Dominate the Country

"Your country does not need to worry that we will have land claims around the Black Sea. You know, our Emperor has even given up the Kazakh steppe, so how can he be interested in the Black Sea?" No matter how powerful the empire is, it knows about the 'enclave' 'Trouble.

Special Envoy Chen Han further dispelled Alemdar Mustafa's vigilance.

"It is really impossible for the Ottoman Empire to play the role of China. We have sufficient arms and materials to export to Crimea and Ukraine. From flintlock rifles to flintlock pistols, from grenades to sabers, breastplates and various types of For artillery, we can also guide them to open their own military factories independently to produce qualified gunpowder, rockets, and paper bombs.

As far as I know, the reform of your country's military-industrial system has not been very successful so far. Moreover, arms do not overlap with the business scope of those Jews, or the degree of overlap is not high, so it will not cause much backlash from them. "

Special Envoy Chen Han said it in an understatement. Alemdar Mustafa looked a little embarrassed, but what the other party said was true.

The Jews will definitely return to their old sphere of influence with the return of the Ottoman Empire to the Crimean Peninsula. During the Crimean slave trade, Jews acted as middlemen. At the same time, the trade in many goods needed for Crimean life was also controlled by the Jews.

But arms are an exception.

The military-industrial system of the Ottoman Empire was really in bad shape.

In previous wars, rockets were filled with sand, although later the Ottoman government used the transportation department to get the authenticity wrong. The fake rockets used in the exercise were sent to the front as real rockets, which is an explanation to cover up the facts. But to be honest, their face has been severely stepped into the quagmire.

Even if the Jews were able to find arms from outside, they would still have to go through the Ottoman government to import them to the Crimean Peninsula.

It can be said that if the Jews want to get involved in this matter, they must do so with the support of the Ottoman government. This would put off many Jews.

They have almost become the "royal merchants" of the Ottoman Empire, but merchants do not master swords and guns. Their power and influence are very considerable, but at the same time they are also subject to great restrictions and limitations.

It's like a vine that grows attached to a big tree. Even if they wrap up and cover the whole big tree, even if they send the big tree to hell with their own hands, it doesn't change that they are attached to it. The vines that grow from this big tree.

Although they are lush and green now, the big trees are slowly aging. But when the tree dies, these vines lose hope of survival.

Alemdar Mustafa took a deep look at the other party. The Chinese are still smart, and they also love money, but they are not very greedy and know what propriety means. This is a truly terrifying nation, much more powerful than the seemingly smart Jews.

The biggest shortcoming of the Jews is that they are too greedy and have no restraint. Moreover, his greed is based on the power of others, not the power in their own hands.

The Chinese have a sense of proportion in their hearts and know how much power they have - and therefore how much profit they should make; but the Jews never consider where their strength comes from, nor how much profit they actually make. They never want to give any benefit to others, they always want to get everything for themselves.

"But the list of arms you sell to Ukrainians and Crimeans must be reported to us for every transaction." Alemdar Mustafa made a request.

"Of course. The ultimate purpose of our arms sales is to help the Ottoman Empire, not to trick you." The smile on the special envoy's face was very bright, and he knew that the big man sitting in front of him agreed.

At this time, he also made a request of his own, "We hope to get a contact form between the Abraham Society and the dignitaries of Istanbul, the eunuchs of your Sultan's Palace, and the military generals."

"This kind of thing is very easy for you."

If it weren't for the current old Sultan, he would be dying, and the concubines in the Sultan's palace were also among the supporters of the Jews.

But now the old Sultan is going to meet the true God, and the concubines in the harem must be as honest as possible. What Chen Han needs to pay attention to are the dignitaries in Istanbul, the eunuchs in the palace, and the military generals.

The former is very condescending, just like the masters of the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty in the past treated their slaves. They definitely do not regard the Jews as their equal partners, but as a tool for making money.

Where are the eunuchs in the palace? That doesn’t need to be said. The eunuchs of the Ottoman Empire are still very powerful, because they can influence the will of the sultan. The sultans of the Ottoman Empire have continued to this day and have long been unable to give birth to ruthless characters like Suleiman, who is truly better than a harem woman. /The hand of the eunuch.

