New Shun 1730

When William IV heard that the opportunity seemed imminent, he showed not excitement but panic.

He was at a loss, and the words in his mouth began to tremble intermittently.

"You...you...you mean?"

Earl Bentinck had no idea what William IV was talking about, but he still nodded as if he understood the implication.

"Your Highness, the people have been suppressed for too long. They miss the strength of the past and also hope for internal changes. If you cannot change internally, you will never be strong; but if you want change, you must first pretend to be strong externally, and then use enough prestige.”

"People will always remember that it was the Orange family who led the Dutch to defeat foreign enemies and frightened the enemies on the battlefield."

"Whenever people are in times of loss, they remember the Orange family."

What happened in the Netherlands at this time was similar to what happened in France many years later in history. Napoleon's nephew, wearing his uncle's skin and carrying his uncle's bones, ascended the throne by relying on the people's memory of Napoleon.

Loss, decline, dissatisfaction, whenever this happens, most people don’t look forward, but look backward, looking for saviors who really existed in the past history, and then transfer this emotion to someone who can wear bones and old skin. On people.

But it was precisely because of this that William IV looked at the handsome Earl Bentinck and thought that if I were as tall and handsome as you, with an undeformed spine and no chicken breasts, I wouldn’t be able to walk a few steps on a horse without coughing. To the point where my lungs are coughing up, of course people will regard me as a shadow of my ancestors.

But……

He quietly turned his head and looked at his ugly figure in the mirror, feeling sad. What the people want is a chosen one who wears the skin of a imaginary savior god. He is so ugly that his wife says he looks like an African baboon. It seems a little far away from the chosen one that the people imagine.

Moreover, even if they become in power, the previous generations of Princes of Orange have proven one thing. Centralization of power can only lead to hostility against all big businessmen, oligarchs, and the iron-clad bosses of various cities. Which of the previous generations of Princes of Orange was not better than himself? But has it been done?

"Count Bentinck, even if I become a consul, what can I do? What should I do?"

"Take the seemingly simplest trade issue with China. How should I solve the trade issues between the East India Company and China? Of course you know that it is impossible to agree to China's request and relax tariffs in any case. , make a trade agreement. Could it be that, as you said, for the sake of glory and national integrity, we cannot become a tributary country, so we give up trade with China? "

"The East India Company waited for a hundred years to trade directly with China before finally getting the opportunity."

"The war against Japan that broke out last year and the Chinese delegation's arrival by boat in Amsterdam all declare one thing: their navy is capable of curbing smuggling."

"Do you hope that the first thing I will do when I take office is to arouse the resentment of all shareholders and the board of directors of the East India Company?"

William IV did not think there was anything wrong with becoming a tributary state because he had no idea what a tributary state was.

The tributary country he thought... was just like one of the treaties that Cromwell forced to sign after the Anglo-Dutch War: Dutch ships must pay tribute when they see British warships.

However, it was not what he thought it was.

Only if he lives in East Asia, or if he has been to Korea or Ryukyu, can he truly understand the meaning of a tributary state.

This is not as simple as paying tribute when you see a warship.

In fact, Count Bentinck doesn’t quite understand that there are cultural differences between the East and the West.

In fact, neither of them thought there was anything wrong with the status of a tributary country as they understood it. It was better than giving up the trade with China that had taken hundreds of years to develop.

However, this incident itself can be incited and become a trigger to stir up people's emotions.

The regent oligarchs had money, but not much military force at their disposal. Friesland is north of Amsterdam, so there is no need to worry about the French army rushing over. Even if it does, they will have to pass through the southern provinces first.

The regent oligarchs had reduced their military strength to the point where there was no field legion left. The few remaining troops were piled in castles in the south near France and the Austrian Netherlands, and could only rely on fortress defense.

Therefore, as long as the opportunity comes and arouses public sentiment, you only need to recruit a team and you can successfully march towards Amsterdam.

Big deal... build the palace in The Hague. This way he could control the province of Holland while avoiding Amsterdam, where merchants were the most powerful and intricately entangled.

The status of a tributary state is just an excuse to cause trouble.

"Your Highness, in fact, we do not need to cancel the de facto tributary status, and we can continue to maintain the joint trade. Because when the opportunity comes, the Chinese envoy has left and the treaty has been signed. Even if they know the news and want to change the treaty, It will have to be three to five years later, after all, transportation is inconvenient. "

"Once His Highness becomes the ruler, we can order the East India Company to deal with this matter. The East India Company will definitely give us a 'satisfactory answer'. The people don't need facts, they just need an opportunity to vent their emotions."

"Moreover, when you become the ruler, there are more important things waiting for you. That is to expand the army, cooperate with the British army, fight a beautiful battle, and gain enough prestige."

