The Crescent of the Sultan

As soon as you leave Topkapi Palace and look down from the promontory, you can see the entire Constantiniya. At this time, the city can be said to be deserted.

Citizens came out of their homes one after another to celebrate the Sultan's wedding. People's faces were beaming with joy and everyone was looking forward to the wedding.

Seeing this scene, Emperor Sai couldn't help but sigh, this is the convenience of the imperial capital.

The political attribute of Constantiniya as the imperial capital is itself a bonus. Under this status, it will become the most prosperous city in the entire Ottoman Empire no matter what.

What's more, Constantiniya's own conditions are not bad either.

The most significant one is its geographical location advantage.

Constantiniya is located at the intersection of Eurasia and the east coast of the Bosporus, connecting the two continents of Asia and Europe.

It can be said that the reason why the Ottoman Empire's financial revenue ranked first in Europe before the seventeenth century was that Suleiman the Magnificent casually gave Francois I, a poor man, one million ducats in gold coins, and the geography of Constantinople. The advantages are huge.

And from the fact that Constantiniya is an important hub for trade and cultural exchanges between the East and the West, it can be seen that the Ottoman Empire was not a blocker on the so-called Silk Road between the East and the West at all.

After the last overland Silk Road flourished in the early Yuan Dynasty, the long-term wars and desertification of the Mongolian khanates made it difficult for this road to recover.

At this time, the overland Silk Road was nothing in terms of trade between the East and the West, and most of it was at sea.

There are three old maritime trade routes:

One, the northern line. From the Black Sea to Constantinople, this line is the trade of Slavic slaves (this is also one of the main sources of the sultan's harem. Blond girls with big boobs are the sultan's favorite. Emperor Cyprus looked down on his ancestors' behavior of buying blond female slaves from the bottom of his heart. ), wood, horses and other Slavic specialties.

Second, the middle line, China, Southeast Asia, India, the Persian Gulf, and the Levant.

3. Southern route, China, Southeast Asia, India, Red Sea, Alexandria, Egypt.

These three roads are the legendary old sea routes, and they are also the basis for the Venetians to become famous in the Mediterranean and to be domineering.

It wasn't until Portugal's Vasco da Gama came up with a new shipping route that the Venetians suddenly became anxious.

For Portugal, the difference in spice prices between Lisbon and Venice is the country's wealth. Therefore, completely blocking the old trade routes and monopolizing east-west trade is its strategic goal.

Facts have proved that since the Age of Discovery, except for a certain Eastern country that has not kept up with the times, European countries have basically performed well.

In the 1490s, it controlled the east coast of Africa and harassed the southern route of the old trade route.

1506, occupied Socotra Island, controlled the Red Sea outlet, and blocked the southern line.

1507, captured Hormuz, controlled the Persian Gulf, and cut off the center line.

In 1507, he captured Makistan and took control of Oman.

1509, Battle of Diu, defeating Egypt supported by Venice and the Ottomans.

In 1511, he controlled Malacca and intervened in the spice production area.

From 1517 to 1520, warships were frequently sent to blockade the Red Sea.

This made Venice very uncomfortable. From 1502 to 1505, the import volume of spices from the old trade route dropped by 2/3, and the price of spices in Venice skyrocketed. This was also the largest price increase since 1453, due to the Portuguese blockade.

Venice was a beneficiary of the old trade routes. Once the old trade routes were blocked, the significant transshipment profits in European trade would be lost.

But at the same time, due to the expansion of the Ottomans in the Eastern Mediterranean and southeastern Europe, Venice had a sense of distrust towards the Ottomans, and the Ottomans had not been involved in trade routes, so their allies first chose Egypt.

In 1503, Venice established a Spice Committee and secretly contacted Egypt to discuss countermeasures to reduce the import of spices. Later, he funded the Egyptian navy and instigated a war against Portugal.

The result is as explained above.

By this time, Venice would be dead if it didn't exert its strength, so these people went directly to the Ottoman Empire.

The Ottomans were a latecomer in terms of shipping routes. After taking control of Egypt in 1517, they faced the problem of the old trade routes being blocked for the first time.

Due to the strong national power of the Ottoman Empire, they quickly launched an offensive against Portugal. The Venetians provided both technology and people, and greatly helped the Ottoman Empire prepare a navy.

In the 1620s, the Ottoman Empire broke the Portuguese blockade and the import of spices from the old trade routes picked up.

In 1547, Yemen was captured, and in 1550, Bahrain was captured.

In 1557, he controlled Oman and seized hegemony in the Western Indian Ocean.

At this point, the Ottomans controlled the western Indian Ocean, Portugal had its hands in the eastern Indian Ocean, and the old trade routes were revitalized.

