Chapter 39

February 19, 1862, 8 a.m.

The Netherlands, Amsterdam, inside the Royal Palace of the Netherlands.

Accompanied by Tolbeck and Hesbet Feng, William IV was receiving a group of guests from the Russian Empire.

"Your Majesty, this is my brother and the second son of my father, Alexander Alexandrovich.

This is the foreign minister of our Russian Empire, Alexander Gorchakov."

William IV followed the two with a smile on his face, and although he felt disgusting, it required a habit of kissing his face.

"It's an honor for me and the Royal Palace of the Netherlands to be invited from all the way here. I just don't know. How many of you are still used to living here?"

William IV greeted.

Crown Prince Nicholas narrowed his eyes slightly, and pointedly said: "It's a habit, it's the wind direction in the Netherlands. It's blowing in such a messy direction that we're a little confused, and we can't find a place to guide the wind direction."

"Oh?" William IV pretended not to understand: "Some parts of the Netherlands are indeed lower than sea level, so the sea breeze is more likely to follow the waves and hedge against the small mountains next to it, but the wind direction is unstable. Who is the Netherlands? The environment is like this, there is no way, so it is hard for a few people to follow us for a few days when the wind direction is unknown."

Hearing this, Crown Prince Nicholas smiled slightly, as if he didn't understand.

Prince Alexander, on the other hand, was a little more impatient, but he chose to endure it, but who was William IV, he didn't let this little detail go, and his heart moved.

Gorchakov suddenly said: "It stands to reason that the European royal family held such a big event in Amsterdam, which also involves His Majesty's marriage. The former king, the current Grand Duke of Luxembourg, should come back to preside over it. Yup"

William IV was taken aback for a moment, and he looked at him with a deep meaning.

A trace of dissatisfaction flashed in Crown Prince Nikolai's eyes, but he did not directly stand up to refute the other party.

And Prince Alexander couldn't help showing a little excitement.

Gorchakov didn't care. He has worked in the embassies of Western European countries for more than 20 years. In these countries, he has seen many kings and princes of various countries, so he is not very cold about this William IV.

Of course, this is also related to his career advancement in the past ten years, and it is also related to the recent alliance between the Netherlands and Prussia and France.

In particular, he has many amazing and beautiful diplomatic skills. From the first contest between Prussia and Austria for the leadership of the German Confederation in 1850, he met Bismarck for the first time at that time. Seeing the ability of the other party, he was worried that Prussia would sit down because of it. He became even more dissatisfied, and chose to support Austrian Prime Minister Felix Schwarzenberg, suppressing Prussia and accepting the shame of Olmitz, and by the way he became the most hated person in the Kingdom of Prussia.

During the 1853 Tsarist Russia-Ottoman-Turkish Crimean War, as Tsarist Russia's ambassador to the Austrian Empire, he foresaw that the British Empire and France would join the war, so he advised Nicholas I in advance not to make unnecessary sacrifices, but the former did not. Dump him, just don't accept it.

Three years after the Crimean War, Nicholas I died in anger in 1855. In the same year, Alexander II succeeded to the throne. In 1856, Nicherro resigned as foreign minister.

In June of the same year, he became the new foreign minister of Tsarist Russia, opening his foreign minister era.

He immediately took it seriously, and confirmed that as a Tsarist Empire, its status in Europe and the world was recognized by Europe, and at the same time, he strived to establish friendly relations with France and the Kingdom of Prussia.

Although Tsarist Russia and France have always aroused dissatisfaction in France many times because of Poland's reasons, and failed to maintain friendly relations between Tsarist Russia and France, they have effectively conducted diplomacy with other European countries, and obtained Prussia's publicity on Tsarist Russia's actions in Poland. Approved.

For him now, Prussia's attitude is very dangerous, because his relationship with Prussia is definitely not something that can be easily resolved.

So it brought disaster to the Netherlands.

Due to the intelligence in his hands, William IV knew a little about this person.

At the same time, he also understands where his hostility comes from.

Gorchakov, who considered himself underappreciated when he was young, had many years of disappointment in his early years at the Pevchesky Bridge Building, a building dedicated to the Tsarist Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

So the reason he finally confirmed was that there were too many officials of Prussian blood in the foreign ministry of the Tsarist Russia, so many of them were squeezed out of the positions of the natives, to the point where it was difficult for them to be promoted.

Among them, the queen of Nicholas I was the daughter of the former King of Prussia, Frederick William III, the sister of Frederick William IV of Prussia at that time and the sister of the current King William I of Prussia.

