Dominate the Country

On the morning of November in the twelfth year of Chengtian, Selim and others boarded several elegantly decorated carriages, under the protection of two large public carriages full of guards, and a small team of cavalry led the way in front of them. They left the State Guesthouse with great fanfare and headed towards the Cabinet Office.

The carriages drove smoothly along the way. The cement paved ground in Nanjing was as smooth as a mirror, and was no less than the avenues in the center of Istanbul that were carefully repaired with stone slabs.

Selim still remembered that when he came to Nanjing last time, Nanjing was not as prosperous as it is today, and many roads were still rammed earth. But now, the streets and lanes of Nanjing, as far as he could see, have all been paved with cement.

The road from the State Guesthouse to the city was very short. After driving at high speed for a while, the carriage left the Xuanwu Lake area and entered the prosperous commercial area of ​​Nanjing.

When Selim first came to Nanjing, the Cabinet Office was still next to the palace, but as the number of staff in the Cabinet Office increased, it was finally moved to the edge of Mochou Lake at the end of the tenth year of Chengtian. Xuanwu Lake is eight miles away from Mochou Lake, but the roads in the city have many turns, and the total distance is more than fifteen miles.

After entering the streets of the commercial district, the speed of the car also slowed down, because there were more carriages on the carriage road, and there were special tram tracks on the road. Selim sat up straight without making a sound, and looked carefully at the city ahead through the gap above the small door at the front of the carriage.

Although more and more news and rumors about China have been circulating in Istanbul in recent years, he only believes what he sees with his own eyes. When he came to Nanjing, it was still the fifth year 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 guards in the hands of the Sultan, who have a palace guard with a strengthened regiment system, equipped with cannons, rockets and other weapons, with a total of 5,000 soldiers. These people made the Sultan speak more firmly and stand up straighter in the past few years, and eventually made some changes in the army of the huge Ottoman Empire - the new Ottoman army was established.

But what about Nanjing?

Selim's eyes blossomed with envy. Compared with his old memories, Nanjing is now like a brand new city.

There are no single-story shops on the street.

There are generally two-story small buildings on both sides of the road, and there are four- or five-story high-rise buildings in between.

There are fewer patrol police on the street, and no armed patrol soldiers. Instead, there are more traffic police with sticks and people wearing green vests with red armbands on their arms.

There are also new things like traffic booths on the streets of Nanjing. But this aspect also reflects the prosperity of Nanjing.

There are a lot of cars and people, the bells of trams ringing, and one after another of public carriages. Selim estimated that the flow of people here is at least twice that of Istanbul.

God knows why the Ottoman Empire, which has always been famous for its vast territory and large population, has a population that is not as large as Russia, only 24 million. And the composition is complex. The monotheists in Greater Syria (mainly Greeks and Armenians) account for 10% of the total population of the empire. And there are also monotheists in Anatolia, Rumelia, Egypt, and Iraq, totaling millions of people.

These people naturally cannot be counted as the source of soldiers for the Ottoman Empire.

In addition, the Jews mainly live in big cities such as Istanbul. There are 100,000 Jews in Istanbul alone. Counting monotheists, the number of these people can account for 20% of the total population.

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

Therefore, the Ottomans have already faced up to the strength of their opponents. Asking them to fight the Russians alone, the big guys in Istanbul no longer feel ashamed.

At the same time, unknowingly, China's influence on Istanbul has become prominent. This is not simply the impact of bilateral economic and trade development, but because the Ottomans are increasingly aware of the crisis, China's importance to the Ottomans is increasing.

The farther away, the more two-story buildings are in the residential area of ​​this street. Deeper inside, there are five- or six-story residential buildings and apartment buildings.

Selim also saw a police station, which looked similar to the newly established police station in Istanbul. Two policemen in black uniforms stood at the door. Not only were bayonets hung on their muskets, but both of them were also wearing breastplates.

Very majestic!

Selim praised twice in his heart, but when the convoy passed the door of the police station, Selim was suddenly stunned. What did he admire just now?

It was majestic.

But if it was put back then, what he admired should be the strict security!

The difference is very big, Selim sighed.

Even he unconsciously planted the impression that "China is very powerful" in his heart. In seven years, people have unconsciously accepted this impression.

The Ottoman Empire was like this before.

When outsiders see the Sultan's guards of the Ottoman Empire, they don't think they are on full alert, but just think they are disciplined and meticulous.

Just like China now.

When you have already stored the impression of this country's "extreme power" in your heart, they are majestic and solemn.

When did corruption, power-seeking, lack of responsibility, and insignificant personnel begin to erode the empire that the Ottomans were once proud of, causing this old empire to gradually slide down from its peak.

Selim didn't know how long this country in front of him could last in "strength"?

Recalling the glory of the past, and looking at the disorganization, cowardice, and weakness of the Ottoman army today, as a patriotic Ottoman, Selim couldn't help but feel a little sad. Today, the Ottoman Empire can only rely on the new army formed on the basis of foreign races and pagans, just like the Sultan's personal soldiers at the beginning. Selim didn't know whether such a new army would become a parasite that sucked blood and marrow from 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 armies of many countries and knew the importance of the system.

If the Ottoman Empire cannot establish a complete new military system, it is impossible to change the current situation of the empire, completely reverse the empire's defeat, and restore the iron-blooded passion and ambition of the past.

Many officers and soldiers of the Sultan's personal guards are inherited from father to son, so the combat effectiveness of the entire guards has declined rapidly, and the warlordization of the troops is also serious. Rebellions have broken out several times in history. The new army must not be like this.

Selim himself knows that relying on the old military system cannot save the empire's decline, but will only send the empire to hell. At present, the Sultan has an additional palace guard. Judging from the domestic political situation, there are indeed signs that the old decline trend in the past has been reversed.

