Father John and Priest Nader are also troubled by the missionary work. After all, they know that there is something wrong with their missionary methods, but they can't think of a good solution. Now they hear that Zhou Chong actually says there is a better way to help them preach.

This made both of them very happy. Father John leaned forward and said excitedly: "Please speak with Mr. Zhou!"

Zhou Chong did not speak immediately, but took a leisurely sip of tea. It seemed to be awesome, but in fact he was planning in his heart how to catch Father John.

"Father John, you and Priest Nader have been here for a year. I guess you are very familiar with the customs and customs of our Ming Dynasty. Speaking of which, there are two main religions in our Central Plains, one is our local Taoism, and the other is the same.

One is Buddhism from India, but both Taoism and Buddhism have been spread in the Central Plains for hundreds or thousands of years. It can be said that it has laid a firm foundation in the hearts of the people. With your foreign religion,

And without any foundation, it is absolutely a difficult task to preach in places such as the Ming Dynasty!”

After hearing Zhou Chong's analysis, Father John and his two nodded repeatedly. After nearly a year of understanding, they really thought that Zhou Chong said that Taoism and Buddhism have long been deeply rooted in people's hearts and have a large number of them.

Believers, even among the princes and nobles of the Ming Dynasty, also had supporters of these two religions.

"It is difficult for you to spread religion in the Ming Dynasty, but there is not no chance. Now, for you, the most important thing is to gain a firm foothold in the Ming Dynasty, and if you want to gain a firm foothold, you must do two things.

, The first is to build a church that belongs to you, and the second is to have certain believers."

Zhou Chong continued to analyze, but at this time, Priest Nader couldn't help but speak, "Dear young master, I agree with these two things you said, but it is not very realistic for us. First

One thing is to build a church, but our doctrine stipulates that we priests cannot own property, so the cost of building a church is generally donated by believers, but we have no believers at all now. So these two things are simply one thing for us.

In this way, if we want to gain a foothold in the Ming Dynasty, we must have certain believers, but if we want to gain a foothold, we cannot meet the two conditions for gaining a foothold, so we will fall into a vicious cycle. This problem is probably

No one can untie except the Almighty God!”

Priest Nader analyzed Zhou Chong's words from his own situation, which was very reasonable. However, after hearing this, Zhou Chong smiled faintly and said, "Prince Nader, we have an old saying in the Middle Origins called following the local customs, and there is also an old saying that adapts to local conditions.

If you want to preach in the Central Plains, you must make changes based on the situation in our Central Plains. This is your example. Now you can take a look at the Buddhism in our Central Plains and the Buddhism that was born and raised in India. In terms of doctrines, etc.

A huge change has occurred, but it is precisely because of this that Buddhism has developed so vigorously in the Central Plains, and even overwhelmed the local Taoism. The believers that have so far may have more than the total population of Europe. Are you not moved

Is it?"

Zhou Chong did not speak loudly. Europe during this period had just emerged from the shadow of the Black Death, and its population had dropped sharply. Although Zhou Chong did not know the specific number, it was definitely much smaller than that of the Ming Dynasty. Buddhism also

It is the most important religion in the Ming Dynasty, and its influence is absolutely beyond imagination. It is not an exaggeration to say that more than half of the population of the Ming Dynasty are Buddhists. Therefore, he said that the number of Buddhists in the Ming Dynasty is more than the total population in Europe, even if it is a bit exaggerated.

, but it is not far from the facts.

Sure enough, when Zhou Chong said that the Buddhists in the Ming Dynasty were almost the same as the total population in Europe, this made Father John and Priest Nader look fanatic in their eyes, among which Father John couldn't wait to ask:

"Mr. Zhou, I would like to ask, what is the total population of the Ming Dynasty? We have always wanted to figure out this question, but few people know it?"

Zhou Chong smiled when he heard this. How many people does the Ming Dynasty have? Not to mention ordinary people, I'm afraid even the Emperor Zhengde of the Ming Dynasty and several cabinet ministers could not explain clearly. After all, the Ming Dynasty had no future generations.

The population census can only be estimated based on the population reported by the state government below. However, due to various considerations and the existence of a large number of hidden households without household registration, the number of people reported by the state government is not only untrue.

, and even has a huge difference from the real data, and it is impossible to count at all. However, according to the data learned from later generations and his own estimates, the total population of the Ming Dynasty during this period was definitely more than 100 million!

