Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

William IV's statement in an interview with "European Times" made people feel that the royal family supports the move of the capital proposed by the ruling liberal faction. Affected by this, the leader of the liberal faction, Julius von Louislen, changed his tune. expressed full support for moving the capital.

On February 25, 1869, the Dutch House of Representatives passed a motion proposed by Prime Minister Tolbeck to move the capital from Amsterdam to Melbourne on the Australian mainland.

On March 1, 1869, the Dutch Senate passed the bill. On March 2, Prime Minister Tolbeck signed it and sent it to King William IV of the Netherlands, and it came into effect on that day when King William IV signed it.

With the signature of William IV taking effect, an internal political issue that the international community thought would cause endless strife in the Netherlands was ended hastily. This shocked everyone, it was like punching out with all your strength, only to find that it only hit the air.

The Netherlands' clean and neat style of doing things shocked European countries.

On March 5, 1869, the French Empire sent a diplomatic team headed by Foreign Minister Edmond Drouin de Lui (who indeed existed) to visit Amsterdam. The news shocked the world after the news came out.

Since France launched a war of aggression against the Kingdom of Siam on November 19, 1866, and the Netherlands launched the International Hague Tribunal to impose sanctions on France in the name of humanitarianism, the two countries have hardly had any high-level official contacts.

This is the first time that ministerial level officials have appeared. What's more, this visit was actually agreed upon when there was no news from the whole world. No one would think that French Foreign Minister Edmond Drouin de Luu went there on his own. After all, he did not have the consent of the Netherlands. Even the border is inaccessible.

Obviously this time, after two and a half years, the Netherlands is finally willing to start high-level dialogue with France.

French Foreign Minister Edmond Drouin de Lu's visit to the Netherlands has attracted the attention of neighboring countries, especially Prussian Bismarck and others. Dutch senior officials are familiar with Prussia's future plans. Will the Netherlands be affected by this? It was leaked to Paris, which made them full of worry about it, and even Bismarck's iron-willed heart couldn't help but start beating wildly.

He secretly decided that if it was discovered that the Netherlands had leaked even half a point, and Prussia had no choice but to give up its action against France, it would definitely arrange an operation against the Netherlands in order to vent its anger.

However, he and other senior Prussian officials were soon reassured.

On March 10, 1869, Dutch Foreign Minister Hesbert von and French Foreign Minister Edmond Drouin de Ruiz held a closed-door meeting. Afterwards, the two held a public press conference and jointly issued a News that, at Dutch request, the French Empire agreed to the Dutch proposal.

Edmond Drouin de Lui said, "France agrees with the Dutch view. We agree to a truce in the Far East. The border line of the truce is from the city of Malapumin in the southwest of Cambodia to the city of Pursat and Tebonmein in the north. Ze city, north to the entire eastern Laos and up to Mount Phucailele on the border between North Vietnam and Laos. If the Kingdom of Siam is willing to negotiate an armistice, we are willing to negotiate on this."

When a reporter asked about the location of the negotiations, the French Foreign Minister glanced at Hesbert von and expressed meaningfully that he was willing to hold the negotiations on Phu Quoc Island, a Dutch territory close to the southern coast of Cambodia occupied by France."

Many people present were unclear about the location of Phu Quoc Island, but some were familiar with it. So after explanations from those familiar with it, they learned that the Phu Quoc Island in the Netherlands is actually the French colony of South Vietnam in the east, and the French territory currently occupied by France in the north. Kampot City and Sihanoukville City, with the Gulf of Siam (Gulf of Thailand) to the south, France chose to hold negotiations here, and it seems that it came prepared.

Hesbert Feng didn't seem to hear this slightly threatening meaning and said with a smile: "Yes, Phu Quoc Island is the northernmost territory of the Netherlands in the Asian region of the Pacific. The Netherlands purchased it from the Kingdom of Siam back then, and the procedures were legal. We have legitimate reasons to carry out legal governance policies there, so we oppose illegal actions by other countries, because this will trigger other countries in the world to follow suit, and in this way, there will be chaos in the international community. The Netherlands is a As a law-abiding country, our country's governance must be based on laws and act according to the rules. Therefore, the Netherlands established the International Court of Justice in The Hague in order to lead the world into a country that handles bilateral relations in accordance with the law and prevent the expansion of conflicts and war.

Based on this, we chose to hold negotiations on the nearby island of Phu Quoc in the Netherlands. To this end, we proposed to establish a branch of the International Hague Tribunal on Phu Quoc Island, so as to urge the Far East to carry forward the original intention of the establishment of the Hague National Tribunal. Of course, thank you to the French Empire and the Kingdom of Siam for their cooperation."

Fight back!

This is what everyone is thinking at the moment.

French Foreign Minister Eymond used the fact that the Phu Quoc Island being negotiated was close to French colonies and occupied territories to show his home field advantage under intimidation, while Hesbert von emphasized that Phu Quoc Island has become a branch of the International Hague Tribunal Organization.

