The elderly Grand Vizier Ahmed Melek Pasha and the younger Foreign Minister Mehmet Gulgü Pasha walked into the Sultan's audience hall one after another and faced the man sitting upright on a sofa. The female sultan bowed and then sat down on another sofa.
These two high-ranking officials of the Ottoman Empire, like Sultan Ksem, were not Turks, but foreigners from the Janissary Regiment of the Sudanese Guards.
Although later historians mentioned the stagnation and decline of the Ottoman Empire, they always criticized the Ottoman Guards system.
But in fact, those who can be promoted step by step from the Boy Scout Camp in Yenicherry to such high positions as members of the Imperial Parliament must be some of the most prominent figures in both military and political terms. The fact that the Ottoman Empire could maintain its strength for such a long time shows that the system of selecting talents from the "foreign monks" in the Jenicheri military camp was successful.
Otherwise, how can we select talents?
To select talents from among the decadent aristocracy of the Ottoman Empire? Or should we learn from China and use imperial examinations to select talents? What's the test?
Of course, a better system for selecting talents does not mean that the decline of the Ottoman Empire can be avoided.
Because the Ottoman Empire was a country that had to continuously expand its military to maintain its strength - its geographical location and the limited resources and land in the heart of Asia Minor all determined that the empire had to continuously acquire incremental wealth in order to maintain it.
And continuous acquisition of increments means that the Ottoman Empire will make enemies everywhere!
At the same time, the enemies of the Ottoman Empire will also unite to fight against the most powerful empire in the world.
In Europe, the birth of the Habsburg Empire was largely driven by the need to fight the Ottoman Empire.
In the direction of the Indian Ocean in the east, no matter how fiercely the Netherlands, Portugal, England, and Spain fight, it is their consensus to exclude the Ottoman Empire from the world trading system.
At the same time, Iran and the Mongolian Empire in India were not friends of the Ottoman Empire. Although they both believed in the same God, Iran believed in Shias and the Ottomans were Sunni, so they were naturally incompatible. As for the Mongol Empire in India... they guarded an inexhaustible cornucopia of food, and of course they had to guard against the Ottoman Empire coming to grab food.
So this Ottoman Empire looks around the world, but it doesn’t have a single friend. It’s not easy to be like this!
And the Ming Empire, which suddenly moved toward the ocean, seemed to have the potential to become a friend of the Ottoman Empire!
"Do you think the Chinese emperor can be the Sultan's friend?" the female Sultan asked.
"Yes, my Majesty." Grand Vizier Ahmed Melek Pasha gave an affirmative answer, "I don't think we have any conflict of interest with China."
It is so rare for a big country in the world that has no conflict of interest with the Ottoman Empire!
Foreign Minister Gülü also said: "Your Majesty the Sultan, my opinion is the same as that of the Grand Vizier...China is a big country after all. If they are really willing to go to the ocean and communicate with the world, then they will definitely communicate with Christ." There will be conflicts between the disciples. This is always beneficial to the empire."
The female sultan nodded slightly: "Who should be sent to Basra to welcome the Chinese delegation and discuss the issue of making friends?"
"Your Majesty, you can let Muhammad Koprulu go." Gulgu said.
"Is he 75 years old?" The female sultan asked with a smile, "Can he still walk?"
Muhammad Koprulu would become the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire in a few years and personally create an era of resurgence of the Ottoman Empire.
But now he is raising his grandson at home. A 75-year-old man in the 17th century would not look like he would be able to work for the Sudan.
"There is no problem with his health," Gulcu said. "He is healthier than most middle-aged people and is always ready to serve His Majesty the Sultan."
"Well, let him go to Basra." The female sultan agreed with Gulju. She knew the abilities of Mohammed Koprulu. He was a bureaucrat who could achieve results wherever he was placed. If he were not too old, the female sultan would have wanted him to be the Grand Vizier.
...
The world is very complicated. There are no permanent enemies or permanent friends, only permanent interests.
Because China is located in the east of Eurasia, it is less likely to get caught up in fierce international struggles. Moreover, China also has silk and porcelain, two internationally popular trade goods, so it is easier to make friends.
The Ottoman Empire is a friend that the Ming Dynasty must make, at least for now, because Ji Kun and Li Shaoyou, who have lived in Basra for a while, found that the place is full of horses that the Ming Empire desperately needs!
Although the Ming Empire has begun to introduce Indian folding horses, the number of introductions has never reached expectations.
Zhu Cixiang originally planned to increase the number of imports year by year. At least two to three hundred stallions and strong mares with handles should be introduced every year in order to form a population as soon as possible.
But in fact, the quantity introduced cannot increase year by year, but decreases year by year, and the quality is not satisfactory.
The reason for this is that the Ming Dynasty did not communicate directly with the Timurid Empire of Hindustan - the Timurid Empire of Hindustan was a member of the "Mongol World" and was always hostile to the "anti-Mongol" country of the Ming Dynasty. of.
Moreover, the Timurid Empire in Hindustan was not short of money at all!
In this era, gold flows into India and silver flows into China. Shah Jahan and his military nobles need to sell horses to raise money?
They don't sell horses very much, and the Portuguese and Dutch merchants don't have room to buy more folded horses!
The Ottoman Empire, which was excluded from the international trade system by Westerners, had a lot of Arabian horses and was in great need of porcelain, silk and lacquerware produced in Japan from the Ming Empire.
However, Muhammad Koprulu, who had served the Ottoman Empire for more than sixty years, knew very well that trade between the Ottoman Empire and the Ming Dynasty was difficult to carry out.
While the Ming Dynasty was closed to the outside world, the Ottoman Empire has always been open. If this business were easy, the merchants of the Ottoman Empire would have done it long ago!
"No, no, Arabian horses are not for sale." In a luxurious mansion in the increasingly depressed port of Basra, Mohammed Koprulu, whose beard and eyebrows had turned gray, said to Ji Kun, who had just made a request to buy a horse, and Li Shaoyuan.
He spoke Turkish, and there were two translators at the scene. One was an Arab, who translated Turkish into Portuguese, and the other, a Portuguese hired from Macau, translated Portuguese into Chinese. .
Ji Kun was a little disappointed, but looking at the expression of the very majestic and tall old man in front of him, he knew that the other person had something to say, so he looked at Koprulu.
Koprulu said: "If two great monarchs become friends, they should give each other gifts and not trade."
"Pasha," Ji Kun asked, "you mean that His Majesty the Sultan wants to make friends with the Ming Emperor?"
"Isn't this the purpose of your coming all the way to the Ottoman Empire?" Koprulu smiled, "As long as the Chinese Emperor and His Majesty the Sultan become friends, then both parties can give each other gifts. For example, His Majesty the Sultan gave the Chinese Emperor 1,000 Arabian horses. , and the Chinese emperor could also give back silk and porcelain of equivalent value.
The old man paused, "Even the most ferocious Christian wouldn't intercept the Sultan's gift to the Ming Emperor in the Indian Ocean, would he?"
The world's strongest Ottoman Empire is quite frustrated in the Indian Ocean! It is difficult for his own trading fleet to go out, and the trading ports are becoming increasingly depressed, and he cannot unite with the Timur Empire in India to fight against the Westerners - how can Osman join forces with Timur? it's out of the question!
So the old man came up with a trading method for monarchs to give gifts to each other.
