Chapter 719: The Great Qing Fur Empire

Nanjing, the Fengtian Hall in the Forbidden City.

"Your Majesty, this kingdom of Spain lies tens of thousands of li from our Middle Kingdom, and a single round trip takes a year. Moreover, Spain styles itself the empire of the world in the West, and its dominions are exceedingly vast. Its sovereign likewise has ten thousand affairs to attend to each day and is deeply entangled in the quarrels of the European states. I fear he has neither the energy nor the speed to respond to the upheavals in the East — that is, in the land of the Divine Continent of China. This matter of allying with the eastern barbarians and Joseon is most likely the Philippine Governor-General's office of Spain acting on its own authority."

The speaker was none other than Tang Ruowang, who had just received a new appointment: Vice Director of the Imperial Academy. The Directorate of Astronomy, which he had headed, had now been merged into the newly opened Imperial Academy. And he himself was one of the hot favorites for the Seven Academicians of the Imperial Academy. The Seven Academicians would not be produced so easily — they too had to pass an examination! And it was far harder than the examination for Imperial Academy students!

Not only was mathematics a key subject of assessment, but one also had to be examined on the principles in the "Zilun Gewu Pian." Passing was not a matter of rote memorization; one had to thoroughly grasp one or two of its principles, write a dissertation, and then defend it.

So the first cohort of Seven Academicians would not be produced for another two or three years. The great Confucian scholars also needed time to study the "Zilun Gewu Pian" and the "New Mathematics"! They were so difficult, and self-study at that — who knew whether they would reduce those elderly great scholars to tears?

Therefore, at present the Imperial Academy had only officials, no scholars, and no students. It was little more than a shell for placating the scholars of the southeast. And the "Zilun Gewu Pian" and the "New Mathematics," to a certain extent, were also meant to placate the southeastern scholars — go and devote yourselves properly to scholarship, for excellence in learning leads to office!

Tang Ruowang's grounding in Western learning was far better than that of an ordinary great scholar, but in the past two days he too had been stumped by several exercises in the "New Mathematics." He was just praying to God for a little wisdom when Zhu Cilang summoned him to the Fengtian Hall to discuss the question of the "Western-Qing Alliance."

Upon hearing the news of the "Western-Qing Alliance," Tang Ruowang was greatly astonished — even more astonished than when he had seen the "Zilun Gewu Pian" and the "New Mathematics." He truly had not expected that Confucius's achievements in philosophy far surpassed those of Aristotle! And the "New Mathematics" also contained a great deal of algebra and geometry — where on earth had this Zhu Emperor learned it all?

But the appearance of the "Zilun Gewu Pian" and the "New Mathematics" was nothing compared to an alliance between Spain and the Qing state. At least for the Jesuit mission in China, the "Western-Qing Alliance" could be called a grave crisis.

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

If Spain and the Great Ming became hostile or even went to war, then the Holy See would very likely be drawn into the conflict, and the Jesuits would have to obey the Pope unconditionally. Once the Holy See sided with Spain against the Great Ming, the Jesuits would become enemies of the Great Ming Empire!

So Tang Ruowang had no choice but to try to reconcile the two sides and avert full-scale confrontation and the outbreak of war.

Zhu Cilang asked, "Then would Philip IV ratify the Western-Qing alliance concluded by the Governor-General of the Philippines?"

In fact there was no "Western-Qing Alliance" at all. An alliance between two great powers was not so easily arranged! Without the consent of King Philip IV of Spain, the Governor-General of the Philippines would not dare conclude such an alliance!

The envoy sent to Beijing by the Governor-General had merely put forward a request to establish a trading post in Joseon and to station a representative in Beijing, and had also expressed willingness to provide the Qing state with advanced firearms and military advisers.

Spain and the Qing state were still at the stage of making friends; an alliance was still far off!

"Absolutely impossible!" Tang Ruowang said. "The Governor-General of the Philippines has no authority to conclude alliances. Under Spanish law, a colonial governor is the king's plenipotentiary representative in the colony, and in accordance with the king's instructions and the directives of the Council of the Indies, he controls the colony's administrative, military, fiscal, and religious affairs, has the power to appoint officials and church leaders within his jurisdiction, and participates in the adjudication of major judicial cases. This does not include diplomatic powers such as concluding alliances or declaring war!"

