1932: Playing with the Japanese Communist Party with a doll

They even issued a "recruitment order," hoping that "veteran artists" who knew the skills of "lingchi gu" and other related techniques would come to Nanchang!

Needless to say why.

This news was a hundred times more shocking than what happened in the Nanchang Monastery itself.

Execute the foreigners!! This is the execution of foreigners!!

Yes, it’s not that foreigners have been killed in China, but that generally happens in two situations:

1. For example, in the Boxer Rebellion, foreigners died as a result of an impulsive act driven by the anger of the common people;

2. Foreigners died at the hands of bandits, robbers and gangs due to crimes such as extortion, kidnapping and ransom.

But in the final analysis, it all falls under the category of “personal revenge”;

It is unheard of for an official organization to publicly execute foreigners! Well, it cannot be said that it has never happened;

But can "poor foreigners" and "foreign missionaries" be compared?

Can "foreigners leading the execution of foreigners" and "Chinese leading the execution of foreigners" be the same?

Anyway, when the Kuomintang leaders, including Chiang Kai-shek, saw this news, their first reaction was disbelief, their second was stupor, their third was fear, and their fourth was ecstasy!

Good, good!

The CCP is about to hit a wall!

Since you are courting death like this, we will add fuel to the fire!!

As a result, the Kuomintang newspapers also began to report on this matter extensively. The focus was not on "the monks doing evil" but on "the CCP actually tried to execute Americans"!

As a result, the matter became more and more serious, and not only in the remote mountainous areas, but also in many small towns, people knew about it.

Of course, this is the idea of ​​the comprador regime, but for the general public, the feelings are very complicated.

Some people think the CCP is too crazy and worry that it will provoke retaliation from foreigners and cause another "Eight-Nation Alliance" incident;

Some people have an irreconcilable hatred for foreigners or think that "the masses decide how to kill foreigners" is democratic, and they loudly cheer for the CCP;

Some people believe that foreigners do deserve to die, but foreigners are foreigners after all, and they have "extraterritorial power." They should be left to the foreigners to execute them, rather than the CCP "interfering in the matter."

Some people believe that the CCP's methods are too "cruel" and "barbaric." Shooting or hanging would suffice, so why is there the option of "lingchi"?

Regardless of different opinions, there is one thing that everyone, including the bandits and bullies who heard the news, had to agree on:

The CCP is fucking crazy!

Damn guts!

Not only did they dare to report the evil deeds of foreigners, they even dared to kill the criminal foreigners! Hey, this is the biggest news!

As a result, a large number of literati, journalists, critics, politicians, warlords, executioners, bandits, robbers, ordinary people... flocked to Nanchang.

I have to go and see for myself whether the CCP can really do what it says!

If they really kill these Americans, everyone will give them a thumbs up and call the CCP a great hero!

344 The Saint suppresses the Church

Vatican City, Italy.

Ah, this is a bit inaccurate at the beginning. After all, the Vatican had just signed the Lateran Treaty with the Italian disciple of Mohism who believed in Legalism a few years ago, and became a "sovereign state."

So, it should be, Vatican, Papal Palace.

A thin, elegantly dressed man with round glasses finished reading the report and asked with a frown:

"...So, it was the Protestants who caused the trouble?"

"Yes, Your Holiness, the Protestant monastery in Nanchang, China was reported, so..."

"Report? Was it reported by the Chinese?" "Yes."

"Chinese people reported on the American Protestant church... How dare the Chinese government accept it?"

Pope Pius X of the Catholic Church could not help but show an expression of surprise.

Although he is the Pope, he is not a fool who only knows how to read scriptures. He is very clear about China's weakness and the incompetence of the Chinese government.

Moreover, in 1926, he performed the "consecration ceremony" for six Chinese bishops, had a few conversations with them, and had a general understanding of the current situation in China;

In short, Marco Polo was a liar.

So, where does the Chinese government get the courage?

"Your Holiness, have you forgotten? Nanchang is no longer in the hands of the Chinese government." "Ah..."

Just remembering this incident, the Pope's face suddenly darkened: "So, it was done by those guys who deserve to go to hell?"

"Yes, there's credible information confirming that they are the ones manipulating this matter behind the scenes and influencing Chinese public opinion... Oh, and they've also claimed they'll try and execute those monks."

The reason why the last point is mentioned in this "in passing" tone is because the reporter feels that the news is likely to be wrong, or that "they" are just shouting slogans for fame and definitely don't dare to do it for real.

They refer to the "Communist Party" and the "Red Army" that the Pope hates the most.

