You Will Return Like Lightning (5)

Selim III was assassinated, and his cousin, Mustafa, became the new Sultan, known as Mustafa IV. In the original history, Selim III angered the feudal lords with his reforms and was also deposed in a coup by the Janissaries. Mustafa IV then ascended to the throne.

In the original history, however, the army loyal to Selim III was not wiped out. As the saying goes, "If the monk can touch it, why can't I?" Was it only the Janissaries who would stage a coup? So, the newly formed army originally loyal to Selim III returned directly to the battlefield. Everyone initially thought a civil war was imminent in Turkey. However, unexpectedly, the Janissaries proved remarkably peace-loving (and incredibly weak), and after a brief engagement, they collapsed, each soldier returning home to their own families. Mustafa IV naturally perished, and his brother Mahmud II became Sultan.

However, in this timeline, because the army originally loyal to Selim III was larger and stronger than in history, Selim III lived several years longer than in the original timeline. But in the original timeline, when he was deposed in a coup, his 40,000 loyal new-style troops were still there, only they had been transferred to the Balkans to confront the Austria. So at that time, these troops could still raise a cry and return to Istanbul.

In this timeline, most of Turkey's modern army had been wiped out by the Russia in the war, and the remaining troops were used to suppress the Greece uprising. To make matters worse, after the coup in Istanbul, the newly enthroned group, who had long disliked these modern troops, immediately sent people to arrest the officers in command and cut off the army's supplies, including food.

Then, Assad Pasha, who was in charge of the army, did not hesitate to rebel. However, he had few soldiers and could not quell the rebellion, so Assad Pasha chose to become a mountain king, or rather, an island king. He led his army to raid a port, forcibly requisitioned dozens of ships of all sizes in the port, and then took his army to Crete.

The Turkey army on Crete was captured without bloodshed, and Assad Pasha then declared himself governor of Crete. He sent envoys to other countries, including Mustafa IV, hoping to gain recognition for his position.

In short, Mustafa IV's position is more secure than in the original historical period, at least domestically, because a new Turkey army of 40,000 has not come to quell the rebellion. However, there's a more troublesome issue: while no rebellion army has arrived, a Russia army of 50,000 has. In the original history, the Janissaries couldn't stop the rebellion army; can the current Janissaries withstand the Russia army?

Therefore, immediately after the coup, Mustafa IV contacted Europe countries, including Russia. He assured them that any agreements initialed by Selim III with Europe countries were legal and would be fully implemented—even though one of the reasons for the coup was that Selim III had betrayed the country.

The envoy sent Russia Russia further stated that Selim III had acted perversely, instigated border conflicts, and offended the superior nation, a crime deserving of death. Now that a new Turkey monarch had ascended the throne, Turkey was willing to mend relations with Russia...

The Russia simply let the envoy go to Saint Petersburg to meet the Tsar, and then, naturally, they did what they were supposed to do.

When news of the Istanbul coup arrived, Napoleon was pouring a glass of red wine into his mouth.

"Pfft!" Napoleon lost his temper and sprayed a mouthful of wine all over the table, then started coughing. Lola quickly got up and patted his chest to help him.

After a long while, Napoleon finally caught his breath. "Is the news accurate?"

"Nonsense, otherwise why would I have come all this way myself?" Lucien said.

"Has Joseph been informed?" Napoleon asked again.

"Of course, I called him before I came. Fanny answered and said Joseph was discussing something with the students. But she agreed to let him know right away, and he should be here soon."

"That's hard to say. Discussing matters with his students isn't something that can be resolved quickly," Napoleon shook his head. "However, he should arrive soon, after all, this involves money!"

Just as Napoleon had predicted, Joseph arrived quickly.

"What happened? What went wrong? I knew it! Those Turkey are hopeless bastards!" Joseph cursed as soon as he entered the room.

"You're right, Joseph." Napoleon had calmed down by this time, having already vented his anger. "But to be honest, wasn't the very reason we supported Turkey in the first place because they were so rotten?"

Joseph, who was initially furious, was stunned by this remark, and after a while, he couldn't help but laugh.

"Napoleon, what you say is truly... truly insightful!"

Throughout history, supporting foreign agents, or in other words, keeping dogs, has always been a highly contradictory matter. Dogs shouldn't be too strong or too useful. If they are, they won't willingly act as dogs and will always want to be treated as equals. But dogs that are too useless are also problematic, because in any situation, they not only won't help but will also hinder you. However, considering that most of the time dogs are kept for meat, not to bite people, when choosing a dog, it's usually better to choose one that's incompetent and a burden than one that's extremely strong and capable of biting.

After laughing for a while, Joseph continued, "But these Turkey, really... The Russia are about to reach Constantinople, and they're still playing this trick. However, we can't completely control these idiots from making foolish mistakes. The question now is, how should we deal with this situation?"

"Constantinople must never be given to Russia," Joseph said.

If Constantinople fell into Russia hands, the Russia would control the juncture of Eurasia, gaining access to the Mediterranean Sea. Moreover, they would have a decisive geopolitical advantage in the Middle East. Joseph did not want to have just spent a great deal of effort to subdue Britain in the west, and before he could even catch his breath, an unprecedentedly powerful Russia would suddenly emerge in the east.

"Although those Turkey have a new sultan, the treaty signed between the previous sultan and us, and the new sultan—what's his name?" Napoleon asked suddenly.

