The Crescent of the Sultan

Since comprehensive reform is to be carried out, there must be a good pilot area. This area must have sufficient room for development, have important strategic value, and preferably have outstanding cultural significance. Among the Ottoman provinces, Egypt was such a "chosen land".

In Selim's plan, the Egyptian region was the first link to be repaired. This was related to whether he could revitalize the entire Ottoman Empire. An Egypt that was the first to be activated would drive the recovery of the Ottoman economy.

But before that, Selim had to ensure the agricultural problems in Egypt.

This is also the reason why Selim sent Haji Pasha there. He had served in many governorships and had outstanding political achievements, so he was suitable to govern Egypt.

Considering the complex composition of Egypt's Mamluks, Selim chose to use thunder to deal with them.

This did reduce resistance to a great extent. After all, almost two-thirds of the land in Egypt was in the hands of the Mamluks.

But the other third of the land does not belong to Egyptian farmers, but to religious elders.

This group is similar to the jurists of the Ottoman Empire, but compared to the jurists, the quality of this group of Egyptian religious elders is much lower. The former can indeed be said to be pious, while the latter have seen things in Islamic prohibitions. Try one by one, the fun is heartbeat.

But religion, especially for hard-working people, this kind of mental paralysis coupled with the unknown information makes them not only have no objection to the life of religious elders, but also respect it.

Although the Egyptian people rebelled from time to time, their banner every time was to overthrow the Mamluks rather than the religious elders.

Again, everything depends on comparison.

When the Egyptians had been living under the oppression of the Mamluks and religious elders, the Egyptian people would not come to them because of the halo brought by religion.

After all, there is a bunch of rubbish like the Mamluks in front of us, and these guys are not good at doing anything but squeezing the first place.

But once the Mamluks were eliminated, Haji Pasha relied on the Sultan's "Royal Edict" to complete the redistribution of the Mamluk lands, reclaimed wasteland, and built water conservancy facilities.

The Egyptians living under the rule of Haji Pasha and the Egyptian serfs living under the rule of religious elders became two different species.

You might as well take a look at Haji Pasha's restoration of the ecological environment in Egypt under the guidance of Emperor Sai.

The first is the fallow cultivation of some areas. Although the Nile River floods every year, only the areas along the Nile River are nourished.

As for the Mamluk farming method, it was to plow a field to death. Either the field would rot or the people would die from exhaustion.

This has caused the fertility of most of Egypt's cultivated land to drop to an absurd level, and its food output is not even comparable to that of the Fatimid dynasty in the tenth century.

Therefore, the implementation of the fallow system is imperative. How to develop agriculture without restoring fertility? There is no chemical fertilizer these days.

The second is to reclaim wasteland. Even if the available land in Egypt is only included in Lower Egypt, it is far from being fully developed at this time.

Haji Pasha has reclaimed a lot of land through the policy of land reclamation and land transfer, which will also be the capital for the future development of Egypt.

Finally, there is the construction of water conservancy facilities. Before agricultural technology included high-tech breeding and chemical fertilizers, there was only one way to increase land yields on a large scale—water conservancy facilities.

Although Haji Pasha has indeed promulgated a number of policies, this has nothing to do with the Egyptian serfs under the governance of religious elders.

Yes, they are serfs. Even though Emperor Sai the Great has issued the "Royal Edict" to abolish serfdom, there are still remnants in Egypt. This is not because Haji Pasha is incompetent, nor is it because the religious elders are bold enough to oppose the central government.

To put it bluntly, Selim was setting a trap for these idiots. The Sudan could indeed use force to deal with the Mamluks. After all, the Mamluks were indeed unpopular.

But in the face of religious elders, a class that has been single-handedly supported by the Egyptian people, a one-size-fits-all approach seems too rough. What Selim wants to do is to use this comparison to provoke the Egyptian people to resist the religious elders.

Facts have proved that these guys are indeed hopeless. Selim just didn't ask Haji Pasha to enforce it, and these guys already understood that they would not execute it.

It is easy to destroy the gods in the temple, but it is difficult to destroy the gods in the heart.

The shackles forged by the Egyptian people themselves must naturally be smashed by them themselves.

Facts have proved that the Egyptian people still have a spirit of resistance.

After several appeals were rejected and protests were suppressed, the Egyptian people finally woke up. They spontaneously organized a petition to Haji Pasha, hoping that the other party would uphold justice.

Haji Pasha was naturally very happy about this. He immediately ordered that there would be no more serfs in Egypt, and the land of all religious elders would immediately be taken back to the government and distributed to the newly freed peasants.

This naturally aroused dissatisfaction among the religious elders. They rushed to the governor's palace to accuse the governor of their oppression, and threatened to help the Mamluks regain their rule in Egypt.

Haji Pasha was very confused by this. These people were not Mamluks. They had almost no military force except the guards.

Besides, do these people really don’t understand who is oppressing whom in this land?

This made Haji Pasha really confused. Where did they get the face and confidence to dare to yell at him?

But Haji Pasha did not intend to send troops. His Majesty's instructions were very clear, and he wanted the Egyptians to kill them themselves, so Haji Pasha arranged for spies to set fire to both sides.

When the religious elders once again protested in front of the Governor's Palace, the spies arranged by Haji Pasha had also brought the Egyptians here. The Egyptians were particularly angry when they heard the accusations from the religious elders, and the contemptuous attitude of the other party made them even more angry. Many Egyptian people were unhappy, and a quarrel ensued between the two sides.

The atmosphere became increasingly tense, and many people had already crowded around these religious elders, trying to teach them a lesson.

The scene was extremely chaotic, and the guards of the religious elders had to protect them and retreat.

At this moment, gunfire rang out from the guards of the religious elders. The bullet was shot from the muzzle and penetrated the head of an Egyptian who was rushing at the front. The opponent fell in response, and the blood splashed on the Egyptian behind. For a moment, the whole place fell into deathly silence.

The next moment, the Egyptian people broke out. They shouted Allah and rushed towards each other. A massacre began. Although the guards had guns, their numbers were so small that none of the religious elders who came to protest came back alive. .

The red-eyed Egyptians not only killed the group of protestors, but also slaughtered all the remnants who stayed at home.

This class that was raised up by the Egyptian people was eventually destroyed by them.

This is the power of the people. We will not win without the support of the people.

The basic base that Emperor Cyprus wanted to build was the people of the Ottoman Empire who had benefited from the reform. If the monarch and the people were united, who could be their enemy?