Chapter 28

New book uploaded, seeking collections, seeking recommendations.

London County Court, Second Trial Chamber.

"Your Honor, my client is a scientist, currently recognized as an authority in the field of blood transfusion therapy worldwide. He holds four patents, including morphine hydrochloride, diethylmorphine, berberine hydrochloride, and vulcanized rubber. Moreover, he has publicly disclosed another patent he owns, the absorbable surgical suture. These discoveries and inventions are sufficient to make my client one of the most outstanding scientists of our time. His disagreement with the Royal Medical Society is entirely an academic dispute, mainly due to differing views on the causes and spread of diseases, much like the opposition between Mr. Giordano Bruno and the Roman Catholic Church on the issues of heliocentrism and geocentrism..."

The speaker was lawyer Andrew Jones. These days, the 'Jason Zhu defamation case' had already been brought to trial in the London County Court, and today was the first hearing. This novice lawyer, now wearing a wig and a black robe, spoke confidently, displaying a bit of the demeanor of a senior lawyer.

However, his opponents were not to be underestimated. The Royal Medical Society had hired barristers, who wore specially designed silk robes (a title given to lawyers in the British Empire, literally translated as the Queen's Counsel). They firmly denied any academic dispute, instead basing their argument on Zhu Jishi's claim in his published article that British hospitals and doctors "brought disaster to mothers," which they believed insulted the integrity of all British doctors, thus constituting defamation.

To be honest, this view was not wrong. Zhu Jishi's article did indeed harshly criticize the medical elite of Britain, and calling it an insult was not an exaggeration. Of course, the British medical elite's articles were even more scathing, almost branding Zhu Jishi as a barbarian, and giving him the nicknames "Jack the Ripper" and "Bloodthirsty Vet Jason," which could also be considered defamatory. More outrageous was that these British doctors attacked the entire Asian race due to Zhu Jishi's skin color, with entirely racist remarks. However, the members of the Royal Medical Society, and even the British gentlemanly elite, did not see anything wrong with these discriminatory and defamatory remarks about Asians.

After all, a group of British officers, who had just led over ten thousand "double-barreled soldiers" (opium was a military supply provided to British soldiers) to thoroughly defeat a major Asian country, the Qing Empire, with over a million troops, had seized Hong Kong Island, demanded 7 million pounds in compensation, and secured a host of benefits, including agreed tariffs, extraterritorial rights, five open ports, and most-favored-nation treatment. The news of the signing of the Treaty of Nanking had just reached Britain, causing a small celebration among the middle and upper classes of the British Isles. Various statements about dividing and annexing China frequently appeared in British mainstream newspapers, essentially viewing the Qing Empire as a second India.

As for Zhu Jishi, upon hearing the news of the signing of the Treaty of Nanking, he sighed softly to himself. This history was destined to happen. In fact, when Zhu Jishi had traveled to this time, the Opium War had already ended, and the Treaty of Nanking had been signed, though the news had not yet reached Britain. Even if he returned to China on the fastest sailing ship, he could not change history. It was better to stay in Britain and do the heroin business.

However, he also knew that the First Opium War was just the beginning. No matter how profitable the heroin, berberine, morphine, and rubber trades were, earning back the 7 million pounds the Qing Empire had to pay in the First Opium War would already be a miracle. If he wanted to earn back the hundreds of millions of silver taels the Qing Empire had to pay to the powers until the Xinhai Revolution, it would be a delusion. Considering the territories ceded by the Qing Empire and the losses to Chinese national industries due to agreed tariffs, it was hard to imagine how many tons of heroin would be needed, and where the Western countries would find so many addicts.

Thinking of this, Zhu Jishi could only sigh deeply.

"Jason, Jason..." A soft, gentle female voice pulled Zhu Jishi out of his thoughts. It was Mrs. Durham, sitting beside him. "Jason, it's your turn to testify."

It seemed that Lawyer Jones's speech had not convinced the judge, and the court had accepted the Royal Medical Society's view, not considering Zhu Jishi's dispute with the Royal Medical Society as an academic dispute. However, this was exactly what Zhu Jishi wanted.

Sitting in the witness stand and placing his right hand on the Bible to swear, Zhu Jishi glanced around the courtroom. Isabel and the Blumstein father and son were not in the audience, but the fat man Qiu, who had been injured by Will Heming in the duel, appeared in the courtroom in a neat red military uniform. He had approached Zhu Jishi a few days before the trial, hinting that Zhu Jishi could leave London to avoid criminal prosecution after losing the civil defamation lawsuit, but Zhu Jishi had refused.

Additionally, Engels and Will Heming were sitting side by side in the courtroom, taking notes with their notebooks and fountain pens, preparing to publish everything that happened in the courtroom in the *Polar Star* newspaper.

"Mr. Zhu," an older barrister, wearing a wig and a silk robe, walked over and looked at Zhu Jishi with disdain, "Did you submit articles to illegal newspapers such as the *Polar Star*, *The Observer*, *The London Gazette*, and others on November 26, 28, 30, and December 1, 1842, claiming that the errors of the British medical community caused the deaths of many patients and mothers?"

"Many patients indeed suffered disasters due to their mistakes..."

"Please answer yes or no!" The barrister raised his voice, interrupting Zhu Jishi. According to the plan he and the other barristers representing the Royal Medical Society had discussed, winning the case was very simple: they just needed to make Zhu Jishi admit to publishing "defamatory statements" in illegal newspapers, and then the Royal Medical Society would prove that these statements were baseless. There was no need to discuss academic issues in court, to avoid the judge thinking that the trial was about the correctness of academic views.

"Bacteria exist and can be clearly observed under a microscope, of course, with certain special methods for careful observation! For example, staining and culturing methods—these two methods for studying bacteria were invented by me and submitted to the *Lancet* magazine, but were not published," Zhu Jishi ignored the barrister and continued speaking.

"Mr. Zhu, please do not talk about matters unrelated to the case. You only need to answer yes or no," the judge on the bench frowned slightly. The London County Court had also debated whether to accept the "Jason Zhu defamation case," with the key issue being whether the case was about "defamation" or "academic disagreement," or how to distinguish between the two. The former could be tried in court, while the latter was not something a judge could rule on.

"Your Honor, this is not unrelated to the case, but key evidence," Lawyer Jones stood up and spoke, looking intently at the judge and emphasizing, "Sir, I hope to remind you that due to Mr. Zhu's latest scientific discoveries, this trial will certainly be remembered by future generations. If you make the wrong choice, the only result will be to tarnish the legal system of the British Empire!"

At this moment, Zhu Jishi suddenly took over the conversation, looking at Sir Herbert and Sir Reed with a victorious smile. "Gentlemen, I hear you are authorities in the medical and scientific communities of Britain and Europe. Your testimonies today can play a decisive role in this trial, but you do not represent the truth. The entire European medical and scientific community is already aware of this absurd trial. If you win today, and soon after, my theory of bacteria is confirmed by other European scientists, I find it hard to imagine how all of Europe's scientists will view you and the Royal Medical Society?"

Sir Herbert and Sir Reed exchanged glances. They had indeed instructed the *Lancet* magazine not to publish Zhu Jishi's articles. Therefore, they did not know what later became known as the "Zhu staining method" and "Zhu solid culture medium," two important methods for observing bacteria. They were even more unable to judge the truth of Zhu Jishi's statements.

Just as the two leaders of the Royal Medical Society were at a loss, the stern judge on the bench spoke again, "Defendant, please do not say anything unrelated to this trial!"