Chapter 88 Circassians (Subscription Request)

As soon as the sky was light, Selim had already climbed out of bed.

Although this was not his intention, Selim felt a headache when he saw Mahmoud, who was almost as tall as the bed or even lower than the bed.

This kid is only five years old, how can he be so energetic? Is he taking drugs?

Selim waited slowly for the maid to dress him, then washed up, and then left the Baghdad Palace.

The little guy shouted while running.

"Brother, hurry up, isn't Justinian going to have a blind date with the noble ladies of those families today?

Hurry up, let's go and stake out for him first."

Selim yawned, grabbed Mahmoud, and threw him to the maid behind him.

"Little kid, why are you running? Follow your sister behind you, do you hear me!"

Mahmoud struggled for a while, trying to break free from the maid's hands, and several times he almost let the boy escape successfully.

Selim took a look and then signaled the guards to go and look after Mahmoud. Mahmoud, who was held by the guards, looked at Selim with resentment.

The Sultan laughed and headed for his destination.

It was said that he was going to match Justinian, but in fact, the Sultan's harem needed to supplement the maids. Almost all of these candidates were noble ladies from many small and medium-sized families in Greece and Anatolia.

After all, the big families don't need to rely on this method. Their own strength is strong enough.

Compared with sending their daughters to the palace to fight for a chance to be favored by the Sultan, it is a better way to marry a big family of the same level.

This is the current situation of the Ottoman Empire. Selim can weaken the aristocratic family, but he can't eliminate it directly. Who to rule the world with is actually a very obvious question, and he doesn't even need to think about it to answer it.

So this draft was held with the idea of ​​supporting small and medium-sized families. Whether it is a typhoon, a tornado or a black storm, it is not as powerful as pillow talk.

Let's not worry about whether the Sultan slept with these girls or not. In short, these small and medium-sized families did borrow prestige.

Of course, the reason is not as noble as what Emperor Sai said, because the maids in the Sultan's harem actually came from a variety of sources.

For example, European women robbed by pirates, female slaves presented to the Sultan by wealthy families, and large slave traders such as the Kara Osman family who often do business with the Sultan are all important sources of the Sultan's harem.

As for why the maids in the Sultan's harem are not imported from slave traders now, nonsense, Emperor Sai has decided to abolish serfdom, can he still do such a rebellious behavior?

The Sultan can't talk like a fart, and the Russians have been making more and more moves in the Caucasus recently. Buying Muslims in the north is not conducive to unity.

The last Russo-Turkish war made the Tsarist government from top to bottom hold a grudge.

For Catherine II, since she could not punish the Ottoman Empire, she could only take the Circassians, who were Muslims like the Ottoman Empire, as her target.

The Circassians were also glorious in the past.

In the 16th century, the Circassians and Tsarist Russia united to fight against the Crimean Khanate. They sent envoys to Moscow to meet with Tsar Ivan the Terrible.

Ivan the Terrible even married a Circassian princess as his queen to win over the warlike Circassians.

The Mamluks of Egypt also liked to recruit them because they were brave and good at fighting.

But they were a small nation after all and did not have the strength to expand further.

In the 18th century, the increasingly powerful Tsarist Russia began to conquer and encroach on the Caucasus region, and the Circassians living in the North Caucasus were not immune.

In order to resist the Tsarist Russia, they approached their southern neighbors, the Ottoman Empire and the Persian Empire, for support. For this reason, the Circassians converted to Islam and became Muslims from then on.

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In fact, according to the historical process of the original time and space, the Tsarist Russia would not take action against the Circassians so quickly.

It was not until the Russian Empire defeated Napoleon in 1812 that it officially began the process of conquering the Caucasus.

In the process of conquering the Caucasus, the Cossack cavalry that had been conquered by the Russian Empire and originally belonged to the Ottoman Empire became the Russian Empire's thugs, and they participated in most of the battles of the Caucasus War.

In the war that lasted for half a century, the Circassians were gradually devoured by the Russian Empire.

In the end, under the coercion of the Cossack cavalry and the Russian army, most of the Circassians were expelled from the land where their ancestors grew up.

They were forced to take a boat across the Black Sea to the Ottoman Empire for refuge.

The Circassians who arrived in the empire resumed their old jobs and continued to serve as mercenaries to help the Ottoman Empire fight against the Russian Empire.

In the Ottoman Empire's massacre of Armenians, the Circassians also acted as thugs.

And according to the news Selim received in the past few months, the Russian Empire has sent troops to attack the gathering places of the Circassians several times.

Thousands of Circassians have died in the attacks of the Russians, and they have thought about resistance.

How could soldiers with only scimitars defeat the Russian army with muskets and cannons?

Selim could imagine the scene, where the Circassian cavalry and infantry wearing nose helmets attacked the Cossack cavalry and the Russian army, but were slaughtered by muskets and cannons.

As for why the Ottoman Empire did not provide weapons to the Circassians, who were also Muslims.

The reason is simple. The Circassians are Muslims, and the Turks are also Muslims. Although the languages ​​of the two sides are different, they also have certain similarities.

It can be said that the Circassians are the best material that Selim can find to supplement the Turks.

When these people become refugees, the Ottoman Empire will welcome them.

Although Sayyid the Great did have the idea of ​​building a great Ottoman nation, it was not a matter of everyone agreeing collectively and changing their bloodline immediately after a Sultan said so.

The establishment of a nation is not something you can create by writing a few history books and publishing a few news articles. The issue of nation is far from being that simple, not to mention that the Ottoman Empire is also mixed with religious divisions.

Although Selim has issued policies, it will take time to prove whether the effect is good.

A nation is not so easy to establish. The most important thing here is national identity.

The reason why the Han nationality is the most tenacious nation in the world (don't argue, arguing means you are right) is that Emperor Wu of Han's war against the Huns is actually the most important part of building the identity of the Han nationality.

After the First Emperor used force to unite the six countries for the first time, unified the writing and weights and measures, and took on the counterattack of the old nobles of the six countries.

The embryo of what would be called the Han nationality in the future was formed, and Emperor Wu of Han shaped the branches for this embryo. The subsequent development of the history of the two Han dynasties and a certain Eastern power strengthened the Han national consciousness.

This gave a certain Eastern power an advantage that is difficult to match in the world, and this is the confidence of daring to play with the flower-growing nation.

But Selim did not have this condition. He could not even get the recognition of the Turks. In the original time and space, it was Kemal who shaped this nation.

So before building the Ottoman nation, Selim had to build a certain scale of Turks to suppress the battle.

The Sultan did not dare to send troops to Tsarist Russia, but it was more than enough to take advantage of the gap in the Napoleonic Wars to fight Sudan (southern Egypt), Persia, and the remnants of the Arabian Peninsula.

After all, the new army needs to practice, and national identity also needs war. Both hard power and soft power must be grasped, and both hands must be strong.

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