Vienna Palace

Foreign Minister Wessenberg, who was in a heavy mood, said worriedly: "Your Majesty, this is a diplomatic note from the tsarist government.

The outbreak in Asia Minor has been determined to be a man-made plague created by the Ottoman government, and the epidemic is now out of control. ”

As soon as the "plague" was pointed at the former Ottoman government, the Russians immediately interrogated the surrendered Ottoman high-ranking officials.

Under the service of the great punishment, all those who should be confessed and those who should not be confessed have been confessed.

An enraged Alexander III immediately issued an order to hunt down Abdul Hamid II, and this diplomatic note was intended to inform the allies.

After carefully reading the note, Franz said slowly: "Call on the people of the whole country to exterminate rodents, and order relevant domestic enterprises to make every effort to produce rodenticide."

Collect a batch of rodenticide and send it to the defenders stationed in Asia Minor, and order the troops to reduce contact with the outside world. ”

I have to be glad that this is winter, and the severe cold is not conducive to the breeding of viruses, and there is no mosquito and fly transmission. If there is an outbreak of plague in the spring or summer, the lethality will increase several times.

The bad luck of looking for the remnants of the Ottomans is not in a hurry, those guys are hiding, and it will be difficult to find them for a while, and the top priority is to prevent the epidemic.

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

……

Prime Minister Felix asked, "Your Majesty, do you want to block the news of the plague?" ”

Franz shook his head: "There's no need, it's impossible to hide such a big thing, it's a few days to disclose, just disclose it to the outside world!"

The news from the Russians may not be complete, and the bureaucrats are likely to conceal the losses incurred in the early stages in order to reduce their losses.

As we intensify our efforts, we must also prepare for the worst by blocking the coastline of the Asia Minor Peninsula and the borders of the Middle East. ”

After a pause, Franz added: "Pay attention to guiding public opinion, emphasizing the fact that the Ottoman Empire created the plague, and appropriately lead to the Black Death."

Publicize our efforts to prevent the spread of the virus in the European world, and by the way, touch the British. ”

……

With Franz's order, the Vienna government strengthened the epidemic prevention at the same time, and the propaganda machine was also activated.

All kinds of appalling headlines appeared on the front pages of European newspapers, such as "The Plague Maker - The Ottoman Empire" and "The Cancer of the Human World......

This is a picture and a truth, although a certain amount of artistic processing has been carried out, but the artificially created plague did not wrongfully accuse the Ottoman Empire.

The topics of nonsense in the back are even richer, and the Austrian Propaganda Department has only started a start, and the rest is free to play by journalists.

"The Origin of the Black Death", "The Greatest Conspirator in History", "The Real Murderer of the Black Death", ......

Hundreds of years have passed since the Black Death, and no one knows exactly how it came about, but this does not prevent everyone from putting the black pot on the head of the Ottoman Empire.

Combined with history, it cleverly links the rise of the Ottoman Empire with the "Black Death".

For example, the case in "The Black Death Saved the Ottomans" is that in 1399, the Timurid Empire had besieged the Ottoman capital, but was forced to retreat because of the Black Death's wanton raids.

Another example is "The Road to the Bloody Rise of the Ottomans", the article directly attributed the rise of the Ottoman Empire to the fact that the Black Death was rampant, which caused European countries to lose their vitality and loss of suppression of the Ottoman Empire.

Although the Ottoman Empire was also a victim of the Black Death, everyone simply changed the concept and ignored the difference in population between the two sides.

The Rheinische Zeitung listed a set of data collected from unknown sources: the Black Death ravaged Europe and the world with 25 million deaths vs. 210,000 Ottoman deaths, a ratio of 119:1.

To sum it up: without the ravages of the Black Death, there would have been no rise of the Ottoman Empire.

In the end, it was concluded that the Black Death was a conspiracy of the Ottomans.

Not to mention the common people, even Franz, the initiator, was somewhat convinced that the Black Death was a conspiracy of the Ottoman Empire.

True or false? Hundreds of years have passed, and there is no way to check it at all.

