Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

On December 13, 1869, Spanish Prime Minister Ramon Narvaez visited Paris, met with Charles Prime Minister of the Second French Empire, and was received by Queen Eugenie. Prime Minister Charles and Spanish Prime Minister Ramon Narvaez The two men announced maritime cooperation between the Kingdom of Spain and the Second French Empire in the Atlantic and confirmed each other's interests.

The Kingdom of Spain opposed any Prussian invasion of the French Empire.

However, what is interesting is that the Spanish Prime Minister Ramon Narvaez did not agree with Paris's position in the south of France and did not oppose the denial of the southern power. Obviously, this left room for the future.

However, unlike Spain, in Rome, Emmanuel II actually sent his Crown Prince Umberto to Lyon to meet with President Adolphe Thiers, and announced in Lyon that the Kingdom of Italy recognized the status of the French Third Republic.

Italy's statement suddenly made the situation in France turbulent.

"Your Majesty, the French Empire is currently divided between the north and the south. We, the Netherlands, are still in a state of severed diplomatic relations with the north. However, the two countries have acquiesced in low-key exchanges. However, the Third Republic in the south has sent telegrams for three consecutive days asking us to establish diplomatic relations with it. Italy Spain took the lead and became the first country to stand with the South. Spain had an ambiguous attitude and did not deny the power of the South.

Although the United Kingdom seems to be on the north side, it is said that their Governor of Gibraltar also recently visited Marseille on behalf of London, which is the base camp of the regime's President Adolphe Thiers. Among the surrounding countries, we are the Netherlands, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and Prussia. The attitude is unclear”

In the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the weekly Privy Council meeting is held.

William IV sat high in the center, while on the left and right were Chief of the General Staff Mark Rudd's military and Prime Minister Tolbeck's Cabinet and Privy Council members.

This was William IV's second meeting of the Privy Council in the Netherlands since his return.

The last time the main topic was the Franco-Prussian War, this time the topic has become the situation caused by the division of north and south France.

The one who just spoke was Dutch Foreign Minister Hesbert von.

"The current situation in Europe has made people feel very strange. The Netherlands is in a very critical position. Belgium has been pushed to an extremely low position by us. At this time, the position of the Netherlands is even more prominent. Therefore, the three countries of Britain, France and Prussia are all important to the Netherlands. It’s a dangerous country that’s just around the corner.”

Prime Minister Tolbek said worriedly: "Prussia has huge ambitions and has to guard against it. Napoleon III is now in the hands of Bismarck and others. The Second French Empire in the north has to worry and choose to keep a low profile. The sudden rise of the Third French Republic in the south, Having Prussia is both a danger and an opportunity. But it seems to me more of an annoyance."

We are all smart people here, and as Tolbeck finished speaking, everyone knew what he wanted to express.

"Yes, the French Empire has fallen, and other countries are afraid that France will become the target of annexation by Prussia. If it really succeeds, then Prussia's strength will be so terrifying. It is scary to think about it. At this time, the surrounding areas Will the countries of the world accept the annexation of Prussia to the Second Kingdom of the French Empire?”

William IV sneered: "So, let's just watch the show. The Netherlands does not need to be directly involved. We just need to see how Bismarck deciphers the dangers and opportunities before him."

Seeing that their expressions had softened a bit, but they still looked worried, William IV smiled at the Director of the Dutch International Intelligence Service, McKay Sean, and the Director of the Royal Dutch Intelligence Service, Bill Charlie: "How is your plan to hunt for French talents going? ?”

The disadvantage of the Netherlands is that it has a small population, so plundering top talents from other countries has become a policy that William IV has been implementing for many years.

The Netherlands has been igniting fire in various countries in recent years in order to cause civil strife in these countries, and then use it to plunder the talents of other countries that have already sent Dutch intelligence agencies to gain an in-depth understanding of their interests, and then have more opportunities to incite them to immigrate to the Netherlands.

Before the Franco-Prussian War started, William IV had already made arrangements and asked the two major intelligence agencies to dig deep into France's talent plan.

Now that the war has passed for several months, William IV asked this question.

McKay Sean and Bill Charlie said quickly: "His Majesty has listed the talents before, and they are all already arriving or on their way to the Far East."

William IV stared at Prime Minister Tolbeck and asked: "What is the current situation in the French Empire?"

"Overexpansion of production and corruption in stock trading, the Franco-Prussian War triggered an economic panic in the entire French country, and the domestic situation continued to worsen. The unemployment caused by the northern war led to frequent labor riots throughout the south, and social unrest."

After hearing Tolbeck's words, the expressions of everyone present changed drastically.

No wonder the southern republican forces in France rose so quickly. Sure enough, there was no rebellion without a cause.

