In the seventh century B.C., Greek colonists built a city on the headland between the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara, called Byzantium, in 330 A.D., the emperor of the Roman Empire moved the capital here, first called New Rome, and later renamed Constantinople in the name of the emperor, in 395 A.D., the Roman Empire was divided, and the Eastern Roman Empire continued to be the capital of Constantinople - in 1453, Mehmed II led a large army to capture Constantinople, and renamed it Istanbul.

The city is undoubtedly thriving and strong, and it has a quality that no other city at Obaro can match: inclusion.

Here you can see black-skinned people, white-skinned people, brown-skinned people and yellow-skinned people, they worship different gods, they speak different languages, they have different customs, but here, as long as they are willing to obey the laws of the Sultan, they don't have to worry about being oppressed or hurt - leather and horses from Central Asia, wood, jade and spices from South Asia, silk and porcelain from East Asia, wine from France, woolen wool from Italy, weapons and leather from Spain, grain and livestock from the Low Countries, Egyptian fine-grained cotton fabrics and so on, you can see it in the Grand Bazaar here, although it is a bazaar, in fact it is a huge building with seven gates, countless ornate domes, sixty-five streets and more than 4,000 shops, more than 100,000 people moving here every day, and there are even small squares, drinking fountains and temples inside.

Therefore, a small caravan of no more than a dozen people entered here, and it was like a pot of water pouring into the Sea of Marmara, and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Only a few keen merchants, hearing that they had come from Siena, came to ask them if they had any lanolin oil and cashmere, which had become almost the calling cards of the merchants of Tuscany, and they were not disappointed, and although this caravan was small, it brought with it the finest goods, and in addition to the three reds, cinnabar, fuchsia, and reddish-brown lipstick, white face grease, and soft cashmere fabric, they also brought mirrors, which were almost as clear and delicate as the Venetian mirrors. The sterling silver base, like a full moon, is only three inches in diameter, and the frame is hollowed out into the shape of flowers and leaves, which can be held in the hand or hung on the waist as a decoration, and will surely become a treasure for the favorite concubines of the sultan's harem.

The merchants had to go through a lot of battles, and the last merchant, who was said to be a member of the Janissary Legion, won the final victory - although the soldiers of the Janissary Legion, called Kapkuru, in Turkish, means "slave by the door", and the whole legion, which can also be said to be the "Sultan's Slave Legion", they were only slaves to the Sultan, but to outsiders, they were a truly privileged class - even if people knew the members of the Janissary Legion, As long as they had positions in the court and the army, they were not allowed to do business, get married, or return home, but they were still full of jealousy towards them and those associated with them.

Fortunately, the merchant did not use this position to keep the price of goods too low, he only pointed at the leader of the caravan a little rudely, a middle-aged man who always wrapped most of his face in milky white cotton cloth, and only showed a pair of eyes, "What's going on?" He said, "Have you been harmed, or have you done evil?" ”

"It's a disease." Duarte said: "The doctor treated me with a soldering iron, and although he drove away the devil, he still left traces. He untied the cotton cloth and showed it to the visitor, who looked at it carefully and unexpectedly before nodding, "May God bless you." He said, and then looked at the other people in the room one by one—the caravan was less than twenty people, but if there was anything peculiar, it was probably that the faces of the members clearly exceeded the horizontal line, not the ordinary horizontal line, to be more specific, the aesthetic level of the chief of the black eunuch—he was in charge of the sultan's harem, and often went to the market to select concubines and acolytes for this noble master.

Three men in particular caught his eye, a strong and handsome samurai, a woman who was no longer youthful but full of charm, and an elegant and gentle young man, with black hair and golden eyes like late night, with a long body and a calm demeanor.

"Who is that?" He couldn't help but ask.

"It's my master." The leader of the caravan, Duarte, replied, and the Ottoman merchant suddenly showed regret - the owner of the caravan leader, in general, was the heir of the family, and in Istanbul such young men were common, and they were usually led by extremely reliable people who were familiar with the trade routes, and it seemed that the warrior might be his bodyguard, and the woman should be his lady-in-waiting—one might think that the younger the maid, the better, but only the seasoned merchant knew, A mature and experienced older woman is the most worthwhile tool and weapon to carry on long journeys.

