On the morning of the 11th month of the 12th year of Chengtian, Selim and the others boarded several elegantly decorated carriages, and under the arch of two large public carriages full of guards, a small group of cavalry opened the way in front of them. He left the State Guesthouse with great fanfare and headed towards the Cabinet Office.

The carriage drove smoothly along the way, and the concrete-paved ground in the city of Nanjing was as smooth as a mirror, not inferior to the stone-paved avenues of central Istanbul.

Selim still remembers that when he came back to Nanjing, in addition to the fact that Nanjing was not as prosperous as it is today, many roads were still rammed earth. But now the entire streets and lanes of Nanjing, as far as he can see, have all been paved with cement pavement.

The road from the State Guesthouse to the city is very short, and the horse-drawn carriage travels at high speed for a while before leaving the Xuanwu Lake area and entering the bustling business district of Nanjing.

When Selim first came to Nanjing, the Cabinet Office was still next to the Imperial Palace, but as the number of personnel in the Cabinet Office increased more and more, at the end of the tenth year of Chengtian, it was finally moved to the edge of Mochou Lake. Xuanwu Lake and Mochou Lake are separated by eight miles, but there are many turns in the roads in the urban area, and the total distance is more than 15 miles.

As you enter the streets of the business district, the speed slows down as there are more horse-drawn carriages on the carriage tracks, and there are special horse-drawn carriage tracks on the roads. Selim sat up straight and looked carefully at the city ahead through the gap above the small door at the front of the carriage.

Although there have been more and more news and rumors about China circulating in Istanbul in recent years, he only believes what he sees with his eyes. When he came to Nanjing, it was still five years of Chengtian, and now seven years have passed in a blink of an eye.

In seven years, Istanbul has not changed much, except for the palace guard in the hands of the Sultan, with a strengthened regimental palace guard, equipped with artillery, rockets and other weapons of a full 5,000 soldiers. These people made the Sultan speak in a tougher tone and straighter his back over the past few years, and eventually brought about some changes in the mighty Ottoman army - the new Ottoman army was formed.

But what about the city of Nanjing?

Selim's eyes lit up with envy. Compared with his old memories, the city of Nanjing today is like a brand new city.

There are no single-storey shops on the street anymore.

On both sides of the road are usually two-storey buildings, and there are four or five storey high-rise buildings rising abruptly.

There are fewer patrols on the streets, and there are no armed patrolling soldiers, but there are more traffic policemen with sticks and green vests with red armbands on their arms.

There is also a novelty such as traffic kiosks on the streets of Nanjing. But this aspect also reflects the prosperity of Nanjing.

Busy with traffic, ringing horses, and public carriages, Selim himself estimated that there were at least twice as many people here as in Istanbul.

God knows how the Ottoman Empire, which has always been known for its vast land and large population, has not as many people as Russia today, only a small 24 million. And the composition is complex, and the monotheists (mainly Greeks and Armenians) in Greater Syria alone make up 10% of the total population of the empire. Anatolia, Rumillia, Egypt, and Iraq also have monotheists, totaling millions of people.

Naturally, these people could not be counted as a source of troops for the Ottoman Empire.

Add to that the Jews, who live mainly in the big cities of Istanbul, where there are 100,000 Jews. Including monotheists, these people can make up to 20% of the total population.

In other words, the current Ottoman Empire can only have a population base of about 20 million. This is much less than the population of Russia and Austria combined.

Therefore, the Ottomans have faced up to the strength of their opponents and asked them to fight the Russians alone, and now the bigwigs in Istanbul are no longer ashamed.

At the same time, before you know it, China's influence on Istanbul has become prominent. This is not simply the impact of bilateral economic and trade developments, but because the Ottomans felt more and more of the crisis, the greater and more important China became to the Ottomans.

Further away, it is difficult to see from the angle, because there are more and more two-story small buildings in the residential areas of the street. Deeper inside, there are five or six storey accommodation buildings and apartment buildings.

Selim also saw a police station, similar in style to the new police station in Istanbul, with two policemen in black uniforms standing at the door, not only with bayonets on their muskets, but also in cuirasses.

It's mighty!

Selim sighed twice in his heart, but when the convoy drove past the gate of the police station, Selim suddenly froze. What did you just admire?

It's mighty.

But if you put it at the beginning, then what you admire should be a strict vigilance!

The difference is huge, Selim sighed.

