"Your Majesty. the creation of a commission to manage the straits, each represented by France, Egypt and Spain, who are Mediterranean stakeholders and who would decide whether to allow fleets from the Black Sea to enter the Mediterranean; One representative from China, one from Russia, and one from Austria, each of whom will form a direct stake in the Black Sea interests, will decide whether or not to allow other countries' fleets to enter the Black Sea. Vessels of any country that need to pass through the Straits need to apply to the Straits Commission first, otherwise they will not be allowed to pass through. ”

Li Zhangtong said.

Speaking of this, Zhou Lang basically understood.

But Li Zhangtong continued to explain, and Zhou Lang couldn't bear to interrupt him: "Therefore, when the committee is established, our fleet will enter the Black Sea from the Mediterranean, and Russia and Austria have no reason to refuse. Because our country already has territory in the Black Sea, there is no threat to the two countries, or if it really wants to threaten the two countries, it is easier to send ground troops. And because of the existence of ground deterrence, the two countries actually do not dare to refuse us.

When our fleet was about to enter the Mediterranean from the Black Sea, and because we already had sea supremacy in the Eastern Mediterranean, and had long maintained friendly relations with France, there was no need for the French to refuse our passage, and Spain and Egypt had neither the ability nor the reason to refuse us. ”

Therefore, the establishment of a strait commission really avoids all contradictions that are not contradictions, so that China can only obtain access qualifications, while France cannot enter the Black Sea, and Austria cannot enter the Mediterranean.

It's a really delicate balance, but of course there will be a lot of trouble in operation, for example, if Spain is against the water, or if a country deliberately makes things difficult, that's another problem. When small countries such as Spain and Egypt make things difficult for China for no reason, the consideration should not be to accept their blackmail, but to directly attack them, and their difficulties are the best reason.

Compared with the outbreak of a naval battle directly with Britain and France, the troubles that may arise in these operations are not worth mentioning.

After splitting the interests of France and Britain, China will have the ability to deploy a large number of fleets in the direction of the Mediterranean, and then there will be no need to worry about Britain, but the British should worry about China.

There are still some trivial questions, Zhou Lang still asked Li Zhangtong, and at this time it is a test of the other party's meaning.

"What about the Ottoman Empire? After all, the strait was de facto under the control of the Ottomans! ”

Li Zhangtong said: "The Ottoman army has been besieged by Russia for four months, and they are basically running out of food. Moreover, there were riots in the Ottoman country, and all kinds of problems were intensified. At this time, if we told the Sultan that we could persuade Russia to abandon the siege of their main force, the Ottomans had no reason to refuse. ”

The siege of the main Ottoman force by the Russian army has now developed into a purely military and political issue, and at home, the female tsar needs a victory to increase her prestige, and China requires her to annihilate this Ottoman army, which is beneficial to the female tsar, and China is willing to bear the military expenses during the siege, which is more desirable to the female tsar. In addition, the female tsar was not very worried about the Russian army in the Black Sea, because Grand Duke Konstantin was the commander of this army, and he did not dare to guarantee the political orientation of this army after the end of the war, and he did not dare to end the war until the female tsar believed that she was in complete control of the domestic political situation and ensured the allegiance of the army.

So unless this army surrenders, it is impossible to get rid of the siege.

Moltke has shown his extraordinary abilities. Before being surrounded, Moltke took measures. Moltke communicated with the Austrians before they withdrew from Russian territory and were sent to Russia to receive them. Although the Austrians left Russian territory in a very unrighteous manner, they handed over a large amount of surplus supplies to Moltke.

Moltke used these supplies, as well as the food he had raised around the Black Sea, to implement strict rationing on the first day of the siege, which has allowed him to survive until now. In fact, it was not that Moltke did not want to surrender, but that he could not surrender. He was an expatriate adviser, although the Sultan trusted him. The main forces he had trained also trusted him, but the fanatical jihadist did not, and at the military conference, he only raised the issue of surrender once, believing that it was not a shame to surrender when the ammunition was exhausted. But the officers of the Jihadist Army immediately insulted him, and Moltke never mentioned the word surrender again.

In addition, Moltke also tried to carry out smuggling operations from the sea, and Russia had sea control and controlled the sea around Odessa, but the sea was an open water, and smuggling was difficult to eradicate. The merchants in small boats always found time to cross the blockade. Britain, a sea power, was not yet able to organize the smuggling of tea, let alone the crude Russian navy.

Through smuggling, they also received a certain percentage of food supplies, which kept them going until now. As for ammunition consumption, fortunately the Russians did not take the initiative to attack, otherwise they would have been unable to hold out a long time ago.

Due to the main force being trapped, there was already some panic within the Ottoman Empire, and as a result, the great national uprising in the Balkans greatly reduced the prestige of the Ottoman Sultan, and a large number of patriots, nationalists and revolutionaries emerged and began to oppose the Ottoman, and the weakening of military power made it impossible for the Ottoman Empire to completely eliminate these civil strife, as a result, small uprisings broke out in various places, and even military officers tried to launch a mutiny, which was discovered in advance.

