New Shun 1730

This is the political correctness that is the source of the legitimacy of William IV's rule.

There is also external pressure that William IV has to face.

Britain.

Britain itself made a separate peace with Prussia, naturally to prevent itself from being like Sima Yan imitating Cao Pi: What you do, I can't do?

So it is extremely wary of the Netherlands making a separate peace with France.

William IV wants to negotiate with France privately, and the diplomatic pressure is huge.

Now France has attacked the Netherlands, and the only ones it can rely on at this time are Britain and Austria.

The Netherlands still has a card in its hand.

"Anglo-Dutch Mutual Defense Treaty".

The Duke of Cumberland returned to Britain, using this treaty as an excuse: According to the treaty, if the British mainland is invaded, the Netherlands needs to send 7,000 troops and 20 warships to defend the British mainland.

So, either you, the Netherlands, send troops and warships; or the Duke of Cumberland will go back.

They are all commercial powers, and they have to follow the contract.

At that time, there was a strong rumor that the little usurper was going to land in Scotland, so it was reasonable to go back.

Now France was about to invade the Netherlands, and Britain should have sent troops to help defend it.

But Britain was now in a state of panic. What if the little usurper really landed in Scotland?

If we negotiate with France in private now, wouldn’t that give Britain an excuse?

It’s not that Britain didn’t fulfill the treaty, but that you, the Netherlands, negotiated with the enemy in private. You can’t blame me, you can only blame yourself.

And now Russia has agreed to the Subsidy Treaty and may send troops soon. The war has come to this point, and the Netherlands has collapsed its own financial industry. If they negotiate in private at this time, they might just surrender to Byzantium in 1453.

Internal political correctness.

External diplomatic pressure.

All this prevented William IV’s court from negotiating with France in private. Besides, there is nothing to talk about. The French have swallowed up the Austrian Netherlands, and the Dutch fortress group has been lost. The conditions offered by the French at this time are unacceptable.

As an unofficial person, former Grand Speaker Anthony cannot talk directly with France.

First of all, he is not just the former Grand Speaker of the United Provinces, but also the former Grand Speaker of the Netherlands Province.

The word "former" is very subtle. He has no official status now, and the French will not talk to him.

Moreover, what to talk about at this time?

Although the regents are afraid of France, they also believe that the current Netherlands is a mess and do not want to get involved at all.

In this case, considering that Dashun may have other purposes, Anthony feels that it is necessary to contact Dashun privately, hoping to use Dashun to mediate the relationship between France and the Netherlands in an unofficial capacity.

Out of love for the motherland, ask what France is planning? How to deal with the Netherlands that may be defeated in the future?

Let's also ask, is Dashun really so upset about what happened in Taiwan and Zhoushan that it wants to borrow the power of France to retaliate against the Netherlands? Do they think that taking back Southeast Asia is not enough revenge? Do they have to harm the Netherlands' homeland?

Even... will China provide financial assistance to France, give France a blood transfusion, and let France continue to fight?

This is very likely.

He didn't understand how serious the internal contradictions of Dashun were, nor how unsolvable the land problem of Dashun was, and he didn't know that Dashun's tax efficiency was outrageous. He took a quick look at the richest places in Dashun, and consciously Dashun took out 100 million or 200 million taels of silver to finance French national debt, which was not a problem.

Even without 100 million or 200 million taels, even if Dashun took out 20 million to deal with French national debt, France could hold on until Austria and the Netherlands collapsed.

And from a business perspective, Dashun loaned money to France to buy French national debt, and it was not a loss at all.

As long as they won, France would certainly be able to pay back the principal and interest.

What's more, will Dashun be ready to let France confirm its position as the hegemon of Europe, so as to fully cooperate with France in trade in the future?

If so, the Netherlands is in danger!

With this sigh of the "former" speaker of the Great Council, Anthony went to visit Kang Budai, who was also in an unofficial capacity, in an unofficial capacity.

After the meeting, the host and the guest sat down, and Anthony was going to start the conversation with this China's behavior.

Unexpectedly, Kang Budai took the initiative to talk about the current situation.

However, what he said was very harsh.

"Marquis Jing once told me that the only lesson people have learned from history is that we have never learned any lesson from history."

"There is a saying in the Celestial Empire that history is a mirror, but I didn't believe it. But after seeing your country, the Netherlands, I believe it. This is true."

"The French firmly believed in the Anglo-French alliance, but Britain sold France out and fought against France with you. Of course, this is the lesson the French should have learned. If you don't remember it, it doesn't matter."

"Twenty or thirty years ago, the War of the Spanish Succession."

"The Netherlands shed its blood , a country the size of a palm, with a population less than one-fifth of Henan Province, sent 130,000 troops.

"As a result, the Netherlands Lowlands was called the Austrian Netherlands. The Netherlands could only station troops in the lowland fortresses and act as free watchdogs.

"The slave trade was monopolized by the British, who kicked the Netherlands away and monopolized the black slave trade in the Spanish colonies. The Dutch slave trade was illegal.

