The War Court and Lap Pillow, Austria's Mandate of Heaven

Chapter 1377: Trip to Constantinople (Part )
The establishment of the Grand Bazaar can be traced back to the period of Mehmed II, the seventh Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. After conquering Constantinople, Mehmed II built the Grand Bazaar, the largest bazaar in the world at that time, in order to demonstrate his military prowess and to accumulate troops for his westward expedition.

In the following centuries, the Grand Bazaar did bring endless wealth to the Ottoman Empire, and trade between the East and the West converged here. Even though the Ottoman Empire had become the sick man of West Asia, the Grand Bazaar was still one of the most active markets in the world at that time.

The Grand Bazaar was bustling with people, and the sounds of hawking, bargaining, shouting, and cursing could be heard everywhere; the air was mixed with various spices, sweat, and the smell of salted mutton.

The stalls here are densely packed and endless, and the goods are so dazzling that it is hard to take your eyes off them all. There is everything, from tea, silk, and porcelain from the East to quinine, rubber, and mahogany from the South American rainforests, from diamonds and furs from Russia to raw gold unearthed in South Africa, from British steam engines and wool fabrics to Austrian clocks and bicycles.

However, the most common products here are spices, wool carpets, jewelry, clothes, ceramics, and special products of the Ottoman Empire.

Maximilian and Ludwig were both very surprised when they saw this scene. They had never seen such a scene in the Austrian Empire.

In fact, it’s not that there are no large markets in the Austrian Empire, but given their status, it’s unlikely that they would go to such places.

The exaggerated expressions of the two were immediately caught by the surrounding vendors, beggars, guides, stockbrokers, and pickpockets.

"The fat sheep is here!"

This is the first impression in everyone's mind.

The first to take action were the beggars, but the experienced old beggars immediately realized from the aura of the people around them that the people who came might not be easy to deal with.

Then a group of dirty little beggars gathered around, and sure enough, a few followers blocked the way for the beggars.

The people on the opposite side were obviously not easy to deal with, but the little beggars still rushed forward with their heads held high. After all, the people in front of them could at most beat them up, but the beggar leaders could make them live a life worse than death.

Although the opponent was a child, the followers and guards had no intention of backing down. A little boy who tried to force his way through was pushed to the ground by a guard.

In fact, at this time there would usually be a woman who would stand up and cry that a stranger had beaten her child, and then people around her would start pointing and gradually gather around.

The fat sheep were forced to spend money to avoid disaster due to moral and safety pressures, but these old gangsters who had been hanging around in the Grand Bazaar for decades decided to back off after just one look at the entourage that had to surround them.

The little boy sat on the ground and cried, but no one came to judge him, so he could only pretend to cry. But no one came forward, and the atmosphere froze.

Until Ludwig said, "Vlasic, what are you going to do with a child?"

Vlasic: "Sir, this is my duty. If my behavior makes you uncomfortable, please go back and punish me.

I accept all your punishment, but I must say that you shouldn't be here."

Ludwig was angry, but he knew the other party was right, and in this situation Ludwig usually chose to sulk.

In order to prevent him from getting angry to death, Franz specially arranged for him to have a female attendant named Alit, who was of gypsy descent.

"Sir, these kids just want some candy, and we happened to have some."

So Alite ordered her maid to bring a big box to Ludwig, and Ludwig grabbed the candies and scattered them to the little beggars.

The children immediately picked up the candies on the ground and stuffed them directly into their mouths with joy, and Ludwig finally became happy.

The guards were relieved. They didn't want to beat up the kids, but they had to do it because of their duty. Fortunately, Miss Alit had a solution. In Ludwig's palace, Alit had a high reputation, and everyone was very convinced of this airborne attendant.

Alette was originally trained by Ajani herself and was one of Franz's maids, but she was eliminated due to the number of people and the competition mechanism.

So Franz arranged her to be with Ludwig, after all, his brother was not very smart.

When everyone wanted to express their gratitude to Arriet, she had already disappeared. Everyone was impressed by how low-key and modest Miss Arriet was, a model of a noble maid.

He stepped forward at the critical moment, and left when the matter was over, keeping his achievements and fame hidden.

Maximilian's face was full of contempt. He thought that everyone around Franz liked to be in the limelight as much as he did. If Franz dared to place spies around him, he would send them to the military camp as military prostitutes and make them sweat all over.

However, Alite did not think that the matter was over. She felt that the aftermath work was not yet completed. She noticed the resentment in the eyes of the man in the distance.

The joyous atmosphere did not last long. Seeing that he could not get any benefits, the beggar leader knocked the ground twice with his cane. Those little beggars quickly disappeared in front of everyone as if they were possessed.

In fact, even if the beggar leader did not ask the beggars to leave, the vendors would still drive them away for the sake of their own business.

After the matter came to an end, Maximilian and Ludwig prepared to continue shopping in the Grand Bazaar, but after what had just happened, most of the profiteers who had been eager to try had now chosen to give up.

Of course, it’s a different matter if the other party takes the initiative to ask for the price.

In order to ensure the best possible gaming experience for the two grand dukes, there were only a dozen or so followers on the surface, but in fact they brought more than two hundred people.

In addition to an unknown number of Ottomans, Hurayd Pasha and the administrator of the Grand Bazaar, Sarris Parayev, were present.

Maximilian naturally knew that he might encounter dangers when he came to Istanbul, such as pickpockets, robbers, and even assassination by the Ottoman government, but he felt that as long as it was not the Ottoman government that was at stake, his guards would be enough to handle it.

When Franz founded the "United Forces" department store chain in 1840, he first adopted the strategy of clearly marked prices and no bargaining.

Therefore, the young nobles in Vienna's upper class had very poor bargaining power, which naturally included Maximilian and Ludwig.

These two guys rarely buy things on a regular basis, and even if they do, they won’t buy these low-end products, so they have no idea about prices.

As soon as the vendor mentioned a price, they would agree immediately, after all, it was just a small amount of money in their eyes.

Alit wanted to remind her, but just as she was about to do so, she heard Maximilian say.

"Women who talk too much are really annoying. Some women think they are great after reading a few days and knowing a few words, and even want to make decisions for men.

It's really not a duty."

All Alite could do was keep silent, and Ludwig just answered instinctively.

"It's better for women to read some books. Doesn't my elder brother always say 'ignorance is also a sin'?"