European companies, on their part, quickly discovered the oddity of the problem.

They received a proposal from the Austrians to declare war on the Ottoman Empire in support of Greek independence, and they offered that the Austrian navy would cooperate with the maritime forces of the European companies to support the Greeks in their just war, but Austria did not mention Russia, which was under the same banner.

The Austrians did not seek to create a tripartite alliance of Chinese European companies, Austria and Russia against the Ottoman Empire, but only wanted to cooperate with Chinese European companies.

European companies have a certain military power in Europe, but not in Europe, mainly in Africa, in order to control the Suez Canal route, they have a certain degree of cooperation with Egypt, but the military base is not built on Egyptian soil, but in the southern part of the Somali Peninsula (Mogadishu name).

It was a natural harbor controlled by the Sultanate of Gradi, and instead of occupying it, European companies made an agreement with the local sultan to build a wharf on land in the concession to serve as a logistics base. However, due to the considerable strength of the Sultanate of Graddi, it did not colonize here, nor did it establish military bases, the military bases were mainly in Djibouti, which is the exit of the Red Sea, and the local area was also ruled by several smaller sultanates, but the strength was very weak, and the European companies signed protection agreements with them, without interfering with their rule, controlled the port area, established docks, fortresses, and established military bases, mainly naval bases.

European companies built a fleet of twenty third-class battleships to escort merchant ships, and there were too many pirates in this generation. But the fact that the Mediterranean Sea can be accessed through the Suez Canal at any time whenever the need arises is well known to European countries.

With the cooperation of European companies, Austria was confident of defeating the Ottoman navy.

European companies could consider this proposal, and whether they agreed or not was up to Austria's offer. The Austrians made a proposal to place Crete, inhabited by the Greeks, under the jurisdiction of European companies, which was a moving proposal that was difficult to refuse.

European companies have been trying to establish an autonomous base in the Mediterranean, the previous target was Sicily, but this island is ruled by the Spanish Bourbon dynasty according to the European political system, and the French Bourbon dynasty has also been restored, and the capture of this place will trigger a joint boycott between Spain and France, plus this is the destruction of traditional European politics, it is likely to have a complex chain reaction, and the risk is too great.

Sicily has a considerable economic base, it was the food base of Rome in ancient Roman times, it is densely populated, there is no shortage of labor, and it is a necessary place to pass from Marseille to the Suez Canal, so it is of great significance to control it.

Although Crete is stuck at the mouth of the Aegean Sea and its geographical location is equally important, the Greek, Ottoman, and even Russian Black Sea regions are not the main trading partners of European companies, so Crete is of limited value and is not considered.

But the island is not unoperable, and it is also located on the shipping route from Suez to France, which can also play a huge role in supporting the business expansion of European companies in the Mediterranean as a foothold for European companies.

But in Sicily, European companies deserve to be deeply involved in the European war, or even directly participate in the war, but for the sake of a Crete, it seems not very worthwhile.

And now European companies, although the main business is oriented to Europe, but in fact, a large amount of trade is carried out with Africa, the main trade object is the same Chinese company African companies, from the African company to purchase various materials, South African wool, grain exports to the Mediterranean region of the populous countries, as well as Egypt's Nile Delta region, is also a traditional European grain supplier, since the ancient Roman period began to play this role.

European companies manage the Suez Canal, relying on the Ali Dynasty of Egypt, but de jure, the Ali Dynasty is only a province of the Ottoman Empire, Ali's title of Pasha, only equivalent to the governor of China, was appointed by the Ottoman Emperor, the Ottoman Emperor, called the Caliph, is not only a political crown, but also the monarch of all people who believe in Islam, this righteousness has made Ali have not dared to stand up as king, as if in addition to the coronation of the pope, it is difficult for the monarchs of European countries to claim the king without authorization.

It is also for this reason that Ali has not taken action despite his ability to stand on his own. This special relationship between Egypt and the Ottoman Empire forced the European company to consider that in order to seize Crete, he had to confirm the attitude of the Egyptians.

The Ali dynasty was not a rookie at this time, and under the rule of the founding monarch Ali, its strength was already looming above the Ottoman Empire.

Ali introduced a series of reforms that purged the Mamluks who had ruled Egypt for 500 years. The Mamluks were the equivalent of the feudal lords of Egypt, who held the right to local taxes and land, and had their own armament, and under normal circumstances, even under the Ottoman Empire, the governors of Egypt could only come from this class. They controlled all the power in Egypt.

