Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

On November 25, 1867, William IV continued to educate his ministers on the importance of industrialization.

"But acquiring it at a high price seems not cost-effective for large companies. The investment and cost recovery time is too long, so many companies give up because of this. As we all know, aristocrats and big capitalists in various countries hold a lot of land resources in their hands. , which is a major constraint for industrialization. Therefore, the land issue is also key."

William IV couldn't help but think of the populous Indian country in his previous life. Industrialization in that country was difficult to achieve because land expropriation was difficult to implement.

Finance Minister Jan. von Capellor suddenly brightened up and asked: "So your Majesty traded with Britain for Australia, New Guinea, etc., which are isolated overseas, but here is different from the Dutch mainland and the Dutch East Indies. The Dutch nobles and People with big capital have not yet started hoarding land, but this has been done in an instant for the three major factors in the industrialization process of the Netherlands.”

William IV smiled and said: "Yes, this is my purpose. The Australian continent is enough to increase the industrial land use of the Netherlands dozens or hundreds of times. The use of such a large space is enough for the Dutch industrial land use to undergo earth-shaking changes."

Although it is not the mainland, it is far away from disputes and is more suitable as a paradise to avoid world threats. Therefore, the future industrialization of the Netherlands will still need to be maintained there. After all, if the Napoleonic War breaks out again in Europe one day, how confident are we that we can defend the country? We have to live here, and I think everyone doesn’t want to see the fruits of the Netherlands’ hard work of industrialization become other people’s wedding clothes.”

Hearing this, everyone present could not help but be stunned, but soon felt relieved.

In the past, I knew that Your Majesty valued it, but before His Majesty made it clear, I still didn't quite understand the reason. This time, His Majesty expressed his concern, and everyone agreed instantly.

At the same time, they all decided to wait until the meeting was over to figure out how to invest and purchase land in the Far East, especially in Australia, and at least build a second family asset there to prevent future wars. They would not be so hasty. Next, there will be no assets or heavy losses.

William IV saw everyone's thoughts in action and was extremely satisfied. This was the result he wanted.

Everyone has their own little ninety-nine. The future structure that he revealed a little bit is to be promoted by these core figures in the Netherlands. After all, capital also depends on the direction of the wind. If these people in the heart of the Netherlands remain unmoved, what will happen to those capitals? How could they be willing to speed up the transfer of assets to the Far East?

Therefore, William IV's "leak" was intentional.

"A large-scale domestic market is the foundation of industrialization. The essence of industrialization is to use domestic industrial products to meet domestic demand while exporting to complete a virtuous cycle of the industrial chain."

William IV said: “A stable and protected domestic market is a prerequisite for starting industrialization. For countries that have just started industrialization, if the domestic market base is not large enough, it often means that the scale of industrialization is not enough, and insufficient scale means competitiveness. If it cannot get started and has no competitiveness, industrialization will fail to grow and die under the impact of foreign products.

Therefore, trade protection policies based on protecting the country's industrialization demands are crucial. If the country's fragile industries are not protected, and when it encounters competition from the most powerful industrialized countries like the United Kingdom, the consequences will be obvious. It will be defeated and the domestic market will be occupied by others.

Therefore, as everyone has seen, while protecting the domestic market in the past few decades, the United Kingdom has been aggressively expanding its markets overseas. Continental Europe, North America, the Indian subcontinent, and the Ottoman Empire have all become their largest sales destinations, even in more than 20 years. It also opened the trading door of that big country in the Far East and took the most important step in dumping their industrial products. This is why Britain has the most advanced industrialization.

The current market of the Netherlands is to compete with Prussia in the Tsarist Russian Empire, and also compete with Britain and Prussia in Northern Europe. However, with the alliance with Sweden and Denmark, the Netherlands began to gain the upper hand. The Tsarist Russian Empire also took into account the speed and employment of Prussia. Around the Tsarist Empire, Alexander II favored Dutch goods.

Countries in the Americas are also the distribution and sales centers for Dutch goods, and the Kingdom of Siam is also the battlefield for commercial competition between us and the United Kingdom. Although this time they are jointly opposing the French Empire's destruction of our common market, and the two countries have formed an alliance to oppose Napoleon III, but as long as Once the war breaks out, the two countries will continue to engage in a life-and-death commercial battlefield. "

With William IV's comprehensive and detailed explanation, everyone present could not help but see a world trade map in front of them, in which the United Kingdom occupies the largest share, and the trading territory of Dutch goods seems to be not small.

This makes everyone here feel proud.