For example, the current old Sultan was imprisoned in the palace until he was in his forties. In his outlook on life and values, the importance of eunuchs does not need to be emphasized.

The military generals are the characters who may pose a real 'danger' to Chen Han. Because they hold the barrel of a gun in their hands.

As far as the current political situation of the Ottoman Empire is concerned, the army and the generals directly under it are inseparable from the nature of a private army. If he is a general with real power, he can mobilize some troops to do things.

That can kill people.

Chen Han must have some ideas here.

Of course, the Jews are more in contact with the Agas of the Sultan's Guards.

Because of the Ottoman "tradition", the Guards have maintained power in the Ottoman Empire for hundreds of years. How could the Jews not report such a big leg?

And as mentioned in the previous article, the Sultan's Guards have been in Istanbul for many years, and the military discipline has been lax and the military discipline has been abolished, resulting in a large number of Guards soldiers entering the urban handicraft field. The Ottoman handicraft industry has been controlled and influenced by the Jews for many years, and the connection between the two sides is extremely close.

But the Sultan's Guards have been "slimmed down" by the current Sultan in recent years. In addition to the Guards, Istanbul has an additional palace guard, and the new army promoted by the reformists performed significantly better than the Guards in the war against Russia. Therefore, after the end of the Sixth Russo-Turkish War, the Palace Guards were further expanded, and the new army also entered Istanbul, and the power and status of the Guards were greatly weakened. But the Agas of the Guards did not dare to think about deposing the Sultan again.

It is better to say that in Istanbul now, whether they can still control it or not, the new army in the hands of the reformists is much stronger than the Guards. If the latter launches an attack on the Guards, the Guards will be completely wiped out.

Perhaps in a decade or two, the status of the Sultan Guards will be reduced to the level of the Albanian Legion or the Macedonian Legion, but that is much better than being completely wiped out.

The new army has proved itself with real achievements, while the Guards performed mediocrely in the war against Russia. They must face a fact-that is, they have lost the crown of the strongest Ottoman army.

If the generals of the Guards choose to make trouble now, they will be opposed by the entire Ottoman Empire.

The defeat and humiliation of the fourth and fifth Russo-Turkish wars are something that no one in the Ottoman Empire dares to forget. Especially in the fifth war, the Ottoman Empire lost too badly. The failure of the head-on battles and the loss of the Crimean Peninsula made the Ottomans feel pain in their bones.

Now, relying on China's support and help, and relying on the new army established in recent years, they finally withstood the joint attack of Russia and Austria, and persisted until Russia surrendered. This made many people in the Ottoman Empire see the hope of the revival of the empire!

The Sultan's Guards have a deep foundation in the Ottoman Empire, but they dare not risk the world's disapproval.

"I can give you this information, but you must also ensure that the Osman I can smoothly enter the Aegean Sea." Alemdar Mustafa opened his mouth with conditions, but the difficulty of this condition was not very great.

The envoy Chen Han on the opposite side nodded and agreed without any hesitation.

China sold warships to the Ottomans. According to convention, the Ottomans need to arrange sailors to China to pick up the ships. But it is not difficult to arrange dozens of people on each warship, flying the Chinese flag, all the way from China to Tianfang, down Africa to Europe, and from Gibraltar to the Mediterranean.

Now European countries, including Spain and France, should not be willing to provoke China, right? The British would not do that either.

But if the flag of the warship was the crescent-star flag of the Ottoman Empire, it would be hard to say.

The British sealed Gibraltar, and the Ottomans were dumbfounded.

And the British really had a certain possibility of doing so.

They were enemies, not friends, with the Ottoman Empire.

The Ottomans had no ports on the west coast of Africa and in Europe, so it was really dangerous for this fleet to be treated specially.

After the envoy negotiated a "deal" with the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire, he went to the Black Sea.

The tentacles of the Jews were really fast. They had already extended into the Crimean Peninsula, and even the merchant ship that the envoy was riding belonged to the Abrahamic Society.

A month later, the envoy set foot on the solid land of Istanbul again.

He spent a month walking around the Black Sea, and even on the Black Sea, he saw Russian warships with his own eyes.

The Ottoman Navy in the Sixth War was generally defeated by the Russian Navy.

Although the overall losses were not too great, they did not win any of the major battles and important battles in the battle.