"What you need is a 'Gallic War' and a bold statement of 'I came, I saw, I conquered'. If the Netherlands wants to revive, it needs a Caesar and take the same path as Caesar. Rely on military victory to achieve enough prestige to promote internal changes and unify the seven provinces of the Netherlands."

"During the war, the people will be infinitely tolerant of you. I am sure that you are not unwilling to make changes, but because things have different weights, you should first deal with the outside and then the inside, and first war and then politics. The process of war itself is also the process of accumulating prestige for you."

It sounds simple, but after all, this is not the future generations riding on the Soviet Union, the United States and Britain to fight Germany and Japan, but even Austria to fight Prussia and France.

William IV is just cowardly and deformed, but not too stupid. After listening to the route planned by Bentinck, he slowly asked: "What if... fails?"

Bentinck sighed in his heart, thinking that if you want to do big things, you can consider failure, that is to prevent failure, but you should not consider the consequences of failure.

"Your Highness, everything has a price. And victory in the war against France is the first step to revive the Netherlands. We can only hope for victory on the battlefield. Without victory, you have no prestige; without prestige, you cannot change; without change, the Netherlands will be like a coffin buried in the ground, decaying, rotting, and eventually turning into soil."

"Only a highly prestigious military leader can make changes in places with too many problems like this."

"If the war fails in the end, your fate will not matter, because the Netherlands will completely become a third-rate country and there will be no hope. It is meaningless to consider the consequences. Our only hope is victory."

As a person who really cares about the Netherlands, Count Bentinck certainly knows how difficult the road ahead is.

However, William IV hesitated after only talking about this little difficulty, and he could not continue to talk about more difficulties later.

If you want the Netherlands to revive, many conditions are needed, and the war against France mentioned by Bentinck is only the first step.

In the future, the whole war needs to be fought into a tense draw, and both sides are unable to fight again, so they have to recuperate and wait for the next opportunity to come.

It is also necessary to centralize power. William IV should not be a henpecked man. If a boy is born in the future, he must find a Dutch nobleman as a court teacher, and Princess Anne should not find a British court teacher.

Because Earl Bentinck and most of the Orangemen have a bad impression of the British princess. This princess is too arrogant and thinks that Britain is superior to the Netherlands. She is dismissive of the Netherlands. If the future heir is overly pro-British under her influence, the Netherlands will not be able to revive. The Netherlands cannot be a bridgehead for Britain on the European continent.

The situation that Earl Bentinck hopes for is that the Austrian War of Succession will end in a draw and the parties will be unable to fight again. Then quickly reverse the diplomatic situation, remain neutral, complete internal changes during the truce, unite forces to complete the real unification of the seven provinces, and then ally with France to oppose Britain, break the "Navigation Act", and break Britain's suppression of the Netherlands in commerce and industry.

In the whole plan, every step is difficult, and it requires the right time, place and people to reverse the situation and revive successfully. Various accidents may ruin the plan.

The simplest accident, such as William IV's early death, leading to Princess Anne's ascension, would the British princess be anti-British and pro-French?

But there is no way.

Population, depth, geography, location, these prerequisites determine that if the Netherlands wants to wear the crown of hegemony, it must pay more than those big countries and need more God's favor.

The rise and fall of a country should not rely on the international situation to change in a direction that is favorable to itself.

But this is like the saying "make friends with distant countries and attack nearby countries", which is said to big countries, not applicable to all sizes. Big countries can change the international situation by themselves, while small countries can only find the right direction and follow the trend in the puzzle of the international situation.

If the Netherlands wants to revive, all conditions must be met, and there must be no accidents at every step.

However, William IV felt that the first step was too difficult.

He understood that the key to the first step was to use the "tributary state" to incite the people's great power sentiment and national dignity enthusiasm, and let the regent party take the blame.

But after taking office, he actually did not solve the problem, but tacitly allowed the East India Company to continue to do so, as long as the people gradually forgot about it.

As for the future, all hopes must be placed on victory on the battlefield. Without the prestige brought by victory, he, as the consul, can do nothing.

"Dear Earl, do you mean that I should not make any promises to the people?"

Earl Bentinck agreed with this statement and replied respectfully: "Yes, Your Highness. You must remember that you cannot make any specific, substantial promises to the people."

"As long as you don't make promises, you don't need to be responsible. And the regents must not promise what the people want. In terms of domestic affairs, you may not change anything after taking office, but at least you will not be worse than the regents. So, how can the regents drive you down again?"

"If the war is victorious in the future, you can do it, but you must not say it in advance."

"I will contact the Marquis of the Chinese Empire and ask about his visit schedule. When they set sail, we will be ready to march to Amsterdam."

"This Marquis has given us great help. Whether the Regent accepts the Kanko trade or the tariff agreement, we have reasons to stir up enough emotions."

"For China, these are two different options. But for you and the rest of us, the meaning is the same - a crisis for the Regent's governance. No matter what they choose, it is a crisis."