The Sun and the Lion

"This weather..." The traveler walked quickly into the caravanserai, holding the cloak tightly around his body with his hands. The followers behind him slowly led the pack animals and slaves into the stables of the caravanserai.

After entering the room, he took off the outermost cloak, leaving only the innermost single clothes. The removed clothes were casually thrown on the bed, and then he warmed his hands with the stove in the room.

After a while, he took out several documents from the package, documents that could prove his identity and make it easier for him to act.

His current status is that of an agent of the royal family, but he is not Safavid. His master is Osmanoglu, more precisely, His Highness Selim, the fourth son of Bayezid II, the current patriarch of Osmanoglu.

Since Ibrahim took control of Tabriz, the actions of the Safavid dynasty gradually attracted Selim's attention and interest. As the governor of Trabzon, changes on the eastern border were closely related to his political life, especially the rise of Safavid which triggered riots among the Turkmen tribes. Its ideological conflict and aggressiveness with the Ottomans were fully exposed in this storm.

Moreover, as a trading hub, Trabzon's economic lifeline relied on the Caucasus slave trade and caravans from the Iranian plateau. While Selim was carrying out extensive construction and renovation of public facilities in Trabzon to win over people's hearts, he also recruited retired Jenichery as the core to raise private soldiers. These were all very expensive.

In order to get to know Ibrahim, his new neighbor, more conveniently, he is no longer content to rely on the local caravans coming and going. Taking the initiative is a better choice.

Selim decided to send an agent to Tabriz. This businessman openly purchased silks, pearls, carpets, spices and other luxury goods for him and sold slaves and precious metals. Less spies.

They relied on legitimate business activities to collect all the information about the Safavids and Ibrahim and sent it back to Trabzon for Selim's reference.

This is also the only action Selim can do at the moment. After Bayezid returned the mission sent to Tabriz, the two monarchs established a fragile friendly relationship to maintain the fragile peace between the two countries. As the governor of Trabizon and the son of Padishah, Selim naturally could not disobey his father's orders.

However, Bayezid II was also contradictory. On the one hand, he asked the governors and beys to exercise restraint, and on the other hand, he asked them to forcefully suppress any Turkmen who made trouble.

Unlike the obedience of the Balkan Christians, the Turkmen tribes of Anatolia have been unwilling to obey Kostantiniya. The wars of successive sultans against other Turkic warlords created a large number of enemies who hated the Ottomans. In order to pacify these nomads who did not pay taxes or serve in the military, Zhuang Yanput used measures including but not limited to violent suppression and forced relocation. However, little success was achieved, and it was not until the 20th century that the Turkmen tribes surrendered to the republican government.

Now, many Shiite Turkmens plan to cross the border to Azerbaijan to join the Safavid order. They believe that a regime run by believers will be more friendly to them than the Ottomans.

When he first came into contact with the Ottomans, Ibrahim had wishful thinking that he could negotiate with the Ottomans to allow free movement of the population. But the free flow of population was a false proposition in feudal society. What the feudal monarch valued most was land and population. Even if Zhuangyan Pot could not obtain any benefits from these Turkmens and had to lose money for suppressing their resistance, it was impossible to let them go to strengthen Safavid's national power.

Even Bayezid, who did not want to provoke Ibrahim, took a tough stance on this issue. Ottoman officials on the eastern border received reinforcements from Kostantiniya, and they searched and killed Turkmen who wore red turbans to show their stance.

The agents had just arrived. Before entering Iran, the Ottoman caravans were raided many times on the chaotic eastern border. Fortunately, Selim equipped this team of spies with powerful guards. The private soldiers he spent a lot of money to raise were not Freeloader of trash.

After entering Azerbaijan, the roads were obviously much safer. Impaled bandits could be seen from time to time on both sides of the road. Workers could be seen everywhere renovating the main roads. The post stations along the way were fully equipped. In order to reduce the cost of maintaining the inns, Ibrahim , ordered the opening of paid postal services to the private sector, and encouraged businessmen to open hotels, restaurants, canteens and other commercial facilities based on post stations. As a price, they need to pay rent to the local postmaster.

In the eyes of spies, the postal service at Safawi Station facilitated their operations in receiving orders and transmitting intelligence. In order to prevent leaks, like Venetian spies, they encrypted the contents of the letters and used various business activities to refer to specific messages. Even if someone specifically checked the letters, there would be no clues.

In addition to officials, businessmen and waiters, there are also soldiers in the post station. Road guards responsible for maintaining road security are stationed in small teams at various inns. In addition to daily patrols, they also receive reports from merchants and travelers.

"They get wind of the theft and, like bloodhounds, they follow the robbers by sniffing out the remaining scent."

After observing the Safawi road guard, the guard leader quickly performed his duties. In addition to protecting the caravan, his task was also to evaluate the Safavid forces he saw.

After resting for a while, an attendant walked into the agent's room and said: "Your Excellency, a messenger has come. He claims to have invited you on the orders of the Market Supervisor."

When the agent paid the city entry tax, he showed the document to identify himself, and the city gate guard immediately sent someone to report the matter to his superiors.

After learning about the arrival of an important merchant, the market supervisor planned to entertain the God of Wealth from a foreign country. In addition to bureaucrats, there were also some royal merchants who assisted the Safavid royal family in controlling the luxury goods trade.

The agent originally wanted to lower his profile and take the initiative to visit the local market supervisor and various wealthy merchants after taking a break. Unexpectedly, the opportunity came here.

He immediately took a few followers with him, picked out a few items from the belongings he carried as gifts, and then rode to the market supervisor's office.

"Hello, may Allah protect you." After the meeting, the two parties gave each other friendly greetings.

Everyone sat cross-legged on the carpet. The agent spoke first: "I'm really flattered that you all came to visit me. I'm just an ordinary businessman, but I'm so grateful that you can take this seriously..." Then he asked the servants to serve him. Present the gift to the Market Supervisor.

Taking advantage of this time, the spies in the team scattered around the city to collect information.