1902, New Year's Day.
The first floor of the Luxembourg Palace was filled with joy. The nobles of the Principality of Luxembourg gathered together and took advantage of the first day of the new year to socialize with each other.
Different from the cheerful atmosphere on the first floor, the second floor was much deserted, with only about twenty people.
On this floor, except for some servants, there are Tangning, Helen, Marie Adelaide and Charlotte and other Luxembourg princesses.
Downing is now the fiancé of Marie Adelaide, who was confirmed on Christmas Day by Grand Guillaume IV of Luxembourg and Francesco, Duke of Braganza.
Since then, Tangning has stepped up the training process of Marie Adelaide and Charlotte, and the relationship between the two sisters has become strange since Christmas Day.
But who is Tangning? These two little brats are not just playing around with applause.
"Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and leader of the Liberal Party.
On New Year's Day, a promise was made to the British people.
The Prime Minister announced that the Boer War would end this year and the British Empire would be victorious.
Those European countries that secretly helped the Boers and peeked at the power of the empire will truly see the strength of the British Empire..."
Tangning was lying on the big sofa, eating the strawberries that Mary and Charlotte brought into her mouth, and listening to Helen's crisp and tender voice reading the British Prime Minister's New Year's Declaration from the "Beihai Daily". She was so happy!
"Tch! Let the peeping European countries see the true strength of the British Empire. What do you think?"
After hearing the British Prime Minister boasting, Tangning asked Sister Mary to stop feeding her and couldn't help but sit up and complain.
“The fighting started on October 11, 1899, and the Boer militia took the initiative to attack the British troops in southern Africa, and the fighting continues until now.
After fighting for almost three years, the Boers, who had a population of only a few hundred thousand, lost to the British more than 20,000 people, and they are still fighting now.
The British are now resorting to all possible means in order to win. They have used inhumane policies such as the Three Lights, fortresses, and concentration camps. They have spent four to five billion pounds and are still bragging about it.
In addition to letting people see that the British Empire is rich in wealth, which is indeed scary, but it only scares small countries, is there any other place? "
It's not surprising that Tang Ning has this idea. In fact, most countries in Europe have this idea.
After fighting the Boer War for three years, Britain was humiliated in front of European countries. Many European countries and some people made war fortunes, and Downing's family was one of them.
The war started and ended in a disgraceful way. Apart from the touching wealth consumed by the British Empire, there was no threat at all.
The second Boer War in history took place from October 11, 1899 to May 31, 1902.
It was a war between Britain and the Transvaal Republic and the Orange Free State established by the Afrikaners (Boers), descendants of Dutch immigrants, to compete for the territory and resources of South Africa.
The British government rejected an ultimatum issued by Paul Kruger, President of the Transvaal Republic, requiring British troops to withdraw from the Transvaal border.
In the autumn of 1899, British troops began to gather at the border between the Transvaal and Orange. In order to prevent British invasion, the Boers declared war on the British on October 11, 1899. The Boer militia launched an active attack on the British troops in southern Africa.
In order to conquer the Boers, who had a population of only a few hundred thousand, the war lasted for more than three years. The British invested more than 400,000 people and killed more than 22,000 people in total.
In the end, under the huge losses caused by the war and the pressure of international public opinion, Britain signed a peace treaty with the Boers, and the war ended.
Britain spent 500 million pounds on this war, which far exceeded the amount of gold mined in South Africa at the time. Even in the end, it did not really control South Africa.
In the next few years, the British, unable to control the situation, made concessions to the Boers and promoted the formation of the South African Union.
During this period, nothing major happened in Europe. The Balkan countries and Ottoman Turkey had not yet started fighting. The first Moroccan crisis did not occur, nor did the Italian-Turkish war.
The situation in Europe as a whole is tending to be balanced, and what Europeans are most concerned about is the Boer War. Many Europeans hope that the troublemaker Britain can stay in this pit for a longer time.
Hearing Tangning's complaints, Marie Adelaide asked curiously: "Master, why has the UK not ended the war after spending 400 million pounds?
There are so few Boers, but they only have a little more than us Luxembourgers, 400 million pounds, but if converted into our Luxembourg coins, it would be enough to kill someone. "
“It’s simple, Marie Adelaide.
War is not only a matter between people, but also a confrontation between the two parties involved in the war. It also has the influence of outside forces.
What's more, Britain is strong and does not worry about losing the war. Corruption in logistics is serious, and hundreds of millions of pounds in it are at least generally embezzled.
