Chapter 327: The Quiet Throne

"Alright, so now we only got two choices, North wards? Or West wards." Back in the room Antonius started consulting his good old friend again. "What do you think?" 

"I would say there are advantages in both directions." Abdullah responded after thinking for a while. "But for you, my friend, I recommend you to go north first, then go west… I trust that you can deal with the foes in Thrace with no difficulty, am I right?" 

Antonius chuckled and nodded his head. "Aye, you can count on me… Alright, we shall head north! And we shall not stop marching till we reach the walls of Edirne!" 

"Just like that?" Abdullah lifted his eye brow. "I am just about to explain to you my thinking process."

"No need." Antonius continued grinning confidently. "You have put in all of your trust all along the way since six years ago, and I shall put in all of my trust on you too my friend!" 

Although Abdullah is already expecting an answer like this, but upon hearing this he is still deeply touched inside his mind standing up about to express his thanks and relief. Though the later stood up too grabbing Abdullah's hands shaking them tightly while maintaining that warm smile on his face. The two pairs of eyes met, and Abdullah instantly received the message that Antonius had in his eyes. There is no need to explain any thing, just carry on with the making of his plans marching North, for he shall have the admiral's full support.

"Alright then, I shall get back to work." Abdullah released his hands from Antonius' grip. "If every thing goes well according to the plan, we ought to get every department ready and let the war machine begin functioning by the end of this month." 

Mean while a day later in Edirne, the Sultan's palace. 

The mighty Grand Vizier, regent, care taker of the Sultan, and the commander of the entire Ottoman army is now getting soaked in the warm waters of Kum Kasrı Hamamı, a bathe located in the Sultan's palace, enjoying a cozy bathe in the warm after noon. Normally this bathe is only reserved for the Sultan and his Haram but honestly speaking, he the Grand Vizier is the truly uncrowned Sultan now with his antennas being spread to almost every single sector of the Ottoman government in Edirne. He literally controls every thing, from big things like the military, taxation, trade, laws, social welfare and social labour. He even controls the palace Janissaries which is supposedly used to protect the Sultan and his family members. 

The Grand Vizier did not bother leaving a single trace of power to the growing up Sultan who is now already thirteen years old. In fact, as an ancient tradition the Grand Vizier has to visit the Sultan every single morning reporting on government issues and also greeting the Sultan wishing him good health, but for Candarli Halil Pasha he has not been paying the Sultan any visit ever since two years ago, because he feel like there is no need to when the Sultan is dependent on him. 

The only thing that worries the mighty Grand Vizier is that strangely the young Sultan is becoming more and more quiet, totally unlike a kid of his age when he ought to be rowdy, rebellious and mischievous like any other city kids going through puberty. Instead, the Sultan just sits there all day long on his throne staring blankly at the court held by the trusted men of the Grand Vizier with out saying a word. No one knows what this boy is thinking, not even the Grand Vizier himself. Some how he does not think that this is a good sign, as he does not see the image of a thirteen year old kid being portrayed on the Sultan, instead he sees the image of an adult. 

But that does not really concern him, as the Grand Vizier knows the hidden rule in the Ottoman government – whoever controls the salaries of the Janissaries controls the army, and whoever that controls the army controls the Sultanate. And yes, he is the one who distribute the salaries of the fellow Janissaries. 

There is a rather interesting tradition among the Janissaries since the day of their creation, it is said that each Janissary soldier has a bowl that is used for cooking and eating. When the Sultan or the leader of the Janissaries distribute their salaries or rewards there would usually be a feast to commemorate the day. If the Janissaries are satisfied with the pay they get, they would enjoy their meal peacefully with their leaders, if they are slightly unsatisfied with the rewards, they would not eat the food in their bowls, if they are extremely dissatisfied with their pay they would knock their bowls on the ground causing a loud bang sound and roar out their complains until some thing is done. If they are on the verge of rebellion, which has never yet happened till now, they would smash their bowl on the ground, and you know the rest of the story. 

That is exactly the case for our Grand Vizier here. As he is not the legitimate commander of the Janissaries, he adopted a way of using material benefits, more specifically gold, jewel, land and silk to soothe the dissatisfied minds of the Janissaries pulling them on to his side preventing them from causing an uproar in the city. However unintentionally this is only the start towards disaster, as with each time the Grand Vizier increases their pay the more gold, they demand on the next occasion forcing the Grand Vizier to increase their salaries, which greatly increased the government budget. What made it even worse is that seeing the increased pay of the Janissaries the other forces also bursted in requesting for a pay rise, all of these eventually caused the government finance to come to the brink of a bail out. 

However, all of these is not the concerns of the Grand Vizier as he has a special method for this sort of thing – He would gradually decrease the amount of true gold or silver used in the coinage minting process and use these coins to pay the Janissaries and soothe their appetite. Of course, these things might eventually cause some thing worse but honestly speaking, the Grand Vizier does not care, it is not his Sultanate any ways, he feels that at the end of the day all responsibilities goes to the Sultan of the house of Osman, not him the Grand Vizier. 

The Grand Vizier raised up from the warm waters, spread his arms to allow the two maidens to wipe his body clean while appreciating his looks before the bronze mirror. He has indeed become too old looking at all the ashen hair and beards in every where of his body. Some times Candarli Halil Pasha even wondered that what if all of those tragical events have never ever happened, where would he be today? Will he be able to retire back to his home town and enjoy a steady and relaxing retirement life there? He does not know, but what life that is it must be much better than the life he is having now with out so much stress and burden being laid on his shoulders. 

"Honourable Grand Vizier." An eunuch came in from the side gates kneeling in front the Grand Vizier reporting. "The Sultan would like to meet you to discuss about the rebellious twit Abbas in Bulgaria."

"The Sultan? Abbas?" The Grand Vizier frowned. "How many times have I told you people? The Sultan should not be taking so many concerns on politics and regional affairs, he ought to be focusing more on the teachings of the Great Prophet and learn from me on how to run a state like what his father is doing at his age! What are you people even doing?"

"I am sorry for you, my honourable Grand Vizier." The eunuch buried his head low with a trembling tone. "I shall prevent this sort of things in the future." 

"Who is the eunuch that let the intel on the recent situation in Bulgaria slip to the Sultan and disturb him from his academic studies?" The Sultan asked in an unemotional tone. "Find him, and remove him, understand? Make sure that there are so such things in the future, or else I shall be coming for you too." 

"Yes, my honourable Grand Vizier." 

"Now." The Grand Vizier began donning his clothes with the help of two maidens. "Gather my guards waiting outside, tell them to assemble and wait for me." 

"What about the Sultan's request my Honourable Grand Vizier?" 

"The Sultan's request?" The Grand Vizier frowned. "Tell the Sultan that I shall be there within an hour, I still have urgent state affairs to take care of… He ought to understand that perhaps I am the busiest person alive in the entire Sultanate."

"Yes, my honourable Grand Vizier."