Nanjing, Fengtian Hall in the Forbidden City.

"Your Majesty, this country of Spain is tens of thousands of miles away from China. It takes a year to go back and forth. Moreover, the Spanish country is known as the empire of the world in the West and has an extremely vast territory. Its monarch is also busy with many things and is deeply involved in the disputes between European countries. I am afraid he does not have the energy.

, it is not so quick to react to the changes in the east, where the Chinese continent is located. The affairs of uniting the Eastern captives and Korea are mostly the responsibility of the Governor-General of the Philippines in Spain."

It was Tang Ruowang who was speaking. He had just been assigned a new job, the deputy director of Taixue. The Qintian Supervisor he was in charge of had now been merged into the newly opened Taixue. And he himself was also one of the popular candidates for the seventh bachelor's degree of Taixue.

It's not that easy to get a bachelor's degree of 17, you have to take an exam! And it's much harder than taking the exam for a bachelor's degree!

Not only must the assessment focus on mathematics, but also the principles in "Zi Lun Ge Wu Pian". It cannot be passed by rote memorization (it is enough for Taipei students to memorize by rote). You must also understand one or two of them and write a paper.

, and also need to conduct a defense.

Therefore, it will take another two or three years for the first class of Seven Scholars to be produced, and the great Confucians must have time to study "Zi Lun Ge Wu Chapter" and "New Arithmetic Science"! It is so difficult, and it is self-study. I don't know if it will be possible.

Will it make those elderly scholars cry?

Therefore, at present, Taixue only has officials, no scholars, and no students. It is almost a shell to appease the scholars in the southeast. And "Zi Lun Ge Wu Pian" and "Xin Shu Xue" are also used to appease the scholars in the southeast to a certain extent.

Go and study hard, and if you excel in your studies, you will become an official!

Tang Ruowang's foundation in Western learning was much better than that of ordinary Confucian scholars, but he had been stumped by several exercises in "New Arithmeticology" in the past two days. When he was praying to God to give him some wisdom, he was summoned to Fengtian Hall by Zhu Cihong

Let’s discuss the issue of the “Western Qing Alliance”.

Tang Ruowang was shocked when he heard the news of the "Western Qing Alliance". He was even more surprised than when he saw "Zi Lun Ge Wu" and "New Arithmetic". He really didn't expect that Confucius' achievements in philosophy far exceeded those of Asia.

Aristotle! Moreover, "New Arithmetic" contains a lot of algebra and geometry. I wonder where Emperor Zhu learned it from?

However, the emergence of "Zi Lun Ge Wu Pian" and "New Arithmeticology" are nothing compared to the alliance between Spain and the Qing Dynasty. At least for the Jesuit cause in China, the "Western Qing Alliance" can be said to be a major crisis

.

Spain is one of the most important pillars of the Holy See!

If Spain and the Ming Dynasty were hostile or even went to war, then the Holy See would most likely be involved in the conflict, and the Jesuits would have to obey the Pope unconditionally. Once the Holy See sided with Spain and opposed the Ming Dynasty, the Jesuits would become enemies of the Ming Empire!

Therefore, Tang Ruowang had to try to reconcile the contradictions between the two sides and avoid the outbreak of all-out confrontation and war.

Zhu Cihong asked: "Then will Philip IV approve the Western Qing Alliance concluded by the Governor of the Philippines?"

In fact, there is no "Western Qing Alliance". How could it be so easy for two big powers to form an alliance? Without the consent of King Philip IV of Spain, the Governor of the Philippines would not dare to form such an alliance!

The envoy sent by Chacon to Beijing only made a request to set up a commercial mission in North Korea and station a representative in Beijing. He also expressed his willingness to provide advanced firearms and military advisors to the Qing Dynasty.

Spain and the Qing Dynasty are still in the stage of making friends, and it is still early to form an alliance!

"Absolutely impossible!" Tang Ruowang said, "The Spanish governor of the Philippines has no right to conclude an alliance. According to Spanish law, the colonial governor is the king's plenipotentiary representative in the colony. According to the king's instructions and the instructions of the Council of Affairs in India and other places, he controls the affairs of the colony.

Administrative, military, financial and religious matters, the right to appoint officials and church leaders within the jurisdiction, and participate in the trial of major judicial cases. This does not include diplomatic powers such as the conclusion of alliances and declaration of war!"