Combined with history, the Ottoman Empire rose after the Black Death and belonged to the beneficiaries. From a conspiracy theory point of view, they have a motive for committing the crime.

Supported by the real-life cases of man-made plagues, coupled with years of propaganda by European countries, the original image of the Ottomans was like this.

The European society came to a conclusion in a short period of time, and apart from Austria leading public opinion, it was more important that no one defended the Ottoman Empire.

I can't figure out what happened hundreds of years ago, but the facts that happened in front of me cannot be erased.

At this time, jumping out to defend the Ottoman government is easy to set yourself on fire, and if you are accused of being an Ottoman spy, it will be fatal.

Even experts and scholars who have always been irresponsible and like to be unconventional do not dare to jump out and fight against public opinion at this time.

……

In London, the angry Prime Minister Gladstone once again tore up the newspaper in his hand, which was already the nth newspaper he had destroyed in recent times.

It's just a matter of blackening the Ottoman Empire, and as soon as the man-made plague comes out, it will be impossible for the extinct Ottoman Empire to be whitewashed.

Anyway, it's all dead, and it doesn't hurt to put on the hat of the Black Death conspirator.

But as time passed, public opinion gradually drifted astray, first in the Austrian daily newspaper "Britain's Inglorious Role in the War in the Near East".

In detail, the British contributed money and efforts to the Ottoman Empire in the Near East War, accusing the British government of shielding the Ottoman "remnant" after the war.

In normal times, this is not a problem, and there is a high-sounding saying "political asylum". It's a pity that the timing is not right, and the "artificial plague" happened.

It's not that the British people have an international spirit, but the main thing is that the "bubonic plague" is too lethal and transmissible, and once it spreads, everyone may become a victim.

Naturally, he hated the guy who created the "plague" and threatened everyone's life. Hearing that the British government was shielding these guys, the people were naturally angry.

This problem is not easy to handle, if the people are handed over, where will the face of the London government be placed?

If you don't deal with it, the opposition parties will not let go of this opportunity, and Prime Minister Gladstone does not want to step down in disrepute.

In desperation, Gladstone had to order the arrest of several Ottoman high-ranking officials who had already appeared, and hand them over to the judiciary to quell public anger.

However, this is just the beginning. Perhaps there are too many conspiracies, the image has become ingrained, and the European media always likes to associate them with conspiracy theories.

This has not just solved the problem of shielding the "Ottoman remnants", and there is another "British conspiracy", not one, to be exact, but many.

More than half of the mainstream newspapers in Europe have linked the British government to the "man-made plague incident".

"The British Conspiracy" is only the sharpest style, speculating on the British government with the greatest malice, and boldly speculating: the British government and the Ottomans colluded to plan this "human plague".

The reason is that the British Isles are separated by a channel, which is conducive to preventing the spread of the plague; Once the European continent reverted to the old story of the "Black Death" in the Middle Ages, Britain became the hegemon of the continent without blood.

In return, the London government would support the Ottomans for their restoration. This is the only chance for the Ottomans to restore their country, and the evil Sultan government will not give it up.

It's just speculation, and there is no real evidence.

The center of European public opinion is in Britain, France and Austria, everyone is in the dark with each other, and there are too many similar things happening, and it stands to reason that Gladstone is not angry.

But the problem is that there are also people in China who have made trouble, and extremist newspapers have openly criticized it: the London government is too poor to execute, and it can't even do this little thing, if it ......

The specifics of the latter are not important, the point is that such an open admission of collusion between the British government and the Ottomans does not have to consider the consequences?

There are many similar newspapers that add to the chaos, don't ask why it is written like this, the question is: just rotten money.

Whether it was planned by the anti-British forces in the international arena or the conspiracy of the opposition parties at home is no longer a question that Gladstone can no longer afford to study.

There are people in China who believe in this statement, let alone internationally.

The core factor that led to all this was that there was indeed collusion between the London government and the Ottoman Empire, but not the "man-made plague" that followed.

Half of it is true, and the thing is not explained.

If the "plague" is under control, it is fine, if it evolves into the "Black Death" second, the Gladstone government will be finished.

In those days, no country could afford to provoke the whole European world, and Britain was no different.