Chapter 290: The President's Invitation

……

After Zhang Chenfeng left, Lin Xiao walked around, went to the barracks next door to take a look, and then went back to the second floor of the Governor's Mansion.

The second floor had already been cleared, and Li Tao had invited Master Qu Shiyun into the governor's office, while he himself was in the large conference room next door, stammering something in his Portuguese from later generations, talking to a group of captured council bigwigs.

Lin Xiao didn't understand Portuguese, but what Li Tao was saying had been discussed with him in advance, and it was nothing more than a brief statement-

"First, to recover the sovereignty of Macao; second, that they will soon be released; Third, the sale can be done as such, and you are willing to leave and stay for convenience. ”

Lin Xiao entered the governor's office and chatted with Qu Shiyun for a while, and gradually, the topic came to how to deal with the aftermath.

Lin Xiao's attitude is very clear, although Macao is small but very important, after recovering sovereignty, in addition to the right to collect taxes, must be stationed here, because he feels that the Francois will not give up.

Whether it is the Franco, the Dutch, the English or the French, in the near future, if their ocean-going fleet is not completely wiped out, these hooligans with their eyes hanging high, accustomed to pirates and colonizers, who still think they are superior, will not honestly do business with the Chinese.

As for those bare-handed Franc machine prisoners, Lin Xiao plans to release them, he doesn't have extra food to feed these people, so let the bigwigs next door take them back to the motherland.

"If so...... What about their reluctance to return home? ”

Hearing this, Qu Shiyun, who had not expressed his position before, said with a smile.

Most of these ordinary soldiers of the Franc Machine actually came from poor peasant families in the countryside, which he knew better than Lin Xiao, because he had dealt with them.

These people were conscripted into the army and came to the far Far East, and if they returned to their homeland penniless and ragged as losers, then their lives would be over.

"Don't want to go back, will you?"

Lin Xiao said suspiciously, but then smiled, "They can still be sailors, there will be a market." ”

As long as those merchants don't run, the business will definitely be bigger, Lin Xiao is very confident that with the mass production of his factory, the novelties produced will definitely attract more Western businessmen.

"Well, that's a way out,"

Qu Shiyun nodded, and then said, "However, what about the hundreds of army forces?" They don't know how to ship. ”

"That's easy,"

Lin Xiao's eyes lit up and he grinned, "As long as they are willing, I can consider hiring them to help me fight." ”

The word mercenary is not unfamiliar to Lin Xiao at all.

Don't you just want to make money? OK!

Give me a tartar to go, hit the Dutch, as long as the performance is good, the salary is fine.

If you haven't died in battle, you'll ...... You can also go to Japan together......

As for the military discipline of these people, he is not worried at all, if only a few hundred mercenaries are not satisfied, he, as the commander-in-chief, should not do it.

……

Just as they were chatting energetically, there was a knock on the door, and a soldier came in, raised his hand and saluted, and handed an envelope to Lin Xiao.

Lin Xiao looked at the envelope, it was for Lord Qu Ge Lao Qu, and asked casually, "What about the person who sent the letter?" ”

"Report to the commander-in-chief, in the gatehouse, say waiting for a response."

Lin Xiao nodded and handed the envelope to Qu Shiyun: "The handwriting is good." ”

The latter opened the fire seal, unfolded the letter paper and looked at it, only to see a number of crosses written on it, to the effect that he was waiting for the arrival of the big driver, and the payment was Bishop Zeng Dezhao.

"It's the local Jesuit president who wants to see you and invites you to come and talk,"

Qu Shiyun smiled and handed the letter to Lin Xiao casually, "Go or not, you make your own decision." ”

As soon as he heard the term Jesuit, a gloomy figure dressed in black immediately appeared in Lin Xiao's mind, sitting in a marble black room.

What did the Jesuit president see him for?

Do you want to proclaim the gospel of the Lord to him?

