Wild North America 1846

Chapter 427 Suez Canal

(The previous chapter was blocked.)

Napoleon III raised his eyebrows and asked, "You mean... you are interested in the project of digging the Sweetwater Canal?"

"Yes, this important canal connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea has been excavated so far. Well, there have been a lot of news about difficulties in advancing the project. Sometimes it is financial difficulties, sometimes it is an extremely harsh environment, and there are many casualties among canal workers. And sometimes it is the British

Strongly opposed and suggested using railway projects instead." Richard smiled and shook his head, obviously disapproving of the British motion and supporting the French plan to dig the canal.

He waved his big hand vigorously and continued;

“At the beginning of this century, the great Emperor Napoleon planned to build a canal connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. This wise and forward-looking vision will soon be realized in the hands of your noble Majesty. What an exciting and great undertaking it will be?

This new route connecting Europe and Asia will shorten the voyage by nearly 16,000 nautical miles. In every sense, it will be a century-old project that will go down in history and benefit all mankind.

some of

The most glorious chapter was supported by French engineers and the French Emperor. There is no doubt about this, and I have no reservations in admiring it.

Out of consideration for jointly building and maintaining the new sea route between Europe and Asia, the royal family of the Tang Empire was willing to invest in the Suez Canal. They only required to occupy an appropriate position on the canal's board of directors and share stable profits.

It does not seek additional benefits or a controlling stake in the canal. It is willing to see this canal open to all countries without any preference. This is the solemn commitment of the Tang Empire.

The Tang Empire believed;

This grand project related to the well-being of all mankind should involve the world's major powers, build it together, and share risks and benefits. We hope to receive the support of His Majesty the French Emperor."

"The Tang Empire is willing to participate and share financial risks. This is a good thing. Will London object?" Napoleon III would still consider the British opinion.

Richard shook his head slightly and said, "This is just a sound financial investment by the royal family, and they hope to share the glory brought by the Suez Canal, which will be beneficial to enhancing the international influence of the Tang Empire. We will communicate closely with the British side and will not rule out the possibility of

Bringing the British in to participate, after all, is an open international project that will benefit the entire world."

"I very much agree with your opinion, Your Majesty." Napoleon III considered it carefully, nodded in agreement and said;

“In order to realize the original vision of the great Emperor Napoleon, France had arduous communication with London, endured huge pressure and persisted, just to continue this great project that benefits all mankind until it was finally completed.

Now that the Tang Empire is involved, the canal project will be promoted more smoothly and the huge financial troubles faced will be solved.

Tell the truth

Halfway through the construction of the project, all the budget has been spent and the budget has been seriously overrun. The canal project is facing serious consequences of being unsustainable.

As an important collaborator, Egypt, which is heavily in debt, is unable to provide help, and the British always hold back. It is a disaster.

France will exert official pressure to induce Muhammad Said Pasha to transfer, perhaps part of, his 44% stake.

The canal's board of directors will review the equity and profit distribution plans and treat new shareholders fairly when they participate in the construction.

I believe this will be the beginning of close cooperation between France and Tang Dynasty, and the French government will provide various facilities to promote close cooperation between the two sides to jointly complete this grand project."

"This is a good thing that is both profitable and glorious. I am also looking forward to it." Richard responded with a smile.

Now that we have made an agreement with the French, most of the matter is settled.

Why do you say that?

From a historical perspective, in 1517, the Ottoman Empire invaded Egypt and conquered Egypt with powerful force, making Egypt a subordinate province. This began the Ottoman Empire's centuries-old rule over Egypt.

Since the beginning of the 16th century, the Ottoman Empire has dispatched governors to Egyptian provinces to implement pastoral rule and management.

In the 19th century, after becoming the new governor, Muhammad Ali was ambitious and unwilling to rely on others. He wanted to get rid of the Ottoman Empire's control of Egypt and tried to build a huge empire.

To this end, he relied on iron-fist methods to finally eliminate domestic opponents and took sole control of Egypt's military and political power. Later, he relied on top-down reforms to make Egypt increasingly powerful.

At this point, Ali began to challenge the authority of the Ottoman Empire, the suzerain state.

In 1831, the Egyptian army launched a surprise attack on the Ottoman Empire. The exhausted Ottoman Empire was forced to negotiate peace with Ali. Although Egypt still regarded the Ottoman Empire as its suzerainty in name, it had achieved de facto independence.

After this battle, Egypt became a huge empire spanning Asia and Africa.

Therefore, although the nominal supreme ruler of Egypt is the Pasha, it is actually in a state of independence that listens to orders but does not listen to declarations. The decadent and declining Ottoman Empire can no longer affect Egypt, and the entire country is showing a prosperous renaissance scene.

In 1839, Britain encouraged the Ottoman Empire to provoke a war with Egypt, intending to seize its rights and interests in Egypt.

However, the Ottoman army was vulnerable and was defeated by the Egyptian army.

Seeing that the Ottoman Empire could not be reused, Britain immediately broke the pretense of neutrality and personally sent an army to Egypt to march to Alexandria.