"Mustafa IV," Lucien replied.

"Oh, Mustafa IV, a rotten ear of grain that has damaged his robust brother, a murderer, a villain, a scoundrel, a buffoon, a clown who impersonates the king, a thief who steals the throne, stole that precious crown from the shelf and stuffed it into his own pocket! How could they do such a thing at this time?" Napoleon said.

"Isn't this normal, commonplace? Look at Philippe the Equal's performances during the French Revolution—aren't they all the same in a sense?" Joseph laughed. "But for us, such an illegitimate king might be more useful. His position is weaker than ever before; he would never dare to violate any agreements we previously signed with them, even if they were only initialed. Therefore, our plan can proceed as originally planned. No, the plan should be accelerated, so that the Holy See's volunteers can arrive sooner and construct fortifications outside Constantinople."

Philippe Equality, the Duke of Orleans, was consistently portrayed as extremely revolutionary and radical throughout the French Revolution, even within the far-left the Mountain. To demonstrate his devotion to the republic, he changed his surname to "Equality" and spearheaded the execution of Louis XVI at his trial. However, it's widely known that the Duke of Orleans' actions were all aimed at securing his own throne as King of France. To this end, he allied himself with the monarchy's most treacherous enemies. Compared to the Duke of Orleans, Mustafa IV and the Turkey conservatives were hardly as eccentric.

"You're right, but there's one thing I think we can first put on a show of condemning them and denying their legitimacy, and then wait for them to offer a higher price," Napoleon said.

Foreign Minister Talleyrand immediately summoned the Turkey ambassador and made the following statement regarding the internal affairs of Turkey:

"Your Sultan Selim III is an old friend of the France people. France is very concerned about the current situation in your country and firmly opposes any illegal means used to overthrow such a legitimate monarch who is deeply loved by the Turkey people and the people of the world."

Looking at Talleyrand's righteous and indignant demeanor, Turkey Ambassador Ahmadi couldn't help but think to himself, "You France bastards who sent the legitimate king to the guillotine for public execution, how dare you call him France? Besides, Turkey has its own national conditions; this kind of brotherly killing is a traditional virtue of Turkey..."

However, he dared not say it directly. If he did, the consequences for relations between the two countries were uncertain, but he himself would certainly not fare well. So he explained, "Your Excellency Foreign Minister, I know there are many rumors circulating that a coup has occurred in our country, that our current Sultan murdered the previous Sultan and usurped the throne. But these rumors are not true. They are fabricated by our enemies, the Russia, to sow discord between our two countries. In fact, our late King, Selim III, had always been in poor health. Recently, after the Russia launched their shameless war of aggression against our country, His Majesty's health deteriorated further due to worry about state affairs, eventually leading to his sudden illness and passing away. Before his death, His Majesty left a will bequeathing the throne to his cousin, our current Sultan, His Mustafa IV. All of this was done under the witness of God."

"Is that really the case?" Talleyrand asked.

"Of course," Ambassador Ahmadi replied confidently.

"So, are the rumors about your country, such as the claim that your Imam and the new Sultan condemned His Selim III's policies and intended to completely overturn them, also false? Are the various agreements reached between our country and your country during the reign of His Selim III still valid?"

"Of course, our country has always kept its promises. We will certainly abide by all agreements reached between your country and ours..."

Hearing this, Talleyrand laughed, "In that case, some misunderstandings between our two countries should be cleared up. Hmm, your country has just suffered losses on the battlefield, and now you've lost an outstanding monarch like Selim III. Your country's situation is quite bad. I've heard that your country intends to sue for peace with the Russia? Even to cede land in the Balkans to Russia? My friend, as a friend, I want to give you some advice. You must understand that using ceding territory to deal with the Russia is like using firewood to put out a fire. If the firewood isn't burned out, the fire will never burn." "It will not be destroyed. Although your country is large, the amount of land is still finite, but the Russia's greed for land is infinite. Therefore, I suggest that you speed up the recruitment of those 'South Italian Volunteer Army' in Italy, pay the remaining money as soon as possible, and bring the troops back, otherwise, it will be too late. In addition, due to the recent changes in your country, our bankers generally believe that the risk of lending to your country has increased significantly. Therefore, if we provide loans to your country, the interest rate must be increased slightly. At the same time, we also need more collateral."

After his meeting with Talleyrand, Ambassador Ahmadi immediately reported the situation back home via wired telegram. He quickly received a reply: King Mustafa IV had fully agreed to the France demands. Soon after, a large number of the South Italian Volunteer Army boarded the ships.

In order to resolve the crisis, Mustafa IV was much more decisive than his brother in selling off national interests, and he also asked for much lower prices. For example, he mortgaged all the mining rights in the Persian Gulf to the France in order to borrow money from the France to hire Italy and to buy weapons and ammunition from France.

Given that the France have raised loan interest rates, the Turkey's ability to repay is actually quite questionable. Of course, even with everyone tightening their belts, the Turkey aren't necessarily unable to pay. However, this isn't in the Turkey's nature. Turkey prefer to default on debts, but defaulting on France debts is not so easy. Fortunately, the France have their eyes on the barren lands near the Persian Gulf and have proposed using the region's mineral resources as collateral, along with the right to station troops there. The Turkey, on the other hand, feel that selling the mineral resources to the France to weather this crisis isn't a bad idea.