The loud noise made by the Thor when it dropped anchor caused the onlookers on Urupu Island (hereinafter referred to as "Urupu Island") to scream in surprise.
When the seals and their men rushed to the beach in a speedboat, the Ainu people on the beach were so frightened that they dispersed. However, Father Markarius and Father Ferapontov walked towards Sea Dog and the others while chanting Orthodox prayers.
"Lord, give me the strength to endure today's labors and all that this day has to offer. Amen. Welcome, my. Ouch!"
After the sea dog jumped off the speedboat, without saying a word, he raised the steel pipe in his hand and hit Macarius on the head. Markarius had no time to dodge, so he had to turn his head, and the steel pipe hit his shoulder. Macarius grinned in pain, covered his shoulders, and looked at Sea Dog and the others in horror.
"Tie these two people up! What are you talking about!" Sea Dog pointed at the two Tsarist Russian priests and said to his men.
When Ferapontov saw that his companions were injured, he was horrified and shouted loudly in Ainu: "This is Her Majesty's territory! You barbarians!"
The sea dog pointed at Ferapontov with a steel pipe and ordered his subordinates: "Stop their mouths!"
A Shachuan warrior took out a rag from his waist and actually brought it to his nose to smell it; then he tore it in half, chuckled, and walked towards the two priests.
"God, you can't do this. Uh. Uh."
After Markarius and Ferapontov were tied up and gagged with an indescribable rag, the sea dog said to them viciously: "This is the land of Chief Tuka! You foreign invaders, They all deserve to die!"
After a while, after the second batch of Shachuan warriors landed ashore, the seal raised his hand and pointed at the church not far away, and seven or eight Shachuan people armed with swords and guns rushed over quickly.
"Hmm." When the two Tsarist priests saw each other heading towards their church, they twisted their bodies desperately and tried to stop them; but under the supervision of several strong Shachuan warriors, everything was in vain.
After a while, the Shachuan warriors who rushed into the chapel came out one after another. They held several gold crosses and cups in their hands, and one guy even held a huge gold nugget in his arms.
"Seal Dog, there are so many things inside!" a Shachuan warrior said with a smile.
"Move them all out and put them here." Sea Dog pointed to an open space on the beach and said, and he quickly walked towards the wooden church.
This small church is small in area, with the door opening to the west; the roof is made into a steeply spire shape, with a large cross standing on the top. The seal walked into the house and looked around.
The style of living here is completely different from that of the Ainu people. Entering the door is the sanctuary, which is the main body of the church. There is not a single chair in the entire room. Walking along the church, to the left of the wooden altar statue is a bedroom, and to the right is a warehouse for storing supplies.
The seal walked into the bedroom door and took a look inside. There were two wooden beds inside, and a small cross hung on the wall. He curled his lips and went to the warehouse on the right.
Several Shachuan warriors were moving things out from inside. A few bags of placer gold, dozens of deer skins, grain piled on the roof, cured meat, pickled fish, and a few large closed wooden barrels were all.
The seal walked to the barrels and opened the stopper of one, and a strong aroma of wine wafted out.
It was already noon when Zhao Xin led the people ashore. He glanced at the two tied priests and asked a Shachuan warrior, "Where are the seals?"
"Inside, been in there for a long time."
"Go get him out, I'll wait for him here."
Zhao Xin walked to the place where the trophies were piled and looked at the things moved out of the church.
"Oh, there's quite a lot of gold!"
When Markarius and Ferapontov saw Zhao Xin and his men, they quickly realized that these people were not Ainu. Because Zhao Xin and the others were all wearing a thick dark blue short coat and a strange thick hat on their head.
But when Zhao Xin looked at the pile of supplies taken out from the church and spoke, Macarius's eyes suddenly widened; because he had learned this language for a long time. So he ignored the pain in his shoulders and his mouth being blocked, twisting his body as hard as he could, making "oooo" sounds from his mouth.
Zhao Xin was indeed attracted by Macarius' movements, frowned and said to his men: "Take out what is in their mouths."
"Bahh~~vomit~~" The two priests were finally freed from the unknown piece of rag, and the strong smell made them vomit out bile.
The forty-year-old Father Macarius had almost vomited, and then he looked at Zhao Xin and asked in a strange Beijing dialect: "Are you from the Qing Dynasty?"
"Huh?!" Zhao Xin was extremely surprised. He didn't expect that the priest in front of him could actually speak Beijing dialect. He knelt down and asked curiously: "Who are you? How can you speak Chinese?"
"My name is Macarius, and I am an Orthodox priest. I just returned from your capital three years ago." Macarius spoke very slowly. He had forgotten Chinese after not speaking Chinese for several years. A lot of vocabulary.
Zhao Xin became more and more curious, so he ordered his men to escort the two of them back to the Thor for custody until he returned.
