Greece’s Roman Road

May 26, 1912, Tatoi Palace

The Constantine family is enjoying a rare relaxing time.

In the spacious and bright dining room, the crown prince's family of seven, in addition to Constantine and Sophie sitting at both ends of the table, the eldest son George, the second son Alexander, and the youngest Paul, the two princesses Helen and Irene surround the bar. Table, having breakfast.

"Is there going to be a war, father?" George put down the knife and fork in his hand, took a sip of milk from the glass, and said to Constantine who was reading the newspaper in the first place.

Prince George, who was born in 1890, was already an adult. After completing the compulsory military education of the Greek royal family, he went to Germany to receive university education.

Because the situation in Europe is tense now, I recently returned to Greece from Germany.

After the meal was over, Constantine, who was holding a newspaper in his hand, was watching intently without raising his head: "How did you know that?"

"In recent days, all the newspapers in Greece have published some negative news about the Ottoman Empire, obviously inciting public opinion." George couldn't hide his expression.

Hearing this, Constantine glanced at the Athens Daily in his hand. The headline on the front page was to introduce readers to the blood tax system of the Ottoman Empire.

The Ottoman Empire has ruled Greece for hundreds of years, and naturally a lot of atrocities that can arouse the anger of the Greeks.

The so-called blood tax means that the basic officials of the Ottoman Empire regularly collect boys from Christian families according to a certain proportion.

These boys were subjected to harsh military training from an early age and converted to the state religion of the Ottoman Empire.

Some of these boys entered the army and became efficient, ferocious, and fearless fighters, like the famous Yenicheri Legion in the history of the Ottoman Empire.

Some boys with high qualifications will receive a good education. When they reach adulthood, they can serve as officials at all levels, or serve in the sultan's harem. Of course, they will be castrated.

These are boys. The Ottoman Empire also had a system of concubinage, which was aimed at girls from Christian families.

These girls will be brought into the sultan's palace to become maids or concubines.

Speaking of which, due to the special inheritance system of the Ottoman Empire, the mother of many Ottoman sultans was of Christian origin.

This article in the newspaper introduced in detail the lesser-known concubinage system in the blood tax system.

You can imagine how the Greeks would feel when they read the article of such a person.

Of course, the public opinion of a country is all used to attack a certain country in Xuan, and when it falls in the eyes of a person with a heart, it is natural to see some clues.

Seeing that Constantine was still engrossed in reading the newspaper, George said expectantly, "I'm already twenty-two years old this year, should I join the army?"

When George's voice fell, Constantine put down the newspaper, looked at George, and saw that Prince George was specially wearing a military uniform today, and his whole person showed the unique heroism and ability of soldiers.

Seeing that his father finally reacted, George patted his chest and said: "I have received complete military training, the Greek army command course, the German political course and the cavalry command officer training. Uncle William also personally awarded me a captain. What about the military rank?"

Constantine stood up, put on his coat under the servant's service, and said to George at the same time, "I will inform Emmanuel and let him assign you a position in the army."

Yesterday, the delegation led by Venizelos had returned to Athens from Bodrigocha.

Constantine hurried to the Prime Minister's residence in a carriage, eager to learn the results of the negotiations with the two countries.

Constantine went straight to the prime minister's office and saw that Venizelos was already processing official documents.

Seeing Venezia's exhausted face, there was no joy on his face. Instead, his face was so gloomy that water seemed to drip. Seeing this scene, Constantine already had some thoughts about the result of this diplomatic consultation. Sub-guess.

"Prime Minister, what was the result of the meeting with the Prime Ministers of the two countries in Bodera Rigocha? What was the result?" Constantine asked eagerly.

Hearing this, Venizelos lifted his head from the pile of documents, saw that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had come in person, stood up in silence, and led Constantine to the reception room to sit down.

"The attitude of the two countries is very firm. On the issue of dividing the Macedonian territory, the two countries have been unable to reach an agreement with us for a long time." Venizelos shook his head with a heavy heart.

Hearing this, Constantine frowned and thought to himself, is Greece really going to fight alone?

"Serbia insists on acquiring North Macedonia, while Bulgaria has strong ambitions for the historic Greek city of Thessaloniki"

Venizelos lamented: "Due to the huge differences between the two sides on the issue of territorial division, Greece and the alliance of the two countries have only reached some broad agreements, confirming that the two armies will cooperate with each other in the face of the Ottoman Empire."

Constantine was confused by Venizelos for a while: "From this point of view, is the alliance negotiation between Greece and Paula a success or a failure?"

Venizelos pondered for a moment and said, "It's just a loose alliance."

"So, according to this, the territory of Macedonia, whichever country's army captures it during the war, belongs to which country?" Constantine was surprised.

Venizelos nodded and said, "That's understandable. In addition, Serbian Prime Minister Pasic asked Greece to allow Serbia to build a railway to connect Serbia's interior with the seaport cities in northern Albania, Greece."

"And ~www.wuxiax.com~ During the negotiations, Grand Duke Nicholas of Montenegro also asked to join this alliance"

Due to the continuous mountains and dangerous terrain, the Montenegro region has had difficult transportation. Historically, it has maintained a strong independence. The Ottoman Empire has never really conquered the Montenegro region.

"I remember that Montenegro seems to have always had a good relationship with Serbia, right?" Constantine said thoughtfully.

"Montenegro and Serbia are brother countries, and the main population of Montenegro is also Slavs. Under the influence of the Pan-Slavic trend, they naturally want to stand with their Serbian brothers," Venizelos analyzed.

At present, the territories of Montenegro and Serbia are not bordered. A prominent part of the Macedonian territory of the Ottoman Empire, like a knife, is inserted between the territories of Montenegro and Serbia to separate the two countries.

"Montenegro joins the alliance, and the Serbs naturally warmly welcome it. Once the two countries open up the border, according to the close relationship between Montenegro and Serbia, Montenegro, as a country along the Adriatic Sea, can completely become Serbia's sea outlet."

Although Montenegro is an inconspicuous small country with a population of just over 100,000 people, the news that another Slavic country has joined the Slavic Union of the Balkans still touched the heartstrings of Constantine, and expressed his deep appreciation to Venize. Ross said: "Don't you think the Slavs on the Balkans are already too large?"

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