New Shun 1730

Anthony, who had been the Grand Speaker of the Provincial Parliament of a republic that was actually a commercial republic, looked at the problem from a more commercial perspective.

As a former Grand Speaker elected by the regent oligarchs, he knew everything about business. In particular, he was very clear about the concept of "interest".

For Dutch merchants, if they neither invested nor lent millions of taels of cash, they would think they had lost a lot of money.

Dashun's approach this year was not quite right.

And the degree of understanding of the Southeast Asian economy also made Anthony understand that since Dashun wanted to be the suzerain of Southeast Asia, it must find an export channel for Southeast Asian trade.

Before the Dutch or Portuguese arrived in Southeast Asia, Southeast Asia was still a self-sufficient feudal economy.

At that time, tribute and so on were actually easy to say.

Trade is best, but no trade is also okay.

In a self-sufficient small peasant economy, it is not impossible to survive without trade.

However, since the Portuguese and Dutch entered Southeast Asia, with the dual "mission" of colonizers, they gradually disintegrated the old economic foundation of Southeast Asia.

Just like Ambon and other places, the Dutch used warships to blockade the islands tightly in order to monopolize spices. At the same time, they destroyed almost all the arable land on the islands.

This led to the fact that those islands rich in spices could only use their spices to exchange for their necessary living supplies.

If they didn't exchange...cloth and clothes would be fine, Southeast Asia is hot, and the worst that can happen is that you can go bare-bottomed; but what about food? You can go without clothes, but can you not eat food? Eat cloves and cardamom for a living?

Obviously, it's impossible.

For the time being, Dashun's land reform in Southeast Asia is limited to the surrounding areas of Batavia and the Bandung area in the south.

Those spice islands still maintain the original production model and main commodities.

In this case, foreign trade is necessary.

Dashun itself cannot digest so many spices - the Dutch are very clear about this. When Dashun was in power and was hostile to Catholic countries because of the baptism of Macau and Nanming, the Dutch tried to communicate and promote spices.

But the effect was very poor.

The sea merchants of Dashun had their own smuggling channels, and spices such as cloves and nutmeg were not very popular in Dashun.

Since Dashun could not eat so much, since it was the suzerain of Southeast Asia, and since the Netherlands and other countries had partially disintegrated the self-sufficient economy of Southeast Asia and made it part of the world market.

Then, Dashun actually had no way out until now.

If it really wanted to go back, it would take at least 20 years of unrest, gradual balance, cutting down spices and replanting crops, and returning to the original feudal self-sufficient economy. In the middle, it would also face endless uprisings, resistance from the aristocracy that benefited from spices, and infiltration by Western smugglers.

This, coupled with the concept of "interest" that the Dutch could understand very well, made Anthony see that Dashun had other purposes from a very commercial republican perspective.

However, what exactly the purpose was, that was unknown.

From the Ceylon Trojan Horse Plan to the earlier Sino-French alliance to train the navy, in Anthony's view, Dashun has excellent centralized effects, wise politicians, and the ability to accomplish long-term goals under a centralized system - compared to the Dutch Provincial Parliament, which held a meeting on tax rate reform for two years and finally achieved nothing - this kind of centralization and wise politicians are unattainable for the Netherlands.

In short, Dashun can plan for a long time in advance and move forward firmly in the direction of a certain goal with the centralized system of imperial examination bureaucracy.

This makes Anthony unable to guess what Dashun's purpose is.

He imagined many possibilities.

But they were all denied by him one by one.

Is it to keep the trade share for France?

Obviously, it is impossible. France does not have the ability to take over the trade of Southeast Asia and East Asia.

Is it to cooperate with the Netherlands?

He also thought about this real purpose, but the reality is that the Duke of Qi went to France, and France subsequently sent troops to the Austrian Netherlands, and continued to conquer fortresses and approach the Netherlands. The Netherlands is about to fall into a long period of chaos and a period of at least 20 years of desolation after its homeland is conquered. Dashun will not cooperate with a desolate Netherlands because it is not qualified.

Is it for Dashun itself?

This is even more impossible. Each East India Company is the industry of the country's big financiers and businessmen, and it concerns the interests of tens of thousands of people. Even if countries do not talk about mercantilism, what should they do if they only talk about the interests of these tens of thousands of people?

In name, the Netherlands was retaliated because it rejected Liu Yu's free trade. But looking at all countries, Anthony felt that he did nothing wrong. Even France, the closest ally to Dashun, did not relax tariffs or even cancel the ban on cotton cloth. Which country would open the door to Dashun's goods?

Considering one possibility after another, one after another was denied by himself.

This feeling of knowing that Dashun has other purposes but not knowing what the real purpose is made Anthony very uneasy.

Of course, the most serious problem facing the Netherlands at this time is the invasion of France.

Southeast Asia was still lost, the East India Company had begun bankruptcy and liquidation, and the financial crisis had already broken out. At this time, there was a kind of broken jar mood: since it has come to this, the matter of Dashun can be put off for a while, it is not the most important or the most fatal thing for the time being.

Generally speaking, according to the experience of Dashun, it is only before the king hangs himself, or becomes a king of a fallen country, or is placed under house arrest that he will miss his homeland, lament that he did not govern the country well, and start to worry about the people of his country.

The historical experience of Dashun is the same for the Netherlands.

As the former speaker of the parliament, Anthony is also a "king of a fallen country". At this time, he is really worried about the fate of the Netherlands. He is worried about the fate of the Netherlands as a "king of a fallen country".

Facing Dashun, he has already broken the pot and broken the pot. The original shoes are broken and now he is barefoot. I am like this. What can you do to me? Can't you stain the mouth of the Amstel River with blood?

