In the Lion City civil port, a passenger ship from Tessie slowly docked.

The passengers on the ship disembarked in turn with their documents and luggage, and were then shunted in different directions according to their status.

Daming people, Daming vassal nationals, people who hold Daming local residence permits, and people who hold residence permits of Daming Nanyang countries, can go through the main channel, and show the documents to the export officers, and they can leave the port directly.

Holders of ordinary entry permits with different periods and purposes must go through another channel and undergo on-site inspection by the officers of the Shicheng Bureau of the Immigration Management Department of Daming Jinyiwei to confirm that there are no problems with their identity and information and the purpose of entry before they can leave the port.

However, on both channels, all first-time entrants will be singled out separately again to receive a lecture on the basic common sense and regulations by the officers of the Immigration Control Division.

Father Ho, a Catholic priest, was screened out of the port with an entry permit, and was sent into a rather spacious hall with a group of other businessmen and tourists from all over the world.

After more than 200 people gathered at the scene, the door to the hall was closed.

On the podium in the middle of the hall, a brocade guard officer in his thirties picked up the microphone next to him and began to speak:

"Attention everyone, please reconfirm your identity and purpose before officially entering the country.

"All those who carry out acts of espionage, including information gathering, and carry out any form of sabotage, the Ming Jinyi Guard now issues a final warning to you.

"Once any corresponding behavior is found, Jinyiwei will be dealt with strictly and severely in accordance with the laws of the Ming Dynasty, and the maximum punishment will be imposed.

"All those who enter the country, please pay attention again, please make sure that you have the ability to live normally in the territory of Daming.

"Daming Jinyiwei and all law enforcement officers, Daming Exit and Entry Administration Bureau and all public officials will not provide any non-Daming Yayan language options and translations when dealing with all public and private affairs facing you, and all public and private documents finally issued are only explained by Daming Yayan.

"All entrants are requested to ensure that they are able to complete all formalities in the Daming Ya dialect, to complete the corresponding communication, or to be accompanied by an interpreter with the appropriate ability.

"All consequences due to language barriers are the responsibility of the entrants."

The Jinyi guard read from the book, almost instinctively repeating the notice that he didn't know how many times.

More than a dozen warnings and reminders from all sides were said one after another, and then his eyes fell on He Baolu in the crowd, and at the same time the final reminder and warning were mentioned:

"All persons with religious beliefs should note that the Ming Dynasty pursues a policy of absolute freedom of religious belief.

"If you find that a person who is not your own religion has taken the initiative to tell and convey any religion-related information to you without the permission of the relevant institutions of the Ming government and yourself, please report it directly to the nearest Jinyiwei.

"All full-time religious personnel are requested to change into normal clothing that is not related to religion before entering the country, and are not allowed to wear and display all religion-related symbols, and are not allowed to convey any religion-related information in any way without the direct permission of the relevant institutions of the Daming government and those seeking faith.

"Faith services must not be provided to persons seeking religious beliefs in such a way as to influence third persons in any way, and no coercion or intimidation or anxiety-inducing rhetoric may be used.

"You must explain the advantages and disadvantages of the faith services you provide in an absolutely objective and dispassionate manner, and you must truthfully explain the origins, development, and current situation of the faith in question.

"Any violation of the relevant regulations will result in deportation or forced labor, exile on a desert island, or even death, depending on the severity of the violation."

Although the content of this officer's previous words was relatively tough and domineering, most of the personnel could understand it directly and understand how to deal with it.

But when it comes to the last two, many people are directly lost in the lake, especially the people of faith on the scene.

As a religious person, He Baolu raised his hand directly.

The brocade guard on the stage seemed to look at He Baolu:

"What's wrong with you?"

Paul Ho asked in a somewhat Italian accent, but quite fluently in Daming Yayan, rather confused:

"Hello officer, is it inconsistent that you just reminded the Ming Dynasty that it pursues a policy of freedom of religious belief, but prohibits religious personnel from using religious clothing and symbols, nor does it allow them to publicly convey the message of faith?"

This kind of thing has been encountered many times by the Jinyi Wei officer, and the corresponding explanation of the relevant regulations has long been familiar with it, and now he responds directly:

"Absolute freedom of belief, both freedom of belief and freedom of unbelief.

"It also includes the freedom to be willing to touch, and the freedom to not be willing to touch.

