From Chief to Ball

After negotiating these matters, Chen Jian entrusted the Dutch with the gold and silver coins he carried with him, and asked a merchant to exchange them for Dutch guilders.

At this time, the Bank of Amsterdam had not yet been established, and the exchange business could only go to Jewish merchants with good reputation.

Lin Xi went to visit a few well-known naturalists in Amsterdam, and the rest of the agronomy students went to see the Holstein cattle mentioned by Chen Jian, or visited the farmland of the Netherlands, observing turnips, carrots, francaise, etc. Desma or something.

The rest of the artisans went to visit Amsterdam's architecture, art and shipyards.

Several astronomers tried to find mathematicians in Amsterdam to discuss some problems.

Chen Jian also provided a sum of money, mainly to see if there is a table of trigonometric functions calculated by Litix and the students at the bookseller. This is a very important book. It took two generations of mathematicians countless efforts to calculate with pen The sine, tangent, secant and triple excess every tenths can be compared and corrected with the domestic book.

Lan Qi tried to communicate with Grotius, because he was wearing the robe awarded by the council for the rescue of smallpox, and the two previous Spanish governors of the Netherlands were women, so Grotius did not have any prejudice.

Chen Jian fanned the flames from the sidelines, and within a short time, he moved from the question of the Pope's meridian to the legal issue that had gradually formed in Glacius's mind.After all, he was born in law, with a doctorate in law in his twenties. Grotius also liked this kind of communication.

International law itself is a strange thing. According to the meridian drawn by the pope, the various actions of the Netherlands are completely pirates.The Pacific Ocean belongs to Portugal, and the Dutch stepped in, which is naturally an illegal invasion in terms of "international law" at this time.

This itself involves the philosophy of enlightenment, which is somewhat similar to some rebellious thoughts of the Republic. The discussion unconsciously went deep into some fundamental "robber logic", and the views of the two sides also agreed with each other from the beginning to blame each other.

"Beautiful lady, Mr. Governor. Regardless of whether you believe in God or not, there is at least one thing we share in common. Man is a kind of virtuous animal, but the pursuit of truth and wisdom is a unique human talent. This A pursuit of truth or rationality, the correct rationality is compatible with nature, and it should be applicable to all people.”

"This kind of thing that is suitable for everyone cannot be said to be applicable in the Netherlands. It is wrong in Spain, and it is even applicable in your republic."

"Even if we assume the impossible—that you think God doesn't exist, or that He doesn't care about human affairs, some things still retain their objective validity. God doesn't let two times two not make four, nor does Things that are inherently evil will not be transformed into inherently good.”

"Based on this, this natural law is higher than the will and the law of man. And navigation and trade on the sea are based on the natural rights of man. I think that whether it is your republic or our Netherlands , or Spain, should respect this natural right of seaborne trade and navigation."

Lan Qi was deeply bewitched by Chen Jian, and it was inevitable that there were some young people's struggle and ridicule in her heart. After understanding what Grotius said, she asked with a smile: "Mr. Grotius, the person you said But as far as I know, you do not prohibit the slave trade, and you also support the punishment of prisoners of war as slaves. How is this ground derived from natural law?"

"Madam, since people can sell their labor, they can certainly sell their freedom. Besides, slaves and prisoners of war slaves do not come from natural law, but from international law exercised by the sovereignty of the country. When people choose to establish a contract with the monarch and condense into State, then the sovereignty of the state is above all else, and of course above the law of nature. Slaves, prisoners of war, freedom of navigation, all these are based on the concept of state sovereignty.”

Lan Qi smiled and asked back: "I support your views on free navigation and trade, but the law of free navigation and trade you mentioned is a human law? Or a natural law? Who is this law based on?" What is the basis for it to be implemented?"

"Of course it is man-made law, which is determined by God's will. And the parties that implement it are the sovereignty of the country that transcends natural law. So your previous question is not difficult to explain. Prisoners of war and slaves are based on man-made laws." international law, not natural law."

Lan Qi shook her head and said: "But you just said that freedom of navigation is the law of nature. That is to say, what you think natural law constitutes sovereignty, and sovereignty constitutes international law. International law is the law of man and what you call the law of will. ,Is it right?"

"Yes."

"However, your so-called international laws such as freedom of navigation and trade are derived from natural laws. When the slave trade came, they immediately became human laws. There is no logical coherence in this. In our opinion, what you are pursuing Everything is just a defense of self-interest, which is completely beyond the scope of logic."

Faced with such accusations, Grotius was a little annoyed, but he still maintained restraint in front of the lady.

Lan Qi said bluntly: "Mr. Grotius, regarding the monopoly of Spain and Portugal, from the perspective of the interests of the Netherlands, you use the view that natural law is supreme and higher than human law to prove that freedom of navigation and The trade is justified. But why is natural law meaningless when you justify the slave trade in which the Netherlands participated by man-made law?"

"Secondly, since you said that sovereignty is above natural law, then, even if navigation and trade originate from natural law, then for a sovereign state, it itself is above natural law, isn't it? have the right to refuse such trade?"

"Besides, international law based on natural law is only just and correct in content, but who will guarantee the implementation of the law? Laws are promulgated by sovereign states, so does international law mean that the state has surrendered part of its sovereignty to override this? International law above sovereignty?"

"So it's still a benefit after all, right?"

The tense question made Grotius react for a moment, and replied: "The purpose of a country's laws is to seek the interests of a country, so there must be laws between countries, and what they seek is not the interests of any country. interests, but the common interests of all countries.”

"I still insist on my point of view. Sovereignty lies in the monarch, which is a contract between people and the monarch. A sovereign sovereign has the right not to be dominated by others' will or laws. The individual in international law is the sovereign, not the individual. Since it is In this way, the prisoners of war captured by this country can be regarded as slaves in terms of the interests of the country, and they are not subject to natural law at this time, because sovereignty is not subject to law.”