In theory, things have priorities, and the problem of France should be considered at this time.

However.

If we want to consider France now, we have to consider Dashun, and now the Netherlands and France still need Dashun to mediate.

In theory, the Netherlands previously pursued a policy that diplomacy determines destiny. As a European country, there is no need for Dashun to mediate.

However, now it still involves a "political correctness" issue.

This political correctness issue is divided into three major directions.

At the beginning, when the Dutch people cheered Orange's coming to power, there was an important reason that the Regent Parliamentary Party caused public dissatisfaction.

That is, the Regent Party was justified, upright, and righteous in fulfilling the obligations of international treaties, sending troops and money to support Queen Theresa to inherit the Austrian throne.

However, for such a justified and righteous thing, the Regent Party "humbled" to greet the French: We are just fulfilling our promise, and we sent troops because of the pressure from Austria and Britain. We are not going to be enemies with you, we really have no choice. I hope you, France, don't be angry, don't be too angry with us, the Netherlands, okay?

This humble attitude made the Dutch people, who still have the sentiment of a great power, quite angry: Just do it! It was France and Prussia who did the wrong thing. They signed the Basic Law of Succession to the Austrian Throne, but they didn't recognize it when they died. They did something wrong. We Dutch acted out of justice. Why should we be so servile to France?

Just do it!

Isn't it despicable to please France and say nice things?

Isn't it treason?

Isn't it a lack of honor and dignity?

If the Orange family were the consuls, could they be so despicable? Could they be so treasonous?

They must have led our Dutch army to defeat France, so how could they still lick France?

This is why Liu Yu said that the only "great power sentiment" left in the hearts of the Dutch people must be completely wiped out, smashed, burned, and disillusioned.

Han Feizi once said: A country that is small but not humble, has little power but is not afraid of the strong, is rude and insults its big neighbors, is greedy and stubborn and has poor relationships, can perish.

The problem of the Netherlands is that it does not have the strength of a world power, but has the mentality of a world power.

If this mentality is not eliminated, it will be difficult to cooperate in the future.

It is not to say that this "Heavenly Kingdom" sentiment is wrong. Rather, not everyone should have this mentality of the Celestial Empire.

For example, the people of those small countries that were fickle-minded were very dissatisfied with their kings. They believed that once they had identified an ally, they should stick to it to the end. For example, if they recognized Qin as an ally, they would be more ruthless and more diligent than Qin in killing Chu people. They should not be afraid of retaliation, and should not contact Chu privately...

Another example is Korea. Now Korea is also quite aggrieved. When the envoys of Dashun came, they had to entertain them well and dare not neglect them. They had to bribe them frequently and ask for good words. Even the succession to the throne had to be approved by Beijing.

As a result, some Korean people were very dissatisfied and felt that the king was simply cowardly, mean, and spineless. They should have sent troops to Liaodong, directly broke through Shanhaiguan, and crossed the Yalu River with great vigor and vigor. Just do it!

The above two are consistent with the mentality of many people in the Netherlands before.

The possible difference is that the Dutch "their ancestors were really rich". And the ancestors of Korea were really not rich.

The problem is that without the strength of a great power, but with the mentality of a powerful country, this is the way to commit suicide.

The Regents did nothing wrong. France can be a friend, as long as it is not a neighbor, but it is better not to be an enemy.

The British have cheated the Netherlands in so many places. They have fought the Anglo-Dutch War several times, and their trade and fishing grounds have been robbed. Why should they get so close to Britain? Just because the Orange family was the king of Britain?

If they are really determined to form an alliance with the British, what will they do if they lose? The British have warships as a Great Wall. When they see that the situation is not good, they slip back to the island. What should the Netherlands do? France is the first land power in Europe. How can the Netherlands resist? Could it be that the Netherlands will turn to Suriname and throw away seven provinces and use the Atlantic Ocean as a trench?

The current war situation has indeed confirmed the concerns of the Regents: when the British see that the situation is not good, the Duke of Cumberland's elite troops slip back, and the Netherlands is dumbfounded.

Before William IV of Orange came to power, he did not make many promises.

Such as abolishing the tax farming system, returning the guild system, strangling the commercial oligarchs, suppressing the financial capitalists, etc., these are all wishful thinking of the Dutch people and the Dutch conservative class.

However, before William IV came to power, he promised to fight against France resolutely, and would not secretly contact France like those despicable and traitorous regents, but would fight to the end, just like his ancestors - at that time, Prussia withdrew from the war, and the Netherlands had a great advantage. So that was the only promise and high-profile slogan that William IV could make. Otherwise, it would be difficult to be the consul without any promises or slogans.

And the core of his being the consul was that Prussia withdrew from the war; but on the surface, it was Liu Yu and other Chinese who went too far, insulted the national dignity of the Netherlands, and insisted on making the Netherlands a tributary state.

He took advantage of this coup, and Liu Yu dug a pit for him, so naturally he had to be tough enough on foreign issues. At least he appeared to be tough enough.

Now that William IV has been in office for a few years, he is resented by the heavens and the people, and there are many contradictions. The wishful political demands of the Dutch conservatives have not been achieved. All that is left is a "determined and tough against the enemy" personality.

This personality has almost become William IV's last fig leaf and the last source of legitimacy.

He himself has rickets and pigeon chest deformities, and cannot go to the battlefield. He can only find it in his mouth because he is incapable of action.

He cannot be weak to France. This is the political correctness of William IV's rule. He only promised this one thing, and many Dutch people who still had great power sentiments at the time cried bitterly when they heard this promise, believing that the Netherlands would become great again.