"Even if you don't have the ability to make a judgment, you have the freedom not to have your judgment affected by the relevant information.

"Freedom of religious belief in the Ming Dynasty protects all people who have faith.

"And the absolute freedom of those who want to gain faith.

"But it does not include the freedom of those who live by their faith.

"Any active dissemination of information about religion is an infringement of the freedom of others who do not want to access religious information."

Listening to this almost strong explanation, there was a suppressed discussion at the scene.

This so-called absolute freedom is completely contrary to what normal people understand.

However, if you think about it carefully, it seems to be a bit logical, in fact, many people hate to be preached by riding their faces.

He Baolu's expression was a little complicated, in fact, he had heard about the relevant situation before, otherwise as a religious person, he would not have had the opportunity to obtain an entry permit to enter the surrounding vassal states of the Ming Dynasty.

He Baolu just didn't understand very well before, how the inheritance law enforcement officers of the Ming Dynasty interpreted this provision, how to correspond to the actual implementation of the regulation and justify it.

Now that I have heard this Jinyiwei's explanation directly, I can be regarded as fully understanding this logic.

Then Paul Ho asked and confirmed another situation again:

"Since the clergy are not allowed to proclaim the gospel of the Lord to others, how should the Lambs be served when they want to be saved?"

As a matter of course, the secretary of Jinyi continued to say:

"Applications can be submitted to the religious management departments of the Yamen at all levels of the Daming government, and the staff of the management departments will contact the corresponding religious belief service personnel for them to provide one-on-one services in a separate designated venue."

The ordinary people around them felt that this regulation and operation was outrageous, and if they sought faith, they had to go to the government yamen and let the yamen act as an intermediary, and God knows how the staff of the yamen would introduce these religions.

Paul Ho's lips trembled slightly:

"That'...... How do the lost lambs, who have no knowledge of any religious information, know which religion or denomination to seek the services of? ”

Officer Jin Yiwei continued to say as a matter of course:

"The administrative departments of the Yamen at all levels in the Ming Dynasty will provide brief descriptions of all legitimate churches for those seeking religious services to choose suitable people to provide services for themselves."

Paul Ho remembered the mission description he had received when he came:

"Wait for notification from the Johor Provincial Religious Administration to preach alone to the designated person."

He Baolu thought that his task was to preach to some special people, and even to the nobles and even members of the royal family of the Ming Dynasty, and even that there might be corresponding personnel who were seeking this kind of service, and he would have to go to work after he came.

As a result, this was not the case at all, and his task was to preach to the common people.

And there are no existing high-level tasks to do on their own, and they have to wait for ordinary people to choose Roman Catholicism before they have the opportunity to "provide services of the faith".

This statement made Paul He feel extremely weird, and even thought of a lot of inexplicable "services".

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He felt that he had been completely cheated, and this kind of task was simply a waste of time.

If they don't take the initiative to spread it, will the Ming people want to gain faith?

Even if you look for the protection of the gods, you will instinctively go to worship the Bodhisattva, the Dragon King, God, Mazu, the God of Wealth, Guan Erye, and the professional ones will go to Taoist temples and temples first.

How could he have thought of finding his own Lord?

He continued to ask with a little annoyance:

"Ordinary people don't know the message of faith at all, how can they know that they need faith for salvation?"

The Jinyi guard officer directly asked:

"Does a man who does not know that he needs faith to be redeemed, does he really need the so-called faith to redeem?

"We protect freedom of belief, but we also protect freedom of non-belief, and at the same time we protect freedom from redemption.

"You Tessie disciples should learn from the Taoist masters and pursue a way to go with the flow.

"Or learn from those great monks, and pay attention to a fate in everything.

"When people are destined to really need salvation, they should naturally know that they need salvation.

"When someone needs salvation from your God, your God will naturally arrange for them to come to you for service.

"After all, is your God omnipotent......

"Okay, that's all I'll say, the others can go, this Tessie you change your clothes."

The others left the scene one after another, and Paul Ho, under the supervision of the Jinyi guard, took off his priest's robe, took off the cross as well, and changed into ordinary clothes in his luggage.

After checking all the information again and confirming that his information was fine, a brocade guard in his early twenties came over and led Paul He out of the dock alone.

Other ordinary people are free, and even if Paul Ho changes his clothes and decorations, he still does not get complete freedom.

