The Crescent of the Sultan

Napoleon's words touched Jacques a little. Compared to the other party, Jacques could actually feel the feeling that his hometown might be ravaged in the next moment.

It was the second year of the Seven Years' War. At that time, Jacques remembered that he was only five years old. The British, Prussian and Hanoverian armies reached the Sarthe Mountain area, eighty kilometers east of Paris.

It is very close to his hometown of the Marne, so close that the local French worry that hostile troops will pass by almost every day.

In fact, it did happen. During the Battle of Salt Mountain, he was taken by his parents to escape the war.

At that time, the Prussian cavalry came quickly. They wore round helmets with a short accessory on their heads. Their tops were usually cyan or black vests, their trousers were white or dark tight breeches, and they wore high leather boots with collars. , cuffs, and trouser legs are decorated with gold or silver patterns.

Jacques dared to say that unless he had been on the battlefield, no one would remember it more clearly than he did.

The Prussian cavalrymen drew their swords almost instantly, and the cold light of the straight-edged swords was clearly seen by Jacques, who was hiding in the upper compartment of the barn with his parents.

They shouted, screamed strangely, and rushed towards the villagers on horseback.

Every time the Prussian cavalry passed through the villagers, their straight-edged swords cut off an arm or harvested a corpse.

They killed wantonly in the villages, played with women, slaughtered livestock, and burned houses.

When the group of cavalry left, Jacques felt as if he had entered hell. The peaceful scenery of the past had long since disappeared, replaced by ruins everywhere.

Looking at Jacques who didn't speak for a long time, Napoleon just waited silently.

After a while, Jacques finally spoke.

“Major General, you should have investigated me.

In fact, I am not a pure royalist. I yearn for the British constitutional monarchy more than the absolute monarchy.

But this was intolerable in Paris, so I went to Lyon and chose to join the Royalists.

Major General, you said you wanted to protect France, but I haven't seen what you are capable of.

Your victory in the Balkans can only prove your military quality, but if you want to defend France, you also need your abilities in other aspects.

Well, if you can manage Lyon well, I will help you contact the Duke of Burgundy. "

After Jacques finished speaking, he left quickly without waiting for Napoleon to reply. He just wanted to see the other party's final results.

In the Cilicia area, Muhammad Ali (this Ali was not the Ali who was executed by Selim, but the ruler of Egypt in the original time and space) was marching in the countryside, and he was leading the Sipashi cavalry.

At this time, the army was already feeling tired. Considering that four large waves of bandits had been wiped out today and it was not suitable for further march, Ali decided to camp nearby.

He led his troops to a nearby town and decided to camp there.

There is a river passing by near the camp, which forms the eastern barrier of the camp and is convenient for getting water. To the north of the camp are a large number of rock pillars with a lot of rocks mixed in. The terrain is very complicated and difficult to walk. It is almost impossible for anyone to come from this place. attack.

Although it was not an easy-to-defend and difficult-to-attack place, it was the best camp Muhammad Ali could find.

After arranging the camp and releasing the scouts, Muhammad Ali disguised himself as a businessman and entered the town with two guards disguised as porters.

The Sudan sent him here this time not just to suppress bandits. It has been almost four months since the "Imperial Edict" was released. Sudan needs someone to help convey the voice of the people, and Muhammad Ali, who is under the banner of suppressing bandits, is the best candidate.

Historically, Mahmud II's reforms were actually quite powerful. He killed the Guards, relaxed the empire's ethnic and religious policies, opened education, and reformed the financial system.

But he ultimately failed, perhaps because he was facing an even more tattered empire.

After the baptism of the French Revolution, nationalism grew out of control, local powers became more and more arrogant, currency depreciation was severe, finances were on the verge of collapse, Greece became independent, Egypt was semi-independent, Arab turmoil, Austria and Tsarist Russia were eyeing it.

These had weakened the central government of the Ottoman Empire, and Mahmud II's policies could not be implemented, so the failure of the reform became inevitable.

But Selim's situation was almost the opposite of Mahmud II's, except that he also solved the Guards.

