From Chief to Ball

Although the group of people who were traveling with them hadn't penetrated into the city yet, they were still quite moved by the bustling merchant shipping trade around them.

Especially when Chen Jian said that this country is only the size of one or two counties, many people in the company became very interested in this seemingly small country.

"Their shipbuilding industry is very developed, but we still have shortcomings. That's why we send some craftsmen here to study."

Chen Jian talked about his understanding of this place, and the ships that kept entering and leaving the port also confirmed that his statement was not false.

Lan Qi said with emotion: "A land of one or two counties, relying on commerce, has been able to fight Spain for so long."

"Their army is basically not native. Being a soldier is a profession. As long as you give money, you can hire soldiers. Don't underestimate this country, but their ships are much more than ours."

"Then will they affect the Great Deserted City area? It is not difficult for their navigation skills to cross directly from here."

Chen Jian smiled and said: "Don't worry about that. They don't have a large population, and at most they do some trade. Population is the decisive factor. They prefer to focus on the tropics or what they call the Spice Islands, where they earn more money." A lot. Businessmen are naturally profit-seeking. If they don’t make any money, they won’t have the motivation to make some investments.”

After thinking for a while, he said again: "They and the Spaniards are tired of fighting, and at most they are doing some slave trading in the south. Wars cost money. For a company, they will not fight if there is no money to make. You can take a closer look at the system here and see what you can learn from."

"This is the Republic too, right?"

"Right or wrong, it's different from what we thought. Whose country is it? It's still the country of those big merchants. But this is a special case, and other places are still monarchies. In short, it seems that this country is small. But it’s still a force to be reckoned with.”

"That's true. As you say, their ships can go to the other side of the world. Our ships haven't been there yet."

Chen Jianxin said that not only went to the other side of the earth, but also occupied a lot of land on the other side of the earth, and the land was occupied by a trading company.

"By the way, how is your Dutch speaking?"

Lan Qi smiled and said a few words to Chen Jian in Dutch, and Chen Jian said: "That's fine. Their ruling or king or parliament is not here. I will take some people to discuss with them, and you take the rest Amsterdam."

"Is there anything to pay attention to?"

"Well... there are some things, don't talk nonsense. People here will quarrel and even kill each other for the god they believe in. Our ideas are too scary, at least we can't say it now. Go and see the shipyard, diamond processing workshop, windmill... "

Lan Qi nodded and said with a smile: "Their windmills are completely different from ours. Ours are vertical, and theirs are vertical."

Speaking of windmills, Chen Jian couldn't help laughing, and stared at Lan Qi for a long time, Lan Qi looked a little angry, and tilted her head.

What Chen Jian recalled in his mind was the woman who sang duet with him amidst the creaking windmill a long time ago.It's been a long time, but the strange windmill is still so clear.

"what are you laughing at?"

"Nothing, something from the past."

"Is it funny?"

"It's not funny. But laughing is not necessarily funny sometimes."

He said a few words without thinking, and withdrew his mind.

More than ten days later, several carriages arrived at the port where Chen Jian was located, which should be a group of Dutch officials.

The leader is a young man in his early 20s, tall and in a high position at a young age.

"Greetings from the Federal Republic, Honorable Governor-General, to you and to your country. I am Grotius, Counsel to the Maurice Governance."

Chen Jian also extended his greetings. Hearing the transliteration of the name into a language he was familiar with in his mind, he felt a little familiar.

After reacting for a long time, I suddenly realized who this person was.

It has to be said that this unremarkable young man in front of him is a genius. In the seventeenth century, when geniuses were everywhere, he was still considered a genius.

Entered Leiden University at the age of 11, graduated from university at the age of 14, received a doctorate in law in France at the age of 19, and became the chief prosecutor of the Netherlands at the age of 25.

If it's just such a resume, it's not enough for Chen Jian to be familiar with the name.But another identity, as the proponent of concepts such as "International Law" and "Law of the Sea", made this young man in his early twenties famous in history.

Although there were many obstacles in practice—the Dutch ship was snatched by the British, he was going to use natural law and other things to persuade the British to return the ship, and the result can be imagined.

Some things, the ideal is good, but the practice is too difficult.

This is the first person Chen Jian has seen who has left a real name in history. Although some things are unlikely to be useful for the time being, they are still essential.

Since international issues must have legal norms, Chen Jian still hopes to come up with some ideas to some extent.It is impossible to implement it at this time, but the contract after the chaos more than ten years later will inevitably form a brand new system, which is an opportunity to get involved.

In order to achieve some goals, what Chen Jian said in the previously submitted documents was completely different from what he said in Friday Harbor.

On the official documents submitted to the Netherlands, it is no longer a country that seems to have never seen Naples, but a huge republic with a population of 3000 million.

The news reached The Hague when another discussion was taking place at the top of the Dutch hierarchy in The Hague.

Although it is still at war with Spain, the interior of the Netherlands is not stable.

Calvinism itself is an extremely centralized sect, and batch after batch of heretics were burned to death in Geneva.The temporarily open atmosphere of religious freedom in the Netherlands intensified internal conflicts.

The orthodox Calvinists believe that whether God saves or not is preordained; otherwise, wouldn’t man be able to interfere with God’s will?You obey the teachings, be a good person, be hardworking and frugal, and other virtues are necessary but not sufficient conditions for you to be saved.So Diaosi can only be Diaosi forever, you can't even be an elite, it proves that you must not be selected, and you must go to hell.

Another professor of theology criticized this nonsense, thinking that people have free will, and people's free will can be known by God and can be responded to by your faith.

This faction, which is regarded as heretical, trains its own monks and has many supporters in some places, including some civil servants and officials. There are also hundreds of heretics.

This atmosphere of mutual hostility led to physical conflicts in some places, which were obviously just religious conflicts, but secretly the Morris family held military power, and the Great Speaker supported the other side.

At present, the enemy still hopes that both sides will exercise restraint so as to maintain this loose inter-provincial republic.

What to do specifically, always strive for a result.Some people want to continue to decentralize power, and the provinces form the National Guard to maintain order.This is not allowed by those who hold military power and elders. Although the conflict between the two sides has not been made public, they still quarrel when the enemy is present.

Fortunately, the news of the Republic fleet's arrival temporarily put this quarrel on hold and completely diverted the attention of these people.

A powerful republic with a population of more than 3000 million, dominating the northern part of the Spanish colony, with a standing army and fleet.

The first batch of goods brought by the captain before, and the shelling and salvo drills that Chen Jian deliberately let the captains watch, all had enough reasons for the Dutch to believe that what Chen Jian said was true.

No matter from the perspective of interests or military, this is a country that the Netherlands must pay attention to.

The Hague has prepared various welcome ceremonies. As a first-time visitor to a mysterious and exotic country, nothing can go wrong.

A group of troops were mobilized from outside the city to maintain order and prevent any possible accidents.

This kind of thing has to be guarded against.

Just now there is a plan to bury three tons of explosives in the UK to kill the king and the parliament and replace it with a Catholic king. The previous ruler of the Netherlands was also assassinated by assassins at close range. In the age of this kind of thing, especially a group of lunatics in the era of religious confusion and change.

The Hague was already preparing for Chen Jian's visit, and Chen Jian's advance request was also allowed: Chen Jian would lead an army of 300 people there, while the rest could move freely in Amsterdam under the premise of abiding by the laws of the Federal Republic.

Also appeal to the Dutch authorities to guide the two lost ships into port if they are seen.

These conditions are not harsh, reasonable, and there is no reason to refuse.

Chapter 30 Double Standards