Across the Bosphorus Strait, near the Anatolia Fortress, which faced Rumelia Fortress across the sea, a group of escapees who had left Constantinople under the cover of night successfully fled back to the Ottoman Empire's territory after evading the Crusader Fleet's tight naval blockade.
Soon, Ottoman cavalry patrolling near the strait discovered their tracks, and the news of Constantinople's fall was conveyed to His Majesty the Sultan's court with the return of these lucky individuals.
Inside His Majesty the Sultan's palace in Bursa, a group of Ottoman Empire's high-ranking officials and nobles were gathered outside, anxiously awaiting the latest news.
In His Majesty the Sultan's study, grand vizier Rum Mehmet Pasha and former grand vizier Zagan Pasha had been inside for a long time, but no news had yet emerged.
Everyone thought that their Sultan would once again fly into a rage as before, and then execute some people on some pretext to vent his anger—if nothing unexpected happened, the unfortunate person would likely be yet another Admiral.
After all, as is widely known, the position of Admiral in the Ottoman Empire was an extremely high-risk profession; the defeat in a small naval battle could lead to the Admiral's execution, let alone the current situation where the Ottoman navy's power was completely suppressed by the Christians.
Taiwan Novel Network is super smooth and worry-free.
Even though it wasn't the Admiral's fault, someone still had to take the blame for His Majesty the Sultan, right?
At this moment, the Admiral stood outside the crowd, his face ashen, waiting to meet his almost certain fate, while others kept their distance from him.
However, inside the palace, the scene was not as chaotic as everyone had expected. Mehmed II, uncharacteristically, remained calm. He was well aware of how bad the current situation was, and therefore, he absolutely could not be the first to show any panic or violent emotional fluctuations, otherwise, the entire Empire would fall into chaos.
The grand vizier and Zagan Pasha, who stood before him, were the leaders of the peace faction and the war faction in the court, respectively. One was Greek, the other Albanian, both high-ranking officials from the Devshirme system.
Due to the extensive loss of European territory, their loyalty to His Majesty the Sultan was constantly questioned.
However, Mehmed II originally intended to use these converts to counterbalance the ancient, pure-blooded Turkish noble factions of the Ottomans, so he continued to entrust them with important responsibilities.
Normally, when the two met, they would only attack and slander each other, but this time they maintained sufficient restraint.
"His Majesty the Sultan, the power of the Crusaders is formidable. Even if they suffered considerable losses in Constantinople, they still have enough strength to cross the strait and threaten the security of Nicaea, and even Bursa.
If we can end this conflict through diplomatic means, we might still have a chance to return to Europe."
grand vizier Rum Mehmet Pasha cautiously offered his suggestion to His Majesty the Sultan.
Since grand vizier Halil Pasha was brutally executed after the fall of Constantinople more than a decade ago, the influence of the native Ottoman nobility in His Majesty the Sultan's court had been continuously suppressed, and the faction advocating for peaceful development, led by Halil Pasha, was quickly overwhelmed by the faction advocating for continuous military expansion.
After Halil Pasha's death, it was Zagan Pasha, standing beside him, who took over as grand vizier.
Although Zagan was later identified as the main cause of defeat in the Battle of Belgrade and was exiled, he was urgently recalled by Mehmed II, who lacked competent officials, after the large-scale invasion of the Crusaders.
Zagan Pasha then led an army to conquer Trebizond and served as grand vizier until he "voluntarily" stepped down due to old age.
Mehmed II, who was adept at balancing power, quickly brought back the peace faction, which had almost completely lost its voice, and appointed its leader, Rum Mehmet, to take over as grand vizier until now.
This largely alleviated the tense domestic situation in the Ottoman Empire caused by the Karaman expedition, but Mehmed II's ambitious nature made him increasingly displeased with the grand vizier.
Sometimes, he would silently wonder in his heart when and how he would execute this gentle and weak grand vizier.
However, this time, Mehmed II also had to admit that the grand vizier's proposal was correct.
Even Zagan Pasha, who was always keen on war, did not want to fight this battle, let alone His Majesty the Sultan, who had to consider the overall situation.
As for how His Majesty the Sultan knew Zagan's thoughts, they had worked together for over twenty years and understood each other very deeply.