In the 1680s, Spain and Portugal merged, and Portugal gradually became weaker, and was replaced by the Netherlands in the 17th century.

With the weakening of the Ottomans, the Netherlands completely controlled the spice trade. Under the competition of the new trade routes and the influence of the Dutch, the old trade routes gradually fell into disuse. As the old trade routes gradually declined, Venice was completely reduced to an ordinary city.

This is also the reason why the Ottoman Empire's fiscal revenue was not as good as in 1700, and the Akce silver coins used to calculate fiscal revenue during this period had depreciated.

Therefore, if we want to revive the power of the Ottoman Empire in the future, we must get involved in the Red Sea and Persian Gulf regions. The former has been obtained, and the latter must be obtained from the Qajar Dynasty.

As for whether this will attract Daiying's attention, let alone the fact that Daiying has not completely conquered India at this period and is unable to go east.

So what if it completely conquered India? During this period, with the collapse of the Safavid dynasty, Persia had fallen into a three-party regime.

With the power of the Ottoman Empire projected on the Iranian plateau, doing something during this period was not an outlier.

Moreover, the anti-French war that has begun will involve the main energy of the European countries, and Daiying will naturally have to join it.

If you don’t ask the Persians for something at this stage, then when will you do it? When will you wait until Napoleon fails and leads the British to conquer India, France keeps its tail between its legs, and Russia is eyeing it?

Emperor Sai is not stupid. As long as he does not cross the Zagros Mountains and actually controls the western part of the Iranian plateau, Daiying will not react too violently.

As for whether to help France in this Napoleonic war, or whether to join the war.

Selim actually made a certain decision. First of all, it was the Napoleonic War in the original time and space. Did Dai Ying take full action?

It is difficult to explain this issue clearly, but the British aid to the two countries on the peninsula amounted to more than 3 million pounds a year.

There is another example that illustrates the strength of Britain. Starting from 1808, its average annual military expenditures for the allies were equivalent to France's annual fiscal revenue.

As far as Emperor Cypriot sees it, Britain may not have done its best.

In 1786, British Prime Minister Peter announced in the House of Commons: "The vitality and national destiny of this nation are based on national debt."

The financial system of the United Kingdom determines its unrivaled financing capabilities. If the United Kingdom expands the scale of national debt and borrowing, it is difficult to predict how much power it can invest.

Of course France can take this risk. Ruferry once said: "You can't become a great country by staying in the back garden forever."

This may also be the reason why the French are committed to striving for hegemony.

The French nation is the most imperial nation, and the nation least like the subjects of the empire.

They have imperial overtones because they believe they can influence the world and build a world empire.

At the same time, they believe that world civilization should have French characteristics and the imprint of the French nation.

This idea is linked to the fact that the French nation is God's chosen people, and they shoulder the mission of spreading Catholicism and loyalty to the king.

After the French Revolution, rationalism, republican thought, and secularization became France's new imperial mission.

But no matter what the form, compared with other empires, France most resembles the fusion of empire and nation. France can be understood as an "outwardly expanding nation."

Unlike the peoples of the Ottoman, Habsburg and other empires, the French did not accept a pluralistic and multi-ethnic empire.

France must first belong to the French people and possess the unique qualities of the French nation. Therefore, Gary Wilder mixed the two concepts and proposed the "French Imperial Nation-State", which seems to be quite accurate when used to describe the French and their empire.

With the blessing of this god-level Buff, and the fact that the land in France is indeed very good, it provides a very stable lower limit.

From the Thirty Years' War to the Napoleonic Wars, most wars for hegemony were fought on German and Spanish soil, and the French mainland was not seriously damaged.

This is the confidence that France dares to compete for hegemony.

But does the Ottoman Empire have such confidence?

In terms of ethnic issues, Emperor Cypriot's reform of weakening national consciousness through religious narratives is still in its infancy, and we have to wait until it is effective.

Any defeat at this time would itself be a wavering of confidence in the Orthodox Christians' conversion.

What's even more frightening is that if the Ottoman Empire participated, France would eventually be defeated.

The French can just slap their butt and go back to the borders of 1789, but can the Ottoman Empire?

This is a dream. In any case, Dai Ying must give the Austrians and Russians adequate compensation.

Where does this compensation come from? It must come from the Ottoman Empire. Can the compensation, ceded territory, and humiliating treaty be less?

Impossible, with the proficiency of leading the British to find people to sign contracts all over the world, and with the experience of the European countries in drafting treaties for hundreds of years.

As long as the Ottoman Empire is defeated, it is simply a professional counterpart, and this emperor of Serbia is still playing tricks.

From a battlefield perspective, once the Ottoman Empire starts fighting, the war will inevitably burn on the mainland.

