Chapter 156: Zhu Zongyuan

At the last moment, the authorities finally sent yamen runners to quell the disturbance. However, after this destructive event, the church was in a state of panic. Huang Zhen, Zhang Tian, and the others had lost their momentum. What was supposed to be an open and honest debate had turned into a violent incident, costing them a great deal of public support in Hangzhou. Furthermore, the local government was wary of the power of the gentry officials within the church, such as Sun Yuanhua. They couldn’t simply ignore such an incident. Thus, they reprimanded Huang Zhen and sent him back to Ningbo under escort.

The anti-Christian faction suffered a significant blow from this event. Public opinion also turned against them. Not only did many people disapprove of the attack on the church, but numerous anti-Buddhist posters also appeared on the streets, leaving the anti-Christian group disgraced. Although Zhang Tian submitted his “Three Arguments Against Heaven” to the church again, it was a spent force. The church did not respond. The storm gradually subsided.

Although the storm had passed, this premature “religious case” in this timeline provided a wealth of material and inspiration for local folk arts. For a time, various forms of storytelling, ballad singing, and even short plays with sensationalized versions of the events appeared. It was only after both sides used their connections to appeal to the authorities that the Qiantang and Renhe county yamen dispatched runners to arrest a dozen unlucky performers. Some were put in the cangue, others were beaten with the plank, and only then was the trend suppressed.

For the Hangzhou Station, which had been secretly stirring up trouble, Daozhang Zhang was slightly dissatisfied. Although the religious case had successfully struck a blow against both the Catholic Church and the Buddhist forces, the weakening of both was very limited. While the church had gained a reputation for being “afraid to debate,” its internal unity seemed to have strengthened. As for the Buddhists, the blow was like a flea bite to an elephant; it hardly caused any damage. The New Daoism was still far from being able to benefit from the situation. Zhang Yingchen discovered that proselytizing was most effective through the work of “healing the sick and saving the people.” At the very least, he had already built up a considerable reputation and network in Hangzhou through his medical practice—after all, wasn’t this how Zhang Jiao had started?

On the other hand, Zhao Yigong, due to his “steadfast performance” in this religious case, had become a “pillar” of the Hangzhou church. The church’s attitude towards him was elevated. Originally, they had treated him with courtesy due to the Jesuit letter of introduction, but now he was considered “one of their own.” Not only did Guo Jujing send Jin Lige to the Wanbi Bookstore to express his thanks, but the Christian gentry within the Hangzhou church also sent messengers to pay their respects, bringing calling cards and various gifts. Zhao Yigong returned the favors in kind. His return gifts were standard scholarly tokens: finely printed hardcover editions of the “Catechism,” “Compendium of Essential Scriptures,” and “Selected Hymns.” All were in the Three-Self Chinese version, with corresponding Latin text. The printing was exquisite.

Under these favorable conditions, Zhao Yigong took the opportunity to propose establishing a charity hall or a similar organization in Hangzhou, hoping for the support of the church’s gentry.

Running charitable enterprises was one of the social functions undertaken by the local gentry in ancient Chinese society. The court’s relief efforts were not only slow to arrive but also riddled with corruption and inefficiency. Often, by the time the relief funds and grain were being mobilized, the disaster-stricken areas were already deserted. Sometimes, the court provided no relief at all, or only a symbolic amount of money and grain. Therefore, local relief efforts were mostly organized and managed by the gentry.

After this incident, the church was also keen to win the favor of the lower classes, so they readily agreed to Zhao Yigong’s proposal. They agreed that the Christian gentry would provide nominal support and help raise some funds, while Zhao Yigong would be responsible for raising the rest of the funds and managing the “Cihui Tang” (Hall of Benevolence).

Although establishing a charity was a normal activity for the local gentry, it was a risky venture for an “outsider” like Zhao Yigong, who had been in Hangzhou for less than half a year. With the local gentry’s backing, dealing with the government would be much easier.

On this day, Zhao Yigong was handling affairs in his private residence. The Foreign Intelligence Bureau’s “Mountain” and “Sea” routes had been established. As the head of the Hangzhou Station, he needed to do some groundwork to open up the local market for the “Wanyou” and “Runshitang” businesses that were setting up in Hangzhou. After all, future operations would depend on the strong support of both routes to function properly. This was especially true for a pharmacy like Runshitang, which would face a tough battle to gain a foothold in Hangzhou’s highly competitive pharmaceutical market. Such support had to come from the gentry, and that all depended on Zhao Yigong.

While he was busy, Ji Ying reported that a gentleman from the Hangzhou church, with the surname Zhu, had come to visit.

“Oh?” Zhao Yigong had received many visitors from the Hangzhou church recently and couldn’t immediately recall who it was. He took the calling card and saw that it was Zhu Zongyuan.

“So it’s him!” Zhao Yigong thought his visit was to be expected. Among the Christian Confucian scholars of the late Ming Dynasty, Zhu Zongyuan was arguably the most fervent. His courtesy name was Weicheng, and his style name was Guyue. He was from Yin County (Ningbo), Zhejiang, but was often active in Hangzhou and was a prominent figure in the Hangzhou church.

