Smuggling Daming

Damascus, a city on the Mediterranean coast, has experienced many vicissitudes of life. Whenever wars come, this commercial city on the main road between Egypt and Asia will be hit hard. The most recent one was more than 100 years ago. Timur, a Turkic in Asia, severely damaged the city. He moved all the craftsmen in the city to Central Asia. As a result, the city, which was famous for commerce, declined to the extreme. Even the most famous knife skills in Damascus were affected. huge impact.

In the ensuing hundred years, Damascus ushered in the rule of the Mamluk dynasty again. Although this dynasty was very corrupt, Damascus miraculously restored its own prosperity, especially the Damascus knives produced here, which were sold far and wide. Ming Dynasty in the Eastern Land, and became the favorite of monarchs and generals everywhere.

However, today Damascus is in the midst of war again, because the Ottoman Empire, which destroyed the Byzantine Empire decades ago, launched its third Eastern Expedition. This time they set their target on the Mamluk Dynasty, which occupied Egypt and part of Asia. Damascus was one of the most important cities of the Mamluk dynasty in Asia, but it was captured by the Ottoman Empire in one fell swoop. This also marked that the Mamluk dynasty lost its territory in Asia, and only Egypt was left under its rule.

Selim I rode a tall Arabian horse and entered the ancient city of Damascus with a smile on his face. This city is one of the most famous commercial cities on the Mediterranean coast. It witnessed the Roman Empire and Byzantium. The empire was replaced by the emerging Arab empire, which also experienced the heyday of the Umayyad dynasty.It was also severely destroyed by the Abbasid dynasty, and witnessed the Arab national hero Saladin's defeat of the European Crusaders. Today, the city ushered in a new owner, the great Sultan Selim I of the Ottoman Empire. .

Selim I was the ninth sultan of the Ottoman Empire. Because he governed the country with harsh methods, he was called "the cruel man" by the people of the empire. He was only 50 years old this year. Although he had passed the peak period of a man, he Selim I on horseback did not look old at all.The Arabian robe on his body did not hide his strong figure, and his back was straight when sitting on the horse. Only the gray hair on the temples and deep wrinkles on his forehead indicated that this strong monarch was no longer young. people.

Selim I is very proud now, originally he was a little hesitant about his third western expedition.Although the Mamluk dynasty fought with the Portuguese for a full ten years in order to compete for land transportation from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, it can be said that this war greatly weakened the Mamluk dynasty, and the Portuguese once had the upper hand, but In the past two years, Daming, which was far in the east, suddenly started to expand at sea, and even defeated the Portuguese fleet one after another.As a result, the strength of the Portuguese is now weakened, and the Mamluk dynasty once again has the upper hand.The control over the Asian region has also increased a lot, so Selim I has no confidence in this Eastern Expedition.

However, when Selim I was hesitating, the Mamluk dynasty didn't know where he got the news that he was going to conquer the Mamluks. In the end, he took the initiative to attack the Ottoman Empire. The Mamluk dynasty launched a territorial war against the Damascus region of West Asia. As a result, the extremely elite Mamluk cavalry was no longer as brave as it used to be.It was defeated by Selim I, and the West Asian coast of the Mediterranean represented by Damascus finally fell under his rule.

Think of the Mamluk cavalry I defeated before.A smile could not help but appear on the corner of Selim's mouth. He did not expect that the Mamluk cavalry, which was so powerful in Europe and Asia, had declined to such a state. He defeated the opponent's force equivalent to his own in just one charge, and After the opponent was defeated, he immediately gave up the territory on the Asian side, which allowed him to occupy the city of Damascus under his feet without much effort.

Speaking of the Mamluk Dynasty, the other side, like Selim’s Ottoman Empire, was an Islamic kingdom split from the huge Arab Empire. When the Arab Empire split, it encountered the Mongols who swept across Eurasia. The result was not only Baghdad Slaughtered by the Mongols, the contemporary Caliph was also wrapped in a blanket and trampled to death by the Mongols.

