You can search "Iron-Blooded Dynasty: Apocalypse of the Ming Dynasty" on Baidu to find the latest chapter!
The papal envoy mentioned by Zhu Youxiao is Bishop Andrei!
It has been nearly a year since this special envoy came to Ming Dynasty, but because the negotiations with Ming Dynasty were not over, he did not go back!
In fact, Bishop Andre himself was unwilling to return to Europe, so the negotiations with Ming Dynasty made no substantial progress at all!
Similarly, Daming was too busy fighting to have any time to talk to him, so the negotiation just kept dragging on!
And Bishop Andrei found that the longer he lived in Daming, the more he felt that the first half of his life was in vain!
Of course, Bishop Andre did not just enjoy life in Ming Dynasty. He dutifully wrote a letter to the Pope six months ago to let the Pope know the situation in Ming Dynasty and the negotiation conditions of Ming Dynasty!
This is what Bishop Andrei wrote in that letter!
Your Majesty the Pope:
Your most heartfelt greetings from your faithful servant Andre Fernando!
I have arrived in Ming Dynasty safely and successfully met with His Majesty the Emperor of Ming Dynasty. At the same time, I am also having arduous negotiations with Ming Dynasty officials!
However, because the Ming Dynasty is now fighting the Tatars (the collective name of the steppe peoples in Europe), the negotiations have been terminated. This also gives me the opportunity to tell you about the situation of the Ming Dynasty and the negotiation conditions proposed by the Ming Dynasty!
Your Majesty, please forgive me. Although Europeans have dedicated their most devout faith to God, God has spread his glory to the land of Ming Dynasty!
You can¡¯t imagine that in this country, everyone lives like a European noble. They have enough food, decent clothes, everyone is polite, and their faces are as rosy as apples in autumn!
The nobles of the Ming Dynasty are more like European kings! No! Please forgive my inappropriate metaphor, because most kings in Europe are not as wealthy as the nobles of the Ming Dynasty, and even those kings are not as rich as the landowners and wealthy businessmen of the Ming Dynasty!
You can't imagine that a count can own thousands of acres of land and earn millions of taels of silver every year. They wear the most luxurious silks, use the most delicate porcelain, eat the most exquisite food, and live a life only in heaven. Only then can we have a life!
I once received a banquet from a Ming official who believed in God. Because of his outstanding contributions to technology, this official received a generous reward from the Ming Emperor!
His mansion is comparable to a king¡¯s castle, with at least a hundred servants serving his daily life. In his study, I saw thousands of books, and glass products as expensive as gold, but they are just ordinary utensils in his mansion!
At that banquet that I will never forget, I tasted delicious food that I have never tasted before. I believe that the high-ranking chef must be a messenger of God, otherwise it would be impossible to cook such exquisite and tempting food!
And all of this is so insignificant compared with the young, handsome, and brave emperor of Ming Dynasty!
Please forgive me, my noble Majesty, I have to use the words "you can't imagine" again!
Because the luxury of that young emperor is truly unimaginable!
His palace is like a city. In fact, that magnificent palace is called the "Forbidden City". Although I still cannot understand the meaning of this name, it does not prevent me from being extremely shocked by its size and beauty!
There are more than 30,000 people living in that city, and these people are all servants of the young emperor and his family!
The young emperor can be said to be the richest man in the world. According to the calculation of a French businessman who is proficient in accounting and familiar with trade, the emperor earns at least one thousand to fifteen million taels of silver every year!
This number is only the most conservative estimate, and the actual situation may be much higher than this number!
The most enviable thing is that His Majesty the Emperor has supreme power in the Ming Dynasty. Anyone who sees him in the Ming Dynasty must kneel down devoutly!
Anyone who shows even the slightest disrespect to the emperor will lose their life, and even the entire family will be executed!
If His Majesty the Emperor can believe in God, then the gospel of God will be spread in the land of Ming Dynasty without any effort!
It¡¯s a pity that although His Majesty the Emperor is familiar with God¡¯s teachings, he dismisses them!
In fact, the attitude of everyone in the Ming Dynasty towards gods is puzzling. I have seen with my own eyes an old woman who worshiped devoutly in front of the icon of God, and then went to worship other gods in the blink of an eye!
I asked the old woman why she did this! forWhy not devote your faith devoutly to a god!
Her answer shocked me so much!
She said: "I only worship one god, what if he doesn't bless me? So I worship all the gods, and there will always be a god who will bless me!"
Through careful observation, I finally discovered that in the eyes of the Ming Dynasty people, their worshiping gods and dedicating money to gods was not out of pious belief, but more like a transaction!
So in the Ming Dynasty, there was a religious ceremony called "voting"!
That is to say, if a person needs to pray for God¡¯s blessing for something, he will put forward his wish to God and the reward he will give to God after the wish is realized!
If his wish comes true, he will donate the pre-arranged money to the god he prays for. When his wish fails to come true, he will ignore that god!
Of course, there were also clergy like priests in the Ming Dynasty, such as Buddhist monks and Taoist priests. They were all knowledgeable and extremely professional clergy!
Similarly, they are also extremely devout to the gods they believe in, and usually serve the gods they believe in for life!
But similarly, they do not exclude other gods. I personally saw a monk and a Taoist priest sitting together and drinking tea!
They discussed profound religious topics and showed great respect for each other¡¯s gods!
So I came to the conclusion that if the Celestial Lord Religion wanted to spread in the Ming Dynasty, the teachings must be changed to better suit the needs of the people of the Ming Dynasty. However, in doing so, the Celestial Lord Religion would inevitably be localized by the Ming Dynasty!
I have also thought about whether I could use force to conquer this land and force the Ming people to give up other beliefs and only dedicate their beliefs and wealth to the Almighty God!
But when I was allowed to visit the army of the wealthy emperor, I felt that this idea was dangerous and ridiculous, because the emperor's army numbered as many as 100,000 people and was extremely well-equipped!
What makes people despair is that the elite army of 100,000 people is just the private army of His Majesty the Emperor. In fact, the Ming Dynasty still has nearly one million soldiers, which is probably more than the population of some small European countries!
Relying on such powerful force, His Majesty the Ming Emperor proposed that all of Asia belong to the Ming Dynasty. At the same time, the Ming Dynasty respected the interests of European colonies around the world and allowed European merchants to conduct legal trade in the Ming Dynasty!
Although it is difficult for the Holy See to restrict the behavior of European countries, I personally prefer to sign such an agreement with Ming Dynasty and carry out various cooperation with Ming Dynasty in the name of the Holy See!
If the Holy See can reach full cooperation with the Ming Dynasty officials, then the Holy See will gain huge wealth, thereby getting rid of the current difficulties faced by the Holy See and consolidating the Holy See's position in Europe!
For the benefit of the Holy See, I will continue to stay in Ming Dynasty and strive for sufficient benefits for the Holy See. At the same time, I also implore His Majesty the Pope to grant me the right to sign agreements on behalf of the Holy See, so that I can sign relevant agreements with Ming Dynasty as soon as possible!
Finally, I wish you good health!
Your loyal servant Andre Fernando!
It has been half a year since this letter was sent, but Bishop Andre has not received a reply yet!
In fact, according to Bishop Andre¡¯s calculations, if everything goes well, it will take at least two or three months for him to receive a reply!
But while Bishop Andrei was waiting for a reply from the Holy See, he got a decree from the Ming Emperor to have him appear in court on September 15th! (Remember the website address: www.hlnovel.com