Became The Sultan Of The Ottoman Empire [EN]: Chapter 45

#45. Taking a Breath (2)

Without a doubt, the most watched place in the Sanjak [Administrative division in the Ottoman Empire] of Trabzon is Trabzon Castle.

Originally important economically, it’s also the first place Yusuf tries out new things.

Even the barley tea, now a staple for parents with young children, started in Trabzon, as did the four-field crop rotation method that was introduced throughout Trabzon.

After taking Erzurum, he started paving roads with cement and building sewers to dispose of waste.

This means it has always been a place of interest for those with leisure or those sensitive to information.

However, those who pay attention to Trabzon Castle are merely curious or looking for small gains, while those with impure intentions focus on a different place.

A place about an hour’s ride from Trabzon Castle.

The fortress on a small hill started as a wooden fence but is now a security area protected by thick concrete.

To enter, one must pass through two outposts, and *sipahi* [Ottoman cavalry soldiers] regularly patrol as part of their training.

Hassan entered such a place with three guards, and one passing craftsman greeted him with a happy face.

“Have you come, Hassan!”

“Wimit, have you been well?” Hassan asked back with a stern nod, and the middle-aged man called Wimit replied with a light smile.

“What could be wrong with me? I’m doing well.”

“That’s good. Tell me if there’s anything lacking.”

“Thank you.”

Everyone here knows that Hassan is a slave, but the craftsman expressed his gratitude politely.

The social status of a slave follows that of their master, and Hassan’s power, as the prince’s slave, was the greatest here.

Moreover, since the initial reason for creating this place was cement production, Hassan and the craftsmen had been working together for a long time.

Thanks to this, they knew how much the prince favored Hassan, and even the craftsman did not hesitate to bow his head.

‘It’s all a misunderstanding.’

Hassan is respected far beyond what his slave status deserves, but his heart is not at ease.

Hassan knew his place better than anyone. He also knew that the three guards who accompanied him with smiling faces could offer his neck to Allah [submit him to God’s will] at any time.

‘I was crazy, crazy. What was so important about escaping that lowly slave status?’

Regretting the past he had committed as if possessed by a demon was already too far in the past.

The people of Trabzon readily called Yusuf a great and benevolent ruler.

Unlike Selim, who only cared about the Turkish people who formed the ruling class, he cared about the lives of the majority of his subjects and made many improvements in a short period.

But Hassan knew all too well how meticulous and cruel Yusuf was.

“Wimit, hang this there.”

When Hassan took out the blood-stained clothes from the bundle, Wimit’s expression darkened.

“Sertak, those are his clothes. He said he would stay with his family for a few days and come back, but I had a feeling…”

Wimit, who recognized the owner just by looking at the clothes, received them with a pitiful face.

Blood-stained clothes were nailed near the castle entrance as a warning, but foolish people continued to appear.

“What happened this time?”

“It’s a common occurrence. He was caught trying to escape at dawn.”

People trying to find out the secrets of cement or spies sent by Yusuf’s rivals tempted those gathered here.

When they were allowed to go out to relieve their dissatisfaction, some people fell for such enticements.

Of course, no one has ever succeeded. Yusuf’s intelligence network was more thorough than these people thought.

If those here knew the details, they would become distrustful of humanity.

“What a foolish friend.”

Wimit clicked his tongue lightly and moved to nail the clothes to the castle, and Hassan immediately moved his steps.

He had to carry out the order quickly and return if he didn’t want to hear a harsh scolding.

On one side of the castle, loud noises and shouts continued as they baked cement and ground the baked cement into powder.

It was the place where the most people were mobilized, but Hassan’s destination was not there, but a place made up of a small number of craftsmen.

Among those who blew air into the furnace with bellows, there were those who hammered iron plates to make them round, and the craftsman who coldly checked the quality said in a rough voice.

“What brings you here again?”

“Tahir, why are you so prickly? I just came to check if things are going well,” Hassan replied smoothly to Tahir, who spoke coldly, and picked up a gun placed on one side.

“How feasible is it to manufacture?”

“It’s not impossible. But one guy who was showing off trying to test that damn weapon almost died.”

It’s a common occurrence when making guns.

Accidents happen where the barrel bursts because it can’t withstand the explosion, or the gunpowder container explodes due to improper gunpowder management.

Still, it was fortunate that there were no deaths thanks to adhering to safety.

“Still, isn’t it better than a cannon exploding?”

“Don’t compare it to that pig that only eats gunpowder! If that had exploded, I wouldn’t be here either.”

Tahir, who used to make cannons and hand cannons for the military, answered roughly and threw the gun he was holding.

“If you’re so curious, try shooting it yourself!”

“My body belongs to my master, so I can’t use it carelessly.”

“Hmph, wouldn’t the prince not stop you if you said you were going to shoot it?”

Hassan just shrugged at Tahir’s words, who knew roughly the relationship between the two, though he hadn’t met Yusuf often.

“He’ll hate it because he can’t do paperwork properly if his arm flies off.”

He said it like a joke, but Hassan felt a little sad because it seemed like it would really happen.

