"The Ottoman Empire has declined, and its territory has become a burden to it. Muhammad Ali, a civilized man of the barbarian world, led Egypt under his leadership could replace the Ottomans as the "Ottoman man."

The first speaker was the French representative Thiers, who once said that "his political activities are a chronicle of the political catastrophe of France" and "a dwarf monster trying to wield Napoleon's sword".

He was a spiritual Roman who suppressed the workers' uprising in Lyon, advocated foreign wars, opposed British intervention on the European continent, and bloodily suppressed the Paris Commune.

Palmerston habitually interrupted others, and he never felt that there was anything wrong with it, and the great power of Britain was his dependence.

"To become something, to become a colony of France? The Egyptians will not do business with us, they will only talk to you French. ”

In fact, apart from Britain and France, the participating powers had very limited trade with the Ottomans, especially Prussia, who exported the most military talents to the Ottomans.

The border between Austria and the Ottomans is comparable to that of war-torn Afghanistan, where trade between the two countries comes mainly by sea, and Austria has long been an importing country. As for the volume of trade, it is only a few tenths of that of Britain and France.

Russia's trade is also indescribable, so no one except Britain and France cares about trade with the Ottoman Empire, and of course no one stands up against Palmerston, because it is meaningless, and it is possible to be bitten by this madman.

"Joke! Don't you British believe in freedom of trade? Who does Egypt do business with, does it still need your British consent? The hands of the Britons are stretched too long! Thiers also retorted, having always resented British policy of interfering in continental Europe.

"Shut up, Monsieur Thiers! We in the UK believe in free trade, and what we do is to uphold free trade. The Egyptian government cannot restrict the export of Egyptian merchants, let alone the entry of British merchants! Palmerston said.

"Free trade? Then why don't you British allow our wine to be sold in London, Portsmouth, and Birmingham, and why do you impose heavy taxes on Russian logs? ”

At that time, Russia mainly exported agricultural products, the vast majority of which were sold to the British, and the logs were taxed very heavily by the British.

This immediately struck a chord with Russian Foreign Minister Nesherlov, a diplomat by military force who could not be more thoughtful than everyone present.

"That's right! Mr. Palmerston, can you Britain cut your tariffs, it's too high. ”

In fact, Austrian glass products were also sanctioned by the British, and Metternich naturally would not let go of this opportunity.

"Yes, and our glasswork."

Lord Thurville, the foreign minister of Prussia, was also searching for what he should say, and finally burst out with a sentence.

"And our Prussian agricultural products."

Palmerston was a qualified diplomat who immediately changed his tune when he saw that things were going in his favor.

"The opinions of the countries, we will take them into account. But isn't it time to discuss today how to safeguard the interests of the European countries in the Ottomans? ”

"Let's move on to free trade, me."

Just as Thiers was about to take advantage of the victory, his words were interrupted again, this time by Nesserlov.

"We in Russia hope that you will respect Russian interests. If the Egyptians attack the Dardanelles, we in Russia are willing to send 150,000 troops to help the Ottoman Empire survive this crisis. ”

At this moment, Neserlov immediately became the focus of the audience, and Russia sent 150,000 troops south, which made everyone present feel that Russia was planning to continue to encroach on Ottoman territory.

This was clearly not in everyone's interest, and Palmerston was immediately opposed.

"No, the Russian army must not enter Anatolia!"

"That's right! The Russian army cannot go south, this is the Ottoman civil war! ”

Thiers also opposed the Russian army's move south against Egypt, and while the Egyptians were excellent in Ottoman battles, they were not good enough to fight against real powers. And against both the woolly bear and the UK, no country in the world can do it.

Historically, it was precisely because of the strong opposition of Britain and France, coupled with the fact that Pu Austria also supported Britain and France, that the woolly bear was prevented from going south.

But at this time, Puo did not express his position, and the Russians did not mean to back down.

Palmerston immediately hurried.

"Shouldn't we maintain the status quo in the Near East? Mr. Metternich, don't you also support the rule of the Ottoman Sultan? ”

"Yes, we support the Ottoman Sultan to continue to rule the Ottomans, but why should we stop the Russians from going south?"

Metternich certainly knew the purpose of Russia's southward movement, but what did that have to do with Austria. At this time, Austria wished that Britain, France, and Russia would be in a pot of porridge, and Austria would take the opportunity to make a fortune.

The opinion of Prussia was not important to the countries, so Lord Thurville was ignored.

Britain, France, and Russia were at odds with each other, Austria wanted to reap the benefits of the fishermen and wait for other powers to win it over, while Prussia was powerless to do anything but soy sauce in the Near East.

The outcome of the meeting, of course, was inconclusive.

Britain, France, and Russia all hoped to draw Austria, which was in a neutral position, to their side.

The first to find Metternich was Palmerston, who seemed very confident.

Palmerston believed that as soon as the current situation in the Near East was clarified with Metternich, the latter would immediately join the British side.

A strong Egypt meant a strong France, and a strong France was clearly not in the interests of Austria.

Because France would compete with Austria for the leadership of Italy and Germany.

The Russians would have to strengthen their control over the Ottoman Empire if they moved south, and it would be difficult for Austria to advance eastward, and Russia would prevent Austria from annexing Germany to the north, because the Tsar did not want to see a strong Austria.

Historically, it was along this line of thought that Metternich had been a younger brother to Palmerston, but in the end he found out that Britain was also an obstacle to Austria.

At this time, Austria already had the strength to defend itself, coupled with Franz's analysis and the pitifully weak fleet sent by the British.

It made Metternich think that this was Britain seeking help from allies, so the arrogant Pamestar came to the door.

Palmerston came empty-handed, showing no sincerity, which made Metternich feel that he was being slighted.

"Lord Palmerston, your analysis is brilliant, but our Austrian Empire is not afraid of war. Any country that dares to infringe upon our interests will certainly be met with a strong counterattack from our armed forces.

You have said that there are no eternal friends in this world, only eternal interests, and that we will only stand on the side that is in the interests of the Austrian Empire. ”

Metternich was doing tai chi, and Palmerston clearly didn't want to take it, and he left like a spoiled kid who didn't get candy right away.

"Rats' eyes! You'll regret it! ”

(End of chapter)