1850 American Gold Tycoon

Chapter 147 I am not a believer in God

Two priests and six nuns came to visit Liang Yao.

Neither priest was wearing traditional clerical robes.

The two pastors came from two different churches: the Fordham Missionary Society and the London Missionary Society.

Pastor Wesley, the representative of the Fordham Church, wore a dark suit.

Although Pastor Joseph Joseph, the representative of the London Missionary Association, had a large beard, Liang Yao judged from his appearance through the hair that this pastor was very young, probably no more than thirty years old.

It's just that Aiyose's clothes are a bit strange. He is wearing the robe of a Qing scholar-official with a cross hanging on his chest.

"Lieutenant Governor Liang, my name is Willis, the representative of the Fordham Association."

"Lieutenant Governor Liang, my name is Joseph Joseph, a representative of the London Evangelistic Association. My Chinese name is Di Jin."

Both pastors introduced themselves to Liang Yao in very proficient Chinese Mandarin. Liang Yao was surprised that Ayose still had words.

When the Manchu Qing Dynasty was established, the Qing Dynasty basically banned missionaries from coming to China in order to maintain its rule.

It was basically only after the First Opium War that the missionaries of these churches were able to re-enter the five trading port cities as well as Hong Kong and Macau to preach.

"We, the Fordham Association, received your letter last year, but later we learned that the ship delivering the letter had an accident and unfortunately sank.

Our president, His Excellency Guo Shili, greatly admires your willingness to fund the establishment of schools and sponsor Han students to study at American University, and praises you as a devout believer in God. "

As he spoke, Wesley handed a Chinese translation of the Bible into Liang Yao's hands.

Fuhan Church is a very young church, founded by the current president Guo Shili.

The association was established by local Han people organized by Guo Shili in 1844. The name of the Fuhan Association is also very clear: Han people believe in it and are convinced.

When Rong Hong was in Macau, his first teacher was Wen Shidi, the wife of Guo Shili, the president of the Fuhan Society.

Guo Shili was also the chief translator of the British Hong Kong government. Guo Shili was the British translator when the Treaty of Nanjing was signed.

Of course, in addition to this, he also has another identity, that is, as a spy. He once provided intelligence to the British Royal Navy during the Opium War.

Not only Guo Shili, but also many missionaries were involved in espionage work against China.

"Unfortunately, our London Missionary Society's reply to you is also on board this shipwreck," said Joseph.

"I am still an atheist for the time being, not a believer in God."

Liang Yao denied that he was a Christian. In fact, he was indeed an atheist and had no intention of becoming a believer in the future.

In his last life, his mother was a religious person, but her mother became religious so that she could receive a barrel of cooking oil from the church every month. She had not even read the Bible carefully, and was not a Christian in the true sense.

When they heard that Liang Yao was not a Christian, the two pastors were unhappy and planned to preach to Liang Yao on the spot.

Liang Yao was the first to speak nonsense: "I am full of sins now and am not qualified to be a believer in God. If I join the religion without cleansing my sins, it is blasphemy against God."

"So you want to fund the construction of schools? Fund the education of your fellow citizens?" Joseph asked.

“Exactly, if you can help me cleanse myself of my sins, I will pay to build you a cathedral in San Francisco to preach.

When I first came to San Francisco last year, there were only 20,000 to 30,000 people here. Now the population has more than tripled, and more and more Han Chinese will arrive in California. Like me, they are temporarily None of them are believers in God. "

Liang Yao said slowly.

He knew very well that education was just a means of proselytizing for these people, who were essentially fanatical Christians.

It’s just that this is 1851, not the end of the 19th century. This is the only group of people who are proficient in both Chinese and Western studies.

If you don't give them any tangible benefits, they won't be willing to teach students for you.

Of course, there are also relatively pure missionaries. Rong Hong’s two teachers, Guo Shili’s wife Wen Shidi and Pastor Brown, are relatively pure and selfless missionaries, but such people are only a minority after all.

At least the two priests in front of Liang Yao were not relatively pure and selfless people.

Liang Yao's purpose was also very clear, to let these priests and nuns cultivate for him the first generation of Chinese talents to receive modern education.

As long as these talents mature, he can organize and build his own modern education system without relying on these missionaries and nuns.

He believed that as long as they could overcome the language gap and adopt California's open-minded mentality, these Chinese children would soon be able to absorb modern knowledge and become modern talents that could be used by him.

As for whether the Chinese will become fanatical Christians, Liang Yao is not very worried.

The beliefs of the Chinese have always been very complex, secular and realistic. They believe in whatever beliefs can bring tangible benefits.

When Liang Yao took the college entrance examination in his previous life, his mother not only took him to worship the Buddha and God, but also took him to worship the Earth God and Sun Dasheng.

He couldn't remember exactly how many gods he worshiped before the college entrance examination. He worshiped at least a dozen gods. He worshiped almost all the local gods. In the end, he didn't see which god he became. believer.

If he had to believe anything, he would still rather believe in himself. Instead of placing your hopes in life on illusory gods.

The two priests already understood the meaning of Liang Yao's words.

In Liang Yao's eyes, the population is California's development dividend, but in their eyes, it is believers and potential believers.

Facing Liang Yao's temptation, the two priests were moved.

When they were in Guangzhou, they had already noticed that more and more Chinese were going to California to hunt for gold.

The Chinese population is what makes the missionaries who come to China salivate. They dream of developing all these Chinese into believers of God. That is hundreds of millions of believers!

However, their missionary work in the Qing Dynasty did not go smoothly. The Chinese who immigrated to California allowed them to see another possibility.

They had not yet arrived in California, but while still on the ship, they had already begun to preach to the Chinese on the ship and develop their followers.

“I can impart knowledge to them, but first they have to become followers of God,” Ayose said.

"Hahaha."

Liang Yao smiled.

"Di Jin, since you are proficient in Sinology, I think you should know that there is a saying in China that forceful melons are not sweet. We Chinese people pay attention to being convinced. If they are forced to join the religion, they will not become devout believers. At most, they will not become devout believers. It only caters to you on the surface.

We Chinese also pay attention to respecting teachers. As long as you can become their teacher and teach them knowledge, you will gain their great respect. You can take this opportunity to influence them. I wonder if they can become devout believers in God. Just Sooner or later. "

"Lieutenant Governor Liang is very considerate." Willis gently put down the tea cup in his hand.

"Chinese people pay attention to persuading people with virtue. Joseph, you are too impatient. Converting pagans to God is a long road. We have a long way to go. We must not rush for success. What Lieutenant Governor Liang said makes sense. , become their teachers, impart knowledge to them, and then influence them, only then can they develop into true Christians, and perhaps we can develop a few preachers from among them.”

Willis from the Ferry Evangelistic Association was very dissatisfied with the Fordham Mission's development strategy in China. The Fordham Mission accepted anyone, and these mixed believers not only had a great negative impact on the Fordham Mission, but also The missionary work of other churches caused a lot of trouble.

"You speak Chinese very well and at a very high level." Liang Yao said.

Sure enough, older people are still smarter. Both Willis and Ayose speak Chinese very well, but the older Willis is obviously better than the young Ayose in both Chinese language and Sinology skills. .