Wild North America 1846

Chapter 427 Suez Canal

(The previous chapter blocked it.)
Napoleon III frowned and asked, "You mean... you are interested in digging the Sweetwater Canal project?"

"That's right, since the excavation of this important canal connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea, well, there have been a lot of news about the difficulties in progressing the project. At one time, it was due to financial difficulties, and at another time, the environment was extremely harsh. There were many casualties among the canal workers, and at another time, it was the British I strongly oppose it, and suggest to replace it with a railway project." Li Cha shook his head with a smile, apparently disapproving of the British proposal, but supporting the French proposal for digging a canal.

With a powerful wave of his big hand, he continued;

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

This new sea route connecting Europe and Asia will shorten the voyage by nearly 1.6 nautical miles. In any 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 the French engineers and the French emperor, there is no doubt about it, and I have no reservations in admiration.

Out of the consideration of jointly building and maintaining the new Eurasian sea route, the royal family of the Tang Empire is willing to take a stake in the Suez Canal, as long as it occupies an appropriate position on the canal board of directors and shares stable profits.

It does not seek additional benefits, nor does it seek the control of the canal. It is willing to see this canal open to all countries without any bias. This is the solemn promise of the Datang Empire.

The Tang Empire believed;

This magnificent project related to the well-being of all mankind should have the participation of major powers in the world, jointly build it, share risks and benefits, and hope to get the support of His Majesty the French Emperor. "

"The Tang Empire is willing to participate in sharing financial risks. This is a good thing. Will the London side object?" Napoleon III would still be concerned about Britain's opinion.

Richard shook his head lightly and said; "This is just a stable financial investment of the royal family, and we hope to share the glory brought by the Suez Canal, which is beneficial to enhance the international influence of the Tang Empire. We will communicate closely with the British side and do not rule out After all, it is an open international project that brings the British people to participate, and it is beneficial to the whole world."

"I very much agree with your opinion, Your Majesty." Napoleon III thought carefully, nodded and agreed;
"In order to realize the original vision of the great Emperor Napoleon, France and London had a difficult communication, under great pressure and have been persevering, just to continue this great project that benefits the well-being of all mankind until it is finally completed.

Now that the Tang Empire is involved, it will surely make the progress of the canal project smoother and solve the huge financial troubles.

Not to hide
Halfway through the project construction, all budgets have been spent and serious overruns, and the canal project is facing serious consequences that cannot be sustained.

As an important partner, Egypt, which is heavily indebted, is unable to help, and the British are always holding back. It is a disaster.

France will, through official pressure, urge Mohammad Saeed Pasha to transfer his 44% stake, perhaps part of it.

The board of directors of the canal will reconsider the equity and profit distribution plan, and treat new shareholders fairly to participate in the construction.

I believe this will be the beginning of close cooperation between France and Tang. 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 beneficial and honorable, and I also look forward to it." Li Cha responded with a smile.

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

Why do you say that?
From a historical point of view, in 1517, the Ottoman Empire invaded Egypt and conquered Egypt with powerful force, making Egypt a subordinate province, and the Ottoman Empire's rule over Egypt for hundreds of years began.

From the beginning of the 16th century, the Ottoman Empire sent governors to the Egyptian provinces to implement herdsman rule.

When the time came to the nineteenth century, Muhammad Ali became ambitious after becoming the new governor, unwilling to be resigned to others, intending to get rid of the Ottoman Empire's control over Egypt and trying to build a huge empire.

For this reason, he finally eliminated domestic opponents by means of an iron fist, took sole control of Egypt's military and political power, and then relied on top-down reforms to make Egypt stronger and stronger.

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

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

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

Therefore, although the supreme ruler of Egypt is Pasha in name, it is actually in an independent state of obedience and disobedience. The decaying and decaying Ottoman Empire has been unable to affect Egypt, and the whole country is showing a thriving ZTE scene.

In 1839, Britain encouraged the Ottoman Empire to provoke a war with Egypt, with the intention of grabbing rights and interests in Egypt.

