When the Chinese emperor delivered a eulogy in front of the church in memory of the three members of the Academy of Sciences, Long Huamin, who was standing in the front row of Jesuit monks, listened with some absent-mindedness.

Long Huamin, with silver-white hair, although he still looks very healthy, is older than Kinnige, and he is a missionary who came to China at the same time as Matteo Ricci. After Matteo Ricci's death, he took over as overseer of the Chinese Mission in accordance with Matteo Ricci's suicide note.

In fact, among the Chinese Jesuit missionaries, he was the president of the Jesuit Society in China, but because he opposed the believers' participation in the worship of Confucius and believed that it was against the canons, he clashed with the scholars in the mission area, which eventually aroused the anger of the Chinese scholars and doctors, resulting in the Nanjing Case.

Although the Nanjing case was finally put down under the mediation of Xu Guangqi and other Chinese believers, Long Huamin had to relinquish his position as overseer to the Jinni Pavilion, which supported Matteo Ricci's reform of the Catholic rites. The Kinnie Pavilion, who had a good relationship with the Chinese scholars, did not live up to his expectations, and won the trust of the newly enthroned Chinese emperor, opening up the situation for the Jesuits to operate legally in China.

It seemed that the situation of the Jesuits in China was thriving, and the Jesuit brothers around him were also inexplicably excited that the emperor could personally mourn the three believers, but Long Huamin's heart was never happy.

Because in Long Huamin's view, although they brought Western books, the purpose of Jesus to bring these books was not to carry out cultural exchanges with China, as the emperor said. They wanted to prove to these Chinese, who despised barbarians, that they also came from a great civilized world, and thus help the Catholic missionary cause.

But now things have turned upside down, and the stepping stone they used to open the door to China is regarded as a treasure by the Chinese emperor, and the missionary work they regarded as a treasure is taken for granted by the Chinese emperor, which is clearly contrary to the original intention of the Jesuits.

Long Huamin's gaze moved away from the emperor who was reading the eulogy in front of him, and began to look at his colleagues around him. The Jesuit monk closest to the emperor was the German missionary John Tong, who was not yet 40 years old, and at Chongzhen's insistence, the young missionary became the current overseer of the Chinese mission.

Seeing Tang Ruowang looking at His Majesty the Emperor in front of him with an excited expression, Long Huamin suddenly felt that it was a bit risky to let this young monk take over the position of overseer of the Chinese mission.

For the current Chinese emperor, His Majesty, Long Huamin feels that he and Chongzhen actually have a lot in common. For example, they all believe that women and men have equal power; Regardless of one's origin, all people are still equal before God. Of course, the God that Chongzhen thinks of does not refer specifically to the Catholic God, but is closer to the Chinese way of heaven.

But in spite of all the common ground among them, when it came to missionary matters, there was a great estrangement. Although Chongzhen admired the ideals of equality and mutual aid he advocated in his mission, and praised his observance of the canons during his mission, he always found it difficult to accept his desire to preach in China with the rites prescribed by the Holy See.

This is why, within a few days of his stay in Beijing, he was sent to Jeju Island to preach, until Kim Ni-gek was not in good health, and he was recalled to Beijing. However, during the year he went to Jeju Island to preach, the thinking of the Jesuit monks in the capital had changed dramatically.

Yang Mano, Guo Jujing, Tang Ruowang and others all turned to religious rituals that advocated Chinese-style change, arguing that the papal ban could not be implemented in a secular country like China, and that the implementation of the papal ban would only undo their previous efforts and lose the support of His Majesty the Emperor.

Long Huamin was alone in the Jesuits of China, but he did not give up his insistence on missionary methods. For he believed that the reason why these brothers had turned to Matteo Ricci's ideas was that His Majesty the Emperor of China had given them a way of life so comfortable that the Jesuit monks had forgotten that the missionary cause was their only mission in China.

The reformed Chinese religious rites have turned Chinese Catholics into a group of nondescript religious believers. Long Huamin was extremely suspicious that if this development continued, perhaps Chinese Catholicism would become a Protestant religion on another eastern continent, and eventually break away from the arms of the Holy See.

However, Long Huamin did not break with these colleagues directly, because he knew that doing so would only lead to another Nanjing teaching case. Turning his head to look at Chongzhen again, he had already made a decision in his heart. He intended to submit first to the demands of the Chinese emperor, and then to report everything to the Holy See, and only with the support of the Pope could he persuade his colleagues to return to the right path of mission.

Huang Liji and Xu Guangqi's carriage stopped in front of the gate of the Royal Academy of Sciences in the north of the imperial city, and after the two stepped out of the carriage, they were greeted by a gatekeeper who knew Xu Guangqi.

Xu Guangqi talked with the little official for a few words, and then beckoned Huang Liji, who was still looking at the façade of the Academy of Sciences, to enter the door with him. Although Huang Liji has also been to the Academy of Sciences several times, he has come and gone in a hurry every time, but it is the first time that he has followed Xu Guangqi so leisurely to copy the path in the academy and walked through most of the Academy of Sciences.

