Greece to roman road

After returning from Costeblu's manor, he happened to meet the Greek ambassador to Constantinople, Lundhardt, who returned to Greece to report on his duties.

After hearing the news, Constantine specially invited Lundhart to Tatoi Palace in order to understand the current situation of the Ottoman Empire.

In the reception room, Constantine and Lenthardt met.

"Your Excellency, Ambassador, I have called you here because I want to learn some news about the Ottoman Empire from you," Constantine said.

"As far as I know, the Ottomans, with the help of the Germans, are overhauling the railways in their country."

Ambassador Lundhart put down the coffee in his hand and said, "Your Highness, the Ottomans simply cannot afford the high cost of building the railway. Their current finances are in a state of bankruptcy."

The core territory of the Ottoman Empire, Asia Minor, is a plateau terrain with undulating mountains and crisscrossing hills and valleys. If you want to build a railway in such a place, the cost of building a road through the mountains and building a bridge over the water will be several times that of the plains.

"But as far as I know, the German construction team is still building railways in Ottoman territory," Constantine said in surprise.

"The finances of the Ottoman Empire are now unsustainable. After hearing the news, the ambassadors of the European powers in Constantinople came in and out of the High Gate (the code name of the Ottoman government) every day, just to win over the Ottoman Empire. "The right to build the Asia Minor Railway," Hardrent said.

Britain, Russia, France and Germany must be coveting this road.

Once it controls this Ottoman transportation artery, its influence on the Ottomans will far exceed that of other countries. The minerals and agricultural products in the interior of the Ottoman Empire will be at your fingertips.

Through such a railway, the goods of the controlling country can be more easily sold within the Ottoman Empire, while goods of other countries are excluded.

"Your Highness, do you think that any powerful country would not covet such an inland transportation line?"

"So, Ambassador, which country do you think is most likely to win this competition?" Constantine asked curiously.

Although the news that Little Nobel received was that Germany intended to build a Triple B railway, that was the wish of the Germans after all. The Ottoman country did not agree, and the Germans were also wishful thinking.

"Germany" Hardrent said without hesitation.

"Is there any special reason? Why is it Germany and not other countries?" Constantine asked doubtfully.

"Because Germany is a newly rising power, the most popular and powerful," Lundhart explained to Constantine.

"First of all, Russia definitely has no chance of building this railway."

"First of all, Russia and the Ottomans are feuding countries. If Russia really builds this railway, the Sultan will not be able to sleep at night. Maybe one day, the Tsar's army will take the built railway all the way to the city of Constantinople. "

"Secondly, the Trans-Siberian Railway is being built in Russia, and the funds for the Russian railway construction were borrowed from abroad (mainly France). Where do they have extra money? It is difficult to build a railway in the Ottoman territory. Perhaps an Ottoman railway no less inferior to the Siberian Railway?”

Constantine thought about Lundhart's analysis and nodded repeatedly. It does make sense.

"So, although the Russians are also involved in grabbing the right to build the railway in Little West Asia, it is more like disrupting other countries and muddying the waters. It itself cannot do it at all, and it does not have the will."

"France has always had intentions towards Lebanon and has continued to penetrate there economically and politically. The Ottoman Empire can't see it. Letting the French build this railway is also inviting a wolf into the house."

"Then why is it impossible for the British to get the right to build this railway? The British have always had a good relationship with the Ottomans for a long time," Constantine asked rhetorically.

The Ottoman Empire has been able to persist until now after the Russians were defeated in several Russo-Turkish wars and was not eaten alive by Russia. The British contributed a lot.

In order to maintain the political and military balance of power in Europe, blocking Russia in the Black Sea and blocking its access to the Mediterranean has always been the goal of the British (and possibly the French). During the Crimean War, the two countries even ended up personally , nearly a million troops fought on the Black Sea coast to dispel Russia's thoughts on the Ottoman Empire.

In this regard, the UK is indeed a very possible choice.

"Without German participation, the British would have been the most likely to win the railway construction rights," Lundhart said.

"However, recently Britain has also taken action on its own and carved up a lot of Ottoman territory."

Although Egypt was still nominally a vassal state of the Ottoman Empire, Britain actually controlled Egypt.

At the same time, during the Russo-Turkish War of 1878, while the Ottomans were in panic, the British took the island of Cyprus from the Ottomans.

"So, now the Ottomans don't trust the British as much as they did before," Lundhart explained.

"The current foreign policy of the Ottoman Empire is to win over the various powers and keep them in check so that the Ottoman Empire can benefit from the disputes between the powers."

Constantine thought, isn't this using barbarians to control barbarians?

"In this respect, Germany is most advantageous"

"Germany did not seize territory from the Ottoman Empire. Unlike Britain, the Ottoman government would not resist Germany."

"Furthermore, as a latecomer, Germany, unlike Britain, France and Russia, already has a large number of interests in the Ottomans."

"Introducing German power can better balance the power of the great powers in the Ottoman Empire"

"In order to quickly gain a foothold in the Ottoman Empire, Germany will naturally reciprocate the favor and offer a generous price. It will not be as excessive as Britain and France."

"So, the Germans probably have the best chance of getting the Ottoman railway construction rights."

Lundhart's analysis is clear and makes sense.

After listening to Lundhart's analysis, Constantine also figured out the whole story.

The Ottomans' idea to build the railway was originally their own idea. They wanted to strengthen the empire's control over the territories under their rule and had nothing to do with the Germans.

However, because the construction of the railway was too difficult, Ottoman had to hire German personnel to help build the railway.

Then, the Ottoman Empire's finances were unable to make ends meet. After 1896, it was no longer enough to support the continued construction of the railway. Therefore, various countries came to promote it, hoping to take the opportunity to win the right to build this railway.

The Germans also wanted to get the right to build this railway. They even wanted to go one step further and directly connect Berlin to Vienna based on the Asia Minor railway line originally planned by the Ottoman Empire (the Ottomans originally only planned to build it to Constantinople). -Constantinople-Baghdad, direct to the Persian Gulf.

Germany's Triple B Railway Plan and the Ottoman Empire's Asia Minor Railway were not exactly the same thing.