monarch

Rustan Pasha lowered his head, looking at the pattern on the marble floor, the sea breeze blowing from the Bosphorus gently caressed his neck, reminding him of the gentle touch of his favorite Armenian concubine last night , so smooth, and so full of vitality... just the exact opposite of everything in this room.

Western Europe in March is still cold and bleak, but in Constantinople in the east, the footsteps of the goddess of spring have passed through the gate of the Theodosian city wall, and in the garden of the Topkapi Palace where the sultan lived, strange flowers The different plants have woken up from their winter slumber, and like the brightly dressed concubines in the garden, they are ready to start the new year's competition.

He raised his eyes slightly, and looked at the old man on the soft couch in front of him. The old man with his eyes closed moved slightly, and then hummed softly from his nose.

Seeing that the old man was about to wake up, Rustan Pasha immediately tightened his body and put on an extremely respectful look.He has done this kind of action countless times, and now he is completely familiar with it.

There was the rustling of cloth on the bed, and the old man seemed to have woken up. Rustan Pasha heard him coughing a few times, followed by the sound of reaching for a cup.

"It's you." The old man on the couch took a sip of water and spoke slowly. Rustan Pasha felt that the voice was a bit deep, with a thick nasal voice that had just woken up from sleep, which seemed quite strange. exhausted.

Rustan Pasha raised his head and looked at his master and father-in-law.

The prestige of His Majesty Sultan Suleiman once made the Christian monarchs of Europe tremble, and made the Pope of Rome sleepless at night, but now sitting on the soft couch is just a tired old man. "The Great Emperor"'s reputation and heavy government affairs bent down, just like the paper strips of a fruit tree had to hang down because they were full of fruits.Birth, old age, sickness and death are natural laws, and even the "shadow of Allah on the earth" will not be lenient.

Rustan Pasha noticed that there seemed to be a few more wrinkles on Sultan's thin face, the huge hooked nose became much sharper than before, and his eye sockets were sunken even deeper.There can be no doubt that the sultan's emaciation was due to his queen, his beloved Hyrem Sultana, who was now dying.And his two surviving sons, Bayezid and Selim, were also fighting for the position of heir. Even the critical illness of their common mother could not reduce the hostility between the two.

"When did you come?" Sudan's voice had a strong nasal voice, as low as the thunder on the distant sea level in a thunderstorm. "I hope I didn't keep you waiting for a long time."

"Not too long." Rustan Pasha replied respectfully and cautiously, "The important thing is that His Majesty seemed to be resting well just now. For a loyal servant, waiting for you to wake up is a kind of happiness." Rustan Pasha would never forget what happened to his predecessor, the last grand vizier Ibrahim Pasha, at the hands of his master, even though the two had been best friends.Rustan Pasha had no doubts at all, if he offended his father-in-law, His Majesty the Sultan would never hesitate for a moment when executing him because of his status... Neither would his wife, what is lacking for a Sultan's princess There will be no shortage of husbands.

"You are here to tell me about the Czech Republic." Suleiman Sultan said suicidally. He opened his palm, as if he was studying the lines on his palm, "These heathens always kill each other...God bless, Maybe one day, these pests will be able to kill themselves."

"Your Majesty is as accurate as usual." Rustan Pasha let his voice be full of insight, as if completely overwhelmed by His Majesty's insight.As the "shadow of God on earth" grew older, this simple trick became more and more useful. "The aristocrats of Bohemia have just elected the Elector August of Saxony as their king, and the Elector of Saxony has accepted this invitation, and will soon go to Prague to be crowned."

The development of the situation in the Kingdom of Bohemia unfolded completely according to Sir Walsingham's script. On February 2, due to the rise in fuel and food prices, large-scale unrest broke out in Prague. The mansion was looted by an angry mob and then set on fire.By the next day, the riot had developed into a full-scale uprising of Czech Protestants, and the ruling body of the Habsburg family in Prague was wiped out overnight.And this uprising, like wildfire in a dry summer, spread from Prague to the entire territory of the Kingdom of Bohemia within a week. Fort dynasty.

Facing the menacing Protestant offensive, the Austrian Habsburg branch in Vienna was at a loss. In fact, since Emperor Charles V divided the entire Habsburg Empire, the only way for the Austrian branch to face the crisis was to submit Their Spanish cousins ​​called for help.Spain has huge overseas territories and the rich territories of the Netherlands and Italy, while Austria has only the empty skeleton of an emperor and the barren valleys of the Fourth World War in Central Europe.

The emperor of Austria lacked funds, soldiers, and even the will to save himself, but at this time, the Spaniards, who were already in the quagmire, had no ability to save their Austrian relatives.It now appears that the Austrian Habsburgs could not wait until the Spanish had the energy to lend their aid, and before that this multi-ethnic mosaic would disintegrate itself into a heap of fragments and wreckage.

"I and other ministers believe that this is a good opportunity for us to attack the heretics." Rustan Pasha took a deep breath, "The golden apples on the branches have already fallen in front of us, and now you don't even need to stand on tiptoe Come on tiptoe, as long as you stretch out your hand lightly, the city will fall into your hands."

"Vienna." Although the distance is very close, the voice of the sultan seems to come from a distant place, "The city of golden apples... the city that shamed me, I failed to capture it last time .”

He let out a foul breath, "That was decades ago...that was when I was a young man..."

Sudan's eyes became a little blurred, as if lost in the ocean of memories.