If it had been in the past, the war-eager Zagan would have long since started making an issue of it, accusing the grand vizier of secretly colluding with the Christians and attempting to betray the Empire's interests—he had used such reasons to accuse Halil Pasha, which ultimately led to the latter's hanging.
But after the grand vizier's recent remarks, Zagan actually fell silent and showed no reaction, which meant that he also did not have a good outlook on the prospects of this war.
"We lost Constantinople, and now we must humiliatingly sue for peace, begging those Christians for mercy?
This will only damage my reputation and make the enemy even more convinced that my Empire is currently in a weak state, which will further ignite their desire to invade."
Mehmed II, as a renowned conqueror who had vanquished many nations, understood the enemy's mentality all too well, so he somewhat exasperatedly rejected the grand vizier's suggestion.
If Laszlo were here, he would surely mock His Majesty the Sultan: "You can't only say you hate war when your own country is under attack."
"However, if we do not negotiate with the other party, the safety of Prince Bayezid cannot be guaranteed, and the enemy could cross the strait at any time. They had already plundered our coast before besieging Constantinople, which indicates their ambition for the Empire's western coast."
The grand vizier was also at his wit's end. He was good at economics and internal affairs. After all, in recent years, the Ottoman government he led had supported the costly Karaman expedition and made the most thorough preparations possible for the defense of Constantinople.
But now, the Crusaders led by the Roman Emperor, with their formidable strength, had taken Constantinople, effectively gaining strategic initiative. Whether the war would continue now depended entirely on the Emperor's mood.
"Then let them come," Zagan Pasha, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly spoke. "We should continue to call for Jihad, recruit as many warriors as possible, and defend Bursa no matter what.
His Majesty the Sultan, can a portion of the army stationed in Konya be transferred back to reinforce the western front?"
Mehmed II shook his head with a troubled expression and replied, "News of the Crusaders has recently reached the East. The Mamluk slave owners are very worried that their source of slaves will be cut off, and also fear that their supported vassals in Cyprus will be overthrown, so they are unwilling to easily offend the Roman Emperor.
The Khan of the White Sheep is currently leading an army on an expedition to Timur in the East and will not return for a while.
And those damned Bilal Ahmed and his brother Kasim of Karaman, they have been particularly active recently, leading armies to invade our borders multiple times, tying up a large number of troops from the Anatolia Corps.
I'm afraid the Christians have provided them with more aid, which is why they are so desperately trying to tie up our forces."
Towards the end, Mehmed II was almost grinding his teeth.
Although Bilal Ahmed and Kasim were his nephews, His Majesty the Sultan swore that if he ever caught those two rascals, he would make them experience the most painful death.
"These accursed apostates, Allah will surely bring down divine wrath upon them!"
Zagan Pasha cursed angrily.
As a Christian convert to Islam, it was quite ironic for him to say such a thing.
Generally speaking, muslims cannot expel another muslim from the fold of Islam, nor can they declare him an apostate.
However, one who finds comfort and peace of mind in disbelief, and acts upon it, is an apostate.
Undoubtedly, in the eyes of His Majesty the Sultan and his ministers, the Karaman people, who were fiercely stabbing them in the back while the Crusaders were making a large-scale invasion, were traitors to the Islamic world and the most shameful apostates.
However, they all selectively ignored that it was the Ottoman Empire that initially invaded Karaman repeatedly to strengthen its power, even launching an astonishing thirteen expeditions.
Since both sides were not clean, neither should accuse the other.
On the eastern front, tens of thousands of troops could not be recalled. On the western front, apart from the nearly ten thousand troops His Majesty the Sultan held to defend the new capital Bursa, there were only some jihadist cavalry roaming the coast.
They came at His Majesty the Sultan's summons, constantly patrolling the coast to detect the movements of the Crusaders and protect invaded villages and towns.
"Alas, let's do what we can first. Zagan, you must help me continue to gather the jihad army. Rum Mehmet, send envoys across the strait to investigate the Crusaders' strength and negotiate the ransom of Bayezid.
Remember, send a strong-willed person; we cannot let those Westerners look down on us."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The grand vizier and Zagan Pasha, who had been reappointed as the second vizier, walked out of the palace together. They comforted the anxious crowd, striving to maintain the confidence of the Empire's high-ranking officials in this war.
