Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 481 New Market ([-])

"Bang! Bang! Bang!" A large cloud of black smoke rose into the air, leaving irregular bullet holes on the target in the distance.

"It's a beautiful shot." Mo San clapped his hands and said while looking ahead.This is a military camp on the outskirts of Istanbul—a military camp belonging to the Ganisari Guards Corps. Today, an important general of the Corps, Kara Murad Aga, suddenly sent a message through an intermediary to invite the diplomatic envoys of the East Coast Republic of China Mr. Mo San is a guest in Istanbul.Although he was confused about the other party's invitation and the name Murad Aga was unfamiliar, Mo San happily rushed over.

Kara Murad was the second person in the Ottoman Empire's Ganisari Legion, second only to Bektashi Aga, who was the commander of the legion.Of course, he and Bektash were not in harmony. Both sides also had their own teams in the army. Although they were consistent with each other on weekdays, they also fought endlessly internally.These things were quietly told to Mo San by Nasukh Pasha's servant Boris when he first arrived in Istanbul the day before yesterday. This valuable news made Mo San sigh that the property given to Boris was not in vain.

Murad, who had two beautiful mustaches, 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 they are almost all carved out of the same mold. Yes, the size is exactly the same and the parts can be interchanged, which is incredible. The gunsmiths of the Legion love your weapons, because it obviously reduces their workload. Of course, your cannons are very good, light , long range, high accuracy, and more importantly, a long lifespan. The artillery produced by our own stupid craftsmen can fire a thousand rounds is already very good, and yours can obviously fire two to three thousand rounds .”

"Thanks to the honorable Agha for loving our weapons. As a loyal friend of the Ottoman Empire, we are willing to provide your country with more high-quality weapons." Mo Sanyi immediately replied with a smile.He couldn't figure out the purpose of Murad's summoning him, so he was cautious, and his words were all scene words.

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

Hearing the words translated by the young officer, Mo San hesitated, because he smelled something bad from the words.

But before he could finish his words, Murad spoke again, and he laughed and said, "My friend, don't be so careful. I'm not a navy pasha, and I didn't ask you to sell the Bayezid." Battleship. In fact, I just want you to sell us some army weapons. The Ganishari Corps needs to be refitted. Many soldiers' weapons are too old. The old-fashioned matchlock guns and heavy copper cannons do not meet our requirements. , So, here is your chance. The Ganishari Legion will follow His Majesty Ibrahim to conquer the Venetians in Crete. I know that you have built a large warehouse in Madagascar, which stores a lot of weapons and ammunition. Now , it is time to exchange them for gold and silver."

When Murad said this, Mo San immediately understood.In fact, he has also heard about it recently. Given that the Venetians often attack the coastal areas of the Ottoman Empire through Crete, Osman has long wanted to pull out the nail at the door of this house.However, Venice's naval strength has always been strong. Before the people on the east coast sold warships to the Ottomans, even the Dardanelles were blocked by the Venetians several times.

The fuse of the war originated in September last year, when Gaumo just came to Ottoman, a ship carrying many important people was hijacked by Venetian pirates on the way to the Hajj, and then the ship was taken to Crete On the island of Korpe (Kerpe) in the northeast of the island.This incident ignited the hatred of the Ottomans towards Venice. Sultan Ibrahim, who happened to have just executed the iron-blooded Prime Minister Mustafa Pasha, also wanted to stand up. Therefore, after some deliberation and exchange of interests, Ibrahim Sultan decided to lead 9 ships and more than 400 soldiers to attack Crete.

The Ottoman Empire had already mobilized in the first half of this year, and the Sultan also ordered tax increases in the country. Some local lords were also ordered to lead a specified number of soldiers to report to designated locations before the deadline.At that time, Mo San felt this unusual smell before the war in several cities in the Ottoman country, but he didn't know who their enemy was.According to folklore, the Sultan will lead an army to attack the island of Malta.But now, according to Murad Agha, Ibrahim Sultan's real goal is obviously Crete, and the so-called conquest of Malta is nothing more than a smokescreen to paralyze the Venetians.

