Chereads / Dutch 1861: The Dutch Throne / Chapter 16 - Chapter 16

Chapter 16 - Chapter 16

Therefore, although the British Empire has not yet responded, no one will think that it will always be like this. In fact, the British Empire is now discussing how to deal with this matter.

And because of the weakness of the Belgian government, its Sea Belgians suddenly felt that their faces were dull, and when others looked at them, their faces were contemptuous, especially the British Empire. Although no intentional offensive actions occurred, but This is the beginning of their dissatisfaction.

And Leopold I, who was so busy and dizzy, was even more dissatisfied with the Prime Minister of Alban. In the face of the citizens' doubts about his impartiality, not only the Dutch speakers in the country, but also the French people on the other side of the accident were also dissatisfied. They were very dissatisfied with the way they handled it. As an old fox, he naturally didn't have the responsibility to take the blame, so he secretly made a decision, and he wanted to use this decision to free himself and appease the anger of the Dutch.

...

"When I first came to Brussels in 1850, the Capitol was one of the most unsafe places in the city. On the wall of the police station on Capitol Hill, there was a dirty old map with many tables on it.' ×' mark, that's all the street corners, sidewalks, and alleys where murders have occurred.

before. A person's life is so in jeopardy at the Reichstag, so there is a roadside restaurant near the carriage station that offers a special buffet for the local police, no matter what we eat, it is only in Dutch guilders.

The restaurant was called the Wonderful Restaurant, and his management liked to let the police in uniform be seen eating at the table at the gate, so they wouldn't have to worry about the frequent robberies.

But it is a pity that it was razed to the ground five years ago and became the church of yesterday. This former Capitol provides a cheap parking place. Senior students and newcomers to Congress can afford it if they want to have a romantic night. The place for the pockets no longer exists, it has become a star point of the old coordinates.

But then I gradually realized that the Wonderful Hotel is not just a geographical and historical location marker, it is also a historical marker, and a story that happened here one winter more than 20 years ago can be the first lesson of any political education.

In 1840, when Belgium just established a kingdom and chose Brussels as its capital, the Wonderful Hotel became a hotel for people to eat and live. It houses several Belgian senators, and at least one Supreme Court justice, and of course some tenants who don't remember their illustrious identities.

In the two basements below the entrance hall, there is this long row of rooms. Those bedrooms have only one common bathroom. Every night, this cold and damp underground world will be full of life, because there are lingering eyes glowing, High-spirited young people dream that they are a group of lucky young people who work in the Belgian state = parliament building.

Among the group of underground tenants was a 29-year-old young man, burly and clumsy, with a pair of huge ears that were as long as those of an elephant.

He has just become secretary to the Senate President, Sterman, who was only a municipal worker in West Flanders two weeks ago.

After his first night at the Wonderful Hotel, he began to behave strangely.

Those actions were very strange. He took a total of four baths that night. Four times he walked down the hall with a bath towel to the public office, and four times he turned on the faucet and applied soap.

And in the early morning of the next day, he got up early again and ran to brush his teeth five times, with only 5 minutes in between each time.

This young man from West Flanders did so for his own purposes.

The hotel also has 60 senatorial secretaries like him, and 150 congressional secretaries. He wants to get to know them as quickly as possible. The more he knows, the better.

He succeeded, and within five months of being in Brussels, the newcomer was the speaker of the 'Little Congress,' a team of representatives and all Senate aides who Some of them are seen by many people, including his old boss, Senate President Sterman.

This is the first "show" of this guy named Joseph Beit in Brussels. He shows his basic political skills. He also proves to others that climbing up means making friends, and the two are de facto one time. thing.

Joseph Beit has a very good way of making friends. He likes to work with people one-on-one. He claims to be a retail political businessman. Whether others understand it or not, he has indeed become the most popular senator in Belgium. It seems that there are only two people who can compare to him, and that is Jules Danetang, the most adaptable man in Limburg.

"Bate, we have to be careful about Dannetang, this person is very adaptable. If you carefully observe the way he has progressed over the years, it is not difficult to find that he has superb game skills. Over the past few years, he has When he fell, he was able to stand up quickly, especially in the 1858 city council election, when he was the city councillor of Mosaic City, Limburg Province, he published that terrible and procrastinating article at the election meeting. After a lengthy speech, after seeing people's dissatisfaction, he quickly resolved the unfavorable situation in the local newspaper with his laughing acting skills. He showed people the image of a big man who transcended his predicament.

He was always able to come back when many people thought he would fail. In 1860, Jules Danetang proved that he was such a character. He used the role rotation strategy to the fullest. He dubbed himself the child of the comeback, thus turning defeat into victory in one fell swoop, and the shame of losing to the opponent at first. , won the Senate of Limburg, and won a big victory, accounting for 75% of the support at the time. It can be described as a sensation throughout Belgium. The most disparate group of senatorial opponents ever won..."