But the Ottoman army was vulnerable and was defeated by the Egyptian army.

Seeing that the Ottoman Empire could not be reused, the United Kingdom immediately tore up the camouflage of neutrality, and personally sent troops to expedition to Egypt and came to Alexandria.

Ali Pasha knew that he could not repel the British army, so he had to choose to make peace with the British.

1840 year 5 month 11 day,
Egypt was forced to sign the Anglo-Egyptian Agreement with Britain.After the signing of the treaty, Egypt opened its doors wide and became a vassal state or protectorate of Britain.

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

After the signing of the Anglo-Egyptian Agreement, Egypt was forced to open its doors, and the forces of Britain and France 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 digging of canals.

Britain, which is far away from the Mediterranean Sea, intends to control the new sea route by controlling the Cape of Good Hope, so it actively advocates the construction of railways.

Under the obstruction of Britain, the French proposal to build a canal failed repeatedly.

The Crimean War broke out in 1853, which made Britain and France form a close military alliance in Europe. They united with the Ottoman Empire to launch a counterattack against Russia. The war was unprecedentedly tragic, and it also softened Britain's tone on international issues.

this opportunity
In 1854, Said, who was pro-French, became the new governor of Egypt. The Frenchman Lessep predicted that the opening of the canal would become possible, so he went to Egypt in person and described to Said the huge benefits that the opening of the canal would bring to Egypt.

Facing the huge temptation, Saeed finally agreed to the construction of the canal, and Britain considered that the Crimean War, whose heads were smashed into dogs, was at a critical moment, and it was inconvenient to oppose it, which caused another twists and turns in the relationship between Britain and France.

Therefore, in 1854, Saeed Pasha signed the "Concession of Concession Concerning the Construction and Use of the Suez Canal and Its Ancillary Buildings Connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea" with France, and officially leased the Suez Canal.

After intense preparations, on April 1859, 4, the canal officially broke ground in Port Said.

By June 1864, the canal project had been excavated for five years. Due to the harsh construction environment and the epidemic, more than 6 people died on the construction site in Egypt, and the project funds in the budget were exhausted.

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

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

The timing of the emergence of the Tang Empire was very good, just as the Suez Canal was having difficulty raising funds, and when it was in short supply, it was a timely help.

in the original history

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

The reason why he resigned after the Franco-Prussian War in 1870 was not unrelated to forcibly promoting this bill against the wishes of most French people, which caused him a lot of infamy, and the voice of opposition was unprecedentedly high.

Now, since there is a wealthy and powerful investor like the Tang Empire, there is no need to make people angry.

As another major participant in the project, Egypt paid a total of 4.2 million francs for the excavation of the Suez Canal and the purchase of shares 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 loans from Britain and France. The Suez Canal became a suspense river with high debts in Egypt, and it was also the source of its financial collapse.

Today's Egyptian pasha Mohamed Saeed is suffering from a headache. Just paying the interest of 4.2 million francs of loans every year will almost make Egypt's finances collapse, but the completion of the project and profitability are far away.

If someone is willing to take over this hot potato, he is really grateful.

in the original history

Mohammed Saeed transferred 44% of the shares of the canal to the United Kingdom. For this part of the shares, the Royal Household Office of the Tang Empire will renegotiate with the French Canal Board of Directors to obtain dividends that are in line with the shares.

Because according to 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 each year. Since the canal was opened for 99 years, Egypt will be able to take back the right to operate the canal.

The Datang Empire does not need to take back the ownership of the Suez Canal after 99, excluding this clause, of course, there is no doubt that the dividends of the canal shares must be shared fairly.

Richard knows
The Suez Canal is a very worthwhile investment industry. Leaving aside its strategic significance, France will be able to obtain a stable income of up to 5 million francs per year five years after the opening of the canal.This money is worth 1200 pounds, which is equivalent to 60 million Tang yuan, which is not a small sum.

And it is a convenient way to take the opportunity to infiltrate the imperial power into the Near East.

The strategic benefits obtained from this are not something that can be measured by money.

(End of this chapter)