Internally, Selim either co-opted, suppressed, or exterminated the genocide, and basically subdued the local tyrants; financially, Selim had stabilized the value of the imperial currency by issuing new currency; locally, the French Revolution had just begun, and nationalism It has not spread widely, and there is no problem of large-scale unrest anywhere.

Externally, the upcoming anti-French war will involve the main energy of the European countries, especially Austria and Tsarist Russia to the north of the Ottoman Empire. At the same time, relying on the geographical advantage of the Ottoman Empire, Persia has been reduced to waste to the east and Persia to the south. It is a bunch of African scum. It can be said that the external threat has basically been eliminated.

However, the Ottoman Empire was a very large empire. Although the empire had declined a lot, it still projected power over the entire Eastern Mediterranean.

This was the bargaining chip that the Ottoman Empire could use to negotiate during the entire anti-French war. Technology, machines, and workers could all be negotiated as long as the other party's requirements did not undermine Selim's initial industrialization plan.

Seizing the window of more than ten years and waiting for the Ottoman Empire to begin industrialization, Selim really did not believe that Tsarist Russia and Austria could do anything to him in the empire itself.

In this case, the only thing to pay attention to is the implementation of the reform plan. This is why Selim sent Muhammad Ali to lead the army. If you don’t go to the grassroots, you will never know whether your good experience will be used by the subordinates. The monk read crookedly.

Muhammad Ali opened the door of the teahouse in the town. It was afternoon and there were quite a lot of guests in the teahouse.

Muhammad Ali listened carefully to the conversations in the teahouse's small circles.

"A big thing happened last month, did you know? Another village was massacred by bandits.

"We don't have to worry here. A military master happened to be here today."

"Pena, you are so lucky. Not only did your family receive land, but your son was also selected to join the new army."

"The Guards were finally executed by the Sultan, and we no longer have to see those old soldiers."

"That's right, that's right, Bey, who was in charge of our business, was caught, you know?"

Hearing this, Muhammad Ali took an opportunity to interject. (The following “brother, brother, brother, etc.” are normal terms of affection among residents of the Ottoman Empire to express affection)

"Brothers, I am a merchant and I want to transport goods to Syria. Because the journey is long, I will rest here for a while.

I wonder who you call Bey? "

Several middle-aged men glanced at Muhammad Ali, and after confirming that the other party was indeed a businessman, they said immediately.

"This is my first time doing business here. I don't know your name. Why are you so unfamiliar?

Judging from this accent, could it be that my hometown has passed through Constantinye and arrived in Albania? "

"My brother has good eyesight. I am indeed Albanian, and others call me Ali.

In the past, I always went to Armenia, but this time I heard that there is a lot of good business in Damascus, so I came here.

It’s my first time here, so please take care of me. "

Muhammad Ali answered the other party's questions pretending to be unfamiliar with the place.

A man standing inside said immediately.

"Hey, let me just say, our town is the only way to Damascus. This is your first time here.

Brother, since you call me big brother, we won’t hide it from you.

You must have heard about the recent incident, about the Sultan's "Imperial Edict". "

Muhammad Ali then asked.

"Brother, I have heard of this, but what does this have to do with Bey?"

When the middle-aged man heard Muhammad Ali's question, he immediately put on an enigmatic look and said.

"You don't understand this, brother, the Sultan has issued a decree requiring the beys everywhere to quickly implement the land distribution policy and cooperate with the army to suppress bandits.

But this one happened to be the opposite of the Sultan. He chattered all day about dividing the fields and refused to move.

Regarding the banditry, he not only did not help to eradicate the bandits, but also helped them hide everywhere, allowing the other party to massacre the village, just to get the other party to hand over the treasure to him. "

Muhammad Ali then asked.

"This Bey dares to act like this. Could it be that he has some background?"

The man laughed loudly.

"So what if there is a backstage? That bastard is said to be the son-in-law of the Kezan family, but guess what?"

Muhammad Ali basically confirmed what was going on when he heard this, but he still cooperated with the other party.

"Could it be that he was dismissed from his post?"

The middle-aged man lowered his voice and said.

