Topkapi Palace.
Sultan Hamid I, seated on his spacious square chair, saw Yusuf stride through the door and tried to lean on the cushion to sit up straighter, but the weakness in his muscles made him abandon the attempt.
His 43 years of confinement had left him in very poor health, and now at the age of 64, he already showed signs that his life was burning out.
He raised his hand to the Grand Vizier, who was bowing before him, and asked in a clearly breathless voice, "Is there news from the Maghreb?"
"Maghreb" means "land of the setting sun" in Arabic, a term used by the Arabs who first reached North Africa to refer to the central and western regions of North Africa.
The Grand Vizier Yusuf nodded with a worried look, "Your Majesty, the Algiers Guard did indeed march on Said's instigation... he even used your name."
Hamid I sighed, "Where is the man?"
"His servant returned to Constantinople last night, saying he had jumped into the Mediterranean half a month ago."
"He preserved the dignity of an imperial envoy."
Yusuf bowed his head and said, "Your Majesty, regarding the incorporation of Tunisia into France, what do you think of... "
Hamid I stared at the patterns on the carpet, waving his hand again, "Send someone to France to express the Empire's position. But let's not be too harsh in our words. We need to focus our efforts on the Russians."
Just a few days ago, the Russian Army's commander Potemkin launched an attack on the fortress of Ochakov with six divisions, and within a few hours, occupied this key position at the northwest of the Black Sea.
In that battle, Potemkin wiped out and captured more than 13,000 Ottoman troops, with his forces pointing directly at the Danube River.
"Speaking of Russia," Hamid I glanced at Yusuf, "how do you plan to respond?"
Although the Grand Vizier was not directly responsible for military affairs, as the "Chancellor" of the Ottoman Empire, he was very clear about the deployment of forces.
"The situation is not very optimistic..." Yusuf hesitated for a moment before adding, "Austria and Russia are both reinforcing their troops. The generals believe that we must stop a Russian-Austrian rendezvous at all costs.
"The preliminary plan is to gather 150,000 troops to reach the Danube River area by next summer, successively capture Binjela and Arzhu, sever the Russian-Austrian connection, and then retake Ochakov."
"150,000 men," Hamid I nodded, "how confident are you that we can defeat the Russians?"
"Well, we have the advantage in terms of military strength, so we should be able to win."
The Sultan gestured to Yusuf to come closer and leaned forward, whispering, "If we still can't win this time, try to make peace with Russia. Give up the north shore of the Black Sea for peace..."
Joseph could not have imagined that his actions in North Africa would accelerate the disintegration of Ottoman morale. The Ottoman Empire, which was originally determined to fight to the last soldier and was only set to give up the north shore of the Black Sea after three years due to exhaustion, had already lost its will to fight to the death against Russia.
...
London.
10 Downing Street.
The young Prime Minister of England, William Pitt Junior, pushed the resignation letter back across the table and looked up at the Duke of Leeds, "You needn't do this. North Africa was never within our sphere of influence, and this time luck happened to be on the French's side. Your strategy was actually not flawed. I'm confident I can preserve your position in Congress."
"Hollis acted on my instructions, and now he's dead," the Duke of Leeds shook his head calmly, "Someone must be held accountable for this, and that person cannot be you."
William Pitt Junior fell silent.
Hollis was a Whig, the opposition party to his own. Now, to quell the diplomatic disaster of "instigating Tunisia to attack the French people," he had "committed suicide."
At the same time, the Duke of Leeds had spent nearly 700,000 British Pounds, a huge sum, and yet failed to prevent France from obtaining Tunisia, marking a significant defeat.
The Whig Party would definitely seize on this series of events to cause trouble in Congress. His position as Prime Minister was already unstable, and if this scandal escalated, it could lead to impeachment by Congress.
He slowly lifted his fingers off the resignation letter, sighed, and asked, "So, who do you think should take over as Foreign Minister?"
"The Marquess of Wellesley." The Duke of Leeds was clearly prepared, "He is as young and gifted as you, full of strategy and decisiveness. Although his political experience is shallow, I will use my influence to fully support him."
William Pitt Junior nodded silently. The Marquess of Wellesley was a trusted ally, indeed competent, and he had always been keen on promoting him.