Many people know that France is currently fighting for the lifting of sanctions from the International Hague Tribunal. Hesbert Feng’s emphasis made everyone couldn’t help but like it, because if France wants to lift sanctions, it is impossible to analyze the organization. Attack the headquarters?

The reporters could think of this, and Edmond Drouin de Lu, as the French Foreign Minister, was naturally aware of Hesbert von's intentions.

Although he didn't want his threat to be ineffective, he had to admit that his counterattack hit the mark.

So in order to prevent being kidnapped by this issue and destroying his original intention of coming to the Netherlands this time, he was eager to change the topic and winked at a reporter from Le Figaro.

So the reporter of the newspaper asked: "Minister of Foreign Affairs Emond, as the most powerful minister in charge of foreign affairs in France, what do you think of the current agreement between the Netherlands and the United Kingdom regarding Belgium?"

Sure enough, as this question was raised, everyone's attention was immediately drawn to it. In fact, this question was what everyone wanted to ask. Originally, many people wanted to ask it later, but now it is "Feijia". Luo Bao was in front, but it didn’t matter. The answer was the same no matter who asked it. The answer was enough. So they all stared at the French Foreign Minister who was being asked the question, trying to get from his mouth France’s agreement with Britain and the Netherlands and Belgium. "Disposal" attitude.

Hesbert Feng looked at the reporter who asked the question meaningfully, and secretly took note of the Frenchman's method of playing this time. It must be said that the Frenchman is still very good at playing, and he was actually prepared early for the unexpected incident at the press conference. This is worth learning from the Netherlands. He is even planning to start a debate on this topic at the Dutch Diplomatic Academy in a few days to promote the nutrition of the flowers in the talent pool of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.

Edmond Drouin de Lu: "To be honest, the French Empire does not want to see Belgium disappear"

Edmond Drouin de Lu's words made everyone present almost short of breath. He was overjoyed when he saw this. He was obviously happy that he could control the changes in these people's emotions. , but he knew that going too far was not enough. Didn’t you see that many people in Dutch newspapers looked unhappy?

So he followed: "It is precisely because of this that when France received the news, he actually wanted to stand up and oppose it, but..."

Seeing Hesbert Von's calm smile and listening to him, Edmond Drouin de Lu seemed to realize that he was a bit like a performer on a dramatic stage, and the audience could only focus on this person. The audience was actually the director, and he suddenly felt a little annoyed that he seemed to have been spoiled.

Who told me that I just had a secret meeting with someone?

He had to continue the "performance" and said: "However, after we took the correct approach, Belgium was not destroyed, but its territory was reduced. After careful consideration, our great Majesty Napoleon III finally decided."

Once again arousing his emotions, he said in a loud voice: "We support the agreement reached by the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. During this trip to the Netherlands, we also visited the Netherlands and Belgium with France not wanting to see the Netherlands and Belgium lose their lives. Next During one stop in Belgium, we will tell His Majesty Leopold II in Brussels what the Netherlands thinks.”

Hesbert Feng glanced at Edmond Drouin de Lu with gratitude and said: "Belgium and France are neighbors of the Netherlands. We in the Netherlands are willing to continue to have good relations with the two countries and do not want to see any war. happened, for this reason, the Netherlands made many concessions when negotiating with the United Kingdom.”

Edmond Drouin de Lu secretly said: Only ghosts believe you.

Hesbert von made a surprising statement: "We are willing to reach a peace agreement with Belgium if Leopold II accepts it."

A reporter from the Neue Rotterdam Zeitung asked: "Can you know the contents of the agreement?"

Hesbert von nodded and said: "Of course, we in the Netherlands are prepared to sign a 50-year non-aggression agreement with Belgium on this peace agreement and will not allow hostile forces to use our own territory to carry out actions that endanger the sovereignty of the Netherlands or Belgium. .”

It actually reached half a century, 50 years!

At this time, even Edmond Drouin de Lu was shocked by the length of time.

You know, it only took 50 years for the Netherlands to regain its independence. Napoleon I also lost the war 50 years ago. Even 65 years ago, France still had this large territory in North America. France sold the Louisiana area to the Commonwealth of America.

The peace agreement offered by the Netherlands and Belgium is definitely a huge gift to the Kingdom of Belgium, which has been experiencing constant turmoil and domestic instability recently. He does not even have to think about it. Leopold II will definitely Promised.

Because the provinces of East Flanders, West Flanders, and Flanders-Brabant were not ruled by Leopold II in the first place. They were Dutch territories. Now that they are returned to the Netherlands, it can actually relieve Leo's rule. Pressure from Pod II.

At the same time, Edmond Drouin de Ruy thought that the Netherlands might even be able to use this to stabilize Leopold II and ease the relationship between the Dutch and him. After that, the two parties turned their guns and aimed at Wallonia. -The preponderant French race in the province of Brabant. In this way, it seems that the two sides can still overpower the French or at least maintain a balance.

Thinking of this, the French Foreign Minister's heart suddenly began to sink.