Chapter 252 Westerners were stunned by such a Ming Dynasty
Republic of Florence.
Xia Yan used the strong ships and cannons of the Ming Dynasty to force the Papal State to reach a compromise with the Ming Dynasty, and after he was willing to admit that the Papal State was ruled by the Ming Dynasty, he also obtained convenient access to the interior of Italy from the Papal State.
The Papal State was forced to send people to help the Ming Dynasty’s armed mission contact other principalities outside the Pope, asking these principalities to accept the visit of the Ming Dynasty’s armed mission.
In this way, the Ming armed mission brought by Xia Yan no longer needed to use military means to visit these principalities in the Italian peninsula.
The Papal State strictly prohibited the events in which Rome was captured by the Ming Dynasty and Pope Leo authority.
In addition, due to geographical factors and the sudden arrival of Ming Dynasty.
Therefore, not many of these Italian principalities know what the Ming Dynasty mission did in Rome before.
In fact, even if these Italian principalities and even the entire Western countries knew about this, these people would not gather hundreds of thousands of troops to avenge one of their popes.
Because, in the original history of Western Europe, the armies of France, the Holy Roman Empire and other countries occupied Rome and even imprisoned the Pope. Everyone believed in the same religion but did not surrender to the Pope.
Therefore, what the Ming Dynasty is doing now has little impact on other Western countries. After all, the Ming Dynasty has no intention of banning Catholicism. The only thing that has a big impact is the Papal State, which affects its prestige in other principalities and republics.
Therefore, the Papal State worked hard to conceal Ming's brutal behavior, and even beautified it, saying that Ming's envoys came to exchange cultures and were envoys of civilization.
Xia Yan's original intention was indeed to conduct commercial and cultural exchanges, not to occupy Europe or force the entire Europe to surrender.
When Xia Yan arrived in Florence, Lorenzo II, the lord of the Republic of Florence, had come out to greet him personally.
But this time, he was more vigilant than the people in the Papal State. He only allowed Xia Yan, Pires and a hundred Ming Dynasty guards to enter the city of Florence. Xia Yan's two thousand cavalry, five thousand infantry and three hundred The gunners were only allowed to be stationed outside Florence.
Xia Yan agreed to Lorenzo II's request.
After all, his purpose was not to capture the city.
And Lorenzo II did not choose revenge because his uncle, Pope Leo X, was executed by Xia Yan. After all, his total force in Florence was only 10,000, and Xia Yan's mission to the West brought He had more than 20,000 officers and soldiers, and he did not dare to provoke the Ming Dynasty envoy, this lion from the east.
Lorenzo II and Pope Leo X were both members of the Medici family, which was famous for supporting artists and building churches.
Therefore, when Xia Yan attended the banquet hosted by Lorenzo II, a noble lord from the Medici family, he met Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, who luckily escaped back to Florence on the day Rome fell. Raphael and two.
Da Vinci and others also showed a strong interest in the arrival of the Ming Dynasty envoy. After all, they are not of the same skin color, speak different languages, and even dress differently.
"I would like to ask Mr. Xia Yan, what is the religion of the Ming Dynasty, and does it believe in Jesus?"
Da Vinci boldly asked at this time, and other Florentine artists and nobles also came over, obviously very interested in this.
"The Ming Dynasty separated politics and religion. There was only one court in the Ming Dynasty, but there were many religions, the main ones being Buddhism and Taoism. People in our country can have freedom of religious belief. Even the emperor will not interfere with whether they believe in Buddhism or Taoism. Even if I believe you, it’s okay!”
Xia Yan replied.
But Xia Yan's words gave Leonardo da Vinci and others a great shock. After all, in this era in Europe, the existence of pagans is absolutely intolerable.
"Oh my god, there is such a country, and the people in the East actually have freedom of belief. Then wouldn't they fight and kill each other because of their different beliefs?" Michelangelo also asked.
"No, monks and Taoist priests will not fight, let alone kill each other, because there are laws and no one can break the laws!
The right to freedom of belief is stipulated in the outline of the Constitution. As long as His Majesty the Emperor does not define a certain religion as a cult, people have the right to choose their religious beliefs at will, even if they do not believe in any religion! ”
Xia Yan said this, making Da Vinci, Michelangelo and others exclaim again.
"This is impossible! How can there be such a free country in the world! How can believers of different faiths form a country, how can they live in peace!"
A Florentine nobleman had already shouted excitedly, doubting the authenticity of what Xia Yan said.
"I have already said that people have the freedom to choose their beliefs. As long as they are not judged as a cult by His Majesty the Emperor, they can choose to believe in it. This is stipulated in the outline of the constitution, and people should also have their lives respected and their property Isn’t it strange that we have the right to be protected by the state and have freedom of speech and belief?” Xia Yan continued.
