Liu Zongzhou is the last great Confucian of the Ming Dynasty, is the first person to inherit and develop Wang Yangming's mind, not to mention knowledgeable, its opposition to Catholicism and resistance to Western learning is also very famous, Fan Shuzhi's "History of the Late Ming Dynasty" has been related to the discussion, Chongzhen fifteen years that is, in 1642 AD, when Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong has swept Heluo, Hong Chengchou's 130,000 army was defeated in Songshan, and the slave chief Taiji may break through Shanhaiguan at any time to attack Yanjing, which is the time when this internal and external troubles have reached the extreme point of danger, Liu Zongzhou actually opposed Emperor Chongzhen's appointment of the Western missionary Tang Ruowang to supervise the production of artillery, saying that "not to worry about people but to use weapons, the prestige of the country is so more and more relaxed, Tang Ruowang advocates heresy to mess with the avenue, which is no longer tolerated in the world of Yao Shun, and now as a kit kat to confuse the king's heart, the more his sin is beyond repunity, begging the emperor to return to the country, and never pagan religion", its pedantry and rigidity is simply unreasonable - four years ago in Shanyin Dashan Temple, Zhang Yuan went to study with a teacher, Liu Zongzhou proposed to accept Zhang Yuan as a disciple The condition is that Zhang Yuan promised not to participate in the imperial examination before the age of twenty to concentrate on learning, Time is not waiting, Zhang Yuan refused, but Liu Zongzhou still rewarded him, Mr. Gao Panlong, Zou Yuanbiao, Li Banghua and other acquaintances praised his knowledge, it can be said that Liu Zongzhou and him have half of the teacher-student relationship, and now, Shen Yu invited Liu Zongzhou to debate against Catholicism and Western studies, which really made Zhang Yuan feel a headache, presumably Shen Yu knew that he had a good relationship with Liu Zongzhou, Liu Zongzhou was a stubborn and firm Confucian master, and participating in the debate was a great deterrent to Zhang Yuan's side - Zhang Yuan thought: " Why didn't Shen Yu invite Jiao Taishi to debate, Xu Guangqi and I are both disciples of Jiao Taishi, and the debate between the teacher and the students will be even more sensational, which is what I am most worried about. He thought about it: "I think Teacher Jiao will not wade into this troubled water, Teacher Jiao is more tolerant of Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism and even Catholicism, and is not as stubborn as Mr. Qidong." ”

In the evening, Zhang Yuan went to the old alley apartment of Li Ge, which is said to be the mother and son who have moved here, sister-in-law Fu and Jinglan, Jinghui are here, this is his new home, these two months he ordered Laifu to urge the craftsman to carry out some small renovations to this small courtyard, the entrance hall and the front half of the right wing of the inner courtyard are opened, so as to make friends and eat, and at the same time the doors and windows of this part of the right wing room near the inner courtyard are blocked, in order to show the difference between inside and outside, Fu Cheng, Laifu, Wang Da Hammer, Wuling, White Horse, Uncle Yao, Xue Tong's male servants live in the outer courtyard and the hall opposite the row of wings, from the inner courtyard door in, is a long three zhang two, two zhang eight wide patio, half of the east wing room is separated to the outer courtyard, the other half of the two large partitions into four small rooms for Yunjin, Yumei, Huixiang The three maids and the newly hired two cooks and a washerwoman live, the west wing room is occupied by Wang Wei and Mu Zhenzhen, Shang Ran already knows that Mu Zhenzhen is three months pregnant, and arranges Yumei to serve Mu Zhenzhen, but Mu Zhenzhen does not want Yumei to serve, said that it is not time to give birth now, she can still serve the young master and young grandmother as usual - sitting in the north and facing south of the main room of the four, the first room on the left is Zhang Yuan's study, the second is the dining room, the third room is Zhou's mother and Xiao Hongji's room, the rightmost one is Zhang Yuan, Shang Ran and his wife's bedroom, there is a small door connected to Xiao Hongji's room, there is a small garden and a row of low rooms behind this row of main houses, is the kitchen, the grocery room and the bath room, when Zhang Yuan came to see this house a few months ago, the small garden behind this is weeds, and snakes and rats are infested, Now the ground is flat, transplanted magnolia, laurel, camphor, peach tree, as well as poppy, poppy, mountain orchid, Jianlan jasmine, okra these herbaceous flowers, in addition to okra, other flowers and trees are branches and edges, although it is not the flowering season, but it looks very refreshing, this renovation of the courtyard and the addition of utensils cost no less than three hundred taels of silver, it is considered to be saved, the capital is not easy to live in, the Ministry of Industry of Wu Zheng met Zhang Yuan a few days ago, asked Zhang Yuan how much it cost to repair the apartment, can be paid by the Ministry of Industry, Zhang Yuan thanked Wu Suozheng and politely refused, he Zhang Jiezi did not take advantage of the Ministry of Industry, otherwise this kind of thing would reach the ears of those who were enemies of him, and it was a good reason to impeach him - Shang Ran as a housewife, inspected the outer courtyard, the inner courtyard and the back garden, and was very satisfied with the residence here, this courtyard is more spacious than the mansion of Dongzhang in Shanyin, that is, the back garden is not as big as the garden of his hometown, I heard that Wang Wei is asking Uncle Yao and Laifu to look for shops in the Dengshi Street in Chongwenmen, and they will move to the shop there at the end of the year. Shang Ran said: "Why did Xiuwei move to live outside, there are four large rooms in this west wing, and you and Zhenzhen will have children and live in the future, why move out?" ”

