Yangmano is a typical white man.

He has fair skin, golden hair, and blue eyes. Although he is over fifty years old, has a beard, wears a robe and a coat, and is dressed like a Ming Dynasty scholar, he still looks different.

Seeing Wu Zongrui, Yang Manuo was stunned for a moment, then he clasped his fists and bowed his head before speaking.

"Yang Mano has met the prefect..."

Yangmano speaks Chinese fluently and enunciates clearly.

"Mr. Yangmano's Mandarin speaking is very good, I admire him."

"Prefect, I came to the government office just for the missionary work of the Catholic Christian Church..."

The missionary's straightforwardness was well-known in the Ming Dynasty, and the same was true for Matteo Ricci back then. Although he suffered many setbacks, he still did not change his original intention.

"Don't worry, Mr. Yangmano still talks about Catholic doctrine. I want to listen and understand it."

Hearing what Wu Zongrui said, Yang Manuo's energy suddenly came to him. He quickly took out a Bible from his arms and carefully opened one of the chapters.

"Your Majesty, I am a Catholic who has come to the Ming Dynasty to preach. Naturally, I want you to know the situation. Catholics believe in God and Jesus Christ, and respect Mary as the Virgin. The basic tenets of my Catholicism are: God the Father transformed into heaven and earth and created human beings;

The Son of God was born as a human, redeemed mankind, suffered, resurrected, ascended to heaven, and came again at the end of the world; the Holy Spirit sanctified mankind...The human body will be resurrected at the end of the world, and will accept the judgment of Christ, and good people will enjoy eternal blessings

, the wicked will suffer eternal suffering..."

Yangmano kept talking and began to explain.

Zeng Yongzhong on the side couldn't help but look at Wu Zongrui. He couldn't listen to Yang Mano's explanation.

It took half an hour for Yangmano to finish what he said.

Wu Zongrui has a certain understanding of Catholicism. He almost stayed up all night last night, searching for memories about Catholicism in his mind. At the same time, he also carefully read the documents introducing the Catholic Christian Church provided by Zeng Yongzhong.

Before meeting Yang Manuo, Wu Zongrui must have a basic idea. He has no intention of arguing with Yang Mano, nor does he intend to completely suppress Yang Mano and the Catholic Church, but he must show his knowledge in front of Yang Mano.

.

Convincing talents with reason is the kingly way.

"Mr. Yang Mano has said so much. It must be very hard. Drink some tea and moisten your throat."

"Thank you, sir. What I just said was not very detailed..."

"I have already said it in detail. Mr. Yang Manuo has given me some understanding of the Catholic Church. However, I have a question. I would like to ask Mr. Yang Manuo. You traveled thousands of miles to come to our country, Ming Dynasty, to spread Catholicism. Do you know?

My Confucianism inherited from the Ming Dynasty."

Yangmano shook his head with a blank expression.

"Sir, I don't know much about Confucianism. I am a missionary. I believe in Catholicism. I represent God's will. I came to the Ming Dynasty to spread God's thoughts..."

"Mr. Yang Manuo, this is your fault. As the saying goes, do as the Romans do. Since you came to the Ming Dynasty to spread Catholic teachings, did you first understand Confucianism, or Confucianism, so that you can compare the similarities and differences between Confucianism and Catholicism?

Even if you preach throughout the Ming Dynasty, you can convince people who are ready to believe in Catholicism."

Yang Manuo looked at Wu Zongrui and still shook his head in confusion.

"Sir, I don't need to understand Confucianism, I just need to spread Catholic teachings."

Wu Zongrui looked at Yang Manuo and his expression became serious.

"Master Yang Manuo, I am a court official. You have been here in Ming Dynasty for many years. You must know that I am a Jinshi with two rankings. I passed the provincial examination, the general examination and the palace examination, and was named an official in the imperial examination. I dare not say that I am proficient in Confucianism.

The doctrine is at least clear. Now I will tell you what I understand about Catholic doctrine. If there is anything wrong in what I say, please point it out."

Yang Manuo looked at Wu Zongrui with a look of disbelief on his face.

Wu Zongrui didn't care about Yang Manuo's expression and spoke slowly.

"Catholicism is the one, most holy, most catholic church handed down from the apostles, and is called the universal catholic church."

"Catholic teachings can be summarized into five major aspects."

“First, the Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are three in one. The Father is in heaven and is called Heavenly Father. He is supreme and dominates everything. The Son is Jesus Christ, born of the Father, and appointed by the Father to come to earth.

, to save people from suffering. The Holy Spirit is emanated from the Father and the Son, enlightening people’s wisdom and faith, and making people abandon evil and do good.”

"Second, God's creation. This is very simple. Everything in the world was created by God, including humans."

"Third, the theory of original sin is that Adam and Eve, the first ancestors of mankind, could not resist the temptation, disobeyed God's command, and ate the forbidden fruit. This sin became a sin for mankind. Therefore, the babies born also have original sin and need to be redeemed."

"Fourth, redemption. Because Adam and Eve were guilty, all humans are guilty and cannot redeem themselves. Therefore, Jesus Christ, the Son, died for the sins of mankind, thus redeeming mankind."

