Chapter 544: Era of Sultan Bayezid II
It did not take long for the news on the assassination of the newly appointed Grand Vizier of the Sultanate to be spread across the entire city, but just as the citizens became wary again of a new round of political turmoil, power struggle, or even perhaps a new round of civil war re shuffling the political situation of the Sultanate, nothing happened. Not a single mutiny, not a single confrontation on the streets, everything peaceful as usual.
Perhaps the only event that happened after Celalettin’s death is nothing but another massive funeral hosted by the Sultan himself, all entertainment and recreational activities in Edirne are ordered to be shut down for a week in order to moan the "loss of a saint, a pioneer, a holy warrior and the man who broke apart the shackles holding the future of the Sultanate back" said and quoted from the Sultan himself during the ceremony.
But then, nothing else happened, no one went after, or even mentioned of chasing down the culprit and bringing him to justice for killing such a supposedly righteous man. No nothing, after the ceremony, a bunch of Celalettin’s followers got rewarded for various reasons, another bunch of his officers got promoted for showing their loyalty to the Sultan, the allies of Celalettin are all rosed in ranks and permitted a new office in the central court of Edirne. The princess, Sultan’s sister, who was married to Celalettin is fetched back to the palace, waiting for her time to be used again as a pawn for political exchanges being married to another man.
After all those years as a puppet portraying various poses on the screen by the lines of his mother, the now seventeen years old Sultan Bayezid II, already a fully grown adult, finally had the real chance to get a taste of what true power is like without the need of listening to anyone’s orders. Through a series of rewards promotions, changes of office, he successfully managed to build up another three new political factions from the previous government and the military who all paid their allegiance to the young Sultan but are wary of each other’s existence. This trick, of course, is learnt and adapted from his mother.
Even at her death the mother can still teach her child yet another knowledge that can treasure him for his entire life to come.
Sultan Bayezid dared not to moan and pray for his mother in front of the public, especially before his newly formed government, since their legitimacy all came from that civil strife not long ago removing the supposed tyranny of the Sultana Dowager. Hence the Sultan can only has a small hidden room deep inside the harem of his palace, with a portrait of his mother and the offerings around it prepared and carried over by himself, and pray for his mother’s well beings silently in the middle of the night, afraid that anyone, even including those minor eunuchs, might find out about his deep little secrets. In these times he is more like a junior child missing for the hugs of his mother than the robust Sultan he is during the day.
But either way, near the end of year 1464, the young Sultan Bayezid II has finally started running this country by himself.
...
Antonius could not bother no more with the report regarding the recent massive shift in the Ottoman government, he just randomly threw the report to Cerberus, ordering the head of the Varangians, Fjodor, who took over command of the north on behalf of Helio to continue watching over the movements of the Ottomans.
He has a much more important target that has drained all of his attention for now, that are the Venetians.
Abraham has successfully landed on the shores of Korfu a day ago, his marine troops have encircled the Venetian fortress, and his fleet has sealed off any forms of outside connections. According to the battle plans, Abraham should have already given the Venetians on the isle twenty-four hours to consider whether they want to be his enemies, and since the time has already passed, the offensive should have already commenced. But Antonius is still yet to receive any forms of intelligence from Abdullah.
Meanwhile the troops of Julian in the south have simultaneously started attacking the properties and towns of Venezia’s ally, Leonardo III Tocco, the supposed Despot of Epirus. Antonius has no doubt that Julian shall capture the entire Despotate in the time to come, and Abraham definitely has the capability to capture the fortress of Korfu with the men he has, but what worries him the most is still that inevitable Venetian fleet in the Mediterranean seas.
He might have seemed to be full of complacency and confidence after conquering the entire Epirus, enlarging his sphere of control by almost twice which made him issue that order to start an undeclared war on the Venetians. But Antonius himself, in fact, came from Genoa, nobody knows the war capabilities of the Venetians when they are fully mobilised better than him. Those Venetian ships shoving out of various ports of the known world in the peace time, might be converted to battle convoys in a week’s time when someone launch an attack on the Venetian mainland, and considering that they have thousands of ships out there sailing in the open sea, it is unimaginable how much potential they really have when war comes.
No more news about the Venetian naval movements can be acquired after their diplomat has left the premise, it just seems like the entire Serene Republic of Venezia just disappeared from this world out of a sudden. Antonius has been here scaling the beaches all the while ever since Abraham has landed onto Korfu and sending out one after another scout ships into the Adriatic to see if they can catch a Venetian ship for information, but sadly not even one passing by ships are flying the banners of Saint Marco, which is already abnormal enough for a regularly busy waterway like Strait of Bari.
