Xia Nan was a little embarrassed, the future bride even prepared her wedding dress and rings by herself, what else could he say. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 Info He said with a little guilt: "I'm sorry, dear, these things should have been prepared by me, especially the ring, I know the significance of the diamond ring for the wedding." ”

That being said, he knew that it would be impossible to get a diamond ring in the Ming Dynasty in the 17th century. Until 1870, before the discovery of diamonds in South Africa, only India produced diamonds in the world, and the production was very low, at this time China's traditional jewelry was still limited to gold, jade, jade, etc., and there was no concept of diamond rings, and naturally there was no place to buy them.

Maria wrapped her arms around his waist, buried her head sideways in his arms, and said happily: "As long as the groom is you and the bride is me, nothing else matters, so why bother to divide it so clearly?" ”

"I'm the luckiest person in the world to have you as my bride." Xia Nan also hugged her tightly.

“Excuseme……”

Seeing that the plot was about to develop in the direction of idol dramas, Father George stood up at the right time and interrupted the two's show of affection again.

He said to Xia Nan in English: "Sorry to interrupt, some things have to be told to you earlier, I know that you know the language of our country, so there is no need for Maria to translate." ”

Xia Nan stretched out his hand very gentlemanly and gestured: "Please speak." ”

"Lady Maria should have told you that I was here to officiate at the wedding, so I need a church, sir."

Church? Summer Nan frowned. Western-style weddings are usually held in churches, presided over by priests or priests, and family and friends observe the ceremony and listen to the "gospel", this process he understands. However, in the old time and space, there were also many young people who held more concise Western-style weddings, not necessarily in the church, but by the sea or in the garden, just exchange rings. Now this Father George has proposed to have a church, unless a new one is built, where will the entire Qiongzhou Mansion find a church for him? Xia Nan suddenly remembered the joke of eating eggs and feeding a chicken, drinking milk and raising a cow.

The matter involves Maria, and it is impossible to categorically refuse, but after the church is really built, it is impossible to tear it down when it is used up, which means that it opens a door to the spread of religion in the West. Summer Minami fell into thought.

As he was groaning, he overheard a glimpse of Father George's eyes revealing a hint of cunning behind the thick lenses, and he chuckled in his heart, there was something wrong with this.

He quietly asked Maria in Chinese: "Did you invite Father George, or did he ask for it himself?" ”

Maria replied: "Father George is good friends with my father, and when he heard about me, he offered to come to Mingguo to officiate at my wedding, and my father agreed, and I was very touched at the time, you know, no one in my family wants to come all the way to Mingguo to attend my wedding!" In London, however, he did not mention anything about the church. ”

I see, Xia Nan made up his vague guess. He casually asked, "No one in your family wants to travel hard, so won't there be no relatives and friends at the wedding?" ”

"Hehe, you forgot, I still have an uncle here, just have him as a representative."

Xia Nan patted her head, it was really dark under the lights, and she forgot that Charles was her uncle.

"That's it, my dear, you've worked hard all the way, go back and rest first. I will talk about some details of the wedding ceremony with the priest slowly, anyway, there is no rush for a while, and our wedding will take more time and effort to prepare slowly. ”

Maria smiled happily: "Well, I listen to you." ”

After the group returned to the South Garden, Chunlan and Xia He, who heard the news, waited in the front yard with the servants early.

Maria happily pounced and hugged Chunlan and Xia He.

"Chunlan, Xia He, I'm back, and I'm finally seeing you again!"

The two were not quite accustomed to this hugging etiquette, and accepted her hug stiffly. But Xia He was very happy: "Sister Maria, I miss you very much." ”

Chunlan was more reserved, smiling and saying to Maria, "Welcome back, Maria!" Your room has been cleaned and ready to move in. ”

Baozhu and Cuiyu also stepped forward, took Chunlan and Xia He's hands and poured out their parting feelings, and before they could say a word, their eyes turned red. After all, the two little girls have never been far away, far away in the UK, they are still worried about their homeland, and it is inevitable that they will have some emotional fluctuations when they return to their hometown.

The ladies were talking considerately, and Xia Nan brought Father George to the flower hall to talk about business, and Lin Weiye also followed.

The three of them sat down in the flower hall, Xia Nan thought about how to speak, and Father George was calm and waited for Xia Nan's reply.

Lin Weiye said in Chinese: "This priest is really dedicated, in order to help someone officiate a wedding, he did not hesitate to come all the way from England to China, and he also wanted to build a church, tsk......"

Xia Nan snorted: "I'll lie to you, an honest man." Where he is to officiate at the wedding, preaching and preaching is his purpose, the so-called wedding ceremony is just a pretense, and by building a church, he can take root here. ”

"What?" Lin Weiye was really taken aback. But when you think about it, it's possible.

During the Ming and Qing dynasties, Western missionaries came to China and studied in the West, which was an important aspect of cultural exchanges between China and the West in modern times. Christianity spread to China during the Tang and Yuan dynasties, but fell silent after the fall of the Yuan Dynasty. After the middle of the Ming Dynasty, due to the progress of the great geographical discoveries, the new route between the east and the west was unimpeded, and the Catholic Church sent a large number of missionaries to China, forming an upsurge of Western learning from the east. However, the Ming Dynasty implemented a policy of seclusion and seclusion, and in order to enter China, many obstacles had to be overcome.

In 1540, the Spaniard Francis Xavier, a pioneer of Catholic missionary missions to China, tried to organize a mission to meet the Chinese emperor in order to gain missionary opportunities, but the mission was detained in Malacca. He then tried to smuggle himself from a small island off the coast of China, but failed, contracting malaria and dying on the island without medical treatment.

It was not until the Portuguese occupied Macao that the Church had a foothold in China and used it as a base to penetrate into the interior. Through the unremitting efforts of the Italian Luo Mingjian, Catholicism entered the interior and began to preach at Tianning Temple in Zhaoqing, and the first person to be baptized. After Matteo Ricci was summoned by the Wanli Emperor and allowed to stay in Beijing for a long time, Catholicism finally established itself in China, and developed high-ranking officials such as Xu Guangqi to be baptized.

(To be continued.) )