Xu Guangqi and Li Zhizao were typical representatives of the Ming Dynasty officials who advocated active exchanges with the West, trade, and mutual assistance in science and technology in the late Ming Dynasty, and their relationship with Catholicism was also extremely close, and they were both baptized as Catholics on their own initiative.

In terms of position, Xu Guangqi became a scholar of Wenyuan Pavilion and a second assistant to the cabinet; Although Li Zhizao is not as big as Xu Guangqi, he is also a servant of the temple, and he actually presides over the defense of Western guns.

What is rare and commendable is that during Li Zhizao's tenure as a scholar in Fujian, he added astronomical questions to the township examination questions for the first time, which was the first in the history of China's imperial examination.

If it weren't for the demise of the Ming Dynasty, astronomy, geography, science and technology would inevitably appear in the imperial examinations because of the frequent and close exchanges between the Ming Dynasty and the West, which would eventually make the imperial examinations based on the eight shares evolve into new academic examinations for later generations.

To some extent, adding astronomical topics to the imperial examination is a change.

However, this reform was not criticized, blocked by conservative forces, and even bloodshed occurred, as was the case with various changes in Chinese history.

The fundamental reason for this is that officials and gentry such as Li Zhizao and Xu Guangqi, who advocated exchanges with the West, played a great role, but the attitude of Emperor Wanli himself towards Western studies was the most critical.

Wanli was very fond of Western things and Western physics, and of course, it can be said that the emperor himself was very interested in overseas gold and silver wealth, so he advocated technical means that could help the empire to obtain these overseas wealth.

There is nothing wrong with this starting point, even perfect.

Isn't human progress born out of the desire for wealth?

Li Zhizao, Xu Guangqi, and a large number of other officials who joined the Catholic Church and actively introduced Western technology and talents, are they really all devout believers in God?

The answer, of course not.

The division of the master with long skills to control the razor is probably the real intention of the Catholic officials of the late Ming Dynasty.

This is a mutually beneficial process, and the Catholic Church needs to obtain their missionary rights in China through the support of officials such as Li Zhizao and Xu Guangqi, who want to bring more technology and more scholarship to the Ming Dynasty through the Catholic Church.

The Catholic Church plays the role of a medium.

Or rather, a piece of skin.

Therefore, there is no need for Grandpa Wei to show his God's "miracles" in front of Xu Guangqi and them, he just needs to honestly tell these people that he Grandpa Wei has really walked ahead of them in the introduction of Western technology and talents.

"The two of you must also know that Your Majesty has always taken a fancy to Catholicism, and Father Matteo Ricci also gained His Majesty's trust during his lifetime, so we hope that more and more people of insight can be cordial with the Church, and can help improve our Ming national strength through the Church..."

Regarding the olive branch extended by Gonggong Wei, Xu Guangqi and Li Zhizao did not give a positive answer. The reason is that one of them is now waiting for the transfer of the Ministry of Officials, and the other is Shaoqing of Taifu Temple, and it is impossible for them to leave the capital and go south in a short time.

Father-in-law Wei is not in a hurry, what he has is patience.

The initial communication was still very pleasant, and Xu Guangqi congratulated Gonggong Wei on being canonized by the Pope as the Archbishop of the East.

Li Zhizao tactfully asked Duke Wei about the emperor's attitude on this point, and Duke Wei replied like this, he said: "Your Majesty said that China is China, and Chinese are Chinese, and as long as Catholicism preaches benevolence, does not deceive the people, and does not intend to do wrong, then I will not properly prohibit Catholicism." ”

"As we said earlier, we are going to take Xiong Sanba into the palace to meet Your Majesty in the future, and we also hope to bring more priests and bishops into the palace in the future."

Grandpa Wei glanced meaningfully at Xu and Li.

Xu Guangqi and Li Zhizao both figured out the deeper meaning from this glance and this sentence, and it was obvious that everything this Wei Gonggong did was with the emperor's consent, and Wei Gonggong also hoped that more officials in the court would support him.

This support has nothing to do with party strife, Xu Guangqi and Li Zhizao and other officials who joined the Catholic Church already hated party strife, and their beliefs and deeds were outliers in the eyes of most courtiers, so they had the same essence as the eunuch Wei Gonggong.

When it was almost time for the meeting, a Western priest named Luo Qinan came in and asked His Excellency Pang Maichen to preside over the meeting.

Luo Qinan, a Belgian, is very young, only 26 years old, who came to China with Stallone more than a year ago, and is now arranged by the Jesuits to serve as the deputy envoy of the academy in the South Hall of the Beijing Normal School, mainly responsible for the custody of books and the translation of some documents.

Grandpa Wei immediately invited Xu and Li to attend the meeting, and on the basis of being both Catholics, Grandpa Wei's status as a purple bishop was higher than that of Xu Guangqi and Li Zhizao.

After coming out, Gonggong Wei saw the white flower basket from the gate to the auditorium at a glance, and he "chuckled" on the spot, and said goodbye to those nondescript congratulatory words on the paper basket, and his face was really green.

"Are you going to put our portrait on the table again?"

Father-in-law Wei glanced at Cui Yingyuan, who was sweating from all his hands, and went to the auditorium with his hands down.

.........

In the auditorium, the Western priests and representatives of the Ming Christians who attended the meeting had already arrived and sat down on the benches.

"Father Matteo Ricci pointed out before his death that the God of the Church has long existed in my thoughts, because the essence of Heaven and God in the Chinese tradition is no different from the "One True God" that the Church says..."

After the meeting began, Father-in-law Wei emphasized Father Matteo Ricci's teachings during his lifetime and highly praised Father Matteo Ricci's efforts to sinicize Catholicism.

"But after Father Matteo Ricci went to God, the course of our Eastern diocese went wrong. It's not a small problem, it's a big problem, it's a big question about whether or not our Catholic Church can gain a foothold in the East! To put it simply, it is a matter of ideological cognition. What exactly is the problem? It is the question of whether our Catholic Church is a surname or a surname. ”

Gonggong Wei pointed out that the so-called surname "Yang" is to adhere to the Western tradition of the church, and to directly move the church's various practices in the West to the East without seeking truth from facts, regardless of the water and soil. The so-called surname "Zhong" is what Matteo Ricci advocated during his lifetime, and the Catholic Church should be completely sinicized in the East, perfectly fitting with Chinese tradition.

"His Excellency the Pope canonized me as the purple Archbishop of the Diocese of the East, in the hope that I, Pommaison, will be able to better preside over the Diocese of the East and better spread the Gospel of God to everyone in the Diocese of the East. Then, I will put things in order, ban the bad things, and pass on the good things. ”

Wei Gonggong emphasized that Matteo Ricci's line of sinicization is correct and must be adhered to permanently. But although Matteo Ricci's course was correct, there was no perfect plan, and there was no system from top to bottom that would be conducive to better communication.

Therefore, he came up with a plan that had been formulated a few months ago, called "Work Plan for Actively Promoting the Sinicization of Oriental Dioceses".