"Brother, you are wrong about this.

What does the Kezan family mean in front of the Sultan?

Let alone a son-in-law, even a son cannot be saved after committing such a big crime.

When the Bey was executed, not only the Sudanese general, but also the Chapan family in the north came.

Brother, think carefully about the secrets inside. The Chapan family and the Kezan family are in-law alliances. They are not on the side of the Sultan. The water here is very deep. "

Muhammad Ali then asked.

"General? Could it be the one sent by the Sultan to suppress the bandits?"

"Otherwise, this man is young and promising, and is deeply trusted by the Sultan. It is said that the Sultan even intends to marry his sister to him.

By the way, brother, your name is somewhat similar to that of this general. They are both Ali, but you are far behind compared to others. "

The man came closer to Muhammad Ali and said.

Muhammad Ali calmly avoided the other party. He was a bit dumbfounded. Even he himself did not know that the Sultan would marry a princess to him, but these people knew about it first. (The Ottoman Empire didn’t call female royals princesses, and I don’t understand it very well. Let’s just use this one.)

he asked next.

"I wonder where the general is now and whether he is easy to get along with. I would like to pay him a visit."

The man laughed and said.

"Brother, don't think about it anymore. This general did two things when he got here.

The first is to suppress bandits. Many of the troops left behind after the disbandment of Sanjak Bey have basically become bandits. However, this is the border area between the Chapan family and the Kezan family. Even if the two families are in-laws, it is difficult to cross the border.

What's more, the Sultan's "Imperial Edict" has stated that the empire no longer needs such a large army. In this case, even if the Chapan family and the Kezan family retain their own private soldiers, do they dare to send troops at will?

This is second.”

The man suddenly stopped talking and coughed twice.

Muhammad Ali immediately understood what the other party meant and asked the teahouse owner to send some grape juice.

The middle-aged man was overjoyed when he saw this. He hurriedly got it and drank it.

After belching slowly, the man continued.

"The second thing the general did was to inspect. Along the way, if anyone did not grant land according to the sultan's will, he would be scolded, and in severe cases, he would lose his official position.

Moreover, he often goes deep into the countryside to find out how everyone is living.

Don't even think about using a few dollars to make friends with such people. They do practical things for the people and don't care about your poor money. "

After continuing to chat for a while, Muhammad Ali saw the guard next to him winking at him.

He immediately found a reason to end the conversation.

"What's wrong with calling me in such a hurry?"

"General, something happened. The brothers who were sent to conduct reconnaissance in the southwest have not returned yet."

Muhammad Ali frowned.

"Come on, follow me back to camp."

When Muhammad Ali returned to the camp, the adjutant who stayed here immediately reported the situation to him.

"So, it's been more than two hours and there's still no sign of them, right?"

The adjutant nodded.

Muhammad Ali sighed and said to himself in an almost inaudible voice.

"This is someone in Constantinieri trying to make things difficult for me. It's just to get closer to Haji Pasha, but it's normal for this job to be jealous.

But who could it be?

Is it the seemingly bold but insidious Kuchuk Pasha or the cunning Ishak Pasha? One is trying to taint the new army, and the other is trying to save some face for the powerful while helping His Majesty promote the new law.

They won't send troops themselves, but it's okay to reveal some information.

Although Haji Pasha was in Cairo, there was less trouble, but he was also far away from the center of the empire. "

Muhammad Ali shook his head helplessly and then ordered.

"The whole army is out of camp and ready to set off. The target is southwest. When we meet the bandits, no one will be left behind."

About an hour and a half later, Muhammad Ali had discovered the enemy army, which numbered about a thousand men and was very well-equipped.

From what Ali observed, these cavalrymen were all armored and carried two weapons, one was a straight-edged sword and the other was a long sword with a scimitar style. There were even many cavalrymen who seemed to be Equipped with muskets.

Muhammad Ali looked at his troops, which were about two thousand people. Because he ran too fast, the main force of the Sipashi cavalry was still behind.

Although there were more people, his own equipment was inferior to the opponent's. Muhammad Ali knew that this would be a fierce battle.

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