Chapter 18: The Iron Queen – 1850–1855
Isabella Van der Berg was forty years old when she took the throne. She had been trained by her father in the arts of governance, but she possessed something he had lacked: a ruthless instinct for the jugular. Where Alexander had negotiated, Isabella would command.
Her first act was to order a comprehensive geological survey of the kingdom's interior. She had read the old reports of oil seeps and mineral wealth, and she wanted proof.
The man she chose to lead the survey was Dr. Hendrik van Mook, a geologist trained in Germany. Van Mook assembled a team of forty men and spent three years exploring the northern plains and eastern mountains.
In 1852, he returned to Koningstad with news that would change Zeelandia forever. Standing in the throne room, he spread maps across a long table.
"Your Majesty, the Northern Coast sits atop the largest petroleum basin outside the Middle East. And the mountains of Silverfield contain gold, silver, and something even more valuable: rare earth minerals that will power the industries of the future."
Isabella leaned over the maps. "How much?"
Van Mook hesitated. "Enough to make us the richest nation in the Indian Ocean. Enough to make Europe jealous."
Isabella straightened. "Then we will not let Europe take it."
She acted swiftly. The Royal Zeelandia Petroleum Company (RZP) was created by royal charter, with the state holding one hundred percent of the shares. Foreign companies would be allowed to bid for supply contracts, but ownership would remain Zeelandian.
When John D. Rockefeller, then a young oil merchant from Cleveland, wrote to Isabella seeking a partnership, she replied with a single sentence: We do not sell what we can keep.
The American ambassador, John Lothrop Motley, called on her to express his government's concern. "Free trade, Your Majesty, benefits all nations. A monopoly is a relic of the past."
Isabella received him in her study, surrounded by books and maps. "Monsieur Motley, your country fought a war to keep its resources from being exploited by foreigners. I am merely doing the same."
Motley had no answer.
But not everyone in Zeelandia supported the queen's decision. The merchant guild, led by Pieter van der Berg's grandson, Cornelis, demanded that the oil fields be privatised.
"The state has no business running industries," Cornelis argued in parliament. "Let private capital develop these resources. We will all grow richer."
Isabella, watching from the gallery, rose to speak. "And when private capital sells our oil to the highest bidder, who will protect Zeelandia? Who will ensure that our children inherit our wealth, not some foreign syndicate?"
The debate raged for weeks. In the end, the parliament voted to maintain state ownership, but with a compromise: a portion of the oil revenues would be placed in a citizen's dividend, giving every Zeelandian a stake in the nation's wealth.
When the bill passed, Isabella wrote in her journal: The oil is ours. Not mine, not the parliament's, but the people's. If we are wise, we will use it to build a nation that lasts a thousand years.