic Theory" - he really did not expect that Confucius' achievements in philosophy far exceeded Aristotle! Moreover, there is a lot of algebra and geometry in "New Arithmetic". I don't know where Emperor Zhu learned it from?
However, the emergence of "Zi Lun Ge Wu Pian" and "New Arithmeticology" are nothing compared to the alliance between Spain and the Qing Dynasty - at least for the Jesuit cause in China, the "Western Qing Alliance" can be said to be a revolution. A major crisis.
Spain is one of the most important pillars of the Holy See!
If Spain and the Ming Dynasty were hostile or even went to war, the Holy See would most likely be involved in the conflict, and the Jesuits would have to obey the Pope unconditionally. Once the Holy See sides with Spain and opposes the Ming Dynasty, the Jesuits will become the enemies of the Ming Empire!
Therefore, Tang Ruowang had to try to reconcile the conflicts between the two sides and avoid the outbreak of all-out confrontation and war.
Zhu Cihong asked: "Then will Philip IV approve the Western Qing Alliance concluded by the Governor of the Philippines?"
In fact, there is no "Western Qing Alliance". How could it be so easy for two major powers to form an alliance? Without the consent of King Philip IV of Spain, the Governor-General of the Philippines would not dare to form this alliance!
The envoy sent by Chacon to Beijing only made a request to set up a commercial mission in North Korea and station a representative in Beijing. He also expressed his willingness to provide advanced firearms and military advisors to the Qing Dynasty.
Spain and the Qing Dynasty are still in the stage of making friends, and it is still early to form an alliance!
"Absolutely impossible!" Tang Ruowang said, "The Spanish Governor of the Philippines has no right to conclude an alliance. According to Spanish law, the colonial governor is the king's plenipotentiary representative in the colony. According to the king's instructions and the instructions of the Indian and other places' affairs council, he controls the colonial affairs. In administrative, military, financial and religious matters, we have the power to appoint officials and church leaders within the jurisdiction and participate in the trial of major judicial cases. This does not include diplomatic powers such as the conclusion of alliances and declaration of war!"
Zhu Cixiang nodded: "I see... I also hope it is a misunderstanding, but if there are too many such misunderstandings, it will inevitably cause the two countries to fall into a state of full hostility! So I want to send a plenipotentiary representative to Europe The delegation visited the Netherlands, England, France, Spain, Portugal and other countries, and went to Rome to visit the Pope and the President of the Jesuit Society, and reached an agreement with the spread of Roman Catholicism in the Ming Dynasty and its vassal states.
I hope to obtain the patronage rights of the Roman Catholic Church in the so-called East Asian continent! "
The so-called "protection power" is the right and obligation granted by the Holy See to the secular government to protect the spread of Catholic Christianity in non-Christian countries. It is a preferential privilege in the Catholic missionary career.
The secular government with this kind of privilege has gained the right to dominate the Catholic churches in the areas it "protects". One of its important powers is to recommend bishops to the Pope. Although the power of appointing bishops nominally belongs to the Pope, The pope can only appoint priests recommended by the secular government. In addition, missionaries arriving in areas “protected” by a secular government must also register and obtain approval from that secular government.
In other words, once Zhu Cihong has the right to protect the church, he can dominate the Catholic forces on the East Asian continent!
"Your Majesty," Tang Ruowang looked at Emperor Zhu in surprise, "but you are not a believer! If you are willing to be baptized and become a believer in the Lord, of course you can become the protector of the Catholic Church in East Asia..."
"Father Tang," Zhu Cihong interrupted Tang Ruowang, "you are wrong. Although I have not been baptized, I am a believer in heaven! According to Father Matteo Ricci's explanation, the God of Christianity is the heaven or heavenly principle of us Chinese people. .....Both are the sources of all things in the universe! And Father Long Huamin’s later explanation, calling God God, is completely wrong! As a protector, I do not agree with Long Huamin’s wrong explanation!”
Tang Ruowang was speechless, because Zhu Cihong was right! Matteo Ricci understood Chinese culture better than Long Huamin, and of course he knew that Chinese heaven and principles and Western God actually mean the same thing. On the contrary, God’s statement is wrong. The literal interpretation of God is the emperor of heaven. Where does God mean the emperor? Long Huamin explained this way, either because he was looking for trouble to build up his own prestige, or because he was unwilling to connect Christianity and Neo-Confucianism - equating God with heavenly principles might damage the prestige of the church. Because the basis of Neo-Confucianism is the unity of heaven and man, this is equivalent to saying that people can communicate directly with heaven without going through priests or becoming religious!
Zhu Cixiang added: "In addition, Pope Innocent X did not seek my opinion when he issued an encyclical prohibiting Chinese believers from participating in ancestor worship and Confucius worship. Therefore, it violated my actual right to protect religion, which is invalid and wrong! "
"But you are not yet a protector..."
"I have the right to protect the church!" Zhu Cixiang said, "Because the King of Portugal has granted the right to protect the church in the Ming Dynasty to the Portuguese Governor of Macau, and the Portuguese governor of Macau is also my vassal, so I have the right to protect the church! Now I I hope the Pope in Rome can officially recognize my patronage!"
this......
It seems that you are right!
Macau is now a servant of two masters, loyal to Portugal and the Ming Dynasty at the same time. Moreover, the sovereignty of the land of Macau is undisputed and belongs to the Ming Dynasty! Therefore, the Governor of Macau can now only be called the Portuguese Governor of Macau - he oversees the Portuguese people, but not the land of Macau.
Because the Portuguese in Macau claimed vassal status from the Ming Dynasty, they were allowed to live in Macau and pay tribute!
Although Macau's actual status is still a Portuguese colony, the governor of Macau is still appointed by the Portuguese King and is controlled by the Governor of Indian Affairs in Goa. But legally, the Governor of Macau was also a vassal of the Ming Emperor.
Since he is a vassal, the Governor of Macau must obey the emperor's will. Moreover, in the past few years, the Portuguese Governor-General of Macau (called the Macau Council in the Ming Dynasty) has been respectful and loyal, and has contributed a lot to the founding of the Ming Dynasty and the introduction of Western culture and technology.
From this perspective, Zhu Cixiang really has the right to protect Christianity in East Asia!
