Chapter 414: Abandoning the land is not a ceded land
Rifat Pasha understood that the Ottoman Empire was destined to be unable to escape this wave.
Whether it is the Russian Empire, the French Empire, or the Austrian Empire, they all want to tear a bite out of the Ottoman Empire, and the difference between them lies in their attitudes towards the Ottoman Empire.
Compared with the Russian Empire, which was determined to dismember the Ottoman Empire, France's actions were much gentler.
At the very least, the Ottoman Empire could still exist if it lost the Middle East and North Africa. The Ottoman Empire, which lost Constantinople, would immediately face collapse.
Rifat Pasha also had no illusions that Britain would help in this regard and do its best to help the Ottoman Empire turn around.
After all, the British Kingdom still needs the French Empire to help them resist the Russian Empire.
Without the support of other powers, Rifat chose the lesser of two evils, and he was determined to compromise with the French Empire again.
"Minister De Ruys, on behalf of the Ottoman Empire, I am willing to assure France that as long as France can help the Ottoman Empire eliminate the threats that the Ottoman Empire currently faces, then the Ottoman Empire can pay any price!" Rifat Pasha gritted his teeth and decided.
Determined to make a promise to De Luys.
Now Rifat Pasha's heart has actually acquiesced to Jérôme Bonaparte's previous conditions.
"We hope that the Ottoman Empire can help the French Empire open a transfer station and telegraph transfer center in Rhodes Island to facilitate the flow of materials and information for the expeditionary force." De Luys first put forward his first condition.
"Rhodes Island? There's no problem with this!" Rifat Pasha nodded and agreed to De Ruys's conditions.
"The material transfer station and telegraph transfer center built on Junde Island must be independently operated by France! At the same time, for such an important strategic location as Rhodes Island, the French Empire hopes to assign troops to guard Rhodes Island!" De Ruys
Added a sentence to Rifat Pasha.
Rifat Pasha immediately understood what De Luys was thinking. He not only wanted to turn Rhodes Island into a material transit center, but also wanted to directly control Rhodes Island.
"This..." Rifat Pasha was a little confused. Although the island of Cyprus did not play a big role in the Ottoman Empire, it could not be thrown away easily.
"We can guarantee that Rhodes Island will continue to pay tribute to the Ottoman Empire as usual, and we can even increase it by 1.5 times on the original basis!" De Luys said in a gentle voice.
"Yes!" Rifat Pasha gritted his teeth and agreed to the first condition proposed by De Luys, and then continued to ask: "Does the French Empire have any other conditions?"
"Next, we hope that the Ottoman Empire can open its ports during the war to ensure that the expeditionary fleet can pass freely!" De Luys made his second request.
"Of course you can do this!" Rifat Pasha agreed to De Ruys's conditions without hesitation, and then added: "If the French Empire is willing, the Ottoman Empire's army can completely obey the orders of the expeditionary force! Obey.
All actions of the expeditionary force!"
"If that's the case, that would be great!" De Luys nodded in response to Rifat Pasha, and then continued: "One more thing, since the French Empire has obtained the right to adjudicate and protect the Holy Land
, then France has the obligation to ensure the safety of the people in the Holy Land! Therefore, I hope to send an army to station in the Holy Land.
I can assure you that the size of this army will never exceed one regiment! Of course, the strength of this regiment is just symbolic, used to protect the basic rights and interests of France in the Holy Land."
"This..." Rifat Pasha hesitated again.
Once the French Imperial Army enters the Holy Land, it will be difficult to get them out.
However, the most dangerous thing right now is the Russian Empire. If they are allowed to capture Constantinople, then the Ottoman Empire will most likely become history.
Just like when their ancestors destroyed the Byzantine Kingdom.
"I promise you!" Rifat Pasha gritted his teeth and said to De Ruys.
"In that case, these are my conditions!" De Luys, who knows when to stop, replied to Rifat Pasha.
"Still..." Just when Rifat Pasha was about to ask De Ruys what other conditions he had, he immediately heard De Ruys' next words, and he asked De Ruys with a happy face.
: “Is that all there is?”
"That's all!" De Luys responded to Rifat Pasha with a firm tone.
"Okay! Thank you very much for your support of the Ottoman Empire!" Rifat Pasha said excitedly, holding De Ruys's hand.
The conditions described by De Luys are still far behind the bottom line that he can accept. Why shouldn't Rifat be delighted by such a strong sense of gap!
"I said! The Ottoman Empire and the French Empire will become a pair of close allies!" De Luys said to Rifat Pasha with a slight smile and a calm tone.
