Chapter 478: Where Is Nicolas Trigault?

The Emperor had entrusted this matter to him, and Wei Zhongxian was stirred with excitement inside.

As long as this affair stirred up a commotion, he was confident he could expand his authority and absolutely suppress the Embroidered Uniform Guard by a notch.

Most crucially, this was truly a major case this time—he had planned it for so long, and now he could finally set it in motion.

Once the plan succeeded, that would be the moment for him to turn the tables.

Wei Zhongxian walked outward, mulling it over in his mind, his eyes growing brighter and brighter.

This time, he would let everyone see his abilities! Those people clamored all day long—what did they know?

In the capital, there was a place where Catholics gathered in relatively large numbers, and that place was the Catholic library.

In order to spread their faith in the Great Ming, the Catholics had devised all sorts of methods, and among them, the better one was to spread Western knowledge through books. Under such circumstances, there would be better results. This had also been discovered after repeated experiments.

Now in the capital, there were two men in charge among the Catholics—one was Guo Jingju, and the other was Nicolas Trigault.

Most crucially, these two men were on good terms with others; people like Xu Guangqi, Li Zhizao, Shen Tingyun, and others had very close relations with them, even spending time together constantly. The two had even once resided in their homes.

After investigating these connections, Wei Zhongxian prepared to work his schemes from this angle.

Once the Emperor approved his proposal and sternly punished Guo Jingju and Nicolas Trigault, this matter would become interesting. He wondered how they would choose when the time came—Wei Zhongxian was quite looking forward to it.

Meanwhile, inside the imperial palace.

Zhu Youxiao was also waiting quietly.

As for this man Nicolas Trigault, Zhu Youxiao had actually heard of him before—and in his previous life.

Zhu Youxiao had once sighed with deep emotion over him, but it was for the sake of the Great Ming, not for a man called Nicolas Trigault.

Because Matteo Ricci's deeds had been reported back to Europe, European missionaries were extremely excited. This greatly stirred their hearts, driving these people to become particularly fervent, all of them wanting to come to the East to preach.

Nicolas Trigault was one of them. He followed the path Matteo Ricci had opened, bringing many books to strengthen his communication with the Great Ming, hoping to move the Great Ming's emperor and ministers, and to gain their permission to preach in the capital. This point was very important.

By now, Nicolas Trigault had already come to the Great Ming for the second time. He had made very thorough preparations—not only bringing these Western learning talents to interest later generations, but also bringing an entire library of books to China. These books were all fine editions, none of them duplicates, encompassing European classical masterpieces and the latest achievements in theology, philosophy, science, literature, and the arts since the Renaissance movement.

In order to raise funds for new books and instruments, Nicolas Trigault had traveled through Italy, France, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, and other countries, finally collecting over seven thousand fine-bound volumes, all of which he brought to the Great Ming.

Besides these books, all sorts of instruments were also brought by him to the Great Ming.

Later, Nicolas Trigault died of illness in Hangzhou, and the plan to introduce the "Seven Thousand Western Books" to China's intellectual circles fell through.

Still later, Li Zhizao, Wang Zheng, and others translated a few of these works in fragments, while most of the books gathered dust and quietly disappeared.

It was not until 1938, when the Beiping Catholic Church was organizing its library, that several hundred surviving volumes from the "Seven Thousand" were discovered, including Copernicus's *On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres* and Kepler's *Epitome of Copernican Astronomy*, along with other important scientific classics.

When he had seen this news back then, Zhu Youxiao's heart had wept bitterly.

In the late Ming, the Great Ming had truly delayed too many matters and missed too many opportunities. Since he now knew that Nicolas Trigault was in the capital, there was no way this time he would let him escape again; the books and instruments he had brought would all belong to him as well.

Since these people wanted to build a library, Zhu Youxiao planned to build them a proper one. He had long since made up his mind about this, and now was the perfect time to put it to use.

As for what Wei Zhongxian had said, of course it would have to be changed, of course they would have to negotiate with them properly.

Zhu Youxiao was very confident in his negotiating ability and skills. He believed he could persuade these priests to revise their doctrines.

In a courtyard in the capital.

Guo Jingju and Nicolas Trigault were busy at work.

After the two arrived in the capital, they had established this small library, inviting quite a few Ming ministers and scholars to visit, and they conversed with them most pleasantly.

But these Ming ministers and scholars were very interested in learning, yet not interested in proselytizing.

The Great Ming had its own culture and history. Although Guo Jingju and Nicolas Trigault had gotten them to embrace their faith, not many were truly devout believers.

Moreover, once the two of them acted too boldly, they would invite scrutiny from the authorities—the Ming government seemed very sensitive about such matters.

In fact, Guo Jingju and Nicolas Trigault did not understand that for Ming officials, gathering crowds to stir up trouble was a very serious matter. You people who preach—how are you any different from the White Lotus sect? Are you trying to rebel?

Nobody cares whether you are preaching or what you are saying—the Ming officials simply will not let you proselytize.

