Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

French Second Empire, Paris, Palace of Versailles.

It should have been in history that Napoleon III was defeated in the Battle of Sedan in 1870 and was captured by Prussia. France was released that year after the French revolution in 1871. Napoleon III could only take Empress Eugenie and his only son to take refuge in London. Napoleon III would Died in 1873.

Because of the butterfly effect brought about by William IV, he is still safe and sound at the age of 70 today. If he knew that it was because of William IV, I am afraid the expression on his face would be amazing.

At this time, Napoleon III was discussing with Prime Minister Charles of the Second French Empire many issues faced by the Second French Empire.

"As I said last time, Adolphe Thiers' French Third Republic regime in the south is competing with us. At present, we need to make good friends with the British Empire. This is absolutely necessary. Otherwise, if we are not careful, those British guys will do the opposite. Support the South, I think those guys in London have a bad face, so when it’s time to give them a little sweetness, don’t be stingy.”

Prime Minister Charles said seriously, but then he changed his tone and said: "But we can't be underestimated too easily. We can even show that our relationship with the Netherlands is closer than before. This is to let the United Kingdom know that we have also grasped the handle that they need us to fight for the best interests of the strong side. Therefore, Your Majesty, I think the United Kingdom needs us to be their partner in supporting them on the Indian Ocean issue.

But similarly, France also needs Britain to support us in the north on the territorial issue of the French Empire. Therefore, I suggest that if the profit is not big, or even when the surrounding situation is not very tense, we should still show it with domineering attitude. After all, we Gauls will not compromise easily like others, and even When the core territorial interests of Tao are involved, they will not hesitate to fight again. "

Napoleon III did not speak, but turned his eyes to Queen Eugenie, who was always dressed in fine clothes but seemed unwilling to speak. Now, Queen Eugenie and Napoleon III were on the same page, and she had become Napoleon III's most trusted advisor.

"Although Prime Minister Charles's words are good, I think the current attitude of the UK is really unreliable. As we all know, the UK is notoriously unwilling to have a powerful country appear on the European continent. The French Empire is connected to the UK across the English Channel. If the French Empire After the split, I think maybe the Kingdom of Prussia, no, should be called the German Empire now. If the German Empire is the first to be happy, then the United Kingdom will definitely be counted as the second. Other countries such as Spain and Italy are also very happy.

Let me ask, will the UK really support us? Stop dreaming. If London hadn't been too worried about the German Empire becoming too powerful and threatening them after annexing us, I'm afraid they would have turned a blind eye and allowed Germany to annex us. To put it nicely, it's called a mutually beneficial relationship between our two countries. To put it harshly, , that is, our Second French Empire is now the watchdog of Britain, just like Belgium before, guarding the coast on the east side of the English Channel. "

Queen Eugenie looked at the embarrassed Prime Minister Charles who did not refute, and saw Napoleon III's also very ugly expression. She continued to say unceremoniously:

"So, it is good to maintain the current status of making friends with the United Kingdom. In order to go further, I don't think it is necessary to offend the Kingdom of the Netherlands, because the current center of gravity of the Netherlands has moved eastward, and the current population of the Netherlands in the north remains at 2 million. On the left and right, although there were few people, the defenses were very tight.

It is said that many seaports in places such as Amsterdam and Rotterdam are tightly guarded. The Netherlands' world-renowned submarines currently have no less than 20 submarines. Faced with these silent underwater ghosts, and the Netherlands has deployed no less than 20 submarines on the mainland. All types of battleships, including the two steam battleships Amsterdam and Rotterdam, remain in the mainland, and even the British Home Fleet and the Channel Fleet in the English Channel do not dare to move."

Queen Eugenie seemed to be reminding her but actually warned: "The Dutch Army has more than 100,000 troops. Faced with such a situation, our French Empire is already in the midst of a civil war. Should we offend such a powerful team around us?" What's more, the mainland is only one of them. The Far East Netherlands, which is far superior to the local power, will be a nightmare for all countries. This is why the United Kingdom and the Dutch Far East are still competing for the Strait of Malacca, but they dare not directly attack the European mainland of the Netherlands."

Queen Eugenie's words made the two grown men feel troubled for a while, but they had to admit that she was right.

After Napoleon III pondered for a long time, he slowly comforted Prime Minister Charles: "Actually, since the Netherlands has blatantly announced to everyone that it will not give up the management rights of the Malacca Strait, I think the United Kingdom also understands that this is the result of the Netherlands' recent two-year war. After ten years of rise, the Netherlands tried to defeat Britain in four naval battles in the 18th century. After the Netherlands finally lost, the Netherlands once again had a face-to-face collision with Britain at sea nearly a hundred years later. I think Britain could also feel the determination of William IV. No. It’s just that I, even William I, Bismarck and other European countries understand that the century-old fate of England and the Netherlands has reincarnated again, but they are not sure whether the fifth large-scale naval war between the Netherlands and England will occur.”

