Kuching City, the temporary residence of the Order.

Southerly winds first erupted in the South China Sea and pushed northward.

The hot and humid weather makes people sweat when they sit still.

The orderly opened all the windows, and the sea breeze blew in with a faint salty smell, taking away some of the heat.

Orderly open the report on Catholic affairs on the table, which was drafted by the Federal Office of Religious Affairs and revised by the Institute.

The prologue is headlined with the striking God Gold Glory, the 3G principle of Spain's colonies in Asia.

There are 700,000 Catholics in the Philippines, and these converted indigenous people are Spain's base in Asia.

Catholics belong to the Dominicans, Franciscans, Augustinians, Jesuits, and Augustinian Hospitals, each of which has a well-established order.

His Majesty Philip II assigned parishes to religious orders in the Philippines, and these religious orders had their own territory.

The Church is the largest landowner in the Philippines, and in the four provinces near Manila, the Church owns nearly half of the granges, and the peasants who work are actually serfs of the Church. And the Jesuits, because of the background of the military order behind them, even have a certain potential for armed mobilization.

Theoretically, all congregations must be governed by the archbishop, but in practice, the archbishop is sure that only the congregation from which he is born can be managed, and whether other congregations obey the archbishop depends on the bishop's political status, political resources in Madrid and even the Vatican, and even his mood.

There are people above everyone, and many of the congregations completely ignore the archbishops who are not from their own order.

Individually or collectively, these congregations formed nine major charitable organizations, which used the funds raised to issue loans.

Maritime trade is a capital-intensive industry, Manila galleon trade, China-Philippines trade is very dependent on finance.

Through financial instruments, the Congregations controlled the most important economic lifeline of the Philippines. The most powerful of these "charities" is The First Brotherhood of Mercy, in which the orders of the Spanish king are often on the same level as waste paper.

Under the Archbishop of Manila, there is a commissioner attached to the Sacred Inquiry Court of New Spain. It was an Inquisition, and all Spanish officials, including the Governor of the Philippines, were supervised by the Inquisition.

In the early days of the Spanish conquest of the Philippines, successive governors were military strongmen, and the Church was at a disadvantage in the struggle against them. But the iron-clad officials of the yamen and the flowing water, the church controlled the economy, controlled education, and controlled the faith.

The governor had a gun, and the archbishop had an inquisition and an excommunication. There is no doubt that the Church is the most powerful political force in the Philippines, and the Governor is powerless to oppose what the Church decides.

The Orderly did not know the Church, but he knew the Friars. As Darsna Harris, the Philippine governor who was beheaded by the Chinese sailors who revolted, said, the church from beginning to end, from the archbishop to the lowliest monks, was a shrewd businessman, no less worldly and skilled.

Taipei used to be the diocese of the Dominican, and 10 years ago, the Federation captured Taipei Province, and the order did not drive out the Dominican monks.

There was a clear difference between the interests of the Church and the Spanish Crown, whose first goal was to gather more believers for God, and the second goal was gold, and sometimes the order of the two goals was reversed, and more often it was cause and effect. More believers means more gold at the same time.

Among the major religious orders, the Jesuits took control of Macau, overtly and covertly excluded the clergy of other orders, and since 1562 the Jesuits have been missionaries in China. Through this window of Macao, the Jesuits became the number one missionary order in Chinese mainland.

China, with a population of nearly 100 million, moved into the Tatar court in Beijing as Macau shifted its political stance to the Tatars, much to the dismay of other religious orders.

Dominican will include Taipei as a missionary area, not for the small island of Taiwan, but mainly for the purpose of entering Chinese mainland through Taipei.

The Dominicans entered China in 1631, much later than the Jesuits, and missionary work was difficult.

Although the Franciscans established a religious church in Beijing as early as 1294, it was during the Mengyuan period, and the first Franciscan mission in China disappeared with the Mengyuan period. The second time the Portuguese entered China with the Great Voyage, they were again overshadowed by the Jesuits. It was only recently that the Franciscans re-entered China with the Dominicans.

The current Dominican mission leader in China is Juan Bautista Morales, who is in Fujian and is expanding his presence in Zhejiang.

Antonio de Santa Maria, the head of the Franciscan Church in China, is based in Shandong and is expanding his presence in Shandong.

The Jesuits' compromise on the issue of Chinese liturgy made the Dominicans and Franciscans extremely unhappy, and the two major religious orders were joining forces to clean up the Jesuits.

In the process, the Dominicans were supported by the Bishop of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, Palafuchs, and their influence was not to be underestimated.

The Dominican monk Le Ngoc Pham went to the Holy See to complain, but during his stay in Malacca, he was unfortunate enough to be surrounded by the Dutch and almost died. After 3 years of hardship, he finally returned to Rome by land through the Arabian Peninsula. Le Ngoc Pham brought back from the Holy See the Pope's 1645 edict criticizing the heresy of the Jesuits.

The Augustinians did not preach in China for the time being, and of course they obeyed the Pope's instructions and resisted the Jesuits there.

The Jesuits entered China earlier and had a non-negligible influence on the Tatar court in Beijing. And Zheng Chenggong's army in southern Fujian also had many Jesuit believers, and they could even influence Zheng Chenggong's black pro-soldiers. On the issue of missionary work in China, even if the Dominicans joined forces with the Franciscans, it was difficult for the Jesuits to do so for the time being.

