PS: Today's four watches are completed, ask for subscriptions, ask for monthly passes and recommended tickets! Thank you to the book friends rrzz, DaNaWu, Chaos Executor, and Ruixiang Home for the monthly pass!

"What? Can only be the side concubine of the Chinese crown prince? That is, to be someone else's little wife? No, absolutely not! Charlotte is my granddaughter, how can she be a little wife for someone else? I would never agree with that. Your Excellency, that's it, as if we didn't mention it. "Louis. Philip I said angrily. The princess of the Kingdom of Belgium, the granddaughter of the King of France, and the crown prince of China are married, which is already worthy of them. But the Chinese are too faceless, and they actually want Princess Charlotte to be the little wife of the Chinese crown prince, which is completely an insult to the French kingdom. If it weren't for the fact that the Kingdom of France now needed the support of the Chinese Empire, Louis. Philip I had long since turned his face. Actually, Louie. Philip I, like most European monarchs, despised the Chinese Empire in his heart, believing that it was nothing more than an upstart. It's just that the Chinese Empire is now strong in force, and France needs such an ally.

"Your Majesty, maybe there's nothing wrong with letting Princess Charlotte be the side concubine of the Chinese crown prince. Chinese could have married many wives. Besides, the Chinese are more conservative, and they will not accept a Westerner to be their crown princess, the future empress. "The Duke of Dalmatia built yì road. In his opinion, even if he can only be the side concubine of the Chinese crown prince, there is nothing wrong with this. After all, the Chinese Empire was a powerful country in the world. And the Kingdom of Belgium is just a small European country that has just been independent for more than a decade.

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, needless to say, I will not agree." Louis. Philip I stubbornly shook his head. His dignity made it impossible for him to agree to such a thing. In his opinion, this is an insult to him and to France as a whole.

"Okay, Your Majesty. Perhaps we can inform the Belgian royal couple about this and make their own choice. The current situation of the Kingdom of Belgium is not very good, and if there is a strong foreign aid, it will be very good for the Kingdom of Belgium. Said the Duke of Dalmatia. He knows. This is a good opportunity for France, if it is missed. I'm afraid it will be difficult to have such an opportunity in the future.

Louis. Philip I hesitated, then nodded eventually. intends to leave this matter to his daughter and son-in-law to decide.

Belgium was only independent in 1830, and before that, Belgium was only part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. But. The Belgians were dissatisfied with the rule of King William I of the Netherlands. Due to the different ethnic compositions of the Netherlands and Belgium. At that time, the Belgian aristocracy spoke French and was religiously different (Protestantism was already practiced in the Netherlands, while Belgium was still traditionally Catholic), so in the nineteenth century, when nationalism was rife, the Belgians could not tolerate that they were not an independent nation-state.

In terms of economic structure, Belgium is a country with developed industry and agriculture, while the Dutch economy focuses on commerce and fishing, so the Dutch economic policy is always inclined towards free trade. On the contrary, Belgium hopes to protect its industry with trade protection policies, and the differences between the two sides in terms of economic structure are increasing. Besides. The Belgians had to endure all the restrictions and unequal treatment imposed on them by the government of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, including the fact that the official language was Dutch and not Flemish (now from the linguist's point of view, Dutch and Flemish are not fundamentally different, with only minor changes in vocabulary and phonetics) and French, which was spoken by a large number of nobles. In 1819, the government stipulated that only those who knew Dutch could apply for the civil service. The top echelons of the government and military were all Dutch, and the Dutch and Belgian representatives in parliament were similarly represented, but Belgium had a population of 3.5 million compared to 2 million, and Belgian newspapers were censored. The Belgians were also to share equally of the Dutch debt (the Dutch had borrowed heavily from the British during the Napoleonic Wars to finance their military against Napoleon). The Belgians are predominantly Catholic, while the Netherlands is predominantly Protestant. Belgian Catholics fear that the Dutch government will not be able to guarantee Catholic interests and the educational system. The south of Belgium is more industrially developed, while the Dutch government's economic interests are not focused on industry. The Belgians feared that their interests could not be guaranteed.