Since Napoleon III was able to transform from president to king, no one would deny his power, but no one is perfect. After experiencing being captured by Prussia, he finally realized that he had been a little arrogant before and could not recognize himself. He couldn't see others clearly, so he decided to change his past, but he returned to the shrewdness when he became the president of the Second French Republic.

Brief and to the point, this is what Queen Eugenie and Prime Minister Charles thought after Napoleon III just spoke.

The Empress Eugenie who just spoke is good at talking about types, and she is also able to thread the needle on details. She is worthy of being a meticulous woman. It is for this reason that Napoleon III made her regent of France.

This is the current view of Prime Minister Charles. Napoleon III and Empress Eugenie will complement each other if they are merged together. Since Napoleon III returned in 1870, after this period of time, he can see that the political harmony of the couple is getting better. .

The couple said this, so naturally he, an outsider, would not refute it, but out of his duties as Prime Minister, he still put forward his own opinion.

"Currently, the south is vigorously developing its economy. The German Empire seems to be determined to check and balance us and prevent us from unifying the French Empire. Therefore, both military and economic support is vigorously supporting the south and Emmanuel II in Italy. is also like this.

Although Spain did not perform much, it did not prevent economic exchanges with the south.

So now we are economically orphaned because of our feud with the German Empire and the South."

Prime Minister Charles smiled bitterly and said: "The reason why I just proposed to go further with the UK is because the UK's economic market is large enough and is complementary to the French Empire."

Seeing Emperor Eugenie frowning, Prime Minister Charles felt a sudden thought and hurriedly followed: "But now the economic development of the Netherlands has even surpassed that of the United Kingdom. This is where we can break through the economic blockade."

"Yes, the Netherlands is pretty good," Napoleon III said with envy at this time:

"The Netherlands originally restricted the rise of the Netherlands as a great power, but no one expected that William IV would abandon his homeland and migrate to the Far East, a place far away from the checks and balances of major powers. In 15 years, it developed into a place with an economic development level not lagging behind that of the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. , it’s amazing. There are islands everywhere there. In the past, when the British navy dominated the world, the Netherlands still had to bow to the British. However, since the Netherlands developed submarines, the British have less means to check and balance the Netherlands, while the Dutch surface ships are in It is manufactured with all its strength, but its tonnage is only slightly lower than that of the UK. Currently, the combat power of the two countries can only be known by fighting each other."

After Napoleon III finished speaking, he said to Queen Eugenie: "Currently Spain is also learning from the Netherlands to vigorously develop the Philippines in the Far East, and seems to be interested in creating Spain's second homeland.

Looking at us again, one rise and one fall, I can see that the comprehensive strength of the mainland has declined due to the rebellion in the south. Even the African colonies, Algeria and Tunisia, currently close to the Mediterranean side, have become part of the Adolphe Thiers regime. Second only to Mali, Côte d'Ivoire, Mauritania, Seganel, America and the Far East in West Africa. "

The eyes of Queen Eugenie and Prime Minister Charles had a strange interaction. Prime Minister Charles suddenly said: "Your Majesty, I don't think it's better for us to develop the Far East like Spain and the Netherlands?"

Upon hearing this, Napoleon III's eyes blazed with wild light, and he raised his head to look at Prime Minister Charles.

Prime Minister Charles said: "At present, like the Netherlands, we are faced with the situation that our own strength in mainland Europe is relatively small. The French Empire has 35 million people in the mainland, 14 million are in the south, and we have 21 million in the north. Currently, the Far East (North and South Vietnam) , one-third of the area of ​​Cambodia and half of the territory of Laos) the area we occupy, according to our surveyor's estimation, is currently about the same as the 550,000 square kilometers we have here. In fact, we are less than 300,000 square kilometers larger than the Philippines occupied by Spain. Kilometers are much larger.

Therefore, I think this troubled waters in the Far East are an opportunity for our French Second Empire to rise again."

He stared at Napoleon III with shining eyes, and said with excitement in every word: "Your Majesty, our white population is currently as large as that of the Dutch, and there are only about 10 million indigenous people in the three places. If we If it can be nationalized there, then as long as half of the French Empire can immigrate, it will be your Majesty's second place to firmly maintain the royal fortress in the future, and the Second French Empire will last forever."

Upon hearing this, Napoleon III's closed eyes immediately cracked like open windows and doors. He tried hard to suppress his torrent of blood and ordered: "Just do as you do. It's time for the Second French Empire to truly step out of Europe." "

Queen Eugenie and Prime Minister Charles looked at each other quickly, and then both showed excited expressions at the right time.