The Crescent of the Sultan

As a sultan who acted proactively and never delayed, Selim approached Yusuf Pasha the next day and asked him to organize a Diwan meeting.

The attendees were Patriarch Nicholas, the administrator of the Millet Orthodox Church, the remnants of the Vlach nobles from Romania, representatives of the Fanar people from Constantiniya, as well as the Sultan and his Grand Vizier and Grand Mufti. carry.

In fact, Selim is quite satisfied with the situation of the current meeting. Unlike the Sudan in the past, this time he took the initiative.

For Yusuf Pasha and the Grand Mufti, the Muslim migration plan was undoubtedly very beneficial to the rule of the empire, and these two people would inevitably support the Sultan.

As the Patriarch of the Orthodox Church, Nicholas will most likely choose neutrality or support Selim. After all, his father-in-law does not look like he is afraid of being poked in the spine.

However, John Paleleg, the representative of the Vlacher nobles, and Simon Ducasse, the representative of the Fanar people, no longer have as much say in this meeting as before.

In the last Russian-Turkish war, Selim not only gained prestige, but also directly destroyed Romania with the help of the Russian army's superb military discipline, while weakening the power of the Vlach nobles and Fanar people.

The former is a long-established local noble, powerful and has enjoyed relatively high autonomy for a long time.

As for the latter, during the Third Russo-Turkish War, the Romanian nobles betrayed the Ottoman Empire and joined Tsarist Russia.

After the war, the victorious Ottoman government severely punished these Romanian nobles.

The positions of the Grand Dukes of Wallachia and Moldavia, which had been chosen among the Vlach nobles, were transferred by the Ottoman government to the Fanars of Constantiniya.

This group of mutant Greeks served as diplomats for the Ottoman Empire in their early years, serving as a bridge for exchanges between the empire and other European countries. In their later years, they were elected as princes, not only to collect taxes for the Ottoman Empire, but also to make money for themselves. It can be said that they have both career and money. Correct.

The question arises, why did the Ottoman Empire government not choose to annex the two principalities? In fact, the imperial government had such an idea, but unfortunately not only did it not succeed, but the result was quite embarrassing.

Let's cast our gaze back to the late sixteenth century, when the Ottoman Empire was not stable.

After finally getting over Selim II, a drunkard who liked spiced grape juice, Sokolu Pasha once again met the strange Sultan Murad III.

As a direct descendant of Mohammed II, Murad III was quite ancestral. As soon as he was welcomed as Sultan by Sokolu, he immediately killed his five younger brothers. He understood all the Ottoman inheritance laws.

The second thing the sultan did was to restrict Sokolu Pasha's power and secretly allowed the grand vizier's political opponents to assassinate him.

The third thing is that Murad III was a sultan who liked to appreciate the aesthetics of the human body. He often fought one against three, stayed in the harem all year round, and ignored government affairs.

As the saying goes, when a new official takes office, Murad III makes three quick moves, turning the Ottoman Empire, the hegemonic power of Europe, into a state of imbecility. Rebellions occur one after another within the country.

Murad III did not care about this. Considering that sending troops to quell the rebellion would cost a lot of money, the Sultan deliberately built seven towers and stored a large number of gold coins in them to show his attitude.

After Murad III died, Muhammad III, who succeeded him, looked at the situation and decided to solve it.

He selected Sardar Pasha as his grand vizier and arranged for the latter to suppress the rebellion.

As a man with great ambitions, Sardar Pasha decided to take charge.

In April 1595, the Ottoman government planned to completely annex Moldavia and Wallachia, and this man was the manipulator behind it.

But just a few months ago, the death of Murad III had caused an earthquake in Ottoman officialdom, leading to instability in the internal power structure of the imperial government at this time.

Central power changed hands several times during the year. Fierce internal fighting led to delays in the annexation plan. Even the candidate for the governor of Moldavia after the annexation changed hands repeatedly.

Finally, in order to gain the support of the Crimean Tatars, the Ottoman government appointed the nephew of Khan Ghazi II of Crimea, and Ahmed became the governor of Moldavia.

Unfortunately, not everyone supports the annexation plan.

It is not difficult to explain the reason.

Because maintaining the autonomy of Wallachia and Moldavia may not necessarily be of great benefit to the Ottoman Empire itself, but it can deliver a lot of benefits to the "ruling elite individuals" in the Ottoman court.

Therefore, some ruling elites took active actions based on the principle of "Don't look at what I can do for the country, but look at what the country can do for me."

They volunteered to pass the information to the then Grand Duke of Trasylvania, Sigismund Bathory, the Grand Duke of Wallachia "The Brave Michael", and the Grand Duke of Moldavia "The Tyrant Aaron" .

By the way, the central government finally made the decision in April 1595, but these three families received the information in November 1594, so they directly formed a secret alliance and were fully prepared for the war. They were all eager to try and prepare for the upcoming war. The arriving Ottoman army was full of expectations.

The performance of the Ottoman government was also expected. After crossing the Danube, the Ottoman army was defeated twice by "Brave Michael" in Wallachia.

At the same time, the southern Polish politician, Crown Hetman, Jan Zamoyski, who had been married to this group of Romanian nobles for many years, led his private troops to intervene in Moldavia.

The Crimean Khan and Zamoysky's private soldiers fought fiercely on the banks of the Prut River for two days, with no distinction between superior and inferior.

So the two reached an agreement. Movilla ceded nine villages in southeastern Moldavia to Crimea, and Poland added some annual tribute to Crimea in exchange for the Tatars giving up their opposition to the Ottoman government. Support for annexation plans.

Since then, Gaomen's annexation plan has completely failed. However, because the Ottoman-Polish relations during this period were still relatively friendly, Gaomen also temporarily acquiesced to the Movilla family's rights to Moldavia and the Polish dignitaries' rights to the region. Influence.

But this is already a thing of the past. Poland has been declining day by day since Jan Sobieski. Selim calculated with his fingers that this country can live for up to six years, if Sudan's mathematics is not at the level of an imbecile.

With the two principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia being isolated and helpless from the outside and weak internally, whatever Selim wants to do to them, the other side must look like them.

"I am very happy to see you at today's meeting, regarding the post-war reconstruction of Romania and the previously heated issue of resettlement of Muslims.

What I mean is moving some of the landless people from Greece to Romania, and also moving in some Muslims. "

Looking at the gloomy expressions of John and Simon, Selim smiled happily and said: "This is the tone of this meeting, and everything will revolve around it. I have finished my words, who agrees? Who objects?"

Please read it and collect it, family members. Don't keep books

Also, Gao Men refers to the Ottoman Empire government