Chapter 509 Youthful Spirit (Russian Version)

On the other side, in the Near East, a fleet slowly sailed into the Black Sea Strait.

Standing on the bow, a young man wearing a sailing cap looked at the thousand-year-old city in front of him with high spirits. He was the Tsar's special envoy Andrei Uvarov.

At the age of seventeen, he may be the youngest special envoy to visit a foreign country in Russian history, but everyone has high expectations.

After all, the surname Uvarov has a glorious history, and strictly speaking, he is a member of the civil service system.

Andre also understood the importance of his mission at this time, and he must do everything he can to expand the matter.

Although it seems a bit of an exaggeration to use force because sheep gnawed cotton, the key is that the Ottoman sheep gnawed Russian cotton, which is very serious.

Although the matter is of great importance, Andrei Uvarov did not go directly to meet with Sudanese Mejid, but chose to stroll around "Constantinople".

An outstanding person can always start from inconspicuous details and see many things that others cannot see.

For example, there are few Russians in this capital, but many British people. Most of the shops of the former are deserted, while the shops of the latter are crowded.

Tsarist Russia has its own embassy here and also owns commercial companies. Most of these companies mainly deal in their own specialties such as grain, timber, and fur; although the prices are low, almost no one cares about them.

Russia has its own living area in Constantinople, and even has its own church. But these made the young envoy frown even more. There is no doubt that Russia is an unwelcome existence in this city.

Of course, the powerful Russian Empire never cares about other people's attitudes, because it will only make the world proud of it.

Andrei Uvarov took off his gloves, handed them to the attendant beside him, and then walked to a fountain and began to wash his face with the water in it.

This attracted the attention of passers-by. In fact, the Ottomans had deep hostility towards the Russians. The huge religious and cultural differences between the two magnified the existing contradictions.

The result of the above combined is the successive Russo-Turkish wars.

Russia has always been a threat to the Ottoman Empire, and everyone knows the style of the Russian army. The latter naturally cannot like this powerful invader, and the same is true for its people.

Andrei Uvarov finished washing up, but no Ottoman dared to stop him or stop him, which made him feel a little disappointed and proud.

The young envoy got on the carriage and left, leaving only a group of people pointing and talking.

Topkapi Palace, this building with Byzantine style filled the young man in front of him with pride. He finally understood why every generation of tsars wanted to take back this coveted ancient city.

The mottled traces on the wall and the vicissitudes of history, this heavy sense of history really makes people full of strength.

The Ottoman guards on the side were no longer surprised. Every "big man" from Europe would have some strange behaviors here, and some even hugged the wall and cried bitterly.

Sultan Mejid is a representative of "loud thunder and little rain" in human history. His former ambitions seem to have been forgotten long ago, and alcohol and sex are draining his body.

Reshid Pasha's economic reforms imitating France failed, and the British completely occupied the market. In addition, his successor Leza Pasha is an out-and-out villain.

The newly appointed Grand Vizier expanded the new army on the grounds that the country was facing threats. The scale of his move was jaw-dropping. He expanded 250,000 people at a time, making the number of the empire's standing army directly exceed 500,000, and even frightened the neighboring Persian Empire to expand its army crazily.

Of course, the so-called expansion of the army is just a cover. In fact, it is just to get more benefits and let his brothers and sons-in-law in the family sit in high positions.

The new military law announced by Mejid in his speech in the flower hall was also trampled by Leza Pasha. There were no Christians among the new soldiers he recruited, let alone those marginal ethnic groups that were not welcome.

(Majid expressed his desire to make all ethnic groups equal during his speech in the Flower Hall.)

Leza Pasha was so powerful that the Minister of Finance even had to ask him for instructions before reporting to the Sultan himself. The Pasha's embezzlement of public funds and abuse of power were so severe that even the British ambassador could not stand it.

Stratford Canning mentioned the corruption of the Grand Vizier to Magid more than once, but to the former's disappointment, the latter did not take corresponding actions.

On the contrary, he told Leza Pasha about these things, and the former was naturally retaliated by the powerful official.

If it were not for Canning's status as an ambassador of the head of the great powers, he would have been beheaded or hung on a tree in the desert of the Anatolian Plateau.

In fact, as a treacherous minister, Leza Pasha knew how to maintain a personal relationship with Magid very well. The former collected a large number of beauties and treasures from all over the world to cultivate the latter's "sentiment", so the relationship between the monarch and the minister was "iron".

When the Sultan and the Grand Vizier learned that the Russians came for the sheep, they couldn't help laughing. Leza Pasha even "generously" expressed his willingness to give the Russian envoy 100 sheep.

"If those Slavic barbarians can't cook, we can do it for them. After all, the Ottoman Empire has the best chefs in the world."

One of Mejid's favorite concubines laughed, and the other also laughed.

"Wouldn't it be a big loss for our Ottoman Empire?"

"What do you mean?" The young Sultan was interested in the two beauties, but he had to see them because the Russian envoy had come from afar, so he still joked.

"Then we have to add pepper!" The beauty laughed so hard that her branches shook, and Mejid was in a state of arousal.

Suddenly a voice broke the atmosphere, "Russian envoy Duke Andrei Uvarov meets the great Sultan Abdul Mejid!"

Mejid sat upright and seemed to want to put some pressure on the other party. The two concubines were also very good at observing each other's expressions. They bowed their heads and prepared to leave.

But at this time, the Sultan had completely lost the cautiousness when he first succeeded to the throne. Instead, he became self-centered and actually let the two concubines stay to continue serving him.

As for where this courage came from, it is unknown. Maybe it was because of the British guarantee, maybe it was the 500,000 standing army, and of course it might be Liang Jingru.

Andrei Uvarov and the Russian delegation met the Sultan and saluted respectfully. As soon as the young envoy looked up, he saw this somewhat funny and annoying scene.

A middle-aged man with a fat body and short limbs was eating the grapes handed over by the concubine while looking away with a stinky face.

Andrei Uvarov immediately felt that he and his motherland were insulted. He took a deep breath and paused for a few seconds, and shouted when the other party was puzzled and ready to ask.

"I, Andrei Uvarov, came to meet the Ottoman Sultan Mejid on the order of the great Tsar! Salute to you!"

Mejid was frightened by the sudden roar and collapsed in the arms of the two concubines. He touched his chest and gasped. This led to the "sheep eating dirt" incident, which was studied by later historians.