Chapter 171 Speech in the Flower Hall

Chapter 171 Speech in the Flower Hall

Grand Salaquilio Palace, Flower Hall.

This was originally the place where the Ottoman palace pastry chef prepared rose preserves, so it was filled with delicate roses, and the sweet fragrance filled the entire flower hall.

This time it was not only Ottoman officials who came to hear the imperial edict, but also foreign envoys and journalists (who were not normally invited to such ceremonies).

Soon those Western envoys and reporters saw for the first time the rumored "weak" Sudan.

The sixteen-year-old Magid looked slim and inoffensive, which endeared him to some people. After all, the Ottomans were once a monster that straddled the middle of Eurasia, and even indirectly led to the era of geographical discovery.

It may be a good thing for everyone that such a harmless boy leads this empire that once made the world fearful.

The boy spoke, his voice very soft, saying each sentence first in Ottoman and then in English.

This allowed many people to see a learned Sultan, and British Ambassador Canning even called him a "civilized man" in the Eastern world.

Magid felt that Britain was the most powerful country in the world at this time. He was dressed in a suit and did not choose to wear a military uniform in order to release goodwill to the West and show that he was different from past rulers.

But he spoke English instead of other languages, which made some officials feel slighted.

In essence, the Imperial Edict of Flower Hall was a continuation and extension of Mahmud II's reforms. It carries various plans and ideas of Mahmoud II, and adds more Western elements and Meguid's own understanding.

This is not so much a public edict as a constitution. In fact, this imperial edict is considered to be the earliest constitution in the East.

In the end, Magid himself swore an oath to the fundamental concepts of the imperial edict and the resolutions made by the deliberative body, which further verified this view, but in the end the witness was changed from God to Allah.

The Imperial Edict of the Flower Hall established that the lives, honor and property, as well as freedom and security of Ottoman citizens were protected by law.

Economically, the backward tax farming system was replaced by a fixed taxation system. Most European countries abolished this system during the French Revolution. Austria reformed this system during the period of Queen Theresa. In the late period of Joseph II This system was restored.

Militaryly, it once again proposed the training of a new army, established a normal recruitment process, clarified the service period of soldiers, and followed the example of Prussia in implementing a universal conscription system.

Judicially, fair and open trials are required, and relevant laws are enacted to punish those who are punished without a legal trial.

One of the most radical and eye-catching reforms is:

All subjects of the Ottoman Empire, regardless of race or creed, enjoyed the same rights.

This sentence can be understood as a national assimilation policy, or it can be understood as an elimination of the differences between Tianfang, Orthodox, and Catholics.

In theory, all Ottoman citizens had the same rights in law, taxation, property, education, and selection in the military and government services.

In fact, the first Armenian Genocide would soon come. This massacre targeted Catholics in Armenia.

The reason was that Armenian sheep ate Turkic crops and polluted the river with their feces.

Until the complete disintegration of the Ottoman Empire in World War I, the Armenians did not receive so-called equal rights.

So Franz is not worried at all. The reforms of the Ottoman Empire will really bring it back to its peak.

The ambassadors and reporters present praised Magid as a benevolent and enlightened monarch. For a time, the imperial edict of the Flower Hall was published on the front pages of major European newspapers.

People have speculated whether the Ottoman Empire will become the next Britain or France and become a civilized country.

The name Magid spread throughout Europe overnight. In this era of reform, a monarch who is determined to reform is indeed more likely to be accepted by Europeans.

The popularity of the imperial edict even overshadowed the ongoing Spanish Civil War and the Turkish-Egyptian War, making people forget that the monarch's rule was in danger.

But in the eyes of the tsar, the imperial edict of the Flower Hall was nothing more than a successful performance. The Ottomans would not choose peace, let alone fulfill their promises.

Countless Orthodox Christians in the Ottoman Empire were still in urgent need of salvation from the Tsar.

Regarding the deal proposed by Austria, the Tsar felt that it was inevitable to sacrifice the interests of a small number of people in order to save more Slavs.

And as long as Russia is strong enough, it can completely rescue the Slavs trapped in the Austrian Empire in the future.

The Tsar judged based on Austria's transaction conditions that they did not seem to want to get involved in the Balkans, but wanted to use Serbia as a barrier between Austria and the Ottomans.

Coupled with the Apennine Customs Union that the Austrians had just established not long ago, it is not difficult to judge that Austria's focus at this time is Italy.

After all, the Habsburg family has ruled Italy for hundreds of years, and it is easier for the Italians there to rule.

When Nicholas I was young, he visited Austria. He was deeply impressed by the Austrian army; he had never seen such an unruly force.

The Russian army has always been known for its complicated composition, but compared to the Austrian army, it pales into insignificance.

The Austrian soldiers spoke a variety of languages, even if they spoke German, they had all kinds of strange accents. He saw with his own eyes that a Bohemian chef asked a Saxon volunteer to get potatoes.

Then the soldier looked at the chef with some confusion, and finally climbed up the nearby fruit tree and picked an apple under the other's repeated urging.

Note: Austria did not have the word potato at the earliest, and they were more accustomed to calling potatoes apples on the ground.

During battle, Austrian soldiers were accustomed to watching what the people next to them were doing instead of listening to commands.

This also means that once one soldier makes a mistake, the entire unit will make a mistake. Many times Austrian officers had to use sticks, stones, and even whips to get the soldiers to obey orders.

But even so, command confusion still troubles the Austrians, because their officers often come from different regions and use different languages ​​or dialects.

Nicholas I was not afraid of such armies, because they would collapse in front of pure Slavs.

Palmerston and Canning praised Magid's reforms.

Without the support of the great powers, they could only rely on the domestic people's support for the war. After all, Her Majesty the Queen is so elusive. If the Queen opposes the war, Britain's Near East strategy will become a mess.

They had to come up with a solution before things got worse, otherwise it would end like the Spanish Civil War.

Britain must gain hegemony in the Near East, and France and Russia were obstacles.

Historically, the British first united with the French to squeeze out the Russians, and then enlisted the Austrians to squeeze out the French. Finally, they won the Sinai Peninsula in an invincible manner.

In this battle, Britain not only killed Russia, but also France. It completed a double defeat of Egypt and the Ottoman Empire in the Near East, and also successfully marginalized Austria.

Palmerston's pentakill came so easily that he became even more defiant until he was dismissed from office by Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert.