The Crescent of the Sultan

Peter, the Prime Minister who led the British Empire, was very busy at this time.

But at this time, his old friend Wilburst brought him bad news again.

"Pete, the situation is very bad, our arrangements are completely useless.

The Kurd was eliminated without causing much trouble. "

Little Pete took a sip of the port wine in front of him.

As the son of former Prime Minister Peter the Elder, he was the most outstanding member of the aristocracy.

At the age of twenty-one he became a member of the House of Commons. , became Prime Minister of England at the age of twenty-four and became one of the most powerful people in Europe.

Of all the outstanding speakers of his time, Pitt gave reporters the most profound impressions.

While he was still alive, critics remarked that his eloquence could not be preserved, and more than once they applied to him Tacitus's sentence describing fate: "Haterii canorum illud et profluens cum ipso simulexstinctum est." The cheers and the flow died with it.)

He could pour out a long string of mellow and solemn sentences, without premeditation, without pausing a word, never repeating a word, with clear pronunciation and not a single letter garbled.

His mind is not as exciting and imaginative as Burke's, he is not as clever as Wyndham, he is not as witty as Sheridan, his grasp of dialectics is not as perfect as Fox's, and he does not have the eloquence that combines reason and passion.

Yet the almost unanimous judgment of those who were accustomed to hear the lectures of that remarkable group of men was that, when considering Pitt as a speaker, he should be placed above Burke, above Wyndham, above Sheridan , rather than under Fox.

His manifesto is rich, beautiful and brilliant.

In the power of satire he was probably not surpassed by any speaker, ancient or modern, and for this powerful weapon he used ruthlessly.

He is a unique expert in those two parts of the art of oratory which are of the highest value to the Minister of State. No one knows how to shine or how to obscure better than he does.

When he wished to be understood, he always made himself understood.

Nothing was out of place; nothing was forgotten; details, dates, amounts, were all faithfully preserved in his memory.

On the other hand, when he did not want to be explicit—and no man in charge always wished to be explicit—he had a wonderful power of saying nothing but impressing his listeners as saying a lot.

This is little Peter, the founder of England's century-old national destiny. Success does not depend on me.

However, he was addicted to drinking.

The fact that alcohol was prescribed as medicine to him early on made it a necessity of life for him, although few could detect any signs of excessive drinking in him.

"Pete, you're here again."

Wilburst looked at his friend's haggard face and the wine bottle by the window, and couldn't help but sigh worriedly.

Obviously, the other party has been busy for several nights and has not slept a wink.

"It's okay, Wilburster, two bottles of Porter are just two plates of tea to me.

Why take a nap when you can drink two cups of tea?

Tell me, what's the situation? "

“Too bad, almost everything we put in with the help of the Armenians has made no difference.

That stupid Kurd dared to go to the banquet without even having many guards, and was wiped out along with his army.

Not only that, the Sultan also took this opportunity to plan to attack the Armenians. According to the information we received, the Sultan had already sent a new governor there.

In recent times, communication between Armenians and us has been significantly blocked, and the frequency has been greatly reduced. "

Little Pete then took a sip of port.

"What about Persia? How did the Qajar Dynasty react?"

"It's not good, the sultan put a lot of pressure on Mohammad Qajar.

In particular, his stay in Baghdad forced Muhammad Qajar to move a large number of troops back to the Zagros Mountains.

Although it seems to us that the chances of this sultan crossing the mountains are slim. "

Wilburst said with a wry smile.

“It’s not just Persia, the Bedouins are also asking us for help through Oman, and just east of Damascus, Muhammad Ali has led his army deep into the desert.

The Wahhabis had already fought against Muhammad Ali and suffered a disastrous defeat. "

Little Pete drank the port wine in the bottle in one gulp, took out a handkerchief and wiped his mouth.

"Without any further hesitation, Wilburster, go tell the Foreign Secretary and encourage the Russians to declare war on the Ottoman Empire, but we do not need to give any help, acquiescence and intelligence will be enough.

Second, let the Secretary of Defense increase the deployment of personnel and speed up the process of arming the Bedouin.

Also, England was not being charitable by asking the Bedouins to pay for their weapons with valuable items.

As for Persia, notify the Duke of Cornwallis to speed up the conquest and control of India.

After the sultan of the Ottoman Empire made trouble, Muhammad Qajar's process of unifying Persia will not only be delayed, but may even be overturned.

This is an opportunity for us. It will be a matter of time to win India, and we need to pick a barrier for him in advance. Afshar and the Zand Dynasty are both objects that can be supported.

But don’t be too hasty, this is a long-term investment after all. "

Wilburst nodded and was about to leave when he was stopped again.

"One more thing, Wilburster, Hastings is going to be questioned by the investigative committee headed by Burke today.

Wait a minute, come with me to see it, otherwise Fox will pull another trick. "

In the afternoon, Little Pete and Wilburst got into the carriage at the same time and rushed to the venue.

"Did you bribe yourself to be nominated President of the Bengal Council in early 1772?

And did you bribe subsequent votes to end up becoming the president of the board? "

Fox asked calmly.

"This is a misunderstanding, Lord Fox.

The situation in Bangladesh has hardly improved since Mr Cartier left office and retired.

The advantages left by General Clive ceased to exist, and the Mughal emperor's Act of Financial Regulation and Restriction was imposed on the company.

In 1770, the most terrible famine in history occurred in India. According to credible estimates, this took away one-third of the population of Bengal.

Under such critical circumstances, I was nominated and eventually became the Chairman of the Board of Directors. "

Hastings defended hurriedly, looking at the door of the venue from time to time, as if expecting someone to arrive.

"Listen, Fox is starting, let's go in."

Little Pete immediately walked into the venue with Wilburst. As for the Ottoman Empire, let it be left to Russia first. He didn't want to deal with it now.