The Crescent of the Sultan

Chapter 135 Wine Table Culture (two chapters in one, extra update for Geng Dong and book friends)

Selim finally came back from his thoughts at this time. Anna had already removed other coverings on her face. The girl's angry expression made Selim laugh for a while.

I have to say that Selim’s choice was indeed the right one.

As a Frenchman, Mahand's wife was indeed proficient in makeup. The popular makeup in France during this period was actually not complicated.

The first is fair complexion: French society at that time believed that fair complexion was a symbol of upper class society. In pursuit of a fair complexion, women use large amounts of face powder to increase the brightness of their skin and cover up any imperfections. This foundation is usually made from a mixture of vitriol and paste.

But Anna herself is already quite fair, so Mrs. Mahand only lightly used some white makeup powder in this regard.

Then there are the rosy cheeks: To increase the impression of youth and health, women use a lot of rouge. This rouge is usually made from peach, cherry or red pigment and is used to add a pinkish tint to the cheeks, lips and tip of the nose.

This is what Anna uses for her blush.

As for eyebrows: Thick eyebrows were one of the popular trends at the end of the 18th century. Women used charcoal or liquid dye to accentuate the color and shape of their eyebrows to highlight the eye contour.

In this regard, Mrs. Mahand is also an expert. She slightly modified Anna's eyebrows to make the coldness become a bit charming.

Next comes the eyes: Eye makeup was also a valued part at the time. Eyeshadow is usually in bright colors, such as gold, silver or light blue, to emphasize the brightness of the eyes. For eyeliner, products made from minerals and fish oil are applied to the upper and lower lash lines to increase eye contour.

Considering that Anna has blond hair and blue eyes, Mrs. Mahand only slightly used a little silver eye shadow.

The highlight is the lips: in order to create soft and plump lips, women during this period used lipstick or lip gloss made from natural ingredients. These products often contain pigments from fruits such as cherries, roses or grapes to create soft, vibrant lip colors.

Mrs. Mahander chose cherry color here to match the overall beauty.

I have to say that Anna's facial features are quite delicate originally, and with light makeup, it can be said that she is extremely beautiful.

Selim immediately sat down next to Anna. With an exclamation of "Your Majesty," Selim directly hugged the girl into his arms.

Maybe the robe can hide some things on the surface, but the essence cannot be changed.

Anna is also twenty years old this year, and it can be said that she has developed very well, which makes Selim, who has always adhered to the Taoist heart, a little unable to control himself.

Anna, who noticed Selim's increasingly heavy breathing, giggled at this moment. She turned around and hugged Selim's head, put her red lips to Selim's ear, and exhaled hotly.

"Your Majesty, you are so impatient, what do you want the princess to do?"

After saying that, he raised his head and started laughing. He turned around and gave Emperor Sai a hard time. The two of them had another rough fight in the carriage.

This made Paul, who was guarding outside the carriage, feel ashamed and hurriedly asked the guard next to him to blow the trumpet louder.

As the motorcade progressed, it finally arrived at Belém Palace.

Selim and Anna got off the carriage together, but there was nothing wrong with the Sultan's face.

But if you take off Anna's veil, you will find that Anna's face is flushed at this time, her eyes are full of lust, and there is still a faint smell of heather on her body, but it is covered up by rose perfume.

Walking into the hall of Belem Palace, it was already afternoon and it was not lunch yet, so Selim first arranged for Anna to go to the palace at the back to rest and tidy up. As for himself, he wanted to show off at the wine table. Bah, it’s grapes. juice culture.

The entire Belem Palace hall is now divided into two parts, namely the women's family part and the male guest part.

It's just that the female relatives here are basically Balkan Orthodox Christians, and there are almost no female Muslims.

But it doesn't matter. After Anna finishes sorting, let her pull people out directly. The Sultana of the Ottoman Empire personally invites anyone who dares not to come.

As for the grand mufti who was staring in the corner with a pair of dead fish eyes, staring in the direction of the female family members, he would send someone to find a reason to take this old guy away later. Who is this disgusting? He has clearly agreed and still comes out. Play this hand.

The men's side is already here, but the heavyweights are not here.