“Please serve him tea in the outer study,” Zhao Yigong said, putting down his documents and pen. He stood up, took a sip of tea to wet his throat, and Fenghua came over to straighten his clothes.

Although Zhu Zongyuan was very young and had no official rank at the time, he had converted to Christianity in his youth, was deeply devout, well-versed in astronomy, “dedicated to cultivating virtue,” and “wished to rectify the hearts of men.” He was a religious fanatic with both passion and theoretical knowledge. He had authored two theological works, “Answers to a Guest’s Questions” and “A Brief Discussion on Saving the World,” which held an important place in the history of Catholicism in China.

Such a person naturally had a strong voice within the church. For Zhao Yigong, who was looking to leverage the church’s power, he was a figure who could not be slighted.

Upon meeting him, Zhao Yigong was quite surprised by his youth. It turned out he was born in 1609, making him only 23 years old in 1631, the age of a university undergraduate in the old timeline.

After some pleasantries, Zhu Zongyuan first thanked Zhao Yigong for his “righteous act of defending the faith” during the religious case. Then, he gently tried to persuade him to be baptized. Fortunately, Zhao Yigong had heard this many times recently and had a set of evasive tactics. After a few rounds of “Tai Chi,” Zhu Zongyuan saw that the “Guangdong Juren” remained noncommittal and felt it was inappropriate to press further. He then got to the real purpose of his visit.

He took out a stack of manuscripts from his portable bookshelf.

“Brother Zhao, please have a look.”

Zhao Yigong took the manuscript and, after a quick glance, was astonished. It was the famous “Answers to a Guest’s Questions” from church history. The book was written in a question-and-answer format, with the “guest” asking questions of “Zongyuan.” The line of reasoning was very clear. The book could be roughly divided into ten parts. Besides propagating the faith, it also addressed the various conflicts that arose from the spread of Catholicism in China with the society, religions, and ways of thinking of the time. Its purpose was to be a Catholic apologetic work that “refuted Buddhism, rebuked Daoism, dispelled superstitions, and supplemented Confucianism,” written from the belief that one should “serve the Lord of Heaven exclusively.”

Zhao Yigong only knew that this book was written by Zhu Zongyuan; he hadn’t expected him to have written it at the age of 23. He was truly a remarkable person.

“Brother Zhu, you are a great talent!” Zhao Yigong exclaimed. He had already guessed Zhu’s intention—he most likely wanted him to sponsor the printing and publication of the book.

“You flatter me,” Zhu Zongyuan said, clearly pleased. His intention was indeed to have the Wanbi Bookstore print and publish the book “to rectify the hearts of men and defend the holy faith.”

“Of course, of course,” Zhao Yigong made his decision in an instant: he would help him print it. Even if the Wanbi Bookstore didn’t, other wealthy gentry in the church would sponsor its publication.

The printing industry in this timeline had no concept of copyright. His investment would only be the cost of printing; he wouldn’t need to pay Zhu Zongyuan royalties or a manuscript fee.

The downside was that the book was too niche and probably wouldn’t sell many copies. However, after this recent turmoil, the Hangzhou church would certainly increase its promotional efforts. Zhu Zongyuan’s work perfectly met their needs. He could suggest that they purchase a large number of copies for free distribution. That portion of the sales was guaranteed…

Zhao Yigong readily agreed to sponsor the carving of the printing blocks and the publication of the book. After seeing off the overjoyed Zhu Zongyuan, he paced around his study a few times and summoned Gu Dengbao, the naturalized citizen who was currently managing the printing affairs of the Wanbi Bookstore. His name, given by the Elders, was a clear indication of his status. His surname, Gu, was genuine. He was a woodblock carver by trade and had been working at the Lingao Printing Factory since becoming a naturalized citizen. This time, Zhou Dongtian had specifically sent him to Hangzhou to manage the printing workshop of the Wanbi Bookstore.

“Have you finished transcribing and organizing the ‘Three Arguments Against Heaven’ and the ‘Proof of Absurdity’ that I gave you a few days ago?”

“Replying to the master, they have all been transcribed and are currently being proofread. We can start making the plates soon,” Gu Dengbao said. “Master, are we using stone plates again this time?”

“Yes, still stone plates,” Zhao Yigong nodded and handed him Zhu Zongyuan’s manuscript.

“Get this book transcribed as soon as possible and prepare it for printing,” Zhao Yigong instructed. “And the ‘Posthumous Letters on Debating Learning’ that I gave you, that also needs to be proofread and completed quickly.”

The “Posthumous Letters on Debating Learning” was a missionary document published by the church, and Zhang Tian’s “Proof of Absurdity” was written in response to it. Zhao Yigong was actually preparing a “publication list” and planned to create a “series.” Specifically, he intended to compile all the works related to the Hangzhou religious case into a single collection for publication. He estimated that after this major turmoil, the literati of Hangzhou, and indeed the entire Jiangnan region, would have a keen interest in the event. This series of books would have a market as soon as it was published. Of course, some appropriate marketing tactics would be necessary. Zhao Yigong suddenly thought that although he had included all the works related to the religious case in his publication plan, there was no booklet that provided a comprehensive overview of the entire incident. This might leave people confused about the cause and effect of the case.

“I should hire a few local writers with no principles to do this kind of custom work,” Zhao Yigong said to himself.