Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

Kingdom of Siam, capital Bangkok.

Rama IV has been having a headache recently. Why?

Because the British have recently begun to urge him to open free trade between the two countries, saying that the Kingdom of Siam cannot only be friendly to the Netherlands.

Following Britain was the French Empire, which was also a ruthless character.

In particular, the French invasion of South Vietnam and the British invasion of Burma created a huge sense of crisis in the Kingdom of Siam.

After his father Rama III passed away on April 2, 1851, he officially announced his accession to the throne as Rama IV at the Ama Golden Palace in Bangkok on April 6 of that year.

He originally wanted to report his funeral to the Qing Dynasty, the suzerain country, but unfortunately, when he went to the Qing Dynasty in the north, the Daoguang Emperor of the Qing Dynasty also passed away. The envoy returned to the Kingdom of Siam via the original route. In the end, he, the King of Siam, had some unfair reputation. The words are not smooth.

Unwilling to be reconciled, he once again sent people to pay tribute to the Qing Dynasty in 1853, but the Taiping Rebellion broke out again, and finally returned without success. In anger, Rama IV issued an edict to stop paying tribute to the Qing Dynasty in the future.

From then on, the Kingdom of Siam and its northern neighbor officially severed their relationship as dependent states.

In order to resist the pressure from his northern neighbors, he was delighted by an opportunity in 1855, because Queen Victoria of the British Empire actually sent an envoy, Sir John Pauling, the British Governor in the Far East, to Bangkok and presented him with a diamond-encrusted pocket watch and Stationery bags, etc.

Worried that he had no chance to resist the Qing Dynasty, he took the opportunity to pretend to be half-hearted, agreed to the British request, and signed the "Treaty of Siam". The two countries formally established diplomatic relations and sent envoys to each other's country.

To his surprise, one after another, Napoleon III of the French Empire also sent Charles Nicol to bring bronze statues of the king and queen, as well as new carriages and other gifts as gifts to him. So in September of that year, he signed a contract with the French Empire. The Treaty of Siam and France was signed, and the two countries also formally established diplomatic relations.

In the same year, the United States was not to be outdone. U.S. President Franklin Pierce appointed Consul to Japan Donson Harris as envoy to Siam, and signed the "U.S.-Siam Friendship and Trade Treaty" with Siam, and established the Bangkok United States in 1856 the following year. Consulate, Stephen Manton became the first American Consul in Siam.

In 1857, King Rama IV sent a special envoy to London to meet with Queen Victoria of England. This was the first time in Europe that a special envoy from Siam appeared.

In April 1858, King Rama IV signed a treaty establishing diplomatic relations with Denmark, and the Kingdom of Denmark minted its currency.

In October 1858, King Rama IV signed the "Dutch-Siam Treaty of Friendship and Trade" related to the establishment of diplomatic relations and trade with the Netherlands, finally opening up the Siamese market to the Netherlands.

In November of the same year, King Rama IV hired Anna, a well-known female scholar of East Indian Dutch origin living in Bangkok, as a royal tutor to teach Dutch and other modern scientific knowledge to princes and princesses as well as some noble children in the palace.

In 1859, King Rama IV signed a treaty of friendship and diplomatic relations with Portugal.

In March 1860, he sent a special envoy to Paris to meet with Napoleon III. In October of the same year, Rama IV sent a special envoy to bring gifts to US President Lincoln in order to establish friendly diplomatic relations with the United States.

In 1862, King Rama IV signed a friendship and construction treaty with Prussia.

"Is the Netherlands reliable?" Rama IV originally objected directly, but looking at Anna in front of him, he relaxed.

"The Netherlands is not very powerful, but Your Majesty, the technology of the Netherlands is not weaker than that of other big countries. On the contrary, big countries may lock up their technology because they do not want other countries to advance, but the Netherlands is relatively lax in this regard. This is the biggest benefit for Siam, which is eager to introduce technology. The two countries are simply the best complementary partners."

Rama IV did not comment, but frowned and asked: "I just heard you say that King William IV of the Netherlands is coming to the Far East?"

"Yes, the Dutch East Indies and the Dutch Australia to be precise"

Anna is indeed beautiful, even though she is almost 40 years old now, but this does not make her beautiful any less, but adds a bit more plumpness to a young woman, a tall European figure, fair skin, these combined make Anna , but the 58-year-old Rama IV did not feel that he was old, but felt that he was still very young.

"It is said that this time we are mainly here to inspect Australia."

Australia!

Rama IV swallowed hard the saliva in his throat.

Australia is so big, it is several times the size of the Kingdom of Siam. Some time ago, it belonged to Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, but now in a short period of time, it has become the property of William IV of the Netherlands, which dazzled him.

“You Europeans don’t value territory so much?”

Rama IV asked Anna doubtfully.

There were really too many transactions. As Anna told him about all aspects of the Netherlands, he naturally also learned about many recent events in the Netherlands. The Dutch in South Africa actually defeated the British and were driven back one after another. They established occupation points in Tanzania on the west coast of the Indian Ocean, and they all belonged to the Netherlands on the African continent westward to the Atlantic Ocean. Coupled with the ice-covered Alaska that seems to be close to the United States, and the Dutch East Indies, the territory is more than ten times the size of the Kingdom of Siam.

All these things happened in less than a year, and he was simply overwhelmed.

He was really shocked by Europe's contempt for territory and its practice of exchanging it at any time.

Can the Kingdom of Siam follow the example of the Netherlands and develop a good territory?

"It's not that we don't pay attention to it, it's just that the exchanged items are in line with the other party's appetite."

"However, the territory we consider sacred cannot be exchanged."

"Your Majesty, don't forget that these territories are not actually the mainland. They are newly developed overseas and colonies seized by various countries. What's wrong with using them to exchange for the territory you want?"

King Rama IV for a while passively accepted this statement which was not correct.

He said with twinkling eyes: "The Netherlands wants to support the Konbaung Dynasty of Myanmar?"

"Yes, it is said that Upper Burma's request was for the Dutch East Indies to sell them a batch of arms to the Tribute Government of Upper Burma. Therefore, the Netherlands wanted to use Siam to enter Upper Burma."

"But what will happen if Britain knows about it, Anna, do you think I should do it?"

King Rama IV said: "After all, William IV of the Netherlands has just succeeded to the throne. He does not understand that now we have entered into stable diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom. The crisis in Myanmar is mainly due to the fact that there are many ethnic groups and they are not united, which has caused Myanmar to retreat steadily. If we help the Netherlands transport arms and cause the British to suffer serious losses in the mountains and forests, the British will bear a grudge against anyone who supports them."

Anna was very familiar with Rama IV, so she retreated in order to make the suspicious man in front of her express some concerns.

"Your Majesty, have you forgotten that the Netherlands actually has no interests in Myanmar? I suspect that they have other purposes."

"What purpose?"

"Have you forgotten, Your Majesty, that the Netherlands is currently in a position where the island closest to us is Sumatra. I suspect that the Netherlands is building a trade corridor with Siam and Myanmar and wants to occupy Myanmar's trade market. Your Majesty, During the development period of the Netherlands, economic development is still the top priority."