Chapter 169: Each with His Own Agenda (Part 2)

The second person to approach Metternich was the French. Thiers hated Metternich, who had participated in the dismemberment of the Napoleonic Empire.

But now France needs allies. At least it cannot let Austria side with Britain, otherwise Egypt will face a catastrophe.

This is certainly not because of the strength of the Austrian Imperial Navy, but because Austria can provide supplies to the British fleet and prevent the French fleet from participating in the siege of the British fleet.

Thiers has the confidence to deal with Britain, but he does not have the confidence to fight against the whole of Europe. He believes that the root cause of Napoleon's failure is that he has too many enemies, so he does not want to follow in his footsteps.

Thiers expressed his willingness to support Austria in establishing the Apennine Customs Union in Italy, and at the same time share the Egyptian colony with Austria.

Metternich was not satisfied with the conditions offered by Thiers, because the Apennine Customs Union did not need the support of France at all, and after Egypt was defeated, Austria could also share Egypt's resources with Britain.

"Mr. Thiers, I think you should know that at present, the Apennine Customs Union is only participated by countries ruled by members of the Habsburg family, and your support should not be needed. As for Egypt's resources, you French cannot eat them, and they will definitely be willing to do business with Austria."

"Mr. Metternich, believe me, once the British enter Egypt, they will find a way to monopolize the export of Egyptian cotton. At that time, the raw material security of Austria's textile industry will be in the hands of the British." Thiers said.

"Aren't there Americans? I heard that Brazilians have also started to grow cotton. I believe we will no longer worry about cotton in the future." Metternich replied.

Thiers was unwilling to give up the actual benefits to Austria, because Austria was not strong enough and it was not worth him spending a greater price.

The conversation between the two sides naturally ended unhappily. At this time, Thiers placed his hope on the Egyptians to quickly reach an agreement with the Ottoman Empire to avoid collective interference from the great powers, so that France only needed to deal with Britain.

Giving up the alliance with the powerful Britain and France was actually not in line with Metternich's usual style, but their offer was too low. They only wanted Austria to do things but were not prepared to share the benefits with Austria, which was unacceptable to him.

Nesserlov was much more straightforward than Palmerston and Thiers.

"Prince, what can we exchange for your support?"

"Belgrade is not the whole of Serbia. For this reason, we are willing to exchange the three nearby provinces of Tuzla, Sarajevo and Foca for Serbian land." Metternich did not beat around the bush because he was afraid that the other party would not understand.

Using three provinces to exchange for one province in Serbia should be a profit. Moreover, the population of these three provinces is mainly Serbian, which can definitely greatly enhance the strength of the Slavs here. I believe His Majesty the Tsar will agree.

Nesserlov suddenly thought that something seemed wrong.

"Wait, Your Excellency. The three provinces you mentioned seem to belong to the Ottoman Empire."

"That's right, but Austria can get these lands from the Ottoman Empire first, and then exchange them with Serbia. This is a letter from the Serbian Grand Duke, Miloš Obrenovich, to the Austrian Imperial Family."

Prince Metternich handed a letter to Nesserlov after he finished speaking, and then continued.

"I think you should know that our Austrian Empire can completely eradicate the pro-Russian faction in Serbia under the banner of helping to quell the rebellion, and then take the opportunity to support a puppet state. This transaction is entirely based on the long-standing friendship between the two countries."

Nesserlov agreed with it after hearing it. He could not decide on this transaction, but he felt that it was necessary to let His Majesty the Tsar know the importance of this transaction.

In the subsequent negotiations, Austria stood on the same side as Russia, which forced Britain and France to temporarily join forces to prevent Russia from moving south.

In fact, Russia had no intention of going south, unless the Egyptians intended to break the secret agreement with Russia and get involved in the Balkans or the area north of the Euphrates River.

However, the European gendarme Russia gave people too much oppression, forcing Britain and France to join hands to resist the enemy.

But Russia got the support of Austria. The two countries joined hands and had no rivals in the Balkans.

Just when the two sides were deadlocked, Mahmud II died.

July 1, 1839.

Mahmud II, who had been ill for a long time, received bad news one after another. First, the fleet he spent a lot of money to build surrendered to the Egyptians, and then the Ottoman new army he poured all his efforts to build was defeated in the fourth battle of Nizip, almost annihilated, and his most trusted general died in battle.

Mahmud II roared with his last strength.

"You are not the king who ruined the country, and your subjects are not the subjects who ruined the country. It is because the people are not enlightened. You still need to work hard."

Then he fell down as if he was drained of energy. At this time, his successor Abdul Mejid came over with medicine.

"Mejid, although you are weak, you are my smartest son. You will definitely become the greatest Sultan in the future. You must use the contradictions between the powers to fight for the interests of the Ottoman Empire. You must enlighten the people, otherwise the people will only recognize gold and not the country, and in the end you will still fail..."

"Father, take the medicine."

After Mahmud II drank the medicine, he lay down and his eyes widened. He vomited a mouthful of black blood and died.

Although Mahmud II was called the first traitor of the Ottoman Empire at that time, later generations listed him as one of the greatest sultans.

Unlike his great ancestors, Mahmud II was neither a military genius nor a diplomat who was good at playing with people's hearts. Under his rule, the Ottoman Empire's territory continued to shrink and its national sovereignty was constantly undermined.

However, during his reign, he cleared the obstacles to reform for the Ottoman Empire and stopped the decline of the Ottoman Empire with far-sighted planning.

The Ottoman Empire thus gained a chance for rebirth and began to slowly move towards a modern country.

After Mahmud II's death, he was only 1 year old when Mejid succeeded to the throne as Sultan.

Mejid looked gentle and elegant, and there was no trace of the fierceness of his ancestors. With his slender arms, he was even called the "thinnest Sultan".

However, under his weak appearance, he hid a huge ambition that was no less than that of his ancestors.

Without making a sound, Mejid replaced all the important ministers in the court with his confidants. Those ministers who opposed him either died suddenly or were transferred to the front line to fight against the Egyptian army.

He took over a country that was in tatters. There were religious groups and reactionary forces inside that wanted to seize power, and outside, Muhammad Ali's army was approaching step by step.

Just when everyone thought that the Sultan would definitely call for domestic forces to unite against the outside world.

Majid made a surprising move. He wanted to negotiate with Muhammad Ali.

At the same time, he asked ambassadors from various countries to come to his flower hall to listen to his speech.

Please vote.