"Bang! Bang! Bang! "Large clouds of black smoke rose into the air, leaving bullet holes in the distant target with very irregular spots.

"Very beautiful platoon gun shooting." Mo San clapped his hands, looked ahead and said. Here is a military camp on the outskirts of Istanbul – a barracks belonging to the Ganishari Guards Regiment, whose one of the most important generals, Kara Ashari, today belongs. Murad Aga suddenly sent a message through an intermediary and invited Mr. Mo San, the diplomatic envoy of the East Coast Republic of China, to Istanbul. Although he was confused about the other party's invitation, and the name Murad Aga was also unfamiliar, Mo San still rushed over happily.

Carla. Murad was the number two in the Ottoman Empire's Ganishari Legion, second only to Bektashagha, who was the commander of the legion. Of course, he and Bektash are not on good terms, and both sides also have their own teams in the army, and although they are united externally on weekdays, they are also fighting internally. These things were quietly told to Mo San by Boris, a servant of Nasukh Pasha, when he first arrived in Istanbul the day before yesterday, and this valuable news made Mo San sigh that the property he gave to Boris was really not in vain.

Murad, who had two beautiful mustaches next to him, said something, and then a young officer next to him immediately said to Mo San in French: "Your rifles are of very good quality, and almost all of them are carved out of a mold, the size is exactly the same, and the parts are interchangeable, which is incredible." The Legion's gunsmiths love your weapons, as they significantly ease their workload. Of course, your cannons are even better, lightweight, long-range, accurate, and more importantly. The lifespan is long. The artillery produced by our own stupid craftsmen is already good enough to shoot a thousand shells. And yours are obviously capable of two to three thousand rounds. ”

"Thank you, Venerable Agha, for loving our weapons. As a loyal friend of the Ottoman Empire. We are ready to provide your country with more high-quality weapons. Mo San immediately replied with a smile when he heard this. He could not figure out Murad's intentions in summoning him, so he was cautious, and what he said was nothing more than a scene.

Unexpectedly, Murad was very interested in his words, and immediately asked, "Are you really willing to be friends with the Ottoman Empire?" ”

Hearing the young officer's translated words, Mo San hesitated a little, because he smelled something bad from these words.

But before he could consider the words, Murad spoke again, and saw him smile and say, "Friend." Don't be so careful. I'm not a Navy Pasha, and I didn't ask you to sell the battleship Bayezid. In fact, I just want you to sell us some army weapons, the Garni Shari Regiment needs to be redressed, and many of the soldiers have weapons that are too old. Old-fashioned arquebuses and bulky brass cannons don't meet our requirements, so here's your chance. The Legion of Ghanishari is going to follow His Majesty Ibrahim against the Venetians in Crete, and I know that you have built large warehouses on the island of Madagascar, which are stockpiled with a great deal of weapons and ammunition, and it is time to exchange them for gold and silver. ”

Murad said. Mo San immediately became enlightened. In fact, he had heard something about it recently, given that the Venetians often raided the coastal areas of the Ottoman Empire through Crete. The Ottomans had long wanted to pull out the nail on their doorstep. However, Venice's navy has always been stronger, and even the Dardanelles were blocked by the Venetians several times before the East Coasters sold their warships to the Ottomans.

The trigger for the war began last September, just after Gaumo's arrival in the Ottomans, when a ship carrying many important people was hijacked by Venetian pirates on the way to the Hajj and then taken to the northeastern island of Crete, Kerpe. This incident ignited the hatred of the Ottomans against Venice, and it happened that the Sultan Ibrahim, who had just executed the iron-blooded Prime Minister Mustafa Pasha, was also about to establish his power, so after some deliberation and exchange of interests, the Sultan Ibrahim decided to attack Crete with 400 ships and more than 100,000 soldiers.

In the first half of this year, the Ottoman Empire had already begun mobilization, the Sultan had also ordered the beginning of tax increases in the country, and some local lords were also ordered to lead the required number of soldiers to report to designated places before the deadline was reached. At that time, Mo San felt this unusual pre-war smell in several cities in the Ottoman country, but he didn't know who their enemy was. According to folklore, the Sultan would lead a large army to attack the island of Malta. But now listening to Murad Agha, it is clear that the real goal of the Sultan of Ibrahim was Crete, and that the so-called conquest of Malta was nothing more than a smokescreen to paralyze the Venetians.

"What do you need?" Mo San felt his heart pounding, and he couldn't tell whether it was good or bad. Of course, there is a lot of money to be made by exporting large quantities of weapons and war materials to the Ottomans, but is there a political risk involved? You must know that every time Venice could not defeat the Ottomans, he would go back and cry to the Holy See, and then organize the Christian coalition to find the field, which would cause the Spaniards to be hostile. But thinking of this, Mo San was also a little annoyed, why did Nima always worry about this and that, the Spaniards were too arrogant, could it be that we sold weapons to our good friends and you still interfered!

