In the palace of Istanbul, the Ottoman Empire, Sultan Selim I was looking at the world map and the huge and vast territory of the Ming Empire.
"The whole of Asia, except our Ottoman Empire, Persian Empire, Mesopotamia and other places, is the land of the Ming Dynasty."
"The vast Taiping Mountains, their inland seas, Golden Continent, and Australia all belong to the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty also has a large number of vassal states and colonies overseas."
"Why did our great Ottoman Empire only have so little land?"
Selim I looked at the territories belonging to the Ming Empire marked on the world map, and then looked at the vassals and colonies belonging to the Ming people. He had to sigh that the Ming people had almost seized the land and resources of the world.
Now only Europe, the Middle East, West Africa, and North Africa are left that do not belong to the Ming people, and all other regions have been included in the territory of the Ming people.
"When can I avenge my father?"
The huge Ming Empire cast a huge shadow on the heart of Selim I. He has always been like countless people in the Ottoman Empire, wanting to avenge his shame and seek revenge from the Ming Empire.
Zhan Cheng's shame was doubled and returned to the Ming Dynasty.
This was also the last wish of his father Bayezid II. He was still worried about this matter until his death and could never let it go.
The battle that year almost broke the bones of the Ottoman Empire and almost destroyed the country. In the end, a humiliating treaty was exchanged for the Ming Empire to stop attacking, and then it slowly defeated the Ottoman Empire on both sides.
The enemy, and gradually recovered its strength by relying on the white slaves who plundered Europe.
But even though the Ottoman Empire is now much stronger than before, the Ottoman Empire has never dared to challenge the Ming Empire head-on.
Bayezid II did not dare to go to war against the Ming Empire until his death, and he did not even dare to have any dissatisfaction or non-implementation of the humiliating Erzinjan Agreement.
The Ming Empire was so powerful!
So powerful that it makes people feel hopeless.
With a huge land, a population of hundreds of millions, and a national treasury tax revenue of more than one billion taels a year, the food produced every year is so much that it is impossible to eat it all, and it is used on a large scale to make wine, raise livestock, etc.
The railways of the Ming Dynasty have been built all the way to Heitu Province, and the highways of the Ming Dynasty extend in all directions, with cars and motorcycles running on the roads.
The Ming Empire has more than 1 million standing troops, which are completely separated from production. What they do every day is to train and train. The key is that they are also equipped with the most advanced weapons and equipment in the world.
The Ming Empire also had a huge navy. There were fleets of the Ming Dynasty in every water area in the world, such as the Black Sea Fleet, the Mediterranean Fleet, the Red Sea Fleet, the West African Fleet, the Atlantic Fleet, the Hong Kong Fleet, etc. Any fleet could defeat them.
navies of other countries.
This kind of Ming Empire is no match for the entire world.
Bayezid II knew this clearly, so even in his later years, when the Ottoman Empire became stronger, he never dared to go to war with the Ming Dynasty, and even maintained a friendly relationship with the Ming Empire.
The Ming Empire purchased a large amount of arms and weapons and won several important wars one after another.
Selim I was different. He was a war madman and invader. After consolidating his power and rule, he began to expand abroad. Several consecutive victories also made him a little drifting.
But he still dared not go to war with the Ming Empire directly. Instead, he was tentatively looking at the Ming Empire's reaction. If the Ming Empire was indifferent to the Ottoman Empire's provocation, he would intensify his efforts.
If the Ming Empire reacted strongly, he planned to give in to the Ming Empire now. He should bow his head or bow his head. After all, the difference in apparent strength was too huge.
The Ottoman Empire is now no match for the Ming Empire.
Don't think that you have hundreds of thousands of troops in your hands. It seems that the number of troops is not much different from that of the Ming Empire, but the difference in equipment is not even a tiny bit.
Although Selim I wanted to take revenge, he did not dare to start a war lightly. The war with the Ming Empire was easy to win, but if he lost, the Ottoman Empire would most likely be destroyed.
You must know that the Persians and Egyptians in the east hate themselves so much that they wish they could destroy the Ottoman Empire directly; the European countries in the west and the Ottoman Empire have natural conflicts, and they have fought several wars in succession.
.
The Ottoman Empire's wanton plundering of white slaves has already made everyone in Europe angry. Coupled with the religious conflicts, the two are as incompatible as fire and water. As long as there is a chance, they will not mind adding insult to injury to the Ottoman Empire.
"Great Sultan, great Sultan, something big has happened, something big has happened~"
At this time, Moses, the Jewish minister in charge of the Ottoman Empire's finances, hurried in and said.
