Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

On May 25, 1878, King William IV of the Netherlands had a courtesy meeting with the visiting German Prime Minister Bismarck at the Dutch Palace in Melbourne.

"No one would have thought that the Netherlands could quietly penetrate various sects so deeply, and that the Netherlands could use sects to achieve its own set goals. Even the powerful Britain was under this wave of religious attacks from the Netherlands. They all seemed defeated.

Even the UK is like this, what about other countries?

Holland's unconventional play made people feel a little bit of fear. This is especially true for the Tsarist Empire, the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, etc.

First, he used his own ship to be sunk by the British to gain sympathy from the international community, and then openly blockaded the Nicobar Islands in the name of rescuing Dutch soldiers who fell into the sea, achieving tangible benefits of truly ruling the Nicobar Islands.

Britain's idea of ​​honor and psychological debt after sinking the opponent's warship was exploited by the Netherlands.

At this time, the Netherlands announced the tragedy of the British prison in the Nicobar Islands. This further triggered public opinion condemning the UK and led to more dissatisfaction with the UK from the international community.

At this time, Britain became a loner in public opinion. Just when everyone in the Netherlands was just kidnapping and attacking Britain morally, they didn't expect the Netherlands to have a backup plan, which was to use the Netherlands' policy of religious tolerance to make the Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox churches in the Netherlands , and even Buddhism and other sects all stood up to denounce the British as a pioneering force. Then these sects used the internal and external links between the sects to drive the sects in other countries to take the same position as the Netherlands. In just a few days, a formation was formed. All Christian denominations attacked the British government. At this time, the two major forces in the United Kingdom, the Protestant Anglican Church and the Anglican Church, were unable to recover. "

There were only William IV and Bismarck in the entire living room, and everyone else was screened out.

So the conversation between the two was very relaxed.

And Bismarck expressed his thoughts frankly.

Bismarck is 63 years old, and William IV has no tentacles. The 38-year-old seems to be well maintained and looks very young, as if he has just entered his 30s.

This made Bismarck think of the 81-year-old William I in the German Empire, Crown Prince Frederick who was still hesitating between anti-British and pro-British, and even the 19-year-old grandson of William (the future Wilhelm II), my heart sank.

The King of the Netherlands seems to have the blessing of God, and everything goes as he wants. The Netherlands is under the eye of the United Kingdom, France, and the German Empire. In just 20 years, it has developed into a country that the German Empire is unwilling to offend and the United Kingdom does not dare to start a war. Even a powerful country that has been pushed into a corner, something that was unbelievable to everyone 20 years ago, has happened in the past few days.

"The Netherlands leaving Europe and coming to the Far East is like a powerful dragon leaving the shoals and entering the deep sea. The dragon swims in the sea, sky and sky. Under the control of your majesty, the Nicobar Islands will never be taken back by the UK. I It is even speculated that the United Kingdom should be ready to compromise with the Netherlands. It has made the British Empire so embarrassed. I think only the Netherlands can do it now."

William IV looked at the other party with the eyes of a wise man, and then a smile appeared on his face.

"Although the Dutch attack is good, it also depends on the person who takes the attack. I have never thought that Queen Victoria, who has been in charge of the British Empire for 39 years, is a woman who can be defeated easily. On the contrary, she is currently the most powerful in Europe. Your Majesty, as the Prime Minister of the German Empire, please do not be deceived by this esteemed woman."

Bismarck shook his head and said: "I have never underestimated Her Majesty the Queen, but I am more optimistic about William IV than Queen Victoria."

William IV showed curiosity and asked: "Why is this?"

Seeing William IV's pretended expression, Bismarck did not feel uncomfortable and said in a joking tone: "Because the territory occupied by Queen Victoria during her nearly 40 years of rule was not as much as your Majesty."

William IV showed a helpless expression when he heard this, and said with a wry smile: "Well, I have to admit that this is the best way to measure merit, but the Netherlands is currently far away from Europe, but its influence on Europe is far less than that of the United Kingdom. Well, Europe is the center of the world today. How can a Dutch king who is far away from the center of the world be favored by the famous Prime Minister Bismarck? I am very curious."

"It is not good for my Majesty William to stay away from Europe, but his influence may not have left Europe. The current Netherlands alone plus half of Belgium's territory, although the area is not large, is geographically located at the center of Britain, France, Germany and Northern Europe. It has become A hub for land and sea transport between countries, this became the seat of Dutch influence on Europe.”

Bismarck added: "What's more, the Netherlands has now become an exhibition venue for Dutch high-tech industries. At present, whether it is The Hague, Amsterdam, Rotterdam on the sea, the province of Antwerp in the south of the sea, and the province of West Flanders, they form the most advanced industrial base in Europe. City agglomeration. Therefore, people cannot agree with His Majesty’s statement.”

