In the middle of March, the South Church of Beijing Normal University, the Western Church built by Father Matteo Ricci during his lifetime, is not large in scale, it is a two-deep courtyard, which looks no different from ordinary houses from the outside, but it is the only Western Church in Beijing, in addition to the use of clergy for preaching and worship, it is also the foothold of Western clergy in Beijing.

Father Gao Yizhi went to Beijing from Jiangzhou, Shanxi Province half a month ago, last year's trip to Fengzhou was a great success, the Grand Commander's Office did not reject the Western religion in the slightest, and said that the Western religion was welcome to enter Fengzhou, his book "Western Learning Self-cultivation", "Western Learning Qi Family" and "Western Learning Zhiping" were also taken by the Propaganda Department to re-engrave, in view of the huge influence of Lamaism in the grassland, he also sent a letter to the Monk Erji Lama to express his respect, but the Monk Monk only replied to discuss with him the way of self-cultivation in middle school, but did not mention anything about the Western religion - The old lama apparently didn't take the matter of Western religion to heart. Immediately after that, Li Yu went to fight on the Xilamulun River again, and the acting commander Liu Xingzuo himself was a believer in the Western Religion, not only accepted his own baptism, but also let Gao Yizhi develop dozens of believers in one go, and now there are hundreds of believers in Fengzhou Beach, which is a grand occasion that has not appeared for many years. After Gao Yizhi returned to Shanxi, he reported the good news to Long Huamin, who was in charge of the Chinese diocese, and proposed a grand missionary plan, Long Huamin quickly wrote back to praise Gao Yizhi's tireless dedication to God, expressed his full approval of his missionary plan, and invited him to Beijing for a detailed meeting.

The two talked several times and broke up, Long Huamin tried to avoid the topic of mission, seemed very depressed, and even often got angry, and recently quarreled with Namur, who he personally baptized, because Namur copied the Bible. Na Mu'er has never been a good child, he was scolded and unconvinced, and found Xu Guangqi, Gao Yizhi, Tang Ruowang and others to be angry - Long Huamin became more and more eccentric, Tang Ruowang thought it was necessary to have a deep talk with him, so he invited Gao Yizhi, Xu Guangqi and others to Nantang together.

Long Huamin happened to be blocked in the study, Xu Guangqi and Gao Yizhi had long been dissatisfied with him, it was this person who insisted on changing the name of "God" to "Jehovah" after this person came, stubbornly opposed the worship of Confucius, obstructed the translation of Western classics, and turned away the Ming people who were friendly to Western religion, and the good situation created by Father Matteo Ricci with great efforts was going backwards. Not long after John Tang arrived in the Ming Dynasty, he also clearly felt that the influence of Western religion had weakened, which was completely different from the missionary grandeur he had heard during the Matteo Ricci period, and the most strange thing for him was that Long Huamin actually suggested that the Holy See should ban the translation and printing of the Bible in the Ming Dynasty.

"Nikolai, you still do not know the Ming Kingdom to this day, and you have imagined some inexplicable reasons to prevent the Ming people from approaching us, and with your loyalty to Jehovah, I have to remind you that you are sabotaging the missionary work of the Church of Jesus." Gao Yizhi said solemnly to Long Huamin.

"Matteo Ricci in Japan especially emphasized that the study of China and the West is one, and the introduction of Confucianism has been accepted by the Ming scholars, the so-called respect for Confucius and worship of ancestors is a custom, and it has nothing to do with the worship of God, you know this, but you stubbornly make things difficult for my followers, since you took over the diocese, the development of our religion has been difficult, and now Alfonso (Gao Yizhi) has done a little bit in Shanxi, and you will suppress it, what is your intention?" Xu Guangqi was also angry.

"And the Bible, why don't you agree to have it printed in China? Why do you insult Adam as a way to communicate the gospel of the Lord by copying the Bible with his heart, which shows his devout faith in Jehovah? John Tang questioned Long Huamin, Namur, that is, Wang Baozhu, whose Christian name is Adam, nodded vigorously on the side, in fact, he didn't know any words in the Bible, and it was true that he wanted to learn Western.

