Starting My Treasure Hunting In England

"Are you here to see Mr. Kimura? Please come with me!" After negotiating with the front desk at the door of the law firm, the front desk staff quickly took them into an office.

Fortunately, their waiting time was not long. They only waited in the office for three or four minutes before a young-looking lawyer walked in wearing 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 about Mr. Kimura. It turned out that Mr. Kimura was a wealthy antique dealer. However, because his wife died young and he had no children or adopted children, he used a special method. Dealing with your own legacy.

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

These clues are placed in some high-end antique stores, because the people who shop there and can discover this information are those who are truly rich, leisurely, and talented in this area, and can better help Mr. Kimura realize his dream. idea.

Of course, Mr. Kimura would not let others work for him in vain. According to the notarization he left with his lawyer, he stored cultural relics worth more than $200,000 in a Swiss bank vault.

If his wish can be fulfilled, more than $200,000 worth of cultural relics will be given to those who completed the work as a reward for the search.

"In other words, the other party hopes to find a religious portrait that is more than 300 years old." After carefully looking at the other party's commission, Liang En frowned.

The situation now is obviously much more complicated than he imagined, because what Mr. Kimura is looking for is a Catholic Cross that he was unable to purchase due to an accident 40 years ago.

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

For this reason, Mr. Kimura can be said to be very devout in his faith, so as he got older, he gradually remembered a Catholic religious painting that he had missed when he was young because he didn't have enough money.

Mr. Kimura was only in his twenties at the time, but because of family reasons he was considered a very reliable person in the local Catholic church, so he was entrusted to go to an antique shop to purchase a certain Catholic holy relic from the Warring States Period.

But when he came to the antique store, he discovered that the item was liked 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 money. However, due to 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 church people did not blame him at the time, this incident left a regret in his heart, and he even regarded finding this thing as a prerequisite for inheriting the relics before his death.

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

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

Not to mention that he now knows nothing about the situation of the person who bought the painting. If the current owner of the painting is unwilling to sell it, or simply offers a high price, it will be uneconomical for him to take on this task again.

"No, of course not, Mr. Kimura will not have such harsh requirements." The young lawyer shook his hand gently and said. "He just hopes to give the local church an icon that represents the history of the spread of Catholicism in Japan."

"So according to what he left in his will, as long as those who know his will can donate a Catholic icon of the specified specifications of that era to the local church in Osaka, then they can obtain Mr. Kimura's relics."

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

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

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

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

"I remember that when I played the Nobunaga's Ambition series of games, there were many high-ranking samurai and even daimyo who were Catholics. They were called Chechidan, and there must be a lot of them."

"You are right, but the story told in the Nobunaga series is from Japan's Warring States Period, and what happened after that caused huge changes 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 seclude the country. At the same time, the shogunate also strictly prohibited the spread of Catholicism, so very few Japanese cultural relics of this type remain."

"I know this -" Joan of Arc waved her hand 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 makes sense now.

In March 1612, the shogunate issued a ban on Christianity, targeting the cities directly under the shogunate's jurisdiction (Shizuoka, Edo, Kyoto, and Nagasaki), strictly prohibiting missionaries from conducting missionary activities.

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 to the throne. In August of the same year, the shogunate issued the so-called "Prohibition of Religion in the Second Year of Yuanwa", which required the entire country, including farmers, to eradicate churches and strictly prohibit religious belief. Except for Mingfeng, religious foreign merchant ships were restricted to do business in Hirado and Nagasaki.

According to current statistics, the number of Japanese believers executed from 1619 to 1635 is approximately 280,000. The punishment was extremely cruel. As a result, most of the believers were forced to convert. But there are still some who insist on their faith and join secret religious organizations.

However, the movement of the religious order underground made the shogunate even more aware of the danger of Catholicism, and they increasingly strengthened the ban on Christianity. In 1620, 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 Spanish were banned from trading with Japan.

In January 1632, Hidetada died, and Iemitsu succeeded him as the third shogun, further intensifying the suppression of Catholicism, which was particularly intense. In 1633 and 1634 (the 10th and 11th years of Kanei), the first and second seclusion orders were issued and the "shu ship" system was implemented.

In 1635, the third lock-down order was issued, prohibiting all Japanese ships, including chartered ships, from sailing overseas, and prohibiting Japanese who had emigrated overseas from returning to the country.

In 1636, the fourth order to seize the country was issued, and additional provisions were made that children born to Spanish and Portuguese people in Nagasaki were not allowed to stay in Japan, and offenders would be punished with death.

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

In 1639, the shogunate issued the fifth and final order to seize the country, prohibiting Portuguese ships from coming to Japan, and prohibiting all contact and influence of foreign churches on Japanese Catholics.

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