Became The Sultan Of The Ottoman Empire [EN]: Chapter 152

Became the Sultan of Osman – Episode 152 (152/213)

The Butterfly Effect (1)

A heavy silence hung over the harem, a space once filled with the scent of women’s perfume and their sweet laughter.

Fatima, the Valide Hatun [Queen Mother], stared with listless eyes at the woman prostrate before her, her hair disheveled.

It was hard to believe they had been smiling together until recently.

“Naime.”

“V-Valide Hatun! Please, forgive me!”

Naime, trembling as she crawled forward, didn’t even notice her clothes slipping, exposing her body.

Naime’s desperate gestures were blocked by the drawn swords of the eunuchs, and Fatima spoke coldly to Naime, whose face was stained with tears and fear.

“Naime, you are brought here for more than simply receiving requests from merchants.”

“Th-Then why…?”

“First, you received a request beyond your capabilities. How could you, having barely been in the Padishah’s [Sultan’s] embrace a few times, think you could secure a canal pass?”

Eastern trade through the canal was so lucrative that it wasn’t permitted to just anyone.

It was only permitted to those who had a proven track record and could offer something in return for the benefits they received.

Those with enough money to make such requests usually amassed their wealth through illicit means, and a mere concubine could not secure passes for them.

“While in the harem, you are also the Padishah’s woman. How dare someone under the dynasty’s banner utter falsehoods? You have insulted the Padishah’s banner.”

“Th-That’s not…”

“Second, you made it appear to the people that a woman in the harem could influence policy. Did you intend to make the empire look foolish?”

“N-No, absolutely not! I had no such intention!”

She vehemently denied it, but Fatima had no intention of changing the punishment she had decided on.

“Take her to the Bosphorus.”

“Yes, Valide Hatun.”

To be taken to the strait, which was also where the bodies of the executed were disposed of, meant only one thing, and Naime desperately cried out as she saw the eunuchs bringing a sack.

“Padishah! I will beg the Padishah for forgiveness!”

Fatima clicked her tongue at Naime’s desperate cry.

It was pathetic that a woman who had been in the Padishah’s embrace a few times still didn’t know his nature well.

“This is a punishment permitted by the Padishah. Take her away.”

If he were someone whose heart would soften because he had shared a bed with her, he would not have sent Aishe and Hatice away with the princes.

The eunuchs, after striking Naime who was trying to resist, put the unconscious woman in a large sack.

The harem was not a suitable place to shed blood.

Fatima scanned the harem with her eyes.

As the empire grew, so did the number of women in the harem, easily exceeding five hundred.

The space was so insufficient that the harem had to be expanded, and Fatima warned the women who showed off their various charms.

“I trust you all know how to conduct yourselves from now on.”

Passing through the women who bowed their heads silently, the Valide Hatun entered her room.

“Are you back?”

Fatima nodded at Tazlu’s question and stroked Mustafa’s head as he looked up at her.

Black hair and bronze skin.

His eyes, blinking innocently rather than sharply, still held a childlike innocence.

“Mustafa, thanks to you, it was resolved well.”

“It was just a treasure hunt, wasn’t it?”

“Wasn’t it because I allowed it? You found it well.”

If the discovery had been delayed, it would not have been resolved with one person’s blood, so it could be said that he had made a contribution.

“Is there anything you want?”

“Um… a map.”

“A map?”

Fatima was puzzled by the unexpected words, and Mustafa smiled brightly.

“Father said so. The world is wide, and there are many treasures.”

“Did he?”

If it were Yusuf, he would not have said such things simply for the sake of a child’s innocence, but Fatima did not dwell on it deeply and looked at her finger.

A worn silver ring, unfitting for a noble Valide Hatun, was on it.

It was a memento from a friend who waved her hands, refusing it, but smiled with a flushed face when she was given it.

‘There’s no need to worry about the distant future. Isn’t that so, Nene [Grandmother]?’

Human life is finite, and its end is not so far away.

Fatima’s touch, caressing the deeply etched scratches on the silver ring like a memory left deep in her heart, was quite cautious.