"Fifth, purgatory says that after death, pure and undefiled souls enter heaven, souls with serious sins go to hell, and other souls enter purgatory, suffer temporarily, and enter heaven after redemption is completed."

"As for missionary monasticism, it is divided into monastic orders, mendicant orders and the Society of Jesus. Mr. Yangmano belongs to the Society of Jesus. The Society of Jesus has strict disciplines and strict institutions and encourages believers to enter the world to protect the interests of the Catholic Church."

"Catholicism advocates that divine rights are greater than secular rights, which led to several Western Crusades to protect Christianity."

"So far, many of you in the West have also begun to doubt the supreme power of the Church, which has led to the failure of the Church's attempt to unify and lead the entire West."

...

Yang Manuo looked at Wu Zongrui, his open mouth no longer knowing how to close it.

Zeng Yongzhong looked at Wu Zongrui, his face turned pale and his body was trembling slightly.

"Mr. Yangmano, my explanation of Catholic doctrine is quite satisfactory."

Yangmano's body trembled for a moment, and he finally came to his senses.

"Your Excellency's depth of understanding of doctrine is beyond my expectation. This reassures me that the Catholic Christian Church will definitely be able to expand in Huai'an Prefecture..."

"Wait a minute."

Wu Zongrui waved his hand.

"Since I have a fairly clear understanding of the Catholic situation, I wonder what Mr. Yangmano has to say about Confucianism, or Confucianism. Let me hear it."

Yang Manuo was speechless and looked at Wu Zongrui, unable to speak for a long time.

Wu Zongrui smiled, looked at Mr. Yangmano, and spoke again.

"Our ancestors have a saying, you can fight a hundred battles if you know yourself and the enemy. Mr. Yang Manuo has been here in our country for many years, and he only wants to preach and let Catholicism take root in our country. This is not a bad thing, but Mr. Yang Manuo must at least respect our Confucianism

Doctrine and Confucianism, since I want to preach in the Ming Dynasty, I don’t know about the Confucianism in the Ming Dynasty, how to preach.”

"Confucianism believes that human beings are originally good by nature. Catholicism believes that people are born with original sin and need redemption. This is the biggest contradiction. Secondly, Catholic clergy are not allowed to get married, and there is a clear line between them and the laity. Devout believers in Catholicism must also abstain from sexual intercourse.

Our ancestors said that there are three types of unfilial piety, the greatest of which is not having offspring. This is also an irreconcilable contradiction. Mr. Yangmano does not pay attention to the difference between the two and blindly promotes Catholicism. Do you know what the consequences will be."

"Mr. Yang Manuo preached in our Ming Dynasty and was expelled. Now that the Emperor Shengming has allowed Western missionaries to preach in our Ming Dynasty, shouldn't you, the Catholic Church, also squat down a little and understand our Confucianism?

And Confucianism."

"My Ming Dynasty has a broad mind and embraces all rivers. It doesn't matter if Catholicism enters our Ming Dynasty. I wonder if the Catholic Church should also make a gesture and learn from our Ming Dynasty's broad realm and understand our Confucianism and Confucian thoughts."

There were drops of sweat on Yang Manuo's forehead. After several years of preaching, he was eloquent, but in front of Wu Zongrui, he was speechless.

The shocked expression on Zeng Yongzhong's face did not completely disappear, but was replaced by an expression of admiration.

After a while, Yangmano finally spoke.

"I still need to understand your words carefully before I can answer them."

"Okay, after you go back, think about what I said."

Yangmano simply stood up and prepared to leave.

"Mr. Yangmano, I hope you will think carefully about what I said today, but I also have something to ask you."

"If you have anything else to ask of me, sir, I'm just a missionary of the Catholic Christian Church. I'm afraid I won't be able to handle your affairs well."

"Mr. Yang Manuo, I have said so much today. As long as you understand the truth, it will be of great benefit to you missionaries. You have received the benefits, so at least you need to repay me some."

Yangmano lowered his head and thought for a moment, then raised his head.

"What you said today touched me a lot. I really understand some truths. What you said makes sense. I also know that you should not be disrespectful in return. I will try my best to meet your requirements."

"Mr. Yangmano knows that it is not polite to reciprocate, which is very good. Although I have different views on Catholic doctrine, I am very interested in Western learning, such as astronomy, geography, calendar, mathematics, physics, etc.

I lack such talents around me, but there are many such people around Yang Mano. Even in the Ming Dynasty, there are many such people in Spain and Portugal. Can Mr. Yang Mano introduce some such talents to me?

, the more the better.”

After Wu Zongrui finished speaking, Yang Manuo was a little shocked.

"Do you also know about astronomy and geography?"

"I know a bit about astronomy, geography, calendar, physics, including military aspects, but I'm just not as good as you. I feel ashamed."

"Your Majesty is too humble. If your Majesty really needs talents in this field, I can introduce some. There are many in Macau now, but they need money to ensure their livelihood."

Wu Zongrui smiled.

"Don't worry about the remuneration. I completely guarantee that they will have enough food and clothing, and they can bring their families."

Yang Manuo left Yin Hotel.

Zeng Yongzhong looked at Wu Zongrui and waited for a long time before he spoke.

"Since when have you become so familiar with Catholicism?"
Chapter completed!