The number of believers in the entire Hangzhou Church is about 14,500. Guo Jujing baptizes an average of 200 people every year.

He spoke of the difficulties and peculiarities of preaching here. He believed that in the Ming Dynasty, it was most important to gain the support of the gentry class. Because their influence is so extensive, not only can they protect the safety of the church, but the people often regard them as a benchmark, and often the baptism of a local gentry will lead to the baptism of many people around them. Many scholars are baptized as a family, not only for themselves and their families, but also for their slaves.

When the gentleman was baptized, he first solved the problem of the church's funds and the housing of the mission. Without the donations of the gentry, the poor would not be able to donate, and there would not be enough people to "gather sand into a tower". The church had to rely on remittances from Macau to survive, and it was difficult to buy houses and land.

The Catholic Church in Hangzhou was supported by a group of Catholic gentry represented by the Yang and Li families, and it was able to maintain a stable state in Hangzhou, and the missionary cause was rarely disturbed, so it developed rapidly.

In Zhao Yinggong's view, Matteo Ricci is worthy of being the first person in Europe to understand the social state of China, including Marco Bōluo, who did not know whether he had really come to China, but he was just a group of curiosity hunters.

However, Zhao Yinggong thinks that this policy is too "upper-class line", although there are also many people from the poor class who have been baptized into the church, and many of them are still "martyred" in the lesson plan. The first martyr of the Catholic Church in China was the cake seller in the "Nanjing Lesson Plan". But on the whole, the Catholic Church lacks a social foundation in the Ming Dynasty and "floats on top". As a result, Yongzheng banned Christianity, and soon purged the Catholic faith, which was already small, throughout the country.

After the opening of the ban on religion, Protestant Christianity came behind in terms of missionary work, which had a great deal to do with their "popularization" route. The Protestant Church opened hospitals, schools, adopted orphans,

Holding various charities has achieved extraordinary results.

But this opinion, Zhao Yinggong will not say to Guo Jujing, "the lower route" is the magic weapon of the Senate. Of course, Guo Jujing may not be unaware of the drawbacks of the "upper-class line", but in the social environment at that time, taking the "upper-class line" was also a last resort. If there was no "Jiwei" in Britain and France after the two crows, the "lower line" of Protestantism would not necessarily work.

Although Guo Jujing is in Hangzhou, he is not secretive about the news of the church. Every few months, the Catholic Church in Macao sends messengers to the churches in the mainland to deliver letters. Churches everywhere also bring letters back to people. Some of the letters bound for Europe were loaded in Macao. Although the letters were on the road for many years, the Church communication was never interrupted.

Even in the Yongzheng and Qianlong dynasties, when missionary affairs were completely suspended, the missionaries in Beijing were able to keep in touch with the churches in Loumen and Europe.

The Jesuit sent a letter to Guo Jujing, he read it carefully~ This old missionary who has experienced many ups and downs has a very thorough understanding of the national conditions of China, and through the news from the believers of the Hangzhou Church and the missionaries in Beijing, he knows the true identity of this Chinese from "Guangdong": they are the "Australians" with high hopes for the Lord.

The war between the Australians and the Ming Dynasty in Qiongzhou and their unsparing efforts to promote the Holy Religion in Qiongzhou made Guo Jujing surprised and delighted. His brothers, Lu Ruohua and others, had worked in Qiongzhou for three years, surpassing their achievements in 40 years of hardships and dangers.

He did not quite understand that Weishenme Australians were interested in Jesuit and missionary affairs. Letters from Macao indicate that although there were a small number of Catholics among them, the Australians did not come from a Catholic country. Nor did they say that their atheistic tendencies were specifically stated in their religious letters, and it was clear that the head of the Australian church in Lingao was not a qualified clergyman. Obviously, they helped the church to proselytize in Qiongzhou not out of religious fervor, but out of some practical interest.

Now, the mysterious Australian appeared before his eyes, and he was very interested in what it was.

Zhao Yinggong did not shy away from his intentions, the flickering or paradox in his words was worthless, and the Jesuits' willingness to help the Senate was the embodiment of the Senate's strength. As long as the Jesuits still plan to preach in Qiongzhou, Guo Jujing has to help herself.

"What do you mean: use the liliang of our Hangzhou parishioners to protect your business interests?" The Italian quietly listened to his elaboration and said.

Zhao Yinzi said: "Yes, you have been in Daming for many years, and you should understand the difficulties and interferences that I have to face as an outsider to experience business here. And you must know that the influence of a gentleman in the Ming society. Guo Jujing nodded in a deep voice. You're right. ”

"So I have to ask the church in Hangzhou to help me." Zhao Yingong looked into the eyes of this dignified old Italian man.