William IV chuckled, and then said: "I see, Your Excellency Bismarck is more optimistic about the future of the Netherlands than I, the King of the Netherlands, are. Since Your Excellency is so optimistic, then why does Prime Minister Bismarck prepare the German Empire to manage its relationship with the Netherlands? It is very important to invest in stocks with promising future potential.”

Bismarck was moved when he heard this.

Geese is officially the Dutch founder of currently popular stocks and securities around the world.

In 1603, under the leadership of Oden Barvelt, the Grand Speaker of the Dutch Republic, the Dutch government united with the East India Company to establish. Just as they created an unprecedented country, they created an unprecedented organization at that time.

The Netherlands established the world's first joint stock company. In order to raise funds, they issued stocks, but they were not stocks today. People came to the East India Company's office and wrote down the loaned money in a book. The company promised to pay these Stock dividends, this is how the Dutch East India Company raised funds. The company successfully grew, and European countries followed suit, so today's stocks exist.

And it is precisely because the joint-stock company system in the world was born in the East India Company established in the Netherlands in 1602. After the emergence of the corporate organizational form of the joint-stock company, it was soon widely used in capitalist countries and became As an important form of enterprise organization in capitalist countries, with the birth and development of joint-stock companies, the form of stocks has also been developed, and the need for buying and selling transactions has arisen, which has led to the development of the stock market. The emergence and formation of the stock market promoted the improvement and development of the stock market. In 1611, shareholders began to trade stocks on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, and later there were specialized brokers to facilitate transactions.

The Amsterdam Stock Exchange formed the world's first stock trading market. Today's joint-stock companies have become the most basic form of enterprise formation in Europe and even many places around the world. Stocks have become an important channel and method for large European and American companies to raise important funds. They are also The basic selection method of investment, the stock market and the bond market composed of the issuance and trading of stocks have become important basic contents of the current securities market in the world.

Bismarck was thoughtful about Wilhelm IV's seemingly unintentional question.

Smart people don't need to explain everything too clearly, because this will lose a lot of things for reference.

For example, now, William IV mentioned Guan Xiu who asked the German Empire how to invest in Germany and the Netherlands. Although he was asking, it was actually a test, and it was an answer that needed to be answered carefully.

Although Bismarck has been in politics for more than 30 years, he was a little embarrassed by this question, because no matter how he answered this question, it seemed to be a promising answer. If the future does not develop like this, then what will happen to Bismarck in the future? How should one answer when asked about William IV's fingerprints?

Secretly sighing that William IV is really awesome.

"Currently, the center of gravity of the Netherlands is in the Far East, while the center of gravity of the German Empire is in Europe, so I think the conflict of interests between the German Empire and the Netherlands has been reduced to a minimum."

Bismarck asked: "I wonder if His Majesty agrees with this statement?"

Answer in stages, or answer questions at the same time?

William IV secretly praised: Prime Minister Bismarck is really smart.

There was an indifferent expression on his face as he said, "Although I don't want to admit it, I have to say that this is just the analysis closest to reality under the current situation."

This is the answer I want.

Bismarck smiled and continued: "The Netherlands seems to have given up the idea of ​​participating in the internal struggle for hegemony in Europe. This is naturally satisfactory for the European powers. Therefore, I think if the Netherlands declares itself a neutral country in Europe, the German Empire will be the first." Stand up and support”

William IV said with a half-smile: "But what about Denmark, Sweden and even Spain, the Netherlands' allies in the Nordic Alliance?"

Bismarck smiled brightly and said: "Didn't the Netherlands give up the leadership of the Nordic Alliance to Spain 9 years ago (1870)?"

William IV said noncommittally: "The Netherlands needs allies. After all, the situation in Europe will be dangerous in the future, so we must protect the Dutch lands in Europe. Of course, more importantly, the Netherlands needs to use allies to carry out more sieges or counterattacks against the Netherlands. "Hostile country"

Bismarck failed in his attempt to persuade the Netherlands to become neutral. His face only showed a little disappointment and then returned to normal, saying: "The German Empire is willing to support the Netherlands in challenging London, the UK, which is currently the number one in the world in finance, stocks and securities."

William IV suddenly showed a sincere smile and said with a smile: "Really? Sure enough, the German Empire supports the Netherlands the most."

As expected, Holland is spying on this.

Before Bismarck came, he had already analyzed the purpose of the current dispute between the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, and he naturally understood it clearly. Maritime hegemony is one, but financial hegemony is not the reason why the Kingdom of the Netherlands currently challenges the United Kingdom.