"What's up?"
Selim I looked at Moses and asked.
“I don’t know why, but the Ming Empire, Ming’s vassal states and Ming’s many colonies, as well as all the trading houses in Spain, Japan, Korea, Persia, Siam, Egypt and other countries no longer have any relations with our Ottoman Empire.
Buy and sell.”
"The 100,000 white slaves we captured from Europe can no longer be sold. At the same time, they are no longer willing to sell us the food, ironware, tea, sugar and other materials we need."
Moses wiped the sweat from his forehead and said.
It’s not serious that the Ming people don’t sell things to themselves. What’s really serious is that the Ming people no longer want white slaves and other commodities in the hands of the Ottoman Empire.
This was tantamount to cutting off the Ottoman Empire's largest financial source at once.
The Ottoman Empire had always relied on white slaves plundered from Europe and sold them to the Ming Dynasty to make a living. A slave sold to the Ming Dynasty could be sold for about 20 taels of silver.
One hundred thousand white slaves, this is 2 million silver.
Maybe 2 million taels of silver was nothing to the people of the Ming Dynasty, but to the Ottoman Empire, it was a huge number.
The Ottoman Empire also needed to use this silver to purchase food, weapons, ironware, tea, sugar, cars, motorcycles, etc. from the Ming Dynasty.
In addition, the money was also expected to be used to provide food, pay, and rewards to the Ottoman Empire's army. Now that this source of income is suddenly cut off, the Ottoman Empire's finances will be in difficulty.
"What?"
"You don't want our white slaves anymore, and you don't want to sell us anything anymore?"
"what happened?"
When Selim I heard this, he quickly asked.
"They said it was because our Ottoman Empire banned Ming cloth and other goods from entering, which violated the original armistice agreement and affected the free trade rights of Ming merchants in our country. In order to express their dissatisfaction, they no longer have any commercial dealings with us.
.”
Moses replied quickly.
"@#&%￥"
After hearing this, Selim I immediately cursed.
These Ming people are really united.
He only banned the entry of goods such as Ming cloth, because the cloth of the Ming Dynasty was very cheap, which caused the hand-woven weavers in the Ottoman Empire to lose their jobs.
The cloth they worked so hard to weave is more expensive, and the quality is not as good as that of the Ming people. Naturally, there is not enough competition for the cloth of the Ming people.
This resulted in a large number of craftsmen losing their jobs and losing an important source of income.
After repeated studies, the Ottoman Empire believed that the entry of Ming cloth should be prohibited to protect its own cloth industry and these craftsmen.
I just didn't expect that the Ming people would react so quickly. In just a few months, the Ming people had already contacted all parties. Even if they didn't want to do business with the Ottoman Empire, they even roped in a lot of subordinates.
Even the Spaniards, Persians, and Egyptians joined in the fun. In the past, although the two sides were at war, the trade exchanges between the merchants had never been interrupted.
"Your Majesty the Great Sultan, what should we do?"
Moses looked at Selim I and asked.
The Ming Dynasty did not buy slaves from the Ottoman Empire, which cut off an important source of economic income for the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Empire was able to recover and become stronger because of the huge profits from the white slave trade.
To capture these white slaves, it was very easy for the army to raid Europe and capture Europeans as slaves. To this day, the Ottoman Empire's army often goes to various European countries to rob white slaves and make a living from this.
"what to do?"
Selim I thought about it and continued to allow Ming cloth to enter the Ottoman Empire. Then the economic situation in the Ottoman Empire would only continue to deteriorate.
The goods of the Ming Dynasty were of high quality and cheap, which had a serious impact on the Ottoman Empire's economy. In the past, they could still receive a lot of tax revenue, but now, with the impact, the Ottoman Empire's commerce, economy, handicrafts, etc.
Waiting for a large number of bankruptcies and depression.
The Ming people showed signs of gradually taking control of the Ottoman Empire's economy. They were present in every field of the Ottoman Empire's economy. Even the smart Jews could not compete with these Ming people.
If this situation continues, how can I seek revenge from the Ming people in the future?
"Great Sultan, the Ming Empire has sent us an extremely tough ultimatum."
Just when Selim I was thinking about countermeasures with a frown on his face, Ali Pasha, the Grand Vizier (equivalent to the prime minister) of the Ottoman Empire, hurried over.
This old minister is one of the few veterans left by Bayezid II.
At this moment, it can be seen that he is very anxious and worried.
The ultimatum sent by the Ming Empire was very tough. Once a war broke out with the Ming Empire, the consequences would be disastrous.