Layiha (Memorandum, Ahmed Resmî Efendi)

In the beginning of Layiha ("Memorandum"), Resmi shows an attitude toward war somehow rare for his age: he states that “God has ordained that the order of the earth and the protection from corruption is defended through war”, and attributes the Ottoman defeats in the war to the long period of peace and the subsequent neglect for proper military organization (1b-2a). He then enumerates some issues he feels the Grand Vizier should look after, concerning the order of a campaign; he focuses on the necessity for discipline during the march and in the camp, stressing the unnecessary multitude of auxiliary followers and animals, especially among the troops from Anatolia (4a-7a). He also tackles with the army logistics, making proposals for ways to secure provisions for the army without oppressing the peasants of the areas through which the troops have to march (8b-10a). Resmi also dwells in the matter of price regulation (again with an eye to the provisioning of the army), exhibiting a detailed knowledge of the price of basic goods (10a-12a). As for the janissaries, Ahmed Resmi stresses the well-known problem of esame, i.e. roll titles, whose number did not correspond to actual soldiers and which were the object of illegal sale and of corruption among the officers. As many before him, he recommends a thorough inspection of the pay-rolls which would show the real number of troops ready for the field; but proceeding beyond this, he also proposes the creation of a special corps (8a). Such a corps could be formed by 2,000 men, chosen from among the lowest ranks of the inhabitants of the Balkans and Anatolia (ednâ mertebe iki tarafdan iki bin adem intihâb); after being registered in special lists, they should be reviewed and inspected every two or three days. This way, Resmi notes, even if they would not be fit for major battles they would at least serve in minor skirmishes (vakt-ı hacetde külli omazsa bari umûr-ı cüziyyede istihdâmları mümkün olmak gerek).