Although Moldavia and Serbia were not the main investment areas, the economic damage caused by the war to the Ottoman Empire was indeed huge.

In a sense, these places are the raw material origins and markets of the first industrialized areas. Once they are destroyed by war, they will undoubtedly slow down the industrialization speed envisaged by Emperor Cyprus.

Of course, apart from these two points, there is actually another possibility, that is, France wins.

So how much benefit did the Ottoman Empire gain?

Once the entire anti-French war entered the peak period of Napoleon, Emperor Cyprus would not even have to think about it. There would definitely be radicals in the imperial government who wanted to form an alliance with France.

Their expansion goal must be in Europe. The problem is that the benefits of eating European land to the Ottoman Empire are far less than the investment.

There are too many ethnic groups on this earth. The historical process of how the Austrian Empire turned into the Austro-Hungarian Empire and finally disintegrated cannot be seen by others, but it does not mean that Emperor Cyrus cannot see it.

The Habsburgs have been operating for so many years and have not left any visible legacy. If the Ottoman Empire continues to eat land, wouldn't it be laying a minefield for itself?

Selim originally found it extremely difficult to assimilate these current Balkan ethnic groups, otherwise he would not have thought of using Indian means to do this.

What's more, even if he really eats it, Selim can guarantee that there will be no problems while he is alive, but what if there is a thunderstorm later.

The sultan who succeeds may not have the ability to handle this.

This is the most intuitive benefit that the Ottoman Empire can get, but what can France get?

He can directly unify the French-speaking part of Europe, he can directly dismember Germany and create a bunch of vassals, he can put the entire Iberian Peninsula under control, he can expand his colonies, and he can let Mao Zi go back.

This is unbalanced. Why did Austria and Russia finally fall out over the Ottoman Empire in the original time and space?

The Russians' excessive greed is certainly an important reason, but the main reason is that Austria can get too little in return.

There are Yugoslavs in this area but no Germans. Is it possible for Austria to do this stupid thing of helping the Russians make wedding dresses out of medieval hatred?

It is for this reason that the British Empire, the most adept at finding opportunities for trouble in Europe, successfully divided the Austro-Russian alliance. As a result, Austria not only did not send troops in the Crimean War in 1853, but even supplies were ruthlessly provided. Unwilling.

Apart from anything else, even if Austria does not send troops, just transporting supplies to the Russian people is enough to disgust Britain and France. If they want to win the Crimean War, Britain, France, and Turkey must pay a higher price.

In the final analysis, if Emperor Cypriot formed an alliance with France, he would end up badly if defeated, but the gains from victory would not be good.

In this case, why go up?

Judging from the geography of the Ottoman Empire, his short-term strategies were actually similar to those of the British.

After all, both Persia and Africa could be the expansion direction of the Ottoman Empire. While exerting efforts in these places, Emperor Sai needed a Europe that was unable to pay attention to him.

The British knew this well, and it benefited the most from the Congress of Vienna in 1815.

Austria has worked hard to maintain stability for thirty years, but in the end it has nothing but just making wedding clothes for the British.

So, if the Ottoman Empire does not succeed, judging from the emperor in this time and space, losing is nothing more than the Vienna System, winning.

We definitely can’t win, maybe we can make peace.

Either situation would be beneficial to the Ottoman Empire, it just takes time.

And the rejuvenation of a country requires staying calm.

Selim gradually retracted his thoughts. It has to be said that sometimes, when a person stands on a high mountain, his thoughts suddenly become much clearer.

Constantiniya is very important, very important. If Turkey had not lost a large territory in the Balkan Peninsula and had no strategic buffer, it would have moved its capital crazy.

In the past few days, for some reason, there were rumors that Selim was going to move the capital. He had not yet found out why such rumors were spread when he was about to get married, but the danger of such remarks could not be ignored.

Constantiniya is located on the important waterway of east-west maritime trade. It has a strategic position and plays an important role in controlling and supervising maritime trade.

At the same time, it has excellent geographical conditions. Constantiniya is located in a hilly area, surrounded by oceans and straits, forming a natural fortification.

Equally important is the political symbolic significance of Constantiniya: the Ottoman Empire chose this place as its capital, marking the empire's inheritance and continuation of the Roman Empire's ruins, declaring the empire's authority and dominance to the outside world, and inheriting the glory of the ancient empire. .

Future generations of Turkey were not forced to abandon this place, let alone Emperor Cyprus. He came out of Kinmen today to pick up his bride. Since this place has belonged to the Ottoman Empire since 1453, he will belong to it forever.

Thanks to panzer5, P club players are ecstatic, Geng Dong, Sunshine Avenue and book friend 928.db’s monthly pass. After talking about getting married for a few days, we finally went out.

This is two chapters in one