With this relationship, many Prussian diplomats were hired to the Tsarist Russian Empire, and they formed gangs with each other to control the Pevchesky Bridge Building, the symbol of the Russian Empire's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Now that he knew the reason, William IV calmly said, "My father is doing a big thing in Luxembourg. As for what it is, I will tell you about it later."

After finishing speaking, William IV said to Crown Prince Nicholas: "I believe that the presence of several of you here has proved the status of the Netherlands in the heart of the Tsarist Russian Empire. You and I have been friends from generation to generation, which can be regarded as the most successful model of partnership in Europe. , for hundreds of years, supporting each other, the Crown Prince should not deny this, right?"

Crown Prince Nikolai nodded and said, "Yes, the Netherlands is indeed an ally of Tsarist Russia in Western Europe. This is what our King Alexander II told me before he came."

After he finished speaking, he looked straight at Gorchakov firmly, and the fact was warning him not to be presumptuous.

"Speaking of which, I should call Nikolai and Alexander cousins!"

When the three of them heard the words, they were stunned for a moment.

"Why, have you forgotten who my grandmother is?" William IV teased.

Seeing the two of them looking over, Gorchakov, who was startled at the beginning, also reacted in an instant, so he glanced at William IV and Tolbek next to him with great meaning, and respectfully replied to the two princes The question said:

"I forgot that the old queen of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is Her Royal Highness Princess Anna Pavlovna! She is the sixth child of His Majesty Paul I, the sister of your uncle Alexander I and your grandfather Nicholas I. sister"

Immediately, I thought of the many historical origins between the Netherlands and Russia. For this, even Prince Alexander and Foreign Minister Gorchakov dare not deny it, because this is the national policy of the Russian Empire for hundreds of years, and no one has changed it. Pass.

"My grandmother was very excited when she heard that you were coming to Amsterdam. She wanted to see you a long time ago. Wait, please invite the two of you to visit her old man with me."

The two of Nicholas did not dare to hesitate, and nodded in response.

Just kidding, this is their father's aunt, do they dare not go?

Seeing this, William IV said with a smile on his face: "The exchanges between Tsarist Russia and the Netherlands can be traced back more than 300 years ago. At that time, Dutch merchants appeared in the Russian city of Arkhangelsk and became foreigners who came to Tsarist Russia. First person.

As a result, the Dutch purchased grain there to open up the business relationship between Tsarist Russia and the Netherlands, improving the original development mode of Tsarist Russia, and accelerating its entry into Europe. The Netherlands became the guide during the rise of Tsarist Russia...

After the 16th century, with the rise of the Ottoman Empire, the traditional trade routes between the East and the West were cut off. The Dutch began to try to find a trade route from the land where the Russian Empire was located to the Far East. Although it was not successful in the end, it also promoted the two countries. socialize.

The economies of the two places are getting closer and closer.

After the 17th century, the trade goods between Tsarist Russia and the Netherlands were rich and colorful. All kinds of grain blankets from Tsarist Russia were sent to other countries in Europe continuously through the hands of Dutch merchants.

In 1601, the Netherlands sent its first special envoy, Aisama Massa, to recognize the existence of Tsarist Russia for the first time to the world.

In 1613, the founding emperor of the Romanov dynasty, Mikhail Fyodorovich, presented the letter of credentials to the Prince of Orange, proclaiming the throne as the king of Tsarist Russia, and asking the Netherlands for assistance in the conflict between Tsarist Russia and Poland. ,

The Netherlands, which attached great importance to Tsarist Russia, in 1615 when they attacked Tsarist Russia in Poland and Redian, the Netherlands made diplomatic arrangements for Tsarist Russia, and eventually led to the reconciliation between Tsarist Russia and Sweden, and the Dutch were more respected in Tsarist Russia.

In 1676, John von Keller stayed in Moscow after being grounded by the Tsarist King Fyodor III, becoming the de facto first Dutch representative in Tsarist Russia and the third Dutch diplomatic representative in another country. This heralds the arrival of an era of great development in the relations between the two countries.

In 1696, Tsar Peter began to visit the Netherlands and learned the advanced economic development model of the Netherlands.

The Netherlands complied.

In order to win over Tsarist Russia, the Netherlands also taught the young elites of Tsarist Russia the knowledge and skills of navigation, guns and shipbuilding.

In 1699, Tsarist Russia set up a permanent diplomatic mission in The Hague, the Netherlands, which is the headquarters of the Russian ambassadors in Europe.

After that, Tsarist Russia wanted to integrate into Europe, so the Netherlands became the best choice, because the Netherlands was the most familiar Western European country to Tsarist Russia, and became a guide for Tsarist Russia to enter Western Europe.