Even he unconsciously planted the impression that 'China is very strong' in his heart, and in the past seven years, people have unconsciously acquiesced to this imprint.

This was also the case in the Ottoman Empire.

Outsiders who saw the Ottoman sultan's own soldiers did not think that they were on full guard, but only that they were disciplined and meticulous.

Just like China is now.

When you have the mark of the 'extremely powerful' of this kingdom in your heart, they are majestic and majestic.

Once upon a time, various fatal factors such as corruption, self-control, weak sense of responsibility, and superfluity have begun to erode the empire that the Ottomans were once proud of, and let this old empire gradually begin to slide from its peak to the bottom.

Selim doesn't know how long the kingdom in front of him can hold up in 'strong'?

Recalling the glory of the past, and looking at the scattered, cowardly, and weakened Ottoman army today, as a patriotic Ottoman, Selim couldn't help but feel a little sad. Today's Ottoman Empire can only rely on those new armies formed on the basis of aliens and infidels, just like the original Sultan's own soldiers, Selim does not know whether such a new army will become a parasite lying on the empire like the Sultan's personal soldiers in the development and growth of a hundred years later.

Selim had been a diplomatic ambassador, he had seen the militaries of many countries, and he knew the importance of the system.

If the Ottoman Empire could not accurately establish a complete new military system, it would be impossible to change the current situation of the empire, to completely reverse the defeat of the empire, and to restore the iron-blooded pride and ambition of the past.

Many of the officers and soldiers of the Sultan's own army were fathers and sons, so the combat effectiveness of the entire Janissary Army declined rapidly, and the militarization of the troops was also very serious, and there were several rebellions in history. The new army can't do that.

Selim himself knew in his heart that relying on the old military system would not save the empire from decline, but would only send it to hell. At present, the Sultan has an extra palace guard in his hands, and the political situation in the country does show signs of reversing the old trend of decline.

But it all depends on the performance in battle.

Comparison between the Janissaries and the New Army, if the latter can win, the Sultan's own soldiers/Janissaries/Janissaries, lose a big bargaining chip. The Scales of Victory will fall on the side of the Forces nouvelles.

The streets became wider and wider, and the middle carriage lane, on the left and right sides, was large enough for four carriages to be carried in parallel. On the sidewalks on both sides of the carriage and horse road, the bustling crowd never walked on the wide carriage and horse path, but always walked peacefully on the gravel road outside the white line drawn on both sides of the carriage and horse road.

Selim couldn't help but sigh a little when he saw this, it is obvious that the Chinese have become accustomed to this rule, the carriage road is specially for carriages, ox carts, and horses, and beyond the white line is the passage that pedestrians should take. When he first came to Nanjing, he often saw pedestrians who did not follow the rules on the streets, but now, he has not seen any of them along the way.

Buildings lined the road, and most of Selim's attention was the shops. The shops on both sides of the road are not small shops selling farm tools, pots and bowls, salt and sugar, and grain items, nor are they ordinary shops selling consumer goods such as fruits, edible oil, and meat, but high-end consumption places such as silk garments, gold and silver jewelry, handicrafts, cultural shops, and luxury hotels.

Along the way, Selim's eyes were dazzled by the bright glass mirrors of each shop.

"Nanjing is the best place in China, and when the city was laid out, the imperial court took into account the living problems of the people, and opened special farmers' markets in each residential area. And the shops on both sides of this avenue naturally do not have shops that buy low-value items such as tobacco, alcohol, melons, fruits, and meat. ”

Huang Song explained to Selim.

Looking at the shop outside, there was no sigh at all, and his identity reached his position, no matter how prosperous the commercial place was, it could not attract his attention, but it was the lively life atmosphere of Confucius Temple and Chenghuang Temple, which was more in line with Huang Song's mind.

In the face of Selim's questions, Huang Song's secretary explained to Selim in detail about Nanjing's urban planning.

The difference in the definition of commercial area, residential area, and industrial area determines the prosperity and flow of people in each district. Infrastructure such as road traffic, squares, parks, schools, hospitals, sewers, waterworks, etc., all need to be taken into account. This of course includes wet markets and even recycling.

Selim was silent about this, and compared to China, the Ottoman Empire lagged behind in urban planning.

Listen to what the Chinese say, serve the people's life - business, facilitate the people's life - education, medical care, transportation, improve the quality of life of the people - parks and green spaces.

