"Did they agree with your way of taxing?" Gao Mo immediately asked with interest. This insulting form of taxation is even worse than the blood tax, and I wonder how the Christians will react.

"Of course they have to agree." Hassan said proudly, and after saying that, he said no more, and the group soon arrived at the "freight yard" at the back of the village.

The yard is on the edge of a small grove, and many livestock (mainly horses and camels) are tied to the trees, and some young women are tending to them. Outside the grove were a number of simple huts, in which people came and went from time to time, and when he looked from afar, he saw that almost all of them were Bulgarian or Moldavian girls with big thick braids and small flower hats. They looked quite young in terms of physiognomy, maybe in their teens, maybe in their twenties, or even older, and Gao Mo couldn't tell the difference.

Some of them are cleaning wool, while others are picking up twigs for cooking. Only a few soldiers were guarding them, and these poor women were all names, surnames, and provenances, and if they fled, their relatives in their homeland would suffer. As a result, the Ottomans only sent a few soldiers from the Garishani Legion to guard them, and in practical terms, they were more likely to protect them.

"There are more than 2,000 people here, all women between the ages of 15 and 30 who are of childbearing potential. According to the agreement, 80 yuan a piece, if you agree to the construction of the battleship Bayezid, this price can not be reduced a little more, and we guarantee that the number of people provided each year will also be doubled. Hassan squinted at Golmo and said slowly.

Gao Mo smiled bitterly and shook his head, these Turkish turtle grandsons have invested enough. It's just that it's really too big. I can't be the master myself. But I can talk to the locals about it. Well, I'll write a letter when I get back and give a detailed account of the situation here.

"Later, the port of Burgas specialized in the export of women and wool; Smyrna exports copper, graphite, mercury and sulphur; Thessaloniki exported olives, grapes, plums and slave girls; Suez exports silk, livestock and wool. You see, what a perfect business network. It is important to know that the British, the Dutch, and the French, who had good relations with the upper echelons of the empire, had a limited range of activities for their merchants, and many trade practices were severely restricted. We have allowed your country to open commercial halls at the above four ports, which is already a great sincerity. This is the kind of friendship that comes with fraternal countries, and I hope you will understand this well. Hassan was still persuading. Moreover, it seems that his persuasive behavior is not ineffective at all, at least Gao Mo and the others seem to have been moved by him.

Gomo smiled noncommittally, and then he and his entourage dismounted. The Ottoman soldiers in the distance saw the situation and were ready to come over to inquire, but after seeing a well-equipped cavalry guarding them, the usually arrogant Garishani legionmen shrank back honestly. Just kidding, this is the Sipahi cavalry, although they are not very numerous. It is far less than the Garishani Guards Regiment, which has become a climate today, but it is a well-trained and well-trained unit. These ordinary Guards Legion leaders can't afford to offend themselves.

Over the years, the Ottoman Empire was founded by the former Sultan Murad IV and the Grand Vidzikomanks. Carla. Under Mustafa Pasha's vigorous rectification, he has gradually recovered from the previous predicament of continued political turmoil and financial collapse. It has to be said that Mustafa is a capable man with quite a skill, first of all, he successfully suppressed the disobedient Garishani new army, banned coffee and tobacco throughout the country (because cafes were the gathering place of the rebel new army), and took the opportunity to reduce a large number of new army soldiers who were either disobedient or whose combat strength had greatly declined due to the lack of military discipline, and also reduced the extravagance and waste of some of the sultan's court and government, and effectively reduced the financial burden of the empire. At the same time, in order to alleviate inflation, he ordered an increase in the amount of gold and silver in the coinage coinage; He also sent corrupt officials to be abolished, and after many years of re-inventory, taxed land, new land certificates, and re-established the amount of taxes based on the yield of existing land. In short, thanks to his efforts, the Ottoman Empire's finances were finally barely balanced, and the salaries of soldiers and officials were once again paid on time.

However, this guy is also more unlucky - it seems that the reformers of any country did not end well, because his strong reform policy annoyed many nobles of the Ottoman court, and under their collusion, the sultan, who was dissatisfied because he could not control the affairs of the state, the empress dowager, the Turkish nobles whose interests were violated, and the new officers and soldiers who were cut off united against him, and the former Aleppo Pasha Nasukh, who had close ties with the East Bankers. Zade. Hussein Pasha began a rebellion in Aleppo as a proxy for these men on the surface, and then marched towards Istanbul. And then...... Then there was no more, and the local army of Nasukhpasha was magnificently defeated in front of the Garishani Guards, and the opposition was completely suppressed.