In the War of Succession in Austria, England and the Netherlands became allies and fought against France and Prussia, but Russia indirectly provided military support to England through the Netherlands.

Later, during the period of Catherine I, trade with the Netherlands also surged, and even finally formed a neutral alliance with the Netherlands, Denmark, and Sweden.

In 1795, France invaded the Netherlands. Tsarist Russia formed an alliance with Britain and Austria to fight against France. Tsarist Russia even sent Cossack soldiers to help the Netherlands. However, because the Netherlands was too close to France, it was unable to save it and became a vassal of the latter.

In 1814, Alexander I finally defeated Napoleon I and visited Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and was cheered by the locals.

It was his firm support for the resumption of the Netherlands in the Vienna negotiations, and the Netherlands established the Kingdom of the New Netherlands.

In 1815, Alexander I even proposed to betroth his sister Anna Pavlovna to the King William of the Netherlands, that is, my grandfather, the future King William II of the Netherlands.

The Russian Empire and the Netherlands achieved a dynastic marriage, which also became a symbol of the alliance between the two countries. The queen of William II gave birth to four sons and a daughter. The eldest son was William IV's father, William III.

In this way, Paul I was the father of Anna Pavlovna, grandmother of William IV, Alexander I was the eldest brother of his grandmother Anna Pavlovna, and grandmother Anna Pavlovna's younger brother Ni. Gula I took over the throne because Alexander I had no heirs.

Alexander II was a cousin of the same generation as his father William III, while William IV was a descendant of his great-grandfather and the two Russian princes in front of him?

Several people thought so, and the whole scene was not as cold as before.

In the Napoleonic Wars in the early 19th century, the victory over Napoleon I raised the international status of the Tsarist Russian Empire to an unprecedented level, and finally rose to the ranks of the top European powers. The status was reversed, and the Netherlands began to rely on the strength of Tsarist Russia to endorse it in Western Europe.

Belgium's #life happened in 1830. Inspired by the British Empire, Belgium resisted the decision to be forcibly incorporated into the Netherlands at the Congress of Vienna, and strived for Belgian independence. In the end, it was not until the Netherlands agreed in 1839 that Tsarist Russia nodded. , and other countries, including the British Empire, France, publicly confirmed Belgium as a state.

In 1851, in the demarcation dispute between France and the Netherlands in Guyana, South America, Tsarist Russia also came forward to help the Netherlands to mediate, but France did not act excessively.

In short, from the beginning of the 19th century to the first few years, another major feature of the relationship between Tsarist Russia and the Netherlands was that as the ambitions of the Netherlands faded, the relationship between the Netherlands and Tsarist Russia turned to the economic field.

In 1846, a treaty of commerce and navigation between Russia and the Netherlands was signed. The treaty established the principle of most-favored-nation treatment in the commercial relations between the two countries. At that time, the Netherlands was still the country of Russia after Prussia and the British Empire. third partner.

The Russian Empire also stored some national gold in the Netherlands, worth more than 80 million guilders.

William IV said affectionately: "For the Netherlands, looking back on the relationship between Tsarist Russia and the Netherlands for more than 300 years, only seeing each other in love but not killing each other is really rare for a superpower like the Tsarist Russia Empire. For the Netherlands, too The most sincere partner.

Maybe everyone has the interests of others. For example, the Netherlands is the bridge of the Tsarist Russia Empire in Western Europe, connecting Tsarist Russia with Western Europe, and bringing Tsarist Russia closer to the world of Xigou.

For the Netherlands, Tsarist Russia is a tough market that no other country cares about, but the Dutch have not abandoned it for more than 300 years. The Dutch played a decisive role in the development of Tsarist Russia, and accompanied the establishment and rise of Tsarist Russia along the way. , developed the most steadfast traditional friendship.

To sum it up in one sentence, the two countries are the one who "just had you" at the right time for each other, which is why I am the first to meet you today.

I just hope that the Dutch-Russian friendship will continue to circulate for thousands of years and will not be cut off in our hands."

Crown Prince Nikolai and Gorchaskov looked at each other and said to themselves, "The king in front of me doesn't seem to let them continue to act.

"The natural friendship between the Netherlands and the Tsarist Russian Empire has lasted for a long time." After receiving Gorchaskov's approval, Crown Prince Nikolai said, "I don't know, Your Majesty, how are you going to promote the two countries to continue to move forward?"

William IV only said three words, but they were both surprised and delighted, and they all lost their way, because the three words of William IV were...