As the capital of China's vast empire, the city of Nanjing and Istanbul already have differences in the definition of cities. The former no longer needs to consider the possibility of invasion by foreign enemies, while the latter has to face the threat of Russia and Austria.

This simply can't be compared!

In fact, compared with the prosperity of the Chen Han Kingdom, Selim today looks more like seeing the survey report on China's per capita living standards.

China's strength and prosperity of China are inseparable from China's population of more than 200 million. What is the annual income of these people? Relatively speaking, it is more important than the appearance of a country or a country.

Many Ottoman merchants who have come to China tell the prosperity of the Chinese in an admiring tone, and it seems that every family in China can live a warm life with good food and clothing, as well as spare money to go to the theater for entertainment. As for the Ottomans, if you don't have a position in the government or the army, and you don't have any land or shops at home, it's unthinkable to live like the Chinese people.

Of course, some people may say that the Ottoman merchants saw the citizens of China's big cities, and they should be the middle class of China, and the high standard of living is a matter of course. But those who say this also don't want to think about how huge the gap between rich and poor was in the Ottoman Empire? How miserable is the life of ordinary people at the bottom?

Anyway, Selim thinks that according to the price level in China, the living standards of the people at the bottom of China will be much higher than those of the people at the bottom of the Ottoman Empire, which is beyond doubt.

What is it that makes China so rich? Is it just because it's a lot of land, because it's the best silk, tea, porcelain?

Selim was a little puzzled, and a little puzzled.

It is hard for him to imagine that the price of cloth in a country would be more than twice as low as that of the Ottomans, and this is because of the recent series of price increases in the price of cloth.

The price of grain – rice, corn, potatoes – was also much lower than in the Ottoman Empire.

What's more, the Ottoman Empire was still a backward feudal country with prominent domestic ethnic contradictions and a certain slavery system, and its production efficiency was even lower. Even the Ottomans' military-industrial system was more expensive than the guns they had bought from China and shipped to Istanbul.

It's really embarrassing.

And what about China?

The first nation, with the Han people as the main body, is fundamentally unshakable by other ethnic groups, and after a large number of mountainous minority people are relocated to the plains, it is foreseeable that in 20 or 50 years, these minority people will be assimilated into the same form as the Han people.

However, in the Ottoman Empire, the Turks, the main ethnic group, could not even occupy half of the weight, so that the internal contradictions were very acute.

The arms that Selim wants to buy in China this time are not new goods that have just been released from China's military industrial system, but second-hand goods that have been replaced by millions of national defense forces, which have already sold a lot in the previous war. The biggest buyers are the Mysoreans of India.

Now, the Ottomans are going to get another piece.

In addition to this, there are Chinese warships.

The Turks were able to build sailing ships, and the level of shipbuilding was not low, and the naval power was not low.

The Russians' newly formed Black Sea Fleet was, of course, a big threat to Istanbul, but in the Black Sea the Ottomans were not afraid of the Russians either. Compared to Russian warships, Ottoman naval warships were a little faster.

But it's expensive.

For the same 70-gun third-class battleship, the cost of a single ship in Britain was only 65,000 pounds, and the Russians needed 75,000 to 80,000 pounds, so the cost of the Ottoman Empire could reach 90,000 pounds.

And what about China?

The unit price of the third-class battleships sold by China is only 2 million Chinese yuan, which is about 65,000 pounds.

Although there was no oak in the building materials of Chinese warships, fir was not much worse than oak. Chinese shipbuilding, mostly fir wood, cypress and pine wood, unless specifically asked - add money, otherwise the Chinese very much use teak to build ships.

The latter is more of a furniture made by the Chinese.

Compared with the large amount of oak [mixed with pine] required by Western warships, the actual cost of Chinese warships is much lower. The oak of Western and Central Europe has long been cut down, and John Bull wants to build warships, and the oak needed is either shipped from the Americas or purchased from Northern Europe, Sweden.

Therefore, the third-class battleships produced by China seem to be not expensive, but in fact the benefits are great. 2 million is definitely not the transaction price, the real price can be rubbed a little bit in the negotiation.

Selim's arms purchases in China amounted to 1 million pounds, or nearly 30 million Chinese dollars, and in addition to a large number of second-hand guns, he would also pack and take a fleet from China. There were at least four battleships of the third rank, as well as a large number of auxiliary ships.