In Xinuan Pavilion, when the emperor saw Xavier wearing a dark purple Confucian robe, red hair and blue eyes, and a towering nose, he first stayed for a while, and then asked Shen Mo, who was accompanying him, "Isn't this a return?" ”

"It just looks like ......" Shen Mo this sweat, but he didn't expect Longqing to know Huihui, and hurriedly explained: "Actually, it's not the same." ”

"Oh......" Long Qing said the same, in fact, he hadn't seen Huihui yet, but he had just read the description in the book, and he felt that it looked quite similar. Then he said to Xaviser: "I heard you speak well in Chinese. ”

"Thank you for the emperor's compliment, the foreign ministers admire the heavenly kingdom." Xavier's elegant and gentle demeanor as an elder is indeed easy to make people feel good: "I have been studying the culture of the Ming Dynasty diligently. ”

"Rare, how old are you? How many years to China? Where was it? Long Qing asked curiously.

Xavier replied respectfully: "Back to the emperor, Yuanchen is sixty years old this year, has been in China for four years, has been to Shanghai, Songjiang, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Nanjing and other places, came to Beijing last year, and has seen the incomparable prosperity of the Ming Dynasty. ”

Long Qing said happily: "I've been to so many places, do you know the Songjiang dialect?" ”

"I know a few words." Xavier replied.

"You are just like the previous question, play it right in the Songjiang dialect." Long Qing said happily when he saw the hunting heart.

Xavier replied in Songjiang dialect.

Long Qing looked at Shen Mo and said, "What did he say?" ”

"Better than Weichen." Shen Mo smiled: "In terms of language talent, I can't compare to Mr. Sha." ”

Long Qing was very happy and said: "Yes, yes, it can be seen that he really cares about it." Give him some fruit to eat. "As a sign of consolation.

The little eunuch immediately gave Xavier two boxes of jiaguo and soufflé.

Xavier knelt down and thanked him: "The minister has received the grace of the Holy Grace, and he cannot repay the favor in case of emergency, but only ask God to bless him, and the emperor will enjoy eternal glory." ”

"Really good at talking...... Long Qing's eyes narrowed, as an emperor, he was tired of hearing good words, but the compliments of Westerners were fresh to hear. The emperor took a keen interest in this foreigner, who was even more Ming than the Ming people, and asked him how he came to China.

Xavier replied that the merchant ship on the Franc plane departed from Europe, traveled for six months to Malacca, and then transferred to the merchant ship of the Ming Dynasty to Shanghai, the whole journey took about eight months.

"It's going to take so long......" Although Long Qing has seen the world map of this era, he has no intuitive impression of the distance between the east and the west, and he has a perceptual understanding until now. He asked curiously, "Do you also have an emperor there?" ”

"Yes," Xavier said solemnly, "there are many countries in Europa, each country has its own king, but the most powerful is my homeland, His Majesty Philip II, Emperor of Spain, who is the same age as the Holy One, and rules a vast territory, but the level of civilization is not comparable to that of the Ming Dynasty. "Father Sha is still a sincere person in his bones, thanks to Longqing is a very easy-going emperor, if Jiajing is replaced, he will have to be beaten out of the palace when he hears this.

Longqing was different, he was just deeply amazed, and had a strong interest in the Western emperor who was the same age and power as himself, and asked about the architectural style of the palace where he lived. Wondering about the emperor's etiquette, Xavier immediately presented a picture depicting the coronation of Philip II.

Seeing that the Western Emperor knelt down on one knee in front of an old man, Long Qing was surprised and said, "Could it be the Emperor Taishang?" ”

Xavier was stunned for a moment before he reacted, shook his head and said, "His father has died, and that is His Majesty the Pope who crowned him." ”

"The Pope?" Long Qing said strangely: "What kind of character is that?" "In his heart, the Great Emperor of Heaven and Earth is the greatest, how can there be anyone bigger than the Emperor?

