"My country is full of sympathy for what has happened to your country."

In Paris, the new French Prime Minister, Charles de Fresiné, was in his office, talking to Ambassador Haussmann about France's attitude.

"Your Excellency, Prime Minister, thank France for its concern for our country, and I wonder if my request for your country's help has come to fruition?"

As soon as the Haussmann ambassador arrived, he was anxious to know the attitude of France. And in the face of the ambassador's inquiry, Fresine smiled. "Our country has always attached great importance to the friendly relations between our two countries, so if you want to issue bonds, you can get the support of the BNP Paribas consortium, and in addition, we have a batch of decommissioned weapons and equipment, which can also be sold to you, but in terms of price, it is ......."

Speaking of which, how could Ambassador Osman not understand that it would be good to be able to buy weapons and ammunition at this time, and the price should not be too careful.

"I understand, rest assured, the Ottomans will pay a suitable price for this batch of weapons."

Since the Ottomans were on the road like this, Fresine didn't mind selling them some other weapons. "As for our country's newest torpedo boats, which are a sharp weapon to protect the coast from enemy attacks, I wonder if your country is interested?"

"The goodwill of your country can be felt by every Ottoman, but this matter needs to be decided by Istanbul, so please don't be surprised by Your Excellency the Prime Minister."

In the face of the French Prime Minister's kindness, Ambassador Osman could not make up his mind, because he could not make up his mind on this matter, so he could only report it first. Of course, he was very satisfied with the attitude of France, which was really a good ally in tradition.

"It's okay, I'm looking forward to good news from you."

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? A threat from Italy? Let this Hamid II appear in front of everyone again.

"A message back from Rome? Italy wants to take advantage of the murder of missionaries in Syria? To wage war against our country. ”

In the palace, in front of the Sultan and other important ministers? Harim Pasha, who is in charge of foreign affairs, said what was going on.

"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? It's just a different name.

"The message is very accurate? This was 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 sent a message in the European debt market? They will issue a huge bond. ”

With Harim Pasha speaking out about the current situation in Italy? The faces of the people present were not very good-looking. 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.

"At the moment the situation is already obvious, the hostile attitude of the Italians towards our country is very clear? They can't wait to take North Africa and Albania from the Empire? In this regard, our country must not allow the Italians to fight their attempts. ”

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

"What do they want to achieve? His Majesty's army, will these Italians know? What is wishful thinking. ”

Speaking was the Minister of War Ottoman Field Marshal Osman Nuri Pasha? I saw the veteran angrily expressing his attitude.

This is one of the few famous generals in the Ottoman Empire? In the 10th Turkish-Russian War, he led an army of the Ottoman Empire to hold back 300,000 troops of the Russian army in Pleven for five months. It was only later that he failed to break through and was captured, which made him less perfect in the Turkish-Russian War.

Despite this, upon his return to the Ottomans at the end of the war, Nuri Pasha was greeted with a warm welcome by Sultan Hamid II.

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

Faced with the threat of war in Italy, the veteran commander did not hesitate to step forward and lead the Ottoman army to the battlefield once again.

Although the words of the Secretary of War were encouraging, Camille Pasha still had something to say. "Marshal Nuri Pasha, I can understand your feelings, and I myself am as angry as yours. However, if you want to fight, this is not easy for the empire. ”

Why did Camille Pasha say this, because the Ottoman treasury was empty, and at the moment it could not even take out five million Ottoman liras.

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.

However, it is a pity that Camille Pasha, who is the Grand Vizier, knows best that the current Ottoman Empire is basically in debt, the local finances are in shambles, and the officials are very corrupt, and they have handed over one lire to the state treasury, and at least five or six lira of money has been put into their own pockets by these officials.

As a result, the Ottoman government had far less revenue than the European powers, and His Majesty the Sultan had to live a decent life, so there was less money to be distributed.

In addition, the Ottomans borrowed a lot of money from foreign countries, and these money had to be repaid, and after deducting the expenses of seventy-seven eighty-eight, the Ottoman Empire had a deficit of nearly 100 million Ottoman lira every year.

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.

In the face of such a situation, Camille Pasha, who is the Grand Vizier, how dare he speak lightly about going to war, after all, once the war starts, a huge amount of financial support is needed. 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.