[quote=@Pagemaster]
[@Letter Bee], I honestly think a Japanese female peasant is more realistic than Britain just going “Sure Egypt, you can have this insanely vital trade route, go crazy! No way this could possibly go wrong!”

Also, Egypt with ships of the line? Please. That’s like giving Brasil battleships in Second World War.  

Nothing against Egypt being a thing, but it wouldn’t be a decent power, barely even a regional one.
[/quote]

Except that Britain didn't give Egypt the Suez in this timeline. It was the reverse, [i]Egypt gave Britain the Suez[/i], to build a canal with, and that's why Britain made concessions to it.

And Egypt had Ships of the Line IRL [i]before[/i] 1840. See the [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Navarino]Battle of Navarino[/url], where Egypt got its Ships of the Line destroyed, but then [i]managed to replace them in the years afterward[/i].

And Egypt [i]is[/i] just barely a regional power - I didn't contradict that.

I edited this post to add clarifications, btw.