"And this time, you will get what you want," Rustan Pasha said. "By this time next year, the banner of Allah will be flying over the walls of Vienna. The king of Spain is now preparing to invade England, and they have no spare time to come." Take care of the beggars begging for help. The Spaniards' power in the Mediterranean has been reduced to a minimum, whether it is Vienna, Malta or Cyprus in the Mediterranean, as long as you want to get them, they will fall to you one by one hand!"

The Sultan looked at his son-in-law with a half-smile, his silence made the Grand Vizier feel as if he had swallowed a weight in his stomach, sinking all the way down.

Suleiman the Great moistened his dry lips with rose water, and then wiped off the drops of water with the back of his hand.

"How much did you charge the British ambassador?" There was a smile in Sultan's voice, but Rustan Pasha shook violently on the spot as if he had been punched in the nose.There were bluish-white spots on his face, as if an invisible hand had pinched his neck, bringing him to the brink of suffocation.

"I...I don't know..." he stammered, sweat dripping from his temples all the way to his chin, and he forced a stiff smile, but if there was a third person in the room at this time, the smile would be In his eyes, it looks more like a poorly made clown mask, "Why does Your Majesty say that?"

"Don't rush to deny." Sultan Suleiman's wrinkled face was squeezed into a ball, the tip of his huge hooked nose was facing Rustan Pasha, "The Sultan can see who is lying to him, the Sultan knows everything... …if someone tries to blind me with their poor lies, then it is an insult to my intelligence, and I will never allow others to insult me ​​without paying the price."

Rustan Pasha wanted to deny it, but the light of the diamonds sent by the British ambassador kept flashing in his mind. The Sultan's gaze pierced like a sword, as if it could penetrate his skull, as if The sultan is reading all his secrets...it's all over.

Rustan Pasha's knees went limp, and when he realized it, he was already kneeling on the ground, and there was a burning pain in his knees, obviously bruises from the impact.

Sultan Suleiman watched Rustan Pasha huddled on the ground with satisfaction. He was afraid of me, the Sultan thought, and the very thought brought him great pleasure.This lovely son-in-law is really a greedy fool, he can't resist the temptation of money... More like gold and silver jewelry than the pursuit of power.

"It's the same question just now, how much did you charge the British ambassador?" Sudan leaned back on the back of the soft couch, lightly kicking the silk slippers on his feet.

"Some diamonds and jewels." The grand vizier, who is under one person and above ten thousand people, is now like a child who has done something wrong, with a trembling cry in his voice, "I am willing to dedicate them all to Your Majesty, please Your Majesty." Forgiveness... But the suggestion I made to His Majesty is entirely for Your Majesty's consideration, and my loyalty to Your Majesty will never be shaken by a small amount of money, Your Majesty, please be aware!"

"I admit that this is indeed a good opportunity." Sultan Suleiman yawned, "But if the Spaniards gave up their invasion of Britain because of our actions, and turned their heads to fight us, then wouldn't I give that British little Did the king sell his life? Those heretics are disgusting beasts, I don't care who wins or loses among them, anyway, the victors are all equally filthy."

"Your Majesty, I beg your Majesty to learn from you. The Spaniards must not stop their invasion. They are already on the verge of death." Seeing that things had turned around, Rustan Pasha, who was in a desperate situation, immediately tried his best to catch the life-saving straw thrown to him by the Sultan. , "They built a large number of cumbersome warships. Those warships can only be used in the Atlantic Ocean. In a calm pond like the Mediterranean Sea, such warships are useless. They have already pressed on the table. With too many chips, there is no chance to fold and leave at this time."

"Besides, even if the Spaniards turn their attention to us, so what?" Rustan Pasha straightened his waist, "The Spaniards have fallen into decline, and now their huge empire has become an empty shelf. You can send hundreds of thousands of troops to besiege Vienna, how many reinforcements can they send? 2 or 3? And those nasty little Venetian-occupied islands in the Mediterranean when your blushing fleet surrounds them What about the Spaniards when you live? You are destined to rule the world, and those who try to hinder this process are doing nothing but praying for you."

"That makes sense." Sudan yawned again, "Besides, you guys are a bit too free, so you have the energy to choose sides between my two sons... It's time to give You find something to do."

Rustan Pasha felt a burst of extreme fear, "I would never dare to participate in such a thing!" He hastily defended himself.

"You accepted the gifts from Selim and Bayezid, so you are considered impartial." The sultan seemed to know everything about his servants, "Didn't I tell you, don't try to lie to me. "

Rustan Pasha knelt on the ground, stepped forward on his knees, took the Sultan's feet in his arms, and kissed the toes of the silk slippers.

"I present those gifts to Your Majesty at once, along with the diamonds from the Britons."

"That's unnecessary." Suleiman Sultan waved his hand, "I don't mind if you accept some small gifts, but don't try to hide from me, understand?"

Rustan Pasha nodded emphatically.

"Go and draw up a plan to attack Vienna and Malta." Sultan Suleiman seemed to have lost interest in continuing the conversation, and he yawned more and more frequently, "The specific matters are completely up to you, there is only one, the action begins The date must be after the departure of the Spanish fleet to invade Britain."

He waved his hand to signal Rustan Pasha to leave, and then closed his eyes.

Rustan Pasha moved backwards toward the door. The British ambassador would not be pleased, he thought. The Ottomans were going to war with the Spaniards, but perhaps not when the British wanted them to.

"At least I said what he asked me to say," Rustan Pasha said to himself as he walked out of the room. In any case, he had kept his promise, and he only hoped that the British ambassador would not feel The diamonds delivered were in vain.

While humming an Armenian tune that his concubine taught him last night, he walked towards the gate of the palace.