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Chapter 1659 Treaty of Constantinople

"This is not peace, this is sowing the seeds of hatred and war to come."

The prime minister of the Ottoman Empire brought a few entourages down from the iron-clad ship Weiqing, and returned to the shore in a small boat. He looked at the steel castle floating on the sea and muttered to himself bitterly.

A conqueror from beyond the sea had defeated the Ottoman Empire, reinvigorating the dying old fellow.

Chu Yun didn't know that he had offended the senior bureaucrats of the Ottoman Empire. After negotiating the conditions with the other party, he was having lunch with Ayla in the captain's cabin.

"My lord, did you finally agree to reduce the compensation of 1000 million taels of silver requested from them?" Ella asked curiously.

"Letting them pay 1000 million taels of silver is just us talking loudly to scare them. The Grand Vizier is an experienced official. He knows that a huge empire has huge expenses, even if it has more than 1000 million taels of silver every year. Taxes are often not enough to make ends meet. I don’t know how difficult it is to come up with 1000 million taels of silver in compensation. Excessive taxation can make up compensation in a short period of time, but this will lead to the complete collapse of the Ottoman Empire. When the new regime replaces it, it may not be Willing to admit the Ottoman Empire's war debt to us." Chu Yun said.

"So what's the final payout?" Ella pressed.

"500 million taels, to be repaid in ten years, and 50 taels of silver or equivalent physical objects are delivered every year, we can share 250 million taels, England 100 million taels, and the remaining six countries add up to 150 million taels. There is also a clause to cede land , so that they only need to cede Lower Egypt, Greece, and the Aegean Islands, and the Ottoman Empire can still retain its rule over Upper Egypt and the Levant." Chu Yun said.

"Aren't we giving in too much?"

"Fool, there are not many more. Why did I separate Greece and the Aegean Islands from the Ottoman Empire? These places can effectively curb the penetration of the Ottoman Empire into the Mediterranean Sea, and are also conducive to our activities in the Eastern Mediterranean." Chu Yun said.

"The half of Egypt, that is, Lower Egypt, is going to be ruled by the Venetians?"

"We let the Ottoman Empire recognize the rule of the Republic of Venice over Lower Egypt. As a price, the Congress of the Republic of Venice is willing to give us the excavation rights and ownership of the Suez Canal. We don't have the energy to rule in Egypt, and we can just let the Venetian merchants come. At that time Let's beat them for whatever we want," Chu Yun said.

"Hmm... How should Greece and the Aegean Islands be distributed? Also hand them over to the Venetians?"

"Well... are you worrying too much about these things, so you haven't had any other children since Ling'er was born? It stands to reason that we have been together the longest. Now that Ling'er is so old, we don't have a second child. A child." Chu Yun suddenly changed the subject, which surprised Ella who was sitting opposite and was holding red wine.

"Didn't Sophia have Prince Henry? And sister Xiaoxiuer, I don't know if she gave birth to a son or a daughter." Ella said anxiously.

"That's different." Chu Yun said.

The Grand Vizier Koprulu of the Ottoman Empire renegotiated with the coalition delegation after receiving Chu Yun's promise to reduce the amount of compensation and reduce part of the land that needed to be ceded.

Negotiations lasted for seven days before they were finalized.

The next step is for all parties to sign the treaty, and representatives of all parties sign and seal it.

The ambassadors of the eight powers all signed the "Constantinople Treaty", and the front one seemed to be the signature of the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, followed by England, Venice, the Papal State, Genoa, the Knights of the Hospital, Portugal , the name of the ambassador of Sicily, and on the opposite side there is only the solitary name of Koprulu, the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire.

In the Treaty of Constantinople, the Ottoman Empire acknowledged the fact that it was defeated, and promised to deliver 500 million taels of silver to the coalition forces in the next ten years, and 50 taels of silver every year.

In addition, it recognized the rule of the Republic of Venice over the Lower Egypt area in the lower reaches of the Nile River, and ceded Greece and the Aegean Islands to the coalition forces, which were freely distributed internally by the coalition forces.

As for other terms related to consular jurisdiction, commerce, and embassy, ​​the other party saw them as insignificant, and there was no bargaining.

They have all ceded the land and paid compensation, and the other clauses are just additional clauses that are not so-called in their opinion.

The Ottoman Empire was not so xenophobic, and they also traded and exchanged ambassadors with Europe, so doing business and establishing embassies seemed to them commonplace.

"The first batch of compensation of 50 taels of silver will be collected and shipped to your barracks within half a month. I hope that you can withdraw your troops as soon as possible after receiving this batch of compensation, so that we can restore our rule over the empire's territory." Koplu Lv signed the contract with a bad name on his back, his tone was a little weak, as if he lacked confidence.

"If the 50 taels of silver we got is not short of gold or taels, we will withdraw our troops according to the agreement and go to take over Greece and the Aegean islands. We also hope that you can notify the officials in these places as soon as possible so that they can make a handover Work." The servant of the Ministry of Rites ordered that the contract belonging to Huaxia be kept away.

Nine copies of the Treaty of Constantinople were kept by the parties.

"Greece..." Koprulu repeated.

Greece has a large number of scattered islands. Without Greece, the Ottoman Empire seems to be choked by someone. The enemy fleet can reach Constantinople from the Dardanelles at any time.

Although extremely reluctant to cede Greece, in order to allow the coalition forces to retreat, the Ottoman Empire still pinched its nose and signed this shameful treaty.

The next day, a dozen messengers left Constantinople on fast horses, announcing to the officials of Greece and the main islands of the Aegean Sea that these lands would be ceded from the empire's territory and that the officials in these places would be recalled.

The Ottoman Empire knew that the emperor was deposed by the harem, the Grand Vizier Koprulu and the coalition forces signed the humiliating "Constantinople" and ceded Greece. The whole country was in an uproar, and there were many rebellions everywhere. Some local military chiefs even dispatched cavalry to suppress it.

Officials in Greece and the Aegean Sea received orders from Constantinople and quickly packed up their belongings and fled Greece and the Aegean Sea, which were about to be occupied by the coalition forces.

The governor of Rhodes Island in the Aegean Sea, Huo Shanzand, still retains the last fleet of the Ottoman Empire, the Rhodes Island Fleet. He escaped the capture of the Nelson fleet, but now he has received a request from Constantinople. Lead the fleet out of the Aegean Sea and return to the command of Constantinople.

"Originally, I planned to take the risk of contacting the North African pirates to attack the coalition's maritime supply line and turn the war into a war of attrition, but Constantinople has already surrendered, and it will be useless for us to stay in the Mediterranean..." Huo Shanzand sighed.

(End of this chapter)