Following Xu Guangqi, he found for the first time that in addition to the first part of the road, he was still familiar with the Chinese architecture and garden style. But when we reached the northeast corner, the scenery in front of me changed interestingly. It has changed from a building style close to nature to a symmetrical geometric style.

Although Huang Liji does not appreciate this strange construction style, he does admit that there is a pleasant feeling to this symmetrical layout.

After the two of them crossed a brick path where the trees on both sides were trimmed into a conical canopy, a very large rectangular lawn appeared in front of them. Huang Liji opened his eyes and saw that there were about hundreds of people standing on the lawn at the moment, and he quickly found Chongzhen, who was giving a speech in front of everyone.

Standing on a low wooden staircase and speaking in the sunlight, Chongzhen's body seemed to be inlaid with a golden light. Xu Guangqi, who was walking in front, suddenly felt something strange behind him, and couldn't help but turn his head and asked in surprise: "Why did my brother Fan stay?"

Huang Liji, who was awakened, suddenly smiled at Xu Guangqi and said, "Looking from here, I realized that Your Majesty is really young." ”

Xu Guangqi glanced back at Chongzhen in the distance, and involuntarily nodded in agreement: "Yes, Your Majesty is really young, but unfortunately we are already old, I really hope to see what Daming will become in the future." ”

Huang Liji smiled and said, "I think I will become as young as Your Majesty." Let's go, Your Majesty's speech seems to have come to an end, so let's go and report to him on the affairs of Shaanxi. ”

Today's sunlight was obviously a little warm, and when Zhu Youzhen walked down the steps, beads of sweat began to appear on his forehead. However, although he felt a little sweaty, he was in a pretty good mood.

For compared to when the Academy was first established, only Jesuit monks supported the scene, the membership of the Academy of Sciences today has obviously increased dramatically. In addition to the forty or fifty Jesuit missionaries, behind them stood 3 or 400 Chinese researchers who had just joined the Academy of Sciences.

Over time, these Ming people would eventually replace the European missionaries and become the dominant force in the Academy of Sciences. In Chongzhen's view, there are quite a few hard-working farmers who have the joy of watching their crops continue to grow.

However, he didn't wait long for him to maintain this mood, he saw Huang Liji and Xu Guangqi walking towards him from afar, he said a few words to Tang Ruowang and the officials of the Academy of Management Sciences beside him, and asked Lu Qi to lead the two cabinet ministers into the chapel behind him to talk.

Zhu Youzhen and the two ministers sat on the benches in the church and talked, and learned from the two of them about Hong Chengchou's extermination of the Shaanxi Exile Army.

Regarding this matter, in fact, Zhu Youzhen knew about it earlier than the cabinet. After all, by Hong Chengchou's side, there was the Jinyi guard he sent. After listening to Huang Liji's relays of the recitals of several governors of Shaanxi, Zhu Youzhen asked very calmly: "So, what is the cabinet's view on this matter?" ”

Huang Liji glanced at Xu Guangqi beside him, and then replied to Chongzhen: "The cabinet now has two opinions, one is to advocate punishing Hong Hengjiu and punishing the two generals He Renlong and Ai Wannian, who killed good and risked merit. On the other hand, the leaders of these exile armies are capricious, and it is difficult to dispel their rebellion by appeasement alone.

Moreover, if the leaders of the troubled people are appeased as soon as they encounter an uprising, the local gentry and common people who have been plagued may not be convinced, and there is no deterrent effect on those who are treacherous. If the people of the world think that as long as they raise an army to rebel, they can get benefits from the hands of the imperial court, I am afraid it is not a good thing. ”

Zhu Youzhen looked at Xu Guangqi on the side, and couldn't help asking, "Mr. Xu, what is your opinion on this matter?" ”

Xu Guangqi thought for a moment before replying: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that soldiers who violate military discipline must be punished. But after all, they still pacified the civil unrest in Shaanxi, and they were also meritorious ministers, and the court should not hurt the hearts of the soldiers too much. ”

Zhu Youzhen turned to Huang Liji again and asked, "Does Mr. Huang see it that way?" ”

Huang Liji was stunned, retracted the words that were about to reach his mouth, and changed his words: "The minister's opinion is the same as Xu Shangshu's, just a small punishment and a big commandment, and if it makes a fuss, it is not very good for the reputation of the imperial court." ”

Zhu Youzhen thought for a while and said, "What the two gentlemen said is good, and it is similar to what I thought. I don't think it's as good as this, the rectification of military discipline in this army should be handed over to the General Staff to deal with, so that the movement will be smaller, and the local army generals will not be held hostage to themselves.

As for the issue between Hong Chengchou and the governor of Shaanxi and the governor of Yansui, it is still handed over to Cui Chengxiu to mediate, and the cabinet will select an imperial historian to observe the mediation process, so that we can understand the situation in Shaanxi in a timely manner..."