Xavier was about to reply: 'In our Europe, the new emperor must be recognized by the Church. But seeing the warning glance of Shen silently, his heart sank, and he remembered that this was the sacrosanct Ming Dynasty of imperial power, if he dared to say so, I am afraid that no matter how good the emperor is, he will kill himself. Hurriedly changed his words: "We in Europe pursue the divine right of kings, and the emperor kneels to the emperor of heaven, not the pope. ”

"Then he shouldn't be standing here." Long Qing could not fulfill the power in his hands, but he cared very much about the dignity of the emperor, and even complained about the Western counterpart: "This Western emperor is too good-tempered. ”

Shen Mo finally couldn't stand it, and coughed lightly: "Your Majesty, the crown was handed down by their Daxing Emperor, and the Pope gave it to the new emperor on behalf of the Daxing Emperor, of course he has to kneel to receive it." After a pause, he said: "It's like the edict of our first emperor......"

"Then you can understand it......" Long Qing said: "It turns out that the Pope is a herald eunuch......

Xavier was shocked when he heard this, and said secretly: 'This will not be transmitted back to the Holy See, will it?' The Pope won't kill me anymore? But the situation is stronger than people, and the most important thing is to dispel the emperor's suspicions, so he can only stubbornly say: "You can also say the same......

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Fortunately, the emperor did not ask any further questions, he asked the violin to be brought over, and asked Xavier: "Do you know how to play?" ”

"A little bit of understanding, a little understanding." Xavier nodded modestly.

"Then come and listen," the emperor said, looking at the beaded curtain on the left, where Concubine Li was hiding behind it, listening with bated breath.

Xavier was born into a noble family and had undergone strict artistic training since childhood, but he was actually a good player of the piano, so he asked for a round stool, sat down in front of the piano, took a deep breath and pressed the keys......

The melodious sound of the piano sounded, and the emperor, the concubine, the elder, the eunuch, and the palace maid ...... Everyone was immediately drawn into this never-before-heard wonderland. They seemed to be in the midst of a verdant mountain forest, the sun had just risen, and the light shone on the mist that swirled in the mountains, glowing with a faint golden light. Suddenly, there was a ticking sound, and an old cow carrying a shepherd boy with an innocent smile came out of the mist. Suddenly the breeze blows, the fog dissipates, the birds sing, the flowers bloom, and the scenery is extremely beautiful. However, as if remembering something troublesome, the shepherd boy smiled and had a faint sadness on his face, and asked in distress: 'What is wrong with you?' ’

At this time, Xaviser sang in his slightly hoarse baritone:

'The shepherd boy was troubled, and he was disgusted with the mountain,

And looking at the mountains from afar, they are as beautiful as they are, but the snow is melancholy.

To the other mountain, close to the other mountain, close to the other mountain, not as far as far.

Shepherd boys, shepherd boys, and those who change their lives would rather be easy for themselves?

Where can thou turn away from thyself?

Happiness comes from the heart, and peace of mind is happy everywhere.

The heart is worried everywhere, the slight is in the eye, and the person is fast.

And you are wider than the cone of the strings?

has respected himself, and he can't be complacent,

Xi does not cure his heart and will always be at peace in his hometown? ’

The lyrics mean: 'A shepherd boy suddenly felt sad one day, he hated the hill where he was, and he thought that the distant mountain he saw must be far more beautiful than this hill.' Going there will make all sorrow disappear. So he went to the distant mountain, but when he approached the mountain, he found that it was not as beautiful as it looked from afar. Oh, shepherd boy, shepherd boy, how can you expect to change yourself by changing your place of residence? ’

'If you're gone, can you leave yourself behind?' In fact, sorrow and joy come from the heart, if the mind is calm, you will be happy everywhere, if the soul is disturbed, it will bring you sorrow everywhere; A grain of sand falls in your eye and you will soon feel uncomfortable; How can you ignore the cone that pierces your heart? If your expectations are beyond your ability, you will never get what you want. Why don't you let yourself be at peace and find the peace you need in the hill where you are? ’

The sound of the piano is melodious, although it has the charm of Kunqu Opera, it is completely different from oriental music, and it is more infectious and expressive; The lyrics are elegant and simple, and the writing is flying, which makes everyone immersed and thoughtful. Long Qing felt that this song was a portrayal of his soul; Concubine Li was completely intoxicated by the music, and her face was already full of tears; Silent but a little distracted, secretly asked himself, will it be like the shepherd boy, finally approaching the distant mountain, only to find that it is not as beautiful as imagined? Is the goal he is looking for really suitable for the Chinese nation?

