Chapter 66: An Idle Chess Move

To be honest, from the beginning, Selim did not include the powerful people in Syria and Baghdad in his plan to reduce the power of the vassal states.

The latter is because the strength is really not good, as can be seen from the fact that Kara Osman dared to send troops directly to the city of Baghdad during the Ali Rebellion.

Such a waste is not worth a big fight for.

The development of the Mesopotamia region is not in the first echelon of Selim's plan.

But Selim did not move the former because of the other party's special nature.

Unlike the landlords and nobles in the Balkans and the private warlord groups in Anatolia, the powerful families in Syria are more special.

They are not like the Chapan family and the Kara Osman family, who have an unshakable ruling position in their core areas.

They do not have such strength, so their method is to marry and tie themselves together with other families engaged in major industries in the region.

Take Damascus as an example, which is headed by two major families, namely the Azem family and the Muradi family.

The Azem family is responsible for local governance, while the Muradi family sponsors Islamic knowledge.

As two unique families in the city, they combined their cultural, economic and political capital on different occasions.

This caused a lot of trouble for Selim to deal with them.

The first is that the two families are indeed very peaceful, or the Sultan has no handle on each other.

The second is that there are many Ulema behind the Muradi family.

Although the Ottoman government is indeed the sponsor of most of the Ulema, it does not mean that others do not have this idea.

The guards that have been eliminated have a group of Ulema supporting them, namely the Bektash sect.

But after eliminating the guards, Selim could only punish them slightly by executing the leader and several senior officials of the sect.

The reason is that the Sultan has not yet obtained the power to interfere in the internal affairs of the Ulema.

But Selim still came up with a set of plans.

For Islam, Selim also held a stereotype at the beginning - that is, it is too conservative, pedantic and stubborn, and inflexible.

But in fact, this is not the case. The jurists can actually be said to be more open-minded.

Since the issuance of the Imperial Edict, many religious groups have publicly announced their support for Selim's reforms.

As the first group of Naqshbandi and Mawlawi groups (except the Mawlawi group in Konya, which is the spiritual center of the group and the hometown of its founder Rumi), Selim has arranged them into the Ottoman bureaucracy after his reorganization with the idea of ​​buying a horse with a lot of money.

This is the Sultan's plan. It doesn't matter if you can't get rid of you. Under the current circumstances, the cake that the Ulema can enjoy is so big.

Arrange a few more religious groups to come out and directly compete with you for the cake, and use the status of the caliph to take sides crazily.

Selim doesn't believe that the Bektash group can hold on all the time.

But this trick can be used to deal with the Bektash group in the center, but it can't be used against the Muradi family.

The local military and political chiefs and religious leaders cooperate with each other, so even in the last rebellion, the Kozan family only chose to control the other party, rather than killing them.

But after seeing the Sipahi cavalry, Selim suddenly had a new idea.

After the promulgation of the "Royal Edict" in January, many local families have handed over the control of their land in exchange for the right to recommend quotas.

Although Selim adopted the system of floating officials and prohibited officials from serving in their hometowns.

However, he adopted the system of merit for the promotion of officials.

This compensation is actually a huge temptation for countless grassroots families in the Ottoman Empire. After all, the land they hold seems to be lucrative, but it is still dead.

After all, big families can negotiate with the government to obtain large areas of tax-farming areas, but small families can only negotiate with big families and eat other people's leftovers.

Their right to speak is often restricted to one or several communities, and they have almost no hope of climbing up to a higher level.

So when the Sultan used this trick, the big families were actually powerless to oppose.

The problem lies here. For the families who were subdued or frightened by the Sultan, they really dare not defy the implementation of this new system.

As for these families in Damascus and Baghdad, they don't need to fight, because Selim's first-phase reform plan did not plan their future.

After all, as long as the first-phase reform plan is completed, Selim's strength will form an overwhelming advantage over other parts of the empire.

Bulgaria, Serbia and other things have lost their last chance when Ali's rebellion failed.

But the actions of the Sipahi cavalry gave Selim a new idea. He really didn't care whether he could cut off these Syrian families at this time.

But it's also good to make a casual move. After handing over the land, many families have disbanded many private soldiers. These people wandered around the territory of the empire, causing extreme chaos to the local people.

In the case that the new army is still needed to defend the imperial capital and it is unable to send the new army to suppress bandits, it is more appropriate for the Sipahi cavalry to complete the first round of sweeping tasks.

When the banditry in the Anatolian region is basically eliminated, the Sipahi cavalry can march to Syria, using the excuse that the local banditry is serious, and stay there for a long time to compete for power with the local nobles.

In this way, it is better to cut the meat with a blunt knife than to cleanse with force directly, so that the local order can be quickly restored and production can be organized.

As for the candidates?

Selim happened to think of a person.

The Sultan stood in front of the imperial government, looking at the innocent and pitiful faces of the Sipahi cavalry.

He said with a sad look.

"Dear Sipahi cavalry, please forgive me, your Sultan, the Caliph of Islam, and the protector of the two holy places.

Although I am praised as the reflection of God, how can a mortal body compare to God.

Allah treats his children equally.

But your Sultan, I, made such a serious mistake.

Let you, the heroes of the empire, the brave men on the battlefield, fall into such a situation. This is not what I want, but it is my fault."

Selim paused for a moment. He knew that there were many smart people among the Sipahi cavalry, and naturally someone would come out to answer.

"Great Sultan, Caliph of the Islamic world, protector of the two holy places.

Please do not belittle yourself. Even the prophets make mistakes.

What's more, for you who are entangled in state affairs, this is not your fault at all, but the evil deeds of a group of incompetent and corrupt officials."

In the crowd, a man who looked like a Sipahi cavalry officer hurriedly answered, and the Sipahi cavalry around him also echoed.

Selim looked at the other party with satisfaction. If nothing else, these people are still very sensible.

Please read it later. I was busy observing other great books today, so it's a bit late.