Despite Zhu Jianying's rather shameless proposal, Emperor Zhu ultimately agreed.
Sending them to New South Wales to pioneer was different from asking them to invest in the Suez Canal project. The latter was likely to cause a great deal of trouble, while the former was relatively more stable and had fewer potential side effects.
After some consideration, Emperor Zhu tapped his fingers on the table and said with a smile, "Later, send someone to notify Mahmud again and tell him that our Great Ming will hold a naval exercise with the Ottomans at Cape Azel, and ask him to send the Ottoman navy to participate."
Upon hearing Emperor Zhu's request, Zhu Jianying quickly fumbled with the globe, taking a long time to find the location of Cape Azel.
Then, Zhu Jianying frowned, "Cape Azel? Although this location is not far from the Ottomans, it is much farther from Istanbul. What is the use of holding exercises here?"
Emperor Zhu smiled and shook his head, saying, "It doesn't matter where the exercise is held, what matters is who is holding it—as long as our Great Ming puts on a good show, the rest will be taken care of by others, saving us a lot of effort."
Zhu Jianying was somewhat confused by Emperor Zhu's words. After pondering for a while, he hesitantly asked, "Are you suggesting that this exercise is intended to drive a wedge between the Ottoman alliance and countries like Saudi Arabia?"
Emperor Zhu shook his head slightly and said, "The alliance between the Ottomans and countries like Saudi Arabia already had a crack when Mahmud II announced the construction of the Suez Canal; it was only a matter of time."
"The purpose of this exercise is simply to remind our Great Ming merchants and gentry in the Ottoman Empire that the Ottoman Empire is not a good place, and they should not throw their lives and fortunes into the Suez Canal."
"And it also serves to discipline those barbarians in Europe."
Disciplining Europe was simple.
Take the parliamentary system currently practiced in England, for example. This system was essentially an alliance between the nobility and capital against the royal family, and in essence, it was an elite consultative system with no relation to the common people.
The so-called freedom and democracy that followed were purely accidental blunders by England. The original intention was for the House of Lords to govern the House of Commons, but instead, power fell into the hands of the emerging capitalist class.
Although England had not yet reached the stage where both houses held power and the monarchy was merely symbolic, emerging capitalist classes had already begun to show their fangs.
And the essence of the capitalist class is profit-seeking.
For the capitalist class, the existence of the nation was not important; what mattered was whether their wealth and power would be affected.
It was much like the Donglin faction during the Tianqi and Chongzhen eras.
In the eyes of the Donglin faction, the fate of the Great Ming was not important. After all, whoever became emperor would have to rely on them to govern the realm. If the emperor of the Great Ming affected their wealth and power, they would simply replace him with another emperor or even overthrow the dynasty.
... Of course, no matter how profit-driven the capitalist class was, they could not escape the constraints of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, which states that survival needs are higher than any other needs. The Great Ming and the Ottoman Empire holding joint military exercises at Cape Azel would naturally be closely observed by these capital classes with noses sharper than dogs. As long as the Great Ming could intimidate these capital classes, the European countries would naturally become more obedient.
...
Compared to Emperor Zhu's many calculations, Mahmud II was almost driven mad. The humiliation of being treated like a dog by Emperor Zhu had not completely subsided, and now Emperor Zhu was planning another military exercise, even asking the Ottoman Empire to send its navy to cooperate?
Mahmud desperately wanted to grab Emperor Zhu by the collar and ask him: How exactly do you want the Ottoman Empire to cooperate? Do you intend for the Ottoman navy to serve as a backdrop for your Great Ming navy, or to be target practice for your Great Ming navy?
Despite his anger, Mahmud dared not oppose Emperor Zhu's proposal. At most, he could discuss how to hide their weaknesses.
After summoning the high-ranking officials of the Ottoman court, Mahmud II directly stated, "The Emperor of Ming has sent a messenger to inform us that he wants the Ottoman Empire to send its navy to cooperate with the Great Ming's military exercises. I have called you here today to hear your opinions."
After Mahmud II finished speaking, the senior officials of the Ottoman court fell into silence.
Just as Mahmud II only dared to imagine grabbing Emperor Zhu by the collar and questioning him in his mind, the senior officials of the Ottoman court were no better off than Mahmud II.
Even Alemdar Mustafa Pasha, who had always supported Selim III and Mahmud II, did not step forward to express his opinion.
Or rather, the senior officials of the Ottoman court did not know how to approach this military exercise—
Everyone knew that if the Emperor of Ming intended to destroy the Ottoman navy under the guise of military exercises, it was unnecessary. After all, the Ottoman navy was not only inferior to the Ming navy but also to the navies of smaller countries like Portugal and Spain. Emperor Zhu had no reason to go to such lengths.
Furthermore, even though they knew that Emperor Zhu likely had ulterior motives, the people in the Ottoman court had no choice but to send their own naval fleet to be a practice partner as per Emperor Zhu's instructions.
Therefore, it was not important that Emperor Ming wanted to conduct military exercises with the Ottoman Empire; what was important was what Emperor Ming's intentions were.
After careful consideration, Alemdar Mustafa Pasha stepped forward, bowed, and said, "Your Majesty the Sultan, I believe that regardless of what the Ming people intend, we should, must, and can only send a fleet to cooperate with their military exercises."
As soon as Mustafa Pasha finished speaking, Mahmud II's heart sank to the bottom.
Mahmud II knew very well that although he was the nominal Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and possessed supreme power, all of that was merely nominal. If he wanted to exercise the power of the Sultan, he could not bypass Mustafa Pasha at all.
... At least, until his new army had fully formed its combat effectiveness, he would still need to rely on Mustafa Pasha.
