Hermitage, St. Petersburg, Russia "My beloved brother!" Nikolai Nikolayevich said as he looked at his brother, who was a little depressed at the desk.

"Oh! Little Nikolai came, weren't you in the command of the Danube Army? How did you get here? ”

"Your Majesty, I have come to ask the court why we and the Ottomans are being asked to exercise restraint, and we should send troops. Brother Huang, I heard that it was the Chinese who pressured us to stop all military acts. ”

At the mention of the nightmare Chinese Alexander II, he felt a burst of anger: "Yes, my brother. The Chinese wanted us to withdraw our troops on the Balkan border, and they sold the entire Egyptian fleet to the Ottoman infidels, the hateful Chinese. ”

"But we don't have to care about the Chinese, they are far away in Asia!"

"No, my brother! The Chinese are very close to us, and the Chinese have come to us since the end of the last war. This time they conducted a huge military exercise not far from Yekaterinburg, and Milyutin (then Russian War Minister Dmitry Alexievich Milyutin) felt that we could not let the Chinese attack our back at this time. I don't dare to repeat the mistakes of the past (referring to the Crimean War), and we don't have a good way now. ”

"What about the British and the French? Didn't they react at all? ”

The British did not reply, they were still waiting, but the French stupid McMahon (full name: Mary Edmi Patrice Morris de McMahon, make up the number of words!). Don't mind) and his stupid government were all fooled by the Chinese's old cake (referring to the fact that France got the Congo River valley from China), and they are now walking with the Chinese. ”――

"Hobart!" Overjoyed to receive support from China and France, Abdul Hamid II turned to his Black Sea Fleet commander in the room.

"In! My Majesty. "You know what! The commander of the Black Sea Fleet at this time was an Englishman Hobart Pasha who had converted to Islam.

"Do you have any plans on the part of the Navy?"

"It's my majesty, our Black Sea Fleet now has 22 armored ships (at this stage, all protected warships are called armored ships, and the unprotected ones are all wooden warships), 82 unarmored ships, 15,000 soldiers, and the quality is superior to the newly built Russian Black Sea Fleet, plus the upcoming Chinese Egyptian fleet, our strength will absolutely suppress the Russian Black Sea Fleet. We have enough courage and confidence to defeat the Russians. ”

"Very good, my general. Sit down! Abdul Hamid II was actually an armyist, and this time he proposed to buy warships from China, first, to show goodwill to China, and secondly, to avoid cheap Russians to get those warships, after asking the navy, Abdul Hamid II looked at his prime minister, Midhat Pasha, "What is the situation in the Midhat Balkans?" ”

"The Serbs are still making trouble, but the situation is under control, and Bosnia and Herzegovina and Bulgaria are full of rebels, but I have asked Abdul Kerim Nadir Pasha to move his troops over, and I believe that the situation will stabilize soon. There also seem to be signs of rebellion in Negro, a doorman. ”

"Didn't Abdul Kerim Nadirpasha's army confront the Russians in Moldavia? What to do with transferring him to the Russians? Abdul Hamid II was somewhat concerned that Abdul Kerim Nadir Pasha's army was the only Ottoman army that had undergone modern military reforms.

"Your Majesty don't worry, there are warnings from the Chinese and the French, the Russians will not act rashly, they are also afraid of fighting a Crimean War."

"Are you okay?" Abdul Hamid II was still a little worried.

"Don't worry! Your Majesty, I heard that the Chinese also conducted an exercise to the east of the Ural Mountains this time to deter the Russians. ”

"Really? Thank you to these lovely friends! "Abdul Hamid II used to be angry that China had snatched Egypt from the Ottomans and the Suez Canal, but now he thinks that the Chinese are still very good.

May 3, 1877.

"Hello Your Majesty the Great Sultan!"

"Hello! My faithful Chinese friend! I don't know what the great emperor of the East has to say to me. At this time, Abdul Hamid II was receiving Mu Bowen, the special envoy of the Emperor of the Chinese Empire. For the country and the emperor who supported him, Abdul Hamid II felt that it was still necessary to maintain enough respect.

"Your Majesty, I have come to disturb you for the affairs of the Balkans." Mu Bowen also said straight to the point.

"I don't know what your country has to say?" Although tired of China's meddling in the affairs of his own empire, he felt compelled to hear it.

"Yes, Your Majesty, I think you should know that the situation in the Balkans is urgent, even if now you and your empire are still in control of the Balkans, and the rebellion there has been suppressed, but the nationalist ideas of these small countries cannot be eliminated by you and your empire. In order to maintain the peace of your country on this land, we have done our best, and we cannot send troops to help you. ”

"Yes, thank you for your selfless assistance. Don't know what your country wants from me? Abdul Hamid II still did not understand what the envoy was talking about, and he was already prepared to pay a price that was not too excessive.

"The existence and strength of the Ottoman Turkish Empire is the best help to our country, and our government and intelligence agencies have made a comprehensive analysis of the situation in the Balkans. Our conclusion is that in today's nationalist world, small countries have begun to have the ability to influence the course of large countries, and for this we must curb the ability of these small countries. ”

"Very unique opinion, I don't know what Mr. has to say?"

"In order to preserve the rule of the Ottoman Empire, I and our government hope that you will give up your suzerainty over Serbia and hand over those damned Slavs to Austria-Hungary, as you know the tsarist government, which threatens you under the banner of "saving the Christians under the oppression of the Turkish Empire" and "protecting the Slavic brothers". In addition, Bosnia and Herzegovina was given to Austria-Hungary in the form of a trusteeship. ”

"This" Abdul Hamid II was not a brainless and feudal monarch, but he was a very insightful person, otherwise the current Ottomans would not be a constitutional monarchy (of course, this constitutional monarchy is modeled after the Chinese Empire). It was not that Abdul Hamid II did not want to give up Serbia, which had always been a thorn in the side of the Balkans, and the Ottomans had long intended to abandon it, but the abandonment of Bosnia and Herzegovina for no reason was a major blow to his prestige.

"And Bulgaria! On the border between the Ottomans and Russia, we felt the need for a buffer country, Bulgaria was a good choice. We believe that Romania should become an Ottoman vassal state so that your valuable army will have the ability to control the more important Bulgarian regions. Seeing that Abdul Hamid II's face seemed to be a little displeased, Mu Bowen hurriedly said, "Your Majesty the Great Sultan, please don't be angry, there is nothing more important than your majesty's rule compared to these lands, if your majesty does not make some compromises in these two places, Russia will not give up, besides, Austria-Hungary is also eyeing the Balkans, Your Majesty, you want to exchange these lands for the development time of the Ottoman Empire, as long as you have enough time, China will help your army complete the reform, so that your soldiers do not have to fear the Russians at all. ”

Seeing that Abdul Hamid II was still thinking, Mu Bowen threw a big bomb again: "If you agree to the above conditions, China will give your country a 5% stake in the Suez Canal and is willing to help your country complete industrialization." ”

Hearing this, Abdul Hamid II was very moved, and he was very moved by the 5% stake in the Suez Canal, which was a huge fortune, and he didn't care about industrialization or anything, that was something that the prime minister had to consider.

"Your suggestion is very good, but I would like to discuss it with my Pashas."

"Happy to wait! Always available. ”