After a long time, everyone came back to their senses, and wanted to applaud, but they felt that the applause was vulgar, and after holding it for a long time, Long Qing said: "This thing is too godly, it can throw off the musical instrument of the Ming Dynasty, and I will use it to play Shao Le ...... after I see it."

"......" silently came to mind when the emperor got married, His Majesty Dan no longer placed a bell and chime, but changed it to a piano, and the hand together was 'dang, dang... When, when ......'s 'wedding march', there was a black line in his head, and he swallowed hard and spat hard: "I'm afraid this won't work......"

Long Qing just said casually, and quickly diverted his attention and said, "Who wrote this song you sang just now?" ”

"It's Weichen who composed the music and wrote the lyrics." Xavier quickly got up and replied: "There are eight songs in total, collectively known as the "Eight Songs of the Western Qin", and the one played just now is called "The Shepherd Boy Travels the Mountain". ”

Hearing that this song with such a Chinese artistic conception was actually composed by this Taixi person, Longqing was completely convinced, and said repeatedly: "I am not a talented man"

Shen Mo also recalled at this time, it turned out that this was not pure music, but music with religious connotations...... The intention is to evoke religious feelings through the fleeting nature of time and the transience of life. This Xavier was indeed there, using every possible opportunity to spread Catholicism, but the ingenuity of the spread and the ingenious docking of Chinese culture made him have to admire.

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Longqing still remembered Concubine Li's entrustment, so he said to Xavier: "I want to send musicians to learn these Western musical instruments from you, I don't know what Mr. wants?" "With the respect of the emperor, he can respect people, this is a very touching point of this emperor.

"Weichen is willing to serve the emperor." Xavier agreed in a bite.

"And the chiming bell you offered, I like it very much." Long Qing said again: "But that big self-striking bell, no one in the palace can operate it, and you have to guide it." Of the tributes that Xavier offered, the most interesting to the emperor were the chiming bells, the largest of which, more than seven feet high, had not yet been adjusted and did not ring when they were brought into the palace. The emperor ordered the eunuchs to repair it, but the principle was completely different from those small clocks, and the eunuchs were helpless.

In the face of the emperor's request, Xavier naturally agreed, and said that it was not difficult to operate and maintain, and it could be learned in two or three days. So Longqing ordered him to debug it immediately, and sent Feng Bao, the most learned eunuch around him, to take the four eunuchs of Qin Tianjian to visit and learn the clock technology, and let them repair the big bell in three days.

Over the next three days, Xavism explained to the eunuchs the principles and methods of using the chiming bell, and tried to create words that did not exist in Chinese so that the eunuchs could understand his explanations. Feng Bao and the others also studied very hard, and in order to prevent mistakes, they recorded Xavier's commentary word for word to help memorize the internal structure of the chiming bell so that they could independently debug it in the future.

Before the three days arrived, the Emperor Longqing couldn't wait to look at the big bell, and when he watched the hands move at a powerful and uniform speed, making a 'tick-tick' sound, the emperor was very happy, and praised Feng Bao and others fiercely, and wanted to reward Xavier.

Feng Bao said with a flattering smile: "Master, Mr. Sha said, this is only the dial part of this big clock, in fact, there is still a pendulum that has not been installed." ”

"Why don't you put it on?" Long Qing said strangely.

"Because it's too tall and too big to fit in the inner sanctum." In three days, under Xavier's deliberate closeness, Feng Bao had already formed a deep friendship with this 'foreign talent', so he spoke for Xavier: "Mr. Sha said that he has a blueprint of the bell tower, and if the emperor wants, he can make a beautiful bell tower for this clock." "If you have a project, you can make money, no wonder he is so enthusiastic.

