Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, is still stubbornly called Constantinople by Western countries.
This ancient city standing at the eastern end of the Balkan Peninsula and on the west bank of the southern entrance of the Bosporus was once the capital of the Roman Empire. It fell into the hands of the Ottoman Empire half a century ago and became the capital of the Ottoman Empire.
The original Constantinople was renamed Istanbul.
Founded in 1474, it is the Topkapi Palace built by Mohammed II, the father of the current Sultan Bayezid II of the Ottoman Empire, the seventh sultan of the Ottoman Empire, and the wrong nickname of 'The Conqueror'.
, Bayezid II was discussing with his ministers how to ease relations with the Safavid Empire of Persia.
There was no way. Originally, there was a feud between the Ottoman Empire and the Persian Empire. They had deep grudges in history and often fought back and forth.
The Persian Empire at its peak would attack the Ottoman Empire, and the Ottoman Empire never gave up its plan to destroy the Persian Empire.
But things are different now. If the Ottoman Empire wants to seize the Transoxiana region and attack the Ming Empire, it naturally needs to have a good relationship with the Persian Safavid Empire to the south of the Transoxiana region.
The 200,000 troops entered the Hezhong area to deal with the Ming Empire, which is now known as the greatest empire in the world. It would be terrible if they were stabbed in the back by the Persians at this critical moment.
Therefore, we must stabilize the Persians now. After taking over the Hezhong area and dealing with the Ming people, we will deal with the Persians at that time. As long as we can win the rich Hezhong area, the strength of the Ottoman Empire will grow rapidly. By that time
Dealing with the Persians is much easier.
"Great Sultan, I think we should station troops appropriately on the border to exert certain pressure on the Persians. At the same time, extending an olive branch and recognizing some of the interests of the Persians on this side of the Persian Gulf will be enough to stabilize the Persians."
Ali~Pasha, the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (equivalent to the prime minister and a very powerful minister), stood up to give Bayezid II advice.
At this time, the Ottoman Empire was strong and prosperous. It had always been in an advantageous position in the war with Persia and had always maintained its suppression of the Persians.
"Well, that's a good idea. I'll leave this matter to you."
Bayezid II, who was already in his fifties, had a big bag wrapped around his head and a thick beard. He was slightly fat and in good spirits. After careful consideration, he agreed to the Grand Vizier's proposal.
"Is there any news from Ahmed?"
After discussing the matter of stabilizing the Persians, he thought about it and asked about the expedition to the river area.
The opponent this time is the Ming Empire. The powerful Ming Empire is now known as the best empire in the world. They have never fought against each other before. I don’t know how strong the Ming Empire is.
Although he was quite confident in his own army, war was really hard to predict and anything was possible, so he paid attention to it every day. He couldn't even sleep well when he didn't receive any news from the front line.
Originally, there was no conflict of interest, no territorial disputes, no feud between the Ottoman Empire and the Ming Empire.
All things considered, their ancestors, the Turks, were driven here from east to west by the ancestors of the Ming people during the Tang Dynasty.
There are basically two reasons why they want to attack the Hezhong area and have trouble with the Ming Empire. One is the issue of reputation. The Ottoman Empire has always claimed to be the greatest and most powerful empire. They have fought all over the world and fought against it with their own strength.
In Christendom, the knights in Europe lost their temper. Hungary and Austria both needed to pay tribute to their Ottoman Empire.
As for the Slavs in the north, they were the target of the Ottoman Empire's slave hunting and hunting. The Tatars of the Crimean Khanate surrendered to the Ottoman Empire and were the eagle dogs of the Ottoman Empire. They were responsible for capturing Slavs and Eastern Europeans and selling them as slaves.
to the Mediterranean.
The Persians were beaten to death by the Ottoman Empire, and dynasties kept changing. As for the Arab world, it was the back garden and super holy land of the Ottoman Empire.
The Mediterranean coast was a plundering ground for Ottoman Empire pirates, whether they were French, Spanish or Italian, they were all their favorites.
Such a powerful Ottoman Empire naturally always believed that it was the best in the world.
But since getting in touch with the Ming Empire, everyone began to think that the Ming Empire was the best empire in the world, which made the Ottomans very unconvinced and very unhappy.
The Kazakh Khanate, Timurid Khanate, Turks, Kazakhs, Mongols, Persians, and even the Portuguese and Spanish in Western Europe were beaten in this area of the river. They were all trying to establish the Ming Empire.
All these made the Ottomans unconvinced, and they always wanted to find an opportunity to compete with the Ming Empire.
In addition to reputation, the second is the need for practical benefits.
In the past, the Ottoman Empire relied on its geographical location at the core of transportation in Europe, Asia and Africa. It only relied on transit trade to transfer silk, porcelain and spices from the East dozens of times.
