The city of Damascus on the Mediterranean coast, this war-torn city has suffered many vicissitudes, whenever the war comes, this commercial city located on the main road between Egypt and Asia will be greatly affected, the most recent is more than 100 years ago, the Turkic from Central Asia Timur seriously damaged the city, he moved the city's craftsmen to Central Asia, the result is that this famous commercial city once decayed to the extreme, and even Damascus's most famous knife skills have been greatly affected.

In the following hundred years, Damascus ushered in the rule of the Mamluk dynasty, although the dynasty was very corrupt, but Damascus miraculously restored its own prosperity, especially the Damascus knives produced here, which were exported to the Far East of the Ming Dynasty, and became the favorite of monarchs and generals everywhere.

Today, however, Damascus is in the midst of war because the Ottoman Empire, which had destroyed the Byzantine Empire decades earlier, launched its third crusade, this time targeting the Mamluk dynasty, which occupied Egypt and part of Asia, and Damascus, one of the most important cities of the Mamluk dynasty in Asia, was captured by the Ottoman Empire in one fell swoop, which also marked the loss of the Mamluk dynasty's territory in Asia, and only Egypt was left to rule.

Riding on a tall Arabian warhorse and smiling on his face, Selim I entered the historic city of Damascus, one of the most famous commercial cities on the Mediterranean coast, which witnessed the replacement of the Roman and Byzantine empires by the emerging Arab empires, and the heyday of the Umayyad dynasty, which was also severely destroyed by the Abbasids. It also witnessed the defeat of the Crusaders in Europe by Saladin, the Arab national hero. And today the city has a new owner. That is, the great Ottoman Sultan Selim I.

Selim I was the ninth sultan of the Ottoman Empire, because he governed the country with severe means, so he was called the "ruthless one" by the people of the empire, he was just fifty years old this year, although he had passed the peak of a man, but Selim I on horseback did not show any old age, the Arab robes on his body did not cover his strong figure, and his waist was straight when he sat on the horse. Only the gray hair on his temples and the deep wrinkles on his forehead indicate that this strong monarch is no longer a young man.

Selim I is now very proud, originally he was a little hesitant about his third expedition to the west, although the Mamluk dynasty fought with the Portuguese for a whole decade, in order to compete for land transportation from the Red Sea into the Mediterranean, it can be said that this war made the Mamluk dynasty was greatly weakened, and the Portuguese also once had the upper hand, but in the past two years, the Ming Dynasty in the east suddenly began to expand at sea, and defeated the Portuguese fleet one after another. As a result, the strength of the Portuguese was now weakened, and the Mamluks once again gained the upper hand. His control over Asia had also increased, so Selim I had little confidence in the crusade.

However, when Selim I hesitated, the Mamluk dynasty did not know where to learn the news that he was going to go east to conquer the Mamluks, and as a result, he took the initiative to attack the Ottoman Empire, which finally helped Selim I to make up his mind and start a territorial war with the Mamluk dynasty against the Damascus region of West Asia.

Thinking of the Mamluk cavalry he had defeated before, Selim's mouth couldn't help but have a smile on his lips, but he didn't expect that the Mamluk cavalry that was powerful in Europe and Asia had decayed into such a state, and he just charged once, and he defeated the opponent's equivalent strength with himself, and the other party immediately gave up the territory on this side of Asia after the defeat, which made him not take much effort at all, so he occupied the Damascus city under his feet.

Speaking of the Mamluk Dynasty, the other party, like Selim's Ottoman Empire, was an Islamic kingdom that split from the huge Arab Empire that year, when the Arab Empire was divided, and encountered the Mongols who swept across Europe and Asia, not only was Baghdad slaughtered by the Mongols, but the contemporary caliphs were also wrapped in blankets by the Mongols and trampled to death with horses.

However, although the contemporary caliph is dead, the highest title of caliph in Islam has been inherited by the Mamluk dynasty and passed down from generation to generation, although the title of caliph has long been no longer as powerful as it was back then, but it still has unparalleled appeal in religion, so Selim I's crusade to the east, in addition to wanting to include Egypt into his rule and restore the huge territory of the Arab Empire, the most important thing is to grab the title of caliph.

