Dominate the Country

Spring returns in February. At the south gate of Xiangyang, in the intermittent spring rain, the three Jesuit missionaries, Westin, He Mide, and Luo Nige, together with two devout believers, Shen Rong and Liu Jiyuan, accompanied by a dozen strong believers, finally set off, leaving Xiangyang where they had stayed for half a year, and heading towards Hunan and Guangdong in the south. This made Westin, He Mide, and Luo Nige, the three Jesuit missionaries, feel very happy.

Westin, the first of the three to come to Macau, China, has lived in China for 20 years, and Luo Nige, the shortest, has lived in China for 15 years. All three of them can speak fluent Chinese. Westin can even speak Cantonese and Nanjing Mandarin. In this era, every Jesuit missionary who came to China was much more noble than the younger generations who followed their footsteps and entered China 70 or 80 years later. Because the missionaries of this era were just very simple missionaries, without so many tricks, at least their hearts were not so "big".

After the brief glory of Nan Huairen and Tang Ruowang in the early days of the Qing Dynasty, Western missionaries suffered serious losses as Kang Mazi was furious. When the second ban on religion came in the early years of Yongzheng, the Jesuits almost completely withdrew from China. Except for the nest of Macau, only Beijing was still a little bit of color. By the middle of Qianlong, the Jesuits were far from recovering their original momentum.

But you can't help but say that these people's resilience is absolutely first-class. With the advent of the Qianlong era, China's closed door to the Jesuits slowly revealed a crack. Cheng Jili, Liang Hongren, Wei Fangji, [Austrian] Nan Huairen and others established many churches in six prefectures, counties and counties, including Wuyuan County, Huizhou Prefecture, Chizhou Prefecture, Huainan Prefecture, Wuhu County, Taiping Prefecture, Chuzhou Zhili Prefecture, and Wuhe County, Sizhou, to attract believers; in cooperation with Western missionaries, Yao Ruohan, a Huizhou believer, went to Haimen, Jiangsu, and Shen Rong, a Chizhou Shidai believer, went to Gucheng, Hubei to preach.

When Shen Rong revived the glory of the Society of Jesus in the remote and declining Shenya Church in Gucheng, there were Shi Ruohan, Nan Huairen, Westin, He Mide, and Luo Nige. Jesuit missionaries came one after another and really regained their foothold in Gucheng, Xiangyang Prefecture, Hubei. At its peak, the number of Jesuits reached thousands. But all this was destroyed with the rise of Chen Ming and the attack of the Fu Han Army on Hubei.

The local landlords and tyrants in Gucheng who hated the Jesuits very much drove out Westin, He Mide, Luo Nige, Shen Rong, Liu Jiyuan and others before the arrival of the Fu Han Army. They relied on the armed tenants in their hands, and the latter had no choice but to flee Xiangyang City.

When Chen Ming stationed troops in Xiangyang twice, he would never have thought that there were still a group of missionaries and believers in Xiangyang City.

Now the main force of the Fu Han Army has gone south, leaving only a small number of people in the three towns of Wuhan to confront the Qing army. The chaos and disorder in the vast areas of central and western Hubei have slowly dissipated over time.

Westin, He Mide, and Luo Nige immediately decided to leave. Because Xiangyang City really annoyed them, they did not receive any care from the Chinese government during the months they stayed in this city, and Luo Nige almost died of illness. The ignorant and stupid doctors in this disgusting city actually regarded Luo Nige as a demon because he was a foreigner, and refused to treat this sincere servant of God.

Luo Nige was lucky, and was saved by Liu Jiyuan, who knew a little bit of Chinese medicine. But in the hearts of these three missionaries, the whole city of Xiangyang was evil.

Therefore, Westin, He Mide, and Luo Nige had no nostalgia for the city of Xiangyang. If they had a choice, they would not want to stay in Xiangyang City for a quarter of an hour, but they had no choice.

Xiangyang City, where the official Chinese Tatar army is stationed, is the safest and luckiest place in Hubei in the past six months. Didn't you see that Jingzhou and Wuchang have fallen? Westin, He Mide, and Luo Nige have been in China for such a long time, but they are very clear about the power of the garrisoned Eight Banners Generals and the Governor-General, and they know the influence and importance of these two cities.

After all, a county magistrate of Xiangshan County can yell at Macau, and the Portuguese have a very clear understanding of the power of the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi and the General of Guangzhou.

When they left Xiangyang City, a series of complaints came out of Westin, He Mide, and Luo Nige. Of course, these three are also decent people, and they will not curse again. Complaining and cursing are two different things. Especially in front of Shen Rong, Liu Jiyuan and others.

In the drizzle, a day did not allow them to travel far.

After several months of war, they spent too much money. They only bought two donkey carts when they came out of Xiangyang City. So they couldn't walk fast. Westin, He Mide, Luo Nige, Shen Rong and Liu Jiyuan, five core members plus more than a dozen devout believers, less than 20 people, could not be carried by two small donkey carts. The two small donkey carts were loaded with more tents, bedding, food and clothes.

All the way south from Xiangyang City, they also officially saw the destruction brought by the war. Westin and his men knew very well how rich China was in this era. This empire, with a larger population than the entire Europe, could create huge wealth in every breath.

