Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

On June 20, 1869, the death of King Rama IV of the Kingdom of Siam (the predecessor of Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia) stunned Europeans who were paying attention to the Far East because of the British and Upper Burma Wars. Is it good or bad for the French Empire to start a war with the Kingdom of Siam? No one knows, but many people are curious about the cause of his death.

It turns out that King Rama IV of the Kingdom of Siam contracted malaria on 8 August 1868 after participating in a British Empire scientific expedition to observe the total solar eclipse at Samlayok, 140 miles south of Bangkok. He has been bedridden for many years since then. However, at least I had not heard of him being critically ill, but I did not expect that his death made his condition public. It turned out that he died on June 20, 1869, after 10 months.

Chulalongkorn, Crown Prince of Siam, succeeded to the throne and was named Rama V. At this time, he was only 16 years old. Because he was too young and under the legal age, Soupaya Suriwang, a favorite of King Rama IV and the current military chief of the Kingdom of Siam, served as regent, while Rama During his lifetime, the fourth generation's favorite Princess Anna, who was of Dutch descent (there was indeed Anna in history, but you can check it if you don't believe it) listened to the government from behind the curtain.

The Kingdom of Siam seems to have entered a period of chaos.

Chulalongkorn is the ninth son of Rama IV. He is the first son of Queen Namphipon Lapilong. He will receive special favor from Rama IV since he was a child. His mother was 8 years old (born in 1853). After his death, he was promoted to Shaohua Gongkun (the fourth-class title in the royal family) at the age of 8.

Before the age of 8, Chulalongkorn received a British education because he knew that his father, King Rama IV, had signed the second "Siam-British Treaty" with the United Kingdom in 1855, so Chulalongkorn began to British education was the main focus. Although the Treaty of Siam and France and the Treaty of Siam and the United States were successively signed in 1856, the attitude of Rama IV was still to value the British. Under the national conditions, Chulalongkorn’s British style Education is finalized.

However, in 1861, because the Dutch Anna became Chulalongkorn's "fancy" woman, she finally became Chulalongkorn's most favored princess in 1862 (that year of Chulalongkorn).

Due to the death of Chulalongkorn's queen mother in 1861, when Anna became the princess, Chulalongkorn, the direct prince, was adopted by Rama IV into the name of Princess Anna at Anna's request.

So under Anna's influence, Chulalongkorn began to change from British education to Dutch education after the age of 9. He began to speak fluent Dutch at the age of 10. He not only learned Dutch, English, Balinese and Sanskrit, but also Learn subjects such as shooting, horse riding, martial arts, and statue riding.

Due to Anna's favor and influence, in order to cultivate Chulalongkorn into an ideal successor, Rama IV often took Chulalongkorn with him when he was in charge of government, and learned the skills of handling national affairs. He began to follow Learn to deal with international affairs and learn Western systems.

I have been to England, France, and Spain. But the one he visited the most was the Netherlands, especially the Far East of the Netherlands, because he had studied abroad in Jakarta before.

Therefore, with Chulalongkorn's succession, many people realized that the pro-British Rama IV era had come to an end, and the pro-Dutch Chulalongkorn era had begun.

On June 25, 1869, the world focused on the change of king of the Kingdom of Siam. However, the British and Burmese sides were not affected. The two sides started a war in Siret in eastern Bengal (a Bengali town near northwest Burma). The British This time, 20,000 British regular troops in India were used, 30,000 in Upper Burma's Chin State, and 10,000 left to guard the largest town of Cachar just occupied.

Just when everyone thought the British regular army would win, to everyone's surprise, the British failed again.

In all seriousness, Britain was defeated at Sylhet, and was completely defeated.

Of the 20,000 British troops, more than 8,000 were damaged, and the remainder fled the battlefield.

Chin State did not pursue the victory, but Sagaing Province, under the management of the capital Mandalay Province, was not so polite.

Immediately, 20,000 people were in full formation, and when they saw the British army retreating, they immediately launched a pursuit. So the 12,000 British troops who thought they had escaped had to flee westward again, and finally stopped in Dhaka, the largest city in Bangladesh.

Because it is the largest dock in the east of the Brahmaputra River, the largest river in British colonial Bengal.

There, is the location of the largest British military port in Bangladesh.

As pursuit came from Upper Burma, the British naval fleet here was already advancing up the Brahmaputra River. Facing the British navy, Upper Burma had to stop its offensive.

However, under the pursuit of the Sagaing Army, the occupied territory advanced to Mymensingh, Kishoreganj in northeastern Bangladesh, and Dongi in the south.

The Chin State also advanced westward to Kurami.

British Empire, London.

Inside Buckingham Palace, you can hear a pin drop.

It wasn't that there was no one inside, but everyone held their breath, for fear that the sound of breathing would be too loud and draw Queen Victoria's cannibalistic gaze to them.

Just half an hour ago, an urgent telegram came from the Far East, and all the British Disraeli cabinet members and senior generals of the Ministry of Defense gathered here. They were first reprimanded.

