The Times reported that "this policy had an astonishing effect" and "greatly changed the perception of the Ottoman Empire among the British and French publics".

Contrary to the British touting, the old Prince Metternich concluded that MacGede's reforms were merely window dressing.

Because the timing of this imperial edict of the flower hall is too strange, normally the national reform will be carried out in a stable period.

And now that Mahmud II has just died, the front line has been defeated, the future of the war with Egypt is uncertain, and there are tigers and wolves around him, the Ottomans, who are at the center of the storm, are actually reforming.

There is no doubt that this move was to retreat, and the collapse of the Ottomans was clearly not in the interests of Britain. McJid knew that he could only ask Britain for help at this time, and that Russia would definitely take the opportunity to seek greater benefits when sending troops, so that the Ottoman Empire would be even more passive.

But the British seem to be planning to stand still, so he will let the British do it. And even if McJid wanted to rely on Osman's own strength, it would be almost impossible to reverse the decline.

First of all, the Ottoman Empire had already lost more than half of its navy, and it would definitely lose if it had another naval conflict with Egypt.

Secondly, once the troops on the northern front withdraw south, Russia and the Austrian empire may participate in this gluttonous feast to divide the Ottomans, and even if Britain makes a move, they will not be able to move back to the situation.

If Britain really doesn't make a move, then unilaterally make peace with Egypt, after all, the situation is stronger than people now, and the green mountains are left without worrying about running out of firewood.

The Ottomans were still much larger than Egypt, and if they were given enough time to reform, they would be able to train an army capable of defeating the Egyptians.

But Metternich also sniffed an opportunity that perhaps the clever sultan would be willing to make a deal with Austria in exchange for worthless Bosnia for peace in the Ottoman Empire.

But in any case, due to the influence of the Imperial Edict of the Flower Hall, more and more Europeans came to the Ottoman Empire in search of opportunities, hoping to reap the benefits of this reborn empire.

The Imperial Edict of the Flower Hall sparked a wave of enlistment among the non-Celestial subjects of the Ottoman realm, and countless infidels and low-status minorities declared themselves fighting for the Ottoman Empire.

At the same time, a large number of guerrillas appeared in the rear of the Egyptian army, which seriously hampered the pace of the advance of the Egyptian army.

Ali's eldest son, Ibrahim, felt a hint of concern, and in his eyes the guerrillas were more difficult to deal with than the Ottoman army. The Sinai Peninsula is already difficult to supply, and if the war lasts too long, I am afraid that Egypt's national strength will not be able to withstand it.

And the British and Russians are like two sharp swords above his head, which makes it difficult for him to sleep all the time.

On the other hand, Muhammad Ali also prepared the stage, he had been preparing for this big drama for ten years, and now he was waiting for the British to enter.

Guizot, the representative of France, was a licking dog of the British, and he always believed that France must have good relations with the British if it wanted to rise, so he also touted McGid's reforms.

Thiers again urged Muhammad Ali to reach an agreement with the Ottoman Empire as soon as possible to avoid interference by the Great Powers, but he also reiterated the attitude of France, which was not afraid of the British.

But the influence of the Imperial Edict of the Flower Hall still could not completely offset the impact of the death of Mahmoud II.

Britain is concerned about the future of the Ottoman Empire, after all, the current situation is not in favor of the Ottomans, and it is not yet known how much the death of the monarch will affect the ancient empire.

But it also strengthened the resolve of Palmerston and Canning, at their repeated requests.

A British naval fleet of three 74 battleships and five frigates was to march through the Mediterranean Sea to Egyptian-controlled Beirut, which was already on its way.

Another powerful fleet led by the 1st rank battleship "Sovereign" was on its way. In addition to the Sovereign, there were 11 third-class battleships and more than a dozen auxiliary ships in this fleet.

At this time, the Egyptian navy had two second-class battleships, fifteen third-class battleships, and hundreds of light gunboats of various kinds.

Plus the surrender of the Ottoman Navy, 3 first-class battleships, 4 second-class battleships, and 4 third-class battleships.

Egypt has a staggering 28 capital ships at sea, and even more so with a behemoth like the Mahmood.

The sea power sent by the British seems to be a little insufficient, but in fact, the shipbuilding technology of the Egyptians and Ottomans is far inferior to that of the British, and the quality of the navy is also very different.

Historically, this time the British had already given enough face to the Egyptians, and last time the British used only two 74 ships (third class battleships) to defeat the Turkish-Egyptian coalition.

Ali was ready to let the Egyptian navy ambush the British Mediterranean fleet first to warm up.

Russia wanted to send troops to the Sinai Peninsula, but it was rejected by the Ottoman Empire, which of course was done by the British behind their backs, otherwise it would have been a bold man to refuse the Tsar's proposal.

At the same time, Nesherlov's Anglophobia returned, and he tried his best to dissuade the tsar from being impulsive. The tsar still trusted him very much, but the British upset him and simply did not send a fleet to meet the British advance fleet.

Austria did not join the British fleet for its own reasons, after all, Austria did not reach an agreement with the British at this time, and was not willing to be the little brother of the British as it was in history.

Friedrich even learned from the intelligence of the Karamanli family that the Egyptians had assembled a powerful fleet to attack the British advance fleet.

This kind of good opportunity to eat melons and watch a play, how could Friedrich miss it. He immediately ordered all the ships of the Austrian navy to retreat into the Adriatic Gulf and not to attack.

Friedrich did not attack, partly because Austria and Great Britain did not reach an agreement, and partly because the negotiations between Austria and the Ottomans had not yet come to fruition.

At the same time, he did not feel that now was the time to attack, when the Egyptians were nervous and had sufficient troops. Choosing this time for a sneak attack is tantamount to hitting a stone with an egg.

King of France, Louis Philippe, was not interested in Thiers' proposal. He felt that war should be avoided as much as possible, as it would ruin the good fortune of France at this time.

There was little interest in economic colonization within France, preferring direct occupation, as was done in Algeria. This, combined with the great success of France in Texas, made them even more convinced of this.

In addition, the civil war between Spain and the Central American Commonwealth also greatly involved France's energy.

Even within the Bonapartists, there were very few supporters of Thiers, and he could only hope that the Egyptian navy would defeat the British navy.

The five-nation conference did not reach an agreement, and now the Great Powers are ready to compete for the interests of the Near East in their own capacities. Metternich also came to Istanbul, and he was ready to meet the smart man in person.

(End of chapter)