Moreover, Mahmud II was well aware of Mustafa Pasha's capabilities. Since Mustafa Pasha had used the words "should," "must," and "can only" in succession, it indicated that Mustafa Pasha had no other options.
This also meant that he, the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, had no other options.
Or rather, if he had any options, he would not have summoned Mustafa Pasha and the others to the palace for discussions.
With this thought, Mahmud II could only suppress his discomfort, complete the procedural process of discussion, and then keep Mustafa Pasha behind.
After preparing himself mentally, Mahmud II directly stated, "Mustafa Pasha, I intend to intensify the reforms. I hope to receive your support."
However, to Mahmud II's surprise, Mustafa Pasha did not refuse his proposal as expected. Instead, he nodded in agreement.
But after nodding, Mustafa Pasha cautiously said, "Your Majesty the Sultan, I have always supported you. But given the current situation in the Ottoman Empire, do you believe that the reforms can truly be implemented?"
Mahmud II fell silent.
Maintain the status quo? Or intensify efforts? This was a problem.
The history of reforms in the Ottoman Empire was long, dating back to 1718 when Mehmed III initiated a wave of reforms by "learning from France."
However, just like the Self-Strengthening Movement in the Qing Dynasty, which always faced various obstacles, the Ottoman reforms were also fraught with difficulties.
As soon as Mehmed III's reforms began, and a printing press was established, the Ottoman Janissaries, under the pretext of opposing the "French way of life," deposed Mehmed III.
One Ottoman Sultan, unable to tolerate the Janissaries' "usurpation," planned to escape from Istanbul to the provinces. However, before he could leave Istanbul, he was placed under house arrest by the Janissaries who had learned of his plan and was ultimately executed in a way that involved "crushing the balls," killing this unfortunate Sultan.
According to Jason Goodwin in "An Ottoman Miscellany," this "game of crushing two small balls" was not a privilege for ordinary people but a "method specifically used to execute Sultans."
Remarkably, even though the Sultan's personal safety was overshadowed by the terror of "crushing two small balls," generations of Ottoman Sultans persisted in their reforms, showing a spirit of unwavering determination despite facing death.
When Selim III ascended the throne, this young and ambitious Sultan, sensing the crisis of the nation's demise, proposed a grand policy of military reform within two years of his reign, vowing to train a new army to replace the Janissaries, who were prone to coups. Naturally, the Janissaries, who could not even tolerate a printing press, could not tolerate Selim III's attempt to uproot them.
Thus, the Janissaries colluded with Mustafa IV, overthrew Selim III on the grounds that "the decrees issued violated the principles of religious law," and directly enthroned Mustafa IV as the new Sultan. This continued until Mustafa Pasha, loyal to Selim III, returned with his troops and enthroned Mahmud II as the new Sultan.
... This means that the Ottoman Empire had already experienced two upheavals, and the impact of Mustafa IV's rebellion had not yet completely subsided. Although Mahmud II and Mustafa Pasha had purged a large number of traditional nobles, to maintain stability in the Ottoman Empire, they did not dare to completely purge the Janissaries.
Therefore, from a rational perspective, Mahmud II knew that he should not intensify the reforms. The Ottoman Empire was still in the stage of healing its wounds. Continuing the reforms set by Selim III was already difficult; if he intensified them further, it was likely that the Janissaries would retaliate wildly, and the Ottoman Empire would once again fall into a state of unrest.
However, from an emotional perspective, Mahmud II did not want to wait any longer.
Oil was extracted by ordinary Ottoman citizens from Ottoman land, yet he, the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, could not decide the price of oil, while the Emperor of Ming, who purchased the oil, could;
Every time he attended meetings in the small, broken pot, he could only watch the Emperor of Ming sit in the best seats and enjoy the best service, while he, the dignified Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, could only sit in a back seat;
It was one thing for the Emperor of Ming to not take him seriously, but even when forming alliances with Saudi Arabia, England, and the Habsburg family, all of them looked down on him—although the disdain in the eyes of George III and others was well hidden, it would always be revealed for a fleeting moment.
Mahmud II no longer wanted to be treated like a dog.
After a long silence, Mahmud II said, "I heard a saying among the Ming people: 'Break before you build,' meaning that without breaking the old rules, new rules cannot be established."
"The Ottoman Empire has reached a critical juncture. The Ming are plotting against us, and so are those in Europe. The Janissaries are only concerned with their own power, and those nobles do not care about the fate of the Ottoman Empire at all. Since this is the case, why not take a gamble?"
This time, it was Mustafa Pasha's turn to fall silent.
Mustafa Pasha was also well aware that although the current situation in the Ottoman Empire could still be maintained with great effort, who could guarantee that it would always be so?
As Mahmud II said, the Ottoman Empire had indeed reached a critical juncture. Without vigorous reforms, he and Mahmud II would only be able to patch things up continuously, like tinkers, and there would be little substantive change.
After careful consideration, Mustafa Pasha suddenly raised his head and looked at Mahmud II, saying, "Your Majesty the Sultan, the Ming people seem to have another old saying: 'drive the wolves to kill the tiger.' Since the Emperor of Ming is near Cape Azel, then Cape Azel is the safest place on the entire small, broken pot. No matter what the Janissaries and nobles want to do, they cannot reach Cape Azel."
Mahmud II's heart suddenly stirred as he began to calculate the feasibility of Mustafa Pasha's plan.
Mustafa Pasha continued, "The Emperor of Ming wants to hold military exercises, so you will definitely be invited. It is also normal to bring some Janissaries to accompany and guard you. Since the new army cannot quickly deal with the Janissaries, why not rely on the strength of the Emperor of Ming?"
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Heavenly Emperor's Noble Lineage reminds you: Remember to collect after reading.