I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1440 Egyptian Strategy
Egypt.

Cairo.

In the red and black Abrahim Palace, Muhammad Ali handed the gift list back to the chief eunuch and ordered, "Send someone to find out what gifts Ahmed has prepared for the King of France. We must make sure that the value of our gifts is more than double his."

The black man in the splendid clothes immediately bowed and said, "Pasha, the acting governor is even behind on his guards' pay, so what gifts can he possibly offer?"

This Ahmed is an agent sent by the current Governor-General of Egypt, Hussein—the nominal ruler of Egypt.

Yes, two years ago, Selim III managed to place a governor in Egypt, namely Husrul Ahmed.

However, this governor, who brought almost nothing to Egypt except the seal of office given to him by the Sultan.

Mohammed Ali wisely handed over Egypt's military and political power, including his own Albanian legion, to the new governor.

Huslu was initially very pleased with himself, but just three months later, he realized that something was wrong.

Egypt is eagerly awaiting his allocation of funds—including donations from the religious group "Waqf," city repair costs, dividends from the Mamluk group, and even the salaries of the Albanian Legion.

The monthly expenses amount to nearly one million piasts, or more than 100,000 pounds.

Because neither the Egyptian merchants nor the Mamluks respected the Hussein, he was unable to collect taxes and had to subsidize them out of his own pocket.

Even if he had been incredibly corrupt in Constantine, he couldn't have afforded such enormous expenses.

Soon, the Albanian Legion mutinied under the leadership of an officer named Tahir because the governor failed to pay the soldiers on time.

Huslu hurriedly mobilized the Mamluk cavalry to suppress the rebellion, but the Mamluks had previously been defeated by the Albanian army commanded by Mohammed Ali, and Huslu also owed them money, so they were not putting in any real effort.

Less than three days later, under the threat of the rebellious army, Hussein fled Cairo in a panic and hid in the distant Damietta to continue serving as governor. However, he was worried that the Sultan would blame him, so he sent his confidant Ahmed back to Cairo as acting governor to deal with Mohammed Ali, who was serving as governor of Deftdal, and the Mamluk forces.

Muhammad Ali rolled his eyes at the eunuch: "Don't underestimate any opponent. If I hear you say that again, you don't need to show your face in front of me."

The eunuch was so frightened that he hurriedly knelt down and promised to carefully investigate Ahmed's gift list.

Just then, Tahir followed another eunuch in quickly, bowed respectfully to Muhammad Ali, and then said excitedly, "Pasha, we have just received news that the Empire has been ambushed by the Persians in Georgia, and the situation is critical."

He was still nominally an Ottoman officer, so the "empire" he referred to naturally meant the Ottoman Empire.

Muhammad Ali raised an eyebrow, took the secret report from Tahir, unfolded it, and saw that it read:

In mid-October, Mirza's 5-strong army launched a surprise attack on Tbilisi from the east and south. That night, Georgian nobles in the city mutinied and burned down the empire's armory.

Ahmed Pasha mobilized all his forces to fight desperately, barely managing to hold off the Persian attack.

However, three days later, Georgian prince Julong led 3 soldiers in a surprise attack on the western side of Tbilisi. Due to the lack of defenses on the west side, the city was quickly breached by the rebels.

Currently, Ahmed has fled to Marneulli. Meanwhile, Mustafa is regrouping his troops, preparing to march north and retake Tbilisi.

A glint of light flashed in Muhammad Ali's eyes: "Is the information reliable?"

“Absolutely reliable, Pasha.” “How does Constantineer plan to respond?”

"It is said that the Grand Vizier has assembled an army of 8 men, under the command of Imanzade Pasha, to go to Georgia to teach the Persians a lesson."

Muhammad Ali put away the secret letter, paced back and forth in the room a few times, and looked at the chief eunuch who was still kneeling on the ground: "Immediately prepare 150 million piasts and send them to Constantine."

"In addition, have Khalil write a letter on my behalf, expressing Egypt's full support for the Empire's war in the Caucasus."

Then he instructed Tahir: "Send troops to surround the governor's mansion and do not allow Ahmed to see the French ambassador."

He keenly realized that the Ottomans had previously deployed over 100,000 troops to Georgia, and if another 80,000 soldiers were added, the empire would not be able to muster enough troops to deal with Egypt for at least one or two years.

This will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me!

three days later.

In Muhammad Ali's private coffee room on the east side of Abrahmanyam, Talleyrand looked at the gift list in his hand one last time with satisfaction, then folded it and put it in his pocket.

This wasn't a gift list for the King of France, but for him personally. He roughly estimated that the items on it were worth over 10 francs.

Mohammed Ali then smiled and said in fluent French, "My dearest friend, you should know better than anyone that Egypt will always be France's most loyal partner on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean."

"Back then, General Massena fought alongside us to defeat the Mamluks who were entrenched here. We have a friendship forged in blood."

A smile played on Talleyrand's lips. Just as His Highness the Crown Prince had said, this Egyptian, Defortdale, was indeed very ambitious—he had just said that "Egypt is a partner of France," but had not mentioned the Ottomans.

This shows that he never considered Egypt to be part of the Ottoman Empire.

“I wholeheartedly agree,” Talleyrand said, raising his coffee cup. “And His Highness the Crown Prince has never forgotten his friends on the banks of the Nile.”

"Thank you, Your Highness the Crown Prince."

Muhammad Ali first offered some flattery, then looked at Talleyrand and said, "You know, the Mamluks are still stirring, and the governor sent by the Empire has been trying to assassinate me."

"If possible, I would like to purchase a batch of cannons and percussion muskets from my French friends to ensure the stability of Egypt."

"Of course, please rest assured that the price will definitely satisfy you."

Talleyrand smiled and shook his head: "If Governor Huslu brings troops from the Levant, you probably won't have enough by just buying some weapons."

Muhammad Ali was taken aback: "You mean?"

“It wasn’t my idea, it was His Highness the Crown Prince’s order,” Talleyrand said calmly, inhaling the aroma of coffee. “His Highness believes that you should have your own cannon foundry to ensure that Egypt does not descend into chaos.”

Mohammed Ali's heart pounded. Before he could even express his gratitude, he heard the French Foreign Minister continue, "And to build a proper cannon, you need high-quality steel. So His Highness also intends to help you build an ironworks."

(End of this chapter)