Zhou Chenggong flinched a little.

The Manchus degenerated too quickly, and there were already signs of the last war, when their army was already inferior to the Ottoman Empire in terms of discipline and organization, but they could still suppress the other side by using the cession of bravery, and it was only a dozen years, and it had dropped sharply to this extent, which really made him not expect.

In Zhou Chenggong's view, Daoguang is not a dim-witted emperor, some of his ministers, such as Mu Zhang'a and others, except for some flaws in the issue of greed for money, are also decent in other aspects, is it really corruption that ruined the empire, or because there are too many powerful people, it has dragged down the country.

Zhou Chenggong originally predicted that the Manchu advance would be overwhelming, because the main Ottoman forces were in the Black Sea, but he did not expect that the Ottomans would be able to rely on the border fortifications to hold back the Qing army. This puts Greece in a predicament, Greece is a small country after all, even if it does not fight a decisive battle with the Ottoman army, the other side can drag Greece down just by dragging it down.

The terms given by the British, already quite generous, allowed him to annex Bulgaria, but not directly to Greece, but allowed him to become king of Bulgaria personally. But the current assault on Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, which cannot be captured unless Greece can destroy the Ottoman Empire, must be abandoned. And even if the military occupation is successful, will the Great Powers really want Greece to annex this important region?

The annexation of Bulgaria in the European mode of war was already an extremely successful military expansion, which amounted to nearly doubling the population of Greece from three million to five million, more than doubling the territory, which was not too easy compared to the expansion of Prussia.

Moreover, this can be supported and recognized by the European powers, which is a safe interest, and Zhou Chenggong also has the confidence to control Bulgaria, so that he has no ties with the common king of the two countries, and the power in his hands will be greatly enhanced.

But in this way, Greece is tantamount to detaching itself from the orbit of China's strategy, and he is not sure what China will do. China's most violent reaction was to directly enter the war, intervene in the strait area, and at most fight a great power war with Britain for hegemony, which would not affect Greece in any way. Greece is not in the way of the two countries, although Greece's surroundings may become a war zone, but this kind of naval war, but will not affect the interests of Greece, but will affect the interests of China and Britain in this area, the goods of the two countries can not enter here, will make room for Greek goods market, the merchant ships of the two countries can not sail freely, and the Greek shipping industry can take advantage of the opportunity to profit. As in several wars in the Black Sea region, Greece was the biggest beneficiary.

The only regret is that Greece failed to take advantage of this opportunity to lay the foundations of the empire, but this is not Greece's problem, it is mainly the allies who have problems.

Rather than letting Greece become a shield to help China stand in the forefront, it is better to cooperate with Western powers and accept that they have already gained huge benefits, and accept what they see is the most in line with Greece's interests.

Zhou Chenggong began to get in close contact with the British consuls, and he hoped to obtain the region of Izmir (Smyrna) on the peninsula of Asia Minor while maintaining the current interests of the Balkans, because it was mainly inhabited by the Greeks, and that it was the largest and finest port of the Ottoman Empire in Asia Minor.

The concessions that the Greek king was willing to make, Britain was welcome, Bulgaria could be given to Greece, southern Macedonia could also be given to Greece, but Albania could not be given to Greece, this was the bottom line of the Austrian Empire, Greece controlled Albania, it controlled the exit of the Otranto Strait, and it was a threat to Austria's Adriatic export.

As for Izmir, it was also unacceptable to the British, primarily the Ottoman Empire, and the loss of Izmir was a major blow to the Ottoman economy. The loss of European territories was already a moribund for the Ottoman Empire, because under the Ottoman Empire's fiscal system, the Ottomans in Asia Minor paid less taxes, and the European territories were responsible for two-thirds of the finances. The loss of European territory would have made the Ottoman Empire's finances unsustainable, and it would be difficult for the Ottoman Empire to sustain itself by ceding the richest part of the Asian territory to Greece.

Moreover, if the European territories cannot be preserved after the relinquishment of the territories of Asia, it will be very disadvantageous both militarily and politically. The military defense plate is no longer complete, and politically it will lose the trust of the population.

As for the coastal islands, they could be handed over to Greece, because the Greek navy had now occupied all the Ottoman overseas islands that were not protected or garrisoned by fortifications, and most of these islands were inhabited by Greeks, or the Greek population was predominant. There is no strategic or economic value, just a few fishermen.

All this was seen by the Chinese consul and quickly returned to the country. China supported Greece and the Manchus in destroying the Ottoman Empire, and China did not seek to occupy it, but only wanted to open the straits. Allowing Chinese warships to operate unimpeded, with the support of a growing shipbuilding industry along the Black Sea coast, could support China's deployment of a sizable fleet in the Mediterranean.

After entering the era of ironclads, the sailors found that the comparison with the power of the British Navy did not decline, and it was even worse than the era of sail warships, because the ironclad ships had a higher need for industrial support, and the sail warships could not break through the western Mediterranean and West African coasts controlled by the British army before, so they did not pose any threat to Britain, and the same was true in the era of ironclad ships.

The Eastern Mediterranean region is a traditional industrial region, and in order to maintain naval superiority here, European companies have to maintain huge military bases in Crete, most of which are used for military purposes, which are multiplied too high, and if they can open up the Black Sea, the cost will be greatly reduced if they can use the industrial system supported by commercial transportation in the Black Sea region.

But Greece's attitude is obviously a retreat.

The Chinese consul, who did not receive a clear reply, sent a box from the emperor's deep palace for him to pass on to the Greek king.

Queen Connie received the gift in the king's place, curious to see what it was.

When the king had once again finished communicating with the British consul, he had time to tell the king.

"Gifts?"

Zhou Chenggong was curious.

The two of them carefully opened the beautifully packaged carton, which contained an object wrapped in silk.

When I opened it, it was a porcelain bottle!

Connie was pleasantly surprised: "This is the porcelain vase you said?" ”

After saying that, she picked it up carefully, and sure enough, it was glued, and it was very untidy, and there were many gaps, some of which could be stuffed into her fingers.

Connie asked, "What does this gift mean?" ”

Zhou Chenggong sneered: "That's the meaning of chopsticks!" ”

Connie nodded: "On behalf of unity!" ”

Zhou Chenggong's eyes began to be cold: "He's still helping him." ”

As he spoke, he took the porcelain bottle from his wife's hand, and then in the midst of his wife's scream, the porcelain bottle fell from between Zhou Chenggong's released fingers, fell to pieces, and could no longer be put together.

Zhou Chenggong looked at the scattered porcelain pieces, and he felt that something in his heart seemed to be shattered, and he couldn't fight it anymore.