At the residence, he received representatives of the two major religious orders.

Dominican priest Victorio Riccio of the Holy Rosary and a Chinese assistant.

Franciscan friar, assistant to Riandam, Bonaventura (Banez).

Shou Xun shook hands with Li Sheng, "Welcome, Mr. Li Sheng, when are you going to China to find your teacher?" ”

Li Sheng bowed slightly, "Soon, Your Excellency, I will go with Bonaventura, and I will need the help of Taipei then." ”

Shou Xiang smiled, "Little things, I'll say hello to Taipei." ”

"Thank you very much."

"You're welcome, please say hello to Father Li Yufan on my behalf."

Li Sheng was born from the Florentine family in Italy and was inspired by Li Yufan to come to China as a missionary. Philippine Governor's Hall. Diego. Fajardo has a lot of opinions about several major repairs to use the Philippines as a stepping insole into China, Domini, I will give him face, and Lisheng will help if he stays in the Philippines temporarily.

"Who is this?" Lisheng's Chinese assistant looked very young, certainly less than 30 years old.

"My assistant, please introduce yourself."

"Your Excellency, I am Luo Wenzao, from Fu'an County."

"The Luo brothers just graduated from St. Thomas College in Manila, majoring in theology and philosophy."

Shou Xuan stretched out his right hand, "Fu'an people? I have a relationship with Liu Zhongzao, the elder of your hometown. Mr. Liu Zhongzao was martyred in his hometown, and I still regret it when I think about it. ”

Liu Zhongzao was a bachelor of the Longwu Dynasty, and when he was fighting in Fuzhou, he led the righteous army to help in the war. Later, Chen Jin, the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, led the Zhejiang Green Camp to besiege Fu'an County, and Liu Zhongzao was defeated and committed suicide.

Luo Wenzao drew a cross in front of him. What happened to Fu'an was like that of other rebellious states and counties, where Chen Jin slaughtered the city and thousands of soldiers and civilians were killed.

"Three, sit down."

The Dominicans had the earliest contact with the Federation and had a certain basis of relationship, so the trip of the two Catholics was mainly for the benefit of victory.

Li Sheng first said: "We will thank the Governor for your release of General Chaves and 100 wounded prisoners of war. ”

When Orderly released the captives, he also released the Dominican priests in the fleet. Because of this achievement, Dominican will have a lot of face in the Philippines recently. ”

Shou Xuan waved his hand, "It's not the first time I've cooperated with the governor of your association. ”

Bonaventura blushed, "The Governor wants your country to release other prisoners of war as well, and the Franciscans are willing to mediate in it." ”

The Order now has more than 1,000 Filipino prisoners of war, including more than 200 Europeans, and the rest are mestizos or indigenous.

"You also have our men on hand, exchange prisoners of war, one for one, it's no problem."

"It's fair that the Franciscans look forward to a more in-depth exchange with you."

"The rest of the prisoners of war, we will leave it to talk slowly."

"Yes, Your Excellency, we are here mainly to work with you to finalize missionary matters. ”

Shou Xuan nodded: "Although I have stated many times in my letter to the Governor of your Society, I would like to reiterate my position here. For a number of reasons, I beg your pardon for not being able to let go of the right to free proselytizing in Hou Giang, Tina Teh and Kuching. ”

There is no official religious belief in the order, but the Protestant force in the federal army is very strong, and the Catholic army is too lazy to interfere with the small spread of Catholicism, but if the Catholic mission is officially given, it will cause some unnecessary trouble.

Li Sheng hurriedly said: "We understand your decision. ”

Shou Xuan smiled, "You know my attitude towards religion, and the people have the right to freedom of belief. Although I cannot give formal authorization, I will not interfere with you if you enter the Chinese Autonomous Region to preach, as long as you obey our laws and exercise restraint. ”

"On behalf of the Governor, I would like to express my gratitude to you for your cooperation, and I will be sure that the mission will be handled according to your wishes."

Bonaventura hurriedly said, "The Franciscans will do the same." ”

Shou Zhi smiled, "Good. So, we move on to the next question, the missionary affairs in Hainan and in the areas under our control, and we both know that because of some immigrants from Macao, the Jesuits have taken the lead in Qionghai on Hainan Island. Of course, Hainan Island's population is now more than a million, and the current few thousand followers of the Society of Jesus are insignificant. ”

Li Sheng looked at Bonaventura, "Our attitude is clear, Your Excellency. The Jesuits are heretics, they are defiling the faith in God, and the diocese of Hainan Island must no longer be handed over to them. This damned heresy will lead the Lamb of the Lord astray. ”

Shou Xuan waved his hand, "Both, the internal problems of your sect are not my concern. You know that Hainan is a special situation, and its status is different from that of the mainland, Houjiang, and Borneo......"

Orderliness implies something.

Li Sheng sat up straight, "Your Excellency means that Hainan may open up formal missionary rights in the future. ”

Shou Xuan picked up the teacup and said, "There are always endless possibilities in the future, Mr. Lisheng." ”

Lisheng nodded, "General Chaves has relayed your position, and the future depends on God and our common choice. ”