"The Netherlands lost a large number of warships and merchant ships. After the war, they had to seal up their warships and disband the army. The poor provinces did not pay off their "national debts" in the first year after the war. ”

"Now the old story repeats itself, you are once again playing dog for the British, and you are having a lot of fun. It seems that you are quite satisfied with the Navigation Act and are willing to defend Britain at all costs."

"No wonder, your consul is the son-in-law of Britain."

"I heard from your people that during the War of Spanish Succession, the British promised you that after the victory, that place would not be called the Austrian Netherlands, but the new province in the south of the United Provinces."

"I also heard that you were very eager for the right to trade and taxation in Ghent, Lille and other places, but it was promised and then rejected."

"This reminds me of a story. In our pre-Qin period, there was a diplomat named Zhang Yi..."

The irony of Zhang Yi deceiving Chu made Anthony a little uncomfortable.

It's not that the story makes people uncomfortable, but the tone of Kang Budai in front of him when telling this story is like talking about a fool who was deceived. This tone and expression are common when Dutch merchants talk about the poor people in the story of fraud for profit.

Out of the protection of the dignity of the motherland, and also because during the War of the Spanish Succession, the Regent Party was in power in the Netherlands, Anthony still came out to deny it.

"Sir, since you are familiar with your country's oriental stories, you must also know another story I heard from the Koreans when I was in your capital."

"The Ming Empire sent troops to support Korea, paid a lot of costs, and after the victory, it wanted nothing and retreated. Isn't this the same reason?"

"The Austrian Netherlands is to us in the Netherlands, just like Korea is to your country."

"If the Austrian Netherlands does not fall into the hands of France, our biggest strategic goal will be achieved. Just like Korea not falling into the hands of a third party is of the same significance to your country."

"As long as the strategic goal is achieved, the rest are just trivial matters. From this point of view, I don't think our strategy has any What is the problem? We are not sending troops for Britain, just as the Ming Empire did not send troops for Korea. We are doing it for ourselves. "

"Even if the British do not promise us, we will send troops. At least, if I were the Speaker, I would also make the decision to send troops. As long as we can keep the Austrian Netherlands from falling into the hands of France or Spain, our sacrifice is worth it. "

"Indeed, after the war, we were burdened with a debt of 120 million silver, and we did not repay the national debt for 15 years, but I think it was all worth it. "

After denying Kang Budai's analogy of "Zhang Yi deceiving Chu" from a strategic perspective, Anthony felt that he had won a position for the Netherlands that was not a fool.

Kang Budai did not comment on this, but just smiled and asked: "Then, it seems that the Grand Chancellor has no regrets about the Netherlands joining the war this time. After all, France still wants to eat the Austrian Netherlands. According to your theory, we should fight at all costs."

"Then it seems that the panic, economic collapse, company bankruptcy, bank closures, and merchant ships being plundered in the Netherlands are all worth it?"

"Then why did you go to Versailles to kowtow? So, William of the Orange family is a real hero, who knows strategy and the core interests of the Netherlands."

This made Anthony unable to respond for a while.

This is a different time.

At that time, the Netherlands still had the afterglow of its peak and was still a world power.

Of course, there was a strategic consideration that the so-called Austrian Netherlands was the North Korea of ​​the Netherlands, but more of it was thinking about defeating France and Spain, obtaining the trade rights of Spanish colonies, obtaining the taxation rights and trade privileges of the Austrian Netherlands, bypassing the British "Navigation Act", and expanding the trade of Spanish colonies in America.

At that time, it was possible to return to the peak.

However, it is different now.

At that time, the Netherlands, which was theoretically 50-50 with Britain, must have a big country mentality, actively participated in the war of hegemony, and strived to be the victorious country - what if the original idea was achieved? What if they had obtained Ghent and other places after the war, obtained exclusive trade rights to Spanish colonies, and reopened the trading houses in Seville and Cadiz that were squeezed out by France?

At least, in theory, if it was done, the golden age would be revived.

Now, the Netherlands has a total of 20,000 soldiers; no new warships have been built for nearly 40 years; the number of private shipbuilding docks has gone from 40 to less than 10; the number of cotton textile processing plants has dropped from more than 100 to less than 20...

The seizure of Ghent, the exclusive trade rights to Spanish colonies, the Seville trading house, etc., which could be considered before, are now not qualified to be considered at all.

The golden age had just ended, and the foundation accumulated over a hundred years was very solid. Therefore, even though the golden age of this small country had passed, it could still pull out 130,000 regular soldiers and owe 120 million silver debts without worrying about not being able to pay them back.

At that time, it seemed that if you tried your best and participated in a war, once you won and got what you wanted, it would really be the second coming of the Sea Coachman.

Now, let alone 130,000 regular troops, you can't even gather 7,000 people to fulfill the Anglo-Dutch Mutual Defense Treaty. Anthony himself had to ask himself, what is the purpose of the Netherlands's war? What is the strategic concept? If they win, what does the Netherlands want after the war?

No matter what the result of the Spanish War of Succession is, at least I knew what I wanted before. Now I have no idea what I want.

After thinking about it, I just felt that this war was fought without any doubt.

It has become a pure “war for the sake of war” in the absolute sense.