Rebirth of the Four Seas Emperor

Matteo Ricci had already given up, but when he heard Hou Yao said that there was still a chance for them to preach in Bao'an County, his heart immediately became hot again.

"What changes? As long as it does not violate God's beliefs, it is acceptable."

Hou Yao nodded and said: "It will not violate God's faith, but it will violate Catholic doctrine. However, doctrine is formulated by humans and has nothing to do with God."

Matteo Ricci nodded understandingly: "Yes, we also believe that there are many problems with Catholic teachings, so we have been committed to reform."

Hou Yao said "Oh", but he didn't expect Matteo Ricci to be so easy to talk to.

Although he was reborn, Hou Yao in his previous life did not believe in religion and did not care about religion. Naturally, he did not understand that Christianity actually has three major branches: Catholicism, Protestantism, and Orthodox Christianity.

The Portuguese and Spanish missionaries I had contacted before were all Catholics, and Francis and Salazar were both Catholic missionaries.

Catholicism is a centralized religious organization led by the Pope with a well-structured structure. It is essentially a continuation of the Roman aristocracy, like an ancient unified kingdom.

Emphasizing the papal authority and church tradition, believers need to fully obey the pope's teachings.

The Orthodox Church is a collection of independent Orthodox churches, each with its own autonomy but sharing similar traditions of faith and worship.

Focusing on mysterious and sacred worship, emphasizing the reverence of icons and saints, and mysterious rituals, it is similar to a federation of small divided countries under the same culture.

Protestantism was a loose alliance of Catholic believers who opposed the Catholic religious system during the just-concluded European Renaissance.

They themselves are a group of religious reformers who do not agree with the Catholic religious system and do not recognize the status of the Pope.

They emphasize personal faith, a direct relationship with God, encourage individuals to read the Bible, and emphasize the salvation of Christ and the personal experience of faith.

Due to misunderstandings, Protestantism has greater doctrinal diversity, so there are many different denominations and churches, and almost every denomination has its own leader and church management style.

Apart from being unanimous in their opposition to the pope, they have almost no other commonalities, and the church's management methods are even more diverse.

Compared to traditional Catholics, Protestant believers are obviously more receptive to new ideas.

Hou Yao couldn't understand the difference between Christian sects, but Ricci could generously admit that Catholicism had many shortcomings, which immediately made him feel that this missionary was very different, and perhaps his Eastern Protestant plan would fall on this person.

"It's good that you think so. Catholicism is too exclusive and is not suitable for the situation in Daxia. We Chinese people value tolerance. If you want to preach in Daxia, you must first learn how to be tolerant. Although Daxia is There are many different ethnic customs in a country, and we must respect the customs of each ethnic group. One thing is particularly important. In Daxia, any rights may override the imperial power, not even gods. You can accept this. This is Officials may allow you to preach."

Although Matteo Ricci is a rising star, he already has a certain reputation among Protestants, and the older missionary Fan Li'an is also very optimistic about him.

After briefly thinking about Hou Yao's words, he replied: "Sir, the believers in our church are allowed to retain the customs of their own nation. Previously at the Oyster Mirror, I agreed that the believers would offer sacrifices to heaven, ancestors, and Confucius. Father Fan Li'an also agreed that believers should wear Confucian shirts to pray, which does not violate the Lord's faith."

Long Huamin, who was standing behind Matteo Ricci, frowned when he heard this. He had just arrived in Daxia and had not participated in the missionary work of the older generation before. He did not know how difficult it was to preach in Daxia.I just feel that Ricci is totally messing around.

Hou Yao smiled happily when he heard Matteo Ricci's answer, and became interested in continuing to chat with him in depth.

So he talked about the previous Eastern Protestant plan: "... I wonder if Father Matteo Ricci is interested in this Eastern Protestant plan?"

After Hou Yao finished explaining his plan, not only Matteo Ricci was shocked, but also Long Huamin was confused.

What they had heard before was that Hou Yao was an extreme hater of Christianity. Why did he have such a huge plan for the Holy Land of Jesus?

Matteo Ricci said in an excited voice: "Sir... Sir, why are there rumors that you personally issued the order banning Christian missionary work in Bao'an County, but why do you have such a huge plan for the Holy Land of Jesus?"

Hou Yao said with a gloomy face: "It was a few years ago that Bishop Salazar of the Catholic Luzon District carried out an indiscriminate massacre of the Xia immigrants in Manila. My fleet happened to pass there during the massacre. At that time, the Eastern Protestant Pope Francis was also with me. When I executed the Portuguese mercenaries who massacred the immigrants from Bactria, this man actually said how the lives of the immigrants from Bactria could be compared with the lives of the Portuguese. I said this Then he ordered the defenders of Baoan to purge all Catholics in Guangzhou, execute all Portuguese and Spanish missionaries, and expel missionaries from other countries."

