Why did the Dutch achieve such great success in sailing?

Are they smarter than people from other countries? Is it stronger? Not necessarily.

The biggest reason is that the land in the Netherlands is barren and disasters are frequent, and there is no way to live without struggle.

For example, Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands, actually means Amsterdam dam. Most of the city's elevation is below sea level, and it is impossible to find the north when it is windy and rainy.

It is in such an environment that the Dutch people have endless fun fighting with the sky, the earth, and people, relying on their incomparably tenacious will to win a considerable share of shipping from the hands of Britain, Spain, France and other powers, and at present, it has even completely surpassed the great powers and become the largest maritime power at present.

However, what they didn't expect was that Queen Elizabeth of Britain turned out to be a master who could only share hardships and could not enjoy them!

At first, the two countries were united when they were in a weak position and joined forces to fight Spain, but after defeating Spain, Britain feared that the Netherlands would rise too quickly, which in turn restrained its former ally.

This move made the Netherlands very uncomfortable, after all, its development time is still short, and there are still many deficiencies in maritime aspects, especially in combat technology, and it is simply unable to independently compete with the unrestrained Spain, not to mention that Britain is still eyeing it in the name of an ally behind its back.

When I met William in the converted palace of the Doge's Palace, the young king had just finished his military council and was burning the stall of his eyebrows.

"Qilan! You've come just in time! I'm worried about what is going on at sea. William let me into his dwelling, took me by the arm, and said, "The development of our East India Company has also been quite restricted, you must have heard Youxi already say it, but do you have any good solution?" ”

Seeing that he was so anxious, I couldn't help but have a serious expression: "What? Now the situation has reached this point? Where is our battle fleet? What are you doing? ”

William's face couldn't help but be quite embarrassed, looked at me and pursed his lips and said: "We fought several battles with the Spaniards in the New World before, but in the end they all ended in failure, and the losses of the fleet were also quite serious. ”

At this time, the maid of the palace came in and brought us a cup of black tea, and William picked up the teacup and raised it slightly to me: "The Yunnan red imported from the southeast coast of the Ming Dynasty tastes quite good, don't you taste it first?" ”

I picked up my teacup and looked at William's face and couldn't help but laugh. The poor little king had been at peace since the beginning of his reign, and still is so, and cannot but be sympathized.

"It tastes good, but are you in the mood to drink this?" I asked with a smile.

"What can you do if you don't have an appetite? Life has to go on. William's face was sad, and what he said was really sad for the listeners and weeping for the hearers.

"What are your plans?" I stopped joking with him, so I asked bluntly, "Head-to-head?" Or is it a roundabout? ”

William frowned and took a sip of black tea, as if he was not drinking black tea, but a cup of poison: "Confrontation head-on? How to fight it? It is a fact that our fleet was no match for Spain. ”

As he spoke, his eyes suddenly became extremely sharp, and he stared at me straight and said, "By the way, I heard that you recently helped Henry build a navy in France, and the results are quite remarkable!" How about you help me too? Qilan, we're good friends, aren't we? ”

When I saw him throw the pot at me, I couldn't help but shake my head and smile bitterly: "What? You want to rely on me too? I'm not an immortal, how can I do everything? You're too strong! ”

When William heard me say this, he couldn't help frowning, and after thinking about it seriously, he continued to ask, "Which link can't do it?" We in the Netherlands are far richer than France, and it stands to reason that it should be more difficult than France! ”

William actually makes sense, but I still have my own concerns. So I gently turned the teacup in my hand with my fingers, thought for a moment before I spoke: "If you want to develop the navy, that is, you want to fight Britain to the end." Are you sure you're ready for this? I mean, always ready to fight Britain to the end! ”

William was silent.

He really hasn't thought about this problem yet, it stands to reason that Britain and the Netherlands are each other's lips and teeth, as the so-called lips and teeth depend on each other, and the lips are cold, but today's British people are no longer reasonable, and they want to develop themselves with one mind, completely ignoring the interests of their former close allies.

But can you really break with Britain completely?

Today's two countries have been deeply tied together from both the trade perspective and the strategic level, the British are unreasonable, the British are confused, do they have to follow them with a clear head, waiting for the end of the game?

William shook his head vigorously, this was definitely not the answer he wanted.