“A map, let me ask the Padishah. He will probably allow it.”

The value of a map is by no means light, but it was not something a prince could not have.

Mustafa smiled brightly.

***

Yusuf looked at the Golden Horn, the bay called the Golden Horn, located north of Constantinople [modern-day Istanbul].

Thanks to the Golden Horn, the capital was surrounded by the sea on three sides and was not easily captured, but the inconvenience in passage could not be helped.

The wasted movement alone was well over 10km.

‘I can’t build a pontoon bridge every time.’

It was not for military purposes, and he could not build a temporary pontoon bridge just for people to pass.

The bridge under construction in the Golden Horn was important in that sense, and Yusuf smiled at the man standing with a displeased face.

“Michelangelo, do you dislike that bridge so much?”

“To be honest, yes.”

“He’s already dead. There’s no need to worry about him.”

“Leonardo, I still can’t forget what he said, that sculptors are like bakers covered in flour.”

It was wrong to disparage sculpture, but Michelangelo also despised painting, so Yusuf thought they were both the same.

Yusuf responded to the childlike demeanor he occasionally showed.

“He was wrong.”

“I’m glad the Padishah thinks so too.”

Yusuf looked at the bridge under construction.

It was a bridge that Leonardo da Vinci had proposed to his father, Bayezid II.

The most significant feature of this bridge was that it had no piers to support it, because the fast currents of the Bosphorus Strait were difficult for piers to withstand.

Instead, this innovative design, which withstood the load with an arched bridge, was rejected by Bayezid because it lacked feasibility.

‘It’s understandable to be distrustful. A 280m bridge has at least 10 or more piers.’

It was only after various methods of verification in the 21st century that it was concluded that it was sufficiently feasible, but until then, it only seemed absurd.

“Isn’t it 괜찮지 않으냐 [not bad]? Imagine your sculptures covering the bridge designed by Leonardo. It would feel like you’re repainting it.”

Michelangelo stroked his beard at Yusuf’s words and looked at the Golden Horn.

If it was built, it would be the longest bridge in the world, and it wasn’t so bad to repaint it with his sculptures.

“Ahem, let’s talk about that after the bridge is completed. I still don’t trust the design that guy made.”

“Yes, it’s enough to talk about it after it’s completed.”

If he lived according to the original history, Michelangelo would live for another 40 years. The period they could be together was very long.

While talking with Michelangelo, Hassan, who had come in a hurry, paid his respects.

“Have you arrived? Padishah.”

“You’re working hard, Hassan.”

Hassan’s face, who was carrying out a large construction project, was full of fatigue, but he had more energy than when he met after Nene’s death.

“How is the construction progressing?”

“There are no setbacks. The iron that Prince Mehmet sends arrives without delay.”

Da Vinci designed it so that no adhesive materials such as mortar were used at all, and the stones were designed to be fitted together like blocks, but there was no need to follow this.

The most important thing about a bridge is safety, so he had no intention of saving on iron or cement.

Yusuf patted Hassan on the shoulder and said.

“This bridge itself is meaningful, but it is also a rehearsal before building a bridge across the Bosphorus Strait. You must not forget this.”

“I know it well, Padishah.”

Of course, he had no intention of taking Da Vinci’s design as it was for the Bosphorus bridge.

‘The length difference alone is more than three times, so it’s crazy to think of them as the same.’

The narrowest part of the strait is 750m, and there was a limit to withstanding the load in an arch shape.

However, if he could reduce the number of piers by incorporating Da Vinci’s design, it would be valuable in itself.

‘How long will it take for both bridges to be completed?’

It would be a miracle if it was made before Hassan died of old age.

No matter how much cement and rebar there were, the limitations of an era without heavy equipment were clear.

Perhaps it would not be completed even by the time he died of old age.

‘I can’t help it. I can’t create heavy equipment just by researching steam engines right now.’

In addition, Yusuf had no intention of creating a steam engine at least for the time being.

Trying to start the Industrial Revolution clumsily in a state where the foundation was not yet laid would only cause suffering to the people below.

