Ottoman, Istanbul.

The Royal Palace of the Gran Saraquillio, also known as the "Gate of Cannons", feels truly magnificent. It's just that now the Ottoman national strength has made Metternich unable to afford the slightest fear in his heart.

In the past, Europeans regarded the Ottoman Empire as the "whip of God", and because of the brutality of successive sultans, every ambassador who came here would leave a will first.

There is a mural in the Cathedral of Graz, Austria, entitled "The Disaster of God", which vividly illustrates that for the people of Habsburg rule at that time, the Ottoman attack was a catastrophe like the Black Death and the crossing of locusts.

It's just that the ancient empire that captured Constantinople and besieged Vienna twice, and his defenders were filled with fear when they saw Metternich.

Although the Ottomans often humiliated the Europeans by nickname them, a deep fear was ingrained in the hearts of the Ottomans because of the presence of the Russians, and even the officials in charge of receiving Metternich could not help but tremble in their arms.

This fear came directly from the Austrian fleet moored in the harbor, and in order to give Metternich a façade, Austria drove over the huge battleships that were past their useful life.

The docks were already crowded with good deeds, a huge fleet they had never seen before, and in addition to those sail giants, there were many strange ships without sail pulp.

At this time, the Ottoman navy was left with only a few light gunboats to fill the façade, and did not dare to stop the Austrian fleet at all.

Metternich is arguably the highest-ranking Western official to visit Istanbul.

The Grand Saraquillio Palace, Metternich's visit came as a surprise to McGid.

The five-nation meeting had not reached an agreement, but had only drafted a proposal and submitted it to the Ottoman government, asking them to stop peace talks with the Egyptian side.

McGid felt that Britain had been forced to act, that his goal had been achieved, and that there was no need to talk to the Egyptians.

So the Egyptian messenger, who had reached the middle of the road, hurried back.

McGid was a man who indulged in pleasure, and when he felt that the external crisis had been resolved, he began to have fun with his concubines in the flower hall.

He was very upset when he was disturbed, and the young Sultan seemed to intend to dry the Austrian envoy first and kill his spirit.

McJid's newly appointed Grand Vizier was Mustafa Rest, a former diplomat who certainly knew what level Metternich was, and hurriedly reminded him.

"The great Sultan, Metternich is the Prime Minister of Austria."

"So what?" McGid said with some disdain, and in his heart there was a blind confidence in the strength of Britain.

"This Prime Minister Metternich, known as the Prime Minister of Europe, built the framework to maintain peace for decades. And he hasn't left Austria for a long time, and you still need to meet such a powerful person, Sultan. ”

"It's really a disappointment, let him come in the afternoon, I'll take a nap first."

When Mustafa Reist saw the Sultan's attitude, it was hard to associate the arrogant and hedonistic young man in front of him with the monarch who had been determined to reform the other day.

In fact, it is true that McGid wants to reform, and it is also true that he is addicted to pleasure.

In his bones, he felt that the Ottoman Empire, the Ming Dynasty, far surpassed the West, but the people were stupid, so they lagged behind the West.

Especially after the imperial edict of the flower hall, the praise of those Westerners for him made him look down on those stupid Westerners. It's ridiculous that I just used a little trick to deceive those Westerners.

Although McJid felt that it was easy to have the British send troops, Mustafa Lester knew very well that the so-called five-nation proposal was simply a piece of waste paper.

The Great Powers had great divergent interests and did not reach an agreement, and the British were ready to convene another five-nation conference in London, but France did not receive an invitation, and the Austrian Prime Minister actually appeared in Istanbul, and the Russian envoys repeatedly reaffirmed Russia's monopoly over the strait.

Mustafa Rester was worried about the prospects of the London conference, but he was right, as Palmerston tried to ignore the French and pull Prussia, Austria, and Russia to sanction Egypt first.

After all, it is not easy for Russia to send troops to the Sinai Peninsula, and the new sultan is obviously pro-British, as long as he induces the Ottomans to tear up the agreement with Russia, it is only a matter of time.

The main thing is that Russia does not compete with Britain for business, but the French, unlike the French, have the second largest industrial capacity and trade volume after Britain.

Moreover, Egypt's interests are highly tied to France, and even if Britain wants to rebel, it will not be able to do so.

Historically, Palmerston was dissatisfied with the results of the Vienna Conference, and convened a five-nation conference in London, this time leaving France aside, annulling the previous agreement reached at the Vienna Conference, directly threatening Egypt with force, and even leading the Russian and Austrian fleets to deter Egypt. After that, Egypt had to accept the "peace", and Britain won a big victory.

But this time, the five-nation agreement was not reached at all, and the French did not receive an invitation. The Russians, on the other hand, were resentful of Britain's opposition to their hegemony in the Straits, and were not prepared to sell the face of the British after reaching an agreement with Austria.

Austria, too, out of its own interests, did not choose to be Palmerston's younger brother, but intended to fight for its own interests, and there was no reason to accept Palmerston's orders to attend the London Conference, let alone send a fleet to fight for the British.

The multinational fleet did not appear, only a lone British fleet. Historically, it was the emergence of the multinational fleet that made Ali abandon his crazy plans, because he could not be the enemy of the entire Western world.

But at this time, a British fleet of only eight warships dared to bombard Beirut, and Ali immediately sent his powerful fleet with 28 capital ships.

He believed that not a single British ship would leave the shores of Beirut under the pressure of shore artillery and a strong fleet.

Attacking the British fleet was only a plan in Muhammad Ali's mind, and what he hoped most was peace talks with the Ottomans.

At first, the news of Mahmud II's death reached Egypt and made Muhammad Ali ecstatic, chanting "Allah has eyes".

Because in his mind, the Ottoman Empire has been losing since the beginning of the war, the navy built with a lot of money has mutinied, the new army with high hopes has been scattered, and now even the Sultan himself is dead, and the Ottomans seem to have no choice but to surrender.

However, the expected collapse did not take place, and no large number of Ottomans surrendered to Ali's call for a "great Arab empire".

After that, the newly appointed Sultan made even more stupid moves, and actually proposed any reforms at this time. But the development of events once again surprised Ali, and the Ottoman civilians enthusiastically joined the army, and even the British and Russians, who had been standing still, began to act.

This forced Ali to make a desperate bet, knowing full well that they would not listen to him if he did not beat these powers.

(End of chapter)