Wu Chaoyue was purely worried in vain, although his comprador grandfather Wu Jianzhang was greedy and bribe-taking, smuggling and trafficking, and quietly ** a dynamic social organization, but he was a conscientious master at work, and he took time out of his busy schedule to come back to take a look at his grandson, and then immediately returned to the customs yamen to preside over the major event of tariff collection. Therefore, after Wu Chaoyue returned home, not only did he not have to worry about being disciplined, but he also invited Father Martin into his home under the surprised eyes of the people in Wu's mansion, and set up a banquet and wine to entertain this guest who came from tens of thousands of miles away.

Having money at home is convenient, Wu Chaoyue gave an order, and soon there was a table of good wine and food in front of him and Father Martin, and then Wu Chaoyue naturally had to work hard to teach Father Martin how to eat with chopsticks, but after hard practice, Martin still had no choice but to change to a spoon to taste Wu's food, and it was also at this time that Martin couldn't wait to send an invitation to Wu Chaoyue, saying: "Chaoyue, you are so familiar with Western culture, why don't you go to the church to be baptized and truly integrate into Western civilization?" I am more than happy to baptize you if you wish. ”

"Dear Mr. Priest, I must consider this carefully." Wu Chaoyue didn't have much interest in God, and he didn't want to bear the infamy of being a rather ugly devil in this era, so he quickly shook his head and excused himself, and made excuses and said: "As for the two reasons, the first is that I really don't know much about Christ Jesus, and I don't understand why I believe in Catholicism. The second is that my grandfather is still a Chinese official, and I am afraid that I will cause him a lot of trouble if I am baptized without his permission, so I must consult with him first. ”

"Why?" Fr. Martin, who did not know much about China at this time, was surprised and asked: "Why did your baptism by the Church affect your grandfather?" ”

This question is not difficult to answer, Wu Chaoyue also told him frankly, telling Father Martin how conservative and closed the Manchu court in this era was, and how blind xenophobic and xenophobic it was because of the ** war, and there was not a single Catholic from top to bottom, so if his comprador grandfather set this precedent, he would inevitably be reprimanded and interrogated by the court, and he might even lose his official position.

In his speech, Wu Chaoyue, who had just crossed over for a few days, spoke a little too directly, and he also made disrespectful remarks about the Manchu court. But fortunately, Father Martin didn't think to denounce Wu Chaoyue, and understood the reason for all this under Wu Chaoyue's patient explanation, so in the end, Father Martin not only gave up reasonably persuading Wu Chaoyue to join the Church immediately, but also drew a cross on his chest and said: "Almighty Lord, please use your all-powerful divine power to quickly sober up the ignorant and conservative Chinese government, Amen." ”

"Definitely, there will be this day." Wu Chaoyue not only told the truth but also comforted Father Martin, saying: "With the continuous efforts of missionaries from the West like Mr. Martin, I believe that sooner or later the Chinese people will open their eyes to the world, and they will definitely like and accept your Western culture, and the gospel of the Lord will be able to spread freely on the land of China." ”

Of course, modern people know that what Wu Chaoyue said is true, but unfortunately Father Martin is not a traverser, on the contrary, he shook his head with a wry smile and said, "Is that so easy?" I have been in China for more than half a month, and I have heard from many Western clergymen who have already come to China before, and I have heard from them how difficult and arduous it is to preach the Gospel of the Lord in China. At first, I didn't believe it, but what happened on the docks today has already shown me that they are not exaggerating in the slightest, and that missionary work in China is ten times more difficult than I imagined. ”

Wu Chaoyue nodded with a wry smile, agreeing with Father Martin's opinion. After Martin God finished these words, he looked at Wu Chao, the only Chinese who could communicate directly after he came to China, and suddenly moved smartly, and hurriedly said: "Dear Wu, since you know China and the West very well, do you have any good ways to make the Chinese accept our teachings?" How can they become believers in the Lord? ”

Wu Chaoyue smiled bitterly when he heard this, and said: "Dear Mr. Priest, I just can't do anything about it, first, I really can't think of any good way to help you spread the doctrine, and second, I don't have the ability to help you, I hope you can understand." ”

Martin was a little disappointed when he heard this, but he refused to die, and after a little calculation, Martin said: "Wu, I don't need Chinese to immediately understand Western civilization, I just need some Chinese to know the Bible, memorize the Bible, believe in the glory of the Lord, let them first get in touch with Western culture, and then slowly influence them, is there no way for you?" ”

Wu Chaoyue wanted to continue to shake his head, but when his head was halfway up, Wu Chaoyue suddenly stopped, thoughtfully, Father Martin observed his words, and said busily: "Dear Wu, what have you thought of?" Is there a good way to do it? If so, please let me know right away, and I will definitely thank you whether it will work out or not. ”

"To say or not to say?" Wu Chaoyue didn't want to care about this kind of idle matter that he didn't benefit from, but he had another calculation in his heart, and said secretly: "The Little Knife Society uprising will break out in Shanghai sooner or later, and the Manchu court is simply hopeless, if I don't take precautions and prepare more retreats for myself, I'm afraid ......it will be too late to hold on to Buddha at that time." ”

