Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

In the Prime Minister's Office in Berlin, Dutch Ambassador Nicholas Pierson and Otto von Bismarck discussed together the issue of how Prussia would send troops to Denmark during a future showdown and the Netherlands would provide assistance. The Netherlands would receive corresponding support from Denmark. After reaching an agreement, Nicholas Pearson left Bismarck's Prime Minister's Office with a hasty provisional agreement.

At 21 o'clock in the evening, Bismarck was left alone, his stomach already croaking with hunger.

But now Bismarck had no time to take care of it, because he frowned and couldn't figure out why the Netherlands appeared at this time, and dared to openly want to unite with Prussia to carry out multiple cooperations. Among them, he was shocked. It was about Prue's plan to attack Denmark. This was an extremely confidential plan. Currently, only he, William I and Chief of General Moltke knew about it.

No, there is also Crown Prince Frederick. How do they, the Netherlands, know?

Bismarck frowned when he thought of this crown prince.

Since marrying Princess Victoria in 1858, Crown Prince Frederick is no longer the same crown prince. He actually strongly supports the political ideas brought by Princess Victoria. The couple both hope that Prussia can become a constitutional monarchy like the British Empire. nation.

snort!

When Bismarck thought of this, he couldn't help but feel dissatisfied that Crown Prince Frederick was brainwashed by his wife.

Don’t even think about what’s going on in Prussia?

What was the situation like in the British Empire?

Britain is an island country, and there is no threat in its surroundings due to the presence of the overlord-level British Navy.

But Prussia is different. Austria and Tsarist Russia, Prussia's two powerful allies, are not yet constitutional monarchies.

France had just been restored as the Second French Empire not long ago, and Napoleon III only launched a constitutional monarchy last year after more than ten years.

If Prussia implements it, there will be a generation gap between the systems of its allies, Tsarist Russia and Austria. Don't underestimate it, it will definitely cause suspicion among the allies.

As a result, Princess Victoria was ostracized by members of the royal Hohenzollern family as well as by Berlin court officials because of her political views and her British origins.

In particular, Bismarck believed that it hindered his already planned policy of uniting with Russia to delay Austria, so the differences between him and Victoria became deeper.

Bismarck pondered: "The Netherlands dares to do this now because the new king William IV succeeded William III last month. The new king is always strong-willed and wants to do something big. So, I can just take advantage of this new king." The king must carefully plan this point to strive for more benefits for Prussia."

He felt a little distressed when he thought that the young diplomat just asked him for the benefits of the Netherlands supporting Prussia in attacking Denmark.

But when I thought about the moral support and tangible territorial benefits that Prussia had received for this, I put away the pain.

I can’t bear to give up my child, so what I give him from the Netherlands now is just like the Netherlands that Britain gave them. Sooner or later, Prussia will take back double the amount, so let’s temporarily store it in the Netherlands!

Bismarck looked at the temporary plan covenant with disdain, and helplessly asked the servant to bring the meal. After eating it in a hurry, he rushed to the Berlin Palace again, because there, William I and Chief of General Moltke should have already Waiting for his message!

In Berlin, Bismarck and Pierson secretly completed an agreement that may have a major impact on the future. When Bismarck went to the Berlin Palace to report the relevant matters, at the Dutch Palace in Amsterdam, William IV was also listening to the secret agreement. progress.

Looking at the diplomatic report sent by the Privy Council, it is that the Netherlands has completed the initial deployment of balance of power diplomacy with major powers, and has launched an alliance with major powers in a way that maximizes interests.

Those stationed in London, Berlin, Paris, Vienna, and even Madrid and Lisbon have all launched all-round diplomacy in the past week to upgrade the relations between various countries. Now that he heard the news about Hesbert von, William IV felt relieved. , finally this period of time did not waste a lot of planning.

Especially the request for replacement support for the secret agreement with Berlin was the most uncertain thing for William IV. But with the telegram he had just received, his worries finally calmed down. Bismarck, after all, still had enough Ambition, at the same time, also let William IV know that the originally uncertain test had indeed come out. Prussia's plan for Denmark was not a temporary one. It might have been submitted on the day William I approved him to become prime minister. A 'meeting gift' from William I.

The reason why they agreed to the Netherlands is simply because at this time, William I and Bismarck had already jumped out of the situation of Prussia being trapped in the Pod Plain, and had begun to look towards the entire European continent, and had begun to prepare for antagonism with the British Empire sooner or later. This was also the fundamental reason why he deliberately tested it. As a result, he succeeded and it turned out to be true.

Both he and Bismarck believed that as long as Denmark's plan succeeded, it would be a success for Prussia that aroused the national sense of honor. Britain's plan, because only in this way will Britain jump into another pit that the Netherlands has already deployed and slowly enter the vortex of Europe. Again, Europe is too calm, which is not in line with the current interests of the Netherlands as a middle-sized country. William IV hopes to stir up the situation in Europe and muddy the water so that he can take advantage of the opportunity to fish and reap the benefits.