The leaders of the major factions within the New Order, the heads of many existing wealthy families, Yusuf Pasha, and Nikolai Patriarch were already sitting in other compartments, waiting for Selim's arrival.

The Sultan walked to the table, sat at the head, and then ordered the waiters to pour fermented grape juice and many snacks and desserts for the many bigwigs.

Dear Pashas and Patriarchs, I am very happy to invite you to my wedding today.

As soon as the Sultan finished speaking, all the big guys said that His Majesty is the lord of the empire, the most noble Sultan, and it is our great honor to attend His Majesty's wedding.

In a word, it's just that you beat me and I come on stage, which is very useful to Emperor Sai.

After the pleasantries, Emperor Sai began to ask about the results of the empire's reforms during this period.

As the ruler of Egypt, Haji Pasha was naturally the first to answer.

“Dear Your Majesty, thanks to your blessing, Egypt has undergone tremendous changes.

I remember that you visited Cairo once, but it is no longer what you saw in the past.

Standing on the tower, the outline of the city jumps into view. The Nile River meanders through the city, with boats passing by.

Merchant ships and rafts were docked on the shore, and merchants and workers were busy, shuttling between the cabins, carrying abundant cargo.

In the center of the city, the narrow streets twist and turn, connecting various blocks, like an endless maze.

The crowds were interspersed among them, each busy with their own business. There are vendors displaying a dazzling array of goods, and pedestrians passing by are busy buying the items they need.

This is no longer the dilapidated Cairo under the Mamluk rule. She has changed her appearance.

There is also the issue of the training of the new army. By the end of August this year, we have sent 30,000 new troops to Constantiniya. More than half of these troops have been arranged by you in the Balkans, and the rest are used for defense. capital.

By the end of this year, this batch of new troops will basically be completed and the next phase can continue. However, we still lack officers here, so we need you to increase your investment. "

Haji Pasha bowed and sat down.

Selim began to signal Ishak Pasha to solve Haji Pasha's questions.

"As for the officer issue, we have been recruiting French nobles in exile on a large scale, but the results are not very good. More of them have gone to England than to us.

Of course, this is also related to the fact that the French Revolution was still in its second year, and these exiled nobles still had plenty of money.

As for our own officer training, the military academy is already enrolling students, but this will take time. "

After listening to Ishak Pasha's answer, to be honest, Selim was not very satisfied.

Officers are the guarantee of an army's combat effectiveness. Without suitable officers, it is difficult to exert sufficient combat effectiveness. But the current situation is like this. It is difficult for a clever woman to make a meal without rice.

Selim then said.

"I must have carried out literacy work for the first batch of new army members in the empire.

Kuchuk Pasha, you are the Minister of War of the Empire. Remember to count the members of the New Army who participated in the last Russo-Turkish War and the counter-insurgency war.

Let them go to the military academy for half a year of military study, and then go to Cairo to participate in the formation of the new army.

In addition, many former New Army and some Guards officers left behind by my uncle and father were also recalled to form the new army.

I hope that by the end of this year, the empire will be able to field an army of 50,000 people. We have to go to see the Persians near the Zagros Mountains. I heard that after the fall of the Safavid dynasty, they have been divided into three dynasties. At this time, you can go and take a look at the situation. "

Kuchuk Pasha nodded in agreement.

Isaac Pasha asked in surprise at this time.

"Your Majesty, would it be too much to attack Persia at this time?"

Selim laughed.

"Ishaq, I know what you mean. But you don't need to worry about this. I just said to go and have a look, but I have no intention of attacking Persia.

After all, judging from the current situation in Europe, although Austria has been contained by the French, the Russians have not.

According to the tone of Catherine's despicable usurper, she seems to be unable to hold back her desire to restart the war.

Although I have arranged the Polish Legion in the Moldavia area, this may not be able to stop the Russians, so the imperial army must not be trapped in the war with Persia. "

"what do you mean?"

Ishaq Pasha had already roughly understood the Sultan's thoughts, but with his temperament, he would not rush to answer.

"My thoughts are very simple. You should also know about the current monarch of the Qajar dynasty, Agha Muhammad Qajar, so I won't say more."

