Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 252: Westerners were stunned by the Ming Dynasty
Florentine Republic.

Xia Yan used the Ming's powerful ships and guns to force the Papal States to compromise with the Ming and acknowledge that the Papal States was ruled by the Ming. In addition, he also obtained convenient conditions for access to the interior of Italy from the Papal States.

The Papal State was forced to send people to help the Ming armed delegation contact other principalities except the Papal State, and ask these principalities to accept the visit of the Ming armed delegation.

In this way, the armed delegation of the Ming Dynasty brought by Xia Yan no longer needed to use military means to visit the principalities that were separatist on the Italian peninsula.

The Papal States strictly prohibited the capture of Rome by the Ming Dynasty and the beheading of Pope Leo X. Even the papal succession act, for which the Papal States were forced to reach a compromise with the Ming Dynasty, was blocked by the Holy See to prevent other principalities from despising the authority of the Holy See.

In addition, there were geographical factors and the fact that the Ming Dynasty came too suddenly.

Therefore, these Italian principalities now do not know much about what the Ming Dynasty delegation had done 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 their pope.

Because, in the original history of Western Europe, the armies of countries such as France and the Holy Roman Empire had occupied Rome and even imprisoned the Pope. Everyone believed in the same religion but was not subservient to the Pope.

Therefore, what the Ming Dynasty is doing now will have little impact on other Western countries. After all, the Ming Dynasty has no intention of banning Catholicism. The only one that will be greatly affected is the Papal States, which will affect its prestige among other principalities and republics.

Therefore, the Papal States tried hard to conceal the Ming Dynasty’s brutal behavior and even beautified it, saying that the Ming Dynasty’s envoys came to exchange culture and were messengers of civilization.

Xia Yan's original intention was indeed to conduct commercial and cultural exchanges, not to occupy Europe or force the whole of Europe to surrender.

When Xia Yan arrived in Florence, Lorenzo II, the lord of the Florentine Republic, came out to greet him in person.

But this time, he was more cautious than the people of the Papal States and only allowed Xia Yan, Pires and one hundred Ming Dynasty Jinyiwei to enter Florence. The two thousand cavalry, five thousand infantry and three hundred gunners accompanying Xia Yan 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.

Lorenzo II did not choose to seek revenge because his uncle, Pope Leo X, was executed by Xia Yan. After all, his total military force in Florence was only 10,000, while Xia Yan brought more than 20,000 officers and soldiers to the West. He did not dare to provoke the Ming Dynasty delegation, the 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.

So, when Xia Yan attended the banquet hosted by Lorenzo II, a noble lord from the Medici family, he met Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo and Raphael, who had managed to escape back to Florence on the day Rome fell.

Leonardo da Vinci and others also showed great interest in the arrival of the Ming Dynasty delegation. After all, they were of different skin colors, spoke different languages, and even wore different clothes.

"Excuse me, Mr. Xia Yan, what is the religion of the Ming Dynasty? Do you believe in Jesus?"

Leonardo da Vinci dared to ask at this time, and other Florentine artists and nobles also came over, obviously very interested in this.

"The Ming Dynasty is a country of separation of religion and politics. There is only one imperial court in the Ming Dynasty, but there are many religions, the main ones being Buddhism and Taoism. The people of our country can have freedom of religious belief. Even the emperor will not interfere with whether they believe in Buddhism or Taoism. Even if they believe in yours, it is still fine!"

Xia Yan replied.

But Xia Yan's words gave Leonardo da Vinci and others a great shock. After all, in that era in Europe, the existence of pagans was absolutely intolerable.

"Oh my God, there is such a country. People in the East actually have freedom of belief. Won't they fight and kill each other because of their different beliefs?" Michelangelo also asked.

"No, monks and Taoists will not fight, let alone kill each other, because there are laws to constrain them, and no one can break the law!

The right to freedom of belief is stipulated in the Constitution. As long as His Majesty the Emperor does not define a certain religion as a cult, the people have the right to freely choose their religious beliefs, and they do not have to believe in any religion! "

Xia Yan's words made Leonardo 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 noble had already shouted excitedly, doubting the truthfulness of what Xia Yan said.

"I have already said that the people have the freedom to choose their beliefs. As long as the religion is not judged as a cult by His Majesty the Emperor, they can choose to believe in it. This is stipulated in the Constitution. Moreover, the people should also have the right to have their lives respected, their property protected by the state, and freedom of speech and belief. Isn't this strange?" Xia Yan continued.

