Shen Shixing was a student of Zhang Juzheng. After the Great Reform in the Seventh Year of Wanli, he was promoted from the position of Right Minister of the Ministry of Personnel to Minister of Rites. What he was thinking about at this time was not why Prince Luo was declared the heir by the emperor, because this was self-evident. What he was thinking more about was why the emperor made his first statement on this relatively informal occasion.
After Zhu Yijun had his eldest son, the people all over the world breathed a sigh of relief, and Empress Dowager Li also had no grudge against the emperor's choice of Zhuang Jingjia as the queen that day - the emperor's move indeed avoided the emergence of disputes between his legitimate concubines.
After the birth of King Luojun, no minister urged Zhu Yijun to establish a prince as early as possible to consolidate the country's foundation. Because there is no dispute about Prince Luo's inheritance, as long as he can grow up safely, sooner or later this empire will be his.
Although Zhu Yijun did not express his position, among the many children, the one who paid the most attention was Prince Luo. King Luojun was two and a half years old at this time. Zhu Yijun had already judged that the child did not have any physical defects, so the only thing left was education. Bringing him out today is to give him the first step of perceptual understanding of all nations in the world.
While the emperor was speaking, Luo Mingjian translated in a low voice and translated the emperor's words to Ines and Matteo Ricci. He was familiar with specific Chinese vocabulary, and naturally translated "all nations under heaven" as "empire", but he did not know that Zhu Yijun's "all nations under heaven" was the original meaning of the word.
Seeing the emperor's warm attitude, Fan Li'an said boldly: "Your Majesty, today we have the honor to meet the heir to the empire. Please allow me to present a gift to Prince Luo."
Zhu Yijun smiled and said: "Okay." Prince Luo was very polite and said in a sweet voice: "Thank you!"
Fan Li'an trembled with his hands and took out a beautiful box inlaid with jewelry from his pocket - this gift was originally prepared for Zhu Yijun, but since Prince Luo is here, Fan Li'an still has the emotional intelligence for this idea.
The box was opened by Fan Li'an, and inside it contained a vertical cross the size of an adult's palm. Although it was made of silver, it was somewhat blackened and shabby. Fan Li'an explained: "Your Majesty, this is the cross that His Majesty Pope Nicholas V has worn for half his life. It has been more than two hundred years ago. Everyone in our mission believes that this gift represents His Majesty's virtue and broad mind. , and at the same time, this is an item that can protect His Royal Highness, please don’t dislike it.”
The internal official next to Zhu Yijun walked down from Danbi, placed the box on the tray, checked it carefully again, and then handed it to Zhu Yijun.
Zhu Yijun passed it to Prince Luojun and said, "You have to thank me."
The Prince of Luo County still said to Fan Li'an in a sweet voice, "Thank you." After saying that, he grabbed it and played with it. Because it was the first time he saw the cross, he asked, "Is this a small sword?"
Zhu Yijun smiled and said: "No. This is a cross. The son of the God they believe in was crucified on the cross, so these people use the cross as their holy object."
After Zhu Yijun said this, Fan Li'an and others were overjoyed. None of the Ming people they came into contact with along the way knew the origin of the cross. And the emperor's casual remarks at least showed that he had a certain understanding of Christianity.
King Luo Jun shook his hand, threw the cross on the tray, and said, "I don't want it anymore."
Zhu Yijun picked up the cross with a smile and said to King Luojun: "Can you tell me why you don't want it?"
Prince Luojun couldn't explain why, he just said: "I don't like it."
Shen Shixing bowed and said: "Your Majesty, the king of Luo County cannot bear to hear the tragedy. How can it be other than 'benevolence'? I congratulate your majesty." All the officials in the palace, including Han Shan and others, bowed and said: "I congratulate you, your majesty." Congratulations."
Zhu Yijun smiled and said: "That's all. The child is very young and cannot understand the truth. Fan Li'an, please tell me about Pope Nicholas V."
Fan Li'an bowed and said, "Yes. Your Majesty, my Chinese is not as good as Luo Mingjian's. Can he tell the story?" Zhu Yijun glanced at him and nodded with a smile.