Selim thought about this and began to organize his words.

To be honest, he still admired the founding monarch of the Qajar Dynasty because this guy was a eunuch.

This man was born from a tribe called Qajar. He was the son of a tribal chief. When he was born, the Safavid dynasty, which had ruled Persia for more than two hundred years, was in a period of division. The old rivals of the Ottoman Empire were in a period of division, such as the Zand dynasty, the Afghan dynasty, and the Ottoman Empire. The Fushal dynasty had begun to rebel against his rule.

In the early stages of the collapse of the Safavid dynasty, the Qajar tribe helped the Safavid dynasty suppress local separatist dynasties. However, the Safavid dynasty was eventually destroyed by the Afshar dynasty. Muhammad, who was only 6 years old, was castrated and sent to Afshar. He worked as a eunuch in the palace of Er Dynasty.

Later, the Afshar dynasty gradually declined after the death of Nadir Shah. The Zand dynasty first established a puppet Safavid descendant and then replaced it in 1760.

During this period, Muhammad once returned to his tribe, but unfortunately their tribe failed again in their struggle for hegemony, so Muhammad entered the palace for the second time and became a eunuch of the Zande Dynasty.

Although Muhammad was reduced to a eunuch without dignity and status, this inspired his ambition.

Through Muhammad's humiliation and hard work, he rose from the lowest eunuch to the chief eunuch, and secretly cultivated himself to be powerful enough to become emperor.

In 1779 AD, the 37-year-old Muhammad took advantage of the fierce fighting between the Zande dynasty, the Afshar dynasty and other separatist dynasties, and he officially ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor.

Because his surname was Qajar, the dynasty he established was called the Qajar Dynasty in history. And because he was from the Qajar tribe, it was called the Qajar Dynasty in history. The capital of the country was set in Tehran. This was the first time that Tehran became a dynasty. The capital of the country.

Therefore, Muhammad became the first and only eunuch founding emperor in world history.

Muhammad's achievements were not only the eunuch emperor, he also successfully unified Iran.

After Muhammad established the Qajar dynasty, Iranian history entered a period of three pillars: the Zand dynasty, the Afshar dynasty, and the Qajar dynasty. He was determined to unify Iran, so he worked hard to govern and launched the annihilation of the Zand dynasty and the Afshar dynasty. war.

Finally, in 1796 AD, Muhammad destroyed the Zand dynasty and the Afshar dynasty, successfully unified Iran, and established the Qajar dynasty, the last unified dynasty in Iranian history. Because the official country name is still Persia, this is also history. The last Persian Empire.

After reviewing it, Selim motioned to the surrounding guards to get the map, then pointed at the map and said.

"Judging from the current situation, the Qajar dynasty undoubtedly has the upper hand. From population to wealth, it is stronger than the Zande dynasty and the Afshar dynasty. What's more, with the ability of Agha Muhammad Qajar In other words, it is only a matter of time for him to unify Persia, which is undoubtedly something we do not want to see.

Therefore, I plan to arrange for the army to go around the Zagros Mountains to force Agha Muhammad Qajar to turn some of his attention to us and slow down his unification of Persia.

Of course, I have already found the reason. The Safavid dynasty is also an old friend of ours. I think that back then, the great ancestor Selim the Cruel had a meeting with Isma, the founding monarch of the Safavid dynasty, in Isfahan. Yi Yi had a friendly exchange.

How can we watch the descendants of Safavid become civilians? Taking this opportunity, we can send a letter to the Qajar dynasty and threaten us to achieve our goal.

Of course, the expenditure from Constantiniya to the Mesopotamian plains is also huge. It is undoubtedly foolish to plan this operation just to contain the Qajar dynasty.

The Arabian Peninsula was originally something that was handed down to us by the prophet, but we lost it.

This time, we have to take over the Arabian Peninsula in one fell swoop. It's time to settle accounts with the Bedouin who committed crimes during the Jellali rebellion.

Selim sneered and said, if you just have the opportunity, how can you not meet the prophetic advantage of the traveler of Emperor Sai if you don't fight Arabia?