Chapter 1315: One time, another time.
Franz himself did not expect that his cousin would be so bold and do something under the noses of the Russians.
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Greece, with a population of only more than 1.7 million, actually had to recruit 150,000 soldiers, and Otto I thought he was doing it very secretly.
Franz wanted to say.
"The Ottomans all know it!"
However, Franz did not know that it was the British who were behind it. He just felt that his cousin's middle school disease had come back again.
However, Russia is too big, and it is not enough to rely on passion alone.
This is the first thing that shocked Franz since the end of the Hungarian rebellion. Even in Spain, he was at ease facing Britain, France, and Spain, and he could even get married.
But now Franz feels his scalp tingling. Whether the Russians fight the Ottoman Empire or not, it will not have much impact on the Austrian Empire.
However, if Russia took the opportunity to rob the Austrian Empire, Franz would be overwhelmed, and it would completely disrupt the strategic plan Franz had already formulated.
In fact, the Russians' reaction was far less rapid than Franz imagined. On the contrary, the Ottomans were already scared to death by the news.
Sultan Murad V, who had just turned ten, was wearing a French cavalry uniform and holding an unsharpened steel knife to chop the eunuchs and maids in the palace.
Although the steel knife was unsharpened, the people who were chopped still screamed.
Murad V was very proud to ascend his throne after "killing all around", but Queen Mother Shefkefza was worried. She never expected such a sudden disaster.
The garrison on the Turkish-Austrian border only increased by more than fifty people. How could the Russians say that the Ottomans were going to attack Austria? How could they be so unreasonable?
The Greek king recruited troops and purchased weapons on a large scale. The Greeks in the Ottoman Empire were also restless. Under the instigation of the Greeks, many ethnic groups in the Ottoman Empire began to seek independence or autonomy.
Especially the Serbs. Although they had just been defeated, their independence was still there. This was also the main reason why the Ottoman Empire increased its border troops before.
Unfortunately, no one was willing to listen to the Ottoman Empire's explanation, and they could only swallow their anger.
"Queen Mother, Orma Pasha wants to see you."
"Let him in quickly!"
Queen Mother Shefkefza was also a little out of control, because this time was different from the past. Before, when Russia invaded the Ottoman Empire, Britain always had a way to get back on track.
Although the Ottoman Empire lost power and humiliated the country every time, the overall loss was not great.
However, at this time, Britain was blocked outside the Mediterranean by the Austrian Empire, and even Russia was still under the banner of helping its allies. Would the Russians also let the Austrians have a share?
"Respected Queen Mother, may Allah bless you and keep you healthy forever."
At this time, Orma Pasha had already walked in. As soon as he entered the room, Queen Mother Shefkefza felt that something was wrong. Orma Pasha's eye sockets were deep and dark. If he took off his headscarf, he would find that his hair had turned white overnight.
"Olma Pasha, what's wrong with you?"
Olma lowered his head.
"Your Highness, we have no money to recruit more soldiers. Domestic reforms and new fortresses on the border have emptied the treasury."
Olma Pasha was telling the truth. Since the war was over, the Ottoman Empire felt that it had gained a few years of breathing space and shifted its main focus to domestic reforms.
The top leaders of the Ottoman Empire knew very well that their country was in a bad state and must be reformed, but the ice was not frozen in a day. Orma Pasha's reforms encountered strong resistance from the beginning.
At this time, he realized that it was not that Mejid I was incompetent, but that the resistance in the Ottoman Empire was too strong, but the Ottoman Empire had reached a time when it had to change, so Orma Pasha began to force the reform.
His reforms were supported by the Sultan and Queen Mother Shefkefza, but at this critical moment of the struggle between the two sides, Russia suddenly declared war on the Ottoman Empire.
Olma Pasha once thought that it was the domestic opposition that called the Russians, but he soon found that he had overestimated those guys.
Hearing the news of the Russian attack, the domestic opposition in the Ottoman Empire was in a panic, and some even said that Olma Pasha's reforms were retribution.
In any case, the new policy this time could not be implemented. Nicholas I said that he would personally lead an army of 300,000 to conquer the Ottoman Empire. Olma Pasha had no doubts at all. After all, it was not a problem for Russia to gather an army of 300,000 with its national strength.
The Greeks could gather 150,000 troops, but Olma Pasha felt it was a bit magical. After all, the entire Ottoman Empire only had more than 200,000 troops at that time.
At that time, as long as Russia and Greece attacked from both sides, the Ottoman Empire would not know how much land it would lose. If those ethnic minorities took the opportunity to rebel, then this empire that lasted for more than 500 years might be beaten back to Asia.
Olma Pasha's pessimism also mainly came from the failure of Britain. After all, they once thought that the British were invincible.
But successive failures broke this legend of invincibility. The fact that the British fleet was blocked outside the Mediterranean by the Austrian Imperial Navy made them feel desperate.
"Pasha, can't we borrow money from merchants?"
Queen Mother Shefkefza was not completely ignorant of politics. She was also aware of the financial situation of the Ottoman Empire. The country's fiscal revenue could not be collected, but it could borrow money to solve the urgent problem first, after all, it was done before.
"Dear Queen Mother, we have already owed a lot of money to merchants, and now we can barely pay the interest. Merchants are unwilling to lend us more money.
And those Armenians and Greeks are just waiting for us to die so that they can take a bite out of us."
At this time, the main groups of merchants in the Ottoman Empire were Armenians, Jews, and Greeks. Armenians and Greeks both demanded independence, so their relationship with the government was very poor.
"What about foreigners?"
Queen Mother Shefkefza asked.
"Now Britain and France are at war with Austria, and we can't give what the Russians want."
Both the monarch and his ministers lowered their heads at the same time. With the strength of the Ottoman Empire at this time, it was simply a pipe dream to want to defeat the nearly 500,000 troops of Russia and Greece combined.
Is the Ottoman Empire going to perish here?
Queen Mother Shefkefza raised her head again.
"What about the Jews?"
Orma Pasha also raised his head.
"They want a country."
In fact, Queen Mother Shefkefza had also come into contact with Zionists before, and she knew what those people meant by a country.
But before that, Mejid I did not want to surrender to a group of merchants, so he rejected them.
Now it seems that it was after that that Mejid I's reforms began to go wrong, and he finally became depressed under the continuous blows of failure.
Now it is a different time. Now Queen Mother Shefkefza only wants to keep the legacy of Mejid I, and she is just a woman and does not care about the so-called dignity.
"Okay, I will give them a country."
Queen Mother Shefkefza squeezed out a few words from her teeth.
"Queen Mother is wise!"
Olma Pasha bowed his head, and the palace servants and ministers around him also bowed together, but Olma Pasha showed a barely noticeable smile at the corner of his mouth.