Don't think we don't know what you intend to do. After all, our Great Ming's founding emperor did this very sort of thing back in his day.

Using religion to rebel is something every dynasty has guarded against. Even the Heavenly Master Zhang Jiao of the Han dynasty is still famous to this day.

Guo Jingju and Nicolas Trigault had also begged the Ming officials, hoping they would introduce them to His Majesty of the Great Ming.

Back then, Matteo Ricci had met the Wanli Emperor, and after his death was buried in the capital. One should know that this was already a special privilege.

According to the rules, foreigners like them had no qualification to be buried in the Great Ming; upon death they had to be transported to Macau for burial, or their friends and relatives had to take them back to their homeland. The Great Ming simply did not accept the corpses of foreigners. Yet the Wanli Emperor had issued a special decree to bury Matteo Ricci in the capital.

The longer they lived in the Great Ming, the more Guo Jingju and Nicolas Trigault understood what kind of power this country's emperor wielded. So the two wanted to meet the Great Ming's emperor, hoping to use imperial authority to spread their faith.

But in reality, that was not how things worked—the Great Ming's emperor seemed uninterested in them and simply would not see them.

As time passed, Guo Jingju and Nicolas Trigault grew disheartened, devoting themselves entirely to managing the library in this small courtyard, hoping to spread their doctrine to more people.

Just at that moment, a commotion suddenly broke out outside.

Guo Jingju and Nicolas Trigault were both startled. After exchanging a glance, they turned their heads to look outside, not knowing what was happening here.

Soon, they saw a troop of men charging in. From their attire, one could tell these were agents of the Eastern Depot of the Great Ming.

Guo Jingju and Nicolas Trigault had naturally dealt with Ming officials before and understood very well what these Eastern Depot agents did. The religious cases of those years were still frequently mentioned by people even now. Could something have happened?

Guo Jingju reached out to hold back Nicolas Trigault, who was about to step forward, patted him, and then walked up himself.

Wei Zhongxian stepped out from the crowd, looked around, and finally let his gaze fall upon Guo Jingju and the others.

A smile appeared on Wei Zhongxian's face as he said, "The surroundings here are rather elegant."

Hearing these words, Guo Jingju felt no pleasure in his heart at all.

The man before him was not someone to be trifled with. Judging from their clothing, this man was a eunuch, a confidant of the Great Ming emperor, and the ones accompanying him were agents of the Eastern Depot. Then the identity of the man before him could almost be guessed outright.

"Who are you?" Guo Jingju looked at Wei Zhongxian and asked directly.

Wei Zhongxian gave Guo Jingju a once-over, his smile not changing in the slightest, and asked, "Are you Guo Jingju?"

Guo Jingju nodded and said, "I am."

Wei Zhongxian did not ask him anything further, but instead asked with a smile, "Where is Nicolas Trigault?"

"What business do you have?" Guo Jingju asked after a moment's thought.

"His Majesty the Emperor of our Great Ming wishes to see you." Wei Zhongxian turned his head to look at Guo Jingju, his smile fading as his expression turned grave. "Now call Nicolas Trigault out and come along with me."

"The Great Ming Emperor wants to see us?" Guo Jingju asked in disbelief.

The proposal was simply too sudden!

Though Guo Jingju and the others had been hoping for this day, they had never imagined it would arrive so quickly!

Guo Jingju and Nicolas Trigault could not help but feel dazed—was this real? Xu Guangqi and the others had not come to notify them of this. What was going on?

Nicolas Trigault hurried over and said, "I am Nicolas Trigault. Your Emperor wishes to see us—are you telling the truth?"

"Of course it's true." Wei Zhongxian said with irritation, "Now put down your things and follow me."

After confirming the news, Guo Jingju and Nicolas Trigault immediately became excited. Naturally, they dared not linger, and hastily packed up their belongings before following Wei Zhongxian away.

Soon, word spread that Wei Zhongxian had taken Guo Jingju and Nicolas Trigault away—the Emperor wanted to see the two of them.

When the news reached the ears of Li Zhizao and Xu Guangqi, both wore strange expressions.

Xu Guangqi in particular was now somewhat worried. After all this time, he knew His Majesty very well—His Majesty was not the sort of person who would agree to something just because someone said it, and he seemed to hold no particular fondness for the faith Xu Guangqi believed in.

This time, His Majesty summoning people into the palace was unusual in itself. Even more so that Wei Zhongxian had seen His Majesty first, and then Wei Zhongxian had gone to summon the men.

To say that Wei Zhongxian had nothing to do with this—no one would believe that. Though Wei Zhongxian had been keeping a low profile lately, in truth no one was surprised by his appearance; they simply had not expected him to have brought this matter upon himself.

"I am going to the palace." Xu Guangqi stood up, said this directly, then turned and walked toward the imperial palace.

Leaving behind the dumbfounded Han Kuang and Huang Kezuan, neither of whom understood what had happened.