New Shun 1730

Chapter 643: Opposition to Mercantilism

Earl Bentinck, who had previously encouraged William to take responsibility, had to consider the future situation under the influence of the Russian coup.

Liu Yu's previous record in St. Petersburg was too heavy.

Bentinck and others had to suspect that Liu Yu was here to pull William into a coup.

William's question was not whether he could take office, but whether he wanted to take office.

The people of the Netherlands had accumulated too much dissatisfaction, and everyone knew it.

The prestige of the Orange family was here, and it was really enough to make a call and enter Amsterdam the next day.

But the question was, what could be done after taking office?

Stand on the side of the people, fight oligarchs, increase business taxes, and increase inheritance taxes?

Isn't that the same as death?

Not standing on the side of the people...

If they don't take office, the people still have a thought, a hope, and an unrealistic fantasy, thinking that everything will be fine if they change the consul.

If they don't stand on the side of the people after taking office, the Orange family will completely lose the opportunity to govern, and there is really only this one opportunity available.

Next time, the people of the Netherlands may directly choose the third way.

Earl Bentinck's initial idea was to let William imitate "Caesar's return from Gaul".

He thought that the British, Russian and Dutch coalition forces could still win against France, and Prussia might not really be willing to follow France to the end.

Since they could win, of course, they would let the Orange family gain prestige.

With prestige and military support, they would imitate the Ming Dynasty's cabinet system, conduct a comprehensive centralization, abolish the parliament, and form a centralized Netherlands with the Prince of Orange and the cabinet as the core.

It was a good idea.

But with the Russian coup, this was a little unrealistic.

The diplomatic situation was already turbulent.

France was victorious everywhere, having conquered Bohemia and occupied Prague; the army preparing to attack Hanover had already gathered near the Austrian Netherlands, warning the Netherlands to break off the alliance with Austria, otherwise the army might come to the Netherlands; Prussia occupied Silesia; the Bavarian Elector had already obtained the title of King of Bohemia, and all the countries in the Holy Roman Empire were ready to elect him as emperor.

But at this time, Russia actually had a coup?

And it was led by China and France. The one who came to power was a well-known princess with French education, and she had some special relationship with the French ambassador. Russia was likely to join the Franco-Prussian alliance...

At this time, how to come to power?

Go to power and lose?

That would not be "Caesar triumphant from Gaul", but might become "Crassus escaped from Parthia".

Now Liu Yu had just returned from St. Petersburg and came to pay a visit. This old trick and preparation for a coup were almost written on his face.

So, how simple is the coup in Russia? What made Liu Yu so confident that what he had done once in Russia could be done again in the Netherlands?

Moreover, a coup d'état requires the consent of the superiors. As long as he firmly refuses, Liu Yu will be helpless.

This is the Netherlands, not Dashun.

Wearing a yellow robe is not a big deal in the Netherlands, and the Orange family is already qualified to wear it. But now they can wear it but don't want to wear it, not that they want to wear it but don't have the opportunity to wear it.

Bentinck's idea was recognized by everyone present.

It's time to meet, and it's still necessary to meet. This is a matter of the aristocratic circle, and the etiquette should still be there.

But to meet, it doesn't necessarily have to accept Liu Yu's instigation. As long as the instigated person is determined, no matter how much instigation, it will be useless.

According to this idea, William of the Orange family invited Liu Yu.

Liu Yu responded quickly to the invitation in return. On the fourth day after returning from Petersburg, he came to William's estate in Friesland.

The richest man in the Netherlands is different. This manor is very impressive. In addition to the ruling of these three provinces, William also inherited a lot of titles, manors, and lands from the branches of the small countries of the Holy Roman Empire.

He married the daughter of King George II of England, the eldest princess with the official title of "Princess Royal". This thing is not automatically obtained by the first birth, but must be canonized. Even if this eldest princess has had smallpox and has pockmarks all over her face, she is still the eldest princess, and the "palace" where she lives cannot be bad.

This manor located in Leeuwarden, the capital of Friesland, was built according to the specifications of the ruling of the federation.

However, Liu Yu was not interested in appreciating the architecture here. He had seen the Summer Palace and the Amber Room that was not demolished by the Nazis, and there was nothing worth appreciating in this place.

He came here this time to take the initiative to "be dirty".

He was not prepared to fight or scare people, so he did not bring all the guns like he went to St. Petersburg.

Only a few followers followed Liu Yu, and everything was simple.

After all, his official status was the Marquis and Plenipotentiary of Dashun.

The current Orange family was not the governor of the Netherlands, but the governor of the three northern provinces.

According to diplomatic etiquette, if Liu Yu was in an official capacity, it should be William of the Orange family who went to Amsterdam to meet him, not him who came here to meet William.

