The War Court and Lap Pillow, Austria's Mandate of Heaven

Chapter 1431: Knowledge Tax

Compared with the Holy Alliance, the situation of the Anglo-Turkish coalition was much worse.

In particular, the losses of the Ottoman Empire had reached an extremely exaggerated level, with a quarter of the 200,000 new troops that were raised at a huge cost lost.

The losses of local miscellaneous armed forces and temporarily recruited mobilized soldiers were even greater. According to incomplete statistics from various local troops of the Ottoman Empire, the number of casualties and missing persons may have exceeded 300,000.

It is impossible to count the number of people, let alone the loss of materials.

Even Russia could not bear the casualties of 200,000 or 300,000, but backwardness and numbness also have their advantages. Although the people in the European part of the Ottoman Empire were in panic, the Asian part remained calm as usual.

This disastrous defeat greatly strengthened the desire of the Ottoman Empire's top leaders to move the capital. Queen Mother Shefkefza even planned to send Murad V out of Istanbul first.

However, the British would certainly not agree to this. The Ottomans had to hold on, otherwise all their previous efforts would be in vain.

The British side also felt bad about this disastrous defeat, although it was considered the main reason for the failure of this battle that Baron Raglan's horse was frightened and he fell off the horse, causing a back injury.

But no matter what, it is true that the Redwood Army lost more than 10,000 people and more than 100 cannons.

In fact, many of them were the latest models developed by Britain and just put into the battlefield. These artillery pieces were too heavy and the British army was in a hurry to destroy them when they fled. In addition, the surrendered soldiers and guides caused these artillery pieces to fall into the hands of the Austrian Empire.

At this time, the British and Turkish coalition forces had been driven into the mountains in southern Bulgaria. It was originally thought that the Holy Alliance would pursue the victory, but according to the observations of the British staff for many days.

Now it was the turn of the Holy Alliance to be passive. The Russian and Austrian armies could only defend some major cities and even had to organize militia to patrol the border areas.

There is no doubt that the Holy Alliance's military strength is already stretched to its limits and they lack the ability to continue to expand their military gains.

Based on this judgment, John Russell decided to restart the negotiations. On the one hand, he asked George Villiers to lead people to St. Petersburg again, and on the other hand, he asked Viscount Stratford to stabilize the Ottoman Empire.

Viscount Stratford was an old friend of the Ottomans, and Queen Mother Shefkefza was also very familiar with this Englishman. After some pretense, the two sides reached a consensus - peace talks.

In fact, Queen Mother Shefkefza was no longer so superstitious about the British at this time. If the British could really persuade the Holy Alliance to sit down at the negotiating table, she would naturally be willing.

Queen Mother Shefkefza did not want to live in such fear, but she also knew that she could not trust everything those short-sighted ministers in the Ottoman court said.

Queen Mother Shefkefza would not believe the nonsense that the Russians would not invade the Ottoman Empire again once they captured Istanbul.

The greed of the Russians is obvious to all. As long as the Ottoman Empire is not completely devoured, the Russians will never give up. It is only a matter of time.

But giving up European territory would indeed reduce the pressure on the Ottoman Empire's national defense, and the Black Sea Straits could also serve as a natural barrier to defend against the Russians.

Queen Mother Shefkefza had her own thoughts. She hoped to use the British to check and balance the Russians. After all, the so-called Black Sea Strait was so important to Britain. Of course, Queen Mother Shefkefza also heard some rumors. The heavy losses of the Ottoman army this time were entirely due to the British army.

The British used the Ottomans as cannon fodder and left them as cover during their retreat.
In fact, this is not completely groundless. The British did not treat the Ottomans as human beings. As for the escape, the slowest runners naturally became the front row. It seems understandable that the well-trained Red Shirts left the scattered Ottomans to the Austrians.
This unprecedented defeat was not without benefits for Britain. The British Parliament finally passed the Army Expansion Act of 1850.

"At least Britain will be greater in the future."

John Russell never thought that being a prime minister would be so tiring. He had not worked so hard for so many years to be gloomy in Whitehall all day long.

However, the current situation left John Russell with no chance to enjoy the pleasure that power brought him, only a heavy burden.

Especially those newspapers and commentators who have been spreading anti-war rhetoric all day long. Their butts are completely wrong. How can they sit on the side of the Holy Alliance?
John Russell's approach to this is very British. In his eyes, suppression and prohibition are methods used only by autocratic empires, and the approach of British gentlemen is much more civilized.

That is, increasing taxes will increase the price of newspapers by raising stamp duty. As long as people cannot afford newspapers, newspapers will inevitably no longer have influence.

In fact, the British did this in history. When faced with the overwhelming public opinion offensive, they directly introduced the "Knowledge Tax".

Yes, knowledge is taxable. The British tax office at that time was nicknamed the Great British IQ Bureau by history enthusiasts. People in China and abroad were deeply impressed by the amazing wisdom of the British at that time.

It seems that the British are very good at taxation. After all, IQ tax and knowledge payment have only gradually become popular in the East in recent years, and the British have started to collect them three or four hundred years ago.

The British Parliament immediately passed the "Knowledge Tax Amendment", which not only increased fiscal revenue, but also achieved the purpose of controlling public opinion, which was really killing two birds with one stone.
But he didn't know that his move would be used repeatedly and amplified infinitely. Countless newspapers and publishers went bankrupt, and the development of the news industry was even hindered.

However, at this time those newspapers became more and more crazy. On the one hand, it was due to dissatisfaction with the British government and the need for industry survival. On the other hand, there was a big financial backer, Franz, behind them.

One advantage of a capital-rich country is that as long as the money is in place, people are willing to do anything. And the newspaper owners are not fools, they will not honestly give the money to the British government to pay the fine.

There are plenty of ways to evade the "knowledge tax". They only print a hundred or so copies of the newspaper and then go home to deal with the British government's inspection.

Then they secretly handed the newspapers to the black workshops of small printing factories. These black workshops didn't care about anything and printed whatever was given to them.

It was easier to find beggars to work as newsboys on the streets of London.
"Extra! Extra! Extra! Baron Raglan went to bed with the Ottoman widow and accidentally slipped and became paralyzed!
The British Army is using taxpayers' money to bully the free and kind Ottomans, and the Holy Alliance is forced to fight out of justice!"

"Would you like one, sir?"

"It's so delicious, I have to order one no matter how expensive it is. How much is it?"

"Half a penny."