I

  Chapter 531 528 [Datong Theology]

   Respect the body hall.

  Zhao Han likes to come here to rest at noon, or take a nap for a while, or read some idle books for entertainment.

   What I read today is "The History of the Christian Expedition to China". This was the task for the European officials of the Hanlin Academy and Qintian Academy, to let the East India Company bring Western books, and then hand them over to the missionary officials for translation.

  This book is actually Matteo Ricci's work report, which was brought back to Rome for the Pope to read, and Matteo Ricci did not give any title.

  Another missionary, Kinney Court, added updates and annotations to this report, and wrote an inscription on the cover: The History of the Christian Expedition of the Jesuit Father Matteo Ricci to China · Meeting Records Five Volumes · To Pope Paul V...

   Zhao Han read this book because he wanted to see China's strengths and weaknesses from a European perspective.

From the title of the book, we can see the wolfish ambition of the European guys. At the beginning of the book, Jinnige said that large-scale expeditions and vigorous feats are done after various conditions are ripe. The first things are insignificant, but after many years will develop into something important.

  What do you mean?

   is to regard the mission of the Jesuits in China as an insignificant but necessary beginning to conquer China.

   At the same time, Kinney Court was in awe of China and evaluated China as a "noble nation".

  Matteo Ricci's text is very systematic. The opening chapter tells about the history and geography of China, combined with ancient European classics, and tells about the evolution of Chinese titles. Some content contained bragging elements, such as the fact that Chinese people, rich or poor, wear silk clothes.

  Some of the content was very funny, which made Zhao Han laugh out loud.

  For example, Matteo Ricci has been an official in Beijing for many years, and he has only bowed down to the emperor's throne. He had never met Emperor Wanli, because Wanli didn't go to court at all, and he rarely met ministers in private.

   I have to say that Wanli is really bad enough, and the Ming Dynasty government was completely corrupted in the hands of this person.

  Don't talk about the three major Wanli levies. Since he neglected his administration, many state departments have begun to shut down, and the Ming court has been systematically damaged.

  In fact, if Wanli had only neglected his administration, Ming Dynasty would not have declined rapidly.

   This guy is angry with the civil officials, deliberately does not cooperate with the work of the civil officials, and even after the official dies of illness or retires, he does not sign to appoint new officials to take office. As a result, there is a large shortage of ministerial-level officials in the central government, and there are not many department-level officials to do things. Some departments have no officials at all, and even the official seal of this department has been lost.

  Emperor Wanli was bad, and civil officials followed suit.

  He has been negligent for so many years, and he was still in control of the court, and there were no powerful officials. It was not because of Wanli's brilliant political methods, but because the Ming court was so bad that there was no environment for powerful officials to appear. What the minister of power wanted to do was to collude with the **** who held the pen. Without the signature of the **** and the emperor's seal, the minister of power could not accomplish anything.

   Moreover, who can the powerful minister command?

  The chief assistant of the cabinet looked around, Nima, why am I the only one in the cabinet, and half of the six ministers are missing? Hey, why are there so many lack of people in the left and right ministers and the doctors of the various ministries who are really in charge?

  The central ministers in the last years of Wanli didn't even follow the etiquette. Even in the highest-level sacrificial activity, not only did the officials not fast and bathe, but they also drank alcohol on the day of the sacrificial ceremony, and even went missing directly. Worshiping the heaven and the earth often turns into an outing, and you can also bring your servants and cakes.

  Worshiping Heaven and Earth dare to play like this, what else can you not dare to do?

  Anyway, the emperor doesn’t care, the procuratorate is half-shutdown anyway, and no one reads the memorials of the Kodao officials. Then just embezzle at will, and it's yours to get the money. Even if he made political achievements, the emperor would not give him a promotion.

  Even cabinet ministers and ministers resigned and returned to their hometowns because they had nothing to do all year round.

   What's more nonsense is that Emperor Wanli didn't even bother to read the minister's resignation memorial. As a result, some people resigned for several years, but they have not been approved.

  Take Li Tingji as an example. After joining the cabinet, he found that 43% of the vacancies for officials in the central government department, this does not include low-level officials and civil servants. Li Tingji couldn't do business, and was impeached by the Donglin Party. Although the emperor didn't read the impeachment memorial, Li Tingji still couldn't bear it.

  Li Tingji wrote a memorial and resigned, but Emperor Wanli did not approve it at all. He simply gave the house to the poor and ran to live in the temple to show his determination.

   This old man lived in the ruined temple for five years, wrote 123 resignation letters, and only got the nickname of "Miao Zhu Ge Lao".

  Li Tingji couldn't take it any longer, so he just hung up his seal and left. This is a serious crime of beheading. What broke Li Tingji was that Emperor Wanli didn't care about the disappearance of one of his cabinet ministers.

  Emperor Wanli, who had been diving until Li Tingji died of poverty and illness, finally bubbled up in the official group of Ming Dynasty, and gave Li Tingji a posthumous title of Shaobao and "Wen Jie".

  Zhao Han has read more than half of "The History of the Christian Expedition to China", and many of the bad habits described in it have changed. Matteo Ricci criticized the phenomenon of drowning infants, and drowning infants is rare nowadays, at least the people at the bottom will not do it because they cannot afford to support them.

