Treasure hunt begins in England

Chapter 456 The Mystery
"Are you here to find Mr. Kimura? Please follow me!" After arriving at the door of the law firm and negotiating with the front desk, the front desk staff quickly led them into an office.

Fortunately, they didn't wait too long. After waiting in the office for three or four minutes, a young-looking lawyer walked in in a suit.

"Good afternoon, nice to meet you." The young lawyer nodded, and then said, "You should be here because of Mr. Kimura, please allow me to explain the situation here. "

Soon the lawyer explained the matter about Mr. Kimura. It turned out that Mr. Kimura was a wealthy antique dealer, but because his wife died young and he had no children or adopted sons, he used a special method Handle your own legacy.

He left a commission with the lawyer, hoping that those who find the clues he left can help him fulfill his greatest wish before his death.

These clues are placed in some high-end antique stores, because the people who shop there and can find this information are those who are really rich and leisure, and those who are talented enough in this area can help Mr. Kimura realize his idea.

Of course, Mr. Kimura will not let others do the work for him for nothing. According to the notarial certificate he left with his lawyer, he has stored cultural relics worth more than 20 US dollars in a certain Swiss bank vault.

If he can help him fulfill his wish, then the cultural relics of more than 20 U.S. dollars will be handed over to those who completed these tasks as compensation for this search.

"That is to say, the other party hopes to find a religious portrait with a history of more than 300 years." After carefully reading the other party's commission, Liang En frowned.

The situation now is obviously more complicated than he imagined, because what Mr. Kimura is looking for is a Catholic Jesus Christ that he could not buy due to an accident 40 years ago.

According to the lawyer, Mr. Kimura was a Catholic who was relatively rare in Japan, and he was the kind of Catholic who started to believe in Catholicism at a very young age, and this belief was also in business when doing this kind of international trade. Helped him.

Also because of this reason, Mr. Kimura can be said to be very devout in terms of faith, so when he got older, he gradually remembered a Catholic religious painting that he missed because of lack of money when he was young.

At that time, Mr. Kimura was only in his 20s, but because of his family, he was considered a very reliable person in the local Catholic Church, so he was entrusted to buy a certain Catholic sacred object from the Warring States Period in an antique shop.

But when he came to the antique shop, he found that the item was taken by someone else, but that person didn't buy it directly because he didn't have enough money.

After realizing this, he immediately returned to the church to withdraw the money, but because of the traffic jam on the road, he was one step behind the other person, so he was unable to buy this precious religious portrait.

Although the people in the church didn't blame him at that time, this matter left a regret in his heart, and even before he died, he regarded finding this thing as a prerequisite for inheriting the relic.

"Does it have to be the one from back then?" After listening to the lawyer's explanation, Liang En asked a key question, "If it has to be the one from back then, I don't think I can accept this task."

After all, all that is left of the painting back then is a few words of description. It is very difficult to find the target through this clue even if there is a card.

Not to mention that he doesn't know anything about the situation of the person who bought the painting back then. If the current owner of the painting is unwilling to sell it, or simply asks a high price, it won't be worthwhile for him to take up this task again.

"No, of course not, Mr. Kimura would not have such harsh requirements." The young lawyer shook his hand gently and said. "He only hopes to present an icon representing the history of Catholicism in Japan to the local church."

"So according to what he left in his will, as long as someone who knows his will can donate a Catholic icon with the specified specifications of that era to the local church in Osaka, then he can get the relic of Mr. Kimura."

"It sounds like a very simple matter, doesn't it?" After leaving the law firm with a series of corresponding documents and coming to a coffee shop opposite, Fan Meng said in a low voice.

"After all, the other party didn't specify any target, so we just need to find something similar and give it to the local Catholic Church in Osaka."

"This matter is much more difficult than you imagine." Liang En looked at what he had just checked on his phone and shook his head. "This kind of thing is not common in Japan."

"Isn't it common? I remember that there were many Catholic names in Japan during the Warring States Period in history, and there were also many believers of this type, so I think this kind of thing should be easier to find." Fan Meng frowned slightly. brow.

"I remember when I played the Nobunaga's Ambition series of games, there were a lot of high-ranking warriors and even daimyos who were Catholics. They were called Chichidan, and there should be quite a few of them."

"You're right, but the stories in the Nobunaga series are from the Sengoku period in Japan, and what happened afterward brought about a huge change in the spread of Catholicism in Japan." Liang En said with a smile.

"After the end of the Warring States period, the Tokugawa shogunate issued an order to close the country. At the same time, the shogunate also strictly prohibited the spread of Catholicism, so there are very few Japanese cultural relics of this type."

"I know that—" Joan waved her hand to the side, and then talked about the history of the development of Catholicism in Japan.

As a devout believer, Joan of Arc's study of history mainly focused on religion, especially Catholicism, so it is clear to say now.

In March 1612, the shogunate categorically issued a decree prohibiting missionaries from carrying out missionary activities in cities directly under the shogunate (Shizuoka, Edo, Kyoto, Nagasaki).

In 1613, he ordered a nationwide ban on religion, expelled missionaries, closed churches, and prohibited Japanese from holding private ceremonies.

In April 1616, Ieyasu died and Hidetada succeeded him.In August of the same year, the shogunate issued the so-called "Religion Prohibition Order in the Second Year of Yuanhe", which required the whole country, down to farmers, to eradicate churches and strictly prohibit religious belief. Except for open ships, foreign merchant ships that believed in religion were restricted to do business in Hirado and Nagasaki.

According to current statistics, the number of Japanese Christians executed from 1619 to 1635 was about 28.The punishment was extremely cruel.As a result, most believers were forced to convert.But there are still some who persist in their faith and join secret religious organizations.

However, the sect's going underground made the shogunate even more aware of the danger of Catholicism, and further strengthened the ban on religion. In 1620, the Japanese were prohibited from sailing on foreign ships and exporting weapons;
After the massacre of foreign and Japanese priests in 1622, the Portuguese were expelled from the country the following year; in 1624, the Spaniards were banned from trading in Japan.

In January 1632, Hidetada died, and Iemitsu succeeded him as the third general, which further strengthened the suppression of Catholicism. In 1 and 1633 (the 1634th and [-]th years of Kuanyong), the first and second orders to lock up the country were issued, and the system of "shipping books" was implemented.

In 1635, the third sequestration order was issued, prohibiting all Japanese ships, including chartered ships, from sailing overseas, and prohibiting Japanese who had emigrated overseas from returning home.

In 1636, the fourth sequestration order was issued, and additional regulations were added that children born to Spanish and Portuguese people in Nagasaki were not allowed to stay in Japan, and those who violated the law would be sentenced to death.

In 1637, the outbreak of the Shimabara Amakusa Rebellion made the shogunate see the strong and far-reaching influence of Catholicism in Japan and the threat to its own rule, which prompted the shogunate to become more determined to expel the Portuguese.

In 1639, the shogunate issued the fifth and final sequestration decree, prohibiting Portuguese ships from coming to Japan, and forbidding all contact and influence of foreign churches on Japanese Christians.

At this point, the seclusion system was finally established, and Catholicism began to gradually disappear from Japan until the Meiji Restoration reopened the door to Japan.

(End of this chapter)