I

While the Chinese mission is staying in London, anyone can come to see it, with the exception of the Dutch negotiation team.

When the Chinese mission left London, the Anglo-Dutch negotiations collapsed again. The Dutch were so angry that they also slammed the table and left, almost saying that they would return to their country to organize a fleet for another fight.

The negotiation atmosphere between the two parties had originally eased.

Cromwell said that since the merger of the two countries into the federation is not possible, then we should establish an offensive and defensive alliance. The Dutch thought this could be discussed. After continuing the negotiation for half a month, he was so angry that he almost cursed: I'm talking about your mother!

The Dutch feel that I colonized the whole world and the number of merchant ships was overwhelming. If Britain and the Netherlands formed an alliance, the Netherlands would at least have the upper hand, if not the Netherlands. But Cromwell kept throwing out conditions. The alliance was dominated by Britain, and the Netherlands became Britain's long-term free workers.

Dutch negotiator, like Zhang Ruifeng. He did not directly reject Cromwell's proposal. He only said that he could not make the decision and would return to the Dutch Parliament for instructions.

As the ship left the port of London, the Dutch negotiation leader was extremely depressed. He gritted his teeth and said, "This bastard Cromwell must have been kicked out of his head by a horse. He thinks he is the king of the Netherlands!"

A member of the negotiation team said: "According to the news from the spies, China's negotiations with Britain seemed to have broken down. The Chinese envoy was so angry that Cromwell slapped the table and cursed."

"Hahaha, I can imagine that scene." The negotiation leader felt the same way.

"The Chinese envoys will also leave. We will wait offshore, have a private talk with China, and then publicize the results of the negotiations."

"What results?"

"The Netherlands and China have put aside their past grievances and have become friendly countries, jointly maintaining existing trade relations in Asia. No other country, including the United Kingdom, is allowed to bypass the Netherlands and China and trade freely in Asia, especially in the East Indies. !”

"Will the Chinese agree to this?"

"Whether the Chinese agree or not, we can declare this to the outside world. Of course, the time must be chosen after the Chinese leave Europe! Once the Netherlands and China coexist harmoniously, the British East India Company will be anxious. Those British merchants will ask Cromwell put pressure on us and invited us back to negotiate again. By then, the negotiation situation will be more favorable to us."

"good idea!"

As a result, the envoys from China and the Netherlands "happened" to meet off the coast of England.

The Dutch asked to board the ship for a visit, and Zhang Ruifeng received them warmly out of courtesy.

The Dutch envoy said that previous conflicts between China and the Netherlands stemmed from misunderstandings between the two sides. Now that the misunderstanding has been eliminated, the Netherlands recognizes China's dominance in East Asia and China's sovereignty over Malacca and Taiwan.

He also talked about the trade cooperation between the two countries. This kind of cooperation is mutually beneficial, proving that China and the Netherlands are natural trading partners.

Immediately afterwards, the Chinese delegation was invited to visit the Netherlands.

Anyway, it was not far away, so the Chinese mission accepted the invitation and stayed in Amsterdam for a few days.

Zhang Ruifeng felt like she was being ripped off. The Dutch just talked nonsense every day. That's all that has come and gone, all part of what has been signed in the Treaty of Batavia. But it was better than nothing. The previous one was signed by the Governor of Batavia, and now he was signing a more formal one.

Immediately, the Chinese fleet left the Netherlands and went to Port Grace to pick up gifts from the British royal family, French envoys, and horse breeds.

Before the Chinese fleet left French waters, Dutch diplomats began to go out to promote the "ally" relationship between China and the Netherlands. The British businessmen were indeed frightened and asked to see Cromwell every day, forcing Cromwell to negotiate and compromise.

Lisbon.

Although the Chinese fleet does not intend to dock, there is no need to leave without saying goodbye.

Afraid of contracting smallpox, a member of the Chinese mission came to the dock in a small boat, placed the letter on the dock, and asked the tax collector to deliver the letter to the palace.

After reading this letter, John IV felt really sad.

I have never heard of a king as unlucky as himself. He took the throne for more than ten years and did everything just to gain recognition from the outside world. As a result of our efforts, only China and France have recognized it, and France still cares about China's face.

After finally gaining diplomatic momentum, another smallpox outbreak unexpectedly took away his adult son and daughter.

"Well, it's understandable that the Chinese don't want to go ashore. After all, smallpox is very scary," John IV said to the palace ministers. "Put the sheep presented to China and the envoys to China all in the same place." One ship, following the Chinese fleet."

You can't refuse this, otherwise it would be too hurtful.

A Portuguese ship soon followed the Chinese fleet. However, there was no contact between the two parties and they would not check whether there was any plague on the ship until they returned to China.

Accompanying him was a French ship.