He was led to the Johor Bahru Yamen, and after wandering around the halls of the Johor Bahru Palace, he finally entered the seat of the religious department, which was very hidden.

He Baolu paid special attention to it, there were no signs outside this road at all, and there were no text prompts.

Even inside the department, there is no religious decoration, and it looks like a very ordinary office.

Jin Yiwei found a clerk and asked the other party to register the information for He Baolu.

While Paul Ho was waiting beside him, he tentatively asked the other party some questions:

"Hello, according to the instructions I have been given, people who need faith services will be given basic information about each religion here, can I guide how to do these introductions? Can I see the relevant introductory documents? ”

The clerk on the opposite side glanced at Paul Ho, and then took out a stack of papers from the drawer below.

"Thank you."

After thanking him, Paul Ho took the document and flipped through the instructions for finding Catholicism first.

Then he saw a few paragraphs that looked like modern textbooks.

Who is the founder, the origin of the legend, the core doctrine, the representative story.

These are actually okay, but the supplementary information behind made He Baolu frown directly.

There's a lot of blasphemy recorded on it......

There is the logic of the church and the power of the Roman emperors, there is an introduction to the sack of Constantinople by the Crusades, there is an introduction to the methods of the church to make money and indulgences, and the introduction of the Reformation.

There are also the actions of corrupt church personnel exposed by the Ming Dynasty, and the matter of the little boy in the basement of the church.

There is also the spread of religion in the New World, where those who have faith have souls, and those who do not have faith are not considered human unspoken rules.

Finally, there are some representative examples of believers.

All of them are very objective, and they explain the history and current situation of the Catholic Church in a writing that records history and news.

Paul Ho could not have imagined that an adult would continue to seek salvation from Catholicism after reading these things......

As for the children...... They do not have access to the services of the faith.

According to Ming law, instilling religious information in any form to a person who does not have the ability to judge is a violation of freedom of belief.

Paul Ho continued to look through the introductions of other religions, and then found that they were all similar patterns.

The situation on the Protestant side was more complicated, adding witch hunting on the basis of Catholicism, and the king of England falling out with the church over divorce.

Finally, there are the contradictions and disputes between the different factions.

After comparing and introducing it in this way, Paul Ho found that it seemed that Protestantism was worse.

But overall, it's pretty much the same.

In the end, Paul Ho also found that even the local religions of the Ming Dynasty and the traditional religions that have been spoken in the local dialect are all introduced with the same logic, and there is nothing flattering.

Temples annexed and encroached on land, controlled the population and labor, demagogued, and collected money to rebel.

Taoism also has a lot of bad things.

This is still a legitimate orthodox religion, and it already makes people feel disillusioned.

Finally, there are some typical banned religions, or more widespread cults, that are also listed in official documents.

Of course, this is not a service as a liaison, but a warning to ordinary people not to come into contact.

It lists its actions, explains its main harms, and analyzes the main deception and evil methods of the other party.

These things give people the feeling that they are really evil.

After reading it, Paul He felt that if a person who didn't understand religion at all, after reading these religious introductions, he would probably choose to simply pay a visit to Guan Erye.

Participating in organized religion is a matter of self-infliction.

Guan Yu's rise to prominence among the gods began in the middle of the Ming Dynasty.

By the time of Wanli, he was already "the Great Emperor of the Three Realms of Demon Suppression, Shenwei Yuanzhen, Tianzun, Guan Shengdijun".

And enjoying a separate sacrifice, Yue Fei was just Guan Yu's subordinate.

As a professional religious person, he still has to work in the Ming Dynasty, and of course Paul Ho has learned about these things.

Guan Yu's historical prototype is quite outstanding, and there is also the folk blessing of performing arts.

The point is that there is no organization that discredits it and can truly be freely believed.

So it stands out from a whole bunch of religions.

From the point of view of religion itself, the mature monotheistic system of Catholicism is, of course, much more mature and advanced than the traditional natural beliefs and ancestral beliefs.

The control over believers, the influence on society, and the power that can be exerted are much stronger.

But formally because of this control, this social influence, is also more and more restricted.

The side effects of the organization also increased, and the Reformation moved towards justification by faith.

Many of China's systems and many wind speed habits seem to be relatively primitive and traditional.

But if you dig deeper, you will find that that may be the ultimate direction.

Feeling that his thinking seemed to be becoming more and more complicated, Paul Ho felt lost in his work.