In March, the spring breeze that has become warm blows across the fields, carrying a cool feeling that is still warm and cool on people's cheeks, making people feel warm and at the same time can't help but shiver gently.

In the distance, the shadows of the Balkan Mountains stretch up and down to the southeast, uncut as far as the eye can see.

In fact, the entire Balkan Mountains stretch all the way to the southeast, across almost the entire peninsula, and finally through Bulgaria to the Black Sea.

The supreme ruler of the Ottoman Empire, Sultan Bayezid II, the great, benevolent and stern, with a just heart and noble Sultan family lineage, was in a snow-white tent looking at the papers in his hand.

The tent is covered with hundreds of lambskins, and the interior is made of precious silk, and the skeleton used in the tent is specially reinforced by craftsmen, and all the places connected to each other are reinforced with copper pins, so that even the strongest wind can not shake the tent, and because of the continuous use of several layers of skin, when you enter the tent, you will immediately be surrounded by the warm breath that greets you.

There is a large opening at the top of the tent, and two hinges with pearl handles hang down from the tent, and if you pull the hinges slightly, the ceiling in the shape of a skylight will be lifted, and sunlight and fresh air will pour into the tent.

The whole tent is very large, and the furnishings inside are also extraordinarily luxurious, in addition to the precious thick carpet, there are also gem-inlaid cups and tall milk tea pots, when the sun shines in, the pure gold high-spout pot will shine dazzlingly, and the cup mixed with a lot of rose juice will also glow beautifully.

The Sultan sat on a comfortable pillow while a woman massaged him beside him, her smooth but powerful fingers pressed the Sultan's thick shoulders, pushing the Sultan's luxurious robe into a dimple.

The Ottoman Sultan Bayezid II, now in his early 50s, not only maintained his vigorous energy and physique, but also had a sharper mind than anyone else, and after a series of wars to stabilize Greece in the early years and compete with his brother Cem for the throne, Bayezid II completed the initial internal unification of the Ottoman Empire.

Muhammad II, known as the Conqueror, was clearly interested in expanding his territory, and since the age of 13 he inherited the vast empire of his father and his predecessors, and has been dedicated to expanding his territory.

He conquered Eastern Rome, Greece a second time, and then turned his troops on Bosnia and Bulgaria, and in the eyes of Mehmed II there was always only the difference between conquered and unconquered.

Unlike his father, Bayezid II was more stable, and although he was constantly fighting from the time he was not on the throne, he was more concerned with securing the lands he had conquered.

Bayezid II focused on building more than destroying, and while his father was keen to destroy city after city, he was leading a group of aides who would later become the most important ministers around him to compile the code, restore abandoned roads, and plan how to revive cities devastated by war.

As a result, in the nearly 20 years since Bayezid II finally defeated Cem and became sultan, Bayezid II was a formidable but not much threatening opponent in the West, except for the remnants of the Mamluk dynasty in the east and the restored Persian Empire.

Looking at the document on a piece of coarse sheep's pulp paper in his hand, the Sultan rubbed his somewhat sore forehead from time to time.

The woman next to her noticed the Sultan's action, she moved behind the Sultan very gently, stretched out her hands and gently rubbed the Sultan's temples with her flexible fingers, and at the same time leaned forward gently, rubbing the Sultan's back with her soft and plump chest.

Picking up the pen and signing his name carefully, the Sultan raised his hand slightly and motioned for the eunuch, who had been standing not far away, to send the document out.

It was a death sentence from an ordinary businessman who had killed someone in a business dispute.

Before Bayezid II, the standard of the death penalty for ordinary crimes was very lenient and somewhat arbitrary, and not only the viziers, but even the Pasha had the right to impose the death penalty on a person.

By the time of Mehmed II, although the viziers and the Pasha had withdrawn some of their powers, they were not concerned with judicial decisions, so the local officials still had the power to sentence the death penalty at will.

It was not until Bayezid II succeeded to the throne that the right to the death penalty was taken back, and according to Bayezid II, killing a person was a very serious matter, and it was absolutely not a hasty decision.

So even when he was marching to war, Bayezid II would take the time to personally review the death sentences that had been reported, and then make his own decisions on whether or not they should be carried out.

Because of this, the Sultan's work was much heavier than anyone else's, and sometimes even the concubines around him could not find a suitable time to approach the Sultan.

"Are you done with your work?" The woman next to her asked cautiously, and when she saw the Sultan turn her head slightly, the woman showed a sweet smile.

"The mission of a sultan is never finished."

Bayezet smiled dotingly, he loved this concubine very much, and it was because of this that he would take her with him when he went on the expedition.

The concubine showed a slight displeasure, but her seemingly unhappy mood was well controlled, expressing her annoyance at being left out without arousing the sultan's disgust.

Bayezet smiled, and his heart secretly sighed at the natural acting talents of the women, and was moved by the charm of the beauty in front of him, but the Sultan had just stretched out his hand to take the woman into his arms, and a eunuch walked to the blanket with light steps.

"My lord, there is news from an emissary from the Vatican."

Bayezet, who was about to live with his concubine, immediately perked up.

He had been waiting for news from the Vatican for a long time, and although he had come to report several times before, he had immediately begun to look forward to the time when the next report would arrive after each visit.

Now the Pope of Rome is a very cunning man. Bayezet knew this a long time ago.

Before becoming pope, Alexander VI had been an envoy to the Holy See many times, although all in Europe, but since then he has shown the ability of a cunning and changeable diplomat, and after becoming pope, he has proved his extraordinary diplomatic skills with the famous papal meridian.

While all Europeans were criticizing Alexander VI's almost debauchery, greed, and decadence, Bayezid II had no contempt for the pope.

