Despite receiving assurances from England, the Tsardom of Russia, and the Habsburg envoy, Suleiman did not relax. He immediately returned to Mustafa Pasha, intending to discuss matters further.
Suleiman, after all, was still uneasy.
Although the communication had been pleasant, and the envoys from England, Russia, and the Habsburgs had agreed to the plan of exchanging oil for weaponry, Suleiman knew that the agreements between the parties lacked any substantial binding force. They were hardly better than paper from a privy – privy paper could at least be used to wipe one’s posterior, but these verbal agreements…
However, upon returning to the Topkapi Palace, Suleiman found Mustafa Pasha also troubled.
As soon as he saw Suleiman, Mustafa Pasha handed him an intelligence report: “Take a look. This is the latest intelligence from the province of Egypt. Muhammad Ali designed the slaughter of over four hundred Mamluk nobles and deposed the governor appointed by Sultan Mahmud II, declaring himself king.”
Suleiman took the report, glanced at it, and cursed vehemently, “These ungrateful wolves!”
The loss of the Egyptian province meant the Ottoman Empire lost an important source of tax revenue and a crucial area for troop recruitment.
Yes, although the Ottoman rule over Egypt had always been indirect, the Governor of Egypt was still obligated to the Ottoman Empire, which included providing troops and paying taxes.
After all, they were cavalry that had “once resisted the Mongol invasion.” In an era before firearms, the Mamluk heavy cavalry charge at close range still possessed terrifying deterrence. Because of this, the Ottomans ceased their Turkification of the Egyptian province. They not only restored and retained its administrative structure but also actively supported the Mamluk noble class.
However, as the Ottoman Empire supported the Mamluks, their power grew, and the conflict with the Ottoman governor in Egypt intensified.
Firstly, the Mamluk military strength increased.
When the Mamluk dynasty fell, its army suffered heavy losses. However, after joining the ruling class of the Egyptian province, the Mamluk nobles continued to purchase slaves from Crimea, Central Asia, and other regions to expand their army. The Mamluk army then regained its strength, becoming a formidable force capable of challenging the Ottoman army.
More importantly, the authority over taxation within Egypt was monopolized by the Mamluks.
Under the tax farming system, as long as the Mamluks paid a certain amount of tax to the Ottoman Empire annually, they could monopolize all tax revenues within Egypt, arbitrarily levying rent and taxes on farmers and merchants. Over time, the Mamluks gained control of Egypt’s finances, and their strength grew to the point where they could challenge the authority of the Egyptian governor.
The Ottomans could tolerate this, as the emerging powers in Europe had begun to threaten the Ottoman rule in Europe, and Ottoman expansion in Europe had been checked. The Ottoman Sultan had to focus his efforts on defending against attacks from the Habsburgs, Germany, and Poland. For the wealthy province of Egypt, the Ottoman Sultan was more concerned with maintaining order, ensuring the stability of the tax system, and securing troop recruitment, rather than intervening in the power struggles between the Egyptian governor and the Mamluks. In the volatile political environment of Egypt, the governors had to cope alone.
Under these circumstances, the Mamluks gradually gained a superior position over the Egyptian governors, eventually reaching a point where they could depose governors appointed by Istanbul.
Essentially, they were semi-independent. Except for nominally obeying the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire, the province of Egypt no longer paid much heed to Istanbul’s orders.
This continued until Muhammad Ali emerged. With Mahmud II’s successful integration into the “little broken pot,” the external pressure on the Ottoman Empire was significantly reduced, and Istanbul naturally wanted to address the issue of Egypt’s semi-independence.
Mahmud II decided to support a military force distinct from the Mamluks.
Muhammad Ali was sent to the province of Egypt under these circumstances.
However, to everyone’s surprise, upon arriving in Egypt, Muhammad Ali did not confront the Mamluks head-on. Instead, he chose to ally with the Mamluk nobles to jointly oppose the Egyptian governor sent by Istanbul.