For Pope Pius XI, a clergyman who was naturally opposed to communism and had experienced the Soviet-Polish War in 1920, the mere mention of communism made him sick.

From the first day he ascended the throne, he criticized the Soviet Union and the Communist Party on various occasions, saying they "deceived people with illusory dreams and only wanted to seize power."

(Is the Catholic concept of "God" and "love" more practical?) He had just received a report on the changing situation in China a while ago, learning that Nanchang had been handed over to the Chinese Communist Party. He hadn't expected that within just a few days, they would cause such a major incident!

Damn communists!

After learning that this was done by the Chinese Communist Party, Pope Pius XI's disgust reached its peak, even surpassing his disgust for Protestantism:

"So, where do things stand now?"

"Your Holiness, the situation is escalating and has seriously affected our Orthodox Church..."

In fact, if the matter had not involved the Communist Party, if the matter had not escalated and dragged Catholicism into the water, Pope Pius XI would not have bothered to care whether Protestantism was alive or dead.

Because, in just these few days, the efforts of Christian-related religions in China over the past decade or even decades were almost destroyed.

Even these high-ranking officials of the Catholic Church, who are far away across the ocean, know that the Chinese people cannot tell the difference between Catholicism, Protestantism and Orthodoxy at all, and simply call them "Christianity."

So, why shouldn't you, the Catholic Church in Shanghai, take the blame for what happened to the "Christians" in Nanchang?

You all have crosses! Aren’t you the same kind of people? This is very troublesome.

According to the report, Chinese intellectuals now either detest or dare not openly believe in religion, and ordinary people have also become extremely suspicious of "Christianity." From the middle and high-level to the grassroots, everyone has begun to (temporarily) stay away from the church.

Intellectuals are the core of the Christian theocracy, while the general public is the foundation of Christianity in China.

Now, there are dangerous signs of problems at the core and cornerstone, which is a fatal blow to the Christian missionary work in China.

The "expulsion of Christians" incidents that took place in China decades ago are still fresh in our memory!

Reports indicate that many Chinese people with ill intentions have been seen wandering around Catholic monasteries, orphanages, and health centers.

It was certain that, at the first opportunity, they would rush in and see what was in the monastery;

If there really is such a thing as "cured meat", it is obvious that it would be difficult for all the monks who were captured to keep their bodies intact.

Under this pressure, whether it was Catholicism, Protestantism, Orthodoxy, or some other strange little sects, all took action, but due to the lack of unified command, they responded in different directions.

Some people simply didn't take it seriously, believing that the Chinese people were just temporarily "out of control" and would return to normal after a while, so they simply hired troops or guards to strengthen security or even didn't bother to do anything about it;

Some people are timid or have clear minds, knowing what will happen if their actions are exposed. When they don’t see support from their superiors, they quickly slip away.

Some people, far from being afraid, jumped out to accuse the CCP of "slander and provocation," "falsification of evidence," and "hurting international sentiments," and demanded that the KMT government suppress the CCP group in Nanchang;

Some people did not commit the acts that happened at the Nanchang Monastery. In order to prove their innocence, they open the gates of the monastery and welcome the public to visit and inspect.

Only a very small number of people realized that the seriousness of the matter was beyond their ability to handle, so they closed their doors and reported the matter to higher authorities, hoping that the Pope in the Vatican would know about it.

Now, regardless of how Protestants and Christians will react, the deacons and priests (bishops) of the Catholic Church in China are all waiting for orders from the Holy See.

(Before the Second Vatican Council, the Catholic priesthood was divided into seven levels, from "doorkeeper" to the highest "priest", which was later simplified to the three levels of "deacon, priest, and bishop" that we are familiar with.)

(I won’t go into detail here in the novel, so I’ll just use bishops instead.) This is where the problem lies, for three reasons:

1. As the Pope of the Catholic Church, Pius X had no desire, no obligation, to care about the mess caused by Protestantism!

There is no benefit in managing it well, but if you manage it badly, it will all be your fault. Only a fool would manage it.

2. As Pope, Pius XI had read many secret documents that must not be made public, as their disclosure would cause the collapse of the Catholic Church and even the entire Christian system. He was well aware of the depth of the darkness within the Vatican;

Sexual assault, violence, killing, abuse, robbery, theft, frame-up...all the crimes you can imagine have occurred inside and outside the monastery;

Therefore, the Pope may not know for sure whether churches in various places will do those things, especially in non-traditional pastoral countries like China, but at least he has no doubts about it.

3. At present, the focus of the entire Catholic Church is not on China at all, because something big happened in Spain, a traditional Catholic country.