Thinking of becoming the caliph of the entire Muslim world in the future, Selim couldn't help but feel a burst of excitement, and looked at the Damascus land under his feet with a kind of greed, today he can conquer Damascus, tomorrow he can conquer the whole of Egypt, and in the future he can even recreate the glory of the Arab empire in the past, and build a huge empire again, so that the Mediterranean Sea will once again become the inland sea of the Muslim world.

Because of the corruption and incompetence of the Mamluk Dynasty, Selim easily laid down Damascus, so this ancient commercial city did not suffer much damage, except for some damage on the city wall, most of the facilities in the city are still intact, and even the people of Damascus in the city did not flee, but calmly welcomed the arrival of Selim, after all, for the people here, they have long been accustomed to the change of rulers, and Selim belongs to the same Muslims as them, as long as they do not resist, It will not provoke a massacre on the other side, the difference is just a change of ruler, which does not have much impact on Damascus.

Selim rode around the city of Damascus, which would be one of his bases for ruling West Asia in the future, and it was also the rear of the attack on Egypt, and it was also located on the main transportation route between Asia and Europe, and the commerce was very prosperous, and it was also the only way to make a pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina.

After inspecting Damascus, Selim came to the city to prepare a residence for him, which was originally the mayor's official residence where the mayor sent by the Mamluks lived, but the mayor of Mamluk had been trampled into meat by the Ottoman cavalry in the previous siege battle, so his mansion naturally became Selim's temporary residence, but it is said that the mayor's wife killed all her children after hearing that her husband had been killed, and then she also died in the hall of the mayor's palace, So when Selim arrived, he could still faintly smell a trace of blood wafting in the mayor's mansion.

According to the tradition of the Ottoman Empire, Selim has been living in the army before becoming a sultan, and he is physically strong, his martial arts are amazing, and he soon got the title of warrior on the battlefield, even if he has now become a sultan, but he still restricts himself with a kind of military requirements, such as he does not care too much about his residence and diet, in his opinion, as long as the place where he lives can be sheltered from the wind and rain, and the food can be eaten, as for other requirements, there is no need at all, So he never cared where he lived.

On the one hand, after all, the Mamluks ruled Damascus for nearly 300 years, and although the Mamluk army retreated to Egypt, Selim was still worried that Damascus would have problems, so he ordered the army to be stationed there temporarily.

In addition, Selim's army from Asia Minor to Damascus, the army is already a little tired, and needs to rest well, and he wants to take Egypt in one go, but it is not so easy, he must prepare accordingly in advance, which also requires a period of preparation.

And it is worth mentioning that during this time, the Portuguese were defeated by the Ming on the Indian Ocean, although it weakened some of their strength, but it also made them pay more attention to the land communication line from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, according to the news that Selim obtained, the Portuguese seem to be accumulating strength and preparing to defeat the Mamluks in one fell swoop, but now the situation has changed, and the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea is just the border between Selim and the Mamluks of Egypt, so Selim also has to pay attention to the actions of the Portuguese, lest he be taken advantage of by the Portuguese in the event of a war with the Mamluks.

However, what Selim I did not expect was that not long after he had conquered Damascus, and the news of the Portuguese inquiry had not yet returned, he suddenly received a news that surprised him very much, because a mission from the distant Ming Dynasty actually entered the Red Sea, and then landed in the southwest direction of Damascus, and came all the way in the direction of Damascus, where he was.

For the distant country of the Ming Dynasty, Selim is not unfamiliar, especially in recent years, the goods of the Ming Dynasty are full of Ottoman shopping malls, from precious silk, porcelain to cheap cotton, sugar and other goods, there are merchants of the Ming Dynasty from the distant country to sell, and Selim also knows that the Arab Empire also had a war with the Central Plains Dynasty before the Ming Dynasty, as a result, they were lucky to win, thus gaining control of Central Asia, but later with the Central Plains Dynasty accompanied by the Mongols from the Far East, They ruined the entire Arab world, but I don't know why the Ming Dynasty suddenly sent an embassy this time? (To be continued......)