If this young man was not in such an identity, he might have asked the chief of the black eunuch to ask the caravan leader how much it would cost to be able to leave such a good-looking young man - the Sultan would be very happy to see him, thinking of this, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart, their current Sultan Bayezid II was not a heroic monarch in the first place, he was more gentle than his younger brother Jem, and even more so in old age, But such a monarch is obviously not a favorite of the Ottoman Turks today, and many people are waiting to see if they should support his son - in the history of Ottoman Turkey, it is not uncommon for sultans to kill their relatives, and their souls are not only their own brothers, but also their fathers and sons. Once Bayezid II lost control of his officials and army, it was impossible to survive even after his abdication, because the Sultan would not spare anyone who threatened his throne.

Because of this, the fear of losing power and life, Bayezid II's mood grew more and more violent with the passage of time, and he no longer trusted anyone, including his favorite concubines and his eunuchs, and the poor ministers, to be prepared not to return every time he attended a council.

The Ottoman merchants ended up leaving the address of their temporary residence in Istanbul, although nominally to prepare the goods they needed to exchange, but he was very interested in Giulio. Anyone can see Medici's reluctance to give up.

"I said," said Paula, laughing, "that we should disguise you as a slave girl, so that you may be able to go before Bayezette II without much effort." ”

Duarte glared at Paula, who was not afraid to give him a wink, who, in her youth, like the famous courtesan of ancient Greece, had never lacked dukes, bishops, or even kings on her bed, and she could also say that she had watched Giulio grow up to the way he is now, and she really didn't have any reverence for him, like Ezio - and Giulio preferred to regard them as friends, but Duarte had always complained a little about it.

"A six-foot-three-inch slave girl?" Giulio asked rhetorically, as Ezio had deduced, he was as tall as his biological father, and that, when he was only sixteen, he could barely speak of a young woman in early adulthood, and at the age of thirty, it was a bit too much.

"The Sultan's harem is not Charles VIII's barracks." Ezio was also dissenting, "You can't pass the physical examination alone, and it's not for any slave girl to meet the Sultan if she wants to." ”

"Don't tell me you want to try." Duarte is fierce.

Giulio glanced at him and wisely ...... He didn't care so much about fame - he swallowed the phrase and moved on to another topic: "That Ottoman merchant is not an ordinary man." ”

"It may be the eyes and ears of the white eunuch in charge, Istanbul seems to be tolerant, but in reality, every stranger will be stared at by countless pairs of eyes." Duarte was referring to the two governors of the Sultan's inner court, the White Eunuch Chief, who was usually a Christian and the Sultan's secret agent, and the Black Eunuch Chief, who controlled the Sultan's harem and was responsible for buying and selling concubines and children.

"Then a young man who has just come to Istanbul and his mentors, guards and maids are very suitable for who we are now," Ezio said, "and how long will it take us to dispel their suspicions?" ”

"It won't be long," Duarte said, "after all, they're busy, too." ”

Sure enough, after about a week, Giulio was no longer so uncomfortable - the Sultan's spies were already quite good, but he was even able to catch Ezio's whereabouts - the feeling of being watched all the time was terrible.

It was early September when they arrived in Istanbul, and by October at the latest, they had to finish their work – or Jem. The Sultan, the Knights Hospitaller, and the Greeks had to go home empty-handed, and after that time, perhaps Julius II would be able to turn his attention back to Tuscany, whether he was targeting Florence, Lucca, Cadiz, Pisa, or Siena...... None of that Giulio wanted to see.

Of course, Paula's previous words were just a joke, and they had already planned it back in the days of Cadiz.

It was impossible to enter Topkapi Palace directly, and even officials had to be summoned by the Sultan to enter the Emperor's Gate, the first gate of Topkapi Palace.

Bayezid II had not left the Fourth Courtyard for a long time, and between them and the Fourth Courtyard were the high walls and tens of thousands of strong guards, eunuchs and students—as well as the Janissaries stationed in Istanbul.

They also thought that since the Sultan had hundreds of concubines and thousands of officials, they would also need food and water. In fact, in the second courtyard of Topkapi Palace, there were nearly a thousand people working for the three meals a day for the Sultan and his officials, concubines, attendants and guards, and they had to make more than 6,000 meals a day, but it was almost impossible to start with food, after all, there were too many Sultans who died of poisoning, and their knowledge and precautions against poison were far greater than those of the Italians or the French.

There was an idea that always haunted Duarte's mind—he wanted to make it, but he never opened it, because he was aware that his master would not allow him to do so, because the source of that terrible thought came from Julio. Medici with his teacher.

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