Netherlands, Port of Amsterdam.
The bugles were blaring, the drums were rumbling, and the weather was gloomy. Amidst the rhythmic drumbeats, neatly organized German mercenaries were silently boarding the ship, carrying brand-new flintlock guns and packed luggage. The citizens of Amsterdam looked at the scene of the army boarding the ship from a distance, and they all looked panicked, and some people were talking loudly there.
"My God, how come the Prince of Orange's troops are on board? Where are they going?"
"Where else to go? To England, of course!"
"What? Going to England? Are you trying to abscond with money?"
"No, he is not absconding. He is clearly running away openly. Not only is he running away, but he is also going to fight for the British throne. Use our money!"
"Our money. Oh my gosh, I bought a lot of war bonds! Can I still get my money back?"
"Sir, don't be stupid, your 'money' is on board the ship to go to England, just those German guys carrying flintlock guns!"
"Oh, my God! How could the Prince of Orange do this? He used our money to hire German soldiers to fight against Britain. If Louis XIV comes back to fight again, what should we do?"
"Liar, he is a liar! Mr. de Wit is right, the Orange family is not trustworthy at all."
"Liar William, pay back the money! Liar William, pay back the money!"
The Dutch on the Amsterdam port dock finally realized that they had been deceived by William III. They loaned 200 million Dutch guilders to William III, expecting him to use the money to hire an army, build battleships, and then use them to defeat France. and the Ming Dynasty to maintain Dutch maritime hegemony and trade monopoly. As a result, William III took Dutch money to do his own things, and took the hired German mercenaries to seize the British throne!
This is not absconding with money, what is this?
"No! This is not absconding with money. Let me say it again, I did not escape!"
On board the Orange, a third-class battleship of the Dutch Navy that had just been commissioned, William III, the governor of the United Provincial Republic of the Netherlands, faced a group of Amsterdam business oligarchs and plausibly defended his actions.
"But...you are boarding the ship and preparing to sail to England, and everyone has seen it!"
An Amsterdam banker who bought millions of guilders in bonds out of patriotism and love of interest blamed William Dao.
"But I did not resign as consul of the United Provinces of the Netherlands!" William III said, "I will never resign. I went to England just to consolidate this maritime power, second only to the Netherlands, with the alliance of common kings. The method is completely bound to the Federal Republic of the Netherlands!"
This is so shameless!
All the Amsterdam profiteers present were speechless. They are profiteers who have met a "treacherous king". No, he is not a king yet! What kind of alliance? Even if he becomes the king of England, he cannot share the throne with the United Provinces of the Netherlands. Where can a republic have a king?
Another patriotic businessman from Amsterdam and a member of the Dutch Provincial Parliament who also had a belly full of public debt said through gritted teeth: "Consul, aren't you worried that the Grand Council will remove you?"
"I'm not worried," William III shrugged, "because the Grand Council will not do such stupid things. Unless the members of the Grand Council think they don't need my 60,000 German mercenaries, and they naively think that I will put the already The military funds withdrawn but not spent are returned!”
ah!
So shameless?
The profiteer MPs in Amsterdam suddenly found that they had no way to deal with this despicable military oligarch because the Army of the Federal Republic of the Netherlands had always pointed at the mercenaries hired by the Orange family, a military oligarch, from Germany to fight foreign wars. . Without the mercenaries hired and trained by the Orange family, and relying solely on the city militia, the French could have invaded Amsterdam without any difficulty!
Moreover, after William III's government received 200 million guilders in military expenditures, it began to act quickly, building warships, hiring German soldiers, and purchasing horses and guns. By the beginning of 1682, the German mercenaries under the command of William III The number of soldiers has reached 60,000. These 60,000 German mercenaries eat the bread of the "Au" family, wear the clothes of the "Au" family, and receive the money of the "Au" family, and they are all German fellows of the Orange family!
Therefore, these 60,000 German mercenaries only listened to William III, and the Grand Council of the United Provinces of the Netherlands could not command them at all!
If William III wanted, he could even use this army to get himself a Dutch crown!
"But now the people have lost their trust in you, and they are no longer willing to lend you money!" A member of the Netherlands Grand Council was ready to threaten William III with the debt issue.
"Lend it to me?" William III said with a smile, "My Lord, I don't owe anyone money. The debt of 200 million Dutch guilders is the national debt of the Federal Republic of the Netherlands. It is the national debt of the entire Federal Republic of the Netherlands. The debts of citizens are not my debts, nor the debts of the Orange family. Let me emphasize again, we are not France, my country! I am the consul of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, not the King of the Netherlands! The Federal Republic of the Netherlands does not belong to me, and I am not a republic!
