Chapter four hundred and thirteenth drink poison to quench thirst
In terms of the existing material and financial resources of the Ottoman Empire, not to mention supporting the joint British and French armies, even just supporting the 150,000 French expeditionary force mentioned by Jérôme Bonaparte is an impossible task.
.
"If the Ottoman Empire cannot guarantee the logistics supplies of the expeditionary force, then the French Empire will not be able to guarantee whether it can defeat the Russian Empire!" Jerome Bonaparte gently rubbed his fingers and said to Rifat Pasha in a stiff tone.
He replied: "You must know that the victory of a war depends not only on the front, but also on the rear.
If the Ottoman Empire cannot even guarantee this, I cannot convince my soldiers to go to a country that cannot even guarantee logistics to participate in the war!"
"But, the French Empire..." Seeing Jérôme Bonaparte wanting to withdraw from the Near East, Rifat Pasha couldn't sit still.
In the final analysis, the Ottoman Empire had no way to confront the Russian Empire with its own strength. They had to cling to the thighs of Britain and France to survive in the Near East.
It can be said that the continued survival of the Ottoman Empire depended on the help of the imperialist powers.
At this point, Rifaat Pasha could only say to Jerome Bonaparte in a low voice: "Although the Ottoman Empire cannot fully protect the interests of the expeditionary force, we will try our best to provide the expeditionary force with everything they need.
…”
Before Rifat Pasha could finish speaking, Jérôme Bonaparte raised his hand and interrupted Rifat Pasha: "With all due respect, the current financial situation of the Ottoman Empire can really support the same.
Battle for the Russian Empire?”
Rifat Pasha immediately pursed his lips and was speechless.
According to the current financial situation of the Ottoman Empire, it is simply unable to afford a protracted war, let alone support the French Empire.
Once the war with the Russian Empire reaches a stalemate, the only option waiting for the Ottoman Empire is financial collapse.
Even if the Russian Empire wins by luck, so what? The greedy Tsar will never pay compensation for this war, and all the bitter consequences must be borne by the Ottoman Empire itself.
Thinking of this, Rifat Pasha felt even heavier.
After a while, Rifat Pasha spoke with difficulty: "There are indeed some fluctuations in the empire's finances, but this fluctuation is only a temporary crisis. It won't be long before the Ottoman Empire will be able to alleviate it!"
"A short-lived crisis?" Jérôme Bonaparte spread his hands and said bluntly: "How many years will a short-lived crisis last? Ten years? Twenty years? Does it mean that the Ottoman Empire needs to wait until twenty years later?
Can war be declared on the Russian Empire?
Of course, I don’t mean to belittle the Ottoman Empire. It’s just that I think the Ottoman Empire should first consider the trade-offs.”
"I am just a diplomat, and I only have a little understanding of the empire's finances. However, I believe that the empire's finance department will definitely think of a solution to this problem." Rifat Pasha could only return the problem to the finance department, and then
Then he promised Jérôme Bonaparte: "However, I can assure you that even if the empire is currently facing financial difficulties, I will use my greatest efforts to provide high-quality services to the French Empire's army so that the French Empire's army can
Get the most complete logistical supplies.”
"Guarantee?" Jerome Bonaparte shook his head and said to Rifat Pasha: "Mr. Rifat, what I need is not your guarantee! Guarantee is the most useless thing in the world. I need
See what the Ottoman Empire was truly capable of delivering on its stated promises!
If the Ottoman Empire does not even have this ability, then it will be difficult for me to convince the legislative body and all French citizens to support the empire in joining the war against the Russian Empire.
In the French Empire, the legislative body and all French citizens have far greater rights than I, the emperor. The French citizens have given me this power, and I must use it properly."
"Your Majesty, we..." Rifat Pasha bit his lip lightly and was speechless.
"Mr. Rifat, think about it carefully!" Jérôme Bonaparte patted Rifat on the shoulder and turned to leave.
After Jerome Bonaparte left the castle, the French Empire's Foreign Minister De Ruys appeared in front of Rifat Pasha.
"Mr. Rifat, your conversation with His Majesty..." De Luys looked at Rifat Pasha with a confused look. Judging from his expression, he seemed not to know the content of the conversation just now.
"Alas!" Rifat Pasha shook his head and responded to De Ruys.
"Can you tell me what happened?!" De Luys asked with concern.
"Your Majesty the Emperor, you just told me..." Rifat Pasha recited to De Ruys in full what Jerome Bonaparte had just said to him.
De Luys, who was originally prepared to come in and show off his face, suddenly felt a headache after hearing Rifat Pasha's description.