Long Huamin listened to everyone's accusations, his face became ugly, and he was silent for a while before he opened his mouth to explain: "I'm sorry, I can't accept your accusations, when the Jesus Church sent me to China, I learned about the situation from Matteo Ricci's letter, but he obviously didn't tell the truth, I have no intention of accusing this respected senior, he may have deliberately tried his best to praise the Ming Kingdom in order to get the support of the Holy See, but the actual situation is much worse, and I am personally responsible for the mission in Shandong, The hundreds of baptized congregants are proof that I have faithfully fulfilled my duty to the Church of Jesus. But I must admit that in the process of proselytizing, I became more and more afraid that there seemed to be something wrong in this country, that the rich Ming mentioned by Matteo Ricci was actually full of homeless people and beggars, that the educated officials were full of corruption and corruption, and that the army of the Ming was more like a group of ruffians. Many people profess their faith in Jehovah in front of me, but behind my back, they use Jehovah's name to extort money from others, oppress the good, and even falsify doctrine in an attempt to misbehave. I don't understand where these evils come from, and the general lack of morality and integrity of the people here, who seem to prefer to fight each other and even frame each other, I find it hard to believe that they can become devout believers in Jehovah, a country that is too big and populous for us to control the congregations, and one day there will be heresies that turn away from our religion. The mission of the Church of Jesus in Daming should be reconsidered, the purity of the religion is more important than the development of believers, the letter to the Holy See has been issued, I suggest that the mission in the Ming Dynasty must strictly abide by the doctrine of the religion, and must not condone any disrespectful words and deeds towards Jehovah, so do not hesitate to slow down the development of the religion in the Ming Dynasty. ”

"It's nonsense, although I have constant internal and external troubles, but it is not as unbearable as you say, you are obviously afraid of taking responsibility, and you are just shirking it!" Han Lin, who accompanied Gao Yizhi, was very dissatisfied with Long Huamin.

Xu Guangqi couldn't help sneering, Long Huamin didn't trust Daming from the bottom of his bones, Na Mu'er didn't care, he never regarded himself as a subject of Daming, and he was still asking for advice: "Nikolai, Daming is really bad, but our Fengzhou is very good, the people are simple, and we are united, our great commander is like Moses to rescue the suffering people, why don't you allow Alfonso to preach to Fengzhou?" Also, why won't you allow me to copy the Bible? ”

"Because I'm afraid, isn't Dengzhou's lesson enough? Ina Jue (Sun Yuanhua), Philip (Wang Zheng), Zhang Tao were arrested and imprisoned, and dozens of my godbrothers who went to Dengzhou to teach the art of guns were also captured in Dengzhou, the situation in Daming is too complicated, I don't want my godbrothers to fall into it again and repeat the mistakes of the past, as for copying the Bible, wait until you learn Western," Long Huamin pointed to Namur and shouted, paused for a while and asked Xu Guangqi, "Paul, can they still be saved?" ”

Xu Guangqi shook his head sadly, Denglai Governor Sun Yuanhua was his disciple, Liaohai Dao Wang Zheng was his friend, when Dengzhou fell, the two were captured at the same time, Kong Youde thanked the old favor and let them go, and also asked them to bring a message to the court, he and his colleagues in the most difficult time, once starved and froze for the Ming Dynasty bloody battle, launched a mutiny was also forced to helpless, if the court is willing to give a way to live, they are willing to continue to serve the court. Xu Guangqi believed that Kong Youde was telling the truth, with the strength of him and Geng Zhongming, confronting the court would be a dead end, but no one in the court cared about what Kong Youde thought, and the courtiers became excited again - Sun Yuanhua took the path of Zhou Yanru and became the governor of Denglai, with the label of Zhou Party on his head, beating him is beating Zhou Yanru, Wen Tiren regarded Sun Yuanhua as Zhou Yanru's pigtail, grabbed it and chased it fiercely, Zhou Yanru did not dare to argue for Sun Yuanhua if he had a ghost in his heart, although Xu Guangqi entered the cabinet with the book of the Ministry of Rites, But he couldn't speak in the cabinet and was unable to protect his disciples and friends, and finally the imperial court ordered the arrest of Sun Yuanhua, Wang Zheng, and Zhang Tao, the deputy chief soldier of Denglai, to be imprisoned and handed over to the criminal department for discussion. Sun Yuanhua and Wang Zheng are the backbone of Western Religion, Huang Long, the general soldier of Dongjiang, Zhang Tao, the deputy chief soldier of Denglai, and others are also believers of Western Religion, and Sun Yuanhua also invited more than 30 Taixi people from Macao to teach guns, this time it was all destroyed in the Dengzhou Incident, and the power of Western Religion in Daming can be described as a heavy loss.