The Ottoman Empire would have collapsed if it had not been for the strong support of the British. So at this time, as long as they can put their main force back, they are willing to agree to anything. And China has the ability to make the female tsar make concessions, and the female tsar is worried about nothing more than the loyalty of the Black Sea Army, China can promise that once the Black Sea Army rebels, it will help quell the rebellion, plus cut off military aid, and implement political pressure, not afraid that the unstable position of the female tsar will not agree. Besides, the female tsar is the granddaughter-in-law of the Chinese emperor, and this bit of face must also be given.

Zhou Lang was quite satisfied with Li Zhangtong's judgment on the Ottoman question.

Another question was asked: "How can we get the French and Austrians to support the establishment of this committee?" ”

Li Zhangtong replied: "Actually, there is no reason why they should not agree. Austria was tough at this time because they thought that it was in line with our interests, and if we took a step back, they could only take a step back, and Austria did not yet have the strength to confront France head-on, especially at sea. Moreover, the establishment of the committee would give Austria the legal political power over the Black Sea, and they could decide whether to allow ships from other countries to enter the Black Sea, and this power would bring great political benefits to Austria. Their power is expanding, and there is no reason to refuse. ”

The French will not refuse even more. Because the establishment of this committee satisfies their demand to control the access of the Black Sea countries to and from the Mediterranean, and at the same time establishes their authority in the Mediterranean. It is also a great political interest, and it is impossible for the French not to accept it. ”

"And what about Britain?"

Zhou Lang asked the toughest question.

Li Zhangtong said firmly: "Britain, it's not a problem. They will not gain any power, and we do not need to accommodate the British. Because no matter how we make concessions to Britain, Britain will still be our enemy, and no matter how much we squeeze Britain, Britain will still be our enemy, and Britain's position is certain, but there is no need to consider Britain. ”

After Zhou Lang's inspection, he was convinced that Li Zhangtong was a person with innovative thinking but a strong sense of logic, and such talents were actually relatively lacking among civil officials, and most of them were common among science and engineering officials.

So Zhou Lang identified his plan that was quite whimsical, but it did straighten out all the contradictions, so that China could indirectly achieve its goals.

Of course, this plan should be taken out for the most professional diplomats to study and discuss carefully, and only after supplementing the shortcomings will it enter the implementation process.

A person's intelligence is always limited, and after the Chinese brainstormed, it quickly changed a lot.

For example, in order to prevent the possibility of being manipulated by the big powers, Egypt and Spain, two small countries, especially Spain, the power of Spain was weakened.

to allow Spain to have a veto power over the Black Sea states' access to the Mediterranean, but this power must be effective if it is clearly detrimental to Spain's interests; France, on the other hand, has the right of veto in any case. Similarly, the three great powers, China, Russia, and Austria, have the power to veto other countries into the Black Sea. The Ottomans could get a two-way veto, denying both the Black Sea states access to the Mediterranean and the Black Sea to the Black Sea, provided that the same access was clearly detrimental to the interests of the Ottoman Empire.

In addition, more content was added, such as allowing more countries to join the committee, including the Manchu Empire, which was less concerned about maritime rights and interests, and as a large power with access to the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, it was unreasonable to participate without them; Italy's Kingdom of Sardinia was also able to join the Straits Commission, gaining the same powers as Spain and Egypt.

As for the small Balkan countries that have just become independent, Albania and Bulgaria, they are not eligible to enter because China does not recognize the Balkan resolution. But Greece has access to the Straits Commission, and it also enjoys the same powers as Spain and Egypt.

This plan also needs to be confirmed by other countries in order to become part of the national diplomatic treaty and form a diplomatic system, but it will not change much, because the interests of all countries are taken into account.

Sure enough, after the launch, Russia first approved this plan, and Russia is now almost a vassal state of China, and it is not surprising that they admit it. The representative of France, after consultations with the country, was also quick to accept the proposal. Because the power of France has been greatly strengthened.

But Austria began to hesitate, neither immediately agreeing nor explicitly opposing it, and there was a heated discussion at home and at the same time being strongly persuaded by Britain not to accept the proposal. The Chinese consul lobbied hard for Austria to accept the plan.

The Ottoman Empire did not agree, to put it bluntly, the power of this plan is the power of the Ottoman Empire, the strait is theirs, they should have the final say, when they were strong, it was true, but now they are in decline. But how many shots and blood did the Ottomans take for this strait, it is too difficult for them to give up control in vain.

However, China's determination to implement the plan will not change, and this is precisely the attitude of the major powers in promoting their own diplomatic norms in the world, and the diplomatic treaties adopted by the major powers are in fact the world system established by the major powers.

The reason why the world system of later generations is called the Anglo-American system is because almost all diplomatic treaties, international practices, and even the procedures of international conferences and the rules of sports events are formulated by Britain and the United States. When the way of international interaction is the habit of Britain and the United States, the world system is of course the Anglo-American system.

Now China is clearly inadvertently building a Chinese system!