"What do you need?" Mo San felt his heart beating, and it was hard to tell whether it was good or bad.Of course, exporting a large amount of weapons and war materials to Ottoman can make a lot of money, but is there any political risk in it?You must know that every time Venice can't beat Ottoman, he will go back and cry to the Holy See, and then organize the Christian Allied Army to recover the situation. This is something that will arouse the hostility of the Spaniards.But thinking of this, Mo San is also a little annoyed. Why is Nima always worrying about this and that? The Spaniards are too arrogant. Is it possible that we sell weapons to our good friends and you still come to interfere!

While Mo San was having a fierce ideological struggle, Murad Agha spoke again: "Sultan Ibrahim mobilized 400 ships and 10 soldiers. The Dutch asked too much again, so we decided to hand over the business to our friends."

10 people!It was difficult for Mo San to describe how he felt when he heard this number. This is an army number that can scare people from the east coast.In fact, not only people on the east coast will be scared to pee, Austrians, Russians, Poles, Venetians and even Persians will be terrified when they hear this number.

Do 10 people need to replace their equipment?Mo San felt that there were golden stars in front of his eyes, but he soon realized that this was impossible, so he calmed down from his imagination again.The Ottomans don't have that much money!

Although the former power minister Mustafa Pasha had a good relationship with Sultan Murad IV, and managed the empire painstakingly, which greatly improved the empire's finances, but to be honest, the little wealth accumulated during the period of Murad IV was almost the same. Sultan Ibrahim, who had been on the throne for only a few years, was spent.

Sultan Ibrahim is unquestionably extravagant.As we all know, his love of precious furs is crazy, and he spent huge sums of money to build a palace in Istanbul, the Topkapi Palace, which was specially used to store the furs and silks he got.According to gossip among officials in Istanbul, the pavilions and pavilions of the Topkapi Palace were covered with valuable furs traded back from Russia, which made the treasury that his brother Murad IV worked hard to manage during his reign. The surplus was quickly consumed.

And because he relied on the execution of the prime minister who had controlled the country for many years to be in power, he paid great attention to win over important subordinates.After all, in the court, the Empress Dowager Kosem Sultan and the seven wives of the previous Sultan formed an alliance, and they had a close relationship with the Agamen of the Guards, which made Ibrahim Sultan always worried about his unstable position .Therefore, when every important official came to his post, he would personally summon them, and then bestow them with valuable furs, as well as a large amount of land, gold and silver, and sometimes he would marry his underage daughters to some important officials to treat them win over.Of course, these also consumed huge funds of the treasury.

Mo San has been in the Ottoman Empire for a year, and he also knows many high-level figures in Istanbul. In addition, he is still learning Turkish by himself, and there are many sources of gossip.Therefore, he dare not say how clear he is about the financial situation of the Ottoman Empire, but it is okay to know a general idea.In fact, Ottoman is very poor now. The number of gold and silver coins in the market has increased, but the quality has declined rapidly, and the common people have suffered from inflation.

But unfortunately, the tax burden is also increasing day by day. All these make the people resentful. Vizier Ahmed Pasha - the puppet of Sinsi Hauka - was furious.And due to the increasingly active trade with people on the east bank, many silver coins minted on the east bank also entered the territory of the Ottoman Empire. People would rather buy some East Bank dollars at a premium and keep them at home, rather than holding those Turkish-made ducats that are depreciating day by day.

Under such circumstances, Ibrahim Sultan actually has to mobilize 400 ships and more than [-] troops to fight?This, this, 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 really crazy.But what does it matter to me if he wants to fight to the death?Mo San quickly adjusted his mentality. Now he only cares about whether the Ottomans can afford the money to buy the equipment of the East Coast people?This is the crux of the problem. As for saying that they are fighting the Venetians to the horizon, so what?We just do business!

"Our prices are naturally favorable, especially for old friends. But you may need to pay attention to one thing, that is, we only accept cash transactions and do not accept any form of credit." Mo San immediately said resolutely.What a joke, if the Ottomans want to pay on credit, it is absolutely unacceptable.God knows how long this war will last. What if the Ottomans become poor and cannot pay their bills?Armed for debt collection?

"It's obviously not possible to pay the full amount in cash, but we are willing to take out some young female slaves to pay the bill. I think you will like it." Kara Murad frowned and said.

"Of course!" Mo San immediately said with a smile on his face.Of course, it’s okay to use female slaves to pay the bill. People on the east coast now buy a large number of female slaves in Ottoman every year to balance the gender ratio in the country. Now if the Ottomans add some female slaves to the transaction, the money can obviously save a lot.

(End of this chapter)