In December of the forty-fifth year of Jiajing (A.D. 1567), the prison of the Criminal Department of the capital.

Early in the morning, the prison director carried two bottles of soju in his left hand and a large box of food in his right hand, and when he entered the prison door, he shouted: "Go and bring me Hai Jui!" ”

The cell boss didn't dare to slack off, and after a while, Hai Rui, who was wearing shackles and locks, and his cloak was escorted out.

"Hai Rui, look, the master in charge has sent you off, go eat while it's hot." The cell boss said with a smile.

When the cell boss opened the shackles on Hai Rui's body, he smiled and opened the lid of the box, first lay down and sniffed it, then turned to the prison director and said, "Well, that's good! I've been an official for so many years, and I've never seen such a sumptuous and delicious meal, hehe, thank you Lord Principal, I'm not welcome. ”

Hai Rui finished speaking, sat on the ground, picked up chopsticks and ate.

The prison director filled Hai Rui's wine glass and handed it over with a smile.

Hai Rui was not polite, took the wine glass and drank it all, and said: "It's still early at three o'clock in the afternoon, I want to enjoy it slowly, when the West Market asks for the beheading, the head of the four products of the household department of the imperial court, can't be a starving ghost." ”

Just as Hai Rui was eating and drinking, the prison director leaned in his ear and whispered: "Jiajing Ye is dead, Long Qingye is on the throne, this is what Lord Xu sent me to send you, he is waiting for you to be released from prison, it seems that Mr. is about to be reused." ”

Suddenly, Hai Rui threw his chopsticks on the ground, raised his head and asked, "Is your news accurate?" ”

The prison director nodded very solemnly.

So, Hai Rui lay on the ground and cried bitterly, scratched his hand into his throat, and after a while, he vomited all the things he had just eaten, gasped for a moment, and lay unconscious on the ground......

After Emperor Jiajing's funeral, in the spring of the following year, the news reached Japan through the Di Bao.

On this day, Chen Shen finished his business on the dock, carrying the newspaper just sent by the imperial court, and returned to the silk shop with a heavy heart.

At this time, Xu Ling'er and Zhu Hui were busy cutting cloth for the guests, and when they found Chen Shen looking depressed, they knew that something must have happened.

After the guests left, Chen Shen closed the shop and said solemnly: "Lord Jiajing has been mourned, and the new monarch of Longqing has ascended the throne." Miss Ling'er, we also have to prepare a mourning hall to pay respects. ”

While he was talking, he suddenly heard someone knocking on the door, Zhu Hui opened the door, it was Guo Guoqiang who came, Chen Shen hurriedly stepped forward to greet each other, politely greeted each other, and learned that he was coming to commemorate the first emperor, Xu Linger pulled a white cloth and began to make filial piety clothes for everyone.

Xu Ling'er wrote the shrine of Emperor Jiajing, Xu Yi drafted a memorial speech, Guo Guoqiang, Chen Shen and Zhu Junwang and others set up a mourning hall, and seven people knelt down in front of the emperor's spirit and paid tribute very solemnly.

After the ceremony, Xu Yihou said: "Ling'er, Zhu Hui, you remember, in the future, the chronicle will be changed to the Longqing era name (1567 AD) from now on. ”

The two nodded seriously, so Zhu Hui helped polish the ink, and Xu Ling'er recorded the memorial ceremony of the day.

Guo Guoqiang asked, "Chong'er, has that bronze mirror been salvaged?" ”

Wang Chong shook his head and replied, "Uncle, since the bronze mirror sank to the bottom of the river, we have made many salvage trips to the Kiso River, but we have never been able to find it until the river freezes a year ago. ”

"I heard from Yajiro that the monkey has been breaking the ice and salvaging recently, and it seems that this bronze mirror will never be found." Zhu Hui preached.

Guo Guoqiang said with regret: "The national teacher Lan Dao has long passed away, and now the first emperor has died, since the bronze mirror has been lost, it is also a helpless thing, according to the domestic merchants, the new monarch has changed the legacy of the previous dynasty, and the current saint is extremely disgusted with cultivating immortals and cultivating the Tao, and arrested those Taoist priests in Beijing, Wang Jin and Shen Shien were killed, and their senior brothers, junior brothers, apprentices and grandchildren have already run away, and maybe no one will pursue the matter of the bronze mirror. ”

Wang Chong realized that in the past two years, he had not been able to complete a task smoothly, and said with self-reproach: "Anyway, this is also a national treasure left by our ancestors, no matter what, it cannot be lost in a foreign country, otherwise, what face do we have to go back to our hometown to see Jiangdong's fathers?" ”

Guo Yi couldn't help but ask: "Uncle, has there been any news of Lin Yiguan recently?" ”

Guo Guoqiang, who looked serious, replied: "I came to you this time, not only to report the funeral, but also to convey the order of the old prince of Chengguo, according to the information report of Dongchang, outside the city of Shuli of the Ryukyu Kingdom, the traces of Lin Yiguan were found again, Chong'er, Yi'er, you are ready to return to Ryukyu." ”

"I'm going this time, too." Xu Linger preached.

