Although there is infinite homesickness in his heart, Deng Yuhan will not give up his duty because of this, he does not think that homesickness is a bad thing, and missing his hometown while serving the Lord is an emotion that every missionary will have, and there is nothing wrong with it. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

He wiped his tears with a silk handkerchief from Suzhou, the warm texture of the silk made him feel a pair of gentle and affectionate hands caressing his cheeks, which gave him some comfort in his mood.

He washed his face with water a little, and brushed his teeth with green salt and bristle toothbrushes, this is the way of life he learned after coming to the Ming Dynasty, he thinks it is very good, the people here are very good except for not believing in God, and it is worth learning from Europeans.

He walked outside, his Chinese was not particularly good, although he could have a fluent conversation, but he could not write and read literature fluently, let alone discuss difficult and obscure doctrinal issues with scholars like Matteo Ricci, so he had been receiving Chinese instruction from Father Fei Qigui with Father Fu Fanji.

Although he had not been in the church for a long time, he was very enthusiastic, not only inviting two priests, Guo Jujing and Zeng Dezhao, to his hometown of Jiading to preach, but also dedicating this garden as a church.

Private gardens are prevalent in the Jiangnan region, and it is said that countless private estates were established on this land as early as the Song Dynasty hundreds of years ago. This private manor was built by Sun Yuanhua, although it is not very large and not magnificent, but the environment is quiet, there are many flowers and trees, and a chapel and a school have been built, which is a god-given residence.

Deng Yuhan walked slowly in the manor, although the manor is not big, but still divided into several scenic spots, this scenic spot is the "green bamboo garden", planted with various colors of bamboo, including the purple bamboo produced in the far south, once the wind through the bamboo forest, gently swaying, it will make a gentle "rustling" sound, making people feel more relaxed and comfortable, it is indeed a holy place for cultivation and preaching. The roads of the manor are paved with small stones, and the reason why bluestone slabs are not used is said to be a kind of interest, Deng Yuhan doesn't know how to write these two words, but I think it should be an aesthetic word. These small pebble paths linger with each other and entangle each other, which makes people who have just come here a little confused, but after getting acquainted with it, they will feel that they are really exquisitely designed and in line with the characteristics of artistic expression.

Father Feichigui's lesson had started at nine o'clock, and it was only six o'clock in the morning, so he decided to brush up on yesterday's lesson. So, in the midst of a comb and a bamboo, and a breeze blowing on his sleeves, a blonde, blue-eyed missionary dressed in a scholar's robe, began to recite aloud in his strange Chinese:

The predicate of the Mandate of Heaven is sexuality, the predicate of recklessness is the Tao, and the predicate of cultivation is teaching. Those who are in the Tao do not need to leave the Tao, but they can leave the Tao. Therefore, the gentleman is cautious of what he does not see......

The square characters of the Han people are a little difficult to read, after all, they look very similar, for example, the three characters "self", "has" and "巳" are very similar, and it took Deng Yuhan a long time to understand that their openings are different, so the meaning is different. Although "University" is catchy and not difficult to memorize, it is very difficult to understand. For example, this "Dao", the Ming Dynasty people said that this is the general law of the universe, the ultimate origin of things, this "Dao" is most likely God, but he has no name, because a scholar named Lao Tzu said, "The Tao is the Tao, the very Tao, the name is famous, the name is not famous" and also said, "I don't know its name, the strong word is called the Tao, and the strong name is called the great." The big is gone, the death is far away, and the distance is reversed", which makes people very puzzled. However, the Chinese are still partly right, because God cannot be worshiped with idols, and he must not be portrayed with an image, and the Chinese "Tao" is also "blind to the name, not famous to hear, and not famous." The two sides have achieved common ground in this regard.

In short, although it is difficult to learn, Deng Yuhan still maintains a strong interest in learning.

He memorized for a while, feeling that he had learned yesterday's lesson, so he decided to sit on the bluestone embroidery pier to rest, he put the "Four Books and Chapters and Sentences Collection Notes" in his hand on the stone table, and slowly sat down to rest.

After all, he is in his fifties, and he can no longer be as popular as he was when he was younger.

At this time, he heard a sound of footsteps behind him, and he turned his head to see that it was Father Fu Fanji. Fu Fanji is an Italian, only forty-two years old this year, and a Jesuit, with sapphire eyes and a knife-like handsome appearance - in fact, appearance is also a very important part of the selection of priests to send to China, after all, good-looking missionaries always gain more respect from the lambs, and it was with his dignified appearance and fluent Chinese that Father Luo Mingjian knocked on the door of the rock and successfully entered China as a missionary.

But whether it is the appearance or the image of the Virgin, or the chiming bell and the astronomical calendar, they are only appearances, and the most important thing for a missionary is the most faithful faith in God, and only this faith can make a person escape from the world and ascend to heaven.

Just as he was thinking about this question, Fu Fanji had already walked over: "Hello, priest. He used Latin, which is the upper-class language of Europe and the lingua franca used in academic research, but the main reason is that his Chinese is far inferior to Deng Yuhan.

"Hello." Deng Yuhan answered him in Chinese, and he tried to use Chinese more in his daily life so that he could master the language as soon as possible.

"I heard that a scholar is coming to visit today, and they have sent a generous gift."

"Which one is it?" Deng Yuhan is a little strange, after all, they are still barbarians in the eyes of the Chinese, although they may not be attacked, but the locals still do not look up to them. Could it be that there are scholars who are determined to join the church? This is good news, because most of the followers they have recently recruited are low-class people, who are religious but may not be of much help in spreading the glory of the Lord. However, a Han Chinese doctor is different, they are the upper class of the country, they have huge economic and political resources, if more scholars can be religious, it will be extremely helpful to spread the glory of the Lord.

Thinking of this, Deng Yuhan was a little excited: "Isn't it Squire Wang?" ”

"No, it's an outsider, in fact, you may have heard of him, he is the leader of the scholars who toured the city yesterday, he led the scholars to smash the ancestral hall of the emperor's favored ministers, and sent someone to send gifts yesterday, saying that he was coming to visit today."

"It's the one called Willow - what is Willow?" The pronunciation of "Xu" was a bit difficult for Deng Yuhan.

"Is it Liu Xu?" Obviously, Fu Fanji's Chinese is even worse than his.

"If it were him, he would be a very influential man, although he was only leading a group of scholars with the lowest fame, but they were numerous and powerful, and if they could help us, they would be our powerful allies." After Deng Yuhan said this, he frowned slightly, there was a storm in the city the day before yesterday, and the sound of the scholars yelling and smashing could be heard in half the city, and he was naturally no exception. He felt that these people were too violent and might be detrimental to the missionaries.

As if sensing Deng Yuhan's uneasiness, Fu Fanji continued: "Yesterday you were not there, Father Fei Qigui negotiated with their envoys, I listened to them, and their envoys were very polite, and also sent us gifts such as rice and flour, vegetable oil, silk, sugar, etc., and said that there was a way to help us mission. ”

"Really?" Deng Yuhan was pleasantly surprised: "Although I still don't think this Mr. Liu is a pacifist, if they are willing to help us proselytize, then no matter how big the sin is, it can be forgiven!" ”

"So I've come here to inform you that Father Feichigui has said that today's class has been cancelled, and that he has invited you to join us for a meeting, and that Mr. Liu will come to visit around nine o'clock."

"That's great!" Deng Yuhan nodded: "I'll go to breakfast now, and I'll be in the reception room at nine o'clock!" ”