"This ......" Long Qing was very moved, but he felt that it would cost a lot, so he couldn't help but hesitate: "Let's take it slowly." He thought that by the end of the year, there would be a million taels of silver in the account, and it would not be easy to build a bell tower by then?

Feng Bao thought that the emperor didn't like this proposal, so he hurriedly kept silent.

Although the emperor did not agree to build the bell tower, he still gave Xavier the status of 'court musician', allowed him to enter and leave the forbidden palace, and taught several young eunuchs to learn Western musical instruments, which they then transferred to Li Guifei.

Xavier's communicative skills were particularly strong, and he taught the eunuchs for only three days, and then he became acquainted with them again. Through the conversation, he already knew that it was actually the emperor's concubine who wanted to learn these musical instruments, and he couldn't help but wonder: "Why don't you come and learn directly?" I have to let you sublegate, which is much less effective. ”

The eunuchs laughed and said: "If you want to teach your mother directly, it's not impossible, as long as you are like us, you can be stabbed below." ”

Although Xavier is an ascetic who is not close to women, it does not mean that he can give up his balls, looking at the malicious eyes of those eunuchs, he only felt a chill between his thighs, and quickly covered his bottom and said: "No, no......"

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The reason why Xavier is so in the palace is because through these years of observation and research, he has discovered that the Ming world has its own operating rules. Unlike in India, where the Gospel of the Lord can be well preached as long as it is recognized by local officials and the general public. But in the Ming Dynasty, it is far from enough to win the hearts of these people, and it is far from enough for the entire missionary cause, and it is necessary to gain the support of the Supreme Emperor...... If we do not go back to the root of the emperor and start from him, the door will never be opened to the Holy Gospel. On the other hand, as long as the emperor's heart can be won, free preaching is just around the corner.

Because of this, Xavier and his missionary team had their sights firmly on the emperor. But they were too anxious to completely forget the route that the silence had drawn for them...... As a result, when they were still immersed in the joy of establishing a relationship with the emperor, they had already provoked some people to look at them unpleasantly, first of all, the official of the Rite Department said: "These Westerners are not of my race, and the things they bring are all the things of the immortal monks, how can such unknown people stay?" ’

The cabinet asked the emperor, and of course Longqing was not happy, so they asked them to suppress the song. Seeing that the emperor did not reply to the decree, the officials played another book, this time taking out the court rules, saying that all foreign missions have a time limit for staying in the capital, and since they have already met the emperor, they should be sent away quickly, and they can no longer be left in the capital, so as not to make them homesick every day.

Then the officials of the Ministry of Rites took several consecutive notes, and Emperor Longqing was so annoyed that he had to prevent Xavier from entering the palace again. Only then did Xavier know that he still didn't know enough about Daming...... Here, it is not enough to please the emperor, because the comprehensive influence of a large number of officials even exceeds that of the emperor who is called a lonely person.

The missionary group panicked at this time, they regretted that they did not listen to the silent words, and now they have become the target of public criticism, and even the emperor does not care about them...... If they really want to leave Beijing in this way, then the fruits of the Jesuits' twenty years of hard work will be in vain, and no one can afford to lose it.

Xavier had no choice but to ask Shen Mo for help again, but he even closed the door, he knew that Lord Shen was expressing dissatisfaction, and he was also very ashamed in his heart. After returning, he wrote a letter in which he apologized to Shen Mo and vowed not to go against his will again, and asked him to help.

With black and white in hand, Shen Mo made his officials stop the firepower, and then let themselves be neglected by the students of the Ministry of Industry, and said: "There are already a lot of clocks and watches in the capital, and they will break down at any time, if Xavier and other Westerners are not there, it will not be possible to ensure the normal operation of the clocks, so the expensive things exchanged for the daughter will become broken copper and iron, which no one wants to see." Therefore, he asked the emperor to leave Xavier and others in the capital to repair the clocks.

This was just the right thing for Longqing, but after listening to Shen Ming's words, he did not explicitly approve this note, but asked the eunuch to officially inform him that Xavier and the others could live in Beijing for a long time, and Ouchi would allocate their living expenses every month.

Partition -

After another day of rest, I finally have the strength in my body......