"Damn! After making this American friend first, sell him a favor, at least you can run to his church to survive in a critical moment, and it will be much easier to ask him to help get a U.S. green card! ”

After making up his mind, Wu Yue said: "Father Martin, if you just want many Chinese to know the Bible and be able to recite a few words of the Bible's teachings, instead of immediately asking them to join the church, then I have a good way, and it is quite a sure way." ”

"Great." When Martin heard this, he was overjoyed and hurriedly asked, "Dear Wu, please tell me your good way quickly." ”

Wu Chaoyue smiled and said: "In fact, it is very simple, now there are often foreign merchant ships on the docks in Shanghai to unload and load goods, many Chinese dock workers are by loading and unloading goods for foreign merchant ships for a living, in this case, why don't you ask these foreign merchant ships to hire dock workers who can memorize the Bible, even if they can only recite one or two lines of the Bible, they can't recite a word of the Bible, they will not be hired, so that they have no food, so that those dock workers even if they are unwilling, they have to study the Bible and memorize the Bible." ”

"Is that okay?" Father Martin was surprised and asked, "Wu, although your method sounds reasonable, but doing so is tantamount to forcing them, what if they still don't want to?" ”

"Dear Mr. Priest, you can add seduction." Wu Chaoyue smiled and said: "Mr. Martin, you can also add such an article, all the dock workers who are willing to memorize the Bible, you Western merchant ships not only hire them, but also give each person a reward of ten cents, and those who are not willing to study the Bible will not give them the opportunity to work for the Western merchant ships, so that they will not earn money and eat, so that those dock workers will of course understand what to do." ”

Seducing people to believe in God has always been the specialty of Western missionaries, so after listening to Wu Chaoyue's method, Father Martin inevitably began to be tempted, and said hesitantly: "Wu, you said that the method may work, you can consider it, but if you want our businessmen to pay more money to hire workers, I am afraid that it will be difficult." ”

"It's okay, I'm willing to donate three hundred taels of silver to the church to help you, Mr. Martin, do this." Wu Chaoyue didn't even blink his eyelids, and immediately took out the three hundred taels of silver tickets that the comprador grandfather had awarded him today, handed them to Father Martin, and said with a smile: "Three hundred taels of silver, which is equivalent to 600,000 copper coins, is enough for 60,000 dock workers to recite 60,000 verses of the Bible. ”

"Dear Wu, you are my forever friend." Father Martin was so excited that he hugged Wu Chaoyue and said, "Wu, I will go back to the concession to discuss with other missionaries, and if they also think that your method is feasible, then I will immediately start implementing it with them, so that all the workers in Shanghai can come to study the Bible and come into contact with our Western culture." ”

Wu Chaoyue nodded with a smile, and muttered in his heart: "If you think it's feasible, just do it, don't pull me." Workers at the Shanghai docks, don't blame me, anyway, sooner or later you will have to understand a little bit of the West and God, and I will pay money to buy friends to help you open your eyes to the world and increase your income as soon as possible, and it is also for your own good. ”

…………

With the money donated by Wu Beyond to the church and the good idea of luring the Chinese into contact with Western civilization, Father Martin happily said goodbye and returned to the concession, and Wu Beyond immediately put this matter behind him and returned to his room to continue to tease the little girl. Wu Jianzhang, who was busy with official business, did not return home until it was dark, but after hearing that his baby grandson had brought a foreigner back as a guest, Wu Jianzhang was also taken aback, and hurriedly asked the housekeeper: "Are foreigners coming to me?" What was said? ”

"Back to my lord, that foreigner didn't come to look for you, he seems to be a new friend of Young Master Sun, and he was invited by Young Master Sun to be a guest at our house." The housekeeper replied truthfully, and said: "Young Master Sun has been talking to that foreigner in foreign language, and he is very happy, but I don't know what they say, and no one in the family can understand it." ”

"It's very fun to talk to foreigners in foreign language?" Wu Jianzhang's cloudy old eyes widened, and he said in surprise: "When did that little rabbit cub have this ability?" The old man has taught him foreign language for so many years, and he can't remember one sentence out of ten, how can he speak foreign language so fluently? ”

The housekeeper shook his head to show that he didn't know, and said, "Master, Young Master Sun seems to have fallen asleep, do you want to send someone to wake him up and let him come to you to ask what happened?" ”

Wu Jianzhang was a little tempted, but when the words came to his mouth, he shook his head and said: "Forget it, it's not good for the body for children to sleep enough, wait for tomorrow, let that little rabbit cub sleep well, don't wake him up." The old man is tired enough today, so he should go to bed early. ”

The next morning, Wu Jianzhang, who was busy with affairs, went to the customs yamen office early, but still did not wake up the baby grandson who was still snoring with a beautiful maid. As a result, Wu Jianzhang also paid the price for this, and Wu Chaoyue, who had a bad idea, was also dumbfounded, because when he finally got up to wash, the priest Martin came to him again yesterday, and at the same time, Father Martin did not come alone, but still brought more than 20 missionaries from Western countries to find Wu Chaoyue............