As for the other small countries around the Mediterranean, Greece does not need to look at it, the king is a Chinese prince, and British diplomats are too lazy to look here.

The Manchu Empire, this country made Britain speechless, completely looked down on the Western diplomatic system, too lazy to join any Western diplomatic system, it was okay to trade with European countries, signing treaties was exempt from negotiations, and trade was a gift from the Qing Emperor.

It is true that she looks down on the West, but he seems to have an inexplicable fear of China, and the emperor of this country will never talk to any Western envoy about confronting China; To say that she was cowardly, she was not merciful in attacking the Ottoman Empire, and dared to go to war with Russia and Britain.

Moreover, the strength of this country is not weak, in the North Caucasus, the British army and the Manchu army have a direct confrontation, the objective evaluation is that the training level of the Manchu army and the command ability of the officers, with the Ottoman Empire, but the soldiers' will to fight and military discipline are stronger than the Ottoman army, the overall strength is stronger than the Ottoman Empire, not as good as the first-class army in Europe, but can compete with the second-rate army in Europe.

Coupled with a large and rapidly growing population, Britain was actually quite willing to woo the Manchus. As long as the Manchus opened their mouths and were willing to confront China, they would ask for money for money, and guns for guns, and they would no longer talk about it.

In Egypt, the last country in the neighborhood, Ali is not dead, nor has he gone as crazy as he has historically.

Ali is a hero, the word hero is very interesting, a hegemon with great ambitions like Cao Cao can be called a hero, a warlord in troubled times like Dong Zhuo can also be called a hero, a strong emperor like Zhu Yuanzhang can be called a hero, and Yang Jian, Wang Mang and other powerful ministers who seek power and usurp the throne can also be called a hero.

Such characters have some typical characteristics, they are all able to endure humiliation that others can't bear, and can do great things that others can't do.

But the same can endure what others can't bear, and there is the difference between open-mindedness and forbearance and humiliation, as well as the difference between a big husband who can afford to put it down and an outlaw with a big head and a big scar.

For example, Liu Bang with a ruffian spirit, he can endure it, that is, he has an open-minded side, and he also has the spirit of an outlaw who loses a clean life, Liu Bang was really not angry when he was forced to be the king of Qi by Han Xin. Liu Bang, who was born in the market, is probably contaminated with the habits of the rivers and lakes and the character cultivated by the heroic spirit.

Cao Cao has a broad-minded side, he can tolerate people, but he is suspicious and cautious, so Cao Cao can bear failure and accept criticism from others, but he can't tolerate the contempt of others, perhaps because of the inferiority complex and sensitivity formed by being born in an official family, so those stubborn civil officials who face to face and risk death to speak out, he can tolerate it, and even add officials to them to show their bearing; But Yang Xiu and You Heng, who are conceited and high-minded, play smart and despise him, he can't accept it. A sensitive person, thoughtful, literati temperament, and ambition allowed Cao Cao to write beautiful poems. Sensitive people are suspicious and suspicious, so Cao Cao has a headache, which is the reason why he has too many ideas.

Zhu Yuanzhang is similar to Cao Cao, but he is of low background and does not have an aristocratic education like Cao Cao. So when he started his business, he was able to unite and tolerate people like Cao Cao, but he lacked Cao Cao's self-confidence. After the success of the business, he was reluctant to share, with the thoughts of a small peasant, and always felt that others were thinking about his family, so those heroes were still killed.

Characters like Yang Jian, Wang Mang, and even Sima Yi are forbearing, not relying on open-mindedness and tolerance, but forbearance with a resolute temperament, but their hearts often continue to accumulate negative emotions.

Ali of Egypt was also a tyrant, a family of Albanian military chieftains born in the Macedonian region, also known as the deposed Yeniseri military family. He lost his father at an early age, was raised by his uncle, did business, and finally enlisted in the army and entered Egypt to fight against the French army.

The French eventually withdrew on their own, having to do so because of the blockade by the British navy. However, Ali and a group of Ottoman generals remained in Egypt, and Egypt also had its own Mamluk feudal power. Ali was humble, the Ottomans had lost control of these warlords, Ali himself shrank back, supported other generals to become governors of Egypt, and then supported the Mamluks in a coup d'état to overthrow the governor, and then he was proclaimed the new governor. This time, instead of shrinking back, he took the initiative to gather the Mamluk leaders, who were his former allies, in the name of a banquet, and then slaughtered them. After that, he purged the remnants of the Mamluk class in Egypt and completely controlled Egypt.

Ali's behavior is indeed a hero. In terms of personality, he lived a relatively difficult life in his childhood, and the wives he married were even widows, and he was also a widow with children, and the eldest son Ibrahim was the child of his wife and someone else. He was also very kind to this child, supported him as the governor of Syria, and put his army in the hands of the eldest son, without the slightest rejection.