The Admiral, who could do nothing, was not punished, mainly because he was a successor Zagan had painstakingly cultivated. His Majesty the Sultan, out of consideration for Zagan, was not too harsh on him.
While His Majesty the Sultan was facing a formidable enemy, on the other side of Europe, as news of the victory spread, people fell into jubilation.
In Rome, the elderly Pope, deeply moved, personally appeared above St. Peter's Square to announce the news of Constantinople's liberation to the gathered crowd.
In Vienna, a grand celebration was held in the Hofburg Palace to commemorate the Emperor's victory on the front lines.
Empress Joanna, who had initially harbored resentment towards Laszlo because of their forced marriage, had now completely cast aside her slight dissatisfaction.
She now firmly believed that her husband, the Emperor, was a chosen one blessed by Christ.
The Empress, who had been left in Vienna by Laszlo shortly after their marriage, now even looked forward to his return.
In Hungary, the Balkan states, and even Poland and Lithuania, nations long threatened by the Ottoman Empire, everyone cheered at the exhilarating news of the Ottomans being driven out of the European continent.
The various princes throughout the Empire were also amazed by the Emperor's great victory, with some even regretting not having chosen to follow the Emperor to the East.
However, those princes whose judgment was not clouded by religious fanaticism still believed their decision to avoid disaster by paying was correct.
To conquer that city, heavily guarded by the Ottomans, would undoubtedly require a terrible price.
Now, only news of victory was returning; who knew how many Crusader warriors had died beneath the towering and sturdy Theodosian Walls?
Moreover, with Constantinople taken, the Emperor's power would once again increase, and not just his strength, but even his title would change.
There were rumors that the Emperor was preparing for a new coronation ceremony.
He seemingly intended to integrate Bulgaria, Macedonia, Morea, and Epirus, with Constantinople as the core, to recreate the Latin Empire of old.
And the Pope would probably not oppose such a decision.
Perhaps when the time came, Cardinal Bessarion, the Patriarch of Constantinople, who had once been the Emperor's advisor, would formally crown the Emperor with the Eastern Roman Empire's crown in the Hagia Sophia.
By then, the Habsburg Family would no longer have to worry about the imperial crown, which was still locked in Nuremberg—Laszlo would transform into an equally noble Eastern Emperor.
Just thinking about the monarch from Austria holding two "legitimate" Roman Empire crowns almost made the princes cry in fear.
Perhaps the Electors could still manipulate the elections of the Holy Roman Empire, but the revered position of the Eastern Roman Emperor was beyond their influence.
This meant that, as a member of the Empire, Austria, ruled by the Habsburg Family, might forever maintain a transcendent status within the Empire.
Soon, these messages were confirmed not to be rumors, as the Empire's new Empress had already embarked on her journey to the East, bringing with her the Eastern Roman crown stored in the Hofburg Palace.
Shortly after, Pope Paul II publicly announced his support for the Emperor to re-establish an Eastern Roman Empire, or Latin Empire, that adhered to Roman Catholicism.
When this news reached the court of the Kingdom of France, Louis XI, who was constantly maneuvering against the Duke of Burgundy, felt his world collapse.
The Emperor's strength and prestige already overshadowed him. Although he could assert that his status was second to none based on his power, people were not convinced by this claim.
Now, with two crowns placed on the head of the twenty-eight-year-old Emperor, he, the King of France, no longer needed to struggle; he could just comfortably settle for the second seat on the European continent.
What worried him even more was the situation of his good ally, the Ottoman Empire. With Constantinople lost, the Ottomans were merely reverting to their state from over a century ago; at least their foundation remained, and they might yet rise again.
But if the Emperor did not intend to let the Ottomans off so easily, the future situation would be difficult to predict.
As things stood, he could only send people to provide some financial and military aid to the Ottoman Empire, and even dispatch some mercenaries to help.
Although Charles of Burgundy was currently quite active, he had ultimately lost the ability to threaten Louis and could only vent his anger on the rebels in the Low Countries.
At least until the Emperor returned from the East, Louis XI would maintain the upper hand in this struggle.