Hundreds of times the profit made the Ottoman Empire huge wealth.
But a few years ago, as the Ming Dynasty came into contact with Europeans in the Americas, goods from the East could be sold to Europe without passing through the hands of the Ottoman Empire.
At the same time, on the Indian Ocean side, the Ming Empire had contacts with the Mamluk Kingdom in Egypt, and goods could be sold directly to Europe through the Mamluk Kingdom.
This seriously affected the interests of the Ottoman Empire and lost the advantage of transit trade. The Ottoman Empire's finance and economy encountered an unprecedented crisis.
This is also the reason why when the envoys of the Ottoman Empire were with the Ming Dynasty, they asked the Ming Dynasty to cut off all contacts with the Mamluk Kingdom and asked the Ming Empire to give exclusive trade rights to the Ottoman Empire.
In the final analysis, they still want to monopolize trade with the East and continue to rely on their own position to obtain huge profits from transit trade.
Under the trend of these two reasons, the Ottoman Empire wanted to cause trouble for the Ming Empire. But in the past, the sky was high and the emperor was far away, and no one could do anything about it.
It wasn't until the Ming Dynasty expanded its territory to the east coast of the Khazar Sea (Caspian Sea), bordering the easternmost territory of the Ottoman Empire, that the Ottoman Empire found a place to deal with the Ming Empire - the Hezhong area!
The area in the middle of the river is very rich and is the richest area in Central Asia. The Ottoman Empire has always been coveted. However, this place used to belong to the Temuri Khanate, and it was also divided among the Kazakh Khanate, Shaybani Khanate, etc.
, it’s not easy to start.
Now occupied by the Ming Empire, the Ottoman Empire itself wanted to cause trouble, so naturally it would not miss the opportunity.
"Great Sultan, no news has come today~"
A minister quickly stood up and replied.
"Report~"
However, at this moment, a messenger came hurriedly towards the place and started shouting anxiously before they even arrived.
"Urgent news from the river~Urgent news from the river~"
"One hundred thousand troops were defeated by the Ming army. One hundred thousand troops were defeated by the Ming army~"
"The prince is captured, the prince is captured~"
Upon hearing the messenger soldier's words, the faces of the entire Ottoman Empire people in the court suddenly changed.
"What?"
After hearing the voice, Bayezid II, who was already in his fifties, stood up immediately. He couldn't help but feel dazed for a while, so that the people around him had to help him quickly.
Soon, the messenger came to the main hall and delivered the news from the Hezhong area. Bayezid II hurriedly read it.
"The army of 100,000 was just gone?"
After reading it, he was a little unbelievable and became stunned.
It clearly stated everything that happened in the Hezhong area. The Ottoman Empire's 100,000 troops faced the Ming Empire's 100,000 troops. After a bloody battle, the two sides finally ended with the complete defeat of the Ottoman Empire's army. Even Prince Ahmed
All were captured.
The surrounding ministers and nobles all looked at Bayezid II with unsightly expressions. Two hundred thousand troops were sent to the river area. Suddenly, one hundred thousand troops were gone, along with the Ottoman Empire.
All the princes were captured.
You must know that Ahmed has always been Bayezid II's designated candidate for the next Sudan. He is already over fifty years old and will not live for long. Now he is well and his sons have been captured.
Of course, this is not the most important thing. Bayezid II has many sons. The key now is that there are still 100,000 troops in the river area. If these 100,000 troops are also wiped out by the Ming Empire, the Ottoman Empire will suddenly
It will become extremely weak.
Once the news spreads, the Persians, Slavs, Christians, and Arabs will all take action against the Ottoman Empire, and they will be unceremonious.
Everyone realized that the Ottoman Empire was about to enter a precarious moment.
"Quickly, send an order to the Pasha and the others to withdraw the remaining 100,000 troops immediately!"
Without hesitation, Bayezid II immediately issued such an order. The remaining 100,000 troops could not be lost. If these 100,000 troops were gone, the Ottoman Empire would be really in danger.
"Ali Pasha, you immediately take people to the Ming Empire to discuss peace with them."
"Ahmed must be redeemed, no matter what the price."
Then he gave the order to the Grand Vizier.
"Yes, the great Sultan~"
"I will definitely bring His Royal Highness back intact."
Grand Vizier Ali~Pasha nodded quickly. Ahmed is the next Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. He must not die in the hands of the Ming Dynasty, or even be humiliated. The great Ottoman Empire will never allow this.
things happen.
"Immediately recruit Sipaxi cavalry again, the number shall not be less than 300,000!"
Then he quickly began to order the recruitment of troops. Only with strong troops in hand can we face the coming storm. The people of Ming Dynasty will never give up so easily.