Because everyone knows that this is the result of collective efforts under the leadership of His Majesty William IV after he came to power.

"Your Majesty, can every country that has the three major elements of capital, population, and market be able to complete industrialization?"

Everyone saw that the person who raised the question was Industry Minister Wem Kot.

"Of course not," William IV flatly objected.

"Why," demanded Interior Minister Joan Leer.

William IV looked at the curious eyes and said, "Because industrial households also have obstacles. I call it the resource curse."

"Resource curse?" Everyone looked at William IV in confusion.

"The most commonly used word to describe a country's prosperity is its vast territory and abundant resources. There are many countries with the largest area in the world, and there are also many countries with rich products, such as Brazil and Argentina in South America. The two countries export their grain every year, and European and American countries Mining giants are prospecting and mining in their countries.

The Russian Empire is right in front of us, spanning the Eurasian continent, and the Ottoman Empire can be said to be a vast land and rich in resources. These countries are extremely talented."

The countries listed by William IV are all among the largest countries in the world. Just because William IV listed them, it is obvious that depending on the situation, these countries will become the target countries that His Majesty William IV is not optimistic about becoming industrialized countries. So they had an instant interest in the cause.

William IV did not have to wait long for them to answer the question.

"It seems that among these countless countries, there is currently no industrialized power. The Tsarist Empire, which is the only industrially strong country, is still in its infancy. Its heavy industry of firearms and artillery shells is not yet able to meet its own needs. Not to mention the other, light industry is even more miserable."

This is even more true in other countries. "

"Why is this happening?" Foreign Minister Hesbert von Du couldn't help asking what everyone was thinking.

William IV gave a weird answer: "The resources are too abundant, which affects industrialization."

Meeting everyone's strange looks, William IV said:

“When a country has too many natural resources, it becomes relatively easy to make money, and it loses the spirit of hard work, and then it falls into a resource trap. To put it simply, the resources are too abundant and inexhaustible. Therefore, they all have to go through industrialization, and citizens come here to find jobs. After all, going to work is very tiring. How does this reflect?

Let me give you an example. Argentina has a population of 2.6 million, but the country has millions of square kilometers of land that can grow food. It is dozens of times that of the Netherlands, but its population is half that of the Netherlands. Due to the large amount of food it exports, countries in Europe have They have a favorable position in front of them, so they are unwilling to give up this advantage. After all, Brazil and the Confederate States of Southern America are also exporting food.

The country maintains a high proportion of the money it sells to invest in a series of food plantings such as sowing. Therefore, there is very little money that can be invested in industrialization, so long-term industrialization growth is very slow.

Even the spur-of-the-moment short-term investment boom is due to the income generated from investment in food demand. The long-term industrial growth is due to the income generated after a round of investment, which is enough for the country to live a prosperous life. The people's investment in the country The original move to provide them with benefits and reduce taxes was very confusing and dissatisfying, which made Argentina unstable in the process of industrialization.

After they have made the necessary investment in food cultivation, they can sit back and watch the plantations produce countless grains, exchange the grain for industrial products from various countries, and live an extremely happy and high-welfare life. What about these people who are used to living a simple and high-welfare life? Care about the country's industrial production? Wouldn’t it be enough to buy it with the money from selling grain and minerals? "

This is true for Argentina, as well as for major resource-producing countries such as Brazil, the Confederate States of America, and the Russian Empire.

So such a country falls into what I think is the resource curse. It can live a good life relying on the wealth given by the bottom, and industrialization will naturally not develop as a result. When such an industry encounters a large number of high-quality and cheap foreign products from major industrial powers, the domestic industry, which is already uncompetitive, will gradually be squeezed by the powerful countries and disappear. "

William IV thought of Japan and Bangzi, the top ten countries. These two countries are resource-poor countries with small territories and no food from heaven. They can only work hard to industrialize, but they have achieved it with their own efforts. Regarding industrialization, William IV couldn't help but secretly sigh: Therefore, no matter how poor a person is, he needs to work harder. As long as he is willing to work hard, he will be more likely to succeed. In fact, the truth is the same for the country and individuals.

In fact, the current model of the Netherlands is the same as that of these two countries. Both countries have developed export-oriented industrialization. However, this era is not the era of globalization. This era is actually a conservative era. Countries are very strict with their own people in power. State power is very important, especially the issue of tariffs, which is the lifeblood of European and American countries. Do you want it? no way.

That's why William IV began to work hard to transform. After all, no matter how good the development is, it is not enough to destroy him in an instant, so what's the use?