Joseph, Bait kept tapping his right **** on the table, and his voice was clear. Opposite him was his close friend and campaign adviser, Hayters, who had been partners for many years.

Heites finally said: "In this Prime Minister's election, Danetang now positions himself as a third-party force, not biased towards those in the Dutch-speaking area, nor towards those in the French-speaking area, conservative and free, and he is directly propaganda. The middle way, originally this was a good choice, but now under our operation, such a thing happens in the Dutch-speaking area, which is not very easy for Dannetang."

Speaking of this, Hayters felt a little better. At the same time, he praised Joseph Beiter for doing a good job this time. He even directly gave the other party's original campaign decision as a bottom-up salary draw. Unbiased, how can you be unbiased now, as a Dutch, how do you think your comrades are being bullied and don't see it? This will naturally arouse the dissatisfaction of the Dutch, and the votes will not be considered.

And if he was born to help the Dutch, and he used his own campaign platform, he would be beating himself up like a fart. Therefore, he was a bit sarcastic as he was watching a play, waiting for Danetang to make a fool of himself.

Bait seemed to see what he was thinking, and sighed: "Let's not be complacent yet, you also said that this person has always liked to turn a defeat into a victory, and now the situation is still unclear, you don't think it's too much to celebrate proudly at this time. Is it early?"

When Hatters heard this, he immediately felt reasonable, but he still felt that this time Danetang was going to have a fight.

There are many people who have the same idea as him. For example, the current Prime Minister of Belgium, Orbon, he attaches great importance to his two opponents in the Netherlands. After all, as long as he defeats them, he will be able to unify the votes of the Dutch-speaking area against the French-speaking area. The launch candidates over there.

However, he doesn't know why recently, he always feels uneasy, but where the unease is, he can't find the reason.

...

"Your Majesty, now the two chess pieces we secretly arranged in Belgium have sprouted, and everything is moving towards our plan, but the British Empire is still motionless, will Palmerston see through us? A trick?"

Tolbeck said worriedly.

It has been a few days, but the British still have no response. The situation in Belgium seems to have nothing to do with them. This makes the original plan of drawing the British Empire in and causing disgust among the Belgian people somewhat inconsistent.

So he wondered if the British saw something and were not willing to take the bait.

William IV also frowned, but he didn't believe that the other party would continue like this, "The British Empire has always been 'nosy', I don't know why, but we have to wait patiently. covert deployment"

He looked at Tolbeck and said, "They should think it's not big enough."

"What does your majesty mean?" Tolbeck asked uncertainly.

"Then make things bigger," William IV said very seriously, but cruelly.

After Tolbek reconfirmed, "I understand"

It's really a wave of upheaval, and Belgium is really unlucky.

In the south, just after the French-speaking area had just attacked the Dutch-speaking area's campaign staff, on January 24, 1862, there was another attack, but this time the target of the attack was the British Empire stationed in the capital of Hainaut, Mont. At the consulate in Sri Lanka, the consul general died on the spot, more than 10 other staff were killed and 20 were seriously injured.

As soon as it broke out at this time, Belgium immediately became the focus of Europe. Unlike before, it was only a battle between Belgium and France, but this time it was a battle with the British Empire. The direct attack on the official garrison of the British Empire in Belgium is a very serious diplomatic accident.

No one would think it was a separate accident, which was an obvious attack.

Just as people and other countries were paying attention, an organization that claimed to "give back my rights in France" announced that they had admitted this incident because they were dissatisfied with the deprivation of France by the British Empire.

"We are proud French, we are very dissatisfied that the British Empire has taken our rights in the Suez Canal, we are dissatisfied that the British are domineering in the English Channel and occupy our French waters, we are even more dissatisfied that their warships are in the Mediterranean Sea, originally It is our turf, the flamboyant wandering of our ponds, and in short, we use this attack to remind the British Empire that we are serious and stop messing with our noble and powerful French Empire."

Wow!

As soon as this declaration came out, the world suddenly changed color.

Even Napoleon III's face turned black, and Prime Minister Olivier was almost unsteady.

At the same time, he hurriedly denied that the French government was involved and distanced himself from this organization.

But no one thought it would clear things up for them.

The political centers of Berlin, the British Empire, Vienna, and St. Petersburg are more like watching a play. Seeing Napoleon III in a hurry, their hearts are full of understanding, and at the same time they are looking forward to it. London, at this time, Should have stood up.

Yes, in London, there is a lot of talk now, the people are starting to take to the streets to resist this attack by the French, and the Viscount Palmerston is holding an emergency cabinet meeting.