The chaos in the Ottoman Empire was finally brought under control, albeit at a significant cost – Selim III was gone, Mustafa IV was gone, and along with them, the commander of the Kapıkulu cavalry corps, Alti, and the Grand Vizier, Özgür.
Furthermore, when Mustafa usurped the throne, he had eliminated a large number of reformist Ottoman nobles. Now that Alemdağ had led his troops to capture Istanbul and enthroned Mahmud as the new Sultan, he naturally dealt with a significant number of conservative traditionalist nobles as well.
When all was said and done, the Ottoman Empire's losses in this episode amounted to at least two Sultans, a Caliph, a head of the military, a chief minister, and more than half of the capital's nobility and royal relatives. It was not an exaggeration to say that they were severely wounded, if not dismembered.
Therefore, how to resolve the current unrest in the Ottoman Empire and how to quickly restore its strength while fulfilling the agreements signed with the Great Ming and the Tsarist Russia became the most pressing issues for the new Ottoman Sultan, Mahmud II.
Beyond these, a multitude of other problems awaited Mahmud II's attention.
For instance, there was the issue of the abuse of Waqf (religious endowments), the financial problems of the Ottoman treasury, and the increasingly ineffective military under the traditional Ottoman system.
Among these various problems, the financial issues of the Ottoman treasury were the most vexing.
First, there was the war reparations owed to Tsarist Russia, second, the military salaries required for the Ottoman army, and third, the construction costs for establishing concessions.
In short, they were desperately short of funds, so much so that Mahmud II even considered selling the Topkapi Palace to raise money.
Of course, while the treasury's financial problems were a headache for Mahmud II, even to the point of considering selling the Topkapi Palace, they did not make him want to die.
What truly made Mahmud II want to die was Alemdağ Mustafa Pasha.
Had Alemdağ Mustafa Pasha not led his troops to attack Istanbul, Mustafa IV would not have been driven to desperation, Selim III would not have died, and Mahmud would not have become the Ottoman Sultan and Caliph.
Therefore, whether calculated from the previous war with Tsarist Russia or simply from Mahmud's own interests, Alemdağ Mustafa Pasha had made contributions.
As the deceased former Grand Vizier Özgür had put it, Alemdağ Mustafa Pasha had served the Ottoman Empire, bearing wounds and shedding blood.
Making Alemdağ Mustafa Pasha the new Grand Vizier was, in essence, a natural course of action.
However, from the perspective of governance, appointing Alemdağ Mustafa Pasha, who held actual military power, as the new Grand Vizier was certainly not the right choice.
Moreover, Alemdağ Mustafa Pasha was a fervent reformist, eager to implement all the reforms formulated by Selim III. Mahmud II, on the other hand, clearly preferred a more cautious approach.
This divergence of views was the root of their conflict.
Had Alemdağ not needed Mahmud to support his reforms as Sultan and Caliph, and had Mahmud II not needed Alemdağ's support to solidify his position as Sultan, they would likely have parted ways long ago.
It was precisely this situation, where neither could do without the other, that forced Mahmud II and Alemdağ to suppress their own dissatisfaction and attempt to compromise.
Alemdağ ceased demanding the immediate and comprehensive implementation of Selim III's reformist system, and Mahmud II acknowledged the "Charter of Alliance" agreement reached by Alemdağ with the Anatolian rebels.
Furthermore, Mahmud II and Alemdağ transformed the institutions affiliated with the Ottoman imperial court into something akin to the Ming dynasty's bureaucratic system, with various "ministries" replacing the original departments, and established numerous committees. They also improved the treatment and increased the salaries of civil officials.
However, Mahmud II had ascended to the throne hastily, and he had only a superficial understanding of most of the reformist systems formulated by Selim III. Alemdağ, having spent years leading troops in battles, was naturally somewhat arrogant and far less familiar with governance than the Grand Viziers during the reigns of Selim III and Mustafa IV.
This led to the reforms promoted by Mahmud II and Alemdağ becoming superficial.