In 1931, King Alfonso XIII of Spain was forced to abdicate and flee, and Spain established a republican system.

Pope Pius XI was happy to accept this bloodless revolution, but he did not expect that after the new government came to power, it would immediately promulgate a large number of laws that were unfavorable to the Holy See:

Separation of church and state, complete secularization of national education, enactment of marriage protection laws, prohibition of religious orders from working in education, dissolution of the Society of Jesus (a key Catholic educational institution), and confiscation of religious orders' property...

In other words, this group of people wanted to completely drive out all influence of Catholicism and even Christianity from Spain.

(When communism first emerged, Christianity was generally not taken seriously. It was not until the Soviet Union was established and gained a foothold and began to export revolution around the world that they realized the situation was not good.)

There is no way the Pope can sit still.

Recently, he has been busy preparing to issue an "encyclical" (equivalent to an ultimatum, lower in level than a papal bull) to Spain to protest the "tyrannical behavior" of the Spanish government.

So, which is more important, a small incident far away in China involving mainly a group of heretics, or the anti-Christian incident in Spain right here in the country?

Therefore, Pope Pius XI hesitated until today and did not issue any instructions to the diocese in China.

This is normal.

Historically, he was known to be indecisive and lacked political skills. He was good at dealing with long-term, routine problems, but was often helpless in the face of emergencies.

After thinking for a long time, he asked a question reluctantly and fearfully:

"Did the American say anything?"

That person, of course, refers to the great savior of the American people, the living God who has proven miracles, the unbeatable opponent of both the Donkey and the Elephant, the savior with the world in mind, the leader who will lead the United States out of the haze, and the only great president of the United States:

Miss Spring Field. Okay, enough with the memes.

On the Vatican's side, this extremely beautiful lady has only one core label:

A usurper who attempted to challenge the dignity of the Holy See.

As the core ruling body of the world's most influential religious system, the Vatican is much more sensitive to Springfield's actions than ordinary people and organizations.

They soon perceived that all that was breaking out in Springfield was forming a new ruling core for America and heresy (i.e., Protestantism);

In other words, Springfield is likely to become the first Protestant Pope, and a new Pope with great power, high prestige, extremely noble status, and extremely stable rule.

You know, the reason why Protestantism is called "Protestantism" is because they abandoned the complicated and lengthy processes and hierarchical structure of traditional Catholicism, becoming more flexible and adaptable to the development of the times;

They emphasize personal faith and the salvation of the soul, believing that faith is a direct connection between an individual and God, requiring no intermediary (i.e., no need for the Holy See), and emphasize the autonomy of local churches;

This is undoubtedly a "rebellious" concept, but it also leads to another weakness of Protestantism - the lack of strong organizational capacity (compared to Catholicism);

Therefore, after Protestantism emerged, the Vatican initially suppressed it. Later, for various reasons, and also because it was discovered that Protestantism was just large in number and could not actually challenge the status of the Vatican itself, it was too lazy to start a conflict again.

(Of course, due to different religious philosophies and organizational structures, conflicts between the two have never stopped, but the wars against heretics that were once common will basically never break out again.)

However, at this moment, a "Saint Lady" inexplicably appeared in the largest and most powerful Protestant country - the United States.

There are many people who have been canonized in the Catholic Church, and the number of saints and virgins is not to say that they are as numerous as the hairs on a cow, but at least they are too numerous to be counted on one's hands and feet.

However, this saint was not only a saint, but was also said to have demonstrated her own “holy miracles”;

On top of that, she's about to become President of the United States!

A saint who combines religious and secular identities, and possesses both divine and ecclesiastical authority, reminds the Holy See of the good old days when the Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV could kneel for three days and three nights to beg for forgiveness.

If that good old age could return, the Vatican would certainly be happy, but the problem is, it seems that even if it did return, it wouldn't return to the Vatican...

Saint, it would be great if it was our Catholic saint, and it would be even better if this saint was willing to kneel before Pope Pius XI to receive the "holy blessing".

Unfortunately, due to the Vatican's horribly slow response and the Pope's hesitation, the Catholic Church has yet to figure out Her Highness the Saint's true attitude towards the Vatican and the Pope.

What made the Holy See extremely dissatisfied was that since her debut, Her Highness the Saint had never sent any inquiries or greetings to the Holy See in any form, which clearly showed that she did not want to provoke them.

"Well...Ms. Field hasn't said anything yet. Perhaps she doesn't know about this yet?"

"Oh..."

While the Pope was discussing the issue with his personal secretary, a cardinal ran in in a panic:

"Oh no! Something terrible has happened!!" "Huh?"