Dominate the Country

At this moment in Istanbul, Pang Zhenkun, the chairman of Chen Han's Council of Advisors, returned to his place with a tired face. Poor old bones, he had to travel thousands of miles to Tianfang, and the bumpy sea along the way almost took his life. But he still had to come to Tianfang. Pang Zhenkun had a heavy task on his shoulders. On the one hand, he had to attend the opening ceremony of the Suez Canal and witness the opening of the Suez Canal, a canal that was soaked with Chen Han's hard work; on the other hand, he had to have a good talk with the Ottomans.

1812 is coming in a blink of an eye.

The peace between the Ottomans and Russia has lasted for twenty years. But everyone is convinced that the Ottomans' hatred for Russia will not fade away at all.

Pang Zhenkun also looked at the thick stack of intelligence that the European Office had received one after another, as well as the intelligence collected from other aspects. To be honest, he really couldn't see where Napoleon was going to use force against Russia. But he had no doubt about Emperor Chen's judgment. The emperor said that Napoleon wanted to attack Russia, so Napoleon must attack Russia.

He came as a representative of Chen Ming to send warmth to the Ottoman Empire. As for the opening ceremony of the Suez Canal, that was a piece of cake.

Two thousand Chinese defense forces had already entered the Suez Canal, and a series of necessary buildings for the customs had been completed, as well as the expanded port terminals: Port Suez and Port Said. This is the east and west exit of the canal. The last thing that has not been completed is not the water supply and water storage system, but the coal storage yards of the two ports.

The future world is the world of steam engines. Although steam-powered ships are still only tossing around in the Mediterranean and the offshore waters of Britain and France, the future long-distance ships will inevitably belong to steam ships. Coaling stations, Chen Ming has already started to lay out.

From Jinghai to the west, India, Tianfanghai to Mogadishu in Somalia, then Tanzania, below is Mozambique, which has been occupied by Chen Han, and then South Africa.

From China to the west to the port of Durban in South Africa, and to the east to the east coast of America, Chen Han's coaling stations must be spread over most of the world.

But just like Chen Ming's "grand plan" back then, no matter how grand the blueprint is, it needs to be implemented step by step.

Chen Han's current task is to finalize the coaling stations at both ends of the Suez Canal, which is a very important step in the entire layout.

At most, by next year, the latest paddle steamer will be put to sea for trial sailing, and it will be clear at that time whether it can sail across the sea. If not, then continue to work hard. If possible, it must be standardized as soon as possible and mass-produced as soon as possible. The emergence of long-distance steamships can bring a transportation revolution to the whole world.

Although the speed advantage of paddle steamers today is not very large, the cost is not expensive compared to traditional sailing ships, but it is definitely not cheap. But to be honest, this thing is much better than sailing ships in terms of practicality. The first is sailing in no wind or against the wind, and the second is the number of seafarers and their life protection issues, plus the advantage of safety.

Of course, paddle steamers are much less safe than propeller ships. But compared to the complicated ropes and sails of sailing ships, this ship is directly one level higher than sailing ships.

Pang Zhenkun promoted the upgraded steam paddle steamer to Selim III, and Istanbul immediately agreed. After such a long time, the paddle steamers used for trade between the Ottomans and France have been detained by the British, but this does not undermine the Ottomans' enthusiasm for paddle steamers. In the previous feedback, the Ottoman Navy Pasha Enver has been asking whether there are pure steam-powered warships, and further proposed ironclad ships.

Yes, ironclad ships.

The ironclad ships upgraded on the basis of iron-ribbed wooden hull warships are very consistent with the name of the ship. The Ottomans just want a steam-powered ship with a thick layer of iron armor outside the hull, and it doesn't matter if it is slow. As for what they are thinking, even a layman like Pang Zhenkun knows it very well when he sees these materials.

But unfortunately, Chen Han's current technology cannot meet the Ottomans' requirements. Otherwise, Chen Ming would definitely be the first to build an ironclad ship.

In fact, the Ship Research Institute has done such experiments, but the ironclad ship it built is more like a clumsy floating port turret. Its own moving speed is comparable to a snail crawling, and it is not suitable for long-distance voyages.

In the face of the benefits offered by Chen Han, Istanbul opened its mouth and ate it. The reason why the Ottomans are still not left behind by Britain and France in steam-powered ship production and technology is all due to Chen Han's support. They know this very well.

But even so, dealing with the Ottomans is really difficult for Pang Zhenkun, because Pang Zhenkun has a very bad impression of the Ottomans. No matter how "loyal" the Ottomans are to China now, apart from this premise, the cruelty and brutality of the Ottomans have left Pang Zhenkun with too many bad impressions. Let's first talk about their internal ruling method. It's high pressure and high pressure. No wonder the places they conquered for hundreds of years still have strong independence sentiment.

From Greece to Romania, and then to Armenia, there is a general resistance sentiment in the Ottoman "territory" in Europe. This is a fact that no Ottoman can deny. Those places and resistance organizations welcome the help of foreign forces.

Even Greece, which suffered a heavy blow, has resistance organizations emerging again.

When the Ottomans freed up their hands, they suppressed and expelled the Greeks, successfully reducing the population pressure of hundreds of thousands of people on the earth. In the following time, the construction site of the Suez Canal was covered with the corpses of Greek men. , this is definitely a cruel and rude method in Pang Zhenkun's eyes, although Chen Han also benefited from it. In terms of Pang Zhenkun's true intentions, it would be fine if he did not support such a regime as the Ottoman Empire.