"See Your Majesty"

The Privy Council of the Netherlands is located in the Royal Palace. It is subordinate to the cabinet and is the administrative agency used by William IV to manage the country.

Its main costs are basically cabinet members, but the selection is decided by William IV. Currently, there are four main people in the Privy Council, namely Prime Minister Tolbeck, Home Secretary Joan Leer and Foreign Minister Haysbet. .Feng and Finance Minister Jan. von Capello.

When the four of them saw William IV coming in, they immediately stood up and saluted.

"Everyone, please take a seat." Pointing to their respective seats, William IV took the lead and sat down.

After a few people exchanged some implicit greetings and other topics, William IV got to the point and said to Jonler:

"Can you please introduce the latest immigration progress of the Ministry of Interior?"

Jonler did not expect that William IV would order him first. Originally, today was the main meeting to discuss the topic of Dutch diplomacy: the alliance with Prussia.

Fortunately, he did his homework and didn't have stage fright.

"We have already invited many people to go to the East Indies. After a week of publicity in our media "Rotterdam Daily News", "Echo" and "Dutch Daily News", the number of people who have signed up has now reached 20,000. , as long as we continue to promote, I believe more people will participate,

After all, there is a lot of land there, and Your Majesty has asked the Ministry of Finance to provide finance and allow each immigrant to receive a support policy of 2,000 Dutch guilders (80 pounds, twice the per capita GDP of the Netherlands) after living for one year on a per capita basis. That’s twice what our country’s current national income is in a year.

As long as you have this money, you will be able to obtain the corresponding land, and you will be able to live a good life when you settle down. Therefore, although the time is short, there are not a few people who responded."

William IV couldn't help but smile bitterly when a trace of displeasure appeared on his face when he saw Finance Minister Jan. von Cappelle in Jonler talking about the finance ministry's support.

As the steward of the country's finances, the Ministry of Finance will use every penny to provide it to various departments. William IV naturally knows the three aspects of this. Such a large amount of support will be a burden.

For 20,000 people alone, £1.6 million would be needed.

Last year, the GDP of the Netherlands was 160 million pounds, and the fiscal revenue was about 40 million pounds. The country needs money in all aspects. If the military expenditure was only 1 million pounds before, it would be almost the same.

However, as it started a few years ago, there were more and more names, and the list became longer and longer. The list of military expenditures listed last week alone and signed by William IV by Parliament reached an astonishing 50 Thousands of pounds, this is still January, there are still 11 months to come?

However, I believe that Finance Minister Jan. von Capellor also saw the business opportunities.

"East India has always been the location of spices, and the number of primitive deep forests there is an indispensable raw material for our fleet. In Europe, only Northern Europe has so many trees for all countries to squander, but now the relationship between Sweden and Britain in Northern Europe is even more The ambiguity is also the largest supply to the British Empire. Therefore, we cannot be controlled by others, but rely on ourselves. As the population slowly moves to East India, we will complete a leap in quality and space expansion. As long as this step If you stand firm and sit firmly, then "

William IV's ambition was fully revealed and he said domineeringly: "When the time comes, we will once again stand in the forest of European powers and compete with them on an equal footing again."

The scene shifts back to Berlin, but this time it's the palace.

William I was also greatly surprised. He couldn't help but look at Moltke, and then finally fell on Bismarck who brought the news.

The latter shrugged, and then said: "I didn't expect that the Netherlands would emerge at this time after being dormant for many years. It seems that our neighbor, the new king William IV, is not a peaceful master."

William I's face was full of majesty, his long beard covered his upper and lower lips, and his beard swayed when he spoke.

He said: "They actually want Denmark's Faroe Islands? This ambition is not small, but will the Danes agree?"

Mao Qi was also shocked by the news.

The Netherlands has been frightened by the United Kingdom in these years, and now it actually wants the French Islands not far from the United Kingdom, those extremely cold desert islands with a population of only a few thousand people?

Will Denmark agree?

Originally Bismarck also questioned this, but he thought of the young diplomat who had just talked to him. For some reason, he unexpectedly agreed that the Netherlands should be able to do it. This surprised Bismarck. How incredible it is to choose to believe the other person.

It seems that although I already looked up to that guy named Pearson before, but now I still look down on him, he was able to unknowingly influence my mind and invade my judgment. It's really amazing. In the future With this person in the Netherlands, the backbone of any country's diplomacy needs to pay attention. This person may be a middleweight in the diplomatic community of Prussia, Britain and other countries.

Secretly remembering Pearson, Bismarck said: "Your Majesty, I think the Netherlands is indeed our ally at present. After all, we are now separated from them by the Kingdom of Westphalia, the Rhine Province and the Kingdom of Hanover, but not by the Kingdom of Prussia. Bordering each other, there is no conflict between the two countries! Netherlands.

The Netherlands aims at sea, but we are currently stuck in the Baltic Sea and do not have any coastal seaports in the Atlantic. Perhaps cooperation with the Netherlands will be the strongest foreign aid we can get in the Atlantic seaports in the future. Maybe. "

King William I and Moltke were shocked at first, and then moved for a while.