Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

Qing Dynasty, harem, Cining Palace.

The Empress Dowager Ci-Xi summoned him today. Without asking, he knew that it was about the possible war in America. After all, the news and newspapers were beginning to be popular now. As far as he knew, the Empress Dowager Ci-Xi in front of him was just like any other official wife. , apart from listening to operas, my biggest daily pastime is reading newspapers.

This was a relief for him. After all, when she read the newspaper, he could spend less time talking, and on many things, they might even have the same views. Of course, provided that the interests of the Qing Dynasty were not undermined.

Sure enough, Ci-Xi said: "In the newspaper, our country has more than 200,000 people working in the Netherlands in Southeast Asia, and more than 20,000 people studying abroad? Is this serious?"

Li Hongzhang shook his head and said: "Actually, there are more than that. These 200,000 people have registered with the local government when our government went overseas. There are also some people who have taken secret routes and have not registered."

Ci-Xi said with displeasure on her face: "Humph, these people were caught and immediately sentenced to death. How dare they sneak into the Netherlands privately?" Afterwards, she asked again: "Approximately how many people are there?"

Li Hongzhang was embarrassed for a while, and then gritted his teeth and said: "The lives of the people on the coastal border are difficult, so when they knew that the income in the Netherlands was ten times that of the country, they were willing to take the risk and go there. It is estimated that the lives of those of us there now Citizens, no more than 500,000 people”

Ci Xi almost couldn't hold the teacup in her hand. She raised her head and glared at Li Hongzhang in shock and anger, and asked: "How many? 500,000 people?"

Ci-Xi said angrily: "In other words, in addition to the 200,000 people waiting, there are still 300,000 people who escaped without registration?"

She feels so distressed now. You must know that every Qing citizen working overseas must pay one-tenth of the tax every year.

You know, the annual tax paid by farmers in the Qing Dynasty is only 4.5%, and the farmers’ harvest is still very low.

For Cong Cixi, who likes to spend money lavishly, these overseas work taxes are a large amount of income. Li Hongzhang is a sensible person. Two-tenths of the taxes paid by these people every year fall into Ci-Xi's private pocket.

200,000 people earn one-third of the per capita income of 3,750 guilders (150 pounds) in the Netherlands. Now one tael of silver is equal to 17 pounds. The per capita annual income in the Netherlands is about 9 taels of silver, while the Qing people who go to work there are three-thirds One is three taels of silver.

This is much higher than in China.

200,000 people is 600,000 taels of silver, and she can get two-tenths of it, which is 120,000 taels.

This is real gold and silver. More than 300,000 people did not register. That means she lost 180,000 taels of silver. It makes her heartache to think about it.

Ci-Xi couldn't help but cursed: "Those untouchables are so hateful. Mr. Li, you don't need to tell me this time. You should know how to kill chickens to scare monkeys. The imperial border guards are not raising waste. If you can't do it, If you still occupy this position after the results, it would be better to just fall to the ground."

Obviously, taking her money touched her reverse scale, and she was really angry this time.

Li Hongzhang nodded in agreement.

Ci-Xi seemed to be trying hard to calm down her ups and downs of resentment and then said: "Okay, let's not mention it here. Currently, the Netherlands is too important to Laishui, the Qing Dynasty. Look at the foreign exchange earned every year, which is a huge sum. Income, of course, is mainly due to the good relationship between the Netherlands and the Qing Dynasty. Take a look at the news in your hand this morning. In the Americas, I remember that Mexico is the new ally of the Netherlands. Now the Austro-Hungarian Empire is conducting military operations against it. Come on, what do you think the final result will be?"

The situation in the Americas made Li Hongzhang unable to help but say: "Your Majesty, the Dutch secret troops are currently stationary, so the Thirteen South American Group has not made any major moves at the moment.

What is strange is that the German Empire behind the Austro-Hungarian Empire has not made any noise. The German-Austrian alliance announced by the two countries some time ago has unanimously determined that it will expand its influence in Latin America. Now Austria-Hungary has begun to increase its troops by 10,000 to occupy the Yucatan Peninsula in southern Mexico. As the newspaper said, Mexico is also gathering troops in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in the western part of the Yucatan Peninsula."

"Isthmus of Tehuantepec?" Ci-Xi has been fond of politics since she was a child, so she is still very interested in world geography. She was especially familiar with the world navigation map that Qing diplomats brought back from the Kingdom of the Netherlands some time ago.

When she was on it, she saw for the first time how big the world was. Counting the Qing Dynasty, it was not as big as the Tsarist Russia in the north. And Britain, the dominant maritime empire, had so many colonies, even several colonies and more. The territory is dozens of times that of the British Isles, but the British mainland only accounts for one percent of the territory it rules. Oh my God, ninety-nine percent of the British people are overseas territories and colonies. Imagine that Ci Xi felt terrible.

In addition, the Tsarist Empire was originally a small Muscovite principality, not as big as Zhili, but in just a few hundred years, it was able to become a territory comparable to the Qing Dynasty, or even worse, with a population that almost reached the Qing Dynasty. One-third of the population, nearly 100 million people.

No wonder they were so bold and dared to break ground in the north and west of the Qing Dynasty.

Also, look at the territories of the Kingdom of the Netherlands scattered almost all over the world on the map. The Chinese characters indicate the Australian mainland, the East Indies, the New Guinea Island, the South Pacific Islands, the Hawaiian Islands, the Alaska Peninsula, the New Zealand Islands in the Pacific periphery, and The Marshall Islands, Caroline Islands, Mariana Islands, etc. near Luzon are all within the blue territorial mark of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Oh my God, I won’t know it until I see it. I’ll be shocked at a glance. The territory around the Tianping Ocean is almost comparable to that of the Qing Dynasty. It is also said that Africa, which is full of yellow sand, is no smaller than the Australian continent. The powerful European country also has a large area of ​​​​the Netherlands. It is also said to be the birthplace of the Netherlands.

In addition, as she read more and more newspaper news, she had a clearer understanding of the development of the Netherlands, and she became more and more afraid of the Netherlands.

Although it is not as high as the UK, it is still similar.

In addition, the Netherlands had huge trade relations with the Qing Dynasty every year, which was definitely more important to the Qing Dynasty than the UK. It is said that the Prime Minister's Office unanimously believed that the Netherlands was much more helpful to the Qing Dynasty's industrial progress than the UK. Coupled with the semi-alliance between the two countries, the Netherlands was also very unhappy with the alliance between Japan and the United Kingdom. In Cixi's view, river banks are natural allies. The Far East, one south and one north, one land and one sea, echo each other and complement each other.

Ci-Xi finally said in a very serious tone: "We should have good relations with the Netherlands and not be against each other."

After seeing this, Empress Dowager Cixi secretly made up her mind that she would never dare to take a too tough stance against the Netherlands again.

People are bound to be stronger, she knows this better than anyone after years of intrigue in the harem.