Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

While everyone was paying attention to Amsterdam, Queen Victoria was getting more and more headaches in Buckingham Palace in London.

Since the death of Viscount Palmerston, she suddenly found that it was difficult to find anyone with whom she had a common political language throughout the UK. Russell, the foreign secretary who was still in office, was considered half, but the other person was obviously because of their long-standing partnership. He left, looking helpless, but Victoria still preferred not to see her.

She took Princess Louise's brewed tea and took a sip. Not to mention, her sixth daughter's income from making tea was worthy of ambassadorship.

Princess Louise, who has just turned 20 years old, has a curvy figure. No wonder she has become the focus of young aristocrats throughout the UK.

Princess Louise took over as Queen Victoria's informal private secretary for more than two years starting in 1864.

For more than two years, almost all British affairs, large and small, have passed through her hands. Therefore, she is extremely familiar with British domestic and foreign affairs.

It’s time for the summary that starts at 9 a.m. every day. This is what she has to do every day since taking over this position.

"Mother, the situation in the Balkans is reported to be stable. General Tiger's wire transfer tells you that Tsarist Russia has stationed troops in southern Romania and western Ukraine, as well as in the Caucasus in the eastern Black Sea. There are more than 300,000 troops in these three places, and more than 300,000 troops have been deployed in Belarus and Poland in eastern Prussia. 400,000 people, and 100,000 in the Far East.”

Queen Victoria's eyes flashed and she said: "It seems that Alexander II chose to stabilize the domestic situation first?"

Princess Louise said: "There should be no mistake. The situation in their country due to the war has made the people at the bottom of society live in poverty. Later, because of the conscription, people who make a living and make money in their families have reduced their labor force. It just happened that "Crime and Punishment" "The appearance of "Chinese People" hit the vital point of these people, making them unable to help but feel resentful towards Alexander II. This led to large-scale demonstrations in the Tsarist Russian Empire, and the situation reached a point where it threatened the status of their royal family. , had to suspend the pace of external expansion.”

Queen Victoria frowned, rolled her eyes, and said, "How do Prussian people respond to Tsarist Russia?"

Princess Louise: "The two countries have a very solid foundation of good people-to-people relations, but they are not easily provoked by the British."

"That's a pity"

Queen Victoria straightened her face and said: "But it takes perseverance, people's hearts will change. Prussia and Tsarist Russia are both in the expansion stage. Homosexuals repel each other, and sooner or later they will become enemies. What we need to do is to speed up the process."

Princess Louise nodded, "But now Prussia has a policy that is pro-Russian and not pro-British. It is difficult to provoke Prussia. More importantly, the top-down policies of Bismarck and William I are like this. They are too strong. Even brother-in-law Crown Prince Frederick has been marginalized, it is said.”

"What is it said?" Queen Victoria said dissatisfiedly: "Just tell me what you want."

Louise showed a confused look on her face, and finally said: "It is said that many subordinates behind Bismarck have begun to discuss whether King William I of Prussia should directly pass the throne to King William, your grandson William."

Queen Victoria's face really changed this time.

"Is this really the case?"

Princess Louise nodded and said: "This is the intelligence handed over by MI6. It shows that even many people in the military are dissatisfied with Crown Prince Frederick's pro-British policy, so they chose to follow Prime Minister Bismarck to send a message to William. With high hopes. It is said that William I has remained silent to this day, and no one knows what he thinks.

"This old guy likes to be gloomy. Everyone in the world thinks that Bismarck seems to have control of Prussia, and he represents Prussia.

But who knew that he actually stood out suddenly because that guy William I deliberately kept a low profile.

This guy likes to be in the limelight, but he likes to control the situation behind his back to get the maximum benefit. I dare say that this trend was definitely made possible with his participation and consent.”

Princess Louise said: "Why did he do this?"

Queen Victoria took a deep breath of air, and then said: "Because, he is putting pressure on me, asking Britain to continue to benefit Prussia, otherwise Prussia will not only be pro-Russian, but also anti-British."

Princess Louise frowned and said: "He dares"

Queen Victoria looked at her always smart daughter in a funny way and said: "What dares he not do? Don't forget, his kingdom just provoked a dispute and took over Schleswig and Holstein. It forcibly occupied other small confederations, small principalities and small kingdoms in Germany. Even Austria was driven out of Germany and occupied the mountain as king.

You think, would William I be afraid of such a person? "

Princess Louise was silent.

"But in this case, wouldn't it be a huge loss to marry him as his daughter-in-law Victoria?"

“This is transnational political marriage realism”

Queen Victoria sighed: "I didn't want you to face this, but Britain seems to be strong now, but in fact it has weakened a lot in the past few years. After the South African War, the country's vitality was damaged, and its prestige was completely lost. , achieved nothing in the Balkans, suffered another defeat in North America and lost more than 10,000 soldiers to illness. Now that the European continent is turbulent, what Britain can do is a powerful navy and the strongest industrial strength in the world. "

Princess Louise suddenly said: "Has mother realized that all this is related to the Netherlands, and the UK is suffering?"

Queen Victoria's face changed slightly, she thought for a moment, and said, "What do you want to say?"

Princess Louise's beautiful eyes flashed, and she said solemnly: "I found that when Britain faced disputes with the Netherlands, it was always a big step behind the other party. William IV was always able to make Britain the party that suffered the most. I I just don’t understand. It’s okay once or twice, but if it’s the same every time, it’s not normal. Unless it’s God, how else can it be so accurate and always have the upper hand? There’s something weird about it.”

Queen Victoria also secretly doubted it and said: "Yes, since William IV inherited the throne of the Netherlands in 1861, the Netherlands has begun to make rapid progress, including Belgium's struggle for control, South Africa's contest with the United Kingdom, the Danish War, and the African War with Portugal. , the purchase of Alaska, the American Civil War, etc., to the recent major institutions, step by step, it seems that the Netherlands is moving forward step by step. This does not seem to be temporary, but after careful consideration and multiple plans, It was only implemented, and many of them were taken by the Netherlands.”

Seeing that the Queen's attention had been attracted, Princess Louise said happily: "Mother, since the Netherlands treats Britain like this, then if our British Empire can suppress it once, we can continue to suppress it a second time. You know how sad Alice is now. , in terms of responsibility, William IV can be considered guilty.”

When Queen Victoria heard the mention of Alice, her favorite daughter, she finally lost her composure. Just as she was about to speak, her butler came in with a telegram.

Princess Louise received the intelligence letter and saw that it was marked with the Swedish Embassy in the United Kingdom. She handed it to the Queen.

Princess Louise looked at the Queen with a curious face, and saw Queen Victoria's expression change at first, and then she looked strange.

Finally, he calmed down the atmosphere just now and sighed: "King Karl XV of Sweden is preparing to hold a summit of German heads of state in Stockholm. Sweden invites the German heads of state to participate. The above describes that it has obtained Prussia's William I, William IV of the Netherlands, Christian IX of Denmark, and Joseph I of Austria-Hungary participated.”

Speaking of this, Queen Victoria smiled bitterly and said: "Among all the Germanic countries, the UK is the only one left? Louise. Do you think the UK needs to participate?"