However, since he wanted to fool Father John and the others, Zhou Chong naturally had to talk about this data in large quantities, so he thought for a while after hearing this, as if he was really calculating the population in his heart, and finally said: "

Father John, at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, we had a general investigation of the population of the country. The population was counted at that time at about 50 to 60 million. However, because of the wars for many years, we had just driven away the vicious Mongolians, and the court was in the country.

Many places are ineffective in rule, and many people have not been found out, so the real number is definitely much higher than the ones counted by the imperial court. It is estimated that the population at that time should be more than 100 million. Now, after nearly two hundred years of development, it is estimated that the total population of the country is

It should be more than 200 million!"

Zhou Chong said true or falsely. Many of the numbers were guessed randomly. No one could prove that he was lying anyway. Father John and Priest Nader heard Zhou Chong say that the population of Ming Dynasty was more than 200 million, and now they are all

In an exclaim, their total population in Europe is probably less than half of the population of the Ming Dynasty. If they can really develop a parish in the Ming Dynasty, I am afraid that the Pope will personally award them!

Thinking of this, Father John and Priest Nader discussed a few words in a low voice, and finally Father John spoke: "Mr. Zhou's previous suggestions are indeed very pertinent. I also think we should make some changes based on the situation of the Ming Dynasty.

But we are outsiders after all, and we are not particularly familiar with the situation in the Ming Dynasty. I wonder if Mr. Zhou, do you have any good suggestions?"

Seeing that Father John finally took the initiative to ask for help from him, Zhou Chong couldn't help but have a faint smile on his lips. He coughed lightly and said with a smile: "I was not very concerned about religion." Interested, but as two friends, I have a little suggestion. There is an old saying in our original Chinese: "Talking is worse than teaching by words." The reason why you have never been able to open up the situation of missionary is that you just rely on your words to say that it is not. The most important thing to use is to let others see the benefits of your Catholicism!”

"But... but how should we 'teach'?" Father John complained about the old sayings in his heart, but he asked with a smile.

"This matter is simple. Our Chamber of Commerce is in a period of rapid development during this period. In addition to fleet matters, I plan to expand the scale of some industries on land, such as our shipyard, which has always been the case.

We are expanding the scale of recruitment of personnel, but our Ming Dynasty implemented a sea ban many years ago, which led to a serious shortage of shipbuilders today. So I am planning to recruit a group of European shipbuilders through you!"

When Zhou Chong suddenly talked about the shipbuilding, it had nothing to do with their missionary work. This made Father John stunned at first. He was about to say something, but Zhou Chong waved his hand and signaled them to listen to him.

"Ship is just the foundation of maritime transportation. Our Ming Dynasty shipbuilding technology and European shipbuilding technology have their own strengths, so I want to combine the shipbuilding technology of both parties to build larger, faster and safer sea ships. If you can

Recruiting these craftsmen, our chamber of commerce will naturally be willing to provide the best treatment, and can even help them build a church, which will be managed by Father John and you two. In this way, your church will often go to worship if there are believers.

, and then we can set an example for the people of the Ming Dynasty around us. Under this subtle influence, I believe that there will definitely be someone who will follow the glory of the Lord in the future with you!"

After Zhou Chong finished speaking the above, he kept smiling at the other party. Preaching and building churches were all pretexts. His real purpose was to recruit a group of craftsmen from shipbuilding or other industries through Father John, and even if there were any.

If possible, it is best to recruit some artillery craftsmen so that the chamber of commerce can cast their own artillery.

Smuggling is a very dangerous industry. When encountering other smuggling ships at sea, fires may occur. Therefore, the ship workers on the ship are not only responsible for handling the ship, but also the most important armed force of the fleet. Of course, people alone cannot do it, the ship must

There are also weapons, and those ordinary swords are of course not a problem, but ordinary armed merchant ships must have other large weapons, of course, artillery, but the Ming Dynasty strictly controls firearms, so it is in the smuggling fleet.

Very few can equip artillery, most of which are old cannons eliminated from the Qianhu Station on the coast. As for the craftsmen who cast artillery, there is no one in the entire Shuangyu Port.

After listening to the beautiful scenes Zhou Chong described to him, Father John and Priest Nader also showed a heart-warming expression. If it was really like Zhou Chong said, they could build a church here in Shuangyu Port, and then

Some believers from Europe often come to church for worship. After they grow up, they will definitely attract some people from the Ming Dynasty to believe in religion. At that time, they will take the first step of success on the road to preaching the Ming Dynasty, and may even be because of this.
Chapter completed!