What was even more infuriating was that due to their active involvement in the European sphere, the Ottomans were deeply influenced by Europe in many aspects, such as extravagance and wastefulness.
The reformist nobles of the Ottoman Empire were even infatuated with the opera, music, and various performances of France and the Italian states. The Ottoman dignitaries and wealthy merchants spared no expense in emulating the consumption and enjoyment of European nobles.
European furniture and household items were openly displayed in the homes of officials and wealthy citizens. Merchants, nobles, and socialites moved out of their old city residences and into Italian-style villas along the Bosphorus Strait, and French-style parks were built in the major cities of the Ottoman Empire.
For a time, the Ottoman Empire even felt a chaotic atmosphere of "demons dancing."
According to the account of Austrian statesman Metternich, he attended a social gathering hosted by the British ambassador in Istanbul and observed that the Ottoman dignitaries and important figures, in order to demonstrate their openness and familiarity with European etiquette, disregarded religious teachings. They not only drank champagne excessively and played cards but also danced with European ladies.
Therefore, Metternich's evaluation of Mahmud II's reforms was: the most serious error of the new policy was its excessive focus on superficiality and form, neglecting the essence; his reform measures were numerous, but few were implemented in practice; if he had adapted these measures to suit the characteristics of his own nation, the outcome would have been different.
Of course, the extent to which the reforms promoted by Mahmud II and Alemdağ could be put into practice was not important. Especially for the Great Ming, the chaotic situation in the Ottoman Empire was more like a farce. If it weren't for the sake of Ottoman oil, no one would have cared about the fate of the Ottoman Empire.
Mahmud II and Alemdağ were certainly aware that the situation in the Ottoman Empire was not quite right. After all, the teachings of the True God prohibited drinking alcohol, and women were to be veiled. Yet, in today's Ottoman Empire, who still paid heed to the teachings of the True God?
However, the current situation in the Ottoman Empire was like a heavy cart going downhill, making it difficult to change course.
What made Mahmud II and Alemdağ even more troubled were the financial pressures on the Ottoman treasury and the contracts signed with the Great Ming.
Both of them were well aware that the effectiveness of contracts primarily depended on who signed them. Whether it was the contract signed between the Ottoman Empire and the Great Ming, or contracts signed with other countries, their validity was determined by the Great Ming, not by the Ottoman Empire itself.
The key issue was that fulfilling the contracts signed with the Great Ming required money.
From the establishment of concessions to the extraction and transportation of oil, various aspects required the Ottoman Empire to first disburse funds, but the Ottoman treasury was precisely unable to provide so much money.
Helplessly, Mahmud II and Alemdağ could only sit down and discuss the matter slowly.
Alemdağ's proposal was quite pertinent: "Prohibiting officials from collecting fees from people traveling across provinces and instead having the Ottoman Empire collect them would be reasonable and legal, in accordance with the teachings of the True God."
Mahmud II, who had recently been studying Ming Chinese academia, had a different opinion: "The wise men of the Ming say that what is more terrifying than tigers is oppression. Once the common people find it difficult to survive, they will rise up in rebellion. Prohibiting officials from levying taxes on people traveling across provinces and having the Ottoman Empire collect them is not essentially different, and both are likely to bring greater turmoil to the Ottoman Empire."
Seeing his proposal rejected, Alemdağ then put forward another quite plausible plan: "Imposing high taxes on the infidels, especially those nobles who sided with Mustafa IV in the rebellion. They have abandoned the faith of the True God, so confiscating their property would also be in accordance with the teachings of the True God."
Mahmud II still disagreed with Alemdağ's proposal: "Istanbul is already chaotic enough. If we continue with the purges, the entire Ottoman Empire might need to be purged. Such cruel purges will only force those nobles to rebel."
"Furthermore, if the traditionalist nobles have indeed abandoned the faith of the True God, then how should we account for the actions of the reformist nobles who drink, dance, and even appear 'uncovered'? Should we also label them as infidels?"
"That would only lead to more chaos in the Ottoman Empire!"