Ali Pasha knew that he could not repel the British army, so he had no choice but to negotiate peace with the British.

May 11, 1840

Egypt was forced to sign the "Anglo-Egyptian Agreement" with the United Kingdom. After the signing of the treaty, Egypt opened its doors and became a vassal state or protectorate of the United Kingdom.

The forces of Britain, France and other countries entered Egypt in a large scale, and Egypt gradually became a raw material supply base and commodity dumping market for the British and other powers. Since then, Egypt has begun to become a semi-colony of Western powers.

After the signing of the Anglo-Egyptian Agreement, Egypt was forced to open its borders, and British and French forces began to intervene in its internal affairs, and the two countries launched a fierce struggle over whether to build a canal connecting the Red Sea and the Mediterranean.

France is a Mediterranean country and advocates the restoration of old trade routes, so it strongly advocates the construction of canals.

The United Kingdom, which was far away from the Mediterranean, wanted to control the new shipping route by controlling the Cape of Good Hope, so it actively advocated the construction of railways.

Due to British obstruction, France's proposals to build the canal repeatedly failed.

The Crimean War that broke out in 1853 caused Britain and France to form a close military alliance in Europe, and joined forces with the Ottoman Empire to launch a counterattack against Russia. The war was unprecedentedly brutal, and it also softened Britain's stance on international issues.

Take this opportunity

In 1854, the pro-French Said became the new governor of Egypt. The Frenchman Lesseps foresaw that the construction of the canal would be possible, so he went to Egypt in person to describe to Said the huge benefits that the opening of the canal would bring to Egypt.

In the face of huge temptation, Said finally agreed to the construction of the canal. However, Britain considered that the Crimean War was at a critical moment, and it was inconvenient to oppose it, which caused another twists and turns in British-French relations.

Therefore, in 1854, Said Pasha signed the "Concession Contract for the Construction and Use of the Suez Canal and Its Ancillary Buildings to Connect the Mediterranean and the Red Sea" with France, officially leasing the Suez Canal.

After intense preparations, the canal officially broke ground in Port Said on April 25, 1859.

By June 1864, the canal project had been excavated for five years. Due to the harsh construction environment and epidemic epidemics, more than 70,000 people in Egypt died on the construction site, and the budgeted project funds were also exhausted.

According to calculations by the French-dominated Suez Canal Board;

If you want to repair the entire Suez Canal project, you will need to pay a huge amount of money that exceeds the original budget by 230%. This has made many French investors retreat, and the value of canal stocks has fallen again and again.

The timing of the emergence of the Tang Empire was very good. It came at a time when it was difficult to raise funds for the Suez Canal and there was a shortage of funds. It was simply a timely help.

in the original history

In order to realize the long-cherished wish of his former father, Napoleon III forced the French Parliament to grant a large amount of funding, persistently promoted the progress of the Suez Canal project, and finally achieved completion.

The reason why he resigned from office after the Franco-Prussian War in 1870 was not unrelated to the forced promotion of this bill against the wishes of the majority of French people. This caused him to attract a lot of infamy and the voice of opposition was unprecedentedly high.

Now, since we have the Tang Empire, a wealthy and powerful investor, there is no need to make heaven and earth angry.

As another major participant in the project, Egypt paid a total of 420 million francs to dig the Suez Canal and purchase equity in the Suez Canal, acquiring a 44% stake in the Suez Canal Company.

However, due to Egypt's financial difficulties, most of the funds used to purchase equity were borrowed from Britain and France. The Suez Canal became a hanging river for Egypt's high debt, which was also the source of its financial collapse.

Today, Egyptian Pasha Mohamed Said has a splitting headache. Just paying the interest on a 420 million franc loan each year almost makes Egypt's finances collapse, but the completion of the project and profitability are far away.

If anyone was willing to take over this hot potato, he would be truly grateful.

in the original history

Mohammed Said transferred 44% of the shares in the canal to the United Kingdom. For this part of the shares, the Royal Household Office of the Tang Empire had to renegotiate with the French Canal Board of Directors to obtain dividends that were consistent with the shares.

Because according to the provisions of the concession agreement between Egypt and France;

Even if Egypt holds 44% of the shares of the Suez Canal Company, Egypt can only enjoy 15% of the profits every year. Egypt will be able to take back the right to operate the canal 99 years after the canal was opened to navigation.

The Tang Empire did not need to take back ownership of the Suez Canal after 1999. This clause was excluded. Of course, it had to share the dividends of the canal shares fairly. There is no doubt about this.

Richard knows

The Suez Canal is an industry worth investing in. Regardless of its strategic significance, France will receive stable income of up to 12 million francs per year five years after the opening of the canal. This money is worth 600,000 pounds, equivalent to 3 million Tang yuan.

, is not a small amount.

Taking the opportunity to penetrate the imperial power into the Near East is a convenient way.

The strategic benefits gained from this cannot be measured by money.

(End of chapter)