Wang Wei said: "Madam, if Sister Ruoxi and Xianggong want me to take care of the shop, I must live in the store, Wang Wei will come to greet Mrs. every two days." ”

Shang Ran heard Wang Wei say this, and expected that Wang Wei had already discussed with Zhang Yuan, so he no longer asked Wang Wei to live with her, between her and Wang Wei, it seems to be very harmonious now, but living together for a long time, it is difficult to guarantee that there will be no dirty and contradictions, Wang Wei is not better than Mu Zhenzhen, Wang Wei is always a little arrogant, it is good to live in the store, and the relationship between wives and concubines is lighter, so that they can get along for a long time - now Zhang Yuan is close to the apartment from Hanlin Academy, and it is only four or five miles away, and it takes not two moments to walk. September 29, this said that Shang Zhou Zuo also came directly to this side for dinner from the Metropolitan Inspectorate, Zhang Yaofang, Zhang Dai and his son were also here, and also invited Qi Chengyi, Qi Biaojia and his son, when the banquet was held, the Shang servants of the East Fourth Archway came to say hello with Qingmoshan and Dong Milk Tea and his wife, and also brought a few letters to Zhang Yuan that had just been sent by the Civil Information Bureau - Qingmo Mountain people only heard today that Zhang Zhuangyuan's wife and son had arrived in Beijing, so he and his wife Dong Milk Tea prepared a gift to meet in the Shang Imperial History Mansion, Lao Menzi has moved to Li Ge Lao Hutong, just the Civil Information Bureau sent a letter, and it was led here by the Shang servants, Dong Milk Tea has been more than eight months pregnant, the belly is very big, Qingmo Mountain people cherish it very much, hired a sedan chair to carry his wife to Li Ge Old Hutong, Zhang Yuan left him and his wife to eat, let Mu Zhenzhen lead Dong Milk Tea into the inner courtyard to meet Shang Ran, Shang Ran heard that it was the Qingmo Mountain people who gave her and Zhang Yuanhe's eight characters, and heard Mu Zhenzhen say Dong Milk Tea's poor life experience, so he sent a lot of gifts from his hometown to Dong Milk Tea, Instructed Dong Milk Tea to come and go more in the future, although there are difficulties - the stack of letters was placed on Zhang Yuan's table, Zhang Yuan looked at who sent it, there were letters from Fan Wenruo, Feng Menglong, Xia Yunyi, and Luo Xuanfu, but the last one was sent by Jiao Hong from Nanjing Yuanyuan, Zhang Yuan was not busy drinking, first read Teacher Jiao's letter, and said with a smile: "Nanjing Shen Shilang really wants to ask Jiao Taishi to debate with me, Shen Shilang can be said to be deliberate, how can Teacher Jiao be confused by him." ”

