The new royal palace of Dolmabahce in Istanbul is the residence of the current Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II. Although it is not very large, only more than 600 meters, the interior of the palace is extremely luxurious.

The Ottoman Empire invested a lot of money in the construction of Dolmabahce Palace and incurred a large amount of foreign debts for it. It is said that fourteen tons of gold and forty tons of silver were used to decorate the entire palace.

Therefore, after the palace was built, the sultan chose this place as his residence. Of course, Abdul Hamid II chose to sit here, but he was more like a seclusion here than the previous sultans, and he could not easily see the Ottoman monarch.

But this time, the threat from Italy made this Hamid II appear in front of everyone again.

"Message from Rome that Italy wants to take advantage of the murder of missionaries in Syria to wage war against our country."

In the palace, in the presence of the Sultan and other important ministers, Harim Pasha, who was in charge of foreign affairs, spoke about the discussion.

"Harim, is this news accurate?"

The questioner was the Ottoman Grand Vizier Kamil Pasha. The Grand Vizier is equivalent to the post of Prime Minister, but in a different name.

"The message is very accurate, it is a telegram from the ambassador to Rome, Manersu. In addition, I have learned that there is a lot of hype in Italy about bad news for our country. In addition, we have received news from our international friends that the Italian army has canceled its leave and has begun to mobilize retired soldiers. And Italy has sent news in the European bond market that they will issue a huge bond. ”

As Harim Pasha spoke out about the current situation in Italy, everyone present did not look good. Everyone is a political experiencer, and it is impossible to see what the Italians are trying to do.

As for the international friends mentioned by Harim Pasha, who can't have three or five bosom friends.

So when Harim Pasha finished speaking, Camille Pasha, who was the Grand Vizier, stepped forward.

"The situation is now clear, the attitude of the Italians towards our country is very clear, they cannot wait to seize North Africa and Albania from the hands of the Empire, and we must not allow the Italians to do their bidding."

Just as the Grand Vizier Camille Pasha spoke, a bell sounded.

"They don't want to achieve it, His Majesty the Sultan's army will let these Italians know what it means to be delusional."

It was the Minister of War Ottoman Field Marshal Osman Nuri Pasha who spoke, and I saw the veteran angrily expressing his attitude.

This is one of the few famous generals in the Ottoman Empire, in the Tenth Turkish-Russian War, he led the army of an army of the Ottoman Empire to hold back the 300,000 troops of the Russian coalition army in Pleven for five months. He can keep going. It's just that the breakthrough failed later and was captured? It made him less perfect in the Turkish-Russian War.

But despite this, after returning to the Ottomans at the end of the war? Nuri Pasha is still warmly greeted? Sultan Hamid II personally presided over the welcoming ceremony.

This is also a testament to his status in the Sultan's mind, and this is now his second time as Minister of War.

Facing the threat of war in Italy? This old marshal did not hesitate to step forward and lead the Ottoman army? Once again, set foot on the battlefield.

Although the words of the Secretary of War are inspiring? But Camille Pasha still has something to say. "Marshal Nuri Pasha, I can understand your feelings, and I myself am as angry as yours. But want to go to war, this is for the Empire? It's not easy. ”

Why did Camille Pasha say this? Because the Ottoman treasury was empty, not even five million Ottoman lira could be taken out at the moment.

Speaking of which, the Ottoman Empire was not weaker than Italy in terms of population and economy, and its fiscal revenue should be very good.

But unfortunately, Camille Pasha, who is the Grand Vizier, knows best that the current Ottoman Empire is basically heavily indebted? Local finances are in shambles, and officials are very corrupt? One lire was handed over to the state treasury, and at least five or six lira of money was put into the pockets of these officials.

This also led to the fact that the Ottoman government had revenues far inferior to those of the European powers? Coupled with the fact that His Majesty the Sultan wants to live a decent life, there is less money that can be distributed.

In addition, the Ottomans borrowed a lot from abroad? Do you have to pay all this money back? In addition, in the deduction of seven-seven-eighty-eight expenses? The Ottoman Empire had an annual deficit of almost 100 million Ottoman lira.

Although Italy's annual deficit is higher than that of the Ottomans, it is because of large-scale construction and at the same time promoting its own industrialization. The fact that the Ottomans still had such a high deficit without these two huge expenditures can be imagined how bad the Ottoman finances were.

Faced with such a situation, how dare Camille Pasha, who is the Grand Vizier, speak lightly about going to war, after all, once the war starts, it needs a huge amount of financial support. And in this situation of the Ottomans, where to find these funds.

"Then find other countries to borrow, we can't give up these two territories to the Italians because of lack of money."

As for Kamil Pasha's words about not having money, Nuri Pasha certainly doesn't care about the government's finances. He was the Secretary of War and not the Grand Vizier.

Hearing the words of the Minister of War, Camille Pasha was a little unsure of what to say. How can it be so easy to borrow money, if you don't agree to some additional conditions, who will lend Ottoman a large sum of money, you must know that it will require at least 500 million lira, which is Camille Pasha made a preliminary estimate based on the last Turkish-Russian war.

"It's not easy to borrow such a large sum of money if you want to borrow money now."

"But now Italy is on the verge of declaring war."

"I also know that borrowing money is not that easy."

As the atmosphere at the scene became more and more intense, the two of them were about to become bulls.

"Okay, everyone's calm."

This time it was His Majesty the Sultan who spoke, and his words put an end to the argument between the two.

"The threat of war from the Italians, we can't just ignore it, immediately prepare to mobilize the army, and find Britain and France to purchase weapons, and we can find a few more countries for the issue of borrowing."

With the words of Hamid II, it was also destined for the next move of the Ottoman Empire.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Yes."

Hamid II was pleased to see that everyone present listened to him respectfully, and then he spoke again. "And diplomatically, we can't give up. In addition to Britain, France and Germany, other countries also sought support, as in the last war. ”

Although Hamid II was at the end of the call, everyone present knew that the Sultan was talking about the 10th Turkish-Russian War, which had completely destroyed the Ottomans. Thanks to excellent diplomacy, the Ottomans were able to retain some of their Balkan territories.

It's not a good example at all, but the diplomacy was really good.

With the words of Hamid II, the Ottoman Empire also began its own actions, first of all, the army began to mobilize to prepare for the arrival of war, and the other was to urgently borrow debts, although this must be knocked out, but at this time there is not so much to care about.

In addition to this, the diplomatic work of various countries was also a top priority for the Ottomans.