Now De Ruys really doesn't know whether he should praise Jérôme Bonaparte for his careful performance of a red-faced role, or whether he should complain about the emperor's "exerting too much force".
Diplomacy itself is a place that leaves room for maneuver for both sides. Such a diplomatic strategy of directly ripping off the opponent's leggings is probably only possible by the original First Empire.
From a certain perspective, Jérôme Bonaparte did inherit some of his uncle's "excellent" diplomatic traditions.
Thinking of this, De Luys quickly said: "Mr. Rifat, I think your Majesty hopes for closer cooperation between the Ottoman Empire and France!"
"What do you mean?" Rifat Pasha looked at De Ruys and asked.
"The financial problem of the Ottoman Empire itself is not a big problem. It only needs to be alleviated by using some means!" Fe Ruis proposed a solution to Rifat Pasha: "The Ottoman Empire itself is an excellent asset. Many of our country's
Bankers all hope to have in-depth exchanges with the Ottoman Empire."
The translation of De Ruys's words is that as long as the Ottoman Empire issues bonds, and then the French Empire takes over the Ottoman Empire's bonds.
"But the Ottoman Empire itself has accumulated a large amount of external debt!" Rifat Pasha replied to De Ruys.
In order to implement the Tanzimat reforms as soon as possible, the Ottoman Empire was forced to borrow debt from the Kingdom of Britain. Under the instructions of the British government, Barings Bank, one of the banking giants in Britain, "happily" accepted the debt issued by the Ottoman Empire and
Put it on the secondary market.
As the "reforms" gradually progressed, the old and new bureaucrats came and went more and more frequently, and the debts of the Ottoman Empire became higher and higher, so that they were simply unable to repay the debts they owed.
Regarding Rifat's pasha's response, De Luys had obviously expected it. He immediately shook his head and replied: "Mr. Rifat, in fact, the possessions of the Ottoman Empire itself are a wealth. As long as the Ottoman Empire is willing to pay
For a certain price, our country’s bankers are still willing to pay for the debts of the Ottoman Empire!”
"You want us to cede the land? No, absolutely not!" Rifat Pasha understood what De Ruys meant. He immediately shook his head and said to De Ruys in fear: "If I agree
If I meet your conditions, those guys in Constantinople will never let me go."
The people Rifat Pasha was talking about were the imams of extreme doctrines.
"Hmph!" De Luys snorted coldly and said with disdain: "Those are guys who don't understand the country's difficulties. As long as you are a little tougher on them, they won't dare to say anything!"
Then, a sneer appeared at the corner of De Luys's mouth: "Don't those guys claim to love the Ottoman Empire and are willing to die for the Ottoman Empire? Then send them to the front line and die for the Ottoman Empire."
De Ruys's methods are not innocuous. In Constantinople, most of the people who have some extreme nationalism and holy warrior fanaticism are the middle class/Imama of Constantinople.
For this purpose, sending them to the battlefield was entirely to interrupt the democratic trend that had just begun to show some improvement in the Ottoman Empire, and to make the Ottoman Empire return to the ranks of barbaric dictatorship.
"This..." Rifat Pasha had some thoughts.
"Mr. Rifat, the most important thing now is to defeat the Russian Empire! If the Russian Empire's soldiers enter Constantinople, then I don't need to elaborate too much on the situation that the entire Ottoman Empire will face!" De Lu.
Is once again exaggerated the "Russian threat theory" in front of Rifat, "In the eyes of those Balkan peoples, the Ottoman Empire is an evil empire that has oppressed them for hundreds of years! Once the Russian Empire breaks into Constantinople, what will happen?
Knowing that they would not bring about a massacre of Constantinople.
By then, I'm afraid the entire Constantinople will become an empty city."
"The Russian Empire shouldn't do this! They can be considered a civilized country after all!" Rifat Pasha was even more shaken.
"The Russian Empire doesn't have to do anything at all! They only need to take over an empty city! Those people in the Balkans must be happy to do some shameful things for the Russian Empire!" De Luys reminded vaguely.
Rifat Pasha's face looked very ugly.
There is no doubt that De Ruys's intimidation has worked. Rifat Pasha did not dare to bet that without France, Anglo-Austrian (Ottoman) power alone could withstand the attack of the Russian Empire.
Not to mention, there is also the Austrian Empire, which is also eyeing it.
If France has a grudge and causes trouble behind the scenes, the Ottoman Empire may really face the risk of a collapse of order.
In this friendship between the great powers, the Ottoman Empire had no bargaining power at all.