A renowned decadent literati in the Central Plains, referred to as Brother Xun, once uttered many famous sayings, such as "When the roof leaks, it's always during continuous rain, and when the boat is slow, it encounters a headwind." This is to say that when a person is unlucky and facing adversity, even drinking cold water will get stuck in their throat, and passing gas will sprain their ankle.
Brother Xun's famous saying is perfectly applicable to Mustafa at this moment. The bloodstains from Mahim's suicide by slitting his throat had not yet been wiped clean, and Mustafa had barely warmed the Sultan's throne before Istanbul was plunged into turmoil.
The turmoil originated from the traditionalist conservatives who supported Mustafa and the reformists who supported Selim III.
Before Mustafa went to the Topkapi Palace, or rather, before the commander of the Ottoman Kapukulu cavalry corps, Alti, escorted Mustafa to the Topkapi Palace to seize power, the traditionalist conservatives of the Ottoman Empire had been suppressed by Selim III. These traditionalist conservatives had long been dissatisfied with the current situation.
When Alti escorted Mustafa to the Topkapi Palace to seize power, these Ottoman traditionalist conservatives, who were no longer willing to endure, erupted like a volcano.
Meanwhile, the reformist nobles who supported Selim III's reforms in the Ottoman Empire became the targets of the traditionalist conservatives.
This struggle, which involved faith and governance, was a brutal fight to the death, allowing no room for hesitation or compromise. Naturally, the reformist nobles were unwilling to be captured without a fight and did not wish to see Mustafa, who opposed reform, ascend to the throne of Sultan and Caliph.
When the news of the clash between the two factions in Istanbul reached the Topkapi Palace, Mustafa was instantly stunned.
It was true that Mustafa wanted to sit on the throne of the Sultan, and it was true that he leaned towards traditional conservatism, but this did not mean that Mustafa wished to see Istanbul in turmoil.
Especially not when Selim III had just abdicated and he had not yet held his coronation ceremony.
This turmoil was tantamount to someone slapping Mustafa across the face and mocking him: "Look, the stability of Selim III's era has been broken, and the entire Ottoman Empire will fall into turmoil, all because of your actions! You are not as good as Selim III!"
At the thought of such a terrible scenario, Mustafa's face gradually turned red, and his gaze towards Alti, the commander of the Kapukulu cavalry corps, was filled with anger. "Send someone to quell this immediately, immediately!"
However, to Mustafa's surprise, Alti did not immediately obey as he had when facing Selim III. After a slight bow and placing his hand over his chest in salute, he explained, "Your Highness, the turmoil in the city is spontaneous. To quell it, we can only send troops to suppress them—and this will cause more bloodshed among the nobles in Istanbul."
The Grand Vizier Ozgur also bowed and said, "Let them be, Your Highness. The nobles who have been blinded by bloodshed are irrational at this time. Sending troops to suppress them now is not a good solution."
Mustafa clenched his fists tightly and shouted in anger, "Then we will just stand by and watch Istanbul fall into chaos and innocent civilians get hurt?"
Alti shrugged indifferently and said, "You can rest assured, my esteemed Sultan. Our Ottoman nobles are virtuous, moral, and cultivated, the three good nobles. They will confine their struggles to between nobles and will not involve the common people."
Mustafa slumped onto the chair as if all his strength had been drained.
Given the situation, how could Mustafa not see that these traditionalist conservatives were using him as a pawn?
Perhaps, for the traditionalist conservatives led by Alti, it did not matter who sat on the throne of the Sultan. What mattered was that as long as they could support their return to the traditionalist path and gain more benefits for themselves.
They did not take him, the Sultan, seriously at all!
With this thought, Mustafa gave a self-deprecating laugh and said to Alti, the commander of the Kapukulu cavalry corps, and the Grand Vizier Ozgur, "You may leave for now. I am tired and hope this will be resolved by tomorrow."
Alti and Ozgur exchanged glances, then bowed together and said, "Please rest assured, Your Highness. Tomorrow, the sun will rise as usual."
However, before Mustafa could return to his chambers, the attendant he had sent to guard Selim III rushed over, shouting, "Bad news! Sultan Selim wants to drink poisoned wine and commit suicide!"
Mustafa's already terrible mood worsened upon hearing this news.
When Mustafa hurried to the palace where Selim III was being held, a table was laden with wine and dishes. A group of attendants stared intently at Selim III, fearing he would rush over and drink the poisoned wine.
Mustafa, with a grim expression, smashed the wine cup filled with poisoned wine and looked at Selim III, saying, "Since you have sworn allegiance to me, why are you trying to drink poisoned wine?"
Selim III had calmed down by then. Hearing this, he let out a light chuckle, walked to the table, and sat down. He then said to Mustafa, "Now that you are the Sultan, the traditionalist conservatives who support you must be very happy, right? Let me guess, they should be attacking the reformist nobles in Istanbul right now? Then, next, they should have you sign the contract with the White Goose, and then turn their attention to attacking the Ming Dynasty?"
Before Mustafa could answer, Selim III shook his head with a light laugh, as if answering his own question, "No, they have the courage to attack the reformist nobles and have the courage to make you sign the contract with the White Goose, but they do not have the courage to target the Ming Dynasty."
"Then, next, they should find a way to purge all the reformists, and then find a way to get rid of me and Little Mahmud, so that the entire Ottoman Empire completely retreats to the traditionalist route. They will strive to promote the words of the true God, thereby enriching themselves further."
"As for the fate of the Ottoman Empire..."
