Chapter 140 When the Devil Comes Knocking

“Bang, bang, bang,”

The palace door was knocked, and the visitor strode into Mahmud II’s palace without waiting for the palace official to announce it.

Seeing the visitor, Mahmud II and Grand Vizier Fer Chak both smiled awkwardly.

The visitor was the British ambassador Palmerston, but this arrogant British man was the biggest support of the Ottoman Empire at this time.

“A true sultan should not put his sword in the sheath, but use it to punish those villains.” Palmerston’s words were of course meaningful, implying that Mahmud II should use troops against Egypt and take back the rights that should belong to him.

Although Mahmud II had long hated Ali Pasha of Egypt, he was not ready to fight against Egypt.

At this time, the Ottoman army had 350,000 people, almost twice the number of the Egyptian army.

The Ottoman Empire's navy also has an advantage in terms of quantity over the Egyptian navy. In terms of battleships, the Ottoman Empire has 3 first-class battleships, 6 second-class battleships, and 6 third-class battleships.

Egypt only has one second-class battleship and 15 third-class battleships.

However, Mahmoud II was not sure of victory. He was more worried about the intervention of the French. At this time, France had been fighting fiercely with Egypt, especially the French helped the Egyptians train their army, which made him even more worried.

Recently, the British Palmerston frequently hinted to Mahmoud II that he should use troops against Egypt. Mahmoud II was very curious about what the British wanted to do. He didn't want to be used as a gun for no reason, and there was a group of crazy Russians behind him.

The fear of the Russians was the biggest reason why Mahmoud II did not dare to use troops against Egypt.

"Dear Mr. Palmerston, I don't understand what you mean." Mahmoud II simply pretended to be stupid.

"Dear Sultan, you will soon understand, because the Egyptian Pasha Muhammad Ali has decided to refuse to pay tribute to you. This is a naked provocation. I think you know what this means. This shameless thief is about to take away your kingdom."

"War?"

Palmerston's words shocked Mahmoud II. He thought that Muhammad Ali would choose to bide his time like him, rather than choose an open break, because this would be bad for both the Ottomans and Egypt.

Egypt, Magno Palace.

Ali picked up his diamond-studded gold pipe and took a deep puff. The smoke from his exhaled made the French envoy cough repeatedly.

"I'm sorry, sir. I choked you. What did Prime Minister Thiers say?" Ali said with concern.

"It's okay. Prime Minister Thiers said that France will always be Egypt's friend, and he is also willing to see you go further." The French envoy said.

Ali's heart was relieved. Everything was in his control. As long as he had the support of the French, he could defeat Britain, because he had signed an agreement with the Russians. As long as the Russians could abide by the agreement, the Ottoman Empire would eventually become history, and he, Ali, would become the only Sultan in the world.

Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace.

After several months of separation from Friedrich, Franz met again and asked with some surprise.

"How come you haven't grown at all in a year?"

Archduke Friedrich was less than 160 cm tall, while his eldest brother was 185 cm tall. The difference between the two was quite large.

"You're not even as tall as me!" Friedrich roared angrily.

"I'm only eight years old." Franz blinked, "I've grown eight centimeters this year."

"Growing tall is great! I was taller than you before I was eight! Be careful not to be the same as me in the future!"

Apparently, the height issue was a taboo for Archduke Friedrich, so Franz "comforted" him.

"It is said that Napoleon was not tall either."

"Don't compare me with the Corsicans! You stinky boy!"

The angry Archduke Friedrich wanted to pounce on Franz, but was restrained by Talia and Adjani and carried up.

Talia is 175 cm tall and Adjani is 168 cm tall. Friedrich looked at his feet that were already off the ground, and felt hopeless. Obviously, the height of the two women made Friedrich feel even more inferior, so Friedrich was carried back to his seat.

Talia was going to comfort Friedrich, but Adjani winked at her and asked her to leave quickly.

Because Adjani could see that Friedrich was very concerned about the height issue, and boys of this age are very impulsive.

And his identity as a royal archduke may not take into account Talia's identity as a woman.

"Uncle Friedrich, does growing bean sprouts in water help the water quality?" Franz decided to change the topic. After all, talking about other people's shortcomings is not a virtue.

"Don't mention it, you still dare to say that it's all your bean sprouts that made everyone on the ship have diarrhea." Friedrich said angrily, and it was obvious that he was deeply hurt.

"."

Bean sprouts do have some laxative effects, but as long as you don't eat them every day, there shouldn't be any problem. Are the bean sprouts here in Europe a special variety?

"Uncle Friedrich, what do you usually eat on the ship?"

"Bean sprouts! Didn't you say that it can supplement vitamins and purify water?"

"Why didn't you die of diarrhea?" Franz thought to himself.

"Uncle Friedrich, you can eat something else instead of staring at those bean sprouts all day. In addition, your steamship has not been successfully transformed? If you have a steamship, you can use the steam engine to boil water for drinking."

"I encountered some problems, that is, most steam cargo ships are not suitable for transformation into warships, so I decided to build it myself, and it is expected to be launched at the end of the year."

"But"

Franz was interrupted by Friedrich just as he was about to speak.

"I know what you want to say, you don't have to worry, the training of the Marine Corps has been basically completed. The performance of this unit will definitely surprise the world, and the Austrian Imperial Marine Corps will become famous in one battle."

Although I don't want to pour cold water on Friedrich, the performance of the Austrian Empire cannot be too dazzling. Because the Austrian Empire at this time does not have enough strength, in Central Europe, a place of four wars, being too dazzling is also a trouble.

"Uncle Friedrich, this is not a battle that should be famous."

"Don't worry, I understand what you mean. I still have a plan B. I found someone who can cooperate with us in the Egyptian army." Archduke Friedrich said.

"Who? Those Jews?" Franz blurted out. This is a very bad habit, but he has heard something recently that made him unconsciously expose his thoughts.

"Jews? No, no, no, I don't want to deal with those people." Archduke Frederick shook his head.

"Who is it?"

"The Karamanli family, they are willing to help us, inside and outside."

"But cooperating with the Karamanli family may have a bad impact on the reputation of the empire and the family."

The Karamanli family is the notorious Barbary pirates.