Although Hou Yao built a stone monument to record the Manila Massacre, in order to prevent all missionaries in Daxia from being treated equally, he blocked the spread of the news and tried to minimize the impact of the massacre.

Matteo Ricci and Long Huamin were both shocked when they heard the news, especially Matteo Ricci, who was very familiar with Bishop Salazar and exclaimed:

"Bishop Salazar has always been kind, so how could he do such an inhumane thing? Is there any misunderstanding in this?"

Hou Yao snorted coldly: "Tens of thousands of people have identified that the order was given by him personally. There is no misunderstanding. The head of a Daxia man is exchanged for five silver coins at the Manila Cathedral. When I captured Manila, Daxia The skulls of at least [-] Daxia immigrants have been piled up at the door of the church. The kind bishop you call is still clamoring to kill all the heretics. I will kill as many Catholics as I can and will never let one go. Hum, if you are With such thoughts, I advise you to get away as far as you can before I find out, otherwise, once I am noticed, you will never be able to leave again."

Long Huamin immediately replied categorically: "No, everyone is equal before God. People should be equal and help each other. The differences between people are not given by God, but made by people themselves. We feel deeply for the tragedy in Manila. It's a pity, but blind killing can't prevent the tragedy from happening. It will only become the soil for brewing the next tragedy. I think it is precisely because you are aware of this that you did not let the tragedy in Manila spread to Daxia. We are willing to work with you Let’s work together to prevent tragedies from happening.”

After hearing Long Huamin's words, Hou Yao nodded slightly: "It's a good idea for you to have such an idea. In this case, I can hand over the Holy Land of Eastern Protestantism to you two, but what can you bring to me? It won't be a big deal. It’s just asking without getting anything in return, right?”

Matteo Ricci was puzzled for a while: "Sir, we are all here to preach alone. I don't know what we can give back to you."

Hou Yao smiled and said: "I need a senior alchemy master to complete research on an important project for me. If you have a suitable candidate, you can recommend it to me. In addition, I also need a mathematics master to teach the students the basics of mathematics in schools in Bao'an. .”

Just as Matteo Ricci was about to speak, Long Huamin behind him asked first: "Father, I seem to have heard when I was in Italy that you are a senior master of alchemy and also a master of geometry, right?"

Matteo Ricci nodded: "Sir, although I don't know if my alchemy can successfully complete your research project, but I can promise that I will try my best. As for geometry, I can use Euclid's " Books such as "Elements of Geometry", "Tongwen Zhizhi", "The Meaning of Measurement", and "The Comparative Meaning of Yuanrong" have been translated into Chinese and can be studied by interested students."

Hou Yao himself was a liberal arts student and was not good at science, but when he heard the title of the book that Matteo Ricci said, he knew that he was not simple: "Okay, Matteo Ricci, I will now officially appoint you as the Pope of Eastern Protestant Christianity. , before the project research is completed, your main task is to complete the project research. After completion, your main task is to teach and translate the several books you mentioned. If you can complete all these projects within ten years, This official can allow you to go to any place in Daxia to preach.

Long Huamin, I appoint you as the bishop and priest of Bao'an Cathedral.From now on, Baoan's ban on missionaries has been lifted, and you can recruit missionaries who are not hostile to Daxia to join the great plan of Eastern Protestantism.But please remember one thing, if another tragedy in Manila happens, I will work a hundred times to recover the blood debt.

In addition, due to the previous incident involving Pope Francis, Baoan Cathedral has been suspended for a long time. Now the project has only completed part of the construction such as infrastructure and land preparation. The previous construction party has now done other projects. I don’t know if the construction plan is still there. I'm afraid you have to redesign a new construction plan. "

Matteo Ricci and Long Huamin almost jumped up excitedly: "It's my lord, the Lord will be with you..."

……

Early the next morning.

Hou Yao summoned the construction team that had previously contracted the Baoan Cathedral project.

Sure enough, a few years later, they did not retain the construction drawings from that year. Now that they have taken over the water plant project, they are unable to take on the church again.

In the end, except for the address, the entire Oriental Protestant project was basically torn down and started all over again.

Matteo Ricci and Long Huamin discussed the new construction plan all night.

Subsequently, the construction of the project was handed over to Long Huamin, and Matteo Ricci followed Hou Yao to the most mysterious place in Bao'an County.

Baoan Military Factory.

"Everything here is extremely confidential and is never allowed to be disclosed to anyone. Although the project I want you to do is not difficult, it has certain risks. Your task is to debug an explosive agent. There are three main raw materials. As for I don’t know if other materials are needed, so you have to do your own research.”

When he heard that he was debugging explosive chemicals, Matteo Ricci breathed a sigh of relief. As an alchemist, it is common to face explosions: "Okay, sir, everything I see here will be regarded as a dream. Please rest assured, sir. As for explosive agents, I have experience in debugging them, so there should be no problem."

"Very good, I'm waiting for your good news..."