"The right to freedom, respect for life, protection of property, freedom of speech and belief!"
Da Vinci couldn't help but murmured to himself, thinking: "Is there really such a country in the East? Is there really such a free country?"
"Mr. Xia Yan, as far as I know, you have just captured Rome and beheaded the Pope, so I would like to ask, what is your purpose of doing this?"
At this time, Raphael, who had been silent, asked.
"Because your pope is trying to override me, the Ming Emperor. I am the Holy Lord respected by the people of the Ming Dynasty. He wants to override me, the Ming Emperor, because he wants to enslave the people of the Ming Dynasty on behalf of God. This is against the law. God’s will is also against man’s will!
Therefore, according to the laws of our Ming Dynasty, such careerists who attempt to enslave the people of our Ming Dynasty need to be executed immediately, otherwise such careerists will make the entire world unrestful and even fall apart! It can even make people corrupt!
But executing him does not mean that we do not respect your beliefs, so we did not ask the Papal States to stop preaching, and even helped them re-elect a priest who can truly be called a good moral character to become the pope! ”
When Xia Yan said this, the Florentines present became excited.
"That makes so much sense! Why don't we have a country like the East? I really want to become a citizen of such a country!"
Michelangelo exclaimed.
"The people in the East are so happy! According to this Ming Dynasty official, there should never be killings in their Ming Dynasty. After all, they can tolerate pagans, and they should not have moral corruption or people who try to enslave others. Well, it is even impossible for such people to become nobles and clergy. After all, they cannot tolerate such people. Even the pope will be cut off if he violates their decrees! "
Luther, who later devoted himself to the Catholic Reformation, also said with a bit of longing.
"Mr. Xia Yan, what will happen if a noble in your country violates the law and the will of the people?" Raphael asked bravely, regardless of the fact that there were nobles from the Medici family present.
"They will also be punished by the law. There is a well-known saying in our Ming Dynasty that princes who break the law are as guilty as the common people. Just a few years ago, there was a royal nobleman whose official title in our Ming Dynasty was King Anhua. But because he violated the law and the will of the people in the world to pray for peace, he attempted to challenge the monarchy and became emperor regardless of the wishes of the people. He ultimately failed and was sentenced to the most severe punishment in our empire!”
As soon as Xia Yan said this, the Florentines present started making a loud noise again.
"Royal nobles! How is this possible!"
"I can't believe it. I just can't believe it. The royal family and nobles will be punished with the most severe punishment for violating the will of the common people? Oh my god, does such a country really exist?!"
"This is heaven! Where is the world! Those with bad morals will be punished, and civilians will be respected! Are you really from the East? Not from heaven, but from God? Are you not humans, but gods?"
Some Florentine artists were envious of the existence of such a country but could not believe it and expressed their doubts. The nobles shook their heads repeatedly. They even asked Xia Yan angrily, asking if Xia Yan was from the East. Pagans are deliberately trying to deceive their followers in an attempt to destroy their Catholicism.
"You are not God, you are the devil. You have come with ulterior motives. You want our congregants to leave the church. You should go to the cross!"
A noble member of the Medici family had become excited and shouted loudly.
"We are neither gods nor devils. We are human beings just like you. We are humans created by God. You are called God here, and we are called Nuwa there. But there is no contradiction. No matter what you believe, we are all You are a human being, and I have not asked you to leave the church. For example, the man named Pires next to me is also a believer in your Catholic Church, but he is also a subject of my Ming Dynasty! I have never asked him about his faith! What.”
Xia Yan pointed at Pires.
Pires also nodded: "Everyone, there is indeed such a country in the East. That country is called Ming Dynasty. If you go there, you will know that we cannot conquer them with force, and they have never thought of using force to make us give up our belief in God. Our beliefs, and they even protect our beliefs, the air in that country is free”
As soon as Pires, a Westerner, testified, Florence present became even more excited.
"I saw his cross. He is a Franco, but he is wearing oriental clothes, but he seems to be a believer! Oh my God! Such a country really exists! It really exists!"
Several Florentine artists, who were looking forward to the Reformation's promotion of humanism, shed tears of excitement.
Before Macartney's visit to China, the East had always been longed for and fantasized by the West. Later Voltaire highly praised China in his "On Customs" and even believed that China was an almost perfect utopia, such as this paragraph He said, “What makes them (the Chinese) particularly different from other peoples is that their history books never mention that a certain religious group once influenced their laws. Their history books do not date back to the barbaric era when humans needed someone to deceive them in order to control them. "So, now that Xia Yan has arrived in Florence, the most prosperous and active city of the Renaissance in Western Europe, some of the unique cultures from the Ming Dynasty such as It’s not surprising that things like the separation of church and state, and that the secular is greater than the church, will naturally shock people.
(End of chapter)