Zhu Yanxi said: "This kind of coarse slang comes from the mouth of the cabinet, and it is insulting." ”

Zhu Youxiao's face became very ugly, Sun Chuanting lowered his head, this sentence was said when he heard the emperor scolding, so now Zhu Yanxi is actually talking about the emperor, Sun Chuanting didn't dare to laugh, so he could only bow his head and endure it.

Xu Guangqi said: "We are now discussing the question of whether the European countries should be regarded as equal relations or vassal states, although Sun Gebu said slang, but the minister felt that this was not rough, some things seem easy, but it will be more difficult to really do." In Lao Chen's mind, if European countries were to become vassals of the Ming Dynasty, it should be impossible. ”

Zhu Yanxi said: "I haven't tried it, why do you say it's impossible?" ”

This is a bit of a strong word, Sun Chuanting hurriedly said: "This matter is actually related to the Ministry of Rites, since Zhu Shangshu said so, it is better to let the Ministry of Rites send someone to announce that they will come to pay tribute, so that they can become the vassal state of the Ming Dynasty." ”

Zhu Yanxi's face changed, if he strongly argued that this matter had nothing to do with the Ministry of Rites, he could barely say it. But after all, he prides himself on being a gentleman, and he still can't say anything like throwing the pot to Honglu Temple, so he can only be silent.

Xu Guangqi said: "When we consider problems, we should look at problems from the other side's standpoint. The European countries are thousands of miles away from us, why should they submit to the Ming Dynasty. If one day they are willing to come to pay tribute, they should also see the benefits of paying tribute, and they don't really want to become a Ming vassal of the Ming Dynasty. ”

"When a colleague does something, you should also consider the complexity of the matter, rather than thinking of accusations first, and think about it, if you do it yourself, will it also feel tricky and troublesome? If you don't think about it carefully, you will blindly blame, and you will lose the original intention of asking everyone to make suggestions. ”

Zhu Yanxi's face was slightly red, and he arched his hand and did not speak. Since he let Xu Guangqi and Sun Chuanting scare down, the other ministers didn't dare to speak more.

Zhu Youxiao said: "Letting European countries submit to the Ming Dynasty is not something that can be done overnight. We don't know all aspects of Europe at all, and if we really go to war with the countries of Europe, we don't care about the outcome of the war. So I want to send people to see and learn about the political, economic, and military aspects of Europe. Even this cannot be done without seeing them as equal partners. ”

The ministers had no choice but to agree to treat the European countries as equal countries for the time being. This tentatively means that if there is an opportunity, the European countries should be included in the tributary system. Zhu Youxiao did not oppose the ministers in this regard, because even if he wanted to occupy Europe, it should be a long, long time later, anyway, he was not interested in occupying Europe, as long as the Ming Dynasty had Asia.

After the matter was decided, it was necessary to discuss the candidates for the envoy, and Honglu Temple did not have anyone who knew European languages at all, so under the recommendation of Xu Guangqi, Wang Zheng became Zuo Shaoqing of Honglu Temple, and led a group of students from the translation school to Europe.

The Ming mission was warmly welcomed in Portugal, the Portuguese in Asia are the countries with the best relations with the Ming, now most of the Portuguese merchants in Macau, and the Portuguese will be handed over to the Ming in Goa and other places in India, the relationship between the two sides can be said to be in the honeymoon period.

History has changed slightly here, the war between the Ming and the Spaniards in Asia caused a certain loss of Spanish power, while the Portuguese took this opportunity to carry out the restoration movement, and finally gained independence in the fifteenth year of the Apocalypse, a few years earlier than the original history.

The Ming delegation was received by the King of Portugal, who asked the King of Portugal to allow Ming students to study here, and the King generously agreed to Wang Zheng's request, willing to bear all the expenses of the five students who remained in Portugal, and gave them Portuguese status to study in schools in Lisbon.

After a short stay, the Ming delegation entered the Mediterranean Sea and arrived at the Holy See. With the help of the accompanying missionaries, Wang Zheng was received by the Pope as a believer, and he handed over a letter written by Zhu Youxiao to the Pope.

In his letter, Zhu Youxiao humbly expressed his respect for the Pope and asked the Holy See to send more missionaries to Daming to carry out missionary work, which made the Pope very happy. However, Zhu Youxiao also proposed that because the situation of the Ming Dynasty was different, some doctrines in Catholicism should be revised to a certain extent, such as the necessity of worshipping ancestors and worshipping Confucius, which should be fully allowed and fixed in words. He also demanded that the clergy of the Ming Dynasty be allowed to appoint priests at all levels on their own, and of course, the power to appoint cardinals was still in the hands of the Pope. Zhu Youxiao demanded that Wang Zheng be made a cardinal, becoming the highest-ranking priest in the diocese of Daming.

The Pope restrained himself with the utmost perseverance so that he did not tear up the letter, written in Chinese and Latin, on the spot. The matter of worshipping ancestors and worshipping Confucius has been debated for a long time, and in the end, the Holy See acquiesced, so there is no problem with this. However, Zhu Youxiao said that the appointment of cardinals was in the hands of the pope, but he directly asked the king to be enlisted as a cardinal, which means that the pope is just equivalent to a stamp, and it is a stamp that the Ming said you would stamp.

When did the emperor of a country even be able to dictate the affairs of the Holy See, and this emperor was not yet a believer. If it is allowed to develop, in the end, the Catholicism of the Ming Dynasty will no longer be under the control of the Holy See, which is not allowed. But the fact that the country has a population of 10,000,000, and most of them do not yet have a firm religion, is a great temptation to promote Catholicism.

What's more, the emperor of this country has too much power, it can be said that there is no one to restrain him at all, if he really tears up this letter, it is foreseeable that the spread of Catholicism in this large eastern country will definitely be forcibly stopped, this is definitely not a situation that the pope wants to see, we must be cautious, not too emotional.

So the Pope talked with Wang Zheng for a long time, and then called a meeting of the upper echelons of the Holy See to discuss the letter from the Ming Emperor. Sure enough, the matter of worshipping ancestors and worshipping Confucius did not anger the bishops, but the request to appoint clergy on their own and force the king to be crowned as a cardinal was unanimously opposed by everyone. Christianity has been divided many times, and the bishops don't want to see that happen again.

But the Pope's proposal of 10,000,000 potential Catholics did attract the bishops, and the reports of previous missionaries made it clear that the Ming emperor did not explicitly welcome or resist the mission, but rather that there was much opposition from the officials, as exemplified by the Nanking case. The Ming Emperor had complete control over the country, which was incomparable to the monarchs of European countries. If the Ming Emperor was wronged, there would be no way for Christianity to spread in the Ming Dynasty.

After two days of discussion, the Holy See finally gave in. It was agreed that the Ming could appoint clergy, but that the cardinal's appointment power could only be in the hands of the Pope. As for Wang Zheng, because he himself was a devout member of the Ming Dynasty, and his identity was a five-grade official of the Ming Dynasty, the Pope pinched his nose and appointed him as a cardinal in the Ming District.

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