"The right to freedom, respect for life, protection of property, freedom of speech and belief!"

Leonardo couldn't help but mutter to himself, "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 just captured Rome and beheaded the Pope, so I want to ask, what is your purpose in doing this?"

At this time, Raphael, who had been silent, asked.

"Because your pope is trying to put himself above the emperor of the Ming Dynasty. The emperor of the Ming Dynasty is the holy ruler worshipped by the people of the Ming Dynasty. He wants to put himself above the emperor of the Ming Dynasty. He wants to enslave the people of the Ming Dynasty on behalf of God. This is against the will of heaven and the will of man!

Therefore, according to the laws of our Ming Dynasty, such an ambitious person who attempts to enslave the people of our Ming Dynasty must be executed immediately, otherwise such an ambitious person will make the whole world restless and even torn apart! Even make people degenerate and 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 be the Pope! "

After Xia Yan said this, all the Florentines present became excited.

"That makes so much sense! Why don't we have a country like this in the East? I really want to be a citizen of such a country!"

Michelangelo exclaimed.

"People in the East are so lucky! According to this Ming official, there should never be any killing in their Ming Dynasty. After all, they can tolerate pagans. They should not have people with corrupt morals or who attempt to enslave others. Even such people cannot become nobles or clergy. After all, they cannot tolerate such people. Even the Pope will be beheaded if he violates their decrees!"

Luther, who later devoted himself to the Catholic Reformation, also said this with a somewhat yearning look.

"Mr. Xia Yan, what will you do if a noble in your country violates the law and the will of the people?" Raphael asked bravely despite the presence of nobles from the Medici family.

"They will also be punished by the law. There is a well-known saying in our Ming Dynasty that a prince who breaks the law is guilty of the same crime as a commoner. Just a few years ago, there was a royal nobleman whose official title in our Ming Dynasty was the King of Anhua. However, because he violated the law and the will of the people of the world who prayed for peace, he intended to challenge the monarchy and become the emperor regardless of the wishes of the people. In the end, he failed and was punished with the most severe punishment in our empire!"

As soon as Xia Yan finished speaking, the Florentines present started to make loud noises again.

"Royal family! How is this possible!"

"I can't believe it. I simply can't believe that the royal family will be punished with the most severe punishment for going against the will of the common people? Oh my God, does such a country really exist?!"

"This is heaven! Where is the human world? Morally corrupt people will be punished, and civilians will be respected! Are you really from the East? Not from heaven, from God? Aren't you human, but gods?"

Some Florentine artists envied the existence of such a country but could not believe it and expressed their doubts, while the nobles shook their heads again and again. They even questioned Xia Yan angrily, asking whether Xia Yan was a pagan from the East who was deliberately misleading their followers in an attempt to destroy their Catholicism.

"You are not God, you are the devil. You are here with ulterior motives. You want our followers to leave the church. You should be crucified!"

One of the noble members of the Medici family had become excited and started to shout loudly.

"We are neither gods nor demons. We are human beings like you, created by God. You call her God, and we call her Nuwa, but there is no contradiction. No matter what you believe in, we are all human beings. I have not asked you to leave the church. For example, the man next to me named Pires is also a believer of your Catholicism, but he is also a citizen of the Ming Dynasty! I have never asked him what he believes in."

Xia Yan pointed at Pires.

Pires also nodded: "Everyone, there is indeed such a country in the East. That country is called Ming Dynasty. When 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 faith in God. They even protect our faith. The air in that country is free!"

When Pires, a Westerner, testified, Florence, who was present, became even more excited.

"I saw his cross. He was a Portuguese, but he was wearing Oriental clothes. He seemed to be a believer! Oh my God! Such a country really exists! It really exists!"

Several Florentine artists who had been looking forward to the humanism promoted by the Reformation shed tears of excitement.

Before Macartney's visit to China, the East had always been longed for and fantasized about by the West. Voltaire of later generations highly praised China in his "Essay on Customs" and even believed that China was a nearly perfect ideal country, such as this passage: "The special difference between them (the Chinese) and other nations is that their history books never mention that a religious group has ever influenced their laws. Their history books do not go back to the barbaric era when human beings needed someone to deceive them in order to control them." Therefore, now that Xia Yan has arrived in Florence, the most prosperous and active city of the Renaissance in Western Europe, it is not surprising that some of the distinctive cultures from the Ming Dynasty, such as the separation of church and state, and the secular being greater than the church, will naturally shock people.

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(End of this chapter)