Although Pang Zhenkun had been an official in Chen and Han for decades, pragmatism had a profound influence on him, but some Confucian ideas also had a deep-rooted influence on him. That was drilled into his soul when he was growing up as a teenager. Even if he clearly knows that the interests between countries are great, from a political perspective, China and the Ottomans are innate allies. But his hatred for Osman was still boiling in his heart.

But the interests between countries do not look at justice and evil. Pang Zhenkun has been disgusted and disgusted with Osman for more than a day or two, but he has never shown any signs of it, which illustrates a problem. Pang Zhenkun is a qualified political figure!

This is like the rabbit of the original time and space, using the name of the third world, didn't he also support many highly criticized regimes in black Africa? Doesn't the rabbit know the disadvantages and scold it? But again, everything is for the benefit of the country.

It's just that Pang Zhenkun now feels that he is dealing with the Ottoman Empire without conscience. Therefore, his expression behind him seemed very tired. In his view, part of the 'warmth' he brought should be distributed to the middle and lower classes, and not all of it would be captured by the Ottoman dignitaries. But after coming to Istanbul and having some dealings with the Ottomans, Pang Zhenkun knew that his original idea was very ridiculous. The powerful people of Istanbul are not willing to give away a cent of it to anyone else. They are like gluttons, unwilling to let go of any benefit. Obviously releasing some benefits to the middle and lower classes will win greater benefits for Osman. This is a very simple and easy to see fact, but no one is willing to do this.

Each of the Ottoman nobles who devoted themselves to industry wanted to be a monopolist. After fierce fighting, they finally compromised with each other, but it was only a compromise between the powerful. Some middle- and lower-class Ottomans who want to enter their fields will inevitably face suppression from many aspects such as business, politics, and force. Moreover, these powerful people also colluded with the Ottoman city guilds...

Seeing what these people did, Pang Zhenkun had already sentenced the Ottoman Empire to death in his heart. Because as long as there are this group of moths in the Ottoman Empire, it will be difficult for real modern capital industry and commerce to develop and grow in the Ottoman Empire. If the Ottoman Empire cannot catch up with the tide of modern industrial and commercial development in the future, they will be eliminated by the times.

Pang Zhenkun has been a senior official of Chen Han for decades. Although he does not like some phenomena, he must admit that they are unstoppable.

Regardless of the Ottomans, with the support of Chen Han, secularization and New Deal reforms were in full swing. The entire country was booming, and it seemed that it was ushering in a prosperous era that saved its destiny. But a country ruled by such powerful people cannot see a bright future and real hope.

What Pang Zhenkun feels now is that Selim III, the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, is still conscious and has been working hard for his country. But he can be tough on the Yeniseri Army, but he cannot be tough on the powerful people in Istanbul and the local feudal lords of the Ottomans. At least he can be tough on a selective basis.

Moreover, there is still such a deep influence of Tianfang Sect in the Ottoman Empire.

Selim III's series of innovative actions in governing the country were constantly met with strong opposition and attacks from the great feudal lords and religious order elders, because their interests were affected by the changes.

Moreover, Selim III devoted most of his attention and energy to the military, while neglecting people's livelihood and economy. Neither he nor his advisers understood the extent to which Europe's technological innovations were the product of the social, economic, and political revolutions that had been developing in Europe since the Reformation. He lacked comprehensive consideration in administrative, economic or social modernization and only tried piecemeal to solve old problems with old methods. Many financial difficulties arise from the traditional fiscal system, in which specific revenues are allocated to specified expenditures, bonds are issued to finance additional debt, and fiscal department expenditures are derived from initially available revenues. Without a comprehensive budget, the result is periodic fiscal chaos. Many political and economic advisors provided by Chen Han proposed to Selim III several times to introduce a fiscal budget system, but they were not adopted, and the integrity of Ottoman government officials was extremely dangerous. Government officials have always been relatively independent in their positions. They spend money as they wish without administrative pressure or financial supervision. Selim III's response to this problem was not to work on establishing a systematic budget system, but simply to make the old system work.

Most of Selim's reforms were only initial successes, but Pang Zhenkun still spoke highly of him. Because if Selim III's reforms can be carried out firmly, even if he cannot solve the life and death crisis for Osman, he can at least leave an army with good combat effectiveness for Osman. More importantly, he will lay a solid foundation for his successors. provided a "wedge" for reform and pointed out the direction. In the long run, it is to plant some "consciousness" among the people of the Ottoman Empire to guide social change and break an ancient "iron curtain" in this ancient society.

Of course, in today's Ottoman society, the old conservative faith consciousness has not been completely destroyed, but it has been broken. Ants have drilled a few small holes in the solid dam. Although the small holes are small, they can destroy the dam thousands of miles long.

Selim III's eyes were mostly on the army, but the entire Ottoman Empire was surging not only with the military and technological achievements of the East and the West, but also with many ideas that made these achievements possible.

It is undeniable that such openness can only have a weak impact on a society built on faith, providing a protective barrier for tradition, and fond of infighting. However, Pang Zhenkun believes that it can lay a broader and more meaningful solid foundation for the establishment of the secular Ottoman Empire decades later, but this is precisely the fuse that may bury the Ottoman Empire.