After presenting Wang Yixiu with a Bible, the four members of the delegation took their leave from the prefect's Yamen, feeling a little discouraged. Ines looked at the beautifully printed "Ming Dynasty Religious Management Regulations" in his hand and said to Luo Mingjian: "Father Michel, please translate this law as soon as possible. We don't have much information now, but from this booklet , the Chinese at least surpassed Europe in the completeness of their laws and their attainments in printing.”
"Judging from what we have seen and heard in the past two days, I am very worried that the results of the Trento Conference will be overturned because of this booklet."
Fan Li'an and the other three priests changed their faces after hearing this. Matteo Ricci shouted: "Ines, the Council of Trento is 'the result inspired by the Holy Spirit of God', and it is indestructible."
What Ines calls the "Council of Trent" is the main axis of the Roman Catholic reform. Because of the corruption of the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages, the new sect represented by Martin Luther set off the "Protestant Movement", which eventually led to the split of the Catholic Church.
Martin Luther wrote the "Ninety-Five Theses" in the twelfth year of Zhengde (1517), opposing the sale of indulgences by the Holy See, which opened the prelude to the religious reform. Theologically, he emphasized justification by faith, claiming that people could directly read the Bible to obtain divine revelation, and used the authority of the Bible to fight against the authority of the Pope.
In the 13th year of Jiajing (1534), King Henry VIII of England prompted Parliament to pass a decree on religious reform called the "Supremacy Act", which declared the king to be the head of the Church of England and had the power to appoint various priests and determine doctrine in the church. He refused to accept this Those who made the law were executed for treason. Marked by the British declaration that the king's power overrides that of the pope, the idea of "righteousness by faith", a fundamental subversion of the Roman Church, has flourished, and the Roman Church's rule in Europe has suffered a heavy blow.
In order to deal with the threat of Protestantism to the entire Roman Church, calls for a religious reform conference arose within the Catholic Church. They were heard from the lower clergy to the upper echelons of the church and even universities. The Catholic fanatic, Charles V of Spain, also campaigned for it in many ways.
In the twenty-fourth year of Jiajing (1545), Pope Paul III finally agreed under pressure to convene the first Council of Trento, announcing the beginning of a wave of European Catholic forces opposing the Reformation.
The Council of Trento was held three times, lasting nearly eighteen years. Pope Pius IV, who was lying ill at the end of the Council, responded to the Council's conclusion by saying: "All this is the work of the Holy Spirit." This is the very sentence Matteo Ricci just quoted.
The Council of Trento, known as the "Counter-Reformation Movement", responded to calls for reform within the Catholic Church and decided to eliminate church deacons who abused their authority; it reiterated that believers must pay tithes. The sale of indulgences was abolished; the authoritative version of the Bible was determined, and the liturgy of the Mass was established. It also stipulates that all traditional teachings of the Roman Church have the same status as the Bible. Most importantly, the Council made it clear that all Christians must recognize the sanctity of the Pope.
When Ines heard Matteo Ricci say what Pius IV said, it was hard for him to refute it directly. He patted the brochure lightly and said: "Father, the kings of Europe have been jealous of tithes for hundreds of years. If someone enlightens them, they will imitate it."
"As for me, I think the education system and knowledge of the church are the cornerstone of the entire European civilization. But the debt-ridden kings may not all think like me."
Matteo Ricci soon realized that in the face of a large amount of real money, European kings and those princes who were in cahoots with Protestantism might not be able to refrain from tithing because of their faith.
Fan Li'an also interjected at this time: "Mr. Ines's concerns are very reasonable. Judging from what we have seen and heard in the past few days, we are probably in a developed civilization that surpasses Europe. I think the situation here is It must be left in the hands of the Pope and His Majesty the King, and if China begins to spread its ideas and institutions abroad - gentlemen, just as we spread our civilization to the colonies, will the Europeans be able to withstand its power?"
...
After the four people returned to the mission station, they reported the results of their previous communication with Wang Yixiu. After hearing this, everyone in the mission felt heavy in their hearts. One of the proprietors of a Malacca trading company who came with the mission said: "A few priests and Mr. Ines. While you were going to the government office, Mr. Sorangois and I walked around the street. Oh my God. , the materials here are extremely rich, and there are all kinds of commodities! It is said that Songjiang was the largest cotton spinning center in the Ming Dynasty. First-class cotton cloth five feet wide and thirty-six feet long was called "pi" in the Ming Dynasty - how much can one rial buy? ?Guess what!”
"Your guess is wrong! One rial can buy ten horses! A year ago, the price was five horses for one rial. In one year, the price has dropped by one-half! Everyone, in Lisbon, a I can’t even buy two horses with rials!”
"Do you know why? Water-powered spinning machines have been used on a large scale in this area! A female worker - please note, a female worker! She can take care of thirty cotton spindles at the same time! If we can get this spinning technology, Lisbon's cotton will be It’s out of stock in Europe!”
At this time, another attaché of the Goa Governor's Palace also spoke: "Everyone, let me report one more thing. Today Felipe and I also discovered an amazing invention. The Ming Dynasty has the latest communication technology that can be used overnight. The information was transmitted from here to the capital! It is said that that kind of thing is called a "light newspaper". The people from the Ming Dynasty who told me about this told me that they had arranged this light newspaper in Songjiang last year. Please think about it, this The commercial value of something!”
"I don't know if you have noticed that a new building material was used on the road in front of their government office. I found out that this material is a gray powder that is extremely strong when exposed to water. Its hardness exceeds rock."
In a flurry of chatter, everyone in the mission began to share what they had seen and heard in Daming these days. In the end, they reached an agreement that the civilization of the Ming Dynasty may be more developed than that of Europe. Even if Europe has its unique features, the Ming Dynasty has a vast territory and abundant resources, and has little need for Portugal, Goa, and Malacca's colonial system-meaning that they have no What a bargaining chip.
After hearing this, Fan Li'an frowned, but his determination was not broken. After everyone took a break from the discussion, he clapped his hands to silence everyone and mobilized: "Gentlemen and priests. I would like to ask your attention that we are not only responsible for the mission of spreading the gospel, but we also represent Europe. Now it seems that Europe China is not the only one with modern civilization, China is far more civilized than we originally knew."
"There are now three mainstream religions in this country, namely Islam from the Western Regions, Buddhism from India and local Taoism. There is also a semi-religion - it has no gods, but the Chinese call it 'Confucianism'. I was exposed to it in Japan, which is the cornerstone of all East Asian civilization.”
"At present, it seems that these three religions are in peace and harmony under the effective management of the Ming Dynasty central government. This is the best news for us missionaries. The purpose of our mission is to preach to the royal family and use the emperor to Promote the gospel throughout the Ming Empire. If all goes well, we will bring this great civilization under the command of His Majesty the Pope in the future."
"Now it seems that this last one is an impossible task. There are no missionaries in our mission who can perform miracles. Of course, we all know that they are just ingenious magicians. If the secret is revealed, Our mission will be a complete failure."
"However, it is difficult to impress the emperor to support Christianity by relying solely on doctrine. Judging from the Chinese people we have contacted now, they are extremely calm and pragmatic people, and even lack a lot of humor. But these people can already produce pocket watches on a large scale , which shows that they may have surpassed us in mechanical manufacturing; coupled with the spinning machines and looms that the gentleman just mentioned, we have nothing to exchange with the Ming Dynasty - except real gold. ,silver."
"Gentlemen, I order you to start thinking now. What do we have that Ming does not have that can be used as a bargaining chip in negotiations. I can predict now that from the information I have, the emperor of Ming is an extremely realistic person. If we speak with one mouth, failure is the only outcome.”
