Chapter 158: The Cairo Conference 1

Historically, the Paris Revolution overthrew the Second Empire on September 4, 1870, and proclaimed the establishment of a republic, known as the Third Republic. At the beginning of the new regime, the Wehrmacht was formed by a coalition of bourgeois republicans and royalists, and on 28 January 1871 an armistice was signed between the Wehrmacht and the German Empire. In February, the National Assembly, which was dominated by royalists, was elected, and L-A. Thiers was elected head of government and later president, and he formally signed the Treaty of Frankfurt with Germany and united Germany to suppress the Paris Commune (1792~1794) uprising. Due to the butterfly effect brought about by the Chinese Empire, the Franco-Prussian War ended early in late 1870, and of course the Paris Revolution was quickly suppressed. Although France had established the Third Republic, the republicans in the country were divided into moderate and radical factions, and the Cairo Conference Thiers was unable to attend the conference in person because of the turmoil in the country, and France sent a delegation headed by Duke McMahon.

Fortunately, the French delegation received news from the Chinese embassy immediately after disembarking in Alexandria, and MacMahon sent a report to Thiers to discuss urgently at the same time.

"Grevi, what do you think of the opinions of the Chinese?" McMahon first sought the advice of François Paul Jules Grevy, the speaker of the National Assembly, who accompanied him.

"Your Excellency, I think the feasibility is very high, China is courting us, this time the Chinese want us to support them to obtain Bechuana against the British, for us France has no colonies in South Africa and there is no conflict of interest with China, and if we get the Congo River valley we can expand the area of French Congo by the whole of France, although we have to pay the Comoros Islands, although the acquisition of this area may not be of great help to the French economy in the short term, However, gentlemen, if we get the Congo during this conference to divide Africa, not only will our group be regarded as heroes by the people, but also greatly enhance the prestige of the government and stabilize the situation in the country, so I agree with this deal. Moreover, for us, we only pay a promise, some things, and most importantly, we can also gain friendship with the Chinese, why don't we do that? Grevy analyzed.

After listening to Grevy's analysis, McMahon nodded and said: "Very good, although I hate that the Chinese support the Prussians against the great French Empire, I am still happy to accept the friendship of the Chinese." So let's get in touch with the Chinese right away! ”

"Teacher, telegram from the French." Saying that, Zhang Zhidong handed over the message, "They basically agreed to our request, and were eager to sign a secret agreement with us before the meeting. ”

"Very well, now we can leave for Cairo with peace of mind." Zeng Guofan finished reading the telegram in his hand, smiled and said-

Egypt is an ancient civilization with a long history, and its history is bounded by the invasion of Napoleon I in 1798, which can be roughly divided into two stages: ancient medieval and modern times. In 3100 BC, a unified slave state emerged. Subsequently, this poor ancient civilization of the world experienced the rule of the pharaohs, was conquered by the Assyrians, then the Persians, then Alexander the Great and the Roman Empire. In the mid-7th century, the Arabs invaded and established the Arab Empire. In 1249 it began to be ruled by the commander of the Mamluk legion. It was conquered by the Turks in 1517. Became a province of the Ottoman Empire. It was occupied by Napoleon in 1798~1801. The current ruler of Egypt is still the Bulji dynasty of the Mamluk legions, Mamluk, Mamluk, Mameluk, Mameluke, also known as Mamluk, Mamluk, Ma Later, with the decline of the caliphate and the dissolution of the Ayyubid dynasty, they gradually became a powerful military ruling group and established their own Burgi dynasty, which ruled Egypt for three hundred years (1250-1517).

At the end of the 14th century, the Mamluk dynasty was weakened by the incompetence and infighting of the Mamluk successors, as well as by the economic recession, which greatly reduced the agricultural industry and tax revenues, and because of the outbreak of the massive plague in Egypt. But the house leaked and it rained, the Bedouin came to harass it, the lame Timur came to attack, the Portuguese also came to attack the Red Sea trade route, and the Ottoman Empire also came to join in the fun, not big, but occupied Egypt and Syria. But the Mamluks, the hundred-legged worm, were not dead, and although they could no longer be the sultans of Egypt, they still formed the core of the army and were appointed government officials. During the Ottoman occupation of 1517-1798, the Mamluks remained an important stratum of Egypt's political structure and had considerable influence on society. It was not until 1811 that the new ruler of Egypt, Muhammad Ali Pasha, carried out a massacre of the Mamluks, which led to the removal of Mamluk power. The Mamluk dynasty had two classes, the former constituted the bureaucratic class, and the latter was mostly Mamluks, who were in charge of the army and served as sultans, governors, and other high-ranking officials.

Egypt was largely controlled by China, Britain, France, and the Ottoman powers, with the Chinese Empire having a Red Sea coast, the British controlling the Nile Valley, and the French controlling the Mediterranean coast. Of course, all of these regional countries are tacit, and one of the topics on the agenda of this conference is about the division of power in Egypt.

The current ruler of Egypt was Ismail Pasha, which means high-ranking officials in the Ottoman administrative system, usually governors, generals, and high-ranking officials. Pasha is an honorific, the equivalent of the English "lord". He was also the Sultan's Wali (ruler of the Ottoman region), during his reign he worked to modernize Egypt and Sudan while leaving the country heavily in debt. For the time being, we can call Ismail's modern Egypt the Westernization Movement of Egypt, and the Westernization Movement of China in history Egypt is facing the political, economic and cultural invasion of the Chinese Empire, the British Empire, the French Empire, Italy, Austria-Hungary, Russia and other powers, especially the opening of the Suez Canal.

Upon his accession to the throne, Ismail began internal reforms on a scale similar to that of his grandfather, reforming the customs system and postal services, stimulating commerce, establishing a sugar industry, and building a royal palace. He also greatly developed Cairo, building a new city in imitation of Paris at the western end of Cairo,[10] and improving Alexandria. He undertook a massive railway project that transformed Egypt and Sudan from no railroad to the highest habitable railway coverage in the world [11]. Unfortunately, the reforms should have been successful, but the Chinese Empire seized 80% of Egypt's railroad construction rights, the British controlled all the long-staple cotton production in the Nile Valley, and the French controlled ninety percent of Egypt's steel and coal industries. By 1870, Egypt had become the richest and most developed country in Africa and the Middle East, but unfortunately none of this wealth was Egyptian, and China, Britain, and France jointly controlled Egypt's customs and postal services.

By 1870, the armament of more than 50,000 troops in the Egyptian Pasha Ismail was Type 40 rifles and artillery ammunition purchased from China, and most of the military instructors were from France, but most of the government officials were trained by the British. All three had a large number of troops stationed in Egypt, the troops of the Chinese Empire were mainly stationed in the port of Sefaj, about a division on the Red Sea coast of Egypt, and a reinforced brigade of about 4,000 men in the Suez Canal Zone. Two legions of the French (more than twenty thousand) were scattered in the main cities on the Mediterranean coast, mainly in Alexandria. The British army was smaller, with only one brigade, but the Egyptian servant army, which numbered 50,000, was concentrated in Cairo.

In general, Egypt today is worse off than Egypt in history and China, which was reduced to a semi-feudal and semi-colony in history