He paused, then looked again at the Duke of Leeds, "Then, what do you think our next steps should be to counter the advantage the French have gained in North Africa?"
But the Duke of Leeds immediately shook his head, "Prime Minister, France is too close to Tunisia, and now they have already established a stronghold. If we continue to clash with them there, we will suffer greatly."
"You mean to say we should just accept defeat?"
"No! Quite the opposite, we must do all we can to bring France to its knees and press them firmly into the mud. That is the only path to the prosperity of England!"
The Duke of Leeds showed a sly fox-like smile, "North Africa is just a piece of fat, not worth too much fuss. The Low Countries are the real throat to aim for! By putting our efforts there, we can strike a painful blow to France."
The so-called Low Countries are the northwest coastal nations of Europe, namely the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg.
The Duke of Leeds then detailed his strategy for the Low Countries to the Prime Minister, and added, "Moreover, the ambitions of Russia and Prussia are excellent weapons too, and you must find ways to utilize their power."
William Pitt the Younger nodded thoughtfully, "Prussia has always been closely related to us. However, Russia seems to have grown quite close to France recently."
"Interests," said the Duke of Leeds, raising his index finger and wagging it, "Russia's current greatest interest lies in Poland. If you merely figure out a way to feed Poland to Russia, then this great bear would be willing to destroy everything."
The Duke of Leeds spoke as if he were discussing his "political will": "As for Austria, don't be misled by the fact that they married a woman off to the King of France, but in reality, the conflict between Austria and France is the most severe on the entire European continent!
"Don't forget, they have been arch-enemies for centuries."
William Pitt the Younger nodded, "You are absolutely right, they have serious conflicts of interest in both the Rhine region and Italy."
The Duke of Leeds gave him an approving look, "It's just that the rise of the Prussians was too rapid, catching Austria's attention. If you can broker some sort of understanding between Prussia and Austria, then Austria would immediately expand west and south, thus colliding fiercely with France!"
...
Austria, Vienna.
Schonbrunn Palace.
The Holy Roman Emperor and also the Archduke of Austria, Joseph II, after hearing the diplomat's report on the situation in Tunisia, couldn't help but smile, "My dear sister has timed this perfectly."
He looked towards an elder with a long face and a large nose beside him, "The strong pressure from the Russians and us has made the Ottoman People unable to attend to other matters, and my sister has taken the opportunity to pluck the fruit that is Tunisia. The Ottoman Sultan could only watch helplessly."
The elder, with a serious demeanor, nodded and said, "Her Royal Highness's political skills are getting more and more sophisticated. This time even the British have nothing to say, after all, it would offend Russia, and even include offending us."
The "Her Royal Highness" he mentioned was Joseph II's sister, the current Queen of France, Marie Antoinette. He was an old minister from the era of Maria Theresa, who had held the future Queen Mary as a child, and his form of address naturally carried a sense of affection.
Joseph II, clearly in a good mood, rarely gestured for a servant to pour him a glass of wine, and shared one with the elder, "Does this mean that France's strategic direction has now turned towards the southern coast of the Mediterranean?"
"We cannot exclude this possibility, Your Majesty."
"Then we should seize this opportune moment to congratulate my dear sister and discuss matters concerning Italy with her. Prince Litanberg, since you have good relations with the political circles of France, perhaps you would be willing to visit the Palace of Versailles for me?"
The elder was none other than the Austrian Minister of State, or what is equivalent to a Chancellor, Kaunitz-Litanberg. He was the outstanding politician who had ended the century-long hostility between France and Austria, oversaw the marriage of Queen Mary to Louis XVI, and ultimately facilitated the "Triple Petticoat" alliance between Austria, France, and Russia.
Although Joseph II had taken back a substantial amount of power from him after he became the sole ruler, he remained the most influential minister in Austria.
Kaunitz immediately stood up, saying very seriously, "Your Majesty, pardon my frankness, but Austria's national policy should be firmly directed at the German region and always keep a close watch on Prussia.
"Now, to divert our attention to Italy would only give the Prussians a chance to expand their influence in Germany."
"No, this will not take up too much of our effort," Joseph II, stubborn and self-willed, found it hard to accept differing opinions, "What you have to do is discuss the division of influence in Italy with France, not to monopolize it.
