The next day, after Li Zicheng got up, taking advantage of the fact that the ice and snow had not melted in the morning, he went to the playground and trotted a few laps, until his body was slightly sweating, and then he returned to the back office, and Chen Qiudie was waiting to wipe his mouth and wash his face.

Tang Ruowang looked at Li Zicheng and raised the stack of white paper in his hand, "Mr. Li, my affairs are ready!" ”

"Oh? Mr. Tang came so early? Li Zicheng wiped the water droplets on his face by Chen Qiudie, got up and said with a smile: "Mr. Tang hasn't had breakfast yet, has he?" Come, let's eat together! ”

He Xiaomi also rushed over, looked at Tang Ruowang fiercely, and said: "My lord, this foreign ghost wants to break in, and he won't listen to ...... persuasion."

"Xiaomi, forget it this time, Mr. Tang is a Westerner and doesn't understand our etiquette, after a long time, he will naturally understand."

After breakfast, Li Zicheng brought John Tang into the study of the Central Government and asked He Xiaomi to make tea.

He Xiaomi first made a cup for Li Zicheng, and then Tang Ruowang, when the teacup was delivered to him, it was thrown heavily on the table, and a lot of tea was splashed.

"Xiaomi, Mr. Tang is a guest, you must not be rude," Li Zicheng knew that He Xiaomi was angry, he took out the manufacturing drawings of the detonator# tube, handed it to He Xiaomi, and said with a smile: "Xiaomi, you have someone to send this to the craftsman's workshop and hand it over to Fang Zhi, I want to meet Mr. Tang alone." ”

"My lord......" He Xiaomi's gaze moved to Tang Ruowang's body, and he almost didn't move.

Li Zicheng knew that He Xiaomi was worried about his safety, but Xiaomi was here, which would inevitably affect the atmosphere of the conversation between the two, so he said: "Don't worry, Xiaomi, Mr. Tang is my friend!" ”

He Xiaomi couldn't do it, so he had to leave the study.

Li Zicheng unfolded the Catholic doctrine, good guy, a total of twenty articles, however, John Tang's calligraphy is also crooked, not much better than himself, read it carefully, made a mark next to the relevant doctrine, and said: "Mr. Tang, this first article is very well corrected, believers worship God, not the Pope, if their requirements cannot be met, then there is no need to confront the Pope or the clergy." ”

"Mr. Li, I corrected it according to your wishes, but I'm afraid the Pope of Rome ......" John Tang was a little worried, and his blue eyes became foggy.

"You also said that the Pope is far away in Rome, how do you know the current situation of the Ming Dynasty?" Li Zicheng smiled faintly, "Mr. Tang, preaching and preaching is your business, if you continue to follow the original doctrine and remain unchanged, do you think there will be many people in the Ming Dynasty who will join Catholicism?" Based on your missionary experience in Beijing and Xi'an, how many people will be able to convert to Catholicism in their lifetime? This...... But it's your responsibility! ”

"I can only take one step at a time," John Tang was still deeply attracted by Li Zicheng's words yesterday, "Mr. Li, can this really make more people become believers?" ”

"Don't worry, as long as you listen to me, I will ensure that your mission goes smoothly," at this time, Li Zicheng can only go down one road, a little hesitation, it is possible to lose all the achievements, he pointed to the doctrine, said: "Like the article of 'filial piety to parents', in the next missionary activities, we should vigorously promote and highlight the key points, which is completely consistent with the concept of 'governing the country with filial piety' of the Ming Dynasty, and it is also the easiest to resonate with the people." ”

In addition to nodding his head, where does John Tang have the right to speak? He pinned almost all his hopes on Li Zicheng, no matter whether what Li Zicheng said made sense or not, he only had this one way.

Li Zicheng pointed to another doctrine and said, "This one is a bit difficult to do!" ”

Tang Ruowang's eyes widened, and Lan Youyou's eyeballs seemed to burst out, "Mr. Li, I'm afraid this article is not negotiable, is it allowed for believers to insult other people's wives at will?" ”

"I know, Mr. Tang, don't worry," Li Zicheng did not defend directly, but said: "Mr. Tang knows that the Ming Dynasty pursues 'polygamy', and many rich and noble people have many wives, so these people cannot join the church." ”

"What does Mr. Li mean that this article needs to be repealed? But you know, we clergy are not allowed to take wives, but can the Christians have many wives? ”

"That's not what I meant, and I don't intend to repeal it." Li Zicheng saw that John Tang reacted violently, so he gave a reassurance pill first.

In addition to what he originally thought, it can allow beautiful women to inherit more excellent genes, and it can also maintain the balance between men and women in the country, which is conducive to social stability.