"What kind of business do you want to hold in Hangzhou?" Guo Jujing was very interested in this, and he knew from letters from Macao that Australians were a group of skilled craftsmen who could make many new and cheap goods.

"There are a lot of them." Zhao Yinggong said: "For example, raw silk. ”

Guo Jujing didn't speak again, just nodded slightly. The raw silk trade is an important source of revenue for the Macau Association. Before the severance of trade with Japan, every year the Jesuits had to buy "Nanjing silk" through merchants and resell it to Japan to obtain huge profits. Of course, the priest knew that the so-called Nanjing silk was actually the "lake silk" from Zhejiang and Nanzhi.

It was not surprising to him that Australians came to Zhejiang to get involved in the production and trade of raw silk. They asked the Church to use their influence to give them shelter, and it was to be expected that the Australian warships and cannons would not appear at the mouth of the Yangtze River.

This is not only an obligation as a Jesuit monk, but also a necessity for the spread of the Gospel in China.

He drew a cross and muttered, "Let God's will be done." In the ensuing chat, Zhao Yinggong mentioned Sun Yuanhua ~ Guo Jujing praised Sun Yuanhua and thought that he was the backbone of the future Ming Church, Li and Yang had passed away, Xu Guangqi was old, and only Sun Yuanhua was in the prime of life. He was already the governor of Denglai, and apart from Xu Guangqi, he was the highest-ranking official among the Catholics of China.

Sun Yuanhua's home is in Jiaxing, not far from Hangzhou. He prepared a quiet and comfortable villa for the missionaries in Jiaxing. Guo Jujing once lived there for a period of writing, and there was a very good friendship between the two.

Without much effort, he got the promise of Guo Jujing to write a letter of introduction to Sun Yuanhua for them. Zhao Yinggong had a good reason to ask to see Sun Yuanhua, who wanted to sell arms to the local magistrate who was most deeply immersed in Western military theory and Jishu at that time.

From Guo Jujing, he got all the support he wanted.

Therefore, when Zhao Yinggong later visited the main gentry of the Hangzhou Church, he was warmly entertained. The heads of the Li and Yang families both held family banquets to entertain this "catechumen".

Zhao Yinggong knew that relying on the Jesuit introduction letter and Guo Jujing's introduction, he could gain the trust of the main personnel of the Hangzhou church. But the necessary human etiquette must also be fulfilled. Therefore, a large number of gifts have been prepared for a long time.

Considering that newly baptized believers and church organizations are always more fundamental, it is not appropriate to give gifts that are too luxurious to enjoy, so as not to cause resentment to the other party. So the bulk of the gifts is religious books. Therefore, he asked the Jiangnan delegation to bring a large box of Chinese religious books printed by Lingao from Lingao. Most of these Chinese books were originally from religious pamphlets compiled by the Catholic Three Self in the old time and space, including commonly used books such as "Doctrine Asks" and "Essentials of the Scriptures". This is a great relief for Catholics who are in dire need of high-quality Chinese Catholic books. At the same time, he also donated 300 taels of silver to the church for Delon's tickets, and promised to bring in plate glass to decorate the windows of the church.

He also presented a batch of simple and practical "Australian goods": matches, 1 knife, windproof oil lamp with glass lampshade, etc., which were presented to the leading figures in the church and ordinary people. In fact, these things have appeared in small quantities on the market recently, but because of the high price, most people dare not ask about them.

This gift really won the great favor of the church in Hangzhou. Guo Jujing didn't say anything, even ordinary believers were impressed by the generosity of this "catechumen" who came from afar. Zhao Yinggong was quite modest in his speech, and from time to time he came out with the meaning of "admiring the Holy Religion". More and more won the favor of the powerful figures of the church.

The arrival of a new priest also sent a ripple through the calm church, and everyone always liked new things. On the first Sunday after Jin Lige arrived at the Hangzhou church, he made a dispersal for the crowd. Because I heard that new missionaries had arrived, many Catholics from Hangzhou came, and there were four or five hundred people in the small church. Jin Lige burst into tears as he preached. Zhao Yinggong felt bored, but in order to win the favor of the local church, he still made a respectful mō.

In the end, his action was a complete success, and although Zhao Yinggong was not a believer, his status as a "catechumen" was recognized by the Hangzhou Church. It was easy for him to get the support of several gentry in the church, especially the Li and Yang families. I received several greeting posts and a letter of introduction written by Guo Jujing to Sun Yuanhua. @。