>>16274409
This is old wisdom that the Ottomans were aware of and why they were so successful as an army. Because most Kings are usurped by a sibling or cousin, the Sultans decided to only allow a specific elite trained, most importantly of foreign genetics, to be in the highest positions of power. Every few years the Ottomans would scour the Balkans to recruit strong/intelligent boys aged 7-9 (best time to groom and train children) of Christian families for their armies. These recruits were collected as a form of 'Blood Tax' over the conquered Balkan lands. The only exception to recruitment was if the boy was the only son of the family.
These Balkan Christian recruits were converted to Islam and referred to as Janissaries, as they were the utmost elite trained forces of the Ottoman empire. Tasked protecting the Sultan, teaching the empire, and learning artillery, military tactics, mathematics… the perfect soldier. When the Ottomans could not win a battle they would send in the Janissaries to decimate the enemy forces. There is much animosity against the Ottomans but they actually saved the world from the Dark Ages by the monstrous roman Catholics of the time when they conquered Constantinople. The French and Italian renaissance happened and art, music and literature flourished throughout Europe again.
Anyways so to finish this up, the Ottoman empire eventually collapsed when the Sultans broke this wise tradition by allowing close relatives to hold positions of power again. A sultan (I believe one of the Mehmets) was assassinated by a relative and the empire broke to pieces.
I'm of Janissary bloodlines and here to save the world again with you retards btw.