The adroit Ali quickly seized military and political power in Egypt and was subsequently appointed the new governor of Egypt by the Ottoman Empire, thus beginning his rule over Egypt. Although Ali was not entirely obedient, he was sent by Mahmud II, making him more reassuring to Istanbul than the original Mamluks.
Then, Ali took advantage of the Great Ming’s conflict with the Ottoman Empire to engineer the elimination of over four hundred Mamluk nobles and declared himself king.
The entire process can be summarized in one sentence: after eating from the Ottoman Empire’s table, he smashed their bowl.
This was why Suleiman cursed Ali as an ungrateful wolf.
Mustafa Pasha shook his head slightly and sighed, “A troubled time. The issues with the Ming are not yet resolved, and now there is such a major upheaval in the province of Egypt. Is it that the True God intends to destroy us Ottomans?”
Suleiman said with a grim face, “We can’t worry about that wolf now. I have just reached an agreement with the envoys from England, Russia, and the Habsburgs. They have agreed to exchange our Ottoman oil for weaponry and grain, so the problem of the treasury’s lack of funds can finally be managed.”
“However, you must also understand that such agreements are essentially useless; they could renege on the deal at any moment.”
“We must solve the issues of weaponry and grain as quickly as possible.”
Mustafa Pasha’s perpetually furrowed brow eased slightly.
For the Ottoman Empire, the most critical issue at present was not Muhammad Ali’s declaration of independence in Egypt, but the near depletion of its weaponry and grain reserves.
As Mustafa Pasha pondered the upcoming strategy, he slowly said, “If we can stock up on more weaponry and grain while the agreement is fresh, our pressure will be greatly reduced. However, relying solely on our Ottoman forces, we are definitely no match for the Ming invasion.”
Suleiman nodded slightly and asked, “Do you have any good ideas?”
Mustafa Pasha sighed, “What good ideas could there be? Since you reached an agreement with the envoys from England, Russia, and the Habsburgs to exchange oil for weaponry and grain, it means they have not agreed to jointly raise troops. And given the current situation in the ‘little broken pot,’ if they do not agree, then the remaining countries will not dare to oppose the Ming.”
At this point, Mustafa Pasha showed a trace of regret on his face: “When Khamis of Benghazi stood up to oppose the Ming back then, we should not have sided with the Ming, but rather secretly sent people to help Khamis and his group.”
Suleiman also sighed, “Benghazi is long gone, and Khamis of Benghazi is also long gone. What use is it to say these things now?”
After they both sighed, Mustafa Pasha forced himself to cheer up: “You are right, there is no use in saying these things now. The key is how to deal with the Ming army’s invasion. I intend to imitate the tactics previously used by the Ming people and implement a scorched-earth policy throughout the entire Ottoman Empire, so that they cannot obtain even an iota of supply on Ottoman land!”
Hearing Mustafa Pasha mention the scorched-earth tactic, Suleiman’s heart stirred, and he said, “While I was discussing contracts with the English envoy just now, I promised them that we would send people to burn down the oil fields close to the Ming army, so that the Ming army could not extract even a single drop of oil.”
Mustafa Pasha nodded slightly, “Burning them is good. After all, oil that does not belong to the Ottoman Empire is meaningless to us. Rather than leave it for the Ming to extract, it is better to burn it all.”
…
While Suleiman and Mustafa Pasha were discussing how to burn the oil fields, Emperor Zhu had already set foot on the land of Mukalla Port.
Similar to the problems the Ottoman Empire was facing, Emperor Zhu was also facing supply issues. The higher the degree of militarization of the army, the greater its reliance on logistics. The larger the army, the greater the pressure on logistics. Tactics of obtaining supplies locally, as in the age of cold weapons, were clearly no longer viable.
The current Ming army was highly militarized, from the individual soldiers equipped with firearms and grenades to the artillery equipped at the battalion level. The required firearms, artillery, ammunition, and even clothing, military boots, and other supplies all needed to be transported from the mainland of the Great Ming over vast distances.
This applied to other military bases close to the Ottoman Empire as well; they all required the transfer of weaponry, ammunition, and supplies from the mainland of the Great Ming.