Lan Qi also laughed and said: "From this point of view, Spain monopolizes the freedom of navigation at sea with its own interests, which is also based on the interests of its own country. Then what is the basis of the freedom of navigation prohibited by Spain and Portugal that you object to?" ? If it is unfavorable to you, it is the natural law; if it is beneficial to you, it is the law of man. I respect your idea of ​​wanting to formulate international law, but I hope you can give a more self-consistent statement in terms of internal logic."

Seeing that the two were about to continue their quarrel, Chen Jian coughed lightly and interrupted what Lan Qi was going to say, and said, "Mr. Grotius, from the current point of view, your natural law-based international law is in line with justice. And logical. But, in terms of form and effectiveness, it's hard to put into practice."

"The Republic is willing to contribute to the establishment and revision of national laws, and can sign treaties of international law and become the first batch of initiators."

"However, the effectiveness of international law should be based on the consent and common will of states. Rules can only become national law with the consent of all countries, and this agreement must be used as the basis for effectiveness and practice."

"We recognize the inherent natural rights of human beings. Therefore, if we want to use natural law as the basis of international law, we must first ensure the existence of sovereign states and the existence of sovereign states concluded by natural rights. the sovereignty of the people."

"The first step in international law is to oppose oppression, support rationality, and oppose feudal privileges, and is freedom. Only by doing this can countries and countries jointly accept and agree on international law based on natural law. Otherwise, if no sovereign individual agrees with the natural rights of human beings, how can there be a sovereign that overrides individuals and recognizes natural rights?"

"Only a sovereign state established by the natural rights of man can have international law based on natural law."

"So, on my own behalf and not on behalf of my country, I support your war for independence and freedom against Spain. This is in perfect harmony with the system of international law you envision."

"The people of our republic must support international law based on natural law. Since they support the idea of ​​international law based on natural law and morality, then the people of our republic support any struggle against oppression, feudal privileges, and A war of rotten churches and dynasties for independence and liberty."

"It's just me personally, and I don't represent the Republic. Out of respect for Mr. Grotius and the respect for the international law you conceived, I think that if you want to realize the international law you conceived, you should first support Ned Support the independence of the Irish people, support the independence of the Scottish people, support the independence of the Bohemian people and the freedom of belief, support the independence of Portugal, and support the independence and freedom of the states of the Holy Roman Empire and freedom of belief. "

"All this is the basis of your conception of international law based on the law of nature. May I ask, can you do this? Including supporting religious freedom in the Netherlands and at the cost of life. Including Judaism, Arminianism Freedom of sects, elder sects, etc., and each faction can establish a country after it has the will to be independent."

Upon hearing this, Grotius was silent for a while and said: "Mr. Governor, this is diplomacy and politics, and I cannot control it. My inner support and opposition will not bring any results. Besides, I cannot accept The division of the Netherlands."

"What about the slave?"

"I still stand by my original point of view."

Chen Jian said with a smile: "From this point of view, the formulation of international law is a long process. It requires independent sovereign countries to occupy the majority. Therefore, before that, we can do something that we can all accept based on morality and morality. .”

Chapter 31 Active Involvement

Chen Jian's words aroused Grotius' curiosity.

He didn't directly say what he was going to do, but asked: "Mr. Grotius, I have heard of the tragedy of the Battle of Ostend, and also heard that tens of thousands of wounded soldiers were killed and civilians were massacred. I think, no matter Whether it is based on our morality, or the kindness of the God you believe in, these should not have happened."

Grotius nodded. The siege of Ostend had just ended. Although he had never been on the battlefield, he had heard people on the battlefield talk about the tragic situation of the wounded soldiers and the massacred civilians.

"I don't know what the death rate of the wounded soldiers is in the barracks under the administration of Morris?"

"More than half. Decomposition, lead bullets, bleeding... These are all important reasons for the death of wounded soldiers. It is hard to say, about 500 of the [-] wounded soldiers will die in the next six months, and most of the rest will die. Disabled."

Chen Jian sighed and said, "But in our country, the death rate of wounded soldiers is only one-sixth or even lower."

He's not talking nonsense.Hundreds of years ago, the rule of strictly prohibiting close relatives to observe blood clotting was established, which reduced the mortality rate caused by some hemorrhages; the nonsense theory of disinfection of yin and yang that corrodes the body has also been continuously improved; the nursing system that existed before and the rescue of wounded soldiers regulations; ether anesthesia and hemostasis; developments in anatomy  …

All these gave him the confidence to say a death rate of one-sixth or even lower.

He may not have such good intentions, but he can use the wounded soldiers here to train a group of qualified head nurses and doctors who have been trained with the lives of living people.

Within ten years, the country should be stable, and there will be no opportunity for large-scale war trauma treatment.

To put it a bit dirty, it is better to practice nursing with living people than to learn nursing by dissecting dead people.Of course, the purpose is not just that.

Chen Jian said that his ship's doctor could prevent smallpox, perform an amputation operation so that the patient would not yell, and many other techniques that sound miraculous at the moment.

Under the swearing guarantee, Grotius said that he could visit it, and Chen Jian also said that it was absolutely possible, as long as he had time.

Given that he didn't know the details of Chen Jian and the Republic, and had seen many new items and muskets shipped by the Republic that showed the level of handicrafts, Grotius still chose to believe it.

"But, Mr. Governor, what does this have to do with the international morality you are talking about?"

Chen Jian thought for a while and said: "Of course it is related. I think we can create a special International Federation for Rescuing the Wounded and Protecting Civilians. Our organization will help train nurses and doctors, and if there are nobles and doctors who are willing to donate Charitable businessmen are even better."