Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

On February 8, 1869, Russell, the Foreign Secretary of the British Empire, believed that the defense white paper issued by Spain two days earlier "seriously violated the basic norms of international relations and the spirit of peace between Britain and Spain for many years." The British Empire expressed strong dissatisfaction and determination over this be opposed to.

The British "London Times" commented that the release of the 1869 White Paper coincided with the bad relationship between the French Empire and Spain, and the relationship with the United Kingdom was not friendly. The content emphasized that Spain must strengthen its armaments, showing an unprecedented "strong military" tone. The Spanish government hopes to achieve the goal of the ruling Prime Minister Ramon Narvaez's cabinet government to increase military spending by emphasizing the international situation related to the war between France and the Kingdom of Siam and the surrounding military threats, and will greatly increase defense spending.

The newspaper emphasized that the Spanish defense white paper emphasized the escalation of threats from Britain, France and the Far East as an excuse to obtain approval for a sharp increase in military spending, with the intention of increasing defense spending.

Queen Victoria frowned at Crown Prince Edward's analysis report and said dissatisfied: "In other words, Spain's current dissatisfaction with the United Kingdom is obviously dissatisfaction with the British control of Gibraltar."

Crown Prince Edward said awkwardly: "It seems that is indeed the case at the moment."

Queen Victoria: "If this is the case, in the 165 years since 1704, Spain has not dared to use this in its defense white paper to oppose Britain at any other time, but it chose this time?"

Prince Edward suddenly became even more embarrassed.

Queen Victoria said angrily: "If you govern based on your analysis, it will be inevitable for the British Empire to enter a period of decline. Give me a new analysis report later. Go back."

Edward's expression changed. It was clear that the Queen meant to drive him out. She meant that she did not want him to listen to the conversation between Prime Minister Disraeli and Foreign Secretary Russell. This meant that she was driving him out of the core team of governing the country.

Just as he was about to speak, Disraeli shook his head at him, meaning to tell him not to fight hard against Queen Victoria and struggle to protect and please her.

He was originally very afraid of the powerful mother in front of him, but now Disraeli's reminder gave him a good step to step down, and then left.

After Crown Prince Edward left the waiter and closed the door, Disraeli smiled bitterly and said: "Your Majesty seems to have gone too far to treat His Royal Highness like this."

Queen Victoria said calmly: "As a qualified king, you must have a clear mind at all times to deal with everything. However, Edward currently seems to be far from qualified. Even the position of crown prince is barely adequate. Prime Minister I understand what you mean, but the current situation facing the British Empire is very dangerous, and Edward is not yet qualified to overcome these giant waves."

Disraeli said disapprovingly: "But some training opportunities should be provided. William IV came to power the Kingdom of the Netherlands in December 1861 at the age of 21. Louis I, who was born in 1838, also came to power in November 1861 at the age of 23. He is ruling the Kingdom of Portugal at the age of 18. His Royal Highness Crown Prince Edward, who is one month older than William IV, is already 28 years old. He is still focusing on homework, which seems to have little effect on him."

Foreign Secretary Russell stared at Disraeli from the side with a scrutinizing eye, thoughtfully.

Prime Minister Disraeli has a close relationship with Crown Prince Edward. This is something that everyone in the UK knows. At this time, he will help Crown Prince Edward to argue his case. Regardless of success or failure, Disraeli will be recognized by Queen Victoria, the mother of Crown Prince Edward. , after all, no mother wants to see her son abandoned, even though Prince Edward was not popular with Queen Victoria. But if anyone thinks that a mother doesn't care for her son, she is totally wrong.

Obviously, Disraeli understood this and therefore took appropriate measures in order to improve the past impression of himself and the Tories in Queen Victoria's mind.

Queen Victoria was noncommittal and asked Russell, the Foreign Secretary: "What is the current reaction of the French Empire?"

The latter responded: "Olivier is currently following Napoleon III to criticize Spanish policies, but in general, the situation is still under control."

Queen Victoria sneered: "In other words, Her Majesty Isabelle II calculated that Napoleon III and Olivier would not dare to make any big moves, so that's why she acted like this."

"Almost," Russell sighed: "Since General Ramon Narvaez became a confidant of Isabel II and became the new Spanish Prime Minister last year, Spain's external stance has become tougher."

Queen Victoria asked Prime Minister Disraeli: "Have you sent anyone to check the details of Prime Minister Ramon Narvaez?"

Disraeli: "He was originally a Spanish conservative general who had a bad relationship with the previous Prime Minister, so with the support of Isabel II, the former Prime Minister was ousted and became the new Prime Minister. As for the details."

Disraeli suddenly thought of something and said: "Many of the cabinet members of General Ramon Narvaez are from the Philippines in the Far East. This is analyzed by MI6."

The Philippines, a colony in the Far East?

Both Queen Victoria and Russell showed curiosity. The Queen said with great interest: "Find out what happened there. I don't believe that so many Spanish elites suddenly appeared in Manila."

Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

William IV: "The wave of Isabel II really stunned Napoleon III, but Britain's unreasonable disaster may have made Spain more concerned about Britain."

William IV frowned and said displeased.

The only people sitting opposite him were Prime Minister Thorbeck and Foreign Minister Hesbert von.

Both of them heard His Majesty's anger.

William IV asked: "If Britain takes action, will it notice that we are doing something behind our back?"

Haysbet Feng heard this and said: "The British MI6 is very large and has very strong intelligence collection capabilities. In this regard, it is not my own fault. Our two major intelligence organizations cannot compare to each other individually, so we still have It’s hard to draw a conclusion”

"It's the same as not saying it for a long time." William IV glared and asked Tolbeck: "Speed ​​up the Dutch support Spanish project in the Philippines. This is where the Netherlands' influence on Spain lies, and where the Netherlands will make up for the gap in the Far East in the future. As long as they capture the Philippines, even the southern part of Mindanao, and make their hearts belong to the Netherlands, the Netherlands can use this to suppress Spain."

William IV sneered: "At that time, Spain's status as a great power will still depend on our mood to determine whether it is suitable or not."