Mustafa's good days were short-lived, though, and at the beginning of the year, the new army of Garishani, as it had played in all Turkish court rebellions, betrayed the Grand Vizi Mustafa again and then assisted the Sultan in executing him. After the death of the iron-blooded prime minister who ruled the country for many years, the power of the Ottomans now fell to Sultan Ibrahim's teacher, Simsi. In the hands of Hauka, the Empress Dowager Kosem, Sultan and others, and Nasukhpasha, an old friend of the East Coasters, once again turned over and became a red man in the Ottoman court.

"After Mustafa's death, Sultan Ibrahim's main focus turned to his harem concubines. Now inside the court is Cyncy. Hauka and the Queen Mother call the shots, and Nasukh Pasha is currently the red man on both sides. With such a relationship, I think the foundation of our cooperation will be even stronger. When Hassan said this, his face was slightly unnatural, as if there was a faint hint of anger.

"Hassan, I heard that there are people in your family who hold positions in the Sipahi Army, what do you think of the Garishani Guards Legion, which has great influence in the Sultan's court? If—I mean, if we come to an agreement on both sides, then how can the relationship with the Forces nouvelles be balanced? I have heard that your Sipahi cavalry regiment is not on good terms with them, and if they come out against it, I think that any agreement between us will most likely not proceed. As you know, Ibrahim Sultan relied on the strength of the Garishani Legion to execute Mustafa, but it also made the Garishani Legion even more powerful, and I heard that dozens of important positions in Istanbul were awarded to the officers or soldiers of the Garishani Legion. Gao Mo voiced his concerns.

"Nasukh Pasha is a magical man, and he doesn't have a bad relationship with the Aga (commanders) of the Guard, and with him, there are no big problems. And don't you know that the Agas of the Garishani Guards have always had a good impression of you? Hassan looked at Golmo with a strange look, and then said, "You have sold so many army weapons to our country before and after, and at least half of these weapons have been equipped to the Guards Legion, and they have responded very well after using them. That is, they are not prejudiced against you, provided that you give them enough benefits and do not provoke them. ”

Gao Mo was speechless. This Ottoman affair is complicated and complicated, but in fact, it is simple and very simple, and the trouble is nothing more than a few forces at work, that is, the power of the court, the power of the army and the local power, as long as they coexist peacefully and have equal interests, then there is no problem in doing business in the Ottoman Empire. However, there are many things to pay attention to, such as the power of the palace is divided into the Sultan faction and the Queen Mother's faction; The strength of the army is divided into the Garishani Guards Legion, the Sipahi Cavalry Corps, and the naval force is mixed in; The local power mainly includes some Christian lords in the Balkans, the Pasha of Algiers in North Africa, the Pasha of Tunisia, and the feudal lords of the Mamluks in Egypt. The relationship is complicated, and if you don't have the guidance of an insider, you will definitely not be able to figure it out, and it is likely that you will inadvertently offend many people without knowing it.

"The Garishani Guards Regiment is a moth of the state, high, I will only say this here once today, and I will not say it again in the future, and I will not admit that I said these things." Hassan said with a somewhat serious face, "Although these pagan people have converted to Allah, they are still greedy bandits. They habitually rebel in order to gain their own advantage, and after each rebellion their power and influence deepens, and sooner or later the country will be destroyed at their hands. ”

After saying this, Hassan was silent for a while, and then said: "There are too many ignorant and conservative people in this country, and unfortunately many of these people are aristocrats who hold state power, and they are obsessed with the past glory of the empire, but they do not see the growing gap between the empire and the Western countries today. Gao, I asked you to help us build warships, build roads, repair docks, repair railroad carriages, and sell advanced army weapons, all so that the idiots in China can see the rapid development achievements of Western countries and face up to the gap between us and the outside world. Anyway, we'll have to give it a try. Don't worry, I won't let you suffer. I've seen your roads, and they're great, and they're sure to surprise the conservative old guys when they're done. Then from Edirne to Plovdiv, from Plovdiv to Sofia, from Sofia to Belgrade, the roads are all yours! The construction is done by our people, and the design, materials, and supervision are up to you, this is a lucrative business, believe me, Gao, I will not let you suffer. (To be continued......)