"Save the people first!"

Xu Dayou doesn't recognize any bird Shaoqing, what Father-in-law Wei says is what. He shouted, and a thump plunged into the river.

Amid the sound of "plopping," more than 20 officers and men of the former Wusongshui Battalion jumped into the river one after another to save people.

It's October, and although the river is not frozen, it is still cold.

Tian Gang also wanted to go into the water to save people, but Li Wei knew that his water quality was not very good, so he dragged him so that no one would be saved, but asked the drowning person to drag him down to cushion his back.

Father-in-law Wei also knew this truth, and his water nature was not good, so he did not go into the water to save people, but instructed his subordinates to look for long ropes and bamboo poles on the shore to help save people in the water as much as possible and prepare to respond.

It is also a wise move, and in a rescue operation with a large number of people, the importance of the commander is more important than being directly involved in the rescue.

The people on the boat of the culprit were also rescuing, and there were faint screams and cries of women and children, presumably frightened.

Wang Tiqian stood aside, did not interfere indiscriminately, and only looked at Li Shaoqing of the Taifu Temple who shouted with interest to save the foreigners first.

Because of the night, Li Zhizao didn't recognize Gonggong Wei, he only thought that the other party was the son of a rich and noble family in Yangzhou, otherwise how could there be so many followers.

His dignified Shaoqing's words were refuted on the spot, and Li Zhizao couldn't hold it on his face, but he didn't have a seizure, because he was afraid of delaying the rescue.

What could be more important than saving people!

Whether it is saving the people or saving foreigners, it is all a rescue.

If he insists on saving foreigners first at an inopportune time, it will be detrimental to his reputation if he spreads out, and if Kedao knows, I am afraid that someone will impeach him.

Li Zhizao had no intention of putting on his official authority again, and he was also frightened, slumped on the muddy ground on the shore, looking anxiously at the river.

He was very worried that the two priests who were with him, Guo Jujing and Jinnige, would be killed, which would be a great loss for the Catholic Church and the greatest regret for him.

Guo Jujing and Kinney Court were both assistants to Father Matteo Ricci, one Italian and the other Belgian.

After Fr. Mayley's death, Guo and Jin and several other Western clergymen in Beijing wanted to return to Jiangnan to preach.

Guo Jujing hoped to set up a church in Shanghai County, while Jinnige wanted to carry out missionary affairs in Hangzhou because of his good relationship with Sun Long, a weaving eunuch from Suzhou and Hangzhou.

The main reason for the delay in the current journey to the south is that, according to Catholic practice, Western missionaries should be buried in Macao after their death in China.

But Father Li hoped that he could be buried in Beijing, so Guo Jujing and Jin Nige hoped to persuade His Majesty the Emperor to be buried in Beijing through the Ming Dynasty gentry.

In the end, under the mediation of Ye Xianggao, the Wanli Emperor made an exception and allowed Matteo Ricci to be buried in the Tenggong fence in the western suburbs of Beijing, making him the first Western missionary to be buried in Beijing.

After Matteo Ricci's funeral, Li Zhizao received a letter from his hometown in Hangzhou, saying that his father had died of illness.

According to the etiquette system, when parents die, those who are officials have to go home to mourn, and keep the system for 27 months, which is called Ding worry. Unless there are very special circumstances, the court cannot do without this person, and the emperor will specially order to "seize the love", otherwise no matter how big the official is, he must be dismissed and go home immediately.

This makes the most feared thing in the life of many officials is the death of their fathers and mothers, especially the important ministers of the imperial court.

It is not easy for a minister to become a minister.

I finally came up, and suddenly went down again, and no one could accept it.

There is a precedent of "seizing love" in this dynasty, that is, the former first assistant Zhang Juzheng.

But how many Zhang Juzheng are there in this world, and who dares to be Zhang Juzheng now?

With Guo Jujing's identity, it was impossible for the emperor to take away his love, so after receiving the letter, he made an appointment with Guo, Jin and other priests who had always wanted to go south.