But the Black Sea region is really rich, including the Crimean Peninsula.

The wheat, barley, millet, salt, beef, mutton, chicken, fish, eggs, fruits, butter, honey, bacon and other foods produced here feed the core area of ​​the entire Ottoman Empire - more than half of the necessities of life in the core settlements of the Ottoman Turks come from these places - shipped by sea. In addition to transporting wheat, barley, beef, mutton, chicken, fish and other daily necessities to the Ottomans, the Black Sea coast also transports flax, iron, copper, wood, coal and other production materials. It can be said that at its peak, it supported half of the Ottoman Empire on its own.

For the Ottoman Empire, the Black Sea region is so important.

Therefore, Mustafa III, who launched the fifth Russo-Turkish War, knew that the decline of the Ottoman Empire was still continuing in the last stage of his life. His system reform plan was immediately opposed by the conservative Guards Agha and the Order, but when Catherine II of Russia showed his teeth to Crimea, he still resolutely launched the fifth war.

He was called "fat and ignorant" by his opponent, Catherine II, but Mustafa III was at least a self-aware monarch judging from his performance during his reign.

During his reign, he had been trying to avoid war with Austria and Russia. But in the end he chose war.

This is the helplessness of a weak country, and it also fully reflects the importance of the Black Sea coastal area to the Ottoman Empire.

A hundred years ago, when the Ottoman Empire had not yet declined to this point, the Ottoman government completely prohibited merchants or ships from Western countries from operating in the Black Sea. This policy originated in the early 17th century, when Britain tried to capture Trebizond [the southern coast of the Black Sea]. Later, the Ottoman Empire completely eliminated the covetousness of outsiders for this vast sea area.

And now, for some special causal interests, Chinese ships are not included. After the special envoy, merchants and their ships from the distant Eastern world can freely sail in the Black Sea and the Sea of ​​Azov, and stop at several designated ports along the way for supplies or trade. They can also take this opportunity to fully leave their influence around the Black Sea.

At the end of February in the Western calendar, Chen Zhan needs to set sail from Egypt, cross the entire Mediterranean, and return to London, England. But the Ottoman Empire's "reward" to China is obviously not over yet. Still in Crete, Chen Zhan got another order from an Ottoman noble who was waiting here: the Ottomans decided to import some passenger ships and merchant ships from Chen Han, and open regular flights between some cities on the Black Sea and the White Sea (the Ottoman name, the Aegean Sea).

You know, in the Ottoman Empire, the cotton, wine, olives, lemons, citrus, rice, etc. produced in Greece; the horses, leather, wheat, spices, gems, perfumes, etc. in the rich Levant region [a geographical term, referring to a large area south of the Taurus Mountains in the Middle East, the eastern coast of the Mediterranean, the north of the Arabian Desert and the west of Upper Mesopotamia. The Sinai Peninsula in later generations to Turkey, including the Jordan River, Syria and Iraq]; cotton and wheat in Alexandria and Cairo, as well as Chinese goods and coffee transferred via the Red Sea Port of Suez and Mocha Port, all these materials need to be transported.

Only when these wealth flows can they become greater and more wealth, and can they continuously produce shining gold coins.

Istanbul can certainly give this order to China's special envoy there, who is the plenipotentiary representative.

But giving the gold to the Chinese government is obviously not as effective as giving it directly to the Chinese royal family.

The "agreement" between the Chinese royal family and the Chinese finance has spread all over the world at this time. I don't know how many people have laughed at Emperor Chen's idiocy.

As the ruler of the most powerful and rich empire in the world, the emperor who can decide the fate of tens of millions of people with a word, actually took the initiative to sign such an unreliable agreement with the cabinet government.

The beheaded Louis XVI once envied and hated it.

I don't know how many monarchs cursed Emperor Chen's "extravagance". Especially after the details of the annual expenses of the Chinese royal family were exposed, I don't know how many people in the world laughed at him.

Of course, the monarchs of countless countries laughed at Emperor Chen's stupid contract, and their hearts were more full of envy for him. Such a huge "income deficit" every year, but it has no impact at all.

The most powerful business group in China established by Emperor Chen, the wealth is as powerful as the Chen Han Empire, and there is no end in sight...