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Chapter 1245 Prince Orange 2
Are there any exceptions? There must be! For example, Cromwell publicly executed Charles I, setting a precedent in Europe. There were also the Paris Commune and the Russian Revolution, which also killed the entire French and Russian royal families.

These exceptions also have one thing in common: they are all so-called revolutionaries. In a sense, these people are more brutal, bloodier, and more lawless than the nobles. After them, political struggles became more bloody and cruel, and manners and morality became less and less.

"No wonder they keep fighting each other... Your Majesty, if this prince really wants to help the Spaniards, is there no other way but to break off relations?"

Wang Chengen had never seen what the European courts were like, nor what the harems before the Ming Dynasty were like, and he didn't care much. Now his only thought was to make the Dutch retreat and stop being enemies with the Ming Dynasty.

This way, the emperor wouldn't have to think about how to cheat or harm people all day, and he wouldn't have to lead his troops to fight everywhere. To be honest, he really didn't want to participate in the imperial expedition. He didn't feel the prestige, but there were a lot of dangers.

Especially when fighting with muskets and artillery, there is no way to completely control the danger. You never know when a bullet will fly over from somewhere and kill you in an instant.

"It's not like we'll fall out right away. It's actually easiest for merchants to reach an agreement, and Ming has the upper hand. Most of the goods we produce are needed by Europeans, but European products are dispensable to Ming.

As for Spain, it is hopeless. This is not only understood by me, but also by the French, the English, and the Dutch. As long as everyone can find common interests and share them equally, who cares about a once powerful country that has passed its prime and is half dead?
If the benefits are big enough, they can even take advantage of the opportunity to carve up Spain's share. The most troublesome thing now is the attitude of the Holy Roman Empire and the Church. The conflict between these two parties and the Ming Dynasty is not about economic interests, but about faith. It is said that faith is priceless. How can I measure the gains and losses of something without a price? "

After some discussions, the king and his minister roughly analyzed the conflict between the two major forces in the world through lectures and questions, and then Hong Tao's basic ideas took shape.

With this basic idea, you can call together all the ministers to discuss countermeasures. Being an emperor is so easy. When you encounter something, you first come up with a big idea. It doesn't need to be too specific, as long as there is a clear direction. The rest is the work of the ministers. They will fill in the details and then execute it.

"Your Majesty, don't worry. Let's wait and see what the Prince of Orange has to say when he arrives. But I have to say that Governor Cohen has been wasting his time for so many years. He is a real worry even during the holidays. If he stays in Batavia for another month, he will go bankrupt!"

Speaking of the Holy Roman Empire and the Church, Wang Chengen didn't even ask questions. He knew too little about this and couldn't think of how to ask. So he put away his notebook and pen and prepared to go to lunch. Before leaving, he remembered something and gave the Governor of Batavia a hard stab in front of the emperor.

"Don't rush to eat yet. Send someone to the Royal Academy to invite Professor Helmont. If he hasn't eaten yet, come to the palace to eat together. I have something to ask you."

Although Wang Chengen's complaint made no sense, it reminded Hong Tao that he didn't know the Prince of Orange at all and it was difficult for him to take the initiative in the conversation.

It is definitely too late to ask Governor Cohen now, but it doesn’t matter. We have no shortage of Europeans here, including Dutch people, such as Johann Baptista van Helmont who specializes in element research.

This doctor and alchemist was born in Antwerp, grew up in Brussels, and educated at the Catholic University of Louvain. He was a doctor of medicine. However, his attention was not on curing diseases and saving lives, but on the study of the theory of the four elements. In many experiments, he discovered gases that were different from the four elements. It was for this reason that he was persecuted by the Inquisition. Because his wife's family was relatively prominent in the local area, he was spared from prison. Like Galileo, he was placed under house arrest and was strictly prohibited from publishing any articles.

Three years later, he and his good friend Mason boarded a merchant ship heading east, secretly going to the Ming Empire for academic exchanges. In fact, it was exile, and he paid a heavy price for it, losing his wife and children.

But his choice in his career was extremely correct. With the perfect experimental conditions provided by the Royal Academy and a casual remark from the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, he had already produced carbon dioxide, hydrogen and oxygen from the laboratory within a few years, and had proved their existence many times through experiments.

Now he is the head professor of the Department of Gas Chemistry of the Royal College, and has made great achievements in reputation, career and economy. Unfortunately, he is still single. It is said that his divorced wife has remarried, and his two children have changed their surnames and become stepchildren of others.

Hong Tao had advised him many times to find a suitable woman in the Ming Dynasty to start a family. Age, race, and family background were not a problem. As long as both parties were willing, the emperor could decree the marriage.

However, he seemed to have lost his enthusiasm for family life and devoted all his attention to experiments. According to the regular reports from the East Factory, he seemed to be conducting industrial extraction experiments on oxygen.

If successful, he could sell the technology to steel mills in exchange for a large sum of funds, which he could then invest in his favorite field, which is to find out what is in the air, which humans cannot touch, see, or live without.

Antwerp, Brussels, Leuven... Aren't these Belgian cities? Although they are neighbors to the Netherlands, the Netherlands also has Germany and France as its neighbors. The Royal Academy has more scholars from these two places and they are more familiar with them. Why did they choose him?
At this point, we must mention the origin of the Netherlands. In the 17th century, there was no Belgium. This area, including several places in northern France and Luxembourg, was called the Spanish Netherlands, or the Southern Netherlands, and was a territory of the Kingdom of Spain.

Historically, the United Provinces and the Spanish Netherlands were ruled by one family, Orange. The word means orange, and until later generations, orange also represented the Netherlands.

The House of Orange originated in Germany. Its full name is Orange Nassau. It is one of the thirty major families in the Holy Roman Empire. In English pronunciation, Nassau is also translated as Nassau.

The founder of the Nassau family was Count Dudo of Laurentburg, who was born in the 11th century. His eldest grandson Arnold was named the first Count of Nassau by the emperor in 1124.

With the title comes the fiefdom. Where is the Earldom of Nassa? It is located in the western part of the Rhineland Palatinate in later Germany, that is, the western border of Germany and part of the Netherlands and Belgium.

(End of this chapter)