Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

Every three years, Prince Albert will visit various provinces in the Netherlands with his mother and Alexandra. This year, when returning from attending the funeral of Alexander II of Tsarist Russia and the coronation ceremony of Alexander III, he visited Congo Province, Northern Mozambique Province, and Tanzania. Province, Madagascar Province.

The popularity they received there was astonishing. The population of the three major port cities of Madagascar, Toliara in the southwest, Mahajanga in the north, and Toamasina in the east, all exceeded 500,000 in this era. A city with a population of 500 is already considered a city with a population of 500 in later generations. After all, the total global population is only about 1 billion, and there are many poor countries and colonies, such as Spain, the Philippines, the United Kingdom, the Malayan Islands, etc., and European cities reach one million. Yes, less than 10 at most.

As of 1881, the only cities in the Netherlands with a population of one million were Sydney, the capital of New South Wales, with a population of 2 million, Melbourne, a capital of 1.6 million, Jakarta, the capital of the East Indies, with a population of 1.4 million, Adelaide, the capital of South Australia, with a population of 1.35 million. Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands, has 1.18 million, Brosbane, the capital of Queensland, has 1.09 million, and Western Australia has 1.01 million. There are only seven cities in the Netherlands with a population of one million. There are 4 cities in the UK: London, Edinburgh, Manchester, and Dublin.

Therefore, Madagascar has ten cities with a population of more than 500,000, which is already very good. It is even said that the economy there is no worse than that of Belgium, which was divided by the Netherlands and France before 1870 with nearly three-quarters of its territory. William IV even told him that because the sea entrance was blocked, Belgium became a landlocked country, but in terms of conditions, it was not as good as Madagascar. The latter had unlimited potential, and he was optimistic about the development prospects of Madagascar.

Today, Prince Albert is playing the role of a troublemaker, raising all kinds of questions in the Privy Council. It may be because everyone was patient and tolerant of him on the first day, and William IV He was urging me quietly so that no one would answer him casually.

However, for the Dutch Crown Prince who is eager to learn, everyone feels that hard work in teaching is not in vain.

Lyndon even gave an economics lecture today.

Most of the time, Linden showed his stance on a certain high level, explaining that the Netherlands ranks first in the international economy.

"Our industry is also the most powerful in the world. In 1868, we in the Netherlands were already the world's largest industrial exporter. We have a strong network of allies, which is the magic weapon for us to defeat the United Kingdom and kick out Germany and the United States in the global industrial products market. , coupled with the concerted efforts of all ethnic groups in the Netherlands, the economy of other ethnic groups in our country is also unique in the world. Don’t talk about anything else, just black people. Although the current income of Dutch nationals of these two colors is not as high as that of white people, Even on average, it is only one-eighth, and the indigenous people are only one-sixth, but this is already very remarkable.

Everyone, you must know that the current per capita disposable income in the United Kingdom is less than two-thirds of ours, and the per capita disposable income in the Commonwealth of the United States is only half of ours. The Russian Empire was only one-tenth of ours. "

Prince Albert was stunned and asked: "The per capita income of Tsarist Russia is only one-eighth of ours? Is that correct?"

William IV watched their conversation with relish, and so did everyone else.

Prime Minister Lyndon boasted: "There are currently 100 million people in Tsarist Russia. One-eighth of the Dutch population is 25 pounds. The whole country is 2.5 billion pounds. It is worse than the Commonwealth of the United States and ranks eighth in the world after Austria-Hungary."

"Your Excellency Linden, are you not mistaken? Shouldn't the Russian Empire be ranked seventh in terms of economic strength?" Prince Albert was stunned for a moment, and then asked doubtfully: "From high to low, it shouldn't be the Netherlands first, the Netherlands the third The second is Britain, the third is the German Empire, the fourth is France, the fifth is America, the sixth is Austria-Hungary, and shouldn’t the seventh be Tsarist Russia?”

Linden shook his head and said: "No, that's right. Yes, I misunderstood. There is another country ranked above the Russian Empire."

His mind was running quickly and he was filtering through it. In the end, Prince Albert still didn't realize who he couldn't think of, so he shook his head and asked, "Who else is there?"

"It's the Qing Dynasty" was the answer of William IV.

Prince Albert paused for a moment, then suddenly realized.

"The Qing Dynasty has a population of 300 million. Since it quickly established strategic relations with us in the 1860s, our country moved its capital from Amsterdam in Europe to Melbourne in 1871. Ten years have passed. The Qing Dynasty's overseas students in the Kingdom of the Netherlands have totaled 500 since before 1870. They are divided every year. There are only 50 people in a class.

However, in the ten years from 1870 to 1880, especially after the capital was moved to Melbourne in 1871, the number of German students studying abroad increased significantly. In the past ten years, the Netherlands received nearly 5,000 foreign students from colleges and universities, and on average there were almost 5,000 students every year. The number of people coming to study in the Netherlands has increased tenfold compared to the last decade.

We just met with Li Hongzhang not long ago. He told me that he has been recognized by the old queen mother of the Qing Dynasty and hopes that we will support that starting from next year, the Qing Dynasty will increase the number of international students in the Netherlands to 10,000 every year. above"

Everyone present took a breath of air-conditioning, but Mari Philip, the Minister of Education who had been silent next to him, showed a happy face.

Prince Albert had sharp eyes and said: "I wonder what your Excellency Philip means?"

In this Privy Council meeting, William IV almost let Prince Albert go, and he was like an emperor, listening behind the curtain.

Mari Philip: "I have studied the Qing Dynasty in recent years. These are four very interesting countries. The Qing Dynasty has a population of 300 million. Currently, the Manchus occupy the upper echelons of society, but the largest Han nationality accounts for more than 90% of the population. The population is only a lower class of Manchus. Broadly speaking, it is not much better than the British-controlled Indians."

William IV nodded. Philip was indeed the Western king-maker. Many details were not taken seriously by others, but he always found a way to walk in the wilderness.

Today is December 26, 1881, and the general election will officially begin four days later. He just doesn't know whether his Socialist Party can become the new ruling party in the Netherlands, which makes him very interested.

At his status, after twenty years of fighting for the interests of the Netherlands internationally and carrying out large-scale development domestically, the Netherlands made a decisive move in one fell swoop and became the most powerful country economically and industrially in the world.

Militarily, the Netherlands is no worse than the UK in terms of maritime warfare. At least the Netherlands still doesn't dare to really try out the combat capabilities of the more than 100 most advanced second-generation submarines in the Netherlands.

Just like playing a game, after you get tired of playing one game, the new one is still very interesting. The two-party politics of the Netherlands, which was either black or white, was broken in 1879 with the rise of the Socialist Party.

When the Socialist Party became the third largest party, it also formed a coalition government with the Christian Party, although it was only the younger brother of the coalition government. But it is enough to be recorded in the annals of Dutch politics.

Many people are optimistic about the election of the Socialist Party this time, even more optimistic than the election of the Christian Party, the leader in the coalition government. Therefore, William IV is curious to see if the Socialist Party of Philip the Kingmaker will help the Socialist Party succeed. What about the top?