Start 1861: I just inherited the Dutch throne

Chapter 803 The Dutch Crown Prince
"Anyone who knows a little bit about Japan will know the important position of the Netherlands in Japanese history. The Netherlands is the most important source of early introduction of Western culture to Japan, which played a considerable role in the development of Japan. role"

William IV and his eldest son Albert arrived in Sydney for this visit. In addition to attending a lecture at the School of Finance and Economics of the University of Sydney, they also took the 15-year-old Albert to visit the development of various industries in Sydney.

Textile industry, metallurgical industry, heavy industry, machine tools, as well as the booming electric lights, radios, tape recorders, etc., these household appliances have expanded production in Sydney. The entire Sydney has become the largest manufacturing base in the Netherlands and the world's largest manufacturing base. The largest industrial industry, if Sydney can be said to be the second largest electronics manufacturing site in the world, then no other place can claim to be first.Not even London, New York, or Berlin.

The two people's visit to Sydney can be said to be the Dutch royal family's support for the Dutch Far East Group.It can also be regarded as a clear attitude towards supporting the advanced industries of the Netherlands.

After the two had finished breakfast, Prince Albert began to ask about his views on the Japanese Foreign Minister Taitao Polyton's visit to the Netherlands.

William IV gave the above answer.

He asked Albert: "Have you ever understood the origin of our relationship between the Netherlands and Japan?"

Unexpectedly, Prince Albert did his homework slowly.

I saw Prince Albert saying: "The Dutch windmills and sea of ​​tulips in Japan are used to commemorate the arrival of the first Dutch merchant ship DE Lifde in Japan in 1600.

The special relationship between the Netherlands and Japan actually lies in the particularity of the Netherlands itself: The Netherlands was known as the Sea Coachman at that time, and its overseas trade was very developed, which also greatly enhanced the national strength of the Netherlands. Because of this, The Netherlands is a country where mercantilism is very prevalent.In the impression of foreign countries, we in the Netherlands only want to make profits through trade when dealing with foreign countries.”

"And what is the direct reason for Japan's seclusion? It is Catholicism. Due to the intervention of Western forces in the early days, many Catholics appeared in the southwestern region of Japan. The chaos in Japan during the Warring States Period had no time to deal with, but once it was unified - First, the feudal shogunate will naturally regard religions that threaten the authority of the shogunate and increase the centrifugal force in the southwestern region as evil, so shortly after the establishment of the Edo shogunate, the 'religion ban' was promulgated, which enacted a large-scale Attack Christians, but although we Dutch are from Western countries, we have no interest in spreading religion and only want to do business. Moreover, the Dutch are excited about Protestantism, which is highly secular. With early connections, The Netherlands adopted a variety of means to actively and effectively improve relations with the shogunate, and obtained the shogunate's openness. In 1637, the Catholics in southwestern Japan were unable to launch a large-scale uprising, and the famous "Island-hara-chaos"

Prince Albert said eloquently: “We the Dutch immediately seized the opportunity to dispatch the navy and helped the shogunate army bombard the jealous Catholics for 14 days. These measures made the Netherlands gain great favor from the shogunate. As a result, the shogunate finally let down its guard against its old friends in the Netherlands. Then good results came: the Spaniards and Portuguese, who were Catholic countries, were not cold to it, but they did not reject the Dutch. And the Dutch also repeatedly Guaranteed that they only wanted to trade with Japan and had no missionary intentions, so with the permission of the shogunate, the Dutch became the only Western trading partners between the Western world and Japan from the 17th century to the end of the 18th century."

William IV smiled and said: "Yes, the Netherlands has gained a lot from trade, but Japan has gained a lot."

Prince Albert nodded and said: "As a result, in the exchanges with the Netherlands, Japan learned a lot about our Netherlands. In the early days, Japan turned Western culture and science into Lanxue. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Netherlands It can be said that it was one of the economically wealthy and technologically advanced countries in Europe at that time. The Japanese purchased and translated many science-related books from the Netherlands, obtained Western rare and handicraft products, and published thousands of orchid-related journals. spread among Japanese.

