"But?"

"There is no guarantee that the empire will win the war, you must know that the empire still does not have enough troops and population, and in the Balkans, the battered kingdom of Hungary and the nascent kingdom of Albania can only match the combined strength of the empire with the Ottomans in the Balkans." John gave Sophia a quiet glance and continued, "Despite the vast territory of the Ottomans in Anatolia, the Balkans were territory that the Ottomans could not give up. Once lost, it would be foolish for the Ottomans to try to get their hands on the continent again. ”

"That's why we believe that even if the Ottomans give up some of their interests on the Anatolian border for the time being, they won't be indifferent to the Balkans." Sofia continued, "Even if reinforcements were relatively limited because of the Aegean sea power issue, Mehmed II would inevitably have forcibly recruited the population and even recruited mercenaries from other regions to expand the army, and if the agreement was torn up, it would be a decisive battle that would never have ended." Therefore, the empire will definitely not tear up this armistice agreement easily. ”

Zahir Sultan was clearly not satisfied with John and Sophia's reply, and for the Mamluks, expansion was the only way to divert the sharp contradictions between the domestic civil servants and the military aristocracy, and to re-consolidate the position and honor of the sultan.

The Ottomans had been on the path of Mamluk expansion for many years and were the enemies that the Mamluks had to face today. But Zahir Sultan asked himself that with the current power of the Mamluks, it would be a fool's dream to officially declare war on the Ottomans.

The Roman Empire's ability to hold out until now and make a local counterattack against the Ottomans in the Balkans gave Sultan Zahir the only hope of surviving Mamluk rule.

Zahir Sultan thought about it again and again, and slowly raised his head: "I know that the problem of soldiers, population and equipment has been bothering you Romans for a long time. However, given the Mamluks' long-standing friendship with the Roman Empire, the Mamluks would do their due aid to the Roman Empire in order to fight our common enemy, the cursed Ottoman villains. We will do everything in our power to make the Empire win the final victory! ”

"Huh?" John could barely believe his ears.

He and Sophia were indeed ready for the lion's mouth, after all, the fat of Anatolia could not be let the Mamluks take a big bite in vain. But they did not expect that Zahir, the dignified Sultan, would offer to sacrifice the interests of his country in exchange for a relatively minor pretext for war and a fragile alliance on such an important diplomatic occasion.

"Valleolius remembers your generosity, esteemed Sultan." Sophia stood up and saluted, "What kind of assistance is the Sultan willing to give?" ”

"A thousand slave cavalry with the necessary equipment and baggage, and if the Empire declares war on the Ottomans until the end of the war, the Mamluks will give the Empire a wartime aid. Combined with the Empire's domestic taxes and Venice's aid loans, I think it would be enough for the Empire to be relatively wealthy to complete the war. "Sultan Zahir's generosity caught John off guard, and giving additional imperial aid to the Mamluks at a time of equally tense domestic economic conditions did not seem like the choice of a wise ruler.

And the 1,000 Mamluk slave cavalry confirms John's view even more.

The slave cavalry can be said to be the foundation of the Mamluks. At the height of the Mamluks, they fought three battles against the Mongol expeditionary forces, and the slave cavalry was also famous in the Near East and Europe for its strong fighting power, absolute loyalty, and harsh training methods. Even if the Mamluks have long since regained their heyday, the combat effectiveness of the slave cavalry will not change much. To this day, there is still an endless stream of Turkic slaves transported to Egypt by the fleets of Genoa and Venice, where they are subjected to brutal training.

"I think that's good enough." Sultan Zahir laughed, "With such help, the empire should be able to declare war on the Ottomans without any worries." ”

Although the negotiation process exceeded John's expectations, he knew that the earliest bargaining chips were definitely not hole cards. It is absolutely impossible for the empire and the Mamluks to become long-term allies, so with this declaration of war, it is necessary for the empire to cut a knife from the Mamluks. In the future, if the Patriarchate of Antioch and Alexandria is recovered, perhaps Sultan Zahir will be able to see the slave cavalry he personally trained take his own life.

……

Under John's conscious evasion, a negotiation that could have been resolved in 15 minutes was forcibly postponed to the next day because some key questions could not be answered in a "unified way".

Eventually, Zahir Sultan, whose patience had been exhausted, agreed to John's more demanding demands.

The number of slave cavalry aid was increased to 1,500, and the financial aid was extended to three months after the war, for the reconstruction of the imperial army and the repair of buildings that might have been destroyed by the war.

It was only after the main work was done that John and Sophia began to negotiate a trade agreement that they had already conceived.

Mamluk caravans traveling between the Adriatic Sea, the port of Genoa and Alexandria will add several more ports in the empire in the future to exchange spices, cotton carpets, dried dates and other goods full of Egyptian characteristics with the empire's trade materials.

The empire would not use exorbitant tariffs to increase revenue, after all, the Mamluks were already more than happy to be honest men and give the empire a lot of aid. These goods were enough to enliven the type of trade within the empire, and John was of course more than happy to sign the relevant terms directly.

"The great friendship between the Mamluks and the empire will forever be recorded in the annals of history, esteemed Sultan."

John toasted another glass of fragrant date spirit.

"Then, Your Majesty, when do you plan to go to war with the Ottomans?"

"Although it will be necessary to consult with the court of Constantine through the Imperial Council, we do have a vague scope. As long as there are no accidents, this war will come this year. ”

"Good! Good! Good! Your Majesty, we will give the Ottomans a head-on blow! ”

Zahir Sultan's smile grew stronger, and he did not realize that his interests were being harmed, and this spirit of sacrifice made John simply amazed. The sultan's incompetence is probably becoming one of the Mamluk traditions.

"You should continue your visit in Cairo, there are so many unique sights waiting to be visited!"

：。 : I want to talk about "Roman Nirvana" with more like-minded people, pay attention to "excellent reading literature" on WeChat, talk about life, and find confidants~

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