This matter was related to the state system, he dared not mess around, and could only meet him in a private capacity.

After a messy European etiquette reception, Liu Yu finally met the governor of the three provinces who had a pigeon chest and hunchbacks and was said by his wife to look like a baboon.

And Princess Anne, whose face was full of pockmarks after having smallpox.

Although it is not good to comment on others' appearance, and Liu Yu is not the kind of villain who likes to comment on others' appearance, after all, this is innate, or caused by an irresistible disease.

But thinking of such a person in history, he actually thought about imitating Caesar, returning as a hero, and asking his father-in-law for some troops to command the army to fight Frederick II and the Duke of Belle Isle of France, which made Liu Yu feel particularly magical.

It is really lacking in innate conditions.

If you say that Lanling Wang may have an ugly face, he can wear a mask.

But rickets, pigeon chest and spinal deformity, it is really impossible to establish prestige in the army. The army is a place that pays great attention to masculine beauty.

It seems that the Netherlands is finished.

Liu Yu thought that even if I don't cheat you, you can't establish prestige in the army. Without the prestige of Napoleon in the army, how can you fight against those regent oligarchs?

You really can't concentrate power.

Now you can't concentrate, the Netherlands will miss the last chance of revival.

Although he had many complaints in his heart, he had been in the court of Dashun for a long time, and he still did a good job on the surface. He politely expressed the etiquette of the first meeting to William and Princess Anne.

But soon, this good impression created by politeness was broken by Liu Yu himself.

After the greetings, Liu Yu came up and said a lot of absolutely correct nonsense.

What are the benefits of free trade, what are the comparative advantages of location, and what free trade helps to improve people's living standards.

What is the mercantilism theory that gold and silver are wealth is wrong, what gold and silver are garbage and useless, and what is the full liberalization of tariff protection that will benefit the healthy development of the Netherlands.

What is through international exchange to obtain products that the country cannot produce or the production cost is too high, so that consumers can get a higher level of satisfaction; through international division of labor and comparative advantages to make the best allocation of domestic resources.

What he said actually makes sense, very reasonable, and especially reasonable.

But it is indeed useless nonsense.

William and others did not nod their heads and praise the forward-looking ideas of The Wealth of Nations, but thought that the Marquis was crazy.

Liberalize tariffs? Then the remaining textile industry and industry in the Netherlands will be ruined?

Is it good for people's living standards? Thousands of textile workers have no food to eat, so this is good for improving people's living standards? Where is the improvement?

Gold and silver are all garbage and useless? If they are useless, why did you come all the way to Amsterdam to talk about free trade?

When Liu Yu talked about the rise, he said bluntly that Dashun would always open its doors. As long as trade agreements and tariff agreements can be negotiated, Dashun will guarantee compliance and welcome all-round trade with Dashun.

If the Netherlands wins, Dashun will give Dutch goods a low tariff of 5% and cancel the port entry tax for ships.

Even Dashun is willing to cede a small island near Zhoushan to the Netherlands, and the Netherlands only needs to give Dashun one-third of the size of Zhoushan Island near Amsterdam.

When he was excited, he danced with joy, and every word he said was about free trade, free navigation on the high seas, and opposition to protectionism.

William and others were stunned, thinking that he was crazy.

We dare not agree to this condition, let alone the regents.

If you really want to support a coup with this condition, you should ask someone else. We dare not.

Whoever dares to sign this treaty is a traitor. The Orange family has accumulated this little foundation, this little reputation and prestige left by their ancestors, as long as such a treaty, they will be defeated completely, leaving nothing behind.

And William's chief adviser, Earl Bentinck, was shocked and sweating.

He thought, my God, what conditions did the Russian empress agree to Liu Yu?

This is an obvious logic.

Liu Yu launched a coup in St. Petersburg and pushed Queen Elizabeth to the throne. There must be some secret deal between the two sides.

Moreover, the scale of this secret transaction should be very huge; moreover, the Russian empress must have agreed; moreover, if this condition is made public, it will definitely shock many people.

Because... if Liu Yu had been rejected in Russia, or the Russian empress did not agree, or the demands he got were not so amazing, Liu Yu would not have directly offered such a big condition at this time.

Obviously, this was a great pleasure in Russia.

Based on Russia's experience, it is natural to think that the Netherlands can also agree to similar conditions as long as he can support the coup.

It's like a person sleeping next to a tree stump, and suddenly, a rabbit was hit to death. This person will naturally think that he can pick up another rabbit by the tree stump the next day.

On the other hand, if this person worked hard to chop a tree stump and waited for the rabbit, but didn't get any hair, and worked in vain, would he still have expectations for the tree stump?

So, what kind of conditions did the Russian empress agree to Dashun to make this marquis so happy?

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

You'll Also Like