Therefore, all citizens of the Federal Republic of the Netherlands need to repay 200 million Dutch guilders and interest! "
It’s over!
A group of Dutch profiteers were heartbroken. They were also well-informed profiteers. They had seen many cases of absconding with money and defaulting on repayments, but they had never seen anyone transfer the debt directly to the creditor.
This means that the debtor has somehow become the debtor. They have to repay the debt they have lent themselves, while the person who spends the money has no responsibility. What's worse is that Ned, the responsible spender The governor of the United Provincial Republic of the Netherlands has no intention of choosing between the United Kingdom and the United Provincial Republic of the Netherlands. He wants both!
"Then, if Louis XIV's army attacks during your attack on Britain, how can we protect ourselves?" Finally, a Dutch profiteer finally recognized the reality a little bit.
"Probably not," William III laughed. "According to reliable information, Louis XIV has made a choice between the United Provinces of the Netherlands and Italy. Just three days ago, he personally led an army of 60,000 people. Under the pretext of defending the Pope and the Holy See, we marched towards Rome! It seems that the War of Papal Succession has begun. Regardless of whose property Italy ends up becoming, the United Provincial Republic of the Netherlands is safe for the time being."
After careful consideration, Louis XIV chose Rome.
After all, Britain is a country with an overwhelming majority of Protestants. If France rashly lands in Britain, it is likely to arouse the anger of British Protestants. By then, it will not be possible for an army of tens of thousands of people to handle it.
In addition, the combined maritime power of Britain and the Netherlands is still far stronger than France!
In contrast, Italy is much friendly to France. The Duchy of Savoy is already a vassal of France, and the nobles and people of the Papal State will definitely be angry at Juan Jose's deposing the Pope and become close to France. It is also possible that the Republic of Venice would side with France in exchange for France's intervention in the conflict between Venice and Turkey.
The Principality of Milan, the Kingdom of Naples, and the Kingdom of Sicily are quite good trophies - the monarchs of these three Italian states are all concurrently served by the King of Spain.
If Louis XIV could quickly defeat the Spanish army in Italy and help the Catholic Church, he could definitely bring Milan, Naples, and Sicily under his command!
At present, the relationship between the Ottoman Empire and the Holy Roman Empire is very tense. It should be difficult for the Habsburg Dynasty of the Holy Roman Empire to interfere in the war in Italy, as long as Louis XIV can ensure that the interests of the Holy Roman Empire in Italy are not violated.
Moreover, since the war between the Ottoman Empire and the HRE is about to break out, it is entirely possible that Louis' Italian strategy will eat a big piece of fat, such as taking over the Principality of Milan and supporting the orthodoxy of the church, and then respond to the call of the Pope and the HRE Emperor to come Just accept it as soon as you see fit.
By then Milan will belong to Louis, the Papal State will be protected by Louis, Savoy and Venice will both be Louis' younger brothers, and Louis will basically be the master of Italy!
"But once Louis takes control of Italy or northern Italy, his next target may be the United Provincial Republic of the Netherlands!"
"Yes, Louis will not allow England and the Netherlands to form a strong co-monarchy alliance!"
"Consul, please think of a solution!"
William III was still confident and said with a smile: "You don't have to worry. We can dig up the sea wall, turn the most essential parts of the Republic into islands, and use sea water to protect the safety there. As for other places, they must either become Zeguo or be brave. The militiamen will be supported by German mercenaries and rely on the bastion to fight to the last man!"
Fighting to the last man, these are really inspiring words!
Seeing the pale faces of a group of Dutch profiteers, William III finally expressed his ultimate goal: "Don't worry. The Netherlands that needs to fight to the last man may not include you! Because you can become British! And dig the dam. Compared with the islands of Amsterdam and The Hague, which are very close to the European continent, the British Isles is a really good place where we can sit back and relax.
You are not worried about the fierce religious conflicts in the UK. As long as I become the King of England, the British Protestants will be able to completely suppress the Catholics! By then, the UK will remain stable for a long time and will gradually form a relaxed business environment, becoming an ideal business haven. If you follow me, you will definitely continue to make a fortune on British soil! "
William III turns out to be quite interesting! Those who were abandoned by him were only ordinary people in the Federal Republic of the Netherlands. Not only were the big capitalists in the Netherlands not abandoned, they also had the opportunity to get a better platform than before.
After all, with the size of the Netherlands' terrain, it is only a matter of time before France breaks through. Unless the Netherlands can completely crush France before it grows further!
But this is obviously impossible!
