The Crescent of the Sultan

"Small, too small.

Looking at the map hanging on the wall, Frederick William II sighed regretfully.

Prussia was not a great power, at least not until King Frederick II of Prussia.

With the help of reforms in the economy, military, internal affairs, justice and education, Frederick II successfully transformed Prussia into a war machine.

This war machine demonstrated its power in the War of Austrian Succession, the Silesian War, and the Seven Years' War, making the European countries realize that Prussia had already half-stepped into the threshold of the great powers.

In terms of territory, Frederick II cleverly transformed the Austro-Prussian and Prussian conflicts into interference in Poland. The three countries divided Poland for the first time in 1772, and Frederick brought the West Prussia region to the kingdom.

However, even though his predecessor almost doubled Prussia's national strength, in the view of Frederick William II, this was still not enough to support his ideal of unifying Germany.

"Perhaps we can start the second time. Neither Leopold nor Ekaterina will refuse."

In the palace, the voice of Frederick William II echoed, as if Poland had been sentenced to death.

In St. Petersburg, in the Winter Palace, the Queen, who was reading Rousseau's works, listened to the minister's report, and her face gradually turned cold.

"So, the sultan who succeeded to the throne less than three years ago issued such an edict in Kinmen?"

“Yes, Your Majesty, the Ottoman government may have been so carried away by the last peace that it acted so rudely.

The minister replied tremblingly.

"Kinmen! Kinmen! This Sultan is really brave. How dare he, how dare he question the blood of Russia?

This is the bloodline of Ivan III and Paleleg. Why does a pagan dare to claim the title of Rome?

Doesn't he feel like a clown? "

Ekaterina's voice became colder and colder, as if it merged with the cold wind outside the window. The fireplace in the room was still burning, but it was difficult to make people feel warm.

"Your Majesty, do we want it?"

The minister asked tentatively.

"No, no need, just tolerate him for a while longer.

Poland is the top priority now, Austria and Prussia will be interested, especially Austria, which has been at war with the Ottoman Empire for hundreds of years.

Austria needs to hurry up, it does not have such a large size, especially after the Thirty Years' War.

The signing of the Peace of Westphalia made the Holy Roman Emperor a joke.

Also, where is the Aladdin Pasha who escaped from the Ottomans? Bring him here, I want to see him. "

Not long after, Aladdin Pasha was brought to Catherine II.

His legs were shaking a little. The queen in front of him was different from the previous Sultan. The Sultan would at least put on a smile when talking to you, but this one, Aladdin Pasha only felt endless majesty.

"Stand still, infidel, I'll give you three minutes to show your worth, or go to Siberia."

Aladdin Pasha suppressed the fear in his heart and answered tremblingly.

"Your Majesty the Queen, I have contacts with many people within the Ottoman Empire. I can help you obtain information, complete assassinations, and bribe officials."

Aladdin Pasha almost finished saying this with his eyes closed, but when he opened his eyes, he found that the Queen was looking at him with a half-smile.

For some reason, Aladdin Pasha always had the feeling that the Catherine II in front of him seemed to be no different from the Sultan in Topkapi Palace. The two people seemed to be the same person.

"Not enough, not enough, you know? Aladdin Pasha. All the Guards are dead, and the Greeks are being raised like dogs by your Sultan. Your relationship seems to have no effect. Give me a little more Bar chips.

After all, life is still valuable. "

Catherine closed the "Social Contract" in her hand and turned her attention to Aladdin Pasha.

In Aladdin Pasha's mind, the image of the Sultan increasingly overlapped with that of Catherine II in front of him. Both of them just wanted to squeeze out the value of others.

Aladdin Pasha swallowed his saliva and said with difficulty.

"Your Majesty, I have a sum of money, a huge sum of money, placed..."

The cold wind outside the window became more fierce, the windows crackled, and the heavy snow hit the road, the roof, and the eaves, making crisp sounds.

The snowy sky in St. Petersburg provides a good reference for Aladdin Pasha's mood.

In the conference hall of Topkapi Palace, a group of important ministers of the Ottoman Empire were discussing specific measures with the Sultan.

At this time, Selim was expressing his reform plan for the empire.

"Pashas, ​​if you can sit in this position for the meeting, I no longer want to beat around the bush with you.

As we all know, for a long time, the empire has outsourced Timar (the basic administrative unit of the Ottoman Empire) to powerful men in the provinces. Everyone here must have been engaged in this business.

But the backward tax farming system no longer applies to the empire, it will not tell me, your sultan.

How many people are there on this land, what is the development potential of this land, and what is the construction of this land? Isn't this a challenge to the Sudanese authority?

It is imperative to carry out administrative reforms, and central agencies will take the lead in carrying out reforms.

We will establish the Prime Minister Administration of the State Council, with the Grand Vizier as Prime Minister and the Deputy Grand Vizier as Deputy Prime Minister.

It consists of the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Navy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Supervision, and the Ministry of Culture and Education, with corresponding offices set up respectively.

As for the specific candidates, the ulema, the military, the former tax farming governors of the empire, and some officials I want to arrange will be in charge of these departments.

The second is the administrative division reform of the empire. I will divide the empire into various regions.

They are the Anatolia Region, the Armenian Region, the New Mesopotamia Region, the Peninsular Region (Note 1), and the Syrian Region in the Asian part.

The African region includes Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, and Algeria.

The European part of Thessalonica (note 2), Greece, Adrianople (note 3), Albania, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Bosnia.

and the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia.

Local government agencies will be established in each region and principality.

As for the selection of officials, all major groups in the empire can take the exam. However, when publicizing to the outside world, you need to pay attention to the fact that the test papers are written in Ottoman language.

If not, please teach yourself. "

Seeing that everyone seemed to have no desire to speak, Sultan immediately announced with a smile that everyone agreed, and the meeting moved to the next part.

Note 1: The Arabian Peninsula

Note 2: Thessaloniki is in charge of Western Thrace, Macedonia, Thessaly, and Scorpia.

Note 3: Today's Edirne is in charge of East Thrace and North Thrace.

This is the third update today. I also ask all readers to support me and keep reading.