Zhu Cilang nodded. "So that is how it is. We too hope it is a misunderstanding. But if such misunderstandings become too frequent, the two countries will inevitably fall into a state of full hostility! Therefore We wish to send a plenipotentiary delegation to Europe, to visit the Netherlands, England, France, Spain, Portugal, and other countries, and to go to Rome to call upon the Pope and the Superior General of the Jesuits, and to reach an agreement with the Roman Catholic Church on the question of its propagation within the Great Ming and the Great Ming's vassal states."

"We hope to obtain the Patronage over the Roman Catholic Church in the so-called East Asian continent!"

The so-called "Patronage" was a right and obligation granted by the Holy See to a secular government to protect the propagation of the Catholic Church in non-Christian countries; it was a preferential privilege in Catholic missionary work.

A secular government holding this privilege obtained dominion over the Catholic Church in the region it "protected." One important power was the right to recommend bishops to the Pope — although the power to appoint bishops nominally belonged to the Pope, the Pope could only appoint priests recommended by the secular government. In addition, missionaries arriving in a region "protected" by a secular government were required to register and obtain that government's approval.

In other words, once Zhu Cilang possessed the Patronage, he could control the Catholic forces on the East Asian continent!

"Your Majesty," Tang Ruowang said, looking at the Zhu Emperor in astonishment, "but you are not a believer! If you were willing to be baptized and become a follower of the Lord, you could of course become the protector of East Asian Catholicism—"

"Father Tang," Zhu Cilang interrupted him, "you are wrong. We have not been baptized, but We are a believer in Heaven! According to Father Matteo Ricci's explanation, the Christian Lord of Heaven is precisely the Heaven or Heavenly Principle of us Chinese — both are the source of all things in the universe! The later explanation by Father Longobardo, which called the Lord of Heaven 'Shangdi,' is completely erroneous! As the Patron, We do not accept Longobardo's erroneous explanation!"

Tang Ruowang was left speechless, because Zhu Cilang was quite right! Matteo Ricci understood Chinese culture better than Longobardo, and of course knew that the Chinese Heaven and Heavenly Principle and the Western Lord of Heaven were in fact one and the same. The term "Shangdi" was actually wrong — its literal meaning was "the Emperor Above in Heaven," and the Lord of Heaven had no meaning of "emperor." Longobardo's explanation was either an attempt to make trouble and build up his own prestige, or an unwillingness to let Christianity connect with Neo-Confucianism. Equating the Lord of Heaven with the Heavenly Principle might damage the Church's prestige, because the foundation of Neo-Confucianism was the unity of Heaven and man, which meant that man could communicate directly with Heaven without going through priests or joining the Church!

Zhu Cilang continued, "Furthermore, when Pope Innocent X issued his bull forbidding Chinese believers from participating in ancestor worship and the veneration of Confucius, he did not consult Us, and therefore infringed upon the Patronage that We substantively possess. It is invalid and erroneous!"

"But you are not yet the Patron—"

"We possess the Patronage!" Zhu Cilang said. "Because the King of Portugal has already granted the Patronage within the borders of the Great Ming to the Portuguese Governor of Macau, and the Portuguese Governor of Macau is at the same time Our vassal. Therefore We possess the Patronage! Now We hope the Pope will formally recognize Our Patronage!"

This—

It seemed he was not wrong!

Macau was now one servant with two masters, owing allegiance to both Portugal and the Great Ming. Moreover, the sovereignty of the land of Macau was indisputably the Great Ming's! So the Governor of Macau could now only be called the Governor of the Portuguese in Macau — governing the Portuguese people, not the land of Macau.

Because the Portuguese in Macau had declared themselves vassals of the Great Ming, they had been graciously permitted to reside in Macau and to pay tribute!

Although Macau's actual status was still that of a Portuguese colony, and its governor was still appointed by the King of Portugal and subject to the Governor-General of India in Goa, in legal theory the Governor of Macau was also a vassal of the Great Ming Emperor.

Since he was a vassal, the Governor of Macau had to obey the Emperor's will. Moreover, over the past few years, the office of the Portuguese Governor of Macau had been consistently obedient and loyal, contributing no small effort to the founding of the Great Ming and the introduction of Western culture and technology.

From this angle, Zhu Cilang truly did possess the Patronage over East Asia!