v3 Chapter 258： Actually, we also have steam battleships

On July 1, 1866, William IV was interviewed by James, the editor-in-chief of the "Echo". Only those who bought the newspaper were attracted by the man on the front page dressed in the dress of the Dutch royal family.

Many people recognized the young face - King Willem IV of the Netherlands.

They couldn't wait to see the conversation of William IV Black James in the paper's "Focus-Spot-People-Thing".

James: "Does it feel stressful in life as the king of the Netherlands?"

William IV: "When I first took over the throne in December 1861, it was really stressful, but because my life was focused on a regular schedule, I was sleeping and eating, and it was almost the same."

James: "Since Your Majesty talked about your daily routine, what is your greatest hobby in life, Your Majesty? This is what many Dutch people want to know and are curious about the most."

William IV: "Swimming, the mainland of Europe, the Netherlands, is close to the Atlantic Ocean, and more than half of them belong to the lowlands below sea level. The Netherlands is a country full of crisis, so I am like everyone in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, including ordinary people. It is necessary to learn to swim, because everyone consciously understands that before they happen, the dams in the lowlands will collapse at any time and the sea water will flood back. Therefore, everyone subconsciously works hard to learn these skills in order to give themselves a chance to survive.

Because all of us in the Netherlands have intimate contact with the sea, the practice of sea survival skills has created the rise of the title of coachman in the Netherlands since the 16th century, not without reason.

So I started swimming training when I was 3 years old, and I still have this hobby to this day.”

James: "Wow, more than 20 years as a day, it takes a lot of perseverance to do it. Your Majesty, it can be interpreted from this that you will be very devoted to doing things, and it will last forever, then, for the Netherlands in the distant The development of the Far East in the Far East, many people seem to be quite critical of your continuous investment of Dutch resources there, I wonder what you think of this?"

William IV: "Many things may come to fruition in a short period of time, but in the country's long-term planning, this is difficult to achieve. In my plan with the Dutch Privy Council, the Dutch development plan in the Far East is a long-term plan, and It is a plan that lasts for five years, ten years, or even twenty years for more than one generation. Many plans will not be accomplished overnight, and it will take time for her to show its power.

Just like the population immigration in the Netherlands, everyone resisted it in the past, but after a few years, more than 2 million people from the mainland immigrated there before last year, and this year it has even exceeded one million.”

James: "Since His Majesty mentioned this immigration issue, many people at that time were not optimistic about these immigration policies, and many people doubted how the Netherlands did it, but His Majesty surprised the world. How did His Majesty solve the problem of insufficient shipping vessels? ?"

William IV: "To accomplish this result in a short period of time, at that time, many people were indeed not optimistic, and even thought the Netherlands was whimsical.

You must know that at that time, in addition to the need to use ships to sell industrial products to overseas markets, the Netherlands also needed to bring raw materials back to the mainland. At this time, ships had to be built in a large area to complete the immigration policy of one million people per year.

To be honest, many government officials at the time did not believe it could be done, but everyone forgot about the credibility of the Dutch Privy Council.

Since we dare to issue such a decree, we have already put the issue of affecting our credibility on the table for consideration. "

James: "So you've already figured out how to complete the plan?"

William IV: "Naturally, I and the entire Privy Council, including Prime Minister Tolbeck, perfected the whole plan, so everyone can see that the Netherlands has accomplished what it is today"

James: "Your Majesty, can you explain in more detail how the plan will be implemented subordinate?"

William IV: "Of course, it is very simple to say. At that time, the annual delivery rate of Dutch immigration ships was around 200,000 while maintaining normal trade, which is too far from us.

How to do? It's impossible not to deliver resources and industrial products, right? In that case it would be devastating for the Dutch economy, what are we advocating for immigration? To make life better for the Dutch.

There is no point for us to do that if immigration is detrimental to the quality of life of our nation.

So, we took this as the center point and held meetings for more than a week. What impressed me the most was that the Minister of the Interior, Jonrell, almost squinted his eyes. Everyone was exhausted, and in the end, everyone agreed to a more radical policy.”

James: "What policy? I think everyone must be very interested, after all, the work of the Privy Council for a week."

William IV: "Since there are not enough ships, and resources have to be used to maintain industrial development and the maintenance of national life, then now the nationals immigrate to the Far East, there are workers, and there are places, so why can't some needs be transported from the Far East back to Europe The factories in the Netherlands have migrated to the Far East, and Suriname is also good. If you follow this line of thinking, everyone will open up all of a sudden.”

James: "It's really enlightening. It's really a feeling of repentance from a soul blow. In this way, the ship is drawn from nearby materials, and as His Majesty said, the radical strategy suddenly makes the immigrants more motivated. It has been mobilized. I want to immigrate to the Far East. With the relocation of the factory, there will be more cooperation and willingness to combine.”

William IV: "Not bad The living environment in the Far East is actually not as good as that in the Netherlands at the beginning, but the prospect there is an opportunity for many Dutch people at the bottom of the society to turn around. We have always emphasized that the Netherlands is a place of miracles, and our policy in the Far East is to provide such opportunities for these people.

Of course, the local upper-class Dutch can also make great achievements in the Far East. After all, the market there is also vast, and the vast territory there is more than 100 times that of the Netherlands. Such a 100-fold opportunity is a mathematics that even elementary school students can plan. question. "

James: "But some Dutch people think that immigrating in the past will cut off ties with Europe, and will not be able to keep up with the pace of other European countries in the innovation of industrial technology. Is this true?"

William IV: "I don't think this is a problem. First of all, it is undeniable that Britain and France are absolutely dominant in the world's industrial positions, but when it comes to leading, it is not too much. The great development of the navy has steadily entered the circle of the recently advanced countries in all walks of life. For example, the most advanced navy in the UK, the current shipbuilding in the Netherlands will never be compared with the difference.”

James: "Britain and France have steamships"