But Daming has not entered the era of "freedom and equality", and it is far away, and even philosophers and theorists do not realize that if they want everyone to follow "monogamy", it is not realistic for the time being, that is, himself, in addition to Gao Guiying, who has no news, there are at least three and a half wives - Song Yulian, Sun Mengjie, Chen Qiudie, three wives, plus Mu Sirong, a half wife who has not passed through the door.

Change is a must, but it takes time.

"Mr. Tang, if there are people with multiple wives who want to join the church, is there a workaround?"

"The doctrine is so clear, so how can it be flexible? If you want to join the church, you must divorce, and at most you can leave only one wife. "John Tang naturally doesn't know that the Chinese language, which has lasted for thousands of years, will have ambiguity in many cases, that is, the same sentence can be interpreted differently, at least, different people will have differences in understanding.

"Mr. Tang, the Ming Dynasty is different from your Holy Roman Empire," Li Zicheng sighed, "In the Ming Dynasty, once a woman is divorced, we call the Ming Dynasty to divorce their wives, it will be difficult to remarry, for the sake of Catholicism, can you bear to let these women be widowed for life?" ”

"What does Mr. Lee mean by ......"

"Can this be," Li Zicheng was ready to adopt warmth, "If you already have a wife, no matter how much, you can join the church, but you can't marry again in the future, is this feasible?" ”

"No," John Tong flatly refused, "no matter what, a believer can only have one wife." ”

"I'll take a step back," Li Zicheng racked his brains, and finally came up with a new method, "People who have multiple wives can divorce their wives, but he can continue to support these women who have been repaired, so it shouldn't violate the teachings, right?" ”

"No, what's the real difference between this and 'polygamy'?"

"The difference is big," Li Zicheng said with a smile: "Mr. Tang, you see, this person only has one wife, right?" Now that it's not against the doctrine, what's not to do? ”

"But these women are still supported by this man, and they are together every day, who can guarantee that there are no ulterior things between them?"

This is real, and Li Zicheng can't deny it, but he already has a countermeasure, "Mr. Tang, even if there is an ulterior affair between them, it doesn't violate the doctrine - those women who have been divorced are no longer wives, are they?" The doctrine says that a believer can only have one wife, that is, it is not against believers having other women, including those who can go to the Qinglou, as long as they do not violate the laws of the Ming Dynasty. ”

John Tong was speechless for a moment, and the doctrine said, "Believers are not allowed to commit adultery with other people's wives", but these women are indeed no one's wives, but he always felt that something was wrong.

Li Zicheng didn't wait for John Tang to come back to his senses, and continued: "Mr. Tang, these people who have multiple wives are generally rich people, and the church in the future needs them to give alms, if these people are excluded, the normal operation of the church will probably have problems - in the Ming Dynasty, the church is not allowed to exist as an independent entity, and it is impossible to have many fields like you, at least for a short time, do you still want to exclude these people?" ”

“……”

"Mr. Tang, I have a compromise method," Li Zicheng sensed John Tang's hesitation, and said, "We don't need to change the doctrine, but we allow this to exist in private." ”

"This ...... I'm afraid it's inappropriate, right? "John Tong, who graduated from a seminary and is dedicated to maintaining religious chastity, naturally can't rub sand in his eyes.

"Mr. Tang, if these people really become believers, they will learn the doctrine, and under the inspiration of God and the guidance of the road to heaven, maybe they will take the initiative to dismiss their extra wives in the future." Even Li Zicheng himself doesn't believe in these, anyway, religion is like this, those who believe in it have it, and those who don't believe in it have not, and they can never prove right or wrong.

In order to spread Catholicism, John Tang had to follow Li Zicheng, except for Li Zicheng, he really couldn't see the hope of believers joining on a large scale, not only himself, but also Deng Yuhan, Luo Yagu and others who came to the Ming Dynasty with him, were also similar to him, and the preaching and preaching were not smooth, "Mr. Li still has those teachings?" ”

"And this." Li Zicheng also proposed that in addition to Easter, Pentecost, Assumption Day, and Christmas, believers can go to the church to celebrate Mass from time to time because of busy affairs and other reasons, after all, there will be only one church in Xining, and some people live far away from the church.

"The doctrine cannot be changed at will," John Tong said, "It is better to follow the previous method and privately allow the people not to come to the church to celebrate Mass," he thought for a while, and then said: "For the place where believers gather, if there is no church, you can gather other believers in a certain believer's home and celebrate Mass!" ”

The two discussed for almost an hour and a half, before the doctrine was finally settled, Catholicism, temporarily branded with the Ming Dynasty, Li Zicheng is most satisfied, that is, the first one, believers worship God, not the Pope, if the Pope uses religion to interfere in the politics of the Ming Dynasty in the future, not only the court will not buy it, it is believers, I am afraid that few will follow to make trouble.

Seeing that the conversation between the two sides was about to end, John Tang suddenly asked: "Mr. Li is so enthusiastic about Catholic missionary preaching, will he become the first person to join the Church?" ”