In Bayezette's view, the obsession with beauty and the greed for wealth are nothing at all, and if it must be said to be a disadvantage, it is only sometimes called a mistake if the business is delayed because of the greed for these things.

Bayezet trusted the envoys sent to the Vatican, especially the reports on the Vatican and European countries, which made him very satisfied with his cronies.

"Tell me, Ashulk has sent me some good news."

The Sultan asked the man who knelt in front of him and kissed the surface of his feet, "I have been waiting too long, why is it so long to return this time?" ”

"I beg your pardon, great Sultan," the messenger said before he stood up after kneeling on the ground again and kissing the ground in front of the Sultan, and then took out a thick cloth bag from the pouch sewn in his clothes, "My master has commanded me to present this hajj to you." ”

"What is it, Ashulk's letter?"

As he spoke, the Sultan had a silver cutter carefully open the cloth bag, revealing several letters wrapped in it.

Each letter was sealed, and there was a note with a chronological order on it.

The Sultan picked up the earliest one and opened it.

"The Great Sultan, King of kings, Lord and ...... of the whole world"

Bayezet naturally skipped the long beginning.

"My Sultan, I am doing my best to carry out the mission you have ordered me to accomplish, please believe that I am close to finding that person, and as soon as I am sure I will carry out the order you have given me.

What I'm going to report to you now is about what I thought the Vati might have about the appearance of our empire and I felt the need to make a new revision, you know that as your loyal courtier, I value the fulfillment of your mission more than my life, so even if it makes you considered incompetent, I can't deliberately hide it from you in order to cover up my mistakes. ”

Bayezet continued to look down.

"I thought that the Europa had been intimidated by your prestige and the might of the mighty Ottoman army, so that they would flee at the sight of our banner and be crushed with a single blow, but now it seems that I am a little naïve in this idea.

I am not here to despise our army, which I still consider to be the most powerful and fearsome in the world, but we must not fail to admit that Europeans are not all cowardly.

In Rome, the legend of the Greek princess has been slowly spreading, and although not many people really know the origin of the princess so far, the news about her is gradually increasing, just as the previous war between the Poles and Moldova has attracted the attention of the West, although the princess is clearly an Orthodox Christian.

Your Majesty hereby I report to you a matter which should be brought to your attention, that there is a European nobleman who has raised an army for an expedition to Greece, and although this man is not conspicuous, because of his special status, I cannot but suspect that it may be a temptation on the part of Alexander VI, who is Alexandre Giulian Gombray, Count of Montina of Romagna......"

“…… As I have said, according to the information I have received, the Count of Montina was supported by the patronage of Venice, and there is credible information that under an agreement the Count of Montina received a lump sum of not less than 30,000 florins, and that the Count of Montina organized the expedition with the support of an army of not less than 2,000 men from Genoa. ”

"The great Sultan, I emphasize here the reason for this, is that the feud between Venice and Genoa is well known, and even in Constantinople when the merchants of the two sides meet over a trivial matter, which is enough to prove how deep their hatred is, but it is interesting that they both sponsored the Count of Montina only because he was going to Hungary or anywhere else in the East to resist the Ottoman army."

"Speaking of which, the great Sultan, it is impossible not to mention here the Battle of Varna in 1444, in which the wise Sultan Murad defeated the coalition of Europeans and laid the foundation for Ottoman domination of the Black Sea. And I would say that the army of the Count of Montina came from two city-states that hated each other, one paying for the other and sending troops, and the reason why they would give up their centuries-old grudge was only because they felt threatened, and compared to these two city-states, even if there was a deeper estrangement between the other European powers, they might choose to resist together under the threat of our powerful army......"

Bayezid looked at Ashulk's report seriously, and said that the Sultan still trusted this favored vassal very much, although Ashulk's almost obsessive taste for European culture made him dissatisfied, and even because of this, he deliberately alienated this servant, but Bayezid knew that Ashulk had wisdom and foresight that others did not have.

Even so, Bayezid is somewhat skeptical of Ashulk's views.

Are the Europeans going to organize another crusade?

The Sultan did not think that was a possibility, but Ashulk's suggestion was clearly something he could not ignore it.

Opening another letter in order, the Sultan was surprised to find that Ashulk was no longer reporting on the politics and military of those countries, but on the economy.

"My Sultan, the business of Pisa is so good that people are jealous, and all day long there are merchant ships coming in and out, and these merchant ships from all over the Mediterranean land in Pisa to form caravans to send goods to the interior of Europe, and then bring back all kinds of local products, and the almost cheap tariffs have made the merchants rich enough to be rewarded, and the exchanges in Frankfurt and Rome have become two great dams of this river of wealth that runs through the whole of Europe, and they sometimes open and release water and sometimes break the gates, But no matter what you do, you are accumulating unimaginably huge wealth......"

Bayezet watched patiently, he knew that Ashulk would not write these things suddenly for no reason, and although it was not clear how great the wealth Ashulk was talking about, the Sultan still had a vague sense of the shock that the number might bring to him from his description.

But even so, when he saw the speculation that it could be as high as 5 million to 7 million florins a year, the Sultan could not help but be stunned.

"I am convinced that such great wealth should belong to our empire and to the Sultan, and that all this comes from the Mediterranean, so I solemnly propose hereby to you, the King of kings, the Supreme Sultan, that a real war be waged at sea at the same time as the war on land, in order to cut off and seize the source of wealth on which the Europeans depended to sustain their armies.

For this purpose, my Sultan, I have obtained by various means information on all the supply bases of the Europeans, especially the Venetian navy, on the western shores of the Mediterranean, which I have submitted to you on a map that may provide you with some useful reference for your decisions. ”

Bayezette picked up the last letter and slowly opened it, and a rather delicate map of the western coast of the Mediterranean appeared in front of him.

On the map, a clear mark came into view, and the place was called Taranto.