Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne Chapter 116

"Your Majesty Frederick VII, it is said that Denmark is very surprised now. The geographical location is located in the bottleneck of the entry and exit of the Baltic Sea, and the annual customs duties for ships received from it are enough to make Denmark get an objective financial amount. But there is no treatment in the Netherlands.”

If you don't tell me, old man, I'll open up this scar.

Frederick VII's face changed, and then he smiled bitterly: "It's okay if you don't mention it, I feel uncomfortable when you mention this."

"What's the matter? It's hard to get money, and do you want people to live?" William IV asked pretending to be dissatisfied.

Frederick VII didn't care whether William IV did it on purpose or not, but he confided these "uncomfortable things" as if he had found a chatterbox.

It turns out that the location of Denmark is the most special in Europe, because they guard the Øresund Strait. All Baltic countries want to send their ships to the Atlantic Ocean, or other countries want to enter the Baltic Sea, they need to pass through the Øresund Strait ruled by Denmark. , tariffs, which began in the 17th century, have become the practice of various countries in the past 200 months.

However, among the Baltic countries, there are countries that are dissatisfied with Denmark's tax collection. They are Denmark's former northern ally Sweden and the eastern emerging power Prussia.

Sweden was dissatisfied with the fact that Denmark had to charge their taxes because it was also on the north shore of the Øresund Strait, and thought it was unfair. Finally, at the beginning of this century, when Sweden occupied Norway from Denmark, it also forced Denmark to give up its rights. Taxes on Swedish ships.

And Prussia is not in this list. All the sea areas of Prussia are in the Baltic Sea, so his navy is even within the scope of Denmark's tax collection, which has caused dissatisfaction with Prussia and the whole country, and it has become hostile to Denmark.

Especially after the current Prussian Prime Minister Bismarck came to power at the end of 1861, he launched various attacks on Denmark.

In addition to expressing their dissatisfaction with the Tsarist Russian Empire over the import and export tariffs, they also launched a strategy of all-round attack on the ownership of Schleswig and Holstein.

As a result, Frederick VII, in the face of great anxiety, also produced invisible pressure.

Bismarck, the Prussian Prime Minister who has just come to power, has made all the actions against Denmark that are very powerful. If one is not handled well, maybe these two principalities in the south are really likely to be in Prussia. Under the instigation of , it might break away from Denmark, and even the Principality of Holstein in the German Confederation might become a bridgehead for attacking Denmark.

But killing him can only guess that everything that is happening in these two duchies, and even Prussia's request for Denmark to change the crown prince to another family member is actually just an excuse for Bismarck. for Denmark.

William IV naturally knew this. In his previous life, he had watched the first battle in 1862, when the German Empire set the stage for the 10-year Three Wars, and defeated Denmark, Austria, and France one by one in one fell swoop.

Unlike Christian IX, who was later called cowardly, with poor political awareness, but knew how to protect himself, Frederick VII had a great view of the overall situation. Even during his tenure, he once fell out with Norway. The Danish-Swedish relations, which had formed a sincere friendship during his reign, childhood Oscar I of Sweden and Karl XV respectively, thawed.

Originally wanted to form an alliance recently, but because of the repeated threats from Prussia, Sweden had doubts about the opinions of the largest exporter of steelmaking materials such as steel and coke, and the largest supplier of food sources.

It is because of this that Frederick VII panicked.

The British side urged Denmark again to allow the United Kingdom to establish a naval port in Denmark in exchange for Denmark being sheltered by the United Kingdom.

However, this aroused the dissatisfaction of the colossal Tsarist Russian Empire, because it was a threat to Tsarist Russia, and it even promoted the Tsarist Russian Empire and Prussia to stand together.

At this time, the covenant between the Netherlands and Sweden made him feel a flash of inspiration.

So, there is this trip south to visit the Netherlands.

"This tax is getting harder and harder," Frederick VII added: "As the guardian of the safe passage of the Atlantic Ocean and the Baltic Sea, we in Denmark are under increasing pressure from various countries. This position is too critical, making The threats to co-opt Denmark from all major powers are even more omnipotent.”

Frederick VII's confession at this time won the favor of William IV, a smart old man.

But from the banquet just now, when Frederick VII kept asking about William IV's marriage, he vaguely seemed to understand that Alexandra on the Copenhagen side had begun to exert force. .

