Chapter 740: Whatever You Do, Don't Provoke It

"Ambassador Diemen, can we reach Europe before the eastern barbarians' delegation?"

"We're a bit short on time. We were delayed too long in Siam, and if we still go around Africa as originally planned, I'm afraid we'll fall behind the eastern barbarians' delegation."

"Then... is there any shortcut we can take? Can we manage without going around Africa?"

"Yes! We can pass through the lands of the Ottoman Empire!"

"The Ottoman Empire? Where is this country? Is it powerful?"

"This country occupies the Middle East, North Africa, and the Balkan Peninsula of Europe. It is currently the most powerful state in the world."

On a ten-thousand-dan great bird ship rocking and swaying as it sailed westward across the Arabian Sea, Ji Kun, who was naturally immune to seasickness, was in the cabin discussing the westward route with Van Diemen and Li Shaoyou, who had long since grown accustomed to the rolling.

Ji Kun's mission had been delayed in Siam for more than two months, only setting sail southward again once the earthwork bastion fort on the island of Din was completed. It was when they reached Batavia that they learned the Spanish galleon carrying the Qing delegation had passed through the Strait of Malacca a month earlier.

This made Ji Kun somewhat anxious. Although diplomacy does not operate on a first-come, first-served basis, first impressions always carry weight. If the Qing delegation arrived first and busied themselves making the rounds among the European states, they might well create a great many unnecessary obstacles for the Ming mission.

According to Van Diemen's analysis, the Ming mission would most likely run into serious trouble in Europe, because Zhu Cilang's understanding of the Lord of Heaven was even more "Protestant" than Protestantism itself!

And he was also demanding the "right of patronage." Given the Ming's national strength, if Zhu Cilang converted to Catholicism, he could of course claim the right of patronage.

But not only was it impossible for Zhu Cilang to enter the Catholic Church, he also had his own understanding of the Lord of Heaven — an understanding backed by an entire system of philosophical theory (the Learning of Principle), and that system was close to Protestantism.

Under such circumstances, how could the Pope possibly hand the right of patronage to Zhu Cilang?

If the two sides came into conflict over religious questions, wouldn't that "God-blessed Spain" be leaping up and down in opposition to the Ming?

And there is a whole flock of filial sons of Catholicism in Europe — wouldn't they all join in the uproar?

When that time comes, the trouble will be enormous!

Van Diemen therefore advised the Ming mission to reach Europe ahead of the Qing delegation if at all possible, so as to prevent the Qing delegation from stirring up trouble alongside them.

But going around Africa now seemed too late — in fact it was still possible, because the Spaniards had taken the Qing delegation to India in search of the Mongol Empire, though the Ming mission had no way of knowing this. So from their perspective, the only option was to pass through the Ottoman Empire.

"That Ottoman place — it should be the country of Rum, which kept sending us rare birds and exotic beasts during the Hongwu and Yongle reigns."

The one who interjected was Li Shaoyou. He had made thorough preparations before the mission and knew a good deal about Western matters.

He added, "That Rumi musket was also produced there. It's just that at some point they changed the country's name to Ottoman."

"Vice Envoy Li," Van Diemen said, "this country has always been called the Ottoman Empire. As for Rum, perhaps it is a homophone of Rome or Roman? But that is not important. What matters is that the Ottoman Empire is extremely powerful, and it is a state whose national religion is the religion of Arabia.

In the West, the war between Catholicism and the religion of Arabia has lasted nearly a thousand years, and the hatred between the two sides runs deep. So you would do best not to bring up any religious questions. If the Ottoman side raises the matter, just fob them off with talk of religious freedom or the like.

If they ask the purpose of your visit to the West, say it is for trade. Whatever you do, do not speak to them of any Heavenly Principle or Lord of Heaven. They can be more troublesome than the Spanish at times. You must avoid provoking trouble."

Van Diemen was now playing the part of an old friend of the Ming people and a loyal adviser to the Ming diplomatic mission.