After Long Huamin was silent for a while, he said to Xu Guangqi and Han Lin: "I'm sorry, I'm not disrespecting the Ming Dynasty, but this country really disappointed me, we can't take any more risks, the situation in Fengzhou is more complicated than Denglai, what will happen to their young leader in the future, none of us know, we can't anger the Ming court by helping him, that is tantamount to a disaster for us." ”

"Nikolai, you are worrying about the sky, our great commander is brave and wise, there is no kinder person in the world than him, not only will he not bring disaster, but he will make my religion flourish." Namur cried out angrily.

"I went to Fengzhou with Alfonso, and I spent a month with the people there, and I am convinced of their simplicity and kindness, they are not as complicated as you think, Nikolai, you are self-righteous, but you don't know anything about Da Ming at all." Han Lin said with a slight mockery.

"Jehovah loves every man in the world, and I have heard his call, and I have decided that no matter how difficult it may be, I will go to Toyosu to spread the gospel of the Lord, even if there is another thing like Nanking." Gao Yizhi firmly stated that in the forty-fourth year of Wanli, Shen Yu, the acting secretary of the Ministry of Rites in Nanjing, persecuted the Western religion, and put Gao Yizhi and several other missionaries who were preaching in Nanjing into prison, and escorted them out of the country after all kinds of abuse, at this time the government and the opposition were shaken, and Xu Guangqi, Li Zhizao, Li Tianjing and other officials in the court wrote to defend the Western religion, and the Emperor Shenzong, who had a good impression of the Western religion, finally dismissed Shen Yu from his post, and the Nanjing teaching case was quelled, and the suffering Gao Yizhi was still unswerving, and returned to Nanjing from Macao a year later to continue his mission.

"You don't understand, so be whatever you want!" Long Huamin got up and left angrily.

"Stubborn and self-righteous," John Tang shook his head at Long Huamin's back, and then asked Xu Guangqi, "Paul, what is the situation in Fengzhou?" That is the scope of Lamaism, do you think it is appropriate for us to preach there? ”

"What Nikolai said is also reasonable, the situation in Fengzhou is indeed complicated, the ministers of the imperial court generally regard it as a barbarian land, and its prospects are unpredictable, but I think that if the people of Fengzhou can accept my teaching, it will help them to get rid of the country and enter China, which is also a good thing for the imperial court, and last year there were 150,000 Han immigrants to Shibian, the population has accounted for the vast majority of the people, and Lamaism is simply unable to control it, John, it is indeed a good opportunity to preach at this time." Xu Guangqi replied.

"In that case, Alfonso can give it a try, and I'll explain it to the Jesus Church," John Tang nodded, and then saluted Han Lin and Namur, "Alfonso is old, if there are two parishioners to help, I will be grateful!" ”

"You should obey your fate." Han Lin replied.

"I want the Bible, and I want books, a lot of Western books." Na Mu'er shouted, and John Tang nodded with a smile.

"Thank you, John, that this may be the last thing I can do for the Lord." Gao Yizhi held Tang Ruowang's hand and said.

"Fengzhou is located outside the Guan, it will be very bitter there, I will try to help you," Tang Ruowang thought for a while, and then said to Gao Yizhi, "I also have a good friend who may be able to help you, this person is now a member of the Hanlin Academy, from the Quwo clan in Shanxi, although he has not been baptized, he is also a member of the Church, he is generous and righteous, and he is also extremely enthusiastic about the affairs of the church. ”

"John, you're talking about Li Jiantai, Brother Fuyu and I were raised in the same year, and it can be regarded as a good friend." Han Lin immediately guessed who John Tang was talking about, Li Jiantai and Han Lin came into contact with Western religion together, Han Lin went home and divorced his concubine, and was soon baptized into the church, while Li Jiantai had a lot of wives and concubines but was reluctant to do so, and he couldn't be baptized until now, but he has been in religion for a long time, and he has some reputation, and he often takes the initiative to get involved in the affairs of the church, and he is indeed a warm-hearted.

Gao Yizhi also knew Li Jiantai, and remembered the embarrassment of Li Jiantai being refused to be baptized by him back then, and couldn't help laughing.