Zhu Cixiang nodded: "So I hope it is a misunderstanding, but if there are too many such misunderstandings, it will inevitably cause the two countries to fall into a state of full hostility! So I want to send a plenipotentiary delegation to Europe to visit the Netherlands and England.

, France, Spain, Portugal and other countries, and went to Rome to visit the Pope and the President of the Society of Jesus, and reached an agreement with the spread of the Roman Catholic Church in the Ming Dynasty and the vassal states of the Ming Dynasty.

I hope to obtain the patronage rights of the Roman Catholic Church in the so-called East Asian continent!"

The so-called "protection power" is the right and obligation granted by the Holy See to the secular government to protect the spread of Catholic Christianity in non-Christian countries. It is a preferential privilege in the Catholic missionary career.

The secular government with this kind of privilege has gained the right to dominate the Catholic churches in the areas it "protects". One of its important powers is to recommend bishops to the Pope. Although the power of appointing bishops nominally belongs to the Pope, the Pope

Only priests recommended by the secular government can be appointed. In addition, missionaries arriving in areas "protected" by a secular government must also register and obtain approval from the secular government.

In other words, once Zhu Cihong has the right to protect the church, he can dominate the Catholic forces on the East Asian continent!

"Your Majesty," Tang Ruowang looked at Emperor Zhu in surprise, "but you are not a believer! If you are willing to be baptized and become a believer in the Lord, of course you can become the protector of the Catholic Church in East Asia."

"Father Tang," Zhu Cihong interrupted Tang Ruowang, "you are wrong. Although I have not been baptized, I am a believer in heaven! According to Father Matteo Ricci's explanation, the God of Christianity is the heaven or the two principles of heaven among us Chinese.

Both are the source of all things in the universe! However, Father Long Huamin’s later explanation, calling God God, is completely wrong! As a protector, I do not agree with Long Huamin’s wrong explanation!”

Tang Ruowang was speechless, because Zhu Cixiang was right! Matteo Ricci understood Chinese culture better than Long Huamin, and of course he knew that the Chinese people’s heaven and principles and the Western God actually mean the same thing. God’s statement is wrong, God

The literal interpretation of "is the emperor of heaven, which emperor does God mean?" Long Huamin explained this way, either because he was looking for trouble to establish his own prestige, or because he was unwilling to connect Christianity and Neo-Confucianism and equate God with heavenly principles, which might damage the prestige of the church.

Because the foundation of Neo-Confucianism is the unity of heaven and man, this means that people can communicate directly with heaven without going through priests or becoming religious!

Zhu Cixiang added: "In addition, Pope Innocent X did not seek my opinion when he issued an encyclical prohibiting Chinese believers from participating in ancestor worship and Confucius worship. Therefore, it violated my actual right to protect religion, which is invalid and wrong!

"

"But you are not yet a protector"

"I have the right to protect the church!" Zhu Cixiang said, "Because the King of Portugal has granted the right to protect the church in the Ming Dynasty to the Portuguese Governor of Macau, and the Portuguese Governor of Macau is also my vassal, so I have the right to protect the church! Now I

I hope the Pope in Rome can officially recognize my patronage!"

this

It seems that you are right!

Macau is now a servant and two masters, loyal to Portugal and the Ming Dynasty at the same time. Moreover, the sovereignty of the land of Macau is undisputed and belongs to the Ming Dynasty! Therefore, the Governor of Macau can only call the Portuguese of Macau. The Governor of Macau is a Portuguese, not Macau.

of land.

Because the Portuguese in Macau claimed vassal status from the Ming Dynasty, they were allowed to live in Macau and pay tribute!

Although Macau's actual status is still a Portuguese colony, the Governor of Macau is still appointed by the Portuguese King and is controlled by the Governor of Indian Affairs in Goa. However, legally, the Governor of Macau is also a vassal of the Ming Emperor.

Since he is a vassal, the Governor of Macau must obey the emperor's will. And in the past few years, the Portuguese Governor-General of Macau (called the Macau Council in the Ming Dynasty) has been obedient and loyal, contributing to the founding of the Ming Dynasty and the introduction of Western culture and technology.

Contributed a lot.
Chapter completed!