After the outbreak of the July Revolution in France, the Belgian people were inspired by the success of the French July Revolution, and the rise in prices and unemployment became the fuse of the revolution. During the August 1830s, the Belgian Revolution broke out in Brussels, and the revolutionary army and the Dutch government army fought in the streets of Brussels, and a large number of people were inspired by a set of opera that was being staged, set against the backdrop of the Neapolitan Revolution of the 1820s, and joined the independence movement, forcing King William I of the Netherlands to agree to a parliament. The governments of the Austrian Empire, the Russian Empire, and the Kingdom of Prussia all wanted to contain Belgian independence in order to maintain the European order laid down by the Congress of Vienna in 1815. However, both Austria and Prussia were trapped by the German revolutionary movement, while Russia was too busy quelling the Polish revolution to intervene. France, on the other hand, clearly expressed its support for the revolution, because the Belgians were clearly pro-French and because of the similarities in culture, language, and religion between the two countries. In addition, the intention of the Netherlands to merge Belgium was to be anti-French, so France was happy to see it divided. Plus Louie. Philip presented himself as a liberal and sympathized with the Belgians' revolt against the Dutch autocracy. Britain also sympathized with Belgian independence, because Belgian independence would be able to strike at Britain's rival in commercial trade, the Netherlands, and Britain believed that if Belgium had openly rebelled against the Netherlands, it would give France military action under the pretext of aiding Belgium, so that Belgian independence should be recognized immediately in order to counteract French influence on Belgium.

Belgium, with the acquiescence or support of Britain and France, formed a provisional government and refused to adopt any form of co-rule with the Netherlands, declaring complete independence of Belgium on 4 October. and confirmed by the Belgian National Assembly on 18 November. In February 1831, Belgium promulgated a new constitution, the freest in Europe at the time. The Belgian Provisional Government had hoped to be led by King Louis of France. Philip's son became the new monarch, but the matter ended with British opposition, because Belgium was strategically and geopolitically defending the English Channel, and if Belgium and France were too close, it would be detrimental to British coastal defense. In 1831, Prince Leopold of Saxony-Coburg-Gotha accepted the Belgian throne, and the Netherlands invaded Belgium over the border conflict with Belgium in order to re-establish the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, defeating the Belgian army in ten days. France immediately sent troops to support, forcing the Netherlands to withdraw.

Finally, in November 1831, the Great Powers signed a treaty at the London Conference, which provided a preliminary settlement of the Belgian question. The five powers of the Austrian Empire, the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of France, the United Kingdom, and the Kingdom of Prussia recognized the independence of Belgium in the treaty and ensured its permanent neutrality, and the treaty indicated that it was a revision of the arrangements of the Congress of Vienna in 1815 for the sake of overall peace in Europe, but in fact it set a precedent in Europe, showing that it was feasible to overthrow the decision of the Congress of Vienna by means of a revolutionary movement, and encouraging the rest of Europe to break out in the years that followed. Fight for nationalism and liberalism. The intransigence of King William I of the Netherlands did not end the matter perfectly, and even in the face of diplomatic pressure from the foreign powers, he still refused to recognize the independence of Belgium, and it was not until 1839 that he made concessions on the question of Belgian independence, and reluctantly signed the Treaty of London, so that the Treaty of London did not officially enter into force until 1839.

The next day, the Chinese Emperor Long Yufei and his concubine Amami, arranged by the French government, continued their tour of Paris, where they would go to the Château de Fontainebleau, south of Paris. Chinese Foreign Minister Lin Zihao began a secret meeting with French Prime Minister Duke Dalmatia and French Foreign Minister Count Molay.

"Your Excellency the Foreign Secretary, it is regrettable that His Majesty the King has raised objections to Princess Charlotte becoming the side concubine of the Crown Prince of China." Before the start of the talks, the Duke of Dalmatia first said.

"It's really regrettable. However, His Majesty's attitude was also more resolute, and if France did not agree, then the matter could only be shelved. Lin Zihao said.

"No, Your Excellency the Foreign Secretary, there may be a chance. His Majesty promised to leave the decision on the matter to King Leopold I of Belgium and Queen Louis. Her Royal Highness Mary. If the Chinese Empire is willing to provide Belgium with some support, I am sure that His Majesty Leopold I will agree. Said the Duke of Dalmatia.

"Kingdom of Belgium?" Lin Zihao frowned. European relations are very responsible, and even after he became the Imperial Foreign Secretary, he focused on the relations between European countries, and sometimes he still couldn't figure it out.

"Wasn't the status of the Kingdom of Belgium guaranteed in the Treaty of London? Could it be that the Dutch still dared to invade Belgium? Lin Zihao asked.

"The Treaty of London certainly established the status of the Kingdom of Belgium. However, as soon as the situation in Europe changed, the Dutch would definitely invade Belgium. Said the Duke of Dalmatia.

Lin Zihao nodded, the relationship between the Chinese Empire and the Kingdom of the Netherlands was not good, but the Chinese Empire seized Indonesia from the Netherlands. And that war also made the Kingdom of the Netherlands see the gap with the Chinese Empire, and they also carried out military reforms, so that the army of the Kingdom of the Netherlands has been greatly improved. As soon as the situation in Europe changed, the Dutch would certainly invade the Kingdom of Belgium again.

"Okay, Your Excellency the Duke, I will mention this matter to His Majesty the Emperor." Lin Zihao said. (To be continued......)