New Shun 1730

August 20, 1741.

Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Thousands of Amsterdam citizens took to the streets, vying to discuss a shocking news.

There are a lot of news this year, and there are many about the Netherlands.

In fact, just ten days ago, in faraway India, the fleet of the Dutch East India Company and the Indian princely state of Travancore broke out a naval battle in the port of Crachel.

The Indian princely state of Travancore, with the help of the British troublemaker, completely defeated the navy of the Dutch East India Company.

This is like a signal, announcing that the Dutch rule in Asia is already shaky. Even the Indian princely state can defeat the VOC.

After Japan was defeated by Dashun, the Sino-Dutch trade ended, and the Dutch attempt to open the Indian market failed.

Although this battle did not make the Netherlands completely turn against Britain, and still maintained a quasi-alliance relationship in Europe, the competition in Asia has been completely heated.

The VOC knew very well that without Britain behind it, how could Travancore win this naval battle?

And almost on the same day, the East India Company also suffered a defeat in the Bandung area. The Batavia garrison, which had finally put together a force to carry out the encirclement and suppression, was partially annihilated by the Chinese rebels in the Bandung Mountains, and threatened Cirebon, forcing Batavia to withdraw.

British muskets, British artillery, and even British cavalry swords, all of which, combined with the Battle of Kracher in the west, made the Netherlands more convinced of the British threat.

Of course, it would take at least a year for this news to be transmitted back to Amsterdam. The Dutch did not know this news at the time, and in fact, they might not know it even a year later, because the East India Company would block the news.

It is only August now, but for the citizens of Amsterdam, even if they do not count what happened in distant India and Java, they have already experienced too much big news.

Last October, King Charles VI of Austria and Holy Roman Emperor died without a male heir.

In December, King Frederick II of Prussia declared war on Austria and demanded Silesia.

In June, France, Prussia, Bavaria, and Spain formed an anti-Austrian alliance.

On August 4, Sweden, which had received diplomatic help from Dashun and verbal support from France, declared war on Russia, aiming to recover lost territory and raze St. Petersburg.

These things are closely related to the Netherlands.

Because the Netherlands signed the Decree on the Basic Law of Succession to the Austrian Throne, agreeing to the change in the law of succession and recognizing that Princess Theresa could inherit Austria in accordance with the Basic Law. The Holy Roman Emperor could not be a woman, but all the Austrian heritage must be inherited.

After all, in order to get the Netherlands to sign, Austria dissolved the Ostend Company, which was a huge concession.

However, the Netherlands has declined. Britain is across the sea, but France and Prussia can reach the Netherlands without swimming across the sea.

Is it to fulfill the sacred duty, keep the promise of a great power, and formally declare war on France and Prussia?

Or put interests first, break the promise, firmly remain neutral, and take advantage of the opportunity of the melee to obtain the greatest benefits?

If the country is a whole, this is just a multiple-choice question that needs to be weighed.

But the Netherlands is not a whole, so this is not a multiple-choice question, but has evolved into a big discussion involving seven provinces.

The Prince of Orange has a good relationship with the British royal family, but the provinces do not want a centralized ruler above their heads.

Since William III, the Dutch ruler and King of England, died in an accident 40 years ago, the Republic has not had a ruler until now.

The Grand Speaker and the Regent faction certainly hope that the Netherlands will remain neutral and do not want to fulfill their original promise: to send troops to help Austria when Princess Theresa's inheritance rights are threatened.

However, William Friso of the Prince of Orange's line was very excited after hearing about the war.

He is the heir of the prestigious Orange family in the Netherlands and the only person who may be accepted by the Dutch people as a lifelong ruling dictator.

But he also has another identity, the son-in-law of King George II of the United Kingdom and the eldest princess's husband.

After learning the news of the war, William was ecstatic and immediately sent a letter to his father-in-law, hoping to give him a military position and lead the British army to fight against Prussia and France, so that he could come to the Netherlands as a hero, become the lifelong ruler of the Netherlands with extremely high prestige, and defeat the oligarchic republicans.

This is almost a standard routine for a military noble to defeat the oligarchic republicans: fight, make merit, prestige, and return home.

It has been like this since Roman times.

However, William Friso has a pathetic body.

Pigeon chest, congenital asthma, and a weak character due to the lack of a father since childhood and the doting education of his mother, as well as aristocratic diseases common among European nobles.

Therefore, he could not become a Caesar.

He was even less capable of leading the declining Netherlands to defeat the rising Prussia and powerful France.

Although the plan was aborted, William's faction supported Britain. How could a son-in-law not support his father-in-law? Besides, they are all nobles, and if William wants to become the ruler of the Netherlands in the future, he will also need the help of the British.

However, the regents were opposed to supporting Austria and only wanted to remain as neutral as possible.

