The Netherlands is a country with deep roots in both Britain and France.

In the past, since the "sea coachman" became a second-rate country in Europe through four Anglo-Dutch wars, almost all the governments and kings of the Netherlands were supported by Britain and France.

At present, the national leader of the Netherlands is Queen Wilhelmina, who comes from the William royal family supported by the British, and is a Dutch version of Kangxi, who succeeded to the throne at the age of ten and was in power at the age of eighteen.

Fortunately, there was no bloodshed.

The Netherlands "maintained strict neutrality" in the world war, but when the world war progressed to the end of 1917, the "strict neutrality" of the Dutch finally could not hold on.

Germany is the Netherlands' largest trading partner among European countries. The Dutch and Germans accounted for one-third of the total foreign trade of the Netherlands.

The world war entered the third year, the national economy and people's livelihood in the Netherlands has been struggling, this country heavily dependent on maritime trade, because the existence of NOT almost interrupted all foreign trade, the import and export of industrial raw materials almost completely stopped, and because of the Netherlands in order to prevent a possible German invasion of the general mobilization, the Netherlands has a shortage of skilled workers, and even a shortage of farmers, the disadvantages of relying heavily on maritime transport almost immediately exploded.

NOT, is an Overseas Agreement signed between the Netherlands and the Entente. With this agreement, the Netherlands became the only non-belligerent country that could freely transport food, copper, and oil.

But the transport of these raw materials from the Americas to the Netherlands did not work, because the NOT also banned all trade between the Netherlands and the Central European powers, and the Dutch had the raw materials in their hands, but they could not turn them into food for the people.

By the second half of 1917, there was a ****** in the Netherlands, and even the radical Social Democratic Labour Party launched a violent revolution to emulate Russia, which lasted only one day but was a wake-up call to the Dutch royal family.

In order to cope with the increasingly difficult situation, the Dutch voluntarily reneged on NOT and secretly exported copper ore to Germany through Sweden, while acquiescing in the rampant trade activities of German smuggling ships in the Netherlands to make a profit.

This must not be hidden from the British, you know, even the Dutch royal family was supported by the British, and the British infiltration of the Netherlands can be imagined.

In October, a British fleet broke into Dutch waters and captured six German smuggling ships near Rotterdam, and the Dutch government was completely passive.

At the same time, the Germans were also very dissatisfied with the Dutch because of the NOT signed between the Dutch and the Entente, so when the Germans began unrestricted submarine warfare, the Dutch merchant ships were also included in the strike list.

By October, the Dutch had lost 230,000 tons of ships, which accounted for a quarter of the total cargo capacity of the Netherlands.

When the British captured German smuggling ships in Dutch waters in October, the British announced the requisition of all Dutch merchant ships anchored in overseas ports under British control.

This is really worse!

To add insult to injury, the Dutch East Indies, the Dutch East Indies, the only overseas colony, and the Dutch had the greatest guarantee of a leisurely life, were also in trouble.

At the end of October, a-for-tat clash between Catholicism and Borneo's native religion culminated in a bloody clash in which more than 100 indigenous Surabaya natives were killed and more than 300 wounded, raising renewed doubts in the international community about the Dutch East Indies' ability to govern the Dutch East Indies.

In the course of this conflict, the French company "Umbrella" played a key role, and dozens of soldiers of the "Umbrella" company used machine guns to strafe the indigenous people of Surabaya, and were the "main culprits" for the tragedy.

Of course, these are just the words used by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a letter of protest to the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The French don't think so about it.

In its reply to the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized the private nature of the "umbrella" company, as well as the nature of its employment, which was not an initiative of the "umbrella" company, but was a last resort to protect the interests of the employer.

This statement was confirmed by Pope Benedict XV of Rome, who urged the Dutch government to guarantee the safety of the Catholic Church and its staff in the Dutch East Indies.

Belch...... Benedict XV was deliberately disgusting the Dutch, everyone knows that the Netherlands is a Protestant country, the Reformation was born in the Netherlands in the first place, and if the Dutch protect the spread of Catholicism, it will be the biggest joke of the century.

But the French didn't think it was funny, and the French issued a random statement urging the Netherlands to protect the security of the French in the Dutch East Indies.

This......

The French in the Dutch East Indies were the fierce security guards of the "Umbrella" company, not only Chinese, but also French.

Serious French, blonde kind.

If the Dutch would protect the "umbrella" company, which is already known as the "troublemaker", then the ridiculousness of this is on a par with the Dutch protection of Catholicism.

Because of the involvement of the "Umbrella" company, the British, who did not have a good relationship with the Dutch during this time, did not speak out, for the simple reason that the lawsuit between the British and the "Umbrella" company had not yet been completed, because the Mediterranean escort ......

Everything is a benefit!

The Americans also issued a statement demanding that the Netherlands open the Dutch East Indies to give equal opportunities to all countries in the world, and at the same time give more choices to the people in the Dutch East Indies.

This is Borneo's version of the Open Door Policy.

The Netherlands, at the center of the storm maelstrom, was already dumbfounded, and if she could, Queen Wilhelmina would give the world a middle finger.