But all this depends on the performance in the battle.

Comparing the Guards and the New Army, if the latter can win, the Sultan's personal guards/guards/Jane's Corps will lose a big bargaining chip. The balance of victory will tip to the side of the new army.

The streets became wider and wider. The carriageway in the middle was wide enough for four carriages to run side by side with room to spare. On the sidewalks on both sides of the carriageway, the bustling crowds never walked on the wide carriageway, but walked quietly on the gravel road outside the white lines on both sides of the carriageway.

Selim couldn't help but sigh at this. It was obvious that the Chinese had become accustomed to this rule. The carriageway was for carriages, ox carts, and horses, and the road outside the white lines was for pedestrians. When he first came to Nanjing, he often saw pedestrians who did not follow the rules on the streets, but now, he didn't see any along the way.

There were many buildings lined up on both sides of the road, and Selim mostly noticed shops. He didn't know if the area he passed by was the most prosperous place in Nanjing. The shops on both sides of the road were not small shops selling farm tools, pots and pans, salt, sugar, and grain, nor were they ordinary shops selling consumer goods such as fruits, cooking oil, and meat. Instead, they were high-end consumer places such as silk ready-made clothes, gold and silver jewelry, handicrafts, cultural relics shops, and luxury hotels.

Along the way, the brightly polished glass mirrors of each shop dazzled Selim's eyes.

"Nanjing is the best place in China. When the city was laid out, the 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 don't sell low-value items such as cigarettes, alcohol, fruits, and meat."

Huang Song explained to Selim.

Looking at the shops outside, he didn't sigh at all. With his status, no matter how prosperous the commercial places were, they couldn't attract his attention. Instead, the lively atmosphere of life in Confucius Temple and Chenghuang Temple was more in line with Huang Song's heart.

In response to Selim's question, Huang Song's secretary explained Nanjing's urban planning in detail.

Commercial areas, residential areas, industrial areas, and different definitions determine the prosperity and flow of people in each area. Road traffic construction, squares, parks and green spaces, schools, hospitals, sewers, water plants, and other infrastructure must all be taken into account. This of course also includes vegetable markets and even garbage recycling.

Selim was silent about this. Compared with China, the Ottoman Empire was far behind in urban planning.

Listen to what the Chinese say, serving the people's lives - business, facilitating the people's lives - education, medical care, transportation, and improving the quality of life of the people - parks and green spaces.

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

This is simply incomparable!

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

China's strength and economic prosperity 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.

Many Ottoman merchants who have come to China have praised the Chinese people for their wealth, as if every household in China can live a life of good food and warm clothes, and have 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 your family doesn't have any land or shops, it is unimaginable to imagine that the Chinese people live like this.

Of course, some people may say that what Ottoman merchants saw were citizens of big cities in China, and they should be the middle class in China, so it is natural that their living standards are high. But those who say this don’t think about how huge the gap between the rich and the poor in the Ottoman Empire is? How miserable are the lives of ordinary people at the bottom?

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

What exactly is the reason that makes China so rich? Is it just because it is vast and rich, because it has the best silk, tea, and porcelain?

Selim is a little confused and puzzled.

It is hard for him to imagine that the price of cloth in a country is more than half lower than that of the Ottoman Empire, and this is the result of the recent continuous price increases of cloth.

The price of food - rice, corn, and potatoes, is also much lower than that of the Ottoman Empire.

What’s more, the Ottoman Empire is still a backward feudal country with prominent domestic ethnic conflicts and a certain slave system, and its production efficiency is even lower. Even the Ottoman military system, the guns and cannons they made themselves were more expensive than the price of the arms purchased from China and shipped to Istanbul.

This is really embarrassing.

And look at China?

The first nation with the Han people as the main body is fundamentally unshakable by other nations. After a large number of mountain minorities are relocated to the plains, it is foreseeable that in twenty or fifty years, these minorities will be assimilated to the same appearance as the Han people.

But in the Ottoman Empire, the main ethnic group, the Turks, can't even occupy half of the weight, so that the domestic contradictions are very sharp.

The arms that Selim came to China to buy this time were not the new ones just produced by the Chinese military system, but the second-hand ones replaced by the million national defense forces. The latter had been sold a lot in the previous war. The biggest buyer is the Mysore people in India.

Now, the Ottomans are going to share another piece.

In addition, there are Chinese warships.

The Turks can also make sailing ships, and their shipbuilding level is not low, and their naval power is not low.

The newly established Russian Black Sea Fleet is certainly a major threat to Istanbul, but in the Black Sea, the Ottomans are not afraid of the Russians. Compared with Russian warships, the speed of the Ottoman Navy warships is even faster.

But the cost is high.

The same 70-gun third-level battleship, the cost of a single British ship is only 65,000 pounds, the Russians need 75,000 to 80,000 pounds, so the cost of the Ottoman Empire can reach 90,000 pounds.

And what about China?

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

Although there is no oak in the construction materials of Chinese warships, fir is not much worse than oak. Chinese shipbuilding is mainly based on fir, cypress and pine. Unless there is a special request - add money, otherwise the Chinese will use teak to build ships.

The latter is more used by the Chinese to make furniture.

Compared with the large amount of oak [mixed with pine] required for Western warships, the actual cost of Chinese warships is much lower. The oak in Western and Central Europe had been cut down almost completely. John Bull needed oak to build warships, either from America or from Northern Europe, Sweden.

So the price of the third-class battleships made in China seemed low, but the actual profit was huge. 2 million was definitely not the transaction price, and the real price could be negotiated a little bit.

Selim's arms purchase in China this time was as high as one million pounds, which was nearly 30 million yuan. In addition to a large number of second-hand guns, he would also pack up a fleet from China. At least four third-class battleships were required, as well as a large number of auxiliary ships.