European Financial Emperor

089 Ottoman Humiliation (1)

Istanbul, the heart of the Ottomans and the city of merchants, was on fire.

An attempt was made to fire a coastal artillery fire to fight Lee Hwan’s fleet, but he was hit by artillery fire in the middle of the city and had no choice but to raise the white flag.

There was a situation where the Ottoman Empire under the world had no choice but to surrender to a single mercenary group.

However, it was never that Lee Hwan brought in from the fleet.

He returned alive the remnants of the Ottomans who had abandoned the first battle, and instructed them to act as messengers.

Obviously, they treated the Ottomans in a gentle and calm manner, but on the contrary, they had responded with coastal artillery.

Prime Minister Mustafa invited Lee Hwan to the Hagia Irene Cathedral in Topkapi Palace.

Currently, this place is used as a military warehouse, so it was not considered a very appropriate place to invite guests.

A glass of wine was placed between two people sitting opposite each other in the park in front of the Byzantine-style cathedral.

The beautiful harem women were looking at these two with a subtle smile, as if anxious.

Lee Hwan asked for a cigar instead of alcohol.

“I am from Havana. Would you like to smoke one?”

“… … no. I’m done.”

“Are you giving up on cigars? After all, cigarettes like this in Constantinople are not a big deal.”

“More than that, for health reasons.”

“Well, if that’s the case.”

Eastern medicine developed faster than Western medicine, and we already knew that smoking too much or burning poisonous plants like poppies would not make us live long.

However, even such advanced medicine cannot bring the dead back to life.

“Most of the soldiers you sent are buried in the Mediterranean. You know, right?”

“… … Of course.”

“How do you treat guests like this? To be honest, I was a little disappointed with Ottoman.”

“We just wanted to protect our rights and property.”

“If that was the case, I should have acted more like a gentleman. I don’t think this is a bit too much.”

Lee Hwan was clearly showing respect for Mustafa.

Either way, Mustafa was old and was the prime minister of the country.

For some reason, each other’s positions felt like they were looking at each other’s relationship.

Taken from readwn.com

Mustafa knew all too well that the relationship could never be reversed.

That has already been confirmed as an unmistakable fact because he has already confirmed the marked difference in power with his own eyes.

Perhaps because of that, he was coming out with an infinitely low profile.

However, he was by no means a person who would hand everything over to Lee Hwan without a pulse.

“This logistic holds the essence of our Ottomans. In the past, it was believed that a powerful force that conquered the world came from here. But now our mighty essence has already become a relic of the past to you.”

“You know.”

“But our Ottomans are still alive. It has vast territories and a commercial base that can produce any amount of gold. I don’t know how it would be in terms of military power, but it is said that it is never inferior to the wealth of the country.”

Even if it rots, the term Junchi is not for nothing.

In fact, the wealth of the Ottoman Empire was enormous, so no matter how hungry the people were, the royal family was quite wealthy.

“This logistical, if you can replenish it with your weapons, you are welcome to use our gold as much as you like.”

“Shall we exchange weapons and gold?”

“Aren’t you a business? Anyway, I think it’s only natural to make a profit by selling weapons in a place where profit is the best.”

As Mustafa said, Lee Hwan had plans to bring arms to Istanbul and sell them.

But that was never now.

“I don’t think that’s a thing.”

“… … You mean you don’t want to sell weapons?”

“yes.”

“Well then, what is the purpose of coming here?”

“I came here to make money.”

“If you do that, of course you have to sell something… … .”

Taken from readwn.com

Mustafa wanted Lee Hwan to bring gold, so he exchanged it for goods to establish friendly relations to some extent and to build national defense.

Hana Lee Hwan was by no means the ordinary group he thought of.

“We sell cars and we also sell trains. If you want, I’ll even drill a road for you. There are so many things to sell, what the hell are you selling weapons to?”

“greatness… … .”

“And there seems to be something very misleading, we could annihilate Istanbul. If Constantinople is defeated, the Ottomans will fall. In a word, it means we could eat the Ottomans.”

Taken from readwn.com

Mustafa’s eyes shone sharply for a moment.

Even though he was in a relationship with a partner, when he thought that his mark was being abused by someone else, his original personality was about to come out.

But it was just there.

“Well, that’s… … .”

“You know it is possible. It was the same in this naval battle as well as in the artillery battle. you have been defeated If there was an infantry war, it would probably lead to even more horrific massacres. And yet you are talking about negotiations.”

Although he was aware that the differences were stark, Mustafa tried to take advantage of it.

However, there was no way Lee Hwan could accept that.

“Go up north of the Euphrates River. And don’t go further north across the Balkans. Failure to do so will result in an all-out war. In that moment, Istanbul will be gone.”

“I’m not asking for half of our territory… … !”

“Not half.”

“No, but still, how can you make such an unreasonable request?”

“Your land will return to the emirates, and we will occupy and operate the coastal cities of Alexandria and Cairo, Suez and Israel and Lebanon. You can only keep up with it.”

Lee Hwan’s goal is clear.

It was to put the emirates under their feet and unite them to seize the hegemony of oil.

