Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

Kingdom of Prussia, at the Prime Minister's Palace in Berlin.

Nicholas Pierson, the third deputy minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands and the former ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Prussia, visited Prussia again, accompanied by his successor Ambassador Weesemann, and came to Bismarck's Prime Minister's Office today.

Under Bismarck's attention, Nicholas Pearson was still as strong and shrewd as he was seven years ago.

"If I were Your Excellency Bismarck, I would naturally not fail to understand that Prussia is not strong enough to deal with the French Empire, both in terms of strength and reputation."

Ignore the sarcasm igniting at the corner of Bismarck's mouth.

He continued: "But I know this precisely, so I seem to be far away from the Netherlands and close to the French Empire in recent times, so that France can relax its vigilance and deploy one-third of its troops in the Far East. Prussia has gained the opportunity to weaken France's local power. The aim, after the Prussian invasion, was to reduce the strength of French resistance."

Seeing that Bismarck had returned to calmness, he continued:

"Second, as the Netherlands led the International Hague Tribunal to impose sanctions on France, the French Imperial Government and Napoleon III have been complaining about people's livelihood for a long time, and their popularity has been declining. If Prussia secretly suppresses Napoleon III and Olivier The public opinion of the Weyer government has alienated them from the people, and Prussia will benefit a lot from this."

Weeseman, the current ambassador of the Netherlands to Prussia, looked at the way his former ambassador, now the third deputy foreign minister of the Netherlands, Nicholas Pierson, was talking. Bismarck went from being indifferent or even mocking to calm at the beginning, and now he sees Bismarck's face was solemn and scrupulous, and his facial expression changed four times in just a few minutes. This was something that had never happened the last time he met the other party alone.

It can be seen from this that the distance between him and the predecessor and "boss" in front of him is worthy of recommending him to become the Ambassador of the Netherlands to Prussia. Nicholas Pierson seems to be more qualified than when he was the deputy of the embassy before. He has the demeanor of a general and is more powerful than before. He is worthy of being a deputy minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.

Just as he was thinking about it, Bismarck spoke up.

"Long time no see, you are still the same as before." Bismarck smiled: "It seems that life in Amsterdam makes you mature faster than in Berlin."

What did Wezeman see? He looked at Bismarck and Nicholas Pearson with some disbelief.

The former smiled, while the latter remained as indifferent as ever.

Bismarck's greeting just now was more like a friendly greeting, which obviously had a relationship with Nicholas Pearson.

This made him a little confused.

Nicholas Pearson: "The climate in Amsterdam is more suitable for me to live. Of course, Berlin also has its advantages, but it is more of a good memory. But compared to Berlin, I will be more interested in Paris next time, Prime Minister Is that the same?"

Wezeman secretly praised Nicholas Pearson's intelligence. When he said this, the topic was immediately pushed to the purpose of this visit.

Bismarck put away his smile and returned to his serious and majestic expression. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn't have believed that the amiable smile just now was him.

Sure enough, old politicians are old politicians, and this change of attitude is faster than turning over a book.

"The principle of hunting rabbits in the grass is that if the French Empire becomes as tough as the Netherlands and goes to war in the south of the Netherlands, the Kingdom of Prussia can also tear off a large piece of flesh from the Netherlands or the French Empire. Of course, it doesn't matter how much. The important thing is to prove to the outside world politically that although Prussia has just annexed other small countries in the German Confederation, its strength has fully returned to its peak, and it has strong strength to intimidate all the ambitious people around Prussia who are ready to move."

Nicholas Pearson sneered. He seemed to be frank, but Bismarck was hiding evil intentions. It was more of a threat than a frank. He said: "I disagree with the Prime Minister's statement. I admit that Prussia has regained its strength and conquered it." The original countries inside, but Prussia is not stable internally. Even Prussia is unprecedentedly powerful, but Prussia also has its hidden troubles."

What's the cause?

Wezeman thought to himself.

Bismarck, however, stared at Nicholas Pearson calmly, wondering what he was thinking.

Nicholas Pearson gave the answer without them having to wait long.

"Prussia has just completed the great cause of unification, and the internal public sentiment is unstable. Both His Majesty William I and Prime Minister Bismarck need a big victory to suppress this restless heart, as well as those who intend to continue to undermine Prussia's internal unity. Am I right? ?”

Bismarck nodded and said, "Not bad."

Nicholas Pearson continued: "This great victory must be carried out by Prussia's strong enemy from outside. It doesn't make much sense for a small country to win. After all, the two kingdoms of Bavaria and Hanover were destroyed before. Smaller than this In fact, it is difficult for the two countries to deter others and wild people within, so I guess that only a big country can achieve this effect."

Although Weeseman already knew which country he was talking about before he came, he couldn't help but follow the topic and start guessing about other countries.

If it's not the French Empire, what about other countries, such as Britain or the Tsarist Russian Empire or the previously defeated Austro-Hungarian Empire? What would happen to Prussia?

What can the Netherlands gain from this? What to lose?

Bismarck asked knowingly: "Which country is it?"

Nicholas Pearson did not answer directly, "The Austro-Hungarian Empire is already well prepared for Prussia, and the border with Prussia is very tightly guarded. If Pulis invades the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it will definitely be difficult to achieve the effect in a short time." .

And because there had been a war between the two countries before, the Austro-Hungarian Empire almost shared the same hatred towards Prussia this time."

Bismarck: "The Hungarians may not all listen to Franz Joseph I and sacrifice their lives for the Austrians."

Nicholas Pearson retorted: "But the Hungarians do not want the next person who needs to face the powerful Prussia to be themselves after the Austrians are defeated, so the Hungarians will definitely make a wise choice."

Bismarck did not argue, but asked: "What's next? Is it the Russian Empire?"

"The current economy of the Tsarist Russian Empire is not as good as that of the Kingdom of Prussia, and there seems to be some gap in military technology. However, the Tsarist Russian Empire is vast and rich in resources, and although Alexander II also has domestic opponents, there are also many people gathered around him. What's more, there are The weather in Moscow is the devil. I believe anyone who has been there knows that Moscow and St. Petersburg in winter are definitely far more tempting to stay away from than Stockholm. Although the Prussian Society is eager to develop and grow, but in the It seems unwise to attack the Tsarist Empire without any certainty of victory and give up your back and ribs to France and Austria-Hungary."

Bismarck smiled and said: "I finally understand. Your guess is the French Empire. Could it be that by attacking the French Empire, Prussia is sure to win? Or, when attacking the French Empire, will it become the Tsarist Russian Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire?" "