Mahmud II's repeated rejection of his proposals made Alemdağ uncomfortable.
After thinking for a long time and not coming up with any other reliable methods, Alemdağ simply chose to flip the table: "This is not allowed, and that is not allowed. Do you have any good ideas?"
However, to Alemdağ's surprise, Mahmud II nodded seriously, slapped a newspaper onto the table, and tentatively said, "Why can't we borrow money from the Great Ming, like France?"
Before Alemdağ could react, Mahmud II answered his own question: "The Great Ming needs a large amount of oil, and we, the Ottoman Empire, possess the most oil reserves on this small planet, isn't that right?"
After Alemdağ foolishly nodded, Mahmud II continued, "We will use oil as collateral and borrow ten or eight hundred million Ming dragon yuan banknotes from the Great Ming. At worst, we can pay with oil."
"Moreover, borrowing money from the Great Ming has an even greater advantage."
"Look at France. How poor was France before? Those Saxon bandits from England used to bully France from time to time. But since France started borrowing money from the Great Ming, haven't those Saxon bandits from England become much more obedient?"
"And Portugal. The original Portugal was on the verge of collapse. It was only because it suddenly owed a large sum of money to the Great Ming that no country in Europe dares to touch Portugal now, for fear of having to bear Portugal's debts if they were to kill it."
Alemdağ looked at Mahmud II in a daze. Although he felt something was not quite right in his heart, Alemdağ couldn't figure out what was wrong after thinking for a long time.
It seemed there was no problem?
Mahmud II continued, "I recall that in the agreement signed between Mayha'ir and the Great Ming, it was stipulated that our Ottoman Empire could send no more than a thousand students to the Great Ming, with each student costing approximately ten thousand dragon yuan annually. A thousand students would amount to ten million dragon yuan, a sum that would be an unimaginably immense pressure for the Ottoman treasury. If we don't borrow money from the Great Ming, we probably won't even be able to afford to send a hundred students."
Upon hearing this, Alemdağ couldn't help but inwardly complain – if you hadn't built the French-style "Dolmabahçe Palace," and if the Ottoman Empire hadn't been positioned between the Great Ming and Europe, it wouldn't be so poor today!
Also, if you, the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, hadn't led the way in extravagance and corruption, how could the reformist nobles have engaged in drinking, dancing, and other actions that betrayed the faith of the True God?
And now you have the audacity to complain about the pressure on the treasury's finances?
After some internal grumbling, Alemdağ ultimately agreed to Mahmud II's proposal. In any case, the Ottoman Empire was now as poor as a dog, and incurring a little more debt seemed like no big deal.
The decision by Alemdağ and Mahmud II, however, greatly surprised Zhu Jinsong, the Emperor of the Great Ming. It was said that with a piece of cloth on their heads, they were the richest in the world. Yet, the supposedly wealthiest Ottoman Empire also had to borrow money from the Great Ming?
Furthermore, after borrowing money from the Great Ming, it was used for developing domestic reforms in the Ottoman Empire. Less than half of it was for purchasing military equipment, and the plan to pay for Ottoman students' expenses accounted for only a small portion, not even ten or twenty percent.
Zhu Jinsong suddenly thought of a term.
Freebie?
After some thought, Zhu Jinsong simply summoned the elders like Zeng Cheng and Liu Huaiwen to the palace and directly handed the intelligence to Liu Huaiwen: "Uncle Huaiwen, the Ottoman side says their treasury is under great pressure and wants to borrow ten or eight hundred million from our Great Ming treasury. They will repay us in installments later. What do you think?"
Liu Huaiwen couldn't help but roll his eyes and said, "Your humble servant thinks it's not good! The Ottoman treasury is empty, but is our Great Ming treasury not empty? If it weren't for the empty treasury, why would the Ministry of Poverty have given them those thousand student quotas?"
After Liu Huaiwen finished speaking, Zeng Cheng, the Grand Premier of the Great Ming, suddenly spoke up: "Lend it to them! It's just ten or eight hundred million Ming dragon yuan banknotes. Lend it to them first!"