Markarius, who was pushed by the soldiers, shouted to Zhao Xin: "Your Excellency, you cannot be rude to the Lord's territory! This island is the territory of Her Majesty the Queen!"
Zhao Xin's expression changed and he said coldly: "This is the territory of the Ainu people, and you are just a group of invaders. Take them away!"
The drunken sea dog was helped out by two men. Zhao Xin stopped beating him when he saw anger. He ordered a Shachuan warrior to get a bucket of water, and Duotou poured it on the seal.
Zhao Xin didn't care that the sea dog was screaming at the biting cold water, and said to Sheng Haizhou beside him: "Empty the things in the church, and then set it on fire!"
As a former island warrior, Katsu Kaishu had no good impression of Western Catholicism at all. He immediately ordered a platoon of soldiers to carry out Zhao Xin's order.
With more people, things can be moved very quickly. After all the food in the church was moved, several soldiers broke the barrels containing vodka, and the strong liquor flowed on the floor, and then threw a torch in.
The two priests who were about to board the Thor saw the raging fire rising on the island. How sad it was! The fruits of several years of hard work were instantly reduced to ashes. The two looked back three times at the fire on Urup Island, and were escorted up the gangway by soldiers. But when they stood on the deck, they couldn't help but let out a "hiccup" in their throats, and were frightened by what they saw.
"God! Where did these people come from?"
After being stimulated by the ice water, the sober sea dog smiled sheepishly at Zhao Xin. Zhao Xindao: "Don't forget what I told you before, call your people and start immediately!"
Sea Dog couldn't help but trembled when he saw the coldness in Zhao Xin's eyes. He quickly ordered his Sachuan warriors to find all the Ainu on the island.
Zhao Xin ordered Sheng Haizhou: "Send two platoons to cooperate with the Shachuan tribe. Remember, what we want is gold, try not to hurt anyone!"
Sheng Haizhou saluted and set off with the others.
With fifty people from the Sachuan tribe taking the lead, the Ainu tribe on Urup Island quickly sent people to negotiate. Thirteen years ago, the Ainu tribe on the island rebelled angrily because they could not bear the oppression of the Russian expedition. Although they killed 21 tax collectors, what followed was Tsarist Russia sending warships to suppress them.
How could wooden bows and spears be a match for sabers and muskets? The Ainu people on this island have been killed by the Russians.
So when the frightened tribal leader saw the seals and others, he couldn't help but complain. It says that the big ship of the red-haired barbarians will go south next spring. What will happen then? !
The sea dog smiled and said indifferently: "What are you afraid of? The red-haired barbarians are nothing! We will come next spring and we will definitely kill them without leaving a trace."
The tribal leader looked suspicious, pointed at the iron rod in the seal's hand and asked, "Is that all?"
Sea Dog turned around and explained to Sheng Haizhou beside him. Sheng Haizhou smiled slightly and gave a few instructions to one of his squad leaders.
After the squad leader saluted, he turned to his soldiers and ordered: "Everyone assemble."
Under the surprised eyes of hundreds of Ainu people on Urup Island, ten Beihai Town soldiers quickly gathered and lined up in a neat line to wait for orders.
The squad leader looked around for a while, then pointed at a large rock thirty meters away and ordered: "Everyone raise their guns!"
Ten soldiers raised their SKS rifles at the same time, pointing their muzzles into the sky.
"Target, a rock thirty meters away." Following the squad leader's order, the soldiers pointed their guns at the rock.
"aim!"
"Turn on the insurance!"
"shooting!"
The "bang bang" gunfire sounded like exploding beans, and the loud sound made the Ainu people retreat in fright.
The tribal leader looked at a cloud of smoke and dust and scattered stone debris rising from the rocks in the distance, with a look of horror in his eyes. When the gunshots and smoke dissipated, he ran to the rock desperately. I couldn't help but be surprised when I saw the bullet holes in the stone.
The firearms of these people are much more powerful than those of the red-haired barbarians!
Thinking of this, he walked back and asked the seal: "How many people will come next spring?"
"Are five hundred people enough?" Sea Dog said confidently, then pointed to the Thor on the sea and said, "There is also Thor."
Looking at the Thunder God, which was larger than the red-haired barbarian warship, the tribal leader nodded. He had been interacting with Russians for a long time and understood that "there is no such thing as a free lunch", so he asked the sea dog: "What do you want?"
Sea Dog took out a piece of gold he had captured in the church from his arms and said to the tribal leader: "We want this in exchange for food and iron tools."
The Thor stayed at Urup Island for five days and finally left with more than 1,000 kilograms of gold ore and hundreds of natural gold nuggets. What was left to the Ainu people on the island was not only 500 bags of grain, but also a large amount of salt and iron pots. In order to show his sincerity, Zhao Xin also asked Sheng Haizhou to send some Qing army standard swords and guns to the other party.
During these five days, with the continuous communication between Zhao Xin and Macarius, he also figured out why the Tsarist Russian priest could speak Chinese.
