Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia.

"The alliance between Prussia and the Netherlands is imperative." William I stopped Crown Prince Frederick who wanted to protest, saying: "Because of the existence of the British Empire and the Russian Empire, Prussia must do this."

The Russian Empire?

Crown Prince Frederick suddenly realized that, yes, if the British Empire had no clear attitude towards the Netherlands, then the Tsarist Russian Empire had always been pro-Dutch.

The relationship between the two countries has been very strong for hundreds of years. This is why the Netherlands will receive support from the Russian Empire to maintain its European status after the Netherlands has been attacked by various countries.

"The British Empire may not value the Netherlands so much strategically, but the Tsarist Russian Empire cares about it very much. It is precisely because of the existence of the Netherlands that the Tsarist Russian Empire can obtain the most advanced technology in Europe. The Netherlands is the source of European technology for the Tsarist Russian Empire. .

Prussia's use of troops against the Netherlands was a way of cutting off the Russian Empire's technology supply chain, so with the Russian Empire behind Prussia and the Netherlands in front of it, Prussia would face incalculable risks."

"So my father and Prime Minister Bismarck and Chief of the General Staff Moltke chose a peaceful approach to the Netherlands?"

"It's just a last resort option after assessing the situation." William I looked at his son's dissatisfied expression and said helplessly: "Prussia needs to deal with the French Empire, so the surrounding environment needs to be the best for Prussia, and the Netherlands can deal with the British for us. At the front, Sweden and Denmark in the north are also very close to the Netherlands, so they can restrain them in disguise. This is one of the most important reasons for Prussia."

"Father is afraid of Denmark?" Crown Prince Frederick asked with wide eyes.

William I nodded: "We took Holstein and Schleswig. This is an insult to Denmark. If the French Empire and Prussia fight at this time, do you think Christian IX will We will not be incited by the people to make slogans and actions against Prussia to regain these two places.”

No one would think that the occupation of territory is a matter of indifference, especially for Denmark, a country with a very small mainland territory on the European continent.

Moreover, the territory that was robbed was not long after Christian IX became king.

At this time, the flaws revealed by Prussia were completely tempting.

At this time, Frederick felt that things were leaning towards his original train of thought, and he was a little confused for a while. But he knew that with the previous history of the Russian Empire helping the Netherlands combined, he had a direction.

"Father, if we support the Netherlands, how can the Netherlands help us attack the French Empire?"

William I smiled bitterly and said: "Nicholas Pearson is a complete diplomatic wise man and extremely shrewd. I have seen him before when I was the ambassador to Prussia. That's why I asked Prime Minister Bismarck to take action, while Martinas only had a population of 500,000. , with 30,000 to 40,000 troops, he defeated the British in South Africa and lost face in front of the world. This man is not a vegetarian."

"So we have to be on guard against the two of them, and with Moltke and Bismarck in town, I feel a lot more at ease."

"My father doesn't seem very relieved," Crown Prince Frederick asked confused.

William I's eyes were slightly worried, "The Netherlands came well prepared, but we were a little hasty in our preparations, and we will inevitably suffer a loss."

Will you really suffer?

Crown Prince Frederick didn't quite believe it. After all, Bismarck and Moltke were well-known throughout Europe for their prowess. He didn't believe that these two Dutch deputy ministers could "defeat" them. If that was the case, the Dutch ministers How awesome are the characters?

Facing Nicholas Pearson's confession, Wezeman's heart skipped a beat, and he couldn't help but look at Bismarck, wanting to see his reaction.

But the strange thing is that Bismarck, who has always kept his emotions to himself, smiled sincerely. Although it was hard to tell whether it was a real or fake smile, his smile was still quite majestic.

"What does the Netherlands want?" Bismarck pondered: "Prussia cedes territory to the Netherlands in Somalia, Africa?"

After he finished speaking, Bismarck shook his head and rejected himself, "No, the Netherlands does not need it. After all, the Netherlands has much more territory than our colonies, and it is incomparable in terms of fertility. At least Madagascar is better than us."

"Does it mean that Prussia wants to give up Qatar in the Arabian Gulf? That's not right. That was bought by the Netherlands and Prussia from the Ottoman Empire. If the Netherlands liked it, it could have taken it by itself. There was no need to bring Prussia over. Be a partner"

Bismarck objected again.

Nicholas Pearson was expressionless and said nothing.

Wezeman smiled bitterly as he listened. Apparently, he saw a Bismarck who was very different from the rumors today.

"Is it true?" Bismarck stared at Nicholas Pearson and asked solemnly: "Is it true that the Netherlands is plotting against Belgium?"

Wezeman's whole body was shocked, and then he looked at Bismarck with incredible eyes, and then hurriedly turned his attention to Nicholas Pearson. After listening to Bismarck's words, the latter seemed to be the god of death awakening from his sleep, and his blue eyes appeared. Sharp light.

After a while, it returned to normal.

Nicholas Pearson said: "The Netherlands does have this idea. This is the reward that the Netherlands asks for after providing help to Prussia."

When Bismarck saw Nicholas Pearson happily admitting his conjecture, his heart was like a wave, and he was shocked in his heart.

In 1830, the late British Prime Minister Palmerston's first diplomatic battle to become famous was to secretly push Belgium to secede from the Netherlands and become independent. After nine years of hard and soft tactics, the British gunboats were finally driven outside the ports of Amsterdam and Rotterdam. In 1839, the Netherlands lacked With the support of the Tsarist Empire and others, the Netherlands reluctantly recognized Belgium as a kingdom, and the Netherlands swallowed this bitter pill.

Now, after 30 years, the Netherlands is preparing to conquer Belgium?

If this news spread across Europe tomorrow, he could not imagine what kind of storm it would cause. It would not be related to peace.

Next to him, Wezeman heard the news for the first time. His eyes widened. Belgium and the Netherlands were going to regain Belgium. If this was what His Majesty William IV meant, then the Netherlands would face retaliatory attacks from the French Empire, and even How could the British Empire be willing to let the Netherlands rise again to threaten the British mainland with its extended coastline?

"Prussia helped Belgium to be recovered by the Netherlands. It seems that Belgium's weight is much lower than Prussia's defeat of the French Empire."

Nicholas Pearson: "We are willing to provide some venues to Prussia. For example, if Prussia is willing, ships flying the Prussian flag can enter the Belgian port as a transit and enter the English Channel to bombard the coastal areas next to Paris. , I think this should be a good help to Prussia."

Bismarck forced himself to calm down, "If the Netherlands does this, isn't it afraid of the British Empire behind Belgium?"