  Only in a few prefectures and counties in the south of the Yangtze River, there are gentry who drowned their baby girls because they were afraid that they would never come to a male because of their first birth.

   For this bad custom, once discovered, the whole family will be exiled. Planning and participation in infanticide, beheading. Only those who voluntarily report can be exempted from the penalty of exile. If they cannot live in their original place (report their family members), the government will help them emigrate to the north.

   There are also Chinese people who despise medicine. This phenomenon has also changed, and doctors are no longer regarded as lowly slaves.

  In the middle of the afternoon, Zhao Han called Ai Julian: "The Pope, hasn't sent any order yet?"

  Julius replied: "It's a long way from China to Rome, and I won't be able to return until the end of this year at least. If there is a storm, it will have to be next year."

   "What do the Chinese Jesuits think?" Zhao Han asked again.

   Ai Julian sighed: "I have no idea, the Chinese Jesuits have already existed in name only."

  In this book, Matteo Ricci has been complaining about the lack of funds for missionary work. I also considered collecting money from believers, but finally gave up because I was afraid that collecting money would scare believers away.

  After Zhao Han expelled a large number of missionaries, the remaining missionaries have completely lost their source of funding. In this case, it is a problem for them to eat, and there are no officials, so they have to find part-time jobs. There are quite a few missionaries who specialize in translating European works and barely make ends meet.

  A group of poor people!

  It’s not like the missionaries in the Qing Dynasty. Due to the rise of European colonization, the funds for missionary work were frighteningly abundant. But with money clearing the way, the majority of Han Chinese Christians in the Manchu Qing Dynasty turned out to be hooligans, because decent people would not choose to believe in Jesus.

Ai Julius said: "Your Majesty, the missionary work of the Society of **** has stopped, and churches in various places have also closed down voluntarily, because they can't afford the rent. Some churches that bought land to build were also sold for cents. According to Buddhism In the future, preaching will follow fate, and only preach to those who have the roots of wisdom."

   "Hahahaha!" Zhao Han was amused by this statement.

  These missionaries have begun to lie flat.

Ai Julius also said: "I and a few friends are determined to revise the doctrine, combine Christianity with Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, and combine with Your Majesty's Great Harmony Theory. However, even the remaining missionaries, most of them do not agree with this behavior. .”

   Thoughts are split, and there is a mess, Zhao Han is quite satisfied with this.

   "How did you combine Chinese and Western?" Zhao Han couldn't help asking.

Ai Julius explained: "The Holy Father, the Holy Son, and the Holy Spirit are all three in one, all of which are the evolution of the way of heaven. God's redemption is to awaken the world and make the world understand the theory of the original king, the original subject, and the original people. Kings and subjects, As long as you believe in Jesus, you must fulfill your duties as a king, subject, and people. Only by fulfilling your duties as a king, subject, and people can you gain the favor of the gods. , is the great harmony of the world! Before the realization of the great harmony, everyone is guilty. The way of atonement is to strive to realize the great harmony of the world.”

  Zhao Han suppressed his smile, nodded and said: "Very good, after you complete the doctrine, you can send it to me."

  This kind of Christianity, is it reasonable?

   Very reasonable!

  In another time and space, there was even liberation theology, using Marxism to interpret the Bible, and it spread rapidly throughout Latin America.

  They feel that God’s redemption of the world is to liberate the world.

  How to liberate?

   Then you need to study Marxist theory, understand the principles of Marxist economics, and realize equality from all aspects of society, economy, and politics. We must understand the scientific view of history and shoulder the responsibility of liberating ourselves. To transform oneself, to transform society. The original sin in the "Bible" is the old society and the old human beings. Only when the new society and the new human beings emerge can they be redeemed.

   Historian Han Yue has been released as county magistrate, but Ding Shijing is still staying.

At this moment, Ding Shijing wrote in his daily life notes: "At noon, I read the book of Xiru Matteo Ricci, and if I felt something, I called Xiruai Julian and asked about the teachings of Christianity. Ai, a great European Confucianist, and his He has studied both Chinese and Western cultures, and is especially good at the way of astronomy. Ai Shi said that there are omissions in the teachings of the Christian scriptures, and they should be rectified with Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. Thousands of roads lead to the same goal by different routes, and Christian teachings should also follow the principles of heaven. I am very happy and encouraged , Aishi is out."

   "What did you write?" Zhao Han asked.

  Ding Shijing hurriedly held it over: "Please take a look, Your Majesty."

  Zhao Han glanced at it, and suddenly couldn't help laughing: "Do you think what he said makes sense?"

Ding Shijing replied: "Truth comes from the law of heaven, and it also comes from the way of heaven. If the Yejiao does not follow the way of heaven, it is unreasonable. And the evolution of the way of heaven will lead to the harmony of the world. If the Yejiao takes the harmony of the world as its mission, it will be understood. Heavenly reason, then he must have a reason."

  Zhao Han smiled and praised: "You are not bad, Datong theory is solid, you are worthy of being a student of Wang Tiaoding."

  Ding Shijing continued to flatter: "I often follow His Majesty around, listen to His Majesty's teachings, and improve my knowledge every day. My qualifications are blunt. If I can continue to serve Your Majesty, I may become a great Confucian in the future."

   "Yes, the way of flattery, you have indeed improved a lot." Zhao Han smiled even more happily.

  (end of this chapter)