When they came from Macau to Jiangnan, it was a paradise on earth; when they came from Jiangnan to Anhui, they went to the most affluent southern Anhui and the Yangtze River. Finally, they came to Gucheng. The Shenya Church here is located 150 miles west of Gucheng County, bordering Fang County. It is located on the west edge of the Chayuangou Basin where Longfeng Mountain, Mopan Mountain and Tongluoguan stand side by side. It is one of the oldest monotheistic churches in China and one of the poorest places in Xiangyang. But even so, most people here can eat and wear warm clothes. Comparing the poor here with the poor in the West, the Chinese have a better life.

In the late Ming Dynasty, Jesuit missionaries began to preach in Gucheng. As an alien religious culture, monotheism has produced fierce contradictions and conflicts with traditional Chinese politics and culture during its spread in China. At the end of the first year of Yongzheng, the Ministry of Rites petitioned to ban Catholicism throughout the country and was approved. Except for the servants serving the court in Beijing who continued to serve as usual and were allowed to conduct religious activities in Beijing, all other missionaries were ordered to return home. After the second "ban on religion" was issued, coastal provinces took the lead in banning the spread of monotheism, and then the inland areas also hunted down monotheists. It can be said that it was precisely because of the Qing court's "ban on religion" that monotheism could not gain a foothold in big cities, but it persisted in the remote place of Shenya in Gucheng.

This is why there were missionaries in Gucheng, why Shen Rong traveled thousands of miles to preach, and the Jesuits had roots in Shenya. And why didn't Chen Ming hear about this? Shenya is too remote. It is even said that when the Fu Han army was approaching, Westin and his men were driven away by the local gentry and landlords. Why didn't the government intervene, even if there was only a slight sound, it was because Shenya was too remote. It is actually 150 miles away from the county seat and is completely buried in the mountains.

"I don't know what attitude the Chinese rebels have towards the Lord."

After the Qianlong era began, the Qing government had relaxed its strict prohibition on missionary work, but more than 30 years later, the Qing government still showed no sign of publicly abolishing the ban, which disappointed many missionaries.

"Don't go to your own grave. The Tatar Empire has unparalleled wealth and power. These rebels may prevail for a while, but they will not prevail forever. They will eventually be wiped out by the Tatars."

"Don't get involved, Andre." Westin called out Luo Nige's name. "You must remember that God's glory is only a ray of light left on this rich land. If God's glory is completely annihilated on this land because of our faults, our souls will forever sink into sin..."

"Don't worry, Westin, I'm just saying that. I won't act rashly." Luo Nige hated the whole family. He hated the government in Xiangyang City so much that he also hated the rule of the Tatars. But his mind was clear, and he knew very well how powerful the Qing Empire was.

Well, in the eyes of Westerners, wealth means power. Because in the West, as long as you have money, you can buy anything you want. Do Westerners really not understand China's backwardness in military equipment? The trade between the two sides lasted for so long. But at this time, Westerners always regarded the Qing Empire as a huge and powerful empire.

This may be more of a cognitive error, right? Just like Napoleon said: China is a sleeping lion.

This is actually related to Napoleon's next words. After the complete defeat of the Battle of Waterloo, Napoleon was forced to abdicate and was soon escorted by the British army to St. Helena Island in the distant Atlantic Ocean for imprisonment. In the third year of his imprisonment, Amherst, another British diplomat to China after George Macartney, returned from China dejectedly. On his way home, he happened to pass by St. Helena Island. When Amherst heard that the world-famous Napoleon I was imprisoned here, he wanted to meet him and listen to the legendary figure's views on the Chinese issue. After obtaining the consent of the governor of the island, Amherst met the former emperor. Amherst talked about his experience in China and believed that only by knocking on China's door through war could the Chinese rulers understand that opening the country's door would benefit both sides. At that time, Napoleon was full of contempt for Britain's approach. He commented on Britain's proposal to solve the problem with war, saying: "It is the biggest stupidity in the world to fight against this vast and rich empire." He went on to say: "You may succeed at first. You will seize their ships and destroy their military and commercial facilities, but you will also make them understand their own strength. They will think; they will build ships and equip themselves with artillery. They will invite gunners from France, the United States and even London to build a fleet to defeat you." Amherst retorted: "Behind the apparent strength of China is a clay-footed giant, very weak." But Napoleon believed that China was not weak, it was just a sleeping lion. "Today, even flies dare to land on the face of a sleeping lion and make a few noises." Napoleon went on to say, "Once China is awakened, the world will be shocked." After this sentence came out of Napoleon's mouth, it had a strong sensational effect, and "a sleeping lion - China" quickly spread throughout Europe and the world.

But what is the essential meaning of this sentence?

It is not that China needs to go through "awakening" to become strong, but that China itself has extremely strong strength. They only need to "invite gunners from France, the United States, and even London to build a fleet"!

Europeans have this kind of value view. Napoleon's view of China is not just his own, but his view itself represents the values ​​of quite a lot of Europeans.

As long as you have enough wealth, you can have everything. When Napoleon said this, he must have thought of the financial difficulties in the second half of his empire, and was full of envy for China's wealth. He did not understand the true national conditions of the Qing Empire, so twenty years after his death, the British opened China's closed door through war.

Westin, He Mide, and Luo Nige's current views are no different from those of Bonaparte Napoleon who was not yet born. Compared with the Fu Han Army really overthrowing the Tatar Empire, they believe in their hearts that the Qing Empire will eventually suppress this rebellion. Even Luo Nige, who is full of negative emotions towards the Qing government.

"I heard that the rebels' cannons are very powerful. Perhaps the Tatar emperor needs a second Nan Huairen, a second Tang Ruowang..."

"Then God bless. The glory of the Lord will shine on this land, and our situation will usher in a huge change."