Going to war would be disadvantageous to the big merchants and oligarchs of the Netherlands.

Then what about the common people and ordinary citizens of the Netherlands?

Of course, it would not be beneficial either.

The Netherlands was blocked by the British "Navigation Act" and could not sell goods; Britain declared that the fishing grounds belonged to Britain, and they would catch any Dutch fishing boats they saw, which made the fishing industry that the Netherlands started with completely ruined; the textile industry was still half alive because of the British competition...

Next to it was France, which almost bled the Netherlands dry last time and forced the Netherlands to break the dike and use water instead of soldiers the last time.

For ordinary people and citizens, of course, it is the right choice to be as neutral as possible, or even to unite with France to fight against Britain.

However, a strange atmosphere has emerged in the Netherlands.

Oligarchs and big businessmen are really not good birds.

They embezzle, oppress the people, refuse to pay taxes, farm taxes, lend money... This makes the citizens and people of the Netherlands have an irrational dissatisfaction - anything that big businessmen, oligarchs, and regents support, we oppose.

Now that it has declined to this point, it is better to invite the ruling back, maybe the "king" can suppress these hateful capitalists.

With this common mentality before the crown was shattered and no one dared to pick it up, and with this limitation before the European Spring of 1848, these people who have experienced the "republic" generally expect the monarchy and centralization.

Perhaps the king is not good. But the king may be able to suppress these cannibalistic merchants.

This strange mentality, this completely irrational opposition, has turned a national policy discussion that is slightly rational and slightly normal in mind into a big debate for the whole people to vent.

And today, several large ships docked in Amsterdam have brought new hot spots to this national debate.

Legend has it that the Chinese imperial envoy, who is described by Voltaire as "the most perfect system of mankind", came to the Netherlands.

The Dutch want to know how the system, or the emperor, suppressed those disgusting, selfish, and shameless big businessmen in Dashun? How did Dashun resist this suffocating business oligarchy? How did it maintain an empire that is dozens of times larger than the Netherlands, unlike the Netherlands, where the seven provinces have been arguing over tax issues for 38 years.

The Dutch were once powerful.

But how did they become what they are today?

They were confused, doubtful, and thoughtful, but they did not know that the root cause was that commercial capital was subordinate to industrial capital, and they messed up themselves.

Unable to see through the essence, they summarized their experience from the appearance.

In the Guadeloupe Alliance War 20 years ago, the Netherlands, as a victorious country, did not send anyone to attend the subsequent spoils division meeting.

This is a landmark event. Although the Dutch Golden Age has long ended, it was not until this incident that those who were still immersed in fantasy had to accept this sad reality - the Netherlands is no longer a great power.

So people wondered what factors led to this? Does the Netherlands need an unlimited power governor, an Augustus, to return to the peak? To return to the golden age? To unite the seven countries?

This is a strange era.

It is so strange that after the king was hanged, it was found that the one who came to power was more cruel than the king, so that people actually missed the king's era very much.

Therefore, the Dashun, which Voltaire described as "the most perfect system of mankind" and an imperial system, seemed to become a beacon in the hearts of the Dutch people.

And the "beacon" in the eyes of the Dutch did something very close to the people, but very embarrassing and too market-like after docking.

A pile of dazzling porcelain was placed in the square near the port.

The Chinese on the ship were dismantling the wooden boxes, digging out the soil inside, and carefully taking out the porcelain inside.

This way of transporting porcelain is very Chinese: porcelain is packed in boxes, filled with soil, and wheat seeds are sprinkled in the soil and watered. Waiting for the wheat to sprout and stretch out roots, the roots will fix all the soil together, perfectly protecting the fragile porcelain inside.

And these porcelains in front of us are visibly better, more beautiful, and more advanced than those shipped back by the East India Company.

Because these are produced by the official kiln, and some of them are even supplied to the court, which is completely different from those exported goods.

A Chinese who speaks Dutch well, standing on a high place, said that these porcelains will be given as gifts to the citizens of Amsterdam.

Of course, everything depends on luck. Please line up and play a "touch the ball" game. If you touch the ball of a different color, you can get an expensive, brand new, high-end porcelain of the same style as the Dashun Palace.

The winning rate is one in forty, and there are one thousand pieces of porcelain. Each person is limited to one draw, and the draw ends when it is sold out!

In the future, please keep an eye on the official news at any time. There will be similar lottery activities from time to time.

The Dashun soldiers who got off the ship naturally performed their task of maintaining order.

Bayonets, muskets, and soldiers who were not Dutch uniforms and looked like they were maintaining order in the port of Amsterdam.

On the boat, Liu Yu, who was watching all this, smiled and said to Kang Budai next to him: "Brother Zhongxian, if I want to say something in the future, there will definitely be many Dutch people coming to listen."