Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

On May 1, 1867, when everyone was paying attention to the attitude of the Russian Empire towards the sanctions imposed on the French Empire, Japan, a small country in the Far East, attracted the attention of all countries.

Because on this day, the country's new emperor Meiji announced that Japan under his leadership would enter the national reform, and the cabinet meeting of elders was directly named Meiji-restoration.

At the same time, he announced that he would not join any resistance to Western countries. Therefore, Japan would not sanction the French Empire, but would continue to use diplomatic actions to call on the French Empire not to launch a war against the Kingdom of Siam because Japan did not want to see it. To something like this that resulted in the death of innocent people.

At the same time, he called on Western countries to increase investment in Japan to help Japan's economic development. At the same time, Emperor Meiji also announced that Japan would purchase more than 10,000 supporting ammunition from the European Army equipment from the Netherlands. Strong Mauser rifles, and purchase 2 naval warships from the most powerful naval power, Britain.

After the announcement of these arms purchases, European and American countries couldn't help but show their greed. Obviously, they saw the fate of the Kingdom of Siam, which Emperor Meiji had just lost from the hands of Tokugawa Keiki, the leader of the Tokugawa Shogunate. After regaining power, in order to appease other countries, especially the United Kingdom, and to check and balance the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, which has now become a trend, was involved. Therefore, these two arms purchases can be said to be a carefully designed balancing act, not to mention that this is still a purchase. The protective effect brought by arms purchases seems to remind those countries with ambitions towards Japan that their interests are closely related to powerful countries such as Britain and the Netherlands, and reminds countries not to apply the practices of the French Empire to Japan.

Emperor Meiji also appealed for protection to the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. In the end, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands passed the arms purchase in London and Amsterdam. The Japanese Emperor Meiji finally breathed a sigh of relief. .

European and American countries are interested in this poor country with a population of more than 40 million. After all, a population of tens of millions means a huge market. Among them, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, which had established commercial ties with Japan as early as the 18th century, attach great importance to this. The two countries have expressed their willingness to provide the help Japan needs for reform, including funds and technology. The two countries have strived to occupy more market shares. .

The American Lincoln and Davis governments also successively asked Emperor Meiji to open their domestic markets to the two countries. Japan, which was extremely weak, had no choice but to nod in agreement.

Seeing this, other European and American countries came one after another.

In this regard, riben has entered an era of using European and American technology to cooperate with its own reforms. Although many people in the country think it is economic colonization, more people think it is friendly because the life of civilians in the country has become better.

William IV didn't care about the feelings of the Japanese people. He just wanted to occupy more of Japan's market share. As early as the 18th century, Japan was the most important source of platinum in the Netherlands. However, during the war between Britain and the Netherlands, In order to contain the Netherlands, the British began to block the flow of Dutch silver in Japan into the Netherlands, so they entered the country. The two parties fought and those in power joined their respective ranks. In the end, the Netherlands was robbed of its share by the British, and Germany-Sichuan- The shogunate fell to the British.

However, after entering the 1850s, the voice against the Tokugawa shogunate in Japan became louder and louder. Finally, after 1850, the previous emperor Xiaomei began to suppress the Tokugawa shogunate. -Shogunate power, but still successful, died in early January this year, and Crown Prince Mutsuhito succeeded to the throne, named Meiji.

Meiji received a good cultural education since he was a child and was proficient in Chinese, Japanese and other Confucian classics. However, in the seventh year of his grandfather Kayei, that is, in 1854, the major European and American Western capital powers forced Japan to sign unequal treaties with them. After Japan opened its doors, as the national crisis became more pressing day by day, the country's mentality of resignation began to enter an era of resignation when it could not resist, that is to say, it accepted Japan's Westernization.

"Acquire considerable knowledge of Western science and thought", "Learn the development trends at home and abroad", etc.

For this reason, although the young Prince Muren was living in the palace, he was influenced by this and began to actively face the West. He was also unknowingly impacted by ideological trends and influenced by Western civilization to varying degrees, so he had the ambition to reform society. ambition.

Beginning in 1860, his father, Emperor Xiaoming, carried out an action to overthrow the powerful Tokugawa shogunate. He saw his father's desire to return to royal power, so he agreed with this approach, but did not want to. Before he could succeed, his father Xiao-Ming-Huang passed away.

So when Emperor Meiji inherited the throne, the official feudal rule of the Tokugawa shogunate was on the verge of collapse. Because the Tokugawa shogunate was helpless against the invasion of Western countries, Britain became dominant in Japan. began to be invaded, so the Tokugawa family suffered a decline in influence in the country.

In the country, under the operation of the royal family, the movement to respect the king and resist the barbarians that has sprung up in the country's major islands has gradually developed into the "respect-the-king-overthrow-the-maku" movement. Changshu, Satsuma and other powerful southwestern factions who participated in the "respect the king-overthrow" movement advocated reform. The lower-level samurai of the bourgeoisie, represented by Toshiichi Tsuba and Takayoshi Kido.

Most of them were born in the middle and lower classes of Japan. They have strong dissatisfaction and deep worries about the current situation of society. They try to find a way out for themselves in the self-reform of society. This makes them demand the overthrow of Tokugawa. Under the rule of the shogunate, they worked together to change the political status quo of Japan, participated in various political reforms, and firmly grasped the real power within the country. In order to further strengthen their power, they moved Japanese domestic affairs after the 12th century. The power fell, the Tokugawa shogunate tightened the exclusion and cold treatment, and the royal family, which was deeply opposed to the Tokugawa shogunate, raised it as its backer. Facts have proved that this is right. The deceased Xiao tomorrow Huanghe The current Emperor Meiji is close to them.

Finally, in early January 1867, Emperor Meiji held a secret meeting of the two powerful reformists, Satsuma and Choshu, and formulated an action plan to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate by force, and passed it. The Tokugawa Shogunate's "Court" insider operation was carried out, and in the end, they succeeded.

In order to save his status and life, the leader of the Tokugawa shogunate, Tokugawa Keiki, first submitted a "return of great power" report to Emperor Meiji on January 10, 1867, expressing his intention to resign and "conquer the barbarians". "General" position.

However, at this time, the defeated shogunate faction that gained power mobilized to guide the government in Tokugawa's internal rule, instructing the Tokugawa shogunate to peacefully hand over power to Emperor Meiji. In March, the Five-Article Oath was issued. "Covenant" was announced, and then the overthrown troops defeated the shogunate army near Kyoto, and soon occupied Edo. Emperor Meiji renamed Edo Higashi-jing and officially declared it the capital on January 20.

Unexpectedly, Ribne, which had been keeping a low profile for four months, would appear now.

William IV's eyes suddenly shone, and he began to make plans.

"Mei-ji-restoration? Restoration-new-three heroes? I am here in this life, and I will see how your Japanese rise. In my eyes, you are just the nourishment for the rise of the Netherlands."