Just as Mo San was engaged in a fierce ideological struggle, Murad Aga spoke again: "Sultan Ibrahim has mobilized 400 ships and 100,000 soldiers, and we have a lot of material shortages, but those hateful Dutch are asking for too high a price, so we decided to hand over the business to our friends." ”

100,000 people! It was difficult for Mo San to describe how he felt when he heard this number, it was an army number that could scare the people of the East Coast. In fact, it was not only the people of the East Coast who were frightened, but also the Austrians, Russians, Poles, Venetians, and even Persians who were terrified when they heard this number.

Do 100,000 people need to be re-equipped? Mo San felt that Venus was in front of him, but he quickly understood that it was unlikely, so he calmed down from his imagination again. The Ottomans didn't have so much money!

Although the former prime minister, Mustafa Pasha, was in harmony with Sultan Murad IV and painstakingly governed the empire, which greatly improved the empire's finances, but to be honest, the little wealth accumulated during the reign of Murad IV was almost spent by Sultan Ibrahim, who had only been on the throne for a few years.

There is no doubt that the Sultan of Ibrahim was extravagant. Known to be insane about his penchant for precious furs, he spent a fortune in Istanbul to build a palace in Istanbul, Topkapi Palace, to store his furs and silk fabrics. According to gossip among Istanbul officials, the pavilions of Topkapi Palace were covered with precious skins from Russian trades, which quickly depleted the surplus of the treasury that his father had worked hard to gain under Murad IV.

And because he relied on the execution of the prime minister who had controlled the country for many years to be able to govern himself, he paid great attention to the entrapment of important subordinates. After all, at the court, the Queen Mother Sultan Kosam and the seven wives of the previous Sultan formed an alliance with the Agas of the Guards, which made Sultan Ibrahim constantly worry about his precarious position. Therefore, when every important official came to his post, he would personally summon them, and then give them valuable furs and a large amount of land, gold and silver, and sometimes he would marry his minor daughters to some important ministers, so as to encircle them. Of course, these also cost the treasury a huge amount of money.

Mo San had been in the Ottoman Empire for a year, and he also knew a lot of Istanbul's upper echelons, plus he was still teaching himself Turkish, and the sources of gossip were also abundant. Therefore, he did not dare to say how well he knew about the financial situation of the Ottoman Empire, but it was probably no problem to know one. In fact, the Ottomans were now very poor, and the number of gold and silver coins in circulation increased, but the fineness declined rapidly, and the common people suffered from inflation.

But unfortunately, the tax burden is also increasing day by day, all of which makes the people resentful, and many people begin to miss the good times when the former Grand Vidzi Mustafa Pasha was in office. Hauka's puppet - Resentful anomalous. As trade with the East Coasters became more active, many of the silver coins minted from the East Coast also entered the territory of the Ottoman Empire, and this beautifully crafted and well-colored coin immediately attracted the love of the Ottomans, who suffered from inferior coins, and many preferred to buy some East Coast dollars at a premium to keep at home rather than hold the depreciating Turkish ducats.

In such a situation, Sultan Ibrahim had to mobilize 400 ships and more than 100,000 troops to fight? This and this, Mo San only felt that the head of the Sultan was kicked by a donkey, it seems that it is not unreasonable for the people to call him "Ibrahim Crazy", this guy is indeed crazy. But what does it matter to me that he is going to fight to the death? Mo San quickly adjusted his mentality, he only cared about whether the Ottomans could get the money to buy the equipment of the East Coast people now? That's the crux of the matter, but so what about them fighting the Venetians to the edge of the sky? We're just in business!

"Naturally, our prices are favorable, especially for old friends. However, you may need to note that we only accept cash transactions and do not accept any form of credit. Mo San immediately said resolutely. What are you kidding, if the Ottomans want to pay on credit, they will definitely not agree. God knows how long this war will last, and what if the Ottomans are poor and can't afford to pay their bills? Armed debt collection?

"Obviously not paying in full cash, but we're willing to pay some young slave girls to offset the bill, and I think you'll like it." Carla. Murad frowned and said.

"Of course you can!" Mo San immediately said with a smile on his face. Of course, there was no problem in paying the bills with female slaves, and the East Coasters now had to buy a large number of female slaves in the Ottomans every year to balance the gender ratio in the country, and now if the Ottomans added some female slaves to the trade, this money could obviously be saved. (To be continued......)