Liaodong, this year's snow melts early, spring ploughing begins in February, Zhushen always seems to learn not to farm, casually turn over the ground and scatter the seeds to finish the matter, the ability to farm the Nikan caught in the Guannai is also degrading, how to teach them how to do, easy to deal with the work in the field, compared with this, Fengzhou as soon as spring ploughing forces everyone to dig deep into the ground, extensive fertilization, fine sowing, and at the same time to renovate reservoirs, canals, it is simply asking for hardship, but the spring ploughing in Liaodong is easy and efficient, less than a month to end hastily, The Han Chen, who was reused by Dajin Guo, were all official materials, but they disdained the work in the field, and the Han officials who supervised the spring ploughing felt quite satisfied. The work of spring ploughing has not been completed, the Great Khan's dispatch order was issued to each Niulu, the Eight Banners soldiers threw down the hoes in their hands, packed up their weapons, and hurried to the Liao River to assemble, the number of mobilized people this time is not much, but all of them are the elite of horses, plus the strong Aha of each family driving livestock, the number of soldiers is close to 30,000, and the elite of the Dajin Kingdom is almost out.

Shenyang, the atmosphere in front of the Great Yamen is tense, the guards and guards of the Great Khan are brightly armored, swords and spears are like a forest, the Great Yamen is surrounded by water, the white armor of each banner stands far away outside the palace, gathering in groups of three or five, chatting quietly while waiting for his own master - the Great Khan is about to lead the troops to the battle, this is the last time to convene the meeting of ministers of the Great Baylor before leaving, the Baylor, Beizi and the important ministers of the Jin State are all in the Great Yamen at this time to listen to the instructions of the Great Khan.

Tiancong Khan sat firmly on the throne of the Great Khan in the Octagonal Hall, there was no one else beside him, Dai Shan, Mang Gurtai honestly stood in front of him with Zhu Beile and the ministers, as for Amin, he was still confined at home, probably smashing things - in the first month of the sixth year of Tiancong, the Dajin Kingdom officially abolished the old system of the four major Beylers sitting together, and the era of the four Buddhas has passed, and now the Dajin Kingdom has a sun, that is, Tiancong Khan.

Yue Tuozheng, the head of the Red Banner in charge of the military department, said eloquently: "The Mongol tribes are rushing to the Xilamulun River to assemble one after another, and the Great Khan has strictly ordered all the elite men of the various ministries to go out to fight, presumably they will not dare to disobey the order, so that after our army and the Mongol departments converge, the strength will be more than 45,000 people." Since the Chahar tribes moved westward, they have been in a very poor and poor situation, gradually falling apart, and have lost the ability to fight a decisive battle with our army, the Great Khan made up his mind to completely eliminate the forces of Chahar, and all occupied the border of Datong and Xuanfu towns of the Ming Kingdom. ”

"This time, I'm going to clean up that kid from Erlu by the way, right?" Azig asked.

"Of course, Erlu, who is entrenched outside the Datong border, is also among the attacks, and his tens of thousands of people will ask everyone to work hard and bring them back to be Aha." Yue Tuo replied that Jin Guo's understanding of Fengzhou was still a year ago, and the population of 50,000 or 60,000 was not disdained by Yue Tuo.

Everyone laughed, the Jin Guo Zhushen always felt that Li Yu was a hairy boy who ran away from home, and Ming Guo and Chahar were completely different things, although they fought a few battles with them, but it was also to protect their own tribe, and it was the same with them, this kid would still come back sooner or later, Duoduo and Haoge were still sorry for Li Yu, and they finally saved some belongings, this time it was all over.

Tiancong Khan also smiled, as if Li Yu had already been whipped in front of him, he turned his face to Dai Shan and Mang Gurtai and asked, "Do you have any other suggestions for Big Baylor and Third Baylor?" ”

"Great Khan Shengming!" He bowed to the good and stopped talking.

"I listen to the Great Khan." Mang Gurtai replied very honestly that his title of Heshuo Belle had only been restored, and he no longer dared to provoke the eighth child easily.

Tiancong Khan nodded, and then pointed to Du Du and Abatai and said, "This time Zhubeile sent troops, how about the two of you staying in Shenyang?" ”

Du Du was the most obedient, and immediately agreed, and Abatai didn't complain for the first time, and while agreeing, he quietly wiped a handful of sweat - Erniu was suddenly pregnant, what was going on, he asked clearly from Aha next to Erniu, and if there was a ghost in his heart, he wished to stay away from Da Khan.

"Great Khan, did this dispatch attack the Ming army in Xuanfu and Datong?" Sakhalian asked, after returning from Yongping, he has been agitating for the conquest of the Ming Kingdom, and has been disdainful of the Chahar and Korea on the two wings of the Jin State.

"I'm fighting from afar, it's not appropriate to expand the war rashly, if the Ming army doesn't take the initiative to provoke, don't pay attention to it for the time being," Tiancong Khan thought about it and replied, then waved his hand and ordered to send troops to the Xilamulun River to meet the Mongol tribes.