Of course, all the advice he offered was premised on serving the interests of the Dutch Republic. So long as that overriding premise was satisfied, he was still willing to put forward some constructive opinions.

"Just how powerful is this Ottoman Empire?" Ji Kun asked. "Compared with the Ming?"

"Of course it is more powerful than the Ming, whether at sea or on land," Van Diemen said frankly.

Ji Kun asked again, "Then will they, like you Europeans, colonize the Western Ocean and the Southern Seas?"

Ji Kun's concern was not unreasonable in the context of the seventeenth-century world situation. The Ottoman Empire was more powerful than any single European great power. At least until the disaster at Vienna, it appeared to be a superpower that was very hard to defeat, whether at sea or on land.

If the Ottoman Empire had not devoted its main energies to the struggle for hegemony on the European continent but instead to the Indian Ocean and the Southern Seas, the Dutch and the Portuguese would not have had such an easy time of it.

"That is indeed a problem," Van Diemen said with a shrug. "So you would do best not to provoke the Ottoman Empire on questions of colonization and overseas trade. If they shift their attention from Europe to the Indian Ocean and the Southern Seas, it would not be a good thing for either of our countries."

Istanbul, Topkapi Palace.

Kosem Sultan, who had just finished her morning prayers, was seated in the Sultan's audience chamber within the Kubbealti, the imperial council hall, watching the meeting underway in the hall through a golden window.

That the Ottoman Empire could maintain its hegemony for centuries was, politically speaking, certainly due to its merits. This empire carried the essence of "a monk from outside chants the sutra better" to its ultimate extreme!

Although the Ottoman Turks were the ruling people of the empire, at least half of the council members discussing state affairs in the Kubbealti hall today — including the Grand Vizier, the viziers, the military leaders, the finance minister, the foreign minister, the Grand Mufti, the council secretary, and others — were not Ottoman Turks.

And Kosem Sultan, seated behind the golden window, was likewise not a Turk. She was a Greek woman. Though people addressed her with the honorific "Sultan," she was in fact an empress dowager. At the age of fifteen she had entered the harem of the Ottoman court as a slave girl, won the favor of Ahmed I, and borne Murad IV and Ibrahim I.

In 1623, by virtue of her son Murad IV becoming sultan, she gained the power to "rule from behind the curtain," returning power for the first time eight years later. In 1640, after the brave and battle-hardened but sonless Murad IV died, she once again "ruled from behind the curtain," helping her mentally ill son Ibrahim I govern. In 1648 she deposed Ibrahim I and replaced the sultan with her grandson Mehmed IV, continuing to "rule from behind the curtain" down to the present.

However, the reason Kosem Sultan sat behind the golden window rather than entering the council hall to meet with the high officials seated on the long sofa was not "the curtain," but a system peculiar to the Ottoman Empire.

By Chinese standards, the "ministerial power" of the Ottoman Empire was very great. When the Grand Vizier presided over the imperial council, the sultan did not even need to appear, but merely remained behind the golden window watching, and knocked on the window when he wished to express an opinion.

If one had a lazy sultan, one need only have someone lower the curtain, and he could doze off for a while behind the golden window.

The elderly grandmother Kosem Sultan was yawning and on the verge of drowsing off when her foreign minister suddenly brought up a most novel matter.

"The Governor-General of Basra has just sent a report saying that a large diplomatic mission sent by the Emperor of China has arrived in Basra."

The finance minister was somewhat surprised. "A mission from the Emperor of China? Isn't their country closed off from the outside world?"

"Perhaps things have changed now," the empire's vizier said, stroking his long beard. "I think we can entertain these Chinese well, and in passing learn something of Eastern affairs. It may prove quite interesting."

Clang, clang, clang.

At that moment, a black eunuch knocked on the golden window, and the imperial council meeting was temporarily suspended.

Then the black eunuch was heard to cry out loudly: "His Majesty the Sultan summons the Grand Vizier and the foreign minister!"

(End of Chapter)