On this issue, Zhou Chenggong hopes to get China's support, if China comes forward to support Ali to become the caliph of the Muslim world, then the weight will be different, just like the six kingdoms of Shandong support the king of Qin to be the son of Zhou Tianzi, the king of Qin cannot not be moved.

Let China support Egypt, it is simple to say simple, complicated to say complicated, simple, as long as Zhou Chengguan convinces his father to support Egypt, it is complicated, no matter how you look at Egypt being too strong, it will not be good for China. China's biggest interest in the Mediterranean is definitely to control the Suez Canal, because of the opening of the Suez Canal, China's influence in the Mediterranean region is increasing day by day, without this canal, no matter how imaginative the French are, it is impossible for the French to think that forming an alliance with China can help them fight Britain in the Mediterranean, and China, which controls the Suez Canal, has become a force that cannot be ignored in the Mediterranean.

But the canal is located on Egyptian territory, and once Egypt is too powerful, they can't allow a commercial company to control the canal, so it is in China's interest to weaken Egypt, and it is the safest thing for China to take the canal zone out of Egypt's hands. Once Egypt rules the Ottoman Empire, then Egypt will replace the Ottoman Empire as the largest power in the Middle East, whether they are willing to continue to maintain the status quo of the canal is difficult to say, but it will give them a greater say in the canal issue.

Now due to the blockade of the straits by the Ottoman Empire, the Black Sea route from Greece to China is cut off, and the connection with China must be through the Suez Canal, which is too far away in terms of distance and countless times farther, and Zhou Chenggong has no time to waste all the time in contacting him on the road, so he made a major decision to go to China secretly in person, he wants to face his father, to persuade the emperor of this powerful country, to support his country.

Also for the sake of speed, he decided to venture through the territory of the Ottoman Empire, disguised as a merchant, and headed for China.

Although the Ottoman Empire declared a blockade of Greek merchant ships, it did not dare to blockade the merchant ships of other powers, and the merchant ships of Russia, Austria, France, and Chinese European companies continued to pass freely through the strait area. However, citing the state of war, they carried out strict inspections on every merchant ship, mainly ships transporting arms. This was in conformity with public international law and therefore did not arouse objections from Austria and Russia.

However, Zhou's successful appearance in the East made them too visible on Russian and Austrian merchant ships, and Russian merchant ships have always been the focus of inspection, because Russia did provide military assistance to Greece, and Greek ships have always been qualified to fly Russian flags. Now many merchant ships flying the Russian flag and navigating the strait area will be detained. As long as there are a certain number of Greek-speaking sailors on board, they will not be detained. Russia protested several times, but the Ottoman Empire, with the support of the British, insisted on this practice.

So Zhou Chenggong disguised himself as a Chinese sailor and ventured across the strait on a European company Exocet ship from London to the Black Sea. In order to dress up decently, he really did this hard work on the ship, dressed in the usual sailor suit, scrubbing the deck.

His ship was inspected by the Ottoman navy without exception, and the naval officers of the opposing side boarded the merchant ship and inspected every nook and cranny with suspicion, even every sailor, as long as they stayed on Zhou Chenggong for a few more minutes, perhaps they could find that this man's face was somewhat familiar, and as long as they wiped the filth off his face, they might be able to recognize this as their enemy, the king of Greece.

Finally cleared, after passing through the two straits, Zhou Chenggong could board Sevastopol or Odessa on the Black Sea, and both places are now connected by train. This is the right to build the way obtained by the Chinese National Railway Company from Russia after the last Crimean War, and Russia borrowed a large amount of debt from China during the Crimean War, all of which were collateralized by various resources, and still could not repay the loan after the war, but continued to borrow in the suppression of various domestic rebellions, and this time it was the right of way to pay. Not to mention the railway from the coast to Odessa, Russia even authorized the Chinese railway company to build such a large railway from Tsaritsyn (Stalingrad) to Moscow and St. Petersburg through the core plains of Russia.

The Great Railway was built a few years ago, and although the Chinese railway companies reaped high profits from it, the Russians also benefited immensely, especially the Russian government, which collected a large amount of taxes.

On the Black Sea coast, Odessa opened two years before Moscow, and in the competition with Sevastopol, the latecomer prevailed, and now it is more prosperous than Sevastopol, because it is the window of Russia on the Black Sea.

Zhou Chenggong landed directly in Odessa, because he also wanted to pass through Russia and have secret meetings with Russian high-level officials. In this war, Russia was clearly on the side of Greece, although Russia did not dare to enter the war because of the checks and balances of Britain and Austria, but a large number of Russian and Greek expatriates entered Greece through various means, and without the support of the Russian government, it would be impossible for these expatriates to leave Russia, because the vast majority of Greek expatriates went to sea through Russian territory, from Petersburg, bypassing the whole of Europe, and finally entering Greece from the Mediterranean.