Tolbeck continued: "The war reduced the national willingness to consume, resulting in overproduction, which is the main reason for the economic crisis in the French Empire. France is currently producing too many things, whether it is southern or northern industries and farmers, and there are too many things on the market. Is there an oversupply? Product prices have fallen sharply. This has been slowly accumulated since the sanctions imposed by Britain and France invaded the Kingdom of Siam in 1867. In the three years since 1867, French steel has increased by 50%, but its price has It plummeted to one-third of its original value.

As France's traditional export commodity, cotton's output has increased by one-third, but its price has also dropped by 50%. Internationally, due to the large-scale cotton production of the Netherlands in Australia and the Commonwealth of America, and due to various countries' sanctions on France, Our two countries occupy France's original market, so they cannot absorb the cotton from the French Empire. Many French farmers and farmers have become the most serious victims of the economic crisis that has silently descended on the French Empire. In the past two years, nearly one-third Many French farms have declared bankruptcy. "

He also said: "Not only that, the entire French society is now in the miserable state of economic depression, but this does not prevent smart people from going all out to make money and take advantage of the situation to rise. Many of them are taking advantage of these crises to establish themselves in various industries and regions. A monopoly was formed.”

William IV suddenly asked: "Did Adolphe Thiers take advantage of this rise?"

Tolbeck nodded: "Adolphe Thiers, President of the Third French Republic, has an important ally. His name is Balzac (born in 1799). This man was born in Marseille, but grew up in Paris. His father He once served as a high-ranking official in the Paris government, and he himself also served as a lawyer, so he is familiar with the current French society, especially the society and human nature. Because he has been a lawyer, his logical thinking is relatively strong, and he can handle various cases through various cases. Peering into all aspects of French society, he saw the various intrigues and intrigues between the French aristocracy and capital forces as well as their ugly inside stories. In 1863, he decided to write a book to show the various inside stories.

It didn't take long for him to become a well-known legendary top current affairs writer and social critic, with great fame in France. Adolphe Thiers was Balzac's childhood playmate, and the two later reunited in Paris. Adolf then used Balzac's fame to his own advantage."

After William IV waited for Tolbeck to finish speaking, he suddenly said to Bill Charlie, director of the Royal Netherlands Intelligence Service: "Tell me about Balzac."

Let Bill Charlie tell them about Balzac?

Hearing this, Tolbeck was puzzled at first. Suddenly, he thought of something and his eyes flashed.

William IV pretended not to see it.

France as a whole doesn't know how, but in fact Balzac was a French moral benchmark supported by the Royal Dutch Intelligence Service many years ago. William IV wanted to use him to obliterate or shake the legitimacy of some French leaders.

With the support of the Royal Netherlands Intelligence Service, Balzac became famous in Europe in just five or six years and became a leading figure in the European critical movement.

In Balzac's criticism, the entire French Empire is currently a society dominated by money. Everyone is busy pursuing wealth and money to prove their own value and status. ism, money worship, and hedonism are the characteristics of today's France, especially Paris. The entire French society is permeated with an extreme selfish and cold money ideology.

As a result, a large number of sophisticated egoists appeared in his writings, including down-and-out nobles, greedy capitalists, stingy high-li-dai-ers, careless citizens, inhumane bullies, and ruthless politicians. - Guests and so on.

Each of his articles penetrates into the hearts of all losers, making them feel the same way. Especially those at the bottom of society who hate the rich take this as their bible.

In the world of Balzac's articles, the entire France was written in his articles. France is a society with distinct social classes and an ever-widening gap between rich and poor.

The capitalists, politicians, aristocrats, careerists, etc. in the upper class of France are extravagant, greedy and amass money.

The French middle class includes economic people, Americans, notaries, judges, etc. They work hard to make money, thinking every day about how to increase their wealth, cling to the powerful, and squeeze into the upper class.

Workers, citizens, and petty bourgeois at the bottom of society, they are overworked and nervous, and they are thinking every day about how to stabilize their current lives, protect their competitive advantages, not be deprived of their vested interests, and at the same time improve their lives. Make yourself less tired.

Don't talk about others, William IV thought about his previous life, wasn't this the kind of life he lived?

Today's Netherlands and the whole of Europe are actually similar to France, where social groups are divided into different levels and compete for the top.

Bill Charlie said proudly at this time: "Balzaka has become the savior of France. He has been mythologized: there is no such bad thing as money circulating in the world. This thing can destroy city-states and drive people out of their hometowns. Teach good people bad things, causing them to go astray, do shameful things, and even make people do evil and commit various crimes."

Therefore, Balzac's words have become the most popular at the bottom of European society. "The relationship between people is very complicated, human nature is distorted, personality is destroyed, whoever has money has rights, etc. These thoughts are all reflected in Balzac." under his pen."

Bill Charlie smiled at William IV at this time and said: "It has lived up to expectations and completed the first creation of a god."