Chapter 509 Youthful Spirit (Russian version)
On the other side, in the Near East, a fleet slowly sailed into the Black Sea Strait.
The young man wearing a sailing cap standing on the bow of the boat looked at the thousand-year-old city in front of him with high spirits. He was Andrei Uvarov, the special envoy of the Tsar this time.
At only seventeen years old, he may be the youngest envoy in Russian history to visit a foreign country, but everyone has high expectations for him.
After all, the surname Uvarov has a glorious history, and he is technically a member of the civil service.
Andre also understood the importance of the task he was tasked with at this time, and he must do everything possible to amplify things.
Although it seems a bit fussy to use force because the sheep gnawed cotton, the key point is that the Ottoman sheep gnawed Russian cotton, which is very serious.
Although the matter was of great importance, Andrei Uvarov did not go directly to meet Sultan Mejid, but chose to visit "Constantinople".
An outstanding person can always start from the inconspicuous details and see many things that others cannot see.
For example, there are very few Russians in this capital, but there are many British people. Most of the shops in the former are empty, while the shops in the latter are crowded.
Tsarist Russia had its own embassy here and also owned commercial companies. Most of these companies specialize in grain, wood, fur and other specialties of their own; although the prices are low, almost no one cares about them.
Russia has its own living area in Constantinople and even its own church. But these made the young envoy frown even more. There is no doubt that Russia is an unwelcome presence 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 attendants around him, then walked to a fountain and began to wash his face with the water in it.
This attracted passers-by to raise eyebrows. In fact, the Ottomans were deeply hostile to the Russians. The huge religious and cultural differences between the two amplified the already existing conflicts.
The result of the above superposition is the previous Russian-Turkish wars.
Russia has always been a threat to the Ottoman Empire, and everyone knows the style of the Russian army. Naturally, the latter cannot like this powerful invader, and the same is true for its people.
Andrei Uvarov finished washing, but no Ottoman dared to stop him or stop him, which made him feel a little disappointed and a little proud.
The young envoy boarded the carriage and drove away, leaving only a group of people pointing and pointing.
Topkapi Palace, a building that combines Byzantine style, filled the young man in front of him with pride. He finally understood why every generation of tsar wanted to take back this coveted ancient city.
The mottled traces on the walls and the vicissitudes of history, this sense of historical weight really makes people full of strength.
The Ottoman guards on the side were already used to it. Every "big man" from Europe would behave strangely, and some even hugged the wall and cried bitterly.
Sudan Mejid is a representative of "big thunder but little rain" in human history. His former heroic ambitions seem to have been forgotten long ago, and his body is being hollowed out by wine and sex.
Reshid Pasha's economic reforms imitating France failed, and the British fully occupied the market. In addition, his successor Reza Pasha was an out-and-out villain.
The newly appointed Grand Vizier used the excuse that the country was facing a threat to expand the new army. The scale of his efforts was jaw-dropping. He expanded the number of the empire's standing army by 250,000 people at once, making the number of the empire's standing army directly exceed 500,000. It even scared people. The Persian Empire next door was also expanding its army crazily.
Of course, the so-called military expansion is just a cover. In fact, it is just to get more benefits and to allow his family's brothers and sons-in-law to sit in high positions.
The new military law announced during the speech at the Megid Flower Hall was also trampled by Reza Pasha. Among the recruits he recruited, there were no Christians, let alone those marginalized ethnic groups who were not welcome to see him.
(When speaking in the Flower Hall, Magid said that all ethnic groups should be equal.)
Reza Pasha had so much power that the finance minister had to consult him first before reporting to the sultan himself. Even the British ambassador could not stand the pasha's misappropriation of public funds and abuse of power.
Stratford Canning raised the issue of the Grand Vizier's corruption with Magid on more than one occasion, but to the former's dismay the latter did not take corresponding action.
Instead, he told these things to Reza Pasha. The former naturally suffered crazy revenge from this powerful minister.
If it weren't for Canning's status as ambassador to the leader of the great powers, he might have been dead 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 Megid. 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 his minister was indescribable. Not "iron".
When the Sultan and the Grand Vizier learned that the Russians came because of the sheep, they couldn't help laughing. Reza Pasha even "generously" expressed his willingness to give the Russian envoy a hundred sheep.
"If those Slavic barbarians don't know how to cook, we can do it for them. After all, the Ottomans have the best chefs in the world."
One of Magid's favorite concubines smiled, and another also smiled.
"Then our Ottoman Empire has suffered great losses, isn't it?"
"How do you say that?" The young Sultan looked at the two beauties with interest. However, he had to meet the Russian envoy from afar, but he still joked.
"Then we have to add pepper!" The beauty laughed so hard that her branches trembled, while Magid looked at it with joy.
Suddenly a voice broke the atmosphere: "The Russian envoy Prince Andrei Uvarov has an audience with the great Sultan Abdul Meguid!"
Magid sat upright as if he wanted to put some pressure on the other party. The two concubines were also very good at observing words and expressions. They bowed their heads and prepared to leave.
But at this time, the sultan lost all the caution he had when he first took the throne. Instead, he became self-centered and even allowed two more concubines to stay and continue to serve him.
It is not known where this courage came from. Maybe it was the guarantee from the British, maybe it was the 500,000 standing army, and of course maybe it was Liang Jingru.
Andrei Uvarov and the Russian envoy met the Sultan and bowed respectfully. As soon as the young envoy raised his head, he saw this somewhat funny and annoying scene.
A middle-aged man with a fat body and short limbs was eating grapes handed over by the concubine while looking away with a stinky face.
Andrei Uvarov suddenly felt that he and his motherland had been insulted. He took a deep breath and paused for a few seconds, then shouted when the other party was confused and prepared to ask.
"I, Andrei Uvarov, by order of His Majesty the Great Tsar, have come to see the Ottoman Sultan Megid! I salute you!"
Magid was so startled by the sudden roar that he collapsed in the arms of the two concubines. He touched his chest and gasped. This led to the "sheep eating soil" incident that historians of later generations rushed to study.