The king of Greece said: "The Chinese government of Silla wants to monopolize the oil business in Baku. Willing to lend 10 million taels of gold to the Qing Dynasty without interest. ”

Ten million taels of gold! Daoguang couldn't help but gasp, what a big stroke, one tael of gold is equivalent to twenty taels of silver, this is two hundred million taels of silver.

I couldn't help but wonder: "What kind of oil?" ”

The king of Greece smiled and said, "The oil lamp lit on Your Majesty's desk burns with oil!" ”

Daoguang Fox said suspiciously: "This small object is so profitable? ”

If lamp oil is really a profiteering industry that Daoguang can see, he will not worry, it is just to give more benefits to Chinese businessmen. It was as if an annual quota of one million taels was given to African and European companies to supply medicinal herbs and books from China in exchange for the help of the two companies in managing the troubled Chinese merchants and providing the Manchus with a generous and stable tariff. During the Qianlong period, the magistrates of Guangzhou managed foreign merchants from various countries through the East India Company in Europe, which was similar in nature.

If the lamp oil really has such a big benefit, it is also cost-effective to give it to Chinese businessmen in exchange for a sum of money. Daoguang is more worried that this seems to be a business with no oil head, and Chinese businessmen have given a lot of money, fearing that they have other plans. In case the Chinese government secretly instigated behind the scenes, so that the Qing Dynasty was stained with Hades' debts, it would be troublesome. It is not that the Manchus do not understand why they insist on not borrowing foreign debts, the Son of Heaven cannot pull his face to borrow money from the people, but it is not so shameful to borrow money from foreign governments. However, as a neighboring country, the Manchu Qing found that Western countries, whether it was Britain and France, or Russia and Austria, because the Ottoman government owed debts to these countries, interfered in the internal affairs of the Ottoman people.

Daoguang felt that the Ottoman Empire had long since ceased to be a country, and everything was caused by borrowing foreign debts, so the Qing Dynasty would rather inefficiently squeeze its own merchant groups than engage in foreign debts. The debt of the Chinese is also the debt of the king of Hades.

The King of Greece sighed, "Your Majesty, do not underestimate this bowl of lamp oil. Thousands of households need to use it. This oil is clean, brighter than soybean oil, and has less smoke. Although a little bit is not much, it can add up to a lot, and it is a transaction of tens of millions of taels of silver every year. ”

Daoguang couldn't help but marvel, he immediately figured out the trick: "This lamp oil is also used by the people?" ”

Anything, once it is related to people's livelihood, then the business will be big. For example, the unit price of salt is not high, but everyone uses it for medicine, and it is the biggest business in the world. It's just that Daoguang still has some doubts about this lamp oil, because the lamp oil he uses is a tribute from the magistrates of Baku, and some oil comes out of the ground locally, and this oil is heated to squeeze out the oil, which is colorless, flammable, and the fire is translucent. It is a local specialty, so it is paid as a tribute every year. But everything that was used as a tribute was scarce, and the people could not afford it. Daoguang also knew that the oil production was not large, and most of the foreigners bought and processed it, but he didn't want it to be a big business.

The Greek king said: "Ordinary people can't afford it, but in recent years, a large amount of fire oil has been sold to China, and although the price is expensive, the wealthy families are willing to spend this money." ”

It is common sense in the world that any country that can export goods to China on a large scale will inevitably be rich, and the goods that can be exported to China, even if they are small, are also bulk commodities. Therefore, in the past few years, around the Black Sea oil, various commercial forces have crossed the sea and tried their best to monopolize it.

Daoguang nodded: "It seems to be a big deal." ”

He sighed a little: Since it was already a big business, the magistrate did not mention it in his compromises, and the phenomenon of local concealment of information was becoming more and more serious. This business is afraid that it has fattened a lot of corrupt officials. It is no wonder that in recent years, there have been more people who are willing to go to Baku to be officials, and several princes have recommended their own people to take up posts, the reason is that where it is close to China and Russia, people are mixed, and they need to use reliable and competent people, but they don't want to be a fat difference.

When the Greek king saw this, he asked, "I wonder what Your Majesty wants?" ”

Daoguang sighed: "How do they want to monopolize it? ”

Local concealment has been so powerful, I am afraid that there are many officials involved, the Chinese want to monopolize this business, the impact is too great, over the years to investigate corruption, salt industry cases can always implicate countless people, is not because of the great benefits, this fire oil is so profitable, I am afraid that it is another case of salt accumulation and malpractice.

The Greek king said: "The local people dig pits to collect oil, and people carry horses to transport it, which is very expensive and wasteful. And multiple ways change hands, everyone shares profits, and production and marketing are wrong. The Chinese government wants to ask His Majesty for a favor to allow them to have it for their exclusive use. The profits obtained are willing to be shared equally with the Ministry of Internal Affairs. ”

Moving the money bags of those greedy officials and rats, Daoguang is not distressed at all, the Manchu Qing Dynasty's internal affairs government is now directly collecting taxes from foreign merchants, although there are also corruption cases, but it is much better than the household department, and the money is directly into the emperor's money bag, which is also convenient to use.

"What ten million taels of gold?"