Selim III looked at Mustafa and smiled, retorting, "Who cares?"
Seeing the indescribable mockery in Selim III's smile, Mustafa's sense of frustration intensified. He seemed to have lost all his spirit and slumped dejectedly onto the ground.
After a long while, Mustafa finally spoke, "You guessed correctly. They have indeed attacked those reformist nobles, and Istanbul is now in turmoil."
Mustafa could not understand how things had come to this.
In Mustafa's view, whether it was the traditionalist conservatives who refused reform or the reformists who wanted to reform with Selim III, both sides should have been working for the betterment of the Ottoman Empire.
Even if their opinions differed, they should have found ways to persuade each other. Why resort to direct conflict?
This would harm the entire Ottoman Empire!
Looking at the dejected Mustafa, Selim III merely let out a light chuckle and said nothing more.
The situation was obvious: the traditionalist noble lords only cared about lining their own pockets. They cared about their own interests, not the interests of the Ottoman Empire.
As for the reformist nobles who leaned towards him... after today, how many reformist nobles would be left in the Ottoman Empire?
Even if someone wanted to support him in regaining the throne of the Ottoman Sultan, it was likely for their own interests, not for the interests of the Ottoman Empire like the reformists.
With this thought, Selim III gave a self-deprecating smile, shook his head slightly, and no longer paid attention to Mustafa.
Mustafa was also very unhappy. He looked at Selim III and said, "You watch. I will make them quell this turmoil and make the Ottoman Empire strong again. And you, you should live to witness it!"
Selim III chuckled and said, "Mustafa, you can smash one wine cup. Can you smash all the wine cups in the Topkapi Palace?"
Mustafa did not directly answer Selim III's question. Instead, he directly ordered the attendants around him, "From now on, do not let Selim have any opportunity to touch wine cups or poisoned wine!"
After the attendants around him bowed in agreement, Mustafa took a deep look at Selim III and then left the palace where Selim III was being held in frustration.
Mustafa felt that he should calm down and think about how to restore peace to the Ottoman Empire and how to unite all the nobles to make the Ottoman Empire strong again.
However, the subsequent events did not unfold according to Mustafa's plan but according to the plan of Alti, the commander of the Kapukulu cavalry corps, and Ozgur, the Grand Vizier. All of Selim III's deductions came true—xxs壹贰
Alti and Ozgur proposed that the war with the White Goose should be ended as soon as possible, arguing that the Ottoman Empire had already suffered enough and should not continue fighting.
As for the consequences of signing a peace treaty with the White Goose, such as ceding territory and paying war reparations, Alti and Ozgur stated that these were not problems. It did not matter how humiliating the treaty with the White Goose was, as there were already the treaties signed by Mahim with the Ming Dynasty to contend with.
In comparison, what the Ottoman Empire should do most now was to purge those Ottoman nobles who wanted to reform with Selim III.
No, they were no longer worthy of being called nobles. They were infidels who betrayed the true God and should be sent to hell!
What made Mustafa even angrier was that when these traditionalist conservatives approached him and expressed their support for him to ascend to the throne of the Sultan, they had repeatedly stated that under his leadership, Mustafa would gradually correct the mistakes made by Selim III.
And after Mustafa ascended to the throne of the Sultan, these traditionalist conservatives seemed to have collectively modified their memories. They completely overturned all the reforms set by Selim III, directly returning the Ottoman Empire to a state of absolute supremacy of the true God—yet they showed great disrespect to Mustafa, the new Caliph!
With repeated "smashing" of Selim III's wine cups and being slapped in the face by the traditionalist conservatives time and again, Mustafa's thoughts gradually changed.
It seemed that it was better when Selim III was the Sultan?
It seemed that Selim III's reforms were correct, and the traditionalist conservatives were wrong?
The decadent literati Brother Xun from the Central Plains once said that the seed of doubting life, once planted, would grow wildly into a towering tree.
Mustafa, who had just ascended to the throne of the Sultan, began to doubt life, while Selim III, who had just stepped down from the throne of the Sultan, was busy committing suicide. The entire Ottoman court fell into an extremely bizarre state of chaos.
However, even more chaos was yet to come.
The armistice treaty signed with the White Goose gave the reformist commander on the Danube, Alemdar Mustafa Pasha, a respite. Meanwhile, the traditionalist faction led by Alti and Ozgur intended to strip Alemdar Mustafa Pasha of his military command and then send him to hell.
The actions of Alti and Ozgur completely angered Alemdar.
When Alemdar learned that Alti and Ozgur had supported Mustafa's usurpation of power, he was already very dissatisfied but had no choice but to endure due to the threatening presence of the White Goose army.
Now, the Ottoman Empire had signed a peace treaty with the White Goose, and the White Goose army was no longer a threat to the Ottoman Empire. Many reformist nobles who had been suppressed by the traditionalist conservatives were secretly rallying to Alemdar.
Alemdar, with nothing to lose, directly led his army to attack Istanbul, intending to support Selim III in regaining the throne of the Sultan.
In this way, the Ottoman Empire became even more lively.
The reason Alti and Ozgur were able to become pillars of the traditionalist faction and support Mustafa was that Alti controlled the Ottoman Kapukulu cavalry corps, and Ozgur, the Grand Vizier, controlled most of the officials in the Ottoman court.
However, Alti held the position of commander of the Ottoman Kapukulu cavalry corps mainly due to the support of his family and the traditionalist conservatives, not because of his battlefield prowess.
At the very least, his battlefield command ability was far inferior to Alemdar's.