After Rifat Pasha and De Ruys finalized the specific details, De Ruys and Rifat Pasha left the castle.
After De Ruys and Rifat Pasha returned to Paris by train, Rifat Pasha returned to the Ottoman Embassy in France.
De Ruys did not return to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but went directly to the Tuileries Palace to report the news of the negotiations to Jérôme Bonaparte.
De Luys, who entered the Tuileries Palace, was led by Mokar to a room on the third floor of the Tuileries Palace.
When De Luys pushed the door open, he saw Jérôme Bonaparte, Magnet and Fuld. The three of them were sitting together and seemed to be discussing something.
"Your Majesty, Minister Magnet, Minister Fuld!" De Ruys bowed to Jérôme Bonaparte and others.
"Ruys, you are finally back!" Jérôme Bonaparte smiled and asked De Ruys: "How is it? How is things going?"
Later, De Ruys told Jérôme Bonaparte and others the entire conversation with Rifat Pasha.
After listening, Jerome Bonaparte stroked his chin and asked happily: "So, Cyprus and Damascus will soon be our territory?"
"No, it depends on the follow-up! Once the war is over, the Ottoman Empire may inevitably win over Britain to fight against us! Therefore, we must be careful!" De Ruys said to Jérôme Bonaparte cautiously.
"As long as we can seize the upper hand, we can overwhelm them by a large margin!" Jérôme Bonaparte said in a calm tone.
"Your Majesty!" De Luys saluted Jérôme Bonaparte again: "I request to have a conversation with the ministers of Magnet and Faure!"
"Of course!" Jérôme Bonaparte nodded in agreement with De Luys' request.
Subsequently, De Ruys asked Fuld to sell the Ottoman Empire's national debt.
"What is the discount rate for the Ottoman Empire's national debt?" Fuld asked De Ruys about the discount rate for the Ottoman Empire's national debt.
As long as the Ottoman Empire's short-term/long-term government bond interest rates can be equal to those of the French Empire, then he can sell them.
If the discount rate of the Ottoman Empire's national debt is lower than that of the French Empire's national debt, then they can only express their gratitude.
De Ruys held out five fingers.
"Five percentage points?" Fuld asked immediately.
Such a national debt interest rate is worthy of Fuld's action. As long as the entire Ottoman Empire is not completely bankrupt and liquidated, he will not lose money.
Even if there is a small loss, Fuld is still able to pass the crisis to the retail investors of the Paris Stock Exchange, who will bear the risk, and Fuld only needs to reap the benefits.
"5.4% is the discount rate for the short-term treasury bonds to be issued by the Ottoman Empire, and 5.8% is the discount rate for the long-term treasury bonds of the Ottoman Empire!" De Ruys responded to Fuld.
"Is the Ottoman Empire crazy?" Fuld was dumbfounded by the high interest rates on the Ottoman Empire's national debt. He couldn't believe how the Ottoman Empire had the guts to raise such a price.
You should know that the interest rate on French government bonds remains at around 4% all year round, and it will never deviate much to the left or right.
The Ottoman Empire was severely beaten by the French Empire in every aspect.
However, the interest rate on their national debt is much higher than that of France.
It was so high that Fuld doubted whether Osman could afford the annual interest rate on the national debt.
Thinking of this, Fuld subconsciously glanced at Jérôme Bonaparte.
"This annual interest rate!" Jérôme Bonaparte murmured and thought for a long time, then nodded to Fuld and Magne: "You can buy it!"
The interest of 5.2%-5.6% is not outrageous. A few decades later, the annual interest rate on the national debt of Balkan countries has only risen to about 6%-7%, and even the annual interest rate on the national debt of some small countries exceeds 8%.
Even in such a country, there is still a large amount of capital willing to make initial investment.
It's just that most of their investments are short-term bond investments, which are suitable for one-and-done investments.
In other words, it is a pseudo-colony.
The annual interest rate of about 5% in the Ottoman Empire is simply not comparable to that of the future Balkan countries.
Under the order of Jerome Bonaparte, Fuld decided to subscribe for more than 25 million francs of Ottoman government bonds, and Magnet was also willing to subscribe for 15 million francs of government bonds.
The remaining bankers also promised to do their best to serve the empire in the next few days.
After all, the entire Paris banking community was willing to invest 140 million francs to purchase Ottoman government bonds.
However, these Ottoman Empire government bonds have not yet been officially listed.
When De Ruys met with Rifat Pasha again, De Ruys told Rifat Pasha the news. After hearing the news, Rifat Pasha showed a happy smile on his face.