"Oh, right, including their proposal to establish the 'United East India Company' with the Dutch, I'm very interested. You can discuss the matter of becoming a shareholder as well."
"Your Majesty, I would be glad to make a trip to France," Kaunitz bowed slightly, yet his tone was firm, "but I still wish to remind you that Prussia is our true worry at heart."
"Yes, Prussia, you are correct. So, when do you plan to leave?"
"I can leave tomorrow, Your Majesty."
"Very well. I look forward to your return with good news."
...
Saint Petersburg.
Winter Palace.
Count Alexei Bobrinski bowed to his mother with some nervousness. For some reason, every time he saw her, he felt a bit tense, although she was smiling kindly at him.
Catherine II gestured for him to sit beside her and smiled, "Alyosha, I must admit that your recent contact with the Crown Prince of France was very timely."
Russians like to use diminutive nicknames when addressing someone they are close to. Alyosha is the nickname for Alexei.
"Especially the 'Gemini Trading Company' that you established. Now that France has obtained ports in North Africa, your trading costs in the Mediterranean will be significantly reduced compared to before. Perhaps your company might even acquire some exclusive trading privileges in Tunisia."
Alexei nodded, "Yes, Your Majesty, His Highness Joseph has written to me, expressing his intention to double the company's trade volume."
"That much?"
"They not only acquired the Tunisian colony but also eliminated the Tunisian pirates. A good portion of the nearly one hundred captured pirate ships will become the company's assets, even coming with many skilled sailors."
In reality, Joseph had captured nearly 160 ships in the Port of Tunis, although only half of them were suited for long voyages. As for the sailors, many Tunisians had previously served in the navy, and after exterminating the Tunisian pirate hierarchy, these Berbers could be well trusted after a thorough vetting process.
This directly increased the tonnage capacity of the Gemini Trading Company's fleet by 150%. That's why Joseph dared to state the goal of doubling the trade volume.
And for every increase in Franco-Russian trade, there would be one less in Anglo-Russian trade. This was greatly beneficial to weakening the close trade relations between England and Russia.
"Oh, that's truly wonderful," Catherine II gestured towards the west, "I think you should personally congratulate your Crown Prince friend face to face."
"Moreover, you could also suggest to him that, taking advantage of their great victory, they should directly seize Algiers. I remember, those foolish people of Algiers even launched an attack on them."
She was very pleased to see France continuing to reap the Ottoman provinces in North Africa. Although the Ottomans didn't have much real control over those regions, the loss of overseas territories dealt a severe psychological blow to them.
This would make Russia's war against the Ottomans much easier.
And who knows, France's progress might be smooth enough that they could even directly attack the Ottoman homeland from the south.
After all, dealing with an empire as vast as the Ottomans wasn't a matter of ending a war in three or five years. In the prolonged conflict, it was not impossible for France to reach the Ottomans' southern shores.
"Yes, Your Majesty. Actually, I was also thinking of visiting Paris soon," Alexei said, his focus might be on managing the Gemini Trading Company, but the glamorous life of Paris was always alluring to him.
As if remembering something important, Catherine II added, "By the way, take Sasha with you. She has always been mentioning how she wants to play in Paris. Just make sure to keep an eye on her studies during the trip."
Sasha is the nickname for Alexandra.
If this had been in the past, Catherine would not have trusted her beloved granddaughter to her spendthrift younger son. However, over the past year, Alexei had evidently matured and become more dependable, so there should be no issues with him looking after Sasha.
...
Paris.
In the Palace of Versailles, the celebrations for the North Africa campaign continued for three days before finally coming to an end.
Joan, Xilada, Isaac, and others immediately returned to Tunisia, as there was a multitude of matters waiting for them to attend to.
In King Louis XVI's drawing room, laughter and cheerful voices could be heard.
Queen Mary held a ceramic pot painted with beautiful colorful geometric patterns, admiring it from every angle.
This was a "souvenir" brought back from North Africa by Joseph for her, a rare masterpiece created by a Tunisian pottery master hundreds of years ago.
Beside her, Louis XVI was fiddling with the hunting bag made of camel and crocodile leather that his son had gifted him.
The leathercraft of Tunisia was highly skilled, and works of top artisans were hard to come by in Europe.
But the happiest of all was Charles, Joseph's young brother, who was at the moment blissfully playing with a multicolored parrot.