Of course, Yusuf, who always tells him to be grateful that he’s still alive, has no interest in Hassan’s feelings.

“Let’s stop with the useless talk. I made it exactly like what the prince gave me, so it should be usable.”

Tahir, who received one of the two matchlock guns received from the Sultan before the war with Ismail, said confidently.

It takes a lot of work, but it’s possible to make.

The gun that just threw the blueprint is more of a problem.

“More than that, I can’t make weapons that need springs right now! Do you think it’s made of ordinary iron?”

Springs require elastic metal, which is an expensive metal.

Of course, he was impressed when he first saw the blueprint and wanted to make it at least once.

“If you want to arm soldiers with this, the prince will have to eat porridge from tomorrow!”

“Then I’ll report it like that. He said he would make it if you only eat porridge from tomorrow.”

“Get out! Bring the materials first if you’re going to say such things!”

Hassan hurriedly ran out as he swung the barrel, which was no different from a steel pipe, in a loud voice.

Hassan sighed as he looked at the smithy where the door slammed shut, as if he had no intention of actually hitting him.

Of course, he couldn’t tell the story of only eating porridge, as he had told Tahir.

‘If I say such a thing, Nene will hang herself on the wall.’

He doesn’t go to war, but why is his life so dangerous?

***

Yusuf, who heard Hassan’s report, tapped the desk lightly.

Hassan came in cowering, as if expecting to be reprimanded, but it was a roughly expected result.

‘It’s hard to use guns made of wheellock or flintlock right away. Even matchlock guns are usable enough.’

It’s a bit difficult to manage the fire of a matchlock gun, but it’s not unusable.

‘We’re not even using matchlock guns properly yet, so there’s no need to get too far ahead.’

Because the treatment of weapons that mark a big line in history is bad, it will take more than 20 years for them to be fully introduced throughout Europe.

Of course, introducing wheellock or flintlock doesn’t transcend the times.

The wheellock method, similar to a lighter, is already a weapon made with the design of Leonardo da Vinci, who will be in Florence around this time.

‘Maybe Da Vinci is painting a mural at the Florence City Hall. Next to him, his rival Michelangelo will also be working on a mural.’

He would have started painting the Mona Lisa too.

Raphael, famous for the School of Athens, is also alive and well, so it would be fun to invite these people if I become the Sultan.

‘Of course, there’s a high possibility they won’t come.’

Anyway, if it’s expensive, there’s no need to make it difficult. Maybe after becoming a Sultan with a lot of money left over.

There was still time before the official succession war, and it was still a stage where technology had to be accumulated.

The West didn’t even know the ultra-high method that the East had been using since the Han Dynasty, so they couldn’t mass-produce steel.

‘The West knew about the existence of the ultra-high method after seeing it used in its colony, India.’

Telling them about the ultra-high method would be like a new world.

Besides that, there were plenty of things to try directly.

“This is enough. I don’t intend to scold you, so there’s no need to be nervous.”

At these words, Hassan barely straightened his cowering body.

Getting gunpowder was more of a problem than making guns. If I keep introducing the technology I know, there’s enough room to solve the guns, but gunpowder has many obstacles.

“How’s the getting of saltpeter going?”

“We have requested it from Georgia and Cherkess, which we have conquered.”

The only places where saltpeter can be mined in its natural state are limited to some areas such as China, India, and the mountainous regions of Spain near the coast.

For the rest, you have to make saltpeter fields yourself or scrape off the saltpeter that remains as white crystals in basements.

‘The best is to make saltpeter fields.’

Unfortunately, Trabzon is not very good for setting up saltpeter fields.

Saltpeter, potassium nitrate, dissolves so well in water that the place where saltpeter fields are made must be low in humidity, which is a difficult condition to expect in Trabzon, a coastal area.

Moreover, even if you make saltpeter fields with difficulty, it doesn’t end with just drying them in the sun, but also requires a process of refining the crystals obtained from the saltpeter fields.

Since there are difficult points in producing it directly, we have no choice but to borrow the power of the surroundings.

‘If we mine saltpeter on a large scale in two places, there’s a high possibility that it will be heard around, but there’s no choice.’

There was no way to secure the quantity.

Frankly speaking, even if they knew that I was making gunpowder, there was a possibility that they wouldn’t worry too much.

As I said about matchlock guns earlier, gunpowder weapons other than cannons are not highly regarded.

“We have to keep paying attention to gunpowder. If the management is not good and we can’t use gunpowder properly, you know what will happen, right?”

“O-Of course!”

I wonder if he knows how difficult the answer he just gave is.

You’ll know how hard it is to manage black powder if you experience it yourself.

Yusuf smiled mischievously, thinking about Hassan’s clearly visible future, and Hassan trembled at the ominousness he faced with the often-seen smile.

There was someone who opened his mouth before Hassan, who was wondering if he should take back his words even now.

“Y-Your Highness! The news that Aisha’s childbirth is imminent!”

At the urgent news, Yusuf nodded calmly.

It was the moment when a child with the blood of Osman would be born.