The establishment of the Grand Bazaar dated back to the reign of Mehmed II, the seventh Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. After conquering Constantinople, Mehmed II built the Grand Bazaar, then the largest market in the world, both to flaunt his military prowess and to amass funds for the army that would continue westward.
Over the following centuries, the Grand Bazaar did indeed bring endless Fortune to the Ottoman Empire. Trade between East and West converged here. Even after the Ottoman Empire had become the sick man of West Asia, the Grand Bazaar remained one of the most vibrant markets in the world.
The Grand Bazaar roared with voices—hawkers crying their wares, customers haggling, people shouting, people cursing, every sound pouring into the ears. The air was further thick with a mingling of spices, sweat, and cumin-salted mutton.
The stalls here stood packed together as far as the eye could see, while the goods were so dazzlingly abundant that one could hardly take them all in. From Eastern tea, silk, and porcelain to quinine, rubber, and mahogany from the tropical rainforests of South America; from Russian diamonds and furs to raw gold ore unearthed in South Africa; from British steam engines and woolen textiles to Austrian clocks and bicycles—there was everything one could possibly want.
But the most plentiful goods were still spices, wool carpets, jewelry, clothes, ceramics, and the Ottoman Empire's distinctive products.
At the sight, both Maximilian and Ludwig wore utterly astonished expressions. They had never seen such a scene in the Austrian Empire.
It was not as though the Austrian Empire lacked large marketplaces. It was simply that people of their status were unlikely to visit such places.
Their exaggerated expressions were immediately noticed by the surrounding merchants, beggars, guides, stockbrokers, and pickpockets.
"Fat sheep have come