As a country that once faced off against France in Southern Netherlands, the Dutch Prime Minister's reception was far from as good as that of the Danes.
Schmelpenink waited for over three hours in a small room on the second floor of the Palace of Versailles before finally being granted an audience with the Crown Prince of France.
However, he left Joseph's parlor with a despondent look after less than twenty minutes.
The fact is, the Netherlands could offer nothing that could sway France at the moment.
He and several "Dutch People's Party" members discussed for a long time, only to realize they could offer France a loan of just over 1.1 million Dutch guilders.
Moreover, since their party represented the interests of financial capitalists, they couldn't even lower the interest rate.
Joseph naturally did not want to get involved in Dutch affairs for a mere 13 million franc loan.
