Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

Inside the Royal Palace of the Netherlands.

In the king's office, there were only William III and William IV, father and son.

Today's King William IV of the Netherlands and King William III of Greece.

"Father, is the situation in Greece okay?"

As William III became the king of the Kingdom of Greece, it seemed that his complexion was not really busy. Instead, he seemed to be full of energy, as if he had a second spring.

This made William IV immediately sigh, men, it is better to have a career to support others.

"Not bad. Thanks to your many arrangements beforehand, many people in Greece originally wanted to come to me in a perfunctory way, but they didn't expect that the Prime Minister of Greece, Constantine Canaris, was already our people"

William IV was silent when he heard this.

At the beginning, he personally went to the Greek prison to meet with the other party, and finally reached a cooperation agreement. After he supported William III, the former prime minister was able to become the prime minister of Greece again.

However, William IV would naturally not place his hopes on other people's integrity. This is unrealistic and unreliable.

Therefore, in addition to bribing Constantine Canaris, he also bought another former Prime Minister of Greece, Demetrios Vulgaris.

"Demetrios Vulgaris can truly check and balance Constantine Canaris, but my father prevents one family from becoming dominant in politics."

William III nodded.

He obviously agrees with his son's words.

"Greece is in turmoil, so it can rest and recuperate. However, recently all major countries have been hampered by the situation in Africa, but we can take this opportunity. Father can develop his own strength to destroy Greece. After all, relying on them is still too risky. Well, it’s not conducive to father’s rule either.”

"What you said is correct."

William III said with satisfaction: "Alexandra is a good child. She is very suitable to be the queen of our Kingdom of the Netherlands. You should not let her down."

Seeing William IV nod, William III smiled and said: "I'm just curious, when are you going to add children to our Nassau and Orange family?"

Even though William IV was always fearless, he blushed all the time when he heard these words.

But he was also curious about how many children he and Alexandra would have.

In history, after Alexandra married King Edward VII of England, she gave birth to 6 children between 1864 and 1871, and only the last one died at birth, while the others survived. Came down. Therefore, five royal members were added to the British royal family, two princes in the front and three princesses in the back. The one who died in infancy was also a prince.

It can be said that this British royal bloodline is very important for the inheritance.

It is precisely because of this that William IV originally chose Alexandra because she was fertile and safe. He originally wanted an English princess, but hemophilia deterred him.

At the same time, many of Queen Victoria's princesses had no descendants, so for William IV, the political value was reduced to a low point in his opinion.

William III didn't know what his son William IV was thinking. He continued: "Now that Greece has fallen into the hands of you and me, father and son, and the power of the Orange family has expanded, what are you going to do next? What can Greece do? How can I help you?"

William IV said: "Greece's geographical location, for the Netherlands, the most important thing is that the Mediterranean now has one more eyes and ears. Other fathers do not need to do it now. The most important thing is to consolidate the position and be careful of causing a backlash.

As for the Netherlands’ future plans, Australia is the foundation of Nassau-Orange’s future, and I have already transferred most of Nassau-Orange’s wealth there.”

William III frowned: "This will make many nobles in the Netherlands aware of this, and they will be dissatisfied with our royal family."

William IV paused and said shockingly: "Father, this is the final guarantee."

William III: "Are you really sure that there will be a continent-wide war in Europe in the future similar to the one during Napoleon I's time?"

William IV nodded: "Now all countries are rapidly developing their military power. Although the British navy is dominant, no country is willing to let them continue to receive such preferential treatment, especially France and Prussia. This is the future trend, and land Above all, Prussia's ambitions were greater than those of Tsarist Russia, especially the rise of Prime Minister Bismarck.

Every step he takes reveals his ambition.

This is why William IV is optimistic about him. Together with Moltke, this Prussian iron triangle is destined to leave a legend on the European continent."

William IV thought about William IV and said: "Father, although these are crises, they are opportunities for the Netherlands, an opportunity to rise."

William III: "The war turned into an opportunity, and it was also a war that affected the Netherlands?"

William IV: "Since a Monroe Doctrine can emerge in the United States, why don't we learn from each other?"

William III's eyes brightened: "The rise of the United States in recent years is based on the Monroe Doctrine, which requires Europe not to interfere in American affairs. Therefore, it has kept its local development economy by advancing and retreating. You are saying that we can do the same in Australia. Implement it the same way?"

"Yes, Australia is a separate continent, and its location has more advantages. Moreover, the East Indies to the north has also been our Dutch territory for generations. In addition, the Dutch navy has recently captured surrounding islands in the Pacific. This has laid a big net. It laid the foundation for Australia to become the only overlord in the region, but now Britain and France have deployed their strength on many islands in Malaya, so they have become an obstacle to us."

