Chapter 145: Worries

Austria, Danube Dam.

The melody of "Against the Waves" is passionate, and the lyrics, although slightly sad, lack a lot of whining content, which is more likely to resonate with German workers.

The whole song is full of Greater German ideas, but never mentions Germany, only the Holy Roman Empire and Austria. Even the wandering artists who play the music may not understand the true meaning of the song.

The Danube Dam was successfully completed. Fister Laubin chose to reclaim wasteland for the royal estate. There were many Germans with him, and they were assigned to the same piece of land.

The royal family gave them food and tools, but they had to rely on themselves to open up a piece of land that belonged to them.

After the dam was completed, some workers returned to their original countries with the money they earned from working, but they did not just bring back money.

Ottoman Empire, Istanbul.

Palmerston never expected that Muhammad Ali was so shameless. He clearly did not abide by Ottoman laws, but he had the nerve to say that he was an Ottoman minister and Egypt was not independent.

The Ottomans were really good. They didn't dare to send troops even though the Egyptians were angry.

In fact, only Britain and France were concerned about the trouble between the Ottomans and Egypt at first. Russia was watching the show, Prussia was indifferent, and Austria was studying which side to bet on.

Although the Austrian Empire was heavily in debt, its fiscal revenue was much higher than the same period in history.

At this time, the fiscal revenue of the Austrian Empire was 216 million florins, while the same period in history was 140.61 million florins.

Prince Metternich hoped to use this Middle East crisis to expand his influence in the Middle East. Of course, he did not want to compete with Russia for hegemony, but he wanted to continue to maintain relations with Russia.

Because he knew that the Tsar would not sympathize with the weak, but only respect the strong. The treaty signed by Russia and the weak was as pale and powerless as paper. If you want to become an ally of Russia, you must be strong enough.

Moreover, for centuries, Serbia has been stuck in Austria's throat like a fishbone, making the Austrian Empire unable to advance or retreat in the Balkan direction.

The key to the Balkans is also the gate to Central Europe. From Serbia, you can walk out of the Fruska Mountains and cross the Danube to the Vojvodina Plain, which is connected to the Croatian and Hungarian Plains.

The Ottomans besieged Vienna twice, taking this route, which made the Austrians always feel resentful about this area.

But in general, Metternich felt that it was more beneficial for Austria to maintain the status quo between the Ottoman Empire and Egypt, or the powers would divide the Ottoman Empire together, and Austria would take the opportunity to solve the worries of the Balkans.

Compared with the Balkans and the German region, Prince Metternich wanted to continue the last wish of the late emperor and let the Austrian Empire rule the Apennine Peninsula.

Count Korolav hoped to join forces with Britain to completely defeat France, which was the best choice.

Of course, he did not hope to open trade with Egypt. As a Croatian, he did not want to rescue his Slav compatriots trapped in the Balkans.

Count Korolav sneered at the Italian wimps. What he wanted was to completely exclude French influence from southern Germany, take the opportunity to bring it into Austria's sphere of influence, and then annex it when the time was right.

In fact, there was a third faction, which was the military high-ranking officials headed by Count Latour. They felt that the Ottoman Empire was in decline and should take the opportunity to launch the Austrian-Turkish War, just like the Russians did, to expand Austria's territory and march into the Balkans.

It would be best to take the two Danube principalities, so that Russia's road to the Balkans could be completely cut off, and the Austrian Empire could dominate the Balkans. For this reason, they designed a variety of combat plans.

Franz called the third faction the death-seeking faction. Not to mention that Wallachia and Moldavia were Russian protectorates, would Britain and France agree to Austria sending troops to the two Danube principalities?

At this time, the five major European powers, except Prussia, had ambitions for the Ottoman Empire and would never sit idly by and watch Austria swallow the Balkans alone.

The result of the disagreement between Metternich and Count Korolov was that the Regency Council was in chaos, while the Austrian military "secretly" deployed troops and distributed supplies.

The result was that Russia and the Ottoman Empire responded quickly, and the three countries assembled hundreds of thousands of troops near the Carpathian Mountains, resulting in a serious shortage of troops on the southern front of the Ottoman Empire.

Palmerston looked at the situation in front of him and was very upset. How could things turn out like this? The Anglo-Turkish Commercial Treaty did not benefit Britain much.

What Britain wanted to get through the Anglo-Turkish Commercial Treaty was not the market of the Ottoman Empire, but the cotton producing area of ​​Egypt.

Of course, it was not that the market of the Ottoman Empire was not large enough, but after Britain, European countries signed commercial contracts with the Ottoman Empire one after another.

The Ottoman Empire, based on the principle of "too many lice, no worries", signed new commercial contracts with European countries very smoothly.

In this way, European goods rushed into the Ottoman Empire crazily. Although it dealt a heavy blow to the industry and commerce of the Ottoman Empire itself, the increase in import and export taxes gave the Ottomans an illusion of prosperity.

For Britain, this is not what they want. Britain's industrial level is the highest in the world, but it cannot withstand the shamelessness of other European countries. The crazy trade war has made British businessmen no longer want to do business in the Ottoman Empire.

In fact, it was not only Palmerston who was upset at this time, Mahmud II was also very upset. The protagonists of this Near East crisis should have been Egypt and the Ottoman Empire, but for some reason, the Austrian Empire and Russia suddenly gathered heavy troops in the north.

The Ottoman Empire could not resist the joint attack of Austria and Russia in any way. All he could do was to send troops to garrison in the north, indicating that he would never surrender easily and hoped that the other side would retreat in the face of difficulties.

Palmerston and Mahmud II sighed together, and then Mahmud II spoke first.

"Mr. Palmerston, why did Russia and Austria gather heavy troops near the Carpathian Mountains?"

"The replies from both countries are normal mobilizations, and there is no plan to attack your country." Palmerston answered calmly, although he himself did not believe this statement.

"Then can your country guarantee the security of our country's territory under the joint attack of Austria and Russia?" Mahmud II continued to ask.

To be honest, if Austria and Russia join forces, it is impossible to meet an opponent in the Balkans, but Palmerston still said with a smile.

"Great Sultan, please rest assured that we are the most powerful country in the world, and no one can defeat us."

"What if Russia, France, and Austria join forces?" Mahmud II continued to ask.

"What do you mean? Don't you trust us in Britain?" Palmerston asked back.

"Please forgive me, I just want to ensure the safety of my country. I don't plan to go to war with Egypt before Austria and Russia withdraw their troops."

Mahmud II made it clear that he didn't want to take risks. And Palmerston also wanted to know what Russia and Austria were going to do, so he decided to go to Russia and Austria.