Because he has understood from the letters of Alexandra's exchanges, the United Kingdom began to choose to make the nail of Denmark its own in order to intervene in this country on an important maritime checkpoint in northern Europe, and the United Kingdom even did not hesitate to take the position of the crown prince. , to a small county lord born to the Danish crown prince of the kingdom, this is obviously a win.

To be able to climb to the UK, Frederick VII is naturally not stupid and will not easily refuse, but it is not necessarily as excited as Crown Prince Christian, who will not worry about coming with the support of the UK, Prussia will challenge He inherits the right to the throne, but Frederick VII doesn't think so. His position is the king of Denmark, and he also thinks about the autonomy of the Kingdom of Denmark, not the crown prince Christian's throne.

This is where the two patterns have different views.

Therefore, when Alexandra handed William IV's letter to Frederick VII, he was stunned. The invitation letter from the new Dutch king was actually a personal letter. passed to him. The meaning is different.

When he even took the letter from Alexandra at the time, he didn't have to find a single word about Alexandra in the letter, but a thousand words had already been written.

Has anyone seen the letter sent by the king of one country to the head of another country, first sent to his private hands, and then handed over to him? It also showed that the county owner had a close relationship with William IV, which surprised him.

And the content of the letter did not disappoint him.

William IV actually proposed to invite Denmark to join the Dutch-Swedish Customs Union and become the first new member to form a large economy in the Nordic Customs Union to compete with the two customs unions within the German Confederation. Sweden has cooperated in the African colonies, and also expressed the hope that Denmark will apply for accession and so on.

However, the detailed aspects of all this will require a trip to Frederick VII's Holland before the dust settles.

But he didn't know that what he did during this period fell into the eyes of the other party, and he had already become an important weight in Frederick VII's heart, one used to help Denmark remain neutral. Status to defend against the weapons of major powers.

Since Frederick VII went south, he would not easily let go of the man who was thinking of his Alexandra County Lord.

However, he didn't care so much anymore.

From asking if the Netherlands is developing smoothly in Central Africa, to hearing that the Netherlands will send more troops and immigrants to South Africa, and prepare to hold a three-nation conference with Prussia and France, I understand everything in detail, far from before. Which one in the banquet looked sickly.

This made William IV know that the old man in front of him could really disguise. However, since it was a fake, why would he really die at the beginning of next year in history?

William IV was very puzzled.

After going around in a circle, Frederick asked indifferently: "I heard that after the collision between the Netherlands, France, and the United Kingdom, after Belgium, the three countries have had a lot of trouble in South Africa. You three countries are there to support those three Being a small country, the UK has brought a lot of troubles to South Africa. To be honest, I think the UK's national strength has been fading very quickly recently, whether it is prestige or strength. However, this also brings a crisis to the Netherlands, you know , France is unreliable, and Prussia is very ambitious."

"From the Dutch point of view, I can't do it. Of course, I also understand the resentment of the British, and I also understand that there are only interests between the allies and allies in this world, especially the two countries that border each other. Beware of each other, because you are afraid that the other party will stab in the back, but at present, our three countries have not reached the point of damage, therefore, His Majesty Frederick VII rest assured"

"Relax?" How did Frederick VII listen, as if he was being regarded as overhearted.

He took a careful look at William IV's expression, and always felt that the other party seemed to mean something, so he said slowly: It seems that His Majesty William IV seems to be more confident in himself, but Queen Victoria and Palmer Viscount Ston and others are powerful figures who have been in Europe for decades. In the face of these people, no one can take it lightly. It seems to be beneficial to you at present, but maybe they have already deployed some behind them that you can't see. to something.

Be careful sailing the thousand-year-old ship! "

"Well" William IV affirmed the other party's good intentions~www.mtlnovel.com~ but did not refute the other party.

"Actually, His Majesty Frederick VII, I shouldn't have told you, but in order to show the closeness of our relationship, it's okay to tell you. In fact, just recently, I have ordered the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs to start Now I'm just waiting for news from there."

Seeing that Frederick VII didn't speak, obviously he didn't want to listen to the general words of the retreat, but liked to believe, so he said again: "

In order to ease relations with the United Kingdom, and in order to win the Far East and win Australia, and even for this, I revealed to London the location of a major gold mining area in South Africa.

And the location is still in the Transvaal Republic.”

what!

Frederick VII was surprised to hear that there are large gold mining areas in South Africa. If this news breaks out, then this will definitely be a place that countries want to compete for, since the Netherlands said so.

Wait, what did William IV just say, in exchange for Australia? Is it

Chapter end