Although Japan is sequestered, it is different from the Qing Dynasty. Although Japan is sequestered for the purpose of maintaining feudal rule, it is not arrogant in terms of culture. Japan still attaches great importance to absorbing culture from far away."

William IV sighed: "Yes, this is a country that is accustomed to stealing lessons. Since the Tang Dynasty in the Far East, Japan has begun to steal the advanced technologies of neighboring countries. After hundreds of years, they have learned almost everything." , began to turn waste into treasure again, turning the West's forced opening of the country into an opportunity to absorb advanced foreign culture and technology. It can be said that they are seizing the opportunity." Crown Prince Albert is about to turn 16 years old, so he is like The young master said in an old tone: "In 1720, the shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune relaxed the restrictions on the introduction of foreign books, allowed the introduction of foreign books, and translated them into Japanese."

"In 1878, Morishima Nakayoshi published "Red Haired Miscellaneous Stories", which recorded a lot of knowledge from the Netherlands, including some new things, such as microscopes, balloons, etc., discussed Western hospitals and some disease knowledge, and listed paintings and copperplate printing Techniques for making generators and large ships, as well as recent geographical knowledge, etc."

"In 1798, the eighth generation Nagasaki Dutch translator Tadao Shizuki translated the Latin version of the physics classic "Lixiang Shinshu" in 1798 after completing the first systematic analysis of Dutch grammar. Here is a detailed introduction. Ah, Newtonian mechanics caused a sensation in Japan."

"Japan's first electricity science work was written by Hashimoto Sokichi in 1811. The book recorded a lot of electricity knowledge, such as the placement of power generation units, the conductivity of the human body, and Franklin's experiments on lightning in 1750."

From 1804 to 1829, the shogunate and Terakoya opened schools across Japan to further spread new Western knowledge, and Dutch envoys and scientists were allowed easier access to Japanese communities.

The Japanese-Japanese Sakura City has held the Sakura Tulip Festival every year since then, with merchants surrounding a sea of ​​beautiful and colorful tulips surrounding a real Dutch windmill. This windmill commemorates the more than 1600 years of history between Japan and the Netherlands starting in 200. Built for friendship. "

Prince Albert finally exclaimed: "These enlightened measures show that although Japan is closed to the country, it is not completely out of touch with Western scientific and technological progress in the 18th century and the first half of the 19th century. It also makes Japan 1854 After the shogunate was overthrown, although the Netherlands was suppressed by Japan's new political form headed by the Emperor, Emperor Xiao Ming (1846-1867), Emperor Meiji and his son (1867-) Although he was wary of the Netherlands and even turned to the United Kingdom, he did not dare to completely attack the Dutch in the country.

Father, the cultural spread of the Netherlands allowed Japan to establish a preliminary scientific foundation. This is also the main reason why Japan may develop and progress rapidly in the future after the Meiji Restoration. They have tasted the sweetness.

Therefore, the current strength and technological strength of our Netherlands is the reason why Japan has to bow its head this time."

William IV looked at his eldest son with a smile, lamenting that 15 years had passed in the blink of an eye, and the child had grown so old. He had some concerns in his heart, and then said: "Since you know Japan so well, then when the time comes, Japanese diplomats and envoys will come over. It’s up to you to receive him on my behalf.”

Crown Prince Albert asked hesitantly: "Isn't that a little rude?"

"What do you mean?" William IV: "It's good to be modest, but it's not good to be too humble. You are the Crown Prince of the Netherlands, and there is nothing rude about receiving him as an envoy of the Emperor. My child, sometimes, I think you are the Netherlands. When the pride of the crown prince is revealed, you will realize that many things can be handled in different ways and the results will be different because of different stances."

(End of this chapter)