Because France has a population of more than 20 million, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom only have 10 million, and Spain has less than 17 million. As for the Holy Roman Empire, it has a population of 16 to 17 million, but the HRE has to face another country with 20 million. It was simply impossible for the Ottoman-Turkish Empire, with a population of more than 10,000 people, to go all out to fight against France.
So you can imagine what the future of the Netherlands will be like, and if the Netherlands is not doing well, the UK will definitely be doing well!
After all, European capital always needs a safe haven. In the early years, this safe haven was in Italy, Venice and Genoa, the two "big sea countries". Later, seeing their decline, capital was gradually transferred to the Netherlands. At first, Brussels and Amsterdam were twin cities, but later Spanish mercenaries were robbed of their military pay (by the British Pirate Queen) and robbed Brussels. As a result, Brussels is weakened and Amsterdam becomes dominant.
But now the Netherlands can no longer do it, and the next one that can do it seems to be the United Kingdom.
Seeing that the faces of the people below were looking good, William III continued to give everyone a lesson: "Gentlemen, after Louis XIV got 200 million livres of military expenditure in vain, no one can defeat France on the European continent. This was impossible until the 200 million were spent. With this money, Louis could organize 300,000 or even 400,000 French troops, and they would still be well-paid and well-armed French troops! However, at sea, the advantage still lies with Britain and the Netherlands. Side! Our two countries have more than 250 battleships of level 4 and above. If Spain is included, the number is more than 300. And Louis only has 100 such warships at most. Our advantage is very obvious.
Therefore, the way to defeat Louis is to withstand and sacrifice the Netherlands on the mainland to consume France's power. At sea, the navies of Britain, the Netherlands and Spain were used to fight against the maritime forces of France and Ming Dynasty! As long as the naval battle can be won, France will sooner or later exhaust their limited financial resources. When Louis runs out of money, we will win! Louis was defeated, how could the Ming Dynasty, which was located in eastern Asia, fight against the entire world? "
The method proposed by William III is the best way for a sea power empire to defeat land powers, and it may also be the only way - maritime blockade plus land consumption!
Because sea power countries control the sea, they can continuously plunder or purchase resources and products from overseas, and have a strong ability to sustain wars. Although the army of a land power is strong, once it is blocked by a sea power, its economy will be slowly strangled, and it will gradually be unable to maintain a strong army. It will be a matter of time before it collapses or is defeated.
So this advantage is still in the Netherlands, no, it is on the British side!
When Louis XIV marched into Rome, William III marched into London, Fozansky left Kharkov, and Mohammed IV of the Ottoman Empire prepared to attack Vienna, on the other side of the earth, the calendar of the new Ming Dynasty had already turned to the ninth day of the Republic. It's March of this year.
It has now been more than a year since the "Spice Islands Robbery Incident". During this period of more than a year, the ocean in the East has been relatively calm. The Dutch East India Company, which suffered a huge loss, did not immediately choose revenge - They have more important things to do than seeking revenge against the Ming Dynasty, such as regaining control of the Spice Islands that were in chaos, suppressing another uprising on Java Island caused by the Spice Islands Time, or trying to Every effort was made to raise money to make up for the company's huge financial deficit. Under such circumstances, the East India Company was not only unable to go to war with the Ming Dynasty, it was even unable to interrupt trade and blockade the Ming Dynasty.
Without the Spice Island, trade with China and Japan has become the most important source of income for the East India Company! If all these are gone, then the East India Company's more than 10,000 employees cannot be paid, so why bother?
However, the Dutch did not slow down their war preparations, because they had clearly felt the threat of the Ming Dynasty to their rule in the Nanyang Islands, and they also learned from Europe that the Ming-French Alliance was planning to open up the "Ming-Pacific-Pacific" "North American Continent-Atlantic-France Trade Line". Once this trade line was opened, the good days of the Dutch East India Company would come to an end.
So the Dutch East India Company could only bite the bullet and prepare for war!
The Dutch's way of preparing for war was to support Japan's Tokugawa Shogunate and make it the Dutch agent in East Asia!
The specific method was to help the Tokugawa shogunate train new troops and export to them shipbuilding and flintlock manufacturing technology.
The Kingdom of Spain, another "great power" that has strongly intervened in East Asian affairs, is much more radical than the Dutch. Starting from the end of 1681, the Spanish Armada began to conduct "deterrence voyages" along the southeastern coast of the Ming Dynasty. At the same time, the Spanish also announced that The Pacific routes are blocked. Any ships crossing the Pacific without permission will be sunk immediately once discovered!
At the same time, on the other side of the Pacific, the Governor-General of New Spain also began to prepare for a real war against the "Republican City-State of Acre"!
(End of chapter)
