The Sun and the Lion

In addition to preparing to arrange spies in Punjab and Sindh, Ibrahim also ordered the military vizier to hoard military supplies in Kabul, and asked the governor of Kabristan to contact various Afghan tribes to negotiate the hiring of fighters from these tribes.

These hired tribal warriors will not be idle before the battle officially begins. These irregular cavalry units are very suitable for performing tasks such as robbery, harassment, reconnaissance, and ambush. Ibrahim intends to use them to try the Sultan of Delhi, or rather The weight of the emir who ruled Punjab.

At the same time, Ibrahim also planned to build a fortress at the Khyber Pass, which would make it easier to station troops and accumulate food as a starting base for the invading army, and also block military retaliation from the Lodi dynasty.

As for how to build a fortress and what kind of fortress to build, these issues should be left to professional engineers to solve.

Moving