When the ship arrives in Yangzhou, it is late, and the ship should stop at the shore to rest according to the rules, and leave again tomorrow. After all, it is not safe to sail in the dark, but Li Zhizao is anxious to return to his hometown for funeral and is unwilling to delay in Yangzhou, so he let the boatman drive the boat at night. As a result, it collided with a cargo ship on the opposite side, which was also in a hurry.

In addition to Li Zhizao's own three attachés and Western priests, there were also several foreign merchants and more than a dozen Ming Dynasty people.

Several foreign merchants went north from Fujian to Beijing and Tianjin to purchase goods, and a few of the more than ten Ming Dynasty people followed them to do business, and the rest were guides and generals invited by these foreign merchants.

At present, there is no customs in the Ming Dynasty, and there are no strict procedures for foreigners entering the country, and there are many Western merchants in Hangzhou, Guangzhou and Quanzhou in Fujian, and they are also very popular with the local gentry, because these Western merchants are rich.

The huge profits of sea trade that Wei Gonggong longed for, these Western merchants made a lot of efforts in it.

There are also many foreign merchants in the Jiangnan area, as well as many feudal merchants and Yi merchants in Southeast Asia.

The feudal merchants and the Yi merchants were influenced by the tributary system of the Ming Dynasty, so they were more valued by the Ming Dynasty officials than the Western merchants, and received certain preferential treatment in some aspects, and the convenience was also very large.

On the contrary, the status and influence of Westerners in the Ming Dynasty was very low, which can be seen from the spread of Catholicism in the Ming Dynasty to the present day, and the failure to widely preach.

Grandpa Wei was also making a big fuss just now, or rather, his tense nerves were a little too sensitive.

The current Ming Dynasty is the most powerful empire in the world, and since the beginning of history, the Chinese have always been high to Westerners, looking down at these white-skinned, blue-eyed exotic people.

For a certain period of time, I didn't even treat these Westerners as human beings.

For example, in the last years of the Tang Dynasty, the Huangchao rebel army threw more than 100,000 Hu merchants into stone mills in Guangzhou and grinded them into military rations.

In the face of such a strong national self-confidence, how can there be the phenomenon of "kneeling and licking" that Wei Gonggong does.

Li Zhizao shouted that he should save the Westerners first, not because he was servile to the Westerners, but because he had been in contact with the Westerners and was baptized into Catholicism.

In the eyes of this Catholic and the Shaoqing of Taifu Temple, although the Westerners are not Chinese, since they have come to China thousands of miles away, the imperial court should show them great goodwill, so that they can perceive China's benevolence and righteousness, and perceive China's vastness and beauty.

It is said that there are friends from afar, and it is very happy.

So friends from afar are in Daming, and they must not have an accident.

That's why after the accident, he shouted out to save the Westerners first.

It's natural to shout, and although I realized that it was wrong after being refuted, I didn't think it was wrong.

Perhaps, in the eyes of this young secretary, people from foreign countries are so pitiful that their lives are more precious than ordinary people in their own country.

After the hard work of the officers and men, in the end, all but one of the more than 20 people who fell into the water was rescued.

In the process of rescue, in fact, there is no distinction between the country first, the foreigner later, because of the sight and the people who fell into the water are in the water, it is impossible to distinguish one by one, and then decide whether to save first or later.

Gonggong Wei ordered someone to find dry clothes for them, and built a few fires on the spot for them to keep them warm.

Only then did Wang Tiqian step forward and whisper to Xiao Wei that there was still a Shaoqing of Taifu Temple over there.

"The head of the small case has to go and say hello, I was afraid that I would offend people before."

"Greetings can be beaten, but there is no sin. Don't hide it from the prince, the most unseen thing in our life is that outsiders are better than our own people. ”

For the sake of Lao Wang's face, Gonggong Wei was ready to go over to meet Li Zhizao, who was unhappy with him, but it was not without merit.

In today's China, Li Zhizao is one of the few talents who can learn Chinese and Western.

However, just as he was about to pass, he saw a missionary wrapped in a robe and trembling slightly, who came to him, bowed down, and said with great excitement: "Honorable Ming official, I have come to the East from my motherland and have experienced dozens of countries, but I have never seen an official who cares for his people so much as you!" ... I think you must be the most beloved official here! Thank you and your men for saving us, and God bless you, Amen! ”