That did not match the future that Yusuf had declared, and he intended to leave the Industrial Revolution as a task for future generations if possible.

Anyway, Yusuf, who was prepared for the bridge to take a long time to complete, patted Hassan on the shoulder.

“Live a long, long life.”

“…Yes, Padishah.”

Yusuf, who smiled at Hassan who responded awkwardly, moved his steps.

Because he had heard interesting news while waiting for Hassan.

When Yusuf entered the audience hall, a man quickly paid his respects.

“I greet the Padishah.”

“Was it Piri? I remember you worked with Kemal Reis.”

“Thank you for remembering me, Padishah!”

Piri looked moved.

Considering the numerous officials under Yusuf, it was an honor to remember the face of someone who had not even become an admiral.

Yusuf, who was sitting on the throne, nodded.

“Let’s skip the greetings. Are those the ones who sailed with a man named Magellan?”

“Yes, Padishah.”

There were several surviving sailors, but the ones tied up in front of Yusuf were two.

“Juan Sebastián de Elcano, Antonio Pigafetta.”

When their names were called, the two lowered their bodies in a hurry.

The two, who were merely sailors, knew very well how dangerous and great the person sitting on the throne and looking down at them was.

“Did Magellan, who led the fleet, die?”

“Yes, yes! He died fighting a chieftain named Lapu-Lapu.”

“That must be because you guys did something stupid. You must have been trying to forcibly convert them.”

When he guessed it like a ghost, the two trembled, and Yusuf clicked his tongue.

It seemed that even though history had changed a lot because of him, what was going to happen still happened.

‘Is it because the situation has changed, but the people haven’t?’

If they hadn’t been so greedy for conversion, they would have returned with plenty of spices.

They wouldn’t have wasted time, so they wouldn’t have been caught like this.

“I should send a gift to that chieftain Lapu-Lapu later.”

“I will keep that in mind, Padishah.”

Since he was an Islamic tribal chief, it was not strange to send a gift in the position of Caliph [Leader of the Muslim world].

Yusuf looked at the two people who were terrified.

Elcano was the one who truly circumnavigated the world more than Magellan. Because he led the remaining survivors back to the starting point.

Pigafetta was a man who left various records during the three-year voyage and had a great influence on later explorers and cartographers.

“Padishah, I have translated their voyage records little by little while coming to the capital.”

“Bring it.”

Piri respectfully entrusted the book to the eunuch, and Yusuf received the book through the eunuch and scanned it with his eyes.

The records of arriving in the Philippines via South America were written in detail, and there were many things that Yusuf could refer to.

“Interesting. Charles will be furious. Isn’t that so?”

“It seems so.”

As a naval officer and cartographer, Piri knew better than anyone the value contained in the voyage records.

These voyage records could be more painful than the spices that were completely taken away by the Ottomans.

‘I don’t know how the subsequent historical 흐름 [flow] will change.’

Since the New World was not yet a profitable land, he could not be sure how Spain would react.

They could be more enthusiastic about developing the New World, or they could try to pioneer the route once again.

In any case, the news that Magellan had arrived in the Philippines would reach Spain’s ears.

‘Perhaps they will find the return route connecting Cebu and Mexico earlier than in history and advance Eastern trade through the New World by decades.’

The future is unknown, so it was necessary to watch a little more.

Yusuf changed the subject.

“By the way, where did the Governor of India you were chasing go?”

***

“G-Governor! Are we really attacking?!”

“We’ll starve to death if we stay like this! There’s no other way!”

The Ming Dynasty continued to refuse their entry, treating them as pirates, and eventually, they were pushed to a small country in the Far East as if they were running away.

Giogo ordered an attack on this country, which refused even to approach, let alone enter the port, and the Portuguese fleet fired cannons.

***

“Y-Your Majesty! The Western barbarians! The Western barbarians have plundered Ganghwa Island and are moving south.”

“Wh-What?!”

I Yeok, Jungjong [King Jungjong of Joseon], 벌떡 일어났다 [jumped up] from his seat.

It was the butterfly effect that started from that far away place.