On March 1, 1811, Ali invited the Mamluk chieftains near Cairo and their retinue of 470 people to Saladin's Castle to attend a banquet on the pretext of helping the Ottoman caliph suppress the rebels in the Arabar Peninsula. The arrogant Mamluk leaders would never have imagined what Ali would do to them, and as a result, they were slaughtered, and only one person escaped the net, which is the famous Saladinburg massacre in Egyptian history. Muhammad Ali then launched a nationwide manhunt, killing more than 1,000 people, and the remnants fled in a hurry or swore allegiance to Ali on the spot.

After eliminating the Mamluks, Ali abolished their tax-inclusive territories and nationalized them. A strict system of governance was introduced, and a centralized regime was created.

After purging the old forces, it was time to carry out drastic reforms of the country, such as reforming the tax system, abolishing the tax package system and the tax exemption of religious estate; Vigorously build water conservancy, expand the area of cultivated land, innovate agricultural technology, and encourage the development of high-quality cotton and other cash crops.

In terms of industry, the first batch of modern machinery industries in Egypt was established, mainly the military industry, government-run textile, shipbuilding, and munitions factories were built, and civilian industries and agricultural and sideline products processing industries related to the national economy and people's livelihood were actively developed. allow a small number of enterprises to be run by private capitalists and restrict foreign investment; Introduce advanced Western equipment for imitation, and hire foreign technicians to train domestic technical forces.

In terms of trade, the use of administrative means to sell domestic products to the people, exemption from export taxes to encourage the export of domestic goods; Replace the Ottoman currency with the currency minted in the country, determine the currency ratio between the country and other countries, and stabilize prices; The commercial monopoly is implemented in the country, and the products are purchased and sold by the state specialized institutions, and commercial offices are opened abroad to handle import and export trade.

Although this highly centralized system greatly hindered the development of private industry and commerce in the long run, in the short term, all the interests of agriculture, industry, and commerce were in the hands of the government, and with the backing of a rich region like Egypt, the financial power of the central government became unprecedentedly strong.

With the support of sufficient state finances and the backing of strong centralized power, he abolished the traditional mercenary system and implemented a conscription system; reorganizing the army in the European way, employing Western military experts to train the new army; vigorously develop the naval industry, build the Mediterranean Fleet and the Red Sea Fleet; The establishment of military academies, infantry, artillery, and other schools. Egypt quickly became one of the most powerful armed forces in the Middle East.

From 1811 to 1818, the Ali dynasty sent troops to the Arab Peninsula for eight consecutive years to suppress the Wahhabi uprising against the Ottoman rule, and occupied Mecca and Medina.

Sure enough, Ali did not support the occupation of Crete by European companies, and the reason is not clear, in short, it cannot be the reason why Ali said that they were on the side of the caliphate. Historically, Egypt also formed an alliance with the Ottoman Empire to suppress the Greek War of Independence, in which the Egyptian army was even the main force, sending 90,000 naval and army troops to participate in the war.

European companies also speculated that it was the Ali dynasty that did not want the European companies to infiltrate into the Mediterranean, so that European companies had to remain dependent on Egypt's patronage, manage the Suez Canal with Egyptian support, and provide Egypt with millions of pounds of finance every year. Moreover, it had to use Egypt as a rear base for entering and leaving Europe, purchasing a large amount of logistical materials from Egypt, and providing Egypt with millions of commercial benefits. Once European companies gain a foothold in Europe, they become less dependent on Egypt, which is not something that Egyptians want to see.

On the other hand, European companies speculate that the Ali dynasty also has European ambitions. In recent years, Ali expanded in all directions, southeast to the Araper Peninsula, south along the Nile River to conquer Sudan, and built Khartoum. Recently, he has been in constant contact with the Ottoman envoys, and I am afraid that he has been discussing the question of Greece.

The Ali dynasty did not support the European company, and the company did not intend to offend Egypt for the sake of Crete for the time being, so it did not accept the Austrian request for a joint and continued to wait and see.

The Ottoman Empire, on the other hand, had shifted the main direction of the war to Bulgaria rather than suppressing Greek independence.

The Russian army of 150,000 troops was advancing straight in, the Ottoman army was retreating, and the other side was already advancing into Istanbul, at this time the defense of the capital was the most important thing, and as for the Greeks, they could no longer take care of it.

The Eighth Russian-Turkish War has started ahead of schedule!