If the Ottomans tried to thwart that goal, they would have been sent off a little earlier in history.

Although Mustafa knew it all too well, he could not easily accept this condition.

If the southern territories were also taken away like this, while they were already becoming helpless due to the loss of territory, it would have been impossible for them to revive forever.

“that… … .”

“You mean impossible?”

“You know the situation very well.”

Lee Hwan nodded his head.

“Well, I know.”

“Then to understand us… … .”

Lee Hwan and Mustafa stood up and knew what that meant.

Perhaps if Lee Hwan turns around now, a much more powerful ordeal will come to him than the waves of new weapons.

“I understand that the negotiations have broken down. Then we will annihilate the territory of the Ottoman Empire in turn, starting with Istanbul.”

“… … Aren’t you telling us to die?”

“You decide. Either die or follow us.”

Lee Hwan’s sense of purpose sometimes made it very difficult for them.

However, there was a reason for all of his gapjil, so Eul had no choice but to follow Lee Hwan.

“… … Good. I will persuade the sultan.”

“okay. It will be right away.”

“But, I have one condition.”

“Please speak.”

“I want you to become a blood relative with us.”

“… … Are you talking about marriage?”

“exactly. It’s not like I’m asking you to be my wife. All you need to do is establish a blood relationship with a concubine or something.”

Wherever they go, attempts to tie people together by marriage continue.

However, Lee Hwan was not a very easygoing person.

“Let’s pass the territory first. Then we will think about it.”

“… … I see.”

With this, the first unequal treaty signed by Yi Hwan was established.

***

British Undersecretary of the Treasury Jared Konstan visited Copenhagen, Denmark.

The Danish court treasurer Alexander Dosskad waited all day for Jared Konstan in a pub in the back alley of Copenhagen, before meeting him at sunset.

Even so, Alexander Dosskad looked unconcerned.

“Nice to meet you. I am the court treasurer.”

“I’m sorry. On the way home, the weather was not very good, so I suffered a bit.”

“I know. Fishermen have been like that since yesterday. A storm is sure to come. So I thought I had a day off and waited.”

“Thank you for thinking so.”

Alexander Dosscard moved to the side so Jared Constan could sit down.

After a while, the two of them sat down and drenched their throats with ice-cold beer.

I felt thirsty as the bitter beer ran down my throat.

“… … It’s a little better. So, shall we get to the point?”

Alexander Doskad handed Jared Constan a stock certificate that read ‘Baltic Corporation’.

Upon receiving it, Jared Constan tilted his head.

“I don’t know what to mean.”

“It means that we give up being shareholders of the Baltic Corporation.”

“No, so that’s… … .”

“As a neutral country, it means to keep the center in this war.”

In an instant, Jared’s expression hardened.

He had a look on his face, wondering if this was what he was going to say to someone who had come this far.

His expression said it all, so Alexander couldn’t help but smile bitterly.

“I am sorry, but this is the will of our Kingdom of Denmark.”

“… … In the end, we will live with our back to England, what do you mean?”

“For now.”

“for now… … ?”

“I will open the way to the north. But as a neutral country, we will take the center stage.”

Jared was confused and wondered what his head would be like.

The reason he made today’s secret talk was because he wanted Copenhagen to serve as a bridgehead for the Austrian Allied Forces to land along the Baltic Sea coast.

However, while maintaining neutrality, he said he would give up his shareholder position in a company jointly invested with the UK.

Still, to open the way to the North, Jared couldn’t quite understand what the hell this meant.

“It is expected that you will be caught up in a complex mentality.”

“… … You know.”

“But you don’t have to. It’s just that we’re going to help Britain by not advertising to Prussia, saying we’re going to be a bridgehead in the north.”

“iced coffee!”

“Prussia is not such a sleazy people. Be mindful.”

What Britain didn’t know and Denmark knew was that Prussia was better at strategic tactics than they thought.

The Danish royal family thought the Prussian army must have planted spies everywhere.

So they declared neutrality and gave up all shares in the company jointly invested with the UK.

In short, it was the beginning of a psychological warfare in Denmark.

Alexander gave an outline of the operation that would serve as a bridgehead for Britain.

“It would be most effective to turn the Prussians’ eyes away and open an advance route to the north. Therefore, we, the Danish royal family, will dispose of the company and declare a neutral country externally in the sense of stopping loss with the UK. That is why we will engage in trade that will open the door for Prussia and its allies.”

“What do you do when Prussia invades Denmark after acting like that? Nearby is Russia.”

“I know. But can we try to turn the tide without gambling that much?”

“… … It’s gambling.”

“We even have a Russian invasion in mind. But nevertheless, he sided with the British Empire. Do you know what that means?”

“okay. I can’t possibly know.”

“So, by the way, give us the power to build up our military in the future.”

“I want the military sanctions to be lifted… … ?”

“Yes, it is.”

It could be the gamble of a lifetime for Denmark, but Britain had a lot of trouble.

Because they already had a history of choosing France.

“Let’s have a drink tonight. And we’ll talk again tomorrow.”

“That’s right.”

So the night between the two of them deepened.