The Crescent of the Sultan

At the signal of the palace steward, a group of noble ladies began their own performances, which was expressly stipulated by the Sultan's mother, Mrs. Mishu Delpa.

After all, the female slaves recruited into the palace are no longer slaves who can be manipulated at will by the Queen Mother. She must not be able to do things like life and death at will.

Although this kind of draft originally has strong political factors, it does not mean that the requirements of the Sultan's harem maids can be relaxed, and outstanding talents deserve a better life.

Just when Selim was thinking about which ones to choose, he felt a chubby hand patting him.

Selim naturally knew who this was, so he deliberately pretended not to notice it and looked around, making Mahmoud jump in fear.

“Here it is, here it is.

Brother, look, look at Justinian. "

The little fat man wanted to turn Selim's head around.

Sultan looked in the direction Mahmoud pointed and saw that the spy leader was leaning against the guardrail.

"Spring is here, and it's really in heat. I caught my eye at first sight."

Selim complained in his mind and followed the other person's gaze.

I have to say, the spy boss has really good vision.

Even Selim, who was used to seeing beauties, was a little surprised at this moment.

This aristocratic girl has a delicate face, and her skin is as white as jade, smooth and delicate, and seems to exude a natural light.

A face shape similar to an oval face makes the other party look pure and cute, but the upbringing brought by being born into a noble family adds a sense of elegance to her.

The girl has a pair of big and bright eyes, like a deep lake. Her eyes reveal youthful vitality and curiosity, and she looks like a deer looking for food in the forest.

The girl's long eyelashes flutter gently like feathers, adding to her sense of mystery.

Her thick black curly hair was draped casually over her shoulders, decorated with precious gems and silk ribbons.

The lips were lightly smeared with pink lipstick, slightly raised, with a gentle smile, like the spring sunshine, warming people's hearts.

The girl is slender and graceful, wearing a gorgeous dress, made of exquisite silk and lace, decorated with intricate embroidery and beads. The top is tailored to flatter her curves, while the skirt floats as she moves.

Selim couldn't help but become interested, and he immediately asked the eunuch manager at the side.

"Who is this?"

"Your Majesty, this woman's name is Karena Scarantgna. She is a small noble from Epirus (the border between Albania and Greece today). Her ancestors were adventurers from Italy who defected to the Soviet Union. The land was granted to Emperor Leman the Great, and since people joined the army every year, the land has been passed down to this day."

Selim nodded, looking at this, Justinian must be emotional.

However, Selim could not rule out that the other party had noticed his thoughts and deliberately pretended to be like this.

It is unrealistic to rely on a woman to tie up a man like Justinian, because Selim also has difficulty in discerning the psychology of the spy leader.

So no matter what, he had to find someone else to master the handle of the knife as soon as possible. It had been six or seven years since he first asked Justinian to take over the "Ottoman Sword", and this knife seemed to be no longer as useful as it was before. .

It's just that Selim hasn't figured out how to maximize the other party's value, whether it's life or death, Selim still hasn't made up his mind.

He was not a born king, and Selim could not bear to kill him when the other party was not a threat and it was the child he had picked up.

The Sultan let out a long sigh and left quietly. No matter what Justinian thought, Selim would not kill him now. At least he would have to wait until the first anti-French alliance was launched among the European countries before he could find an opportunity to replace him. other side.

Grabbing Mahmoud who was watching the future maids dancing, Sultan left the viewing platform. The little fat man still wanted to speak, but Selim blocked him.

The brothers left here.

Entering the third courtyard, under the shade of a tree in the distance, there is the beloved concubine of the former Sultan Hamid I, a close friend of Selim III in the original time and space, the "fingerprint" of the empire's reform, and the mother of Mahmoud. , Mrs. Nakhidir is waiting for her son.

When the little guy saw his mother, he broke away from Selim's hand and ran over on his short legs.

Mrs. Nakhidir picked up her child and said apologetically to Selim.

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty, Mahmoud has been saying he wants to find you this morning, and I really can't get rid of him."

"It's okay. Let him come to Baghdad Palace more often and learn from the Grand Vizier and Grand Mufti. Mahmoud is a good boy."

Mrs. Nakhidir couldn't help but look at Selim in surprise, asking the male who was also a member of the royal family to learn how this sultan was just like her husband.

It may be said that he was reciprocating his love. He was also the son of Hamid I, but Mustafa was not only unable to receive an education, but was also imprisoned in a gold cage by him.

Selim didn't know about Nakhidir's psychological activities, and even if he knew, he didn't know how to explain it.

He can't possibly say that this kid arranged for someone to kill him in the future.

After saying a final hello to the other party and exchanging some innocuous gossip, Selim returned to the Baghdad Palace on the pretext of being busy with official duties.

Although he said it was a reason, it was actually the truth. He had not yet completed the empire's environmental restoration plan.

In order to complete industrialization in this era, is the population of the Ottoman Empire enough? not enough.

Unlike Britain and France, which had overseas colonies, and Prussia and Austria, which could dump goods to the German region.

If Selim wanted to industrialize, he could only create a market within the Ottoman Empire. To have a market, there needed to be a population, and to have a population, there needed to be an environment.

To be fair, if you insist on saying that the population of the Ottoman Empire has not increased, that is not correct. Based on the population of the Ottoman Empire of 15 million during the period of Suleiman the Magnificent, the current population of the Ottoman Empire is close to Selim’s statistics Thirty million people.

But before traveling through time, Selim actually looked down upon the Ottoman Empire's governance capabilities.

Such a country can govern the population of Egypt almost as well as the ancient kingdom, and the population of Greece as it did during the Trojan War.

His population was not even as large as that of the Eastern Roman Empire during the Justinian era. At that time, Emperor Sai even felt that he was not as good as the Manchus. It was not until he came to this world that he understood that many of the domestic judgments were actually wrong.

The assertion that one ignores the main factors and only considers the secondary factors is undoubtedly cerebral palsy. In an era where one still depends on the weather for food, it is outrageous to put the governance of the country first without considering the changes in the natural environment.

In short, from the end of the 16th century to the 19th century, the entire Mediterranean basin experienced a process of agricultural decline and population transfer from the lowland plains to the inland mountains, leading to long-term stagnation in population numbers.

It can be said that the production conditions in the Eastern Mediterranean region during the Ottoman Empire were no longer as good as those during the Roman era.

The devastation caused by climate change and millennia of war has left many regions unsustainable.

I read a book called "Revolution and Resistance in the Early Modern World" before. To be honest, although the historical data is a bit strange, the perspective is very novel.

Some domestic views have been wrong for a long time. This is due to my position. I don’t like Egypt very much, but it is important for this book to look at the Ottoman Empire objectively.

I will write it out tomorrow, to be honest, this is also a change in my personal opinion.

Bibliography: "Cambridge History of Türkiye"

The Ottoman Empire: The Collapse of Order in the Anatolian Rural Areas

"Demographic Change in Ottoman Anatolia in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries: Reconsidering the 'Demographic Crisis'"

"Athens from 1456 to 1920: Ottoman Towns and 19th-Century Capital City"

Urban Population in Sixteenth-Century Anatolia: A Study of Kayseri, Karaman, Amasya, Trabzon and Erzurum

"The Ottoman Empire's Wild West"