Guo Guoqiang replied: "The secret order said that Ah Ping is now in the home of Lord Li Chengliang, and Mr. Li learned about your situation from her, so he wrote a letter to the old prince, so the old prince ordered you and Doctor Xu, the father and son of the Zhu family and others, to bring the Buddhist shrine that has been found back to return to China immediately. ”

Xu Ling'er shook her head and said firmly: "That Lin Yiguan is extremely cunning, the Ryukyu government has been bought by him, Brother Chong and Sister Yi'er can't do without a helper, I can't go." ”

"No one knows the temperament of Lin Yiguan better than me, and I will also go to Ryukyu to help." Zhu Hui preached.

When Xu Yihou and Zhu Junwang heard about it, they also asked to go to Ryukyu for assistance, so they quarreled with Guo Guoqiang.

Guo Guoqiang had no choice but to take out Cheng Guogong's secret order and preach seriously: "If you want to trap me in disloyalty and injustice, just do it, if you don't want the old prince to blame me in the future, just prepare to leave for China." ”

At this time, Guo Guoqiang took out a gift box from his body, handed it to Xu Ling'er, and said with a smile: "This is my congratulatory gift to you and Li Zhuangyuan, but it's a pity that I can't drink your wedding wine." ”

Xu Ling'er lowered her head shyly, took the gift box with a red face, and replied, "Thank you, Lord Guo!" ”

Xu Yihou hurriedly bowed down and said: "Lord Guo has bothered, for more than a year, our father and daughter have been taken care of by Lord Guo and Shopkeeper Chen, I am really grateful!" After the happy event in Liaodong, Lao Er will come back to be a helper for you, and when the pirates are completely eradicated, we will return to Beijing together in triumph. ”

Chen Shen said: "Lord Guo, I will send someone to the town to call Wen Jing back, everyone has a reunion dinner, to practice for everyone, I wish Miss Ling'er and Li Zhuangyuan a hundred years of good together, and I also wish General Wang and General Guo success, everyone come to a drunken rest." ”

Xu Ling'er was worried that if Xianru knew the news that they were about to return to China, she was afraid that there would be a lot of trouble, so she said: "Let Wen Jing come back quietly alone, don't alarm Honganji Temple." ”

Early the next morning, Wen Jing rushed over from Jinai Town alone, everyone had a reunion dinner, Guo Guoqiang rushed over from Satsuma, did not give Shimazu Yoshihisa leave, for fear of arousing their suspicion, so he took Wang Chong and Guo Yi away.

I don't know where I heard the news, as if I learned that Engong Xu Yi was leaving, I made a special trip to Sakai Town to desperately stay, and did a dojo in the silk shop for several days, praying for the Buddha to bless Engong with a safe life......

In this way, they stayed for more than ten days, and seeing that they couldn't keep the Xu family's father and daughter, they sent a generous gift, personally contacted a merchant ship, and sent them to the Sakai Town Wharf.

When the merchant ship to Busan, North Korea, anchored, the father and daughter of the Xu family and the father and son of the Zhu family stood at the bow of the ship, waving goodbye to everyone who came to see them off, and everyone was full of tears, shouting to each other to take care of each other until the merchant ship disappeared into the vast sea......

The father and daughter of the Xu family and the father and son of the Zhu family lived in the cabin, and found that groups of Japanese were gambling in the cabin, and their noise was unbearable.

The young Zhu Hui really couldn't stand it, and was about to persuade them to be quiet, when a little old man came out of the needle room and scolded with a face: "You bastards! How dare you gamble in front of the shrine of Our Lady? ”

(Needle room: The cabin where the compass is located)

Xu Ling'er looked at it, and it turned out that this old man was Xiao Xi Longzuo, so he hurriedly called his father and the Zhu family's father and son, and went to the deck with their luggage.

The gamblers snatched the gambling money scattered in the cabin and carried the money into their arms, and some people were grabbing all kinds of gambling equipment, and everyone ran desperately to the deck......

With a wooden stick in his hand, Xiao Xi Longzuo chased the group of gamblers to the deck, and some of them ran slowly, and they were beaten several times, and he shouted loudly as he ran: "Why don't you throw all these gambling equipment into the sea?" Sit down all of you for me, and come and hear me preach......"