Luo Mingjian took a deep breath, knowing that this was a very rare opportunity created by Fan Li'an. He quickly made a draft, bowed and said: "Your Majesty, Your Highness. His Majesty Nicholas V, whose common name is Tommaso Barentucelli, loved reading when he was young. When he was nine years old, his father died of illness. , the family fell into poverty and even failed to complete college."
"Later, when he became a young missionary, he used all his income to buy books, and even borrowed a lot of debt for this. There were almost no works by Greek and Latin authors that he had not studied, and he Combining profound biblical scholarship and extreme religiosity with versatile humanism."
"Later, after the death of His Majesty Eugene IV, Barentucelli was elected pope, with the title Nicholas V. 'Who would have thought,' he once said, 'that a penniless and poor priest would become A pope in all his glory?'"
King Luojun was at the age where he liked to listen to stories. When Fan Li'an told it, he listened quietly. When he reached this point, his lips moved slightly. Luo Mingjian had been secretly observing Zhu Yijun and his expressions, and stopped when he saw that he had something to ask.
King Luojun asked: "Isn't his father the emperor?" Shen Shixing took a breath and thought that he was indeed a dragon. Fang was able to pay attention to the throne issue from the story at the age of four!
Luo Mingjian also felt a thump in his heart, fearing that Zhu Yijun would be unhappy because of this. When I took a peek, I was relieved to see that the emperor still had a smile on his face. He smiled and replied to King Luojun: "Your Highness, priests are not allowed to marry and have children, just like monks in Buddhism. Therefore, every pope is selected from among learned people."
King Luo Jun asked this question only because he had known since he was a child that he would take over as emperor in the future. I only half understood what Luo Mingjian explained, so I just said "oh".
Zhu Yijun took over the conversation and said warmly: "Child, my father will teach you a lesson today. When you are listening to others, do not interrupt them. If you have any questions, wait until they have finished speaking before asking." Prince Luo said again, "Oh. After a sound, he whispered: "Your Majesty, I will remember it."
After Zhu Yijun finished educating the child, he motioned to Luo Mingjian to continue. Luo Mingjian once again sorted out the life of Nicholas V in his mind, and guessed the emperor's thoughts, so he continued: "After His Majesty Nicholas V became the pope, he determined to become a good pope, to rebuild the city of Rome; to restore classical literature , art and knowledge.”
"He sent many emissaries to Athens, Constantinople, Germany and England to seek, purchase or copy Greek and Latin manuscripts, whether they were pagan or Christian. He established a large copying and copying institute in the Vatican The editing center invites all well-known Italian scholars to Rome to translate Greek and Roman classical masterpieces.”
"By the time he was called by the Lord, the Vatican Library already contained 1,500 volumes and 3,500 catalogs, making Rome the intellectual center of the entire Europe. It is also out of respect for knowledge that the Roman Church The entire continent of Europa has achieved its current dominant position. Your Majesty, Your Highness, this is the His Majesty Nicholas V that I know."
Zhu Yijun raised his head and glanced at Luo Mingjian, secretly praising his ability to comprehend and express his language. Shen Shixing heard from the sidelines that the entire knowledge center of Europe only had 1,500 volumes of books, and he couldn't help but let out a snort from his nose. He thought to himself: "A landowner's house in the Ming Dynasty may have more than 1,500 volumes of books."
When Zhu Yijun saw that Prince Luo had finished listening quietly, he asked him, "Tell me about it. What did Bishop Luo say about Nicholas V? Why did he become such a great pope?"
Prince Luo didn't answer. Although he didn't show any impatience, when Luo Mingjian told the last part, he was just studying the weird robes of the priests and didn't listen at all. When his father asked about it, he pretended to be deaf and dumb and played with Zhu Yijun's mustache with his hands.
Zhu Yijun signaled to Wei Chaodao: "He is a little tired. Let him go to the queen's place to rest." King Luo Jun heard this. He immediately jumped off Zhu Yijun's knees, bowed slightly and said, "The emperor has resigned." He stepped away. He quickly ran towards the back of the throne, and Wei Chao quickly trotted to keep up.
