Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

On June 18, 1869, the British were defeated by Upper Burma in Burma, which shocked the whole of Europe. European countries that originally did not care much about the Far East began to focus their attention there.

From the emergency mobilization of 70,000 regular troops by the British (20,000 of the 80,000 British regular troops in India and 50,000 from the mainland), European countries can see that the British regular army is close to breaking through and has dropped to less than 300,000.

The British regular army is not enough. This should be the true feeling of all countries.

Nearly half of the 550,000 British troops are overseas, which may cause loopholes in its domestic defense. The UK may even have its domestic economy severely affected in order to support this war.

If the country is trapped like France and cannot escape for a long time, even if the French army of 600,000 is almost the same as the British army of 550,000, more than 200,000 will be sent to one-third of the Far East, causing France to be engaged in a war of attrition. If Britain also engages in a war of attrition, it will definitely be extremely painful. Moreover, unless Britain recruits regular troops on a large scale and trains new recruits, it will not be able to easily recruit more troops. If this is the case, it will be a boon for Myanmar.

Even if Britain recruits new troops, it does not dare to move. Don't forget that Britain has other sources of danger that need to be taken into account. The Russian Empire's ambitions in the Balkans and Central Asia threaten Britain's power there, and the American Commonwealth has Under Canada's ambitions, both countries are serious challenges to Britain.

Because of this, it is said that the British royal family and Disraeli's government began to worry about this.

What's worse is that European countries have clearly seen the reality of the British Empire. If the so-called maritime hegemony follows the footsteps of France in the Cambodian region of the Kingdom of Siam in Upper Burma, Britain will be an international joke.

By then, Britain's international prestige will be drastically reduced. Perhaps then, that's when European countries will truly dare to challenge Britain's maritime status. Don't believe it, anything is possible. After all, a small indigenous country in Myanmar can defeat Britain. If the European powers are only strong but not weak, will they be willing to continue to let Britain occupy that huge share?

I'm afraid they don't want to.

These changes will also affect the relationship between the UK and other countries. Countries in the European continent will feel that the UK's previous status as an offshore balancer has declined. It cannot check and balance the big countries in the continent and can be said to be dispensable.

The French Empire felt that Britain was no longer the only maritime hegemon, and the Tsarist Russian Empire felt that Britain's position on the Indian continent could be challenged.

Even Britain's ally, the Ottoman Empire, would feel that Britain was unable to help them fight against the Russian Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In this case, why would the Ottoman Empire hand over the entire Suez Canal to British jurisdiction, and even northern and southern Egypt? Maybe the Ottoman Empire thought it could try Let’s see if we can take it back. After all, judging from the last war with the Russian Empire, the British still did not help the Ottoman Empire to defeat the Russian Empire. In the end, it was the Netherlands that persuaded the Ottoman Empire to make some concessions and the war ceased after the Ottoman Empire made some concessions and became the Russian Empire’s dominance over Romania. .

These were enough to make the Ottoman Empire change its mind towards Britain.

Prime Minister Tolbeck whispered: "Your Majesty, the United Kingdom is currently keeping pace with the outbreak of the Burmese War. In the past month, our Far East trade volume has increased sharply, increasing by 25%. This year's Far East economy may grow faster than in previous years. Trade share has expanded even more.”

Currently, the Kingdom of Siam is the Netherlands' first trading partner in the Far East. The second partner is the French Empire's South and North Vietnam and the currently occupied Cambodia and Laos. The third partner is the Spanish colony of the Philippines, which is said to have 500,000 Spaniards. The reason is that Queen Isabella and Prime Minister Ramon Narvaez from Spain wanted to imitate the Netherlands and migrated some Spanish people to the Philippines in an attempt to form a stronger dominance there.

Tolbeck said slightly excitedly: "This year's fiscal revenue may hit the highest record in the past ten years, but the UK is exactly the opposite. While fiscal revenue may decline, it may also trigger a huge decline in trade. By doing so, the Netherlands can close the gap with the UK.”

Such changes gave him a real boost as the Prime Minister of the Netherlands. If the Dutch Constitution had not clearly stated that the position of Prime Minister could only be served for one consecutive term (two terms of 8 years), he would have been born in 1798. This year At the age of 70, he still feels that he is old and has ambitions thousands of miles away.

Under the leadership of William IV, the Netherlands has made rapid progress in the future, and it is just around the corner to seize the status of a great power. He even estimates that it will only take one or two prime ministers to achieve the status of a great power.

He couldn't help but sigh. Perhaps a recently popular saying in the Far East best suited his mentality at the moment. That sentence seemed to say: I was not born before you were born, but I am already old after you were born!

What a classic!

"Britain knows the problem, but it really doesn't have any confidence to talk to other powerful countries at the same time. Although they don't say it, but with the lessons learned from our Dutch Boers in South Africa, perhaps what London is most afraid of right now is that there will be no Will become another Boer, that’s what London fears”

William IV said this with a hint of pride in his smile: "If the British think that the 70,000 regular troops can completely extinguish the fire in Burma, then they are taking it for granted."

Tolbeck raised his head and his heart moved, and asked with a slightly expectant look on his face: "What does your Majesty mean?"

William IV always made plans before taking action, and the two began to contact each other in 1857.

Five years later, in January 1862, he became the Prime Minister of the Netherlands for the second time, and William IV inherited the throne of the Netherlands one month before he became Prime Minister. The two people's run-in during the period of Crown Prince William IV allowed the two to cooperate continuously for 8 years, pushing the Netherlands forward. There is no country in the world that has progressively reformed and developed into a policy that was quickly implemented from top to bottom and a directive, and it is the most efficient country in the world.

According to William IV, this is a monarchy-constitutional system, but at the same time it is a state-capitalist system. William IV implements governance firmly in accordance with the power of the king, but The strictest control measures are also implemented in the Netherlands in accordance with market rules.

Therefore, it seems that there are relatively few traces of William IV in the newspapers. In fact, William IV's influence is everywhere in the Netherlands. No one knows the inside story better than him, the prime minister. It is because of this understanding that he knows the terror of William IV.

So he became curious about what William IV said.

William IV did not show off any more, and sneered: "Napoleon III has high hopes for the Far East. In this case, why don't we push France to compete with Britain?"

Tolbeck was stunned for a moment and then asked: "But the Kingdom of Siam is stubbornly fighting against the French Empire. Does France have enough power to support Burma?"

William IV smiled sinisterly and said: "No poison, no husband, what if King Rama IV of the Kingdom of Siam suddenly passes away?"

Tolbeck: "If this is the case, the Kingdom of Siam will not be able to take care of itself, but it will no longer steadily advance the situation in Cambodia. Moreover, more serious problems are yet to come."

Understood?

William IV nodded, and he was worthy of being the prime minister he chose.