In the seventh year of Kangxi's reign, that is, in 1668, the Qing army returning from the victory in the Battle of Yaksa was mixed with captured and surrendered Rakshasa prisoners of war. Although ignorant of their future fate, these prisoners of war brought Orthodox Christianity to China.
Among this group of prisoners of war, 40 were placed in Shengjing, and the remaining 50 or so came to Beijing. To the surprise of the prisoners of war, they were pardoned by Kangxi. As they got married and had children, those who had descendants among them asked to stay in Beijing.
With Kangxi's consent, they were incorporated into the Xianghuang Banner, established a separate auxiliary collar, and were awarded official titles from fourth to seventh ranks; some even married Manchus to produce offspring.
(Historically, after more than two hundred years, they developed into five large families, namely Luo, Du, Yao, He, He and other Chinese surnames. As of 1850, there were a total of 99 families.)
Not only did these Tsarist Russian prisoners of war join the Eight Banners, their original religious beliefs were also protected by the Qing court. When they left Yaksa, they brought some simple church sacristies and icons with them, and forcibly abducted Father Maxim Leondiev from the city of Yaksa. The man carried with him an icon of Saint Nicholas and several Bibles.
In order to meet the religious requirements of Tsarist Russian prisoners of war, the Qing government allocated the Guandi Temple in Hujiaquan Hutong in Dongzhimen to them for prayer. Soon after, the temple was converted into an Orthodox church, named "Sofia Church", also known as St. Nicholas Church, and Beijingers called it "Rakshasa Temple". (The current location of the Russian Embassy.)
The lonely Father Maxim lived a very difficult life in the capital. When Kangxi conquered Junggar, he also shaved his head and grew braids like the Manchus, and accompanied the Rakshasa Niulu on the expedition.
Despite the Battle of Yaksa, the commercial and diplomatic exchanges between the Qing and Russia on the border have not been interrupted. Father Maxim, who was alone in Beijing, soon attracted the attention of Peter the Great.
In 1695, the thirty-fourth year of Emperor Kangxi's reign, the Metropolitan of the Russian Orthodox Diocese sent someone to Leondiev a certificate recognizing the Orthodox Church in Beijing, and instructed him to "not only pray for the Tsar, but also pray for the Emperor of China" , in order to find a real foothold in China."
A few years later, Father Maxim asked the Qing court for permission to send clergy from Russia to replace him, citing old age and frailty.
With Kangxi's consent, in 1715, the 54th year of Kangxi's reign, Tsarist Russia sent a ten-person missionary group to Beijing with the monastery abbot Ilarion Rezajsky as the acting chief priest. Three of them came specifically to Beijing. students learning Chinese. It was from this period that the Provisional Institutions of the Beijing Orthodox Church were established.
Historically, the Tsarist Russian government and the Orthodox Church would send out missionary missions on a rotational basis every ten years. There were about ten members in each mission, and a total of more than two hundred people including their entourage. Including clergy, students, doctors, painters, scientists, diplomats. After they come to China, their first task is to learn the Chinese language (Chinese, Manchu, Mongolian, and Tibetan).
Father Macarius, who was captured by the seals, happened to be a member of the clergy stationed in the capital. He followed the clergy to Beijing more than ten years ago and spent several years learning the language. During his stay, he also went to the palace to explain Western medicine to Qianlong.
When the rotation period ended, Macarius, who was reluctant to leave Beijing, did not follow the mission back to Moscow, but went to Kamchatka Peninsula to continue preaching. A year ago, when he heard that the priest on Urup Island fell ill and died, he and Ferapontov came here to preach in order to maintain Tsarist Russia's rule over the local area.
After Zhao Xinlu listened to Macarius' explanation one after another, he rolled his eyes and realized the plan.
He had heard Serdan report before that the Manchus thought Beihai Town was occupied by Tsarist Russia. So now there are two Tsarist Russian priests in front of us, who can be used to confuse the Qing court. They are not used in vain!
Moreover, Zhao Xin learned from the conversation that this Markarius had studied medicine, and that Ferapontov actually knew how to make steel and cannon!
Although the treatment methods of Western medicine in the 18th century included fluid-reducing bloodletting and enema catharsis; in future medicine, anesthesia, disinfection, sterilization, and safe blood transfusion have not yet been invented, and surgical operations are still in a state of "depending on the speed of hands and feet." "Heroic" era, but the prototype of modern medicine has already existed; internal medicine, surgery, ophthalmology, and obstetrics have already appeared on the European continent.
If you throw Macarius to Hong Tao to study for a while, you can become a helper. No matter how bad it is, he will be assigned to Liu Zheng's head office as a veterinarian, right?
As for Ferapontov, he should be sent to the workshop to help Zhao Liang make steel.
In this way, the two Tsarist Russian priests began a strange journey.
(End of chapter)