Zhu Yijun watched him running very fast with his short legs, and the corners of his mouth raised a smile again.
Shen Shixing bowed and said: "Your Majesty, Prince Luo has not yet enlightened, so don't be impatient." Zhu Yijun said: "That's right. I just learned to be a father, and I wish I could make him sensible all of a sudden." Shen Shixing Waiting for the driver to smile.
Fan Li'an joked: "Your Majesty, I think His Highness is polite and has shown a noble demeanor, which is very rare at such a young age." After hearing this, Zhu Yijun laughed and was very happy.
They chatted and told a little story, and a quarter of an hour passed. Zhu Yijun came out with Prince Luo in his arms, just to let him meet foreigners and to encourage himself at the same time. He had so many things to do, he didn't have much time, so he went straight to the point:
"As an individual, I don't have much ill feelings towards Catholicism. I have learned about your teachings before and read your Bible. Except for some descriptions of killing heretics, in general, your teachings It leads people to do good.”
Fan Li'an and others all breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this. Then he heard the emperor say: "But please explain, when the Israelites came out of Egypt, because the Amalekites were not good to them, the LORD said, "Kill them all, men and women, children, sucklings, and oxen." Sheep, camels and so on were all slaughtered. There are many similar to this passage in the Bible. How to explain it?"
If a bolt of lightning rose from the ground and hit the sky, Fan Li'an and the others would not be even more shocked. The emperor of the Ming Dynasty didn't just flip through the Bible, he probably read it completely. The origin of the Bible is easy to explain, and some merchants trading with China had it in their hands - but it is impossible to explain how such a busy emperor could read readings such as the Bible in such detail.
Although shocked, Zhu Yijun's question is one that missionaries often encounter. Luo Mingjian explained magnanimously: "Your Majesty, this passage is actually a metaphor. It must be consistent with the sentence in Exodus: 'The Lord takes the Scriptures I have sworn an oath that I will fight against the Amalekites from generation to generation.’ Put it together and understand it.”
Seeing Zhu Yijun's questioning look, Luo Mingjian said: "When God swore an oath, according to the records in the Old Testament, Amalek had already been wiped out by Him and ceased to exist. So why do we still have to swear? This is exactly the interpretation of the scriptures. The key point - the Amalekites he refers to actually refer to jealousy and strife, arrogance, ungodliness, no love for others, willful behavior, selfishness, etc. As long as people do not let God be the master in their hearts, they will immediately be Occupied by the spiritual “Amalekites,” they will be at war with them from generation to generation.”
After hearing this, Hanshan smiled and said: "This explanation is somewhat similar to Buddhism. The evil demons in the Buddhist scriptures and heretics also require Buddhist disciples to save them, and these so-called evil demons are just greed, anger and ignorance in people's hearts. After saying that, he clasped his hands to signal to Fan Li'an.
After hearing this, Zhu Yijun also smiled and said: "Hanshan is talking nonsense. Did the Buddhist scriptures ever teach you to kill people? The evil demons and heretics you mentioned are not human beings. They are just what you see in your personal practice. People have never seen them in daily life." When Hanshan saw that he had said the wrong thing, his heart pounded, and he nodded in agreement.
Zhu Yijun said to Fan Li'an: "In my country, any words in the scriptures that contain war, killing or intimidation against heretics are not allowed to be spread. If you want to preach, you must delete these scriptures that encourage vendetta."
If Fan Li'an and others were able to accept it with gritted teeth, Zhu Yijun's request to delete scriptures was far beyond Fan Li'an's authority. He felt as if he had been struck by lightning, and tried to struggle: "Your Majesty, this is how we have always interpreted this passage - it is not intended to encourage killing."
After hearing this, Zhu Yijun sneered and said, "Oh? What heinous crimes did those heretics who were handed over to the King of Europe by the Inquisition and had them beheaded, burned, and hanged commit?"
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