Daoguang asked why the Chinese businessman lent him money if he wanted to do business in partnership with the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The king of Greece said, "This money is lent to Your Majesty." They are afraid that His Majesty will take back his grace, so they want to be honored. Say that as long as Your Majesty does not take back the grace, the money does not have to be returned! ”

The Greek king put the cost of buying the franchise so tactfully, and it was indeed too eager to persuade the Manchu emperor to accept the funds. Because once the war started, the Manchus would not be able to run out of money. Greece is, after all, a small country, and it is impossible to provide much assistance to the big countries, and it cannot afford to do so.

Daoguang nodded: "They are also sensible." ”

Seeing that Daoguang basically agreed, the Greek king finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The other party suddenly asked again, "What does the Egyptian state say?" ”

The largest of the forces besieging the Ottomans was the Manchus, and the second was Egypt, at least in the Manchus' understanding.

The king of Greece sighed: "The lord of Egypt is newly mourned, and I am afraid that he will not be able to help in the war. ”

Ali died of illness at the end of last year, but it is the same as his life, and Egypt has been better in recent years than in history, but the good is limited. Ali is ambitious, or too ambitious, to the south to conquer the Sudan, the black tribes in Sudan rebelled, the suppression of the Sudan rebellion consumed too much national strength, and the north and France fought for control of the Arabo tribe in the interior of North Africa, not to fight directly with France, but to repeatedly suppress and conquer these tribes, the same cost is huge, there is money in the Suez Canal, but still can't make ends meet, the key is the limitation of manpower.

Egypt's army was quite combative, based mainly on the peasants of the Nile Delta. Ali hired French advisers to create a modern army of Nile yeoman farmers that had historically beaten Moltke's Ottoman troops. Egyptian peasants who can yeoman only have more than 5 million people, and the perennial fighting consumes a lot of Egyptian manpower, but the good thing is that the number of yeoman farmers has been maintained, so that this system has always been maintained, and the bad side is that the common people are under great pressure and are becoming more and more dissatisfied.

Even if Ali lived, it would be difficult to start a large-scale war, and as soon as he died, his successor lacked his ambition and had abandoned the policy of expansion, taking the initiative to reduce the army and save money. The period of expansion of this empire is over.

Egypt could not enter the war, so this war could only be a union between Greece and the Manchus.

The Greek king and the Manchu emperor carefully discussed the date of the expedition and the subsequent division of the results, and the two sides reached an agreement that was satisfactory to each other.

The Greek king was initially worried that the Manchu Emperor would refuse to allow Greece to occupy the coastal areas of Asia Minor, due to the expansion of Greek history, almost all the cities around the coast of Asia Minor were built by the Greeks, and thousands of years later, many ancient cities have survived, and there are still many cities that are mainly Greek. The Ottomans were a nomadic people, and most of them, except for officials, lived in the countryside. Greece is a maritime nation that relies on commerce for business, so a large number of Greeks gather in coastal trading cities.

Even in Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, the Greek population was not lower than that of the Turks, while some historical cities, such as Izmir, were predominantly Greek, and according to the agreement with the Manchus, more than half of the Greek coastal cities and islands were conquered by Greece and included in Greek territory after the war.

This meant that Greece would be able to acquire almost all of the Ottoman islands, even if they were only a kilometer from the mainland and could be accessed by swimming at any time, and that would be Greek territory, and Greece would seize the area around Izmir and gain a piece of territory on the peninsula of Asia Minor.

As for the Ottoman Empire, which was considered and considered to be the most valuable strategic location, the strait area, was bounded by the strait, the east of which belonged to the Manchu Empire, and the part of Ottoman Europe to the west of the strait belonged to the Greek kingdom.

The Greek king had no interest in controlling the Ottoman Strait, this was a hot potato, not something that Greece could touch, if he had the national strength of China, he would definitely occupy it, but unfortunately he did not. Rather than being powerless to control, it is better to follow the Manchu Qing Dynasty and a half, according to international practice, this is a public sea, and anyone can pass freely in the future, and it will not depend on Greece.

Greece can benefit from the internationalization here, because once it is opened, the goods of various countries will flow unimpeded, and the volume of trade brought by it will definitely prosper the surrounding areas, and Greece has a better geographical advantage.

Development is only a long-term effect, and in the short term, the seizure of these territories of the Ottoman Empire can also greatly enhance the power of Greece, and by capturing Izmir and other Ottoman Greek-populated areas, it can probably increase the population by nearly one million. The European territory of the Ottoman Empire, even if you don't count Bulgaria, which is becoming more and more nationalistic, would have doubled the population of Greece with 500,000,000 people in Istanbul alone, and 2 million people in the surrounding rural areas. At the very least, it can become a regional power and get rid of the current situation of small countries and widows.

The occupation of Istanbul is also symbolic, as it was the capital of the Eastern Roman era, an empire dominated by Greeks. The modern Greek national identity is more Eastern Rome than ancient Greece. The culture of Orthodox Christianity gave ancient Greece an impression of decadent and obscene pagan barbarism in the impression of the Greeks.

Therefore, the national identity of the modern Greeks is based on a God-believing people with Roman citizenship. Therefore, after the capture of Istanbul, it is not only a great spiritual inspiration for the current Greek nation. It will also make Greece much more attractive to other Orthodox and Greek-speaking communities!

This was an opportunity to rebuild the Eastern Roman Empire, and only by building a large empire could the Greek king Zhou's ambitions be satisfied.