I bought a watch last year!

The Dutch finally felt the malice of the whole world.

Although there were many difficulties, the Dutch would definitely not give up the Dutch East Indies, so after a circle, the Dutch finally remembered Qin Zhiyuan, the most popular Chinese general in the world at present.

No, he still has a layer of identity, and he is also a French general......

In addition, he is also the commander-in-chief of the French Foreign Legion, the military and political governor of the New Baku Special Administrative Region, the honorary islander of Corsica, and so on. He also has a whole bunch of nicknames, such as: Angel, Ares, Kapi Guardian......

It is said that the Holy See also had the intention of reorganizing the Knights Templar, so as a recipient of the Grand Knight of the Order of the Holy See......

With so many aura blessings, Van Heils, the special representative of the Queen of the Netherlands, was particularly apprehensive when he saw Qin Zhiyuan.

Qin Zhiyuan met Van Helsima at Sidi Belle Abbas.

In fact, after the "Surabaya" incident, the Dutch have been contacting Qin Zhiyuan and want to communicate with Qin Zhiyuan about the "umbrella" company.

Qin Zhiyuan is not as idle as the Dutch, his daily schedule is very full now, and he does not have time at any time, so it was not until the beginning of November that Van Hale Sima had the opportunity to meet Qin Zhiyuan.

"Hello, Your Excellency, Commander!" Because he was stationed in the Foreign Legion, Van Hale Sima used the military title of the Foreign Legion to call Qin Zhiyuan.

"Mr. Van Halesima, welcome to Sidi Belle Abbas." As the commander of the Foreign Legion, Qin Zhiyuan is qualified to represent Sidi Bel Abbas.

Perhaps because of the urgency of time, Van Hailsima only got half an hour, so without much politeness, Van Halesima introduced the topic.

"Withdraw the Umbrella Staff of Borneo? How is this possible, we have a contract, I can't be a spurned and ungrateful person. Qin Zhiyuan had a righteous face.

Van Heil, who wanted to spit on Qin Zhiyuan's face now, was not discouraged and continued to lobby: "Regarding the contracts between the umbrella and those local East India companies and churches, Her Majesty can set up a company to transfer those contracts. Rest assured, Her Majesty the Queen will give you a price that you are happy with. ”

Although Qin Zhiyuan had become a French citizen, Van Halesima still avoided using words such as "Chinese" to try not to provoke Qin Zhiyuan.

"To be honest, I don't think your country can protect the interests of the Chinese in Borneo, the vast majority of the local companies you mentioned are set up by my compatriots, and before that, although they paid enough taxes, they did not get the rights they deserved." Qin Zhiyuan did not hide it, and bluntly expressed his dissatisfaction.

Van Hailsima noticed that Qin Zhiyuan had always used "Borneo" as a pronoun for the Dutch East Indies, which was not a good phenomenon, and Van Halesa was a little wary.

"Let him pass the past, you should know that when you achieve so much in Europe, the East India government will definitely adjust its policy towards the local Chinese, and some of the policies that are directed will be revised, and in the process of revision, I can assure you that there will definitely be Chinese participation." Van Hale wrote a check, but it was not stamped.

Van Halesima said it is indeed very good, because of the emergence of Qin Zhiyuan, the status of the Chinese has risen, and the Dutch government will consider revising the discriminatory policy against the Chinese in Borneo, and invite the Chinese to participate in the discussion in the process.

There is a lot of room for use in this "discussion".

But Albania has "haggis", and among the Chinese in Borneo, there must be some people who are willing to cooperate with the Dutch government, and there are many such people.

After all, the Dutch are currently implementing the "Kapitan" system among the Chinese in Borneo, and the essence of this system is to "use China to control China", and it is not difficult for the Dutch government to find some pro-Dutch Chinese, and if the Chinese who participate in the discussion of policies are all "Kapitan", then the tendency of these policies can be imagined.

"Mr. Van Halesima, I would like to ask you a question, in Borneo, is there ever less than one guilder that the Chinese are required to pay to the Dutch government?" Seeing Van Helsima shaking his head in embarrassment, Qin Zhiyuan continued to ask: "In that case, why does the Borneo government criticize the Chinese?" Is it just because they are more capable than those indigenous people of Borneo? ”

Although Van Hale Sima denied it, in fact, what Qin Zhiyuan said was the truth.

It is precisely because the Chinese are too capable that the Dutch authorities will be vigilant, and once these Chinese with strong economic strength are allowed to have political rights or armed forces, it will be even more difficult for the Netherlands to keep Borneo.

Of course, these words must be unspeakable, although in fact they are true, but if they are announced to the public, it really seems that the Dutch government is too incompetent.

"Mr. Van Halesima, I have a proposal, regarding the conflict between the Chinese and the natives of Borneo, I hope that the Borneo government will remain neutral, anyway, no matter who wins in the end, there will be no less tax due." Qin Zhiyuan smiled and groaned.

Neutrality?

This is really Qin Zhiyuan's sarcasm of the Dutch.

(To be continued.) )