Shang Zhouzuo already knew the list of four people who participated in the debate reported by Shen Yu, and said: "Liu Qidong is a famous Confucian in the world, known as a clear name, Master Lianchi is a great and virtuous monk, who studies Buddhism intensively, and is deeply loved by monks and laymen in the south of the Yangtze River, so it is not easy for you to debate this time." ”

Zhang Yuan said: "There are always difficulties, I will discuss with Xu Zanshan and them, and conduct special research on the relevant works of Mr. Shen, Xu, Mr. Qidong, and Master Lianchi, so that only by knowing each other and knowing oneself can we have a chance of winning." ”

The next time it was Xiu Mu, Zhang Yuan and his senior brother Xu Guangqi went to the Xuanwumen Catholic Church to discuss the debate with Long Huamin, Pang Di'e, Xiong Sanba, Jinnige and others, and to prepare more astronomy, calendar, geography, medicine and other materials, but also to prepare some physical objects, such as globes, prisms, violins, dragon tail cars, Hengsheng cars, etc., as for the books of Liu Zongzhou and Master Lianchi, Xu Guangqi and Zhang Yuan collected and studied, and soon found Master Lianchi's "Bamboo Window Essays", "Zen Guan Cejin" and "Jinmen Chongxing Record" three kinds of books, Liu Zongzhou's book only found one volume of "Shengxue Zongyao" and one volume of "Liu Qidong's Collected Works".

In the following month, Zhang Yuan in addition to going to the Hanlin Academy to sit in the hall to read the newspaper, into the palace to give lectures to the emperor's eldest grandson, the rest of the time is studying Buddhism, Confucianism and Western studies, in the dead of night to think that he is really tired, Bagu Wen read for four years, all the way to the top of the exam, still can not once and for all, but also have to study hard, the skillful work and the wise are worried, but seeing the son Hongji's innocent and smiling little face, I feel that the debate must be won, Western learning must be introduced, and the "Taixi Water Law" that is of great benefit to the management of drought and flood disasters must be implemented. If this debate fails, I am afraid that even the flintlock pistol will not be able to be carried out in the army, his "glacial theory" will also be fiercely attacked, and it will certainly be difficult to promote the cultivation of drought-tolerant crops such as sweet potatoes, potatoes, and corn, and there are many rigid and arrogant officials like Liu Zongzhou in the DPRK, who still think that Daming is the center of the world and call Daming the world the world, so that when Matteo Ricci presented a map of all countries, he had to move China's position in the center of the map to please the Chinese. October 25th, Nanjing Taifu Temple Shaoqing Li Zhizao and his entourage arrived in the capital, that night Xu Guangqi and Zhang Yuan went to visit, Li Zhizao and Zhang Yuan is the first time to meet, after a long talk, Zhang Yuan's knowledge was greatly admired, like Zhang Yuan is proficient in the four books and five classics of young scholars are many, proficient in Western studies are almost none, and Zhang Yuan's understanding of Western studies is even Xu Guangqi is ashamed of himself - Li Zhizao privately said to Long Huamin, Xiong Sanba and other Western priests: "Zhang Yuan's extraordinary knowledge is simply out of heaven, isn't this the Holy Father, the Holy Son, The gift of the Holy Spirit to the Catholics of the Ming Dynasty, with Zhang Yuan and Xu Zi first, the Holy Religion will not sink in the Ming Dynasty. ”

Long Huamin said: "But this Zhang Zhuangyuan has no intention of joining the Holy Religion, and Zhang Zhuangyuan seems to only value the knowledge of our Jesuits. ”

Li Zhizao said: "As long as it is beneficial to the Holy Religion, a few people must know that Wang Fengsu and Xie Wulu have been detained by Shen Yu first, and the Nanjing Church has been banned, if this debate fails, once the ban is implemented, several of them will have to be sent back to Macao." ”

Long Huamin's missionaries were silent and worried.

(To be continued)