People from poor backgrounds can be open-minded, but deep down they often have some inferiority complex and are very sensitive, just like Cao Cao. Many of Ali's behaviors are indeed very similar to Cao Cao, for example, he does not care about his name, and has always been loyal to the Ottoman Empire on the surface, but he does not really respect it, and only expands his power in the name of the caliphate. This is a realist, and if necessary, he will also use a knife against the Ottomans, such as sending his son to fight Syria and march into Asia Minor. If he really succeeded in occupying Asia Minor, he might be like Cao Cao, and blackmail the Son of Heaven to order the princes.

He was able to hold the Ottoman Empire up, and he was able to maintain restraint and even weakness against the European powers. This is more like Sima Yi, he can endure it, but he can't tolerate it, patience is not because of forgiveness, but because of reality, always holding his breath and wanting to get back to the field. Such a person, once all hope is dashed, suffers a great blow.

Historically, Ali has been patient with the European powers again and again, hoping to use this forbearance to silently develop his power. But when he defeated the Ottoman Empire one after another, the European powers intervened brutally, especially in the second war with the Ottomans, his army obviously defeated the Ottoman army, but the British simply blocked Egypt and cut off the rear route of his army. Not only did he stop the war, but even Egypt, which he had captured in the first war, was forced to return it to the Ottoman Empire. Forced to abandon rule over Crete and the Hejaz (Alaper Peninsula), shrink the navy, and reduce the army to 18,000 men.

Forbearance was not exchanged for a time when he was completely restricted, and in this case, Ali despaired, and after three years, he began to become confused, confused in his thoughts and actions, and more and more suspicious. After a few more years, he was delirious and could not rule Egypt.

But now Ali, due to the expansion of Chinese power into the Black Sea, he did not suffer the same heavy blows as in history, not only firmly ruled Syria, the Araper Peninsula, Sudan, but also seized suzerainty in North Africa from the Ottoman Empire, and because of the competition with France in North Africa, he was supported by Britain.

So now Ali is still ambitious, but it is very difficult for Ali to confront China. Britain supported him against France, and he had the courage to do so, because he knew that Britain and France were equally powerful countries, but Britain and Russia, the United States, and Spain could not defeat China, and let Egypt confront China, which was not acceptable to such a very rational realist.

But in the name of confronting China, Ali was still happy to defraud some aid from the British. As a result, he has repeatedly expressed his dissatisfaction with China's control of the Suez Canal, but he has only verbally expressed his dissatisfaction and will never take action. What he received from Britain was a low-interest loan to expand his arsenal and navy and army, and to continue to maintain his position as a great power in the Mediterranean.

Egypt, the Ottomans, and the Manchus, which are small and weak countries around the Black Sea, have their own plans, and they can eat meat, but they can't shed blood. From the British, they can be pitted, and if they can be deceived, they will not be real.

Britain is also trying to win over, if not an ally, at least not an enemy country.

The key is to start with the big and powerful countries.

Russia must be supported, without Russia, a strong country, it is simply impossible to stop the Chinese from invading the west, and from the perspective of Russia's geography, once Russia becomes strong, it will inevitably clash with China.

The Austrian Empire must also be strong, and Russia will not be able to recover for a while and a half, but the Ottoman Empire, under the leadership of Metternich, has been fishing in troubled waters since the late Napoleonic Wars, always contributing less and eating more, and its power has grown extremely rapidly in recent years.

And Austria is a Black Sea country, and China's access to the Black Sea is the greatest threat to Austria. The British judged that it would be easy to win over Austria, and that Metternich, despite his cunning, could not change Austria's geography. In the past, Russia was the most powerful power in the Black Sea, and Austria confronted Russia, but now that China has replaced Russia as the most powerful power in the Black Sea, there is no reason why Austria should not confront China.

On the premise that preventing China's entry into the Mediterranean Sea became the biggest strategic goal, the previous concern of preventing Austria from moving south took a back seat, and Britain began to accept Austria's annexation of Ottoman territory, and even took the initiative to promote the Austrian Empire's march into the Balkans.

Britain believed that the expansion of the Austrian Empire in the Balkans would inevitably provoke Chinese intervention, thus pushing Austria into opposition to China.

Britain also promised to support Austria in another direction of interests, that is, in the Mediterranean direction.

By controlling Venice, Milan and other northern Italian regions, Austria united the Venetian and Lombardy regions to form the Lombardy-Venetian Kingdom of Northern Italy, which was decided to be formed at the Congress of Vienna and was concurrently served as king by the Austrian emperor. But the Lombard Kingdom of Venesia accounted for only half of northern Italy, and to the west of him was the Kingdom of Sardinia, blocking Austria's access to the Mediterranean.

Britain decided to support Austria's direct expansion to the Mediterranean coast through northern Italy.