Zhou Chenggong hopes that Russia will directly enter the war, or increase its support. Zhou Chenggong's request for a secret meeting was sent to the Russian top level through the consulate, and the Russian government also sent important officials south to Tsaritsyn to meet with Zhou Chenggong secretly, but they were still unable to make direct support. Because the risk was too great, once Russia directly attacked the Ottoman Empire, then it would inevitably start another war with Austria, and France had the British counterbalance, and there was no strength to support Russia. Once the war started, it was another Crimean War situation. Russia is not afraid of war, but they have a better understanding of their own national conditions and know that the Russian system cannot support a long-term war. Therefore, Russia does not want to directly participate in a major war such as the Crimean War, in which many countries are involved, and it is difficult to distinguish the winner or loser in a short period of time.

Russia also objected to Egypt's replacement of the Ottoman Empire. A few years ago, if it weren't for the support of Russia, the Egyptian army would have been able to penetrate the core territory of the Ottoman Empire, and now that the strait area is in the hands of a weakened Ottoman Empire, this is already the best situation for Russia, and any change is a risk for them. Of course, if there is a chance that the strait area will fall under Russian control, it is worth the risk for the Russians.

After finding out the attitude of Russia, Zhou Chenggong continued to China.

All his actions were kept secret, no one knew that he had left Greece, and even then it was dangerous, because he had to be out of public for a long time.

In order to cope with this situation, he signed a secret decree and communicated with his ex-wife, Queen Connie, who would become the sole monarch of Greece in the event of an accident. And since he left, he wanted Connie to meet with the military and political dignitaries instead of him. As for his disappearance, the explanation to the outside world is that he is sick. He hoped that Connie would buy him at least two months.

This is a great risk, Connie does have a high prestige, but mainly in the civilian prestige, but in the government and the military, Zhou Chenggong's prestige is irreplaceable. If military and political officials think that their monarch has an accident, then the situation of maintaining a defensive position may not be guaranteed.

But even if Zhou Chenggong has been in Greece, then Greece will remain on the defensive at most, and it is not capable of counterattacking the Ottoman Empire at all, which is unacceptable to Zhou Chenggong. He had to find help as soon as possible, and now that the Greeks had just stopped the Ottoman army, and the enemy needed time to rebuild his forces and weapons, he was worth taking the risk of going to China. Negotiating directly with the Chinese emperor only takes one or two interviews, and success or failure is decided. Once the Ottoman army had recuperated, they would still be able to relaunch an attack on Greece, even with the Manchu Empire behind them.

Now the army of the Manchu Empire, the combat effectiveness it has shown, is no longer lost to the Ottoman army. Moreover, the Ottoman Empire has always had an advantage in military strength, the Ottoman Empire has mobilized, and their religious leaders have called for holy war against the whole people, and the Eight Banners are a blasphemous no matter how they look at it, which has created a consensus in the Muslim world.

So in the valley of the two rivers, the balance of forces between the Ottoman Empire and the Manchu Empire was changing. Mahmud II's reforms not only created a new army called the "Victorious Army of Muhammad" under the direct command of the central government, but also formed a large reserve army after the defeat of the Egyptian army.

Reserve camps were established in each province, soldiers were selected by the governor, and local nobles commanded the training, but this was not a local army, but everything was under the control of the central government. The power of financial appropriation and personnel appointment were all in the hands of the central government, so at first it was opposed by the nobility in some provinces. Mahmud II insisted that the central government should control everything, because the nobility and provincial officials would gradually develop the strength to confront the central government by handing over the recruitment and training of reserve troops to the provinces, and the Ottoman Empire had suffered this loss for a long time.

This system of reserve soldiers, which controlled all aspects of the process from the central government, allowed the Ottoman Empire to have hundreds of thousands of troops after mobilization, and the more densely populated the place, the more abundant the reserve force. Therefore, even if the two river valleys were attacked by the Manchu Empire, the Ottoman Empire still did not draw troops from Greece, but mobilized reserves locally; The reinforcements used to strengthen the Greek campaign were the reservists of Macedonia and Thrace.

As a large empire, at least in terms of troops, there is never a shortage of troops. Therefore, even if it formed an alliance with the Manchu Empire, Greece would not be able to defend itself, let alone counterattack.

Seeking the support of China, let China come to Egypt, so as to pull Egypt into his chariot, this is the most realistic, so Zhou Chenggong returned to his homeland without hesitation, and after a month of travel, he finally came to Nanjing.