Chapter 533: Purpose Of The Ottoman Army
"Honourable Pasha, I am strongly against you of accepting this command and put yourself in danger!"
"It is an order, remember, we are still the army of the Sultan... I know that there are many negative sentiments within the troops regarding the royal family’s recent misbehaves, but I still must remind you, the purpose of this army is to protect the Sultan, expand the Sultan’s territories and we must prove our loyalty at all times!"
"But! Honourable Pasha! This government has caused the death of hundreds of thousands of our fellow Ottoman people! Aren’t we supposed to end their..."
"Shup the hell up! Let me repeat myself for one last time, the sole purpose of our army’s existence is to serve the Sultan! Now! Be gone!"
Hamza Pasha rode out of the camp with just two guards by his side. He has been summoned to the court by the Sultan himself to make a report on the recent situation in the army and explain why did some field officers refuse to follow the orders of the Sultan.
Many Ottoman officers have been relentlessly trying to convince their leader to at least bring a hundred soldiers with him on the trip just in case if the palace is planning something fishy. But this logical proposal too got rejected by the old Pasha, saying that if he brought too many men it would look like he is going to attack the palace, and that would only intensify the situation creating even more misunderstandings.
These junior field officers would never have understood the real intentions behind the old Pasha’s daring moves with their radicalised minds. He is still trying his very best to soothe the relationships between the army and the palace, believing in an idea that they should stay united and protect themselves first in this messed up world instead of sucking themselves into an entire civil war, where the army would be seen as a bunch of rebels.
Hamza Pasha slowly rode out of the army camp with only two guards, despite being the head of tens of thousands of people, he rejected he luxury of travelling in those deluxe carts designed and manufactured in Thessaloniki, rejected enjoying the benefit of living in the villa in Edirne gifted by the Sultana Dowager like the other Pashas, and insisted on living in the camp with his soldiers. That is why his soldiers loved him, calling him ’Granddad Hamza’. But not the courtiers in the palace of course, in fact due to the lack of communication, they hated him.
The Pasha is still thinking on how to ease the misunderstandings when he rode into the palace. His guard felt something unease and informed the Pasha that they did not see any Palace guards standing by the gate or patrolling around, but it got quickly dismissed by the Pasha thinking that perhaps the guards are all dispatched to aid with the protest. Then they discovered that wherever they go past, the servants, eunuchs, gardeners, and other courtiers would all stop with what they are doing and stare at them, gossiping something. This piece of information finally gained some alert and attention by the Pasha, but still he proceeded on going deeper into the Cihannüma Kasrı.
The gates of the Palace came to a gradual shut.
Hamza Pasha climbed down from his horse, threw his keeves to the attendants, who approached Hamza Pasha with his head lowered whispering. "His Majesty is expecting you in the meeting hall, your highness, please hand me all of you and your follower’s weapons just for safety precautions."
"Honourable Pasha!" The guard made one step forward in alert, but Hamza Pasha made a hand gesture ordering the guard to stay put. Then he handed his Kilij blade and his dagger to the eunuch.
"Your inner armour as well, honourable Pasha."
"The armour as well?" Hamza Pasha is a little bit tilted. "I am a Pasha of the Sultan."
"I know, honourable Pasha, with no means of disrespect, it is just a safety precaution to not bring along any sharp or hard objects when meeting with the Sultan." The eunuch paused for a second bowing down. "Even Candarli Halil Pasha removes his armour last time whenever he is in the court ready to meet with the Sultan."
Hamza Pasha had no choice but to remove his inner chainmail.
"Please, proceed, honourable Pasha, the Sultan is expecting you." The eunuch let the Pasha pass but stopped the two guards behind him. "The two gentlemen shall stay."
"You little..."
"Samvel! Stay!"
"..."
Hamza Pasha entered the court, only by himself, and again the doors became tightly shut behind him. This is definitely not the first time he has entered the palace, but he has never entered so deep into the Cihannüma Kasrı before. He remembers this room, it used to be a ball room for the Sultan’s family back then during the times of Murad II filled with luxurious whale lamps from Badajoz, Sandalwood perfume from Hindustan, and curtains sewed with pure silk from Serica. The room is largely abandoned now, with all the luxurious and jewellery sold to the Genoese under the Sultana Dowager’s call for the palace to save money to aid the national bankruptcy a few years back. The whale lamps and the perfume has been removed, with only the silk from Serica still here giving this place a mysterious atmosphere.
No matter what sort of foolish stuff the Sultana Dowager has done recently, Hamza Pasha still got to thank her for one thing, that is saving the Sultanate’s economy which was on the brink of collapse a few years back, which saved his arse from a crisis because he was not able to pay the wages to his soldiers and almost caused a mutiny in camp.
A minute later, a figure walked gracefully out of the curtains, with a black silken mask covering her entire face – ah yes, Hamza Pasha thought to himself, he would definitely be surprised if the Sultan came to meet him, he knew since the start that he is here to meet the mistress of the palace.
"Your Grace."
"Sit, Pasha."
"..."
The two people sat there facing one another remaining silent for minutes, the Pasha dared not raise his head up and he knows that he would not be able to observe the Sultana Dowager’ facial expressions behind that black mask.
"Honourable Pasha." The Sultana Dowager spoke first. "The court of the Sultan has doubts on whether if you still have control over the army as their commander, the due date for the army’s retreat from the city has been rejected by your sub coordinates for three times. The Sultan wishes that you, as their supreme commander, is able to follow the order of the Sultan, and withdraw from the capital city."
Upon hearing this Hamza Pasha knows that the talk has begun, and he has to stand up against the court to speak out the terms of his followers. "Your Grace, the rebels, rogues and spies that are influenced by the Rumelians have not been fully exterminated yet, and so my general staff feels that it is still too early to call for an end to the intervention. But there is no need to fear, for the army shall always remain loyal to no one else but only the Sultan."
The atmosphere came to a breaking point immediately after the two’s first round of conflict.
"Honourable Pasha, the problem now is not with the Rumelians, nor is it with the Sultan, nor me, it is you." The Sultana Dowager spoke harshly. "The court has lost confidence in you and your organisation, even the Sultan has doubt whether you can still control your troops. And we believe that the entire army structure needs to be reformed."
"Reformed?" Hamza Pasha realised something.
"The Sultan believes that restructuring the commanding structure of the army, especially the army facing the west, is the top priority of the government. We believe that... let me put it in a simpler term, that the entire army system needs to be cleansed, and we would kindly request your assistance in this operation."
"Cleanse?" The Pasha made a sneer. "You mean that you want to purge the whole lot of field officers and replace them with what, the eunuchs from your palace?"
"This is an order, honourable Pasha, not a suggestion."
Hamza Pasha hesitated for a bit and answered sternly. "I, Caner Mustafa Hamza, is the chief of the Ottoman army. It is not only my role to ensure that the Sultanate remains safe, but also to make sure that the court would not make up with any hasty and illogical ideas or policies on the army. Remember, your Grace, I only listen to the Sultan. Now, where is the Sultan, I need to see the Sultan, where is the Sultan!"
Gülbahar Hatun narrowed her eyes behind the black mask.
The negotiation is now over, all possibilities of having an agreement met between the palace and the army has been shattered.