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. Unparalleled appeal, so Selim I's Eastern Expedition, in addition to wanting to bring Egypt into his own 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 feeling a burst of excitement. He looked at the land of Damascus under his feet with a kind of greed. Today he can conquer Damascus, and tomorrow he can conquer the whole of Egypt. In the future, he can even reproduce the glory of the Arab Empire and build a huge empire again, making the Mediterranean Sea the inland sea of ​​the Muslim world again.

Because of the incompetence of the Mamluk dynasty, Selim easily captured Damascus, so this ancient commercial city did not suffer much damage. Except for some damage to the city walls, most of the facilities in the city remained intact. Even the people of Damascus in the city did not flee, but greeted Selim’s arrival calmly. After all, for the people here, they have long been accustomed to the change of rulers, and Selim belongs to the same kingdom as them. Muslims, as long as they don't resist, they won't provoke the other party's massacre. The difference is just a change of ruler, which doesn't have much impact on Damascus.

Selim rode a horse and inspected around the city of Damascus. This will be one of his bases for ruling West Asia in the future, and it will also be the rear of his attack on Egypt. In addition, it is located on the main traffic route between Asia and Europe. It is very prosperous, and it is also the only way to go on a pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina. Countless people pass here every year, and the tax alone is a lot of income, which will provide him with considerable convenience in attacking Egypt.

After inspecting Damascus, Selim came to the residence prepared for him in the city. This was originally the mayor's mansion sent by the Mamluks to live, but the Mamluks' mayor had already died before the siege. During the battle, the Ottoman cavalry stepped on him, so his mansion naturally became Selim's temporary residence. However, it is said that after the mayor's wife heard that her husband had been killed, this tough Mamluk woman unexpectedly Killed all his children, and then died in the hall of the mayor's mansion, so when Selim arrived, he could still faintly smell a trace of blood wafting from the mayor's mansion.

According to the tradition of the Ottoman Empire, Selim had been living in the army before he became the sultan, and he was physically strong and skilled in martial arts, and soon won the title of warrior on the battlefield. A soldier’s requirements restrict himself. For example, he doesn’t care too much about his residence and diet. In his opinion, as long as the place to live can shelter from the wind and rain, and the food can fill his stomach, it’s fine. As for other requirements, he doesn’t care at all. It just wasn't necessary, so he never cared where he lived.

In the next few days, Selim led the army to station around Damascus. On the one hand, the Mamluks had ruled Damascus for nearly 300 years. Although the Mamluks retreated to Egypt, Selim was still worried that Damascus would appear. Therefore, the army was ordered to stay there temporarily.

In addition, Selim's army has been rushing from Asia Minor to Damascus. The army is already a little tired and needs a good rest. Moreover, it is not so easy for him to conquer Egypt in one go. He must make corresponding preparations in advance. , which also takes a while to prepare.

And it is worth mentioning that during this period of time, the Portuguese were defeated by Ming in the Indian Ocean. Although they weakened some of their strength, it also made them pay more attention to the land communication line from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean. According to Saili According to the news that Selim received, the Portuguese seemed to be accumulating strength and preparing to defeat the Mamluks in one fell swoop, but now the situation has changed. Mu also had to pay attention to the actions of the Portuguese, so as not to be taken advantage of by the Portuguese when he had a war with the Mamluks.

However, what Selim I did not expect was that not long after he had just conquered Damascus, and the news of Portugal's inquiries had not yet come back, he suddenly received a news that surprised him, because there was an army from far away. The mission from Daming actually entered the Red Sea, landed in the southwest of Damascus, and came all the way to Damascus where he was.

Selim is no stranger to the distant country of Ming Dynasty, especially in recent years, the goods of Ming Dynasty have filled Ottoman shopping malls, from precious silk and porcelain to cheap cotton cloth, white sugar and other commodities, there are merchants from Ming Dynasty It was transported and sold from a distant country, and Selim also knew that the Arab Empire had a war with the Central Plains Dynasty before the Ming Dynasty. In the end, they were lucky to win and thus gained control of Central Asia. However, they later fought with the Central Plains Dynasty The accompanying Mongols came from the Far East, and they destroyed the entire Arab world. I just don’t know why the Ming Dynasty suddenly sent a mission this time? (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my biggest motivation.)