Therefore, if a war breaks out in Europe, Britain and France will inevitably be forced to join. When both sides weaken, it will be an opportunity for the Netherlands to rise.

An Australia that dominates the surrounding areas, I collectively call it an Australia that is on par with Europe. If it dominates Australia and looks north to the Southeast Asian peninsula, the opportunity for penetration is right in front of us. "

"So you have recently developed the name of that country and transferred as much of the local population to Australia as possible, in order to avoid population losses in the European war?"

"Yes, Father.

It turns out that Belgium now has 5 million people, of which 3 million are of Dutch descent. However, due to being broken up by France and the Netherlands, there are now only about 2 million people left.

Now that the mainland has taken over the two northern provinces of Belgium, the number of people in the Netherlands has increased by 1.8 million, and the other 1.2 million people are of French descent and have become the current French.

As a result, the Netherlands has 7.8 million people, and because of the return of 500,000 goosenecks from the Transvaal Republic of South Africa and the Orange Free State, our current population is about 8.3 million. "

"It's quite a lot. How many native Dutch do you plan to leave behind?" William III was curious about how his son William IV would arrange it, so he asked.

William IV: "Three million people are enough. I want to immigrate the remaining 5 million people in three years and speed up the development of Australia, East India, and even New Guinea and Madagascar. This is my core. As long as As these places develop and their status becomes stable, the Netherlands' position in the world will be based on the huge Pacific and Indian Oceans, and it will be enough to successfully enter the ranks of world hegemons, alongside the Tsarist Russian Empire, the French Empire, the British Empire, etc."

"Why not Prussia and Austria?"

"Father, these two countries are located in the middle of Europe, where the four wars took place. They are surrounded by large countries and have no depth behind them. Therefore, their status as great powers is difficult to last, especially in the future with the rapid development of technology.

Therefore, in my opinion, it is difficult to be on par with the other three countries in terms of status.”

"Where is Denmark's help to the Netherlands?" William III couldn't help but ask.

"In Iceland and Greenland. For the Netherlands, this is a key point in the future route to Alaska. Of course, Denmark is located at the key point of the Baltic Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, but it makes our two countries' cooperation in the Atlantic Ocean possible. Britain is more afraid.

Father, don’t forget the grudges between Sweden and Denmark.”

"We are born from the same roots, why are we so anxious to fight against each other?" William III sighed: "Now that the three Nordic countries have changed from Danish rule to Sweden as Norway, the thorn in the hearts of these two countries cannot be pulled out. This is a dead end. Bureau"

"What father said is wrong."

"Why is it wrong?" William III asked curiously.

"If the two countries really want to reconcile, then this knot can actually be untied." Seeing William III's interested eyes, William IV said: "Did father forget that Norway's own domestic independent forces have gradually formed, and Sweden's Carl Ten The Fifth also complained many times in private that this was all caused by the forces of Britain and Denmark, especially the Danish survivors who stayed there.

If the two countries really want to reconcile, I actually think that Liang Gong might as well change his mind and have the royal families of the two countries marry and send the prince to become the new king of Norway and the woman to be the queen. This can actually lead to reconciliation between the two countries. But as a result, Sweden's status as a major country is even more uncertain. Therefore, I estimate that Sweden does not have this market now, and Denmark will not easily get involved."

When William III heard this, he immediately agreed.

The two father and son were having a lively chat. If there were outsiders here, they would definitely think that these were not father and son, but colleagues. However, now that they are both kings of their respective countries, it is not bad to call them that.

King to king, what are they but colleagues?

On July 3, 1863, the third day after the wedding of William IV of the Netherlands, the Austrian Empire began its formal attack on Ali Sabih, where 10,000 Ethiopian troops were waiting for Austria's new enemy. , faced the challenge without fear, and ultimately failed despite being attacked by 40,000 Austrians. Ethiopia lost more than 3,000 people, and the rest retreated to the direction of Harar.

Because the Austrian Imperial Army was the main offensive, its losses were slightly greater than those of the Ethiopian Army. 4,000 people were killed and the remaining 1,500 suffered injuries of varying severity.

The first battle ended in Austria's victory.

However, this battle made the Austrians suddenly solemn, because the strength of the Ethiopian army made them realize the fact that the Austrian army did not rob much more than Italy.

The person leading the team south this time was Prince Olsperg. According to the history that William IV knew, he was the first prime minister after the establishment of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

This is a person who is famous for being a chicken thief.

It was precisely because of this that he gained the trust of Franz Joseph I, who believed that he could build a colony for Austria in Africa.

He is different from the Italian star Giuseppe Garibaldi, who likes to fight head-on.

But Prince Olsperg likes to combine the odd with the right, focusing on the odd.

This also caused Tewodros II to come under unprecedented pressure when he was in British Austria.