……

In the Portuguese neighborhood in the heart of the city, in a small but elaborate church.

The early morning sunlight in southern China has shone through the small pieces of glass inlaid with lead bars on the windows, shining on the marble floor, leaving wisps of brilliant light and shadow.

A man in monk's robes was sitting next to a large desk, his head hanging as if he was thinking about something.

The four corners of the large desk are gilded, piled with books and papers, and a beautifully crafted, ebony crucifixion is prominently displayed.

Behind him is a large fireplace of exquisite workmanship, and judging by the ornamentation and the unique pattern of the marble, perhaps the stone and the craftsmen are from distant Venice.

Of course, in southern China, where the coldest days do not drop below 20 degrees Celsius, this thing is purely decorative, symbolizing the power of the branch president of the church in Macau.

This lonely figure is the president of the Catholic Church of Jesus Evangelical in China, Bishop Zeng Dezhao, whose real name is Álvaro de Simendo.

The president was in charge of all Catholic missionary affairs in the surrounding areas of China, and had a high position in the Catholic Church, even without submitting to the authority of the Bishop of Manila.

This small but elaborate church was originally the residence of the Jesuit Bishop of Macau, but now it belongs to President Tsang Tak Chiu.

Due to the conflict between Spain and Portugal, the bad relations between the two countries affected the appointment of the bishop of Macao, and his position was vacant for 80 years, and the current branch of Macao is in a state of no bishop.

Therefore, at this time, Zeng Dezhao was alone, and he was in charge of all the affairs of the Chinese diocese and the Macau branch.

Zeng Dezhao was very weak, and many years ago, he contracted malaria while preaching in the Great Muds of the Manraka Peninsula, and although he was treated with tobacco and left a life, the sequelae still suffer from attacks from time to time.

However, a powerful spiritual fire burned in this weak body.

Perhaps knowing that his life was running out, he became more and more urgent about the missionary business.

Zeng Dezhao was concerned that the Catholic missionary activities in China were fraught with difficulties and were far less successful than in other regions.

The great geographical discoveries of the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries brought about the overseas expansion of European countries, and also brought about the widespread spread of Christianity around the world, and in turn, Christianity was also one of the important factors contributing to the overseas expansion of Europe.

The Portuguese and Spaniards, who were pioneers of overseas exploration, had a long history of fighting the MSLs of North Africa since the Crusades compared to other Europeans.

Not only were they mentally motivated by this memory, but also, in the process, they accumulated a great deal of knowledge in navigation and geography.

Therefore, driven by the temptation of profit and religious obligation, they took the lead in devoting themselves to overseas adventures.

The missionaries of the Christian church took the opportunity to follow these colonists and zealously spread the gospel of God in vast areas outside Europe.

Since the 16th century, Christianity has spread rapidly in Southeast Asia, but after a wave of operation, the Catholic Church, the first major branch of Christianity, has only found real success in the Philippine Islands.

The Spaniards implemented the **** rule of the Catholic Church and the colonial regime there, which made the Philippine society Catholic, and the Philippines became the only Catholic country in East Asia today.

In 1588, the Spanish Armada was defeated by the English navy, and the English and French gradually took the place of the Portuguese and Spanish in Southeast Asia, gaining control of the spread of Christianity in the region.

However, these Protestant "religious heretics" – the English and Dutch – were more concerned with commercial expansion than with missionary activity.

The Dutch East India Company, founded in 1602 to pioneer colonization, saw Catholics as potential supporters of Spain and Portugal, and banned Catholics from serving as high-ranking employees or carrying out missionary activities there.

As a result, in addition to the Philippines, Catholicism has suffered setbacks in India, Thailand, Japan, and other places.

Especially in Japan, due to the suspicion of the Tokugawa shogunate, a large number of believers were killed, and the Franco-Rang people were banned from entering Japan to trade, and only the "religious heretics" of the Netherlands still had a small number of trade qualifications.

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(End of chapter)