"What did you say? Constantinople!" exclaimed Pearce, suddenly rising from his seat with excitement.
As a European who spent his days immersed in antiques and ancient history, Pearce held a special sentiment for the country that once unified the entire Mediterranean coast, exerting a significant influence on modern Europe.
Turns out, Liang En was right beside me!
Observing Pearce's animated reaction, Liang En displayed an amused expression. Then, using a deliberate pace, he delivered some news to Pearce that, from a certain perspective, could be considered unfortunate.
"Yes, indeed, the meaning of this term is Constantinople. However, the issue lies in the fact that this term is written in Ottoman Turkish," Liang En gently tapped the characters on the bottom of the pot as he spoke.
Ottoman Turkish, as a matter of fact, was Turkish written using the Arabic script, belonging to the Turkic language family.
At the beginning of the 20th century during the Kemalist reforms, this script was deemed archaic and was replaced by the modern Turkish language based on the Latin alphabet.
"And don't forget, Constantinople is the outsiders' name for that city. The locals often refer to it as New Rome," Liang En said, looking up at Pearce. "This is something we learned in our university classes."
"In that case, could this be an artifact left behind by Turkic merchants during the Byzantine Empire?" Pearce pondered briefly before offering his own speculation.
Being an enthusiast of Roman history, finding an artifact connected to both the Ottoman Empire and Constantinople wasn't exactly a pleasing prospect. Therefore, he swiftly presented another possibility.
"That's possible because in ancient times, merchants across the old continent had a habit of inscribing or carving the names of the places they visited onto items they carried with them."
Liang En found Pearce's guess to hold a certain degree of possibility. However, the exact situation would only be determined once the entirety of the pot's bottom was cleaned out.
To avoid damaging potential traces, the two of them cleaned the pot's bottom at a painstakingly slow pace.
Finally, after more than an hour, they successfully cleared away centuries of accumulated ash, revealing a series of Ottoman Turkish words etched into the pot's bottom.
"What does this say?" Pearce looked at those ancient characters resembling Arabic script, appearing rather perplexed. "I only recognize the Arabic numeral 62 within them."
"The top line is a list of place names. The handwriting suggests that these names were written by different individuals at different times," Liang En pointed to the top row of characters and proceeded to translate.
"Constantinople, Belgrade, Aleppo, Rhodania, Cairo, Rhodes Island, Mohač, WYN."
"What about the line below?" For Pearce, a student of archaeology, these place names were enough to trigger various associations. However, his spirit of inquiry as a Fury-Seeker hoped for one last struggle. "It's the line with the Arabic numeral 62."
"Kematt, Sollak, 62nd Regiment," Liang En translated the line that could prove the identity of the pot. "This belongs to the Ottoman Turkish New Army, and it's likely a significant symbol of the regiment, Kaza."
The so-called Kaza was a massive copper cooking pot, cherished by every soldier of the New Army. Beyond its culinary function, this pot played a role akin to the eagle standards of the ancient Roman Empire.
In the early days, the Ottoman Turkish New Army had 196 regiments, each equipped with one of these pots for preparing porridge to feed the entire regiment.
Of course, these regiments differed from modern military units. In the earliest days, a New Army regiment consisted of around 30 soldiers. It wasn't until the later stages of the Ottoman Empire that regiment sizes expanded to several hundred troops.
As recorded, this pot was considered a condensed representation of the camaraderie among Ottoman Turkish New Army soldiers. It was a social center and an irreplaceable talisman of good fortune.
During marches, this pot would be carefully transported by a chef, and every soldier and officer encountered during the journey would stand in reverence as a sign of respect. Upon returning victorious, they would parade with the pot.
In times of tense conflict, the pot would boost morale like a trumpet. On chaotic battlefields, soldiers would gather around the pot, seeking camaraderie and refuge.
Even if the New Army were to revolt, soldiers might storm the kitchen while cooking and overturn the pot as a symbolic gesture, much like smashing cups in the Eastern tradition.
Losing this pot during battle would be a grave dishonor to the unit. The regiment would be stripped of the right to participate in various victory ceremonies.
"So, you mean this thing could be a treasure." Upon hearing Liang En's explanation that the pot symbolized the Ottoman Turkish New Army, Pearce became suddenly excited.
After all, a Fury might be important, but business had to continue.
"Yes, this is undoubtedly a treasure," Liang En nodded. After recognizing the pot earlier, a new silver card along with three black cards had immediately appeared in his mind.
Judging from the characteristics that black cards were N-cards and bronze cards were R-cards, this card should be an SR-card that he had never encountered before.
According to the pattern Liang En had discovered in the past, the higher the historical value of what he found, the more cherished it was, and consequently, the higher the card's level.
Of course, stating the value through a "cheat sheet" wasn't suitable as a reason to inform Pearce. Fortunately, the characters on the bottom of the pot clearly conveyed the level of its significance.
"Look here, the term 'Kematt' originally refers to a group of people, well, in this context, it refers to the ordinary New Army soldiers. Among the 101 regiments of ordinary New Army, Regiments 60 to 63 are elite units known as the Sollak Regiments, usually composed of highly skilled marksmen."
Liang En paused as he moved away from the lower row of text, then pointed to the upper row of text. "As for the information contained in the upper row, it's even more critical. If I'm not mistaken, these place names represent the large battlefields they passed through."
"You mean large battlefields?" At Liang En's words, Pearce became invigorated.
"Exactly, this pot accompanied the first battle of the Ottoman Turkish New Army, the conquest of Constantinople. Subsequently, it went through the Wallachia Campaign, defeated the Mamluks in Egypt, captured Rhodes Island, annexed Hungary, and finally met its end at the Battle of WYN."
"Conquering Constantinople can be seen as the true rise of an empire, while the defeat at WYN marked a pivotal shift from Ottoman expansion to defense. The most valuable aspect of this pot lies in its journey through the era of great expansion."
As a professional, Pearce quickly gathered enough information from the translated text.
As for why this pot appeared here, the reason was rather simple. After the Ottoman Turkish Empire's massive defeat at the Battle of WYN, the bulk of their weaponry and supplies were abandoned. Naturally, a pot would not hold much significance among them.
Perhaps this pot was picked up by someone near the battlefield at that time, used as their cooking utensil, and then passed through unknown hands until it became the tool for servants in this mansion to cook food, eventually discovered by Liang En.