The gamblers were all sitting on the deck, and the panting little Nishironzo circled them several times, and when he found that there were still people hiding gambling equipment, he raised his stick and struck him fiercely, and the gang had to hand over the hidden gambling equipment, so that all the gambling equipment was thrown into the sea.

When everyone was quiet, little Nishironzo took out a copy of the Bible from his arms, stood in front of these gamblers, cleared his throat, and said in a loud voice:

"Papal envoy, Saint Francis. Xavier once said: There is no other people in the world who can have such a demeanor as the people of Yamato, and therefore we are all men of glory, and we regard glory above all else, and the state of ceremonies is shocking......"

Suddenly, he raised his voice and scolded: "You bastards gather people to gamble, don't you know that gambling is the root of all evil? Gambling can make people have evil thoughts, make people insatiable, and make people lose their faith and reason. ”

Hearing the repentance of the gamblers, Lonzo Konishiro continued: "Saint Xavier said that the people of Yamato love to listen to rational things, even if they have sins and evil thoughts, but as long as someone points out their mistakes, after rational thinking, they will be convinced. Now, you all have all kinds of evil thoughts, and even all kinds of bad things, it doesn't matter, as long as you can recite the Gospel every day, the door of heaven will be open to you, Amen! ”

After hearing Xiao Nishironzo's words, everyone shouted in unison: "Cough! ”

So, with a smile on his face, he opened the Bible in his hand and began to tell the "gospel".

As soon as I finished a chapter, someone shouted: "Master Konishi, come and baptize me!" ”

Immediately afterwards, more people shouted: "Master Xiaoxi, I want to baptize ...... too"

Xiao Nishilonzo had "holy water" prepared for the baptism ceremony for these gamblers.

After the ceremony, Xiao Xi Longzuo came to Xu Ling'er and the others, smiled and said: "Come, in the name of my Lord Jesus, I will baptize you, you are all lost lambs, only by being baptized and truly believing in our Lord Jesus can you be saved." ”

Xu Ling'er stood up and replied, "Thank you, we have our own beliefs. ”

Xiao Nishilongzo shook his head with a smile and continued: "The girl is a good person at first glance, and I look at you very familiarly, have you seen it somewhere before?" Are you visiting relatives or friends in North Korea? ”

Of course, Xu Ling'er remembered that when he was chasing and killing Lin Yiguan in Sakai Town, he secretly followed the monkey to his home, so he smiled calmly and replied: "We are small businessmen in Jinai Town, and we are here to get some medicinal herbs, thank you for your concern." ”

"Please girl, don't be polite, faith can't be forced, since you are going to North Korea to make medicinal materials, then we are together. Oh, my name is Konishi Lonzo, I opened a medicinal herb shop in Sakai Town, I have been doing business in Korea for many years, and I have a deep friendship with their kings and officials. As for the faith, I believe that it can be changed, and when I return to Sakai in the future, you are welcome to come to Christ Church and listen to me preach the Gospel, Amen. ”

Xu Ling'er pretended to be surprised and replied: "It turns out that Your Excellency is Mr. Konishi Longzuo, disrespectful!" Disrespectful! ”

With a smile and a wave of his hand, he drew a cross on his chest and said, "Since we are all businessmen, there is no need to be polite, may the Lord bless us on a safe journey, Amen." With that, he went down to the cabin.

Xu Linger whispered: "Xiao Nishilongzo recognized me, these Japanese are all saying one thing and doing another, what they say is better than singing, I don't know what evil intentions are hidden behind it, we have to be more careful." ”

At this time, for some unknown reason, the gamblers on the deck began to make a lot of noise, only to hear someone shouting: "You fools, you don't even know Lord Little Sironzo?" It's such a big life for nothing! He was the kindest Christian in all of Japan. ”

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Off topic:

St. Francis? Xavier, one of the founders of the Society of Jesus, was ordered by the Holy See to preach in the East many times, and had great success in India. So, he turned his attention to Marco Polo's "Golden Country", preparing to go to the Ming Dynasty via Malacca, and save a Chinese when replenishing fresh water on Ambon Island.

Due to the ban on missionary work in the Ming Dynasty and the rebellion of the Wo Kou, the Chinese took him to Hirado, Japan, where he was warmly welcomed by the clan lord Matsuura Takanobu and stayed in Japan as a missionary, but he did not give up wanting to go to China.

In August 1552, Xavier landed on Shangchuan Island in Guangzhou, which at that time was a stronghold of the Portuguese smuggling trade with the Chinese.

After leaving China, Xavier skipped India and died of malaria.

For more information about this legend, please refer to Volume 5 of this book.