Pascal was now on board the ship, and he was finally allowed to travel to China.

Fermat, a professional lawyer and amateur mathematician, regretted not leaving France. The main reason was that Fermat was too old and he didn't want to bother with it, for fear that he would die during the ocean journey.

"Does God really exist?"

Pascal stroked a belt covered in spikes.

This he prepared for himself, he was already studying theology. Once he finds that he is not pious and has doubts about the Almighty God, he will punch his belt and let the spikes bring pain to his body, using the pain to remind himself of his piety to God.

Historically, he would die of illness in another nine years at the age of 39.

The doctor examined Pascal's body at that time and found that the flesh on his waist had been stabbed by the spikes on his belt, causing it to be bloody and stinking!

The mathematician lost his mother when he was young and did not go to school. He only studied with his father and sister.

At the age of 12, he alone calculated the first 32 theorems of Euclid and discovered alone that the sum of the interior angles of a triangle is equal to 180 degrees. His father was greatly surprised and finally began to teach him mathematics systematically.

At the age of 13, he discovered the law of binomial expansion coefficients, which was later named "Pascal's triangle".

At the age of 15, he discovered a principle of projective geometry and derived more than 400 inferences in one year.

At the age of 16, he wrote "On Conics". Most of this book was lost, and only one conclusion survived, which was later named "Pascal's Theorem".

Between the ages of 20 and 30, he mainly studied vacuum and hydrostatics and produced a large number of research results, which were compiled into "Proceedings of Liquid Equilibrium and Air Weight".

This collection of essays was not published because some of the contents were inconsistent with the teachings.

It was also during this research process that Pascal felt confused and panicked. The more he explored natural science, the farther away he felt from God. He tried to unify religious belief and scientific reason, but he ultimately failed.

As a result, he gradually became disgusted with mathematics and physics, decided to abandon scientific research, and turned fully to theological research.

It was at this time that I heard that the French royal family was selecting scholars to go to China for exchange visits. Pascal was immediately tempted. The Chinese didn't seem to believe in God, so what did they believe in? How did they spend their lives? How do they reconcile the contradiction between faith and science?

Pascal decided to go to China not for exchange and study, nor to appreciate the East. He wanted to go to China to "seek the truth"!

French writers and artists are communicating with Pan Wei and Cai Yuncheng.

And Pascal found a Chinese science student.

"Do you believe in God?" Pascal asked when they met.

Li Sixiao smiled and said: "God is a god, and humans are humans. It has nothing to do with it. Confucius said that the duty of serving the people is to respect ghosts and gods and keep them at a distance. This can be said to be known. To put it more clearly, a wise man should be pragmatic and can respect Ghosts and gods, but also stay away from ghosts and gods.”

Pascal murmured to himself: "Is it really okay to believe in God, respect God, stay away from God, and pursue facts? But the more facts I pursue, the more guilty I feel in my heart, and I feel that I am a blasphemer. "

Song Qin had basically learned French. He said with a strange expression: "Why not? You only believe in one god, but we have to believe in hundreds of gods. The Jade Emperor, the Patriarch of the Three Purities, Tathagata Buddha, Emperor Guan Sheng, Mazu... If you don’t respect me, how tiring it will be and how can you do anything?”

"Hundreds of gods?" Pascal was stunned. "How can one person believe in hundreds of gods? Isn't that a false believer?"

Song Qin asked, "Then what is a true believer?"

Pascal said: "Believe in God, serve God, and everything belongs to God."

Li Sixiao and Song Qin looked at each other, feeling that Europeans were all stubborn and it was completely impossible to reason with them.

Li Sixiao asked: "I heard that you also have many research results. If everything belongs to God, are these results also developed by God?"

Pascal said: "Everything in the world was created by God, including our minds and bodies. My research results come from the mind and body, then they come from God."

Li Sixiao decided not to debate anymore and said, "Then just treat everything as given by God. From now on, you can do your research with peace of mind and don't have too many distracting thoughts."

Pascal struggled: "But...many of my research results deviate from the Bible. They even deviate from God himself. I feel that I am a sinner."

Song Qin was extremely speechless and said: "Then you should think about your gods in your heart and do research. Listen to Confucius and respect ghosts and gods and stay away from them."

Pascal said: "The more I think about God in my heart, the more painful I am when doing research. Even to that point, every time I make a research result, I feel like I am taking another step towards hell. There seems to be a devil around me, maybe The devil is in my heart, tricking me into betraying God. If I continue like this, I will become a believer of the devil. I begin to hate mathematics and all natural philosophy. They are all incarnations of the devil, and they are corroding my spirit and will. .”

Li Sixiao turned to look at Song Qin and muttered in Chinese: "This man has a heart disease, and he is seriously ill. He must ask a great monk to enlighten him."