Great Ming Dynasty Wen Chao Gong

Chapter 82 Ottoman’s Secret to a Strong Country

At this time, in the imperial study room of the palace, the emperor was reading the Ottoman chapter of "The Rise of the Great Powers" written by Zhang Xiao.

"The writing is good, but there is always something wrong." The emperor said while reading.

"Your Majesty, what's wrong with this book?" Chen Ju asked carefully from the side.

"Zhang Xiao shouldn't have named the book "The Rise of Great Powers". I know his intention. Since all the big countries in the world are striving to become stronger, writing these books will provide Ming Dynasty with some experience in governing the country. It can be conquered by other stones. Jade is always good. But in order to prove that a country can rise, I won’t talk about some of its secrets. How did the Ottoman state start and how was it governed? There are some reasons that Zhang Xiao must not have written in the manuscript. I I think there should still be some places that haven’t been written, but now I can’t figure out which part I haven’t written,” the emperor said.

"Then the minister is going to summon Zhang Shidu to enter the palace now?" Chen Ju asked.

"Don't rush, don't rush. I heard that Zhang Xiao is testing his hot air balloon today, and the hot air balloon is getting bigger and bigger now. There should be some results. Go and investigate, and then call him in the name of receiving the reward. Come on. I’m not blaming him, after all, even if you know many things, it’s hard to write them down in a book,” the emperor said.

In this way, on the second day, when Zhang Xiao came to the palace to receive the reward excitedly, he was led to the imperial study room and met the emperor.

"Zhang Xiao, you can get the reward later. I have probably read the Ottoman chapter you submitted that day, and it is still interesting. It's just that I feel that some parts are still not sexy enough. You are in my great Ming Dynasty. When writing a history book about the Ottomans, it’s not impossible to write straight and straight, right? So in this Ottoman chapter, I have some questions that I have to ask you directly,” the emperor said.

"Your Majesty, please tell me. I will tell you everything I know." Zhang Xiao said.

"The Ottoman Empire has been raising armies year after year. The whole country has troops, and it has spent a lot of money to form a personal guard. Where did the money come from? It's only a year or two to deprive the people of this. After suffering the people for so many years, what about the farming? Wouldn't it be delayed?" the emperor asked.

"Your Majesty, after all, the Ottoman Kingdom occupies a vast area, and it has a monopoly on the old shipping routes. It costs a lot of money to collect taxes from the ground. Moreover, the Ottomans implement a tax farming system. The Ottoman King only needs to receive the full amount of taxes. And then the remaining taxes will be collected. It basically falls under local expenses, as long as the local government can send out an army capable of fighting when it is necessary to recruit troops, especially cavalry," Zhang Xiao explained.

"Then there won't be any big tails in this place? How can King Ottoman ensure that his royal orders are carried out?" the emperor asked.

"This is not a problem at the moment. After all, the Ottoman Kingdom is now at its peak, and it is holding the banner of conquering the heretics and opening up its territory. The princes from all over the country still have to obey the orders of the Ottoman King. And as I said in the book, the Ottoman King also has a military force. The very powerful Guards are selected from all over the country and carefully trained since childhood. The entire Guards are equipped with the most advanced firearms and other equipment, and King Osman also likes to select ministers from the Guards. Therefore, This Imperial Guard is very powerful and has a strong fighting spirit." Zhang Xiao continued to explain.

"Then the Ottomans completely built their country by force. But in this way, the power of the Guards is too great. Are the kings of the Ottomans all heroes, able to suppress these arrogant soldiers? ? By the way, Zhang Xiao, I know I missed something. Why didn’t you write about the Ottoman clan and relatives? You can’t just leave them all." asked the emperor.

"Since the king of the Ottoman Kingdom can set up a royal guard, he should have some back-ups, but I don't know the specific reasons. As for relatives, Rong Chen reported, the Ottoman Kingdom really doesn't have any relatives, because the Ottoman Kingdom has a harem Most of the women were slaves or even foreign prisoners of war. Just like Mohammed II, the hero of the Ottoman Empire who conquered Constantinople, his mother was a female slave. She was seen by the king and brought back to the palace when he was inspecting the place. Later, When her son became the king, she became the queen mother based on her son's worth," Zhang Xiao said. It's just that Zhang Xiao secretly thought that the feudal emperors might not necessarily understand these complicated and complicated systems, but they were still very sensitive to the control of power. Hundreds of years later, the Guards really got out of control. In the end, they could not lose their tail and resolutely opposed the new army reform and equipment innovation initiated by the Ottoman King. Finally, the King could not bear it anymore and directly wiped out all the Guards and disbanded them. But it was already too late. The Ottoman Empire was already in twilight.

"That is to say, the Ottoman king has no relatives to support him. So if the clan cannot survive with strong support, what will the king do?" the emperor asked doubtfully.

"Your Majesty, I also mentioned in the book that after Bayezid I was imprisoned and died by Timur, his sons each gathered their own troops and attacked separately. Then one of the sons executed all the other brothers. I became a sultan myself," Zhang Xiao said.

"That's because the Ottoman Empire was destroyed. The late king died suddenly, and the country had no owner. It's not uncommon for brothers to have a civil war to seize the throne due to discord. Then there should be some system in peacetime," the emperor said.

"Your Majesty, there is no serious peace period in the Ottoman Kingdom. If the king does not go to war, he will be looked down upon by his ministers and soldiers. Therefore, the succession of the throne has been done in this way, so there is no clan to speak of in the Ottoman Kingdom. ." Zhang Xiao said.

"You mean that every new king who wants to take the throne must fight with his brothers and then execute all his brothers? So what is the difference between this and Hu Hai? Isn't that the behavior of a king who has subjugated his country?" The emperor said with some shock.

"Hu Haina violated Qin Shihuang's edict and harmed the clan. But the new Ottoman king did this because that was how the Ottoman king was originally elected. The Ottoman hero Mohammed II who conquered Constantinople A special order was issued saying that whoever among his sons ascends the throne has the right to kill his own brothers in order to maintain the throne and the tranquility of the country," Zhang Xiao said.

The emperor was silent for a long time.

Zhang Xiao also stood silently, not daring to speak.

After a long while, the emperor spoke: "King Franji and Timur's descendants are fighting against each other, but if they want to kill brothers or nephews, they have to hide it. If the king of the Ottoman Kingdom does this, he will Don’t you need the laws of nature and human relations? Aren’t you afraid of the family’s heirloom? I finally know why you didn’t write these things in the book. Let’s do this. You can leave this chapter about the Ottoman Empire here with me. If I need it, I can do it myself. Copy a few sets, and you won’t be able to publish them yourself, let alone go to a bookstore to print them,” the emperor ordered.

"I obey the decree." Zhang Xiao replied.

"Zhang Xiao, let's talk about your hot air balloon. I heard that your experiment was successful. Can this person really go to heaven?" The emperor found a new topic.

(End of this chapter)