The Boers are united for the survival of the country, and there are also blood transfusions from some external forces, hoping that the war will continue. "
Tang Ning's explanation was very simple, but Marie Adelaide was still young, so naturally she still couldn't understand it.
"Master, what you are saying is so profound that I can't understand it."
If you don't understand, it doesn't matter. Anyway, this country will be basically dominated by Tang Ning from now on. It's just a country as big as it is, and it's not an important position. He just needs to stay stable and not make waves.
"Marie Adelaide doesn't understand. It doesn't matter. You will understand later. Your almighty master understands everything."
Marie Adelaide was now being trained by Guillaume IV as a preparatory monarch, and he had already had a premonition that his last child would most likely be a daughter.
For the sake of the royal family and Luxembourg, Guillaume IV stopped learning languages and began to teach monarchs after Marie Adelaide learned French and English.
In fact, Guillaume IV did not teach her much. In addition to letting her understand and pay attention to the trends of the Luxembourg people and the activities among the parliamentarians, the rest only included skills to win over the people.
In the fourth life, Marie Adelaide was not taught much about political relations between countries. He just asked her to follow Tangning and didn't know how to ask her fiancé.
Tangning doesn't know how, ask him again.
But this was insignificant. When it came to political understanding, the fourth generation sometimes felt that Tang Ning was better than him.
Although the Republicans in Luxembourg are weak, they still have some strength. They like to jump up and down, and especially like to stare at the king.
These people were so bold that they proposed that if the country had no male heir, the monarchy should be changed into a republic.
Guillaume IV was a very good monarch and an enlightened monarch. Most people were very satisfied with him.
Luxembourg is a neutral country, and the country is too small. It is not as important and powerful as Belgium, and Germany and France pay little attention to it.
In the entire Principality of Luxembourg, those who could make Guillaume IV uncomfortable and make him vomit blood were the radical republicans.
Once, Guillaume IV read a newspaper and found that a radical republican cursed his last child as a girl, hoping that the ducal family would be destroyed and the country would be liberated.
After seeing this article, Guillaume IV was furious and helpless. Tangning passed by and saw it, asked about the situation, and solved the problem very easily.
Moreover, the solution is not to attack this person or only solve this problem, but to attack widely and lastingly, to control the right to speak, and to treat both the symptoms and the root cause!
Tang Ning taught Guillaume IV step by step how to control the voice of the country, how to eliminate dissent and stabilize the country's rule.
Of course, what Tang Ning teaches is not blatant media control that can be seen at a glance.
This is too offensive. Tangning won't teach it. If she wants to teach it, she should teach it to an advanced person.
Downing's policy banned defamation, spreading rumors, prohibiting criminals from publishing articles, and prohibiting false reporting on the politics of Luxembourg and other countries, causing diplomatic and war turmoil.
The reasons on the surface are fair and aboveboard!
News reports must be true. Any false reports will bear legal responsibility and equal compensation.
This bill was proposed by several members of Parliament and passed quickly.
The reason why it passes so quickly is simple.
Because it can't see the problem, you refuted this proposal. There must be something wrong with your character and your intentions.
The person who refutes it often writes false content in newspapers.
Do you deliberately slander others, mislead the people, or even more evil, do you want to disrupt the country and trigger a war?
As the smallest country in Europe, Luxembourg's biggest requirement is to survive stably. As a weak neutral country, what do you people want to do?
A group of insects that endanger the country! We must be careful not to let them confuse the public with their lies.
This set is very advanced.
No matter which political party in Europe, they all like to slander, brag, spread rumors, and also like to discuss the politics of great powers.
In Europe, where the monarchy is powerful, Republicans often do this for the sake of influence, and often comment emotionally on the politics of France, Germany, and Belgium, as well as their relationship with Luxembourg.
Now that the bill has been put forward very well, you often spread rumors, slander and make random comments about France, Germany and Belgium. What do you want to do? What if you invite several countries to attack Luxembourg?
Tang Ning's trick will directly block the mouths of some people. If they do this in the future, they will be put in jail, lose their political status, and be fined until death.
After the proposal was passed, the Luxembourg Media Law was released in less than a week, and the effect is remarkable.
The Republican Party no longer dares to speak nonsense and has less and less say.
After that, Tang Ning continued her efforts, letting the Grand Duke secretly control and establish many newspapers, and established the highly credible United News Agency to control national public opinion.