As for establishing on-site production lines for weaponry and various supplies at Mukalla Port…
Emperor Zhu did not worry about the safety of these production lines, nor did he worry about a lack of labor. He was even less concerned about these supplies falling into the hands of the Ottomans. What he worried about was the sufficiency of time. The equipment needed to establish production lines had to be transported from the Great Ming. After transportation, installation, and debugging, production would take several months.
In a few months, the Ottoman Empire might already be gone.
Emperor Zhu walked slowly, asking Zhu Jianying casually, “How do you think we should solve the problem of supplying weaponry, ammunition, and provisions?”
Zhu Jianying walked alongside Emperor Zhu, deliberating before replying, “I think direct transfer from the Great Ming is too costly, and establishing production lines directly at Mukalla Port is too time-consuming. Therefore… why not transfer and establish production lines simultaneously?”
Emperor Zhu slightly turned his head and glanced at Zhu Jianying, asking, “Explain why transferring and establishing production lines simultaneously? Wouldn’t this possibly result in pleasing neither side?”
Zhu Jianying said, “Transferring and establishing production lines simultaneously might delay some transport capacity and some time, but in the long run, this approach is the most appropriate.”
“Firstly, there is the consumption of bullets. The firearms used by our Great Ming army are different from those used by the Ottomans, the English, and even the French. The bullets for these firearms are completely incompatible, and our Great Ming army cannot rely on captured supplies to supplement its consumption.”
“Most importantly, bullets are consumed in the largest quantity throughout the entire war. If we rely solely on transferring bullets from the mainland of the Great Ming, I fear that today we might transport one ship, tomorrow one ship, and the day after tomorrow we might need to transport two ships to meet the demand.”
“Artillery is similar.”
“Both the barrels and the shells used by our Great Ming army are different from those used by the Ottomans. Similarly, we cannot rely on captured supplies to supplement our consumption.”
“As for establishing production lines first, and then commencing operations…”
Zhu Jianying deliberated, saying, “Establishing production lines takes a considerable amount of time, and opportunities in war are fleeting. We should not delay resolving the issue with the Ottomans for the sake of establishing production lines. More importantly, I believe your esteemed self’s goal might not be solely the Ottoman Empire?”
“My goal is naturally not solely the Ottoman Empire,” Emperor Zhu chuckled. “As the Emperor of the Great Ming, my ambition cannot be limited to just a mere Ottoman Empire.”
Zhu Jianying, following behind Emperor Zhu, curled his lips slightly and said in a low voice, “Yes, yes, yes, your esteemed self has great ambitions. The mere Ottoman Empire is nothing.”
Emperor Zhu ignored Zhu Jianying’s quip and instead sighed and asked inexplicably, “Do you know about the continent of Yin Dian?”
Zhu Jianying was somewhat bewildered.
If it were during the Qing Dynasty, perhaps no one in the entire Central Plains would know about the continent of Yin Dian. However, in the current Great Ming, if you asked any elementary school student, they could tell you what the continent of Yin Dian was – it was formerly inhabited by the Yin people, later occupied by European barbarians, and now the Prince of Qin and the Prince of Jin have fiefdoms there.
After thinking for a moment, Zhu Jianying honestly replied, “If we disregard your esteemed self’s assertion that Yin Dian is the abode of the Yin people, and instead accept the accounts of European sea merchants, then the first to reach the continent of Yin Dian should have been that person named Columbus?”
Emperor Zhu sneered dismissively and then asked, “Then do you know how those European barbarians treated the local natives after the so-called Mayflower reached Yin Dian?”
Zhu Jianying said, “Of course, I know. The indigenous people of Yin Dian gave clothes and food to the European barbarians, but the barbarians sent blankets with diseases to the indigenous people of Yin Dian, and they also issued scalp bounties to encourage the barbarians to hunt down the natives.”
Emperor Zhu grunted in affirmation, “If our Great Ming were not strong enough, do you think we would be any better off than those indigenous people of Yin Dian?”