But what else can you do?

Looking into my eyes, William frowned rather tangledly. I know that he is quite helpless in his heart, but if he wants to wear a crown, he must bear its weight, this is what he must bear as a king, right?

Some decisions have to be made by himself.

So I continued to be silent, and so was William. The maids came in and changed the hot water three times, and the black tea was faint, and then he suddenly came to his senses and asked, "If I do this, how do you think Britain will respond?" ”

It seems that he still hasn't made up his mind, and he is still trying to convince himself as much as possible.

"I don't know!" I smiled softly: "I can only say that the result is unpredictable." After all, Elizabeth is a woman, and you can never guess what a woman thinks, right? ”

William put down the teacup, walked to the window, and suddenly turned to me and asked, "Actually, if you want me to say, you still don't want to tell me the truth, Qilan." ”

I couldn't help pursing my lips and laughing: "How do you say this?" How can I tell the truth? ”

William looked at me and smiled, "If you really want to help me, there must be a way to help me through this." Or rather, since you can come to me, there must be something we can work with, and the reason why you are still reluctant to do so is probably because we haven't sighed at the point you expected. Is that right? ”

I couldn't help but laugh out loud when I heard him, so much so that I leaned back and slapped the table and couldn't get up!

William just looked at me and smiled, and did not hurry to interrupt me, as if he had infinite patience, and I naturally could not laugh endlessly, and after laughing for a moment, he stopped and continued to look at the Dutch king in front of him.

"Any idea what I'm most worried about?" I asked, with a deep playfulness in my face.

"What?" William seemed to realize that this was the crux of the matter, and frowned vigorously: "You just say it, I'm listening." ”

"Determination! Will! I said categorically, "What worries me the most is your determination and will!" ”

William couldn't help but be a little annoyed, he slammed the table hard, lowered his voice and shouted at me, "What? Are you denigrating my qualities? I swore to my father's spirit in heaven that I would make the Netherlands rise, and that our country would surpass Britain, Spain, Italy, and all other countries in the world to become the number one maritime power! You! My friend, he doesn't believe in my will and determination! ”

My anger could be said to be rushing in my face, but I still looked at him with an unchanged face, and when he calmed down, I chuckled and said, "Elizabeth decided from the beginning to fight a war with Spain for the rise of England. It may be ten years, maybe twenty years, maybe a hundred years, but she has the determination. But what about you? My friend, do you have this determination? ”

William was speechless. He stared at me with wide eyes, trying to argue, but couldn't say a word.

Yes, do you have the determination? William asked himself.

If it is said that when my father was alive before, when the Netherlands had just started to start a business, people were poor and white, and they did have considerable energy to work hard and struggle.

But now? Everything was gone, and the pockets were bulging, but the will to fight of the Dutch people, including themselves, was weakened.

It can be seen from every meeting that in the previous meeting, one person took the lead, and everyone decided to fight together, but what about the meeting now?

William couldn't help but think of the meeting just now, when someone proposed to defend their rights and interests by force, everyone was silent at first, and when one person raised a question, immediately many people began to raise one or another question to refute the person who made the suggestion.

William naturally hoped that his country would rise, but seeing that his people had lost their fighting spirit, he could not do anything about it, but he did not realize the crux of the problem.

It wasn't until I didn't shy away from asking this question that William began to think formally, seriously, and unreservedly about the biggest bottleneck in reality.

Yes, do you really have the determination to fight Spain and Britain?

Do you really have the will to fight for victory at all costs?

If that day comes, will all the previous efforts be in vain? Will the hard-built route be forced to shut down again? Is a lot of cost to be consumed in the cost of naval warfare? And all kinds of questions, such and such questions, he couldn't help but ask himself again - do I really have that determination?

Seeing that William was still pondering, I was not in a hurry to force him, stood up and saluted him, and then turned and left.

There are some things that must be figured out by the person concerned. What others say and what others say is always an illusory event that is far away from oneself, and can never appear in the process of development as a real basis.

Leaving the palace, I got on my horse, and when I looked back, the huge windmill was still spinning. The winter wilderness is bleak, just like the reality in front of us, full of slaughter that does not advance or retreat.

With a whip, I went straight to the dock without looking back.

As for how long William will think, I will leave him alone and let him think!