"20,000 British troops faced 30,000 natives. They fought openly and openly, and they were defeated so beautifully. Wow, they are indeed brave warriors of the great British Empire. The British Empire is shining brightly now."

Queen Victoria's eyes fell on Prime Minister Disraeli, stared closely at her, and said sternly: "Your Excellency, our British Prime Minister, can you tell me what is going on?"

Everyone's bodies trembled, including Disraeli.

He couldn't help but raise his head, pretending to be calm and serious: "I was about to report this to His Majesty."

It was different from the past. It used to be a reward, but now it was a reward. Obviously, he bowed to the queen.

Those present here are all political veterans and do not understand anything. This shows that the Tory leader has officially begun to obey the Queen's instructions and is no longer fighting for power with the royal family.

In her 30 years in power, Queen Victoria has become so majestic that no one can guess her thoughts.

Even Russell, the Whig foreign secretary.

Just when everyone was waiting in silence, Queen Victoria's voice came.

"Tell me, I'm very interested in this"

When Russell heard this, he gritted his teeth and sighed secretly: "It seems that Queen Victoria is no longer willing to support the Whig Party alone. From now on, it is inevitable that the Whig Party and the Tory Party will fight against each other. The Whig Party has been in power for a long time. Governance will be gone forever.”

While Russell was sighing, Disraeli gave his "reason".

"The reason why our British Empire failed in the Far East was not because our combat power was incompetent, nor because our attack formation was wrong, but because with the increase in Myanmar's strength, we underestimated and suffered defeat."

Speaking of this, Disraeli said with helplessness on his face: "You can't blame our soldiers, they are still brave, just because they faced the Burmese soldiers whose combat power was not much worse than their own, and there were still one-third more soldiers." With a large number of people. I think even the French army will definitely be defeated when faced with this situation."

Russell sneered in his heart: "It's a complete shirk. Burma's strength has skyrocketed, and the French have also been used to compare their defeats. Obviously, in the context of the protracted war between France and Siam, Disraeli's shirk is quite accurate. , but will Queen Victoria approve of this reason?”

Sure enough, Queen Victoria snorted and asked with a sneer: "How do you think the Burmese soldiers and the natives managed to reach the level of fighting against us without knowing it? I think it's not just the elites here. If you don’t believe it, even ordinary British citizens outside can’t fool you.”

Queen Victoria changed her words and stared at Disraeli with a cold face: "Your explanation is difficult to convince them. Do you think I will believe it?"

Disraeli showed panic for a while, and then hurriedly explained: "Of course I dare not lie. Your Majesty, just before I came to the palace, I received the latest news from the front line."

Russell sneered and thought: Here we go again, a plan that fails and another one succeeds?

Disraeli didn't know what his Foreign Secretary was thinking. He was a little embarrassed by Queen Victoria's gaze, so he blurted out:

"It's the French Empire that's behind this"

Russell's expression suddenly changed after hearing this. He forgot to laugh and looked at Disraeli hurriedly.

Queen Victoria no longer remained cool, she had become inquisitive.

Everyone else also raised their heads and looked at Disraeli, no, except the people from the military, who obviously knew something about the inside story.

Cold sweat broke out on Disraeli's back, and he hurriedly said: "The French Empire's most advanced weapon, the Xasepo rifle, unexpectedly appeared in the Burmese army, and it was not just a small group, but thousands. Your Majesty, France The empire dared to use the Burmese natives to block the British. This thing must have been planned for a long time. The Xia Sepo rifle had fought with Italy before. France: Italy's losses were 38:1000. Even if it is a bit exaggerated, its power can be seen. Generally speaking, with this 1866 rifle and the familiarity and advantage of the Burmese natives, it makes sense that we would be defeated by others."

Russell asked at this time: "Prime Minister, are you sure that is the Xia Sepo rifle?"

Disraeli looked back at him and said, "If it's true, you can ask someone in the military if you don't believe me."

Queen Victoria looked at the military representatives after hearing this, and received nods. Russell looked at it, but he had to say in his heart that Disraeli would not have the guts to deceive the Queen.

"In other words, Napoleon III dares to interfere in the affairs of our British Empire? I don't mess with him, but he dares to mess with me. Very good."

Queen Victoria turned to Russell and said: "Immediately summon the French Ambassador to London to publicly protest France's war against Britain in Burma. The First Fleet of the Mainland has launched and started practicing bombardment on the middle line of the English Channel. As for the direction of the bombardment,"

She paused and said harshly: "Shoot toward the east."

Finally, she said: "Prime Minister Disraeli immediately convened a press conference with journalists from various countries in London to announce that the reason for our failure was due to French intervention.

Now it no longer matters whether it is France or not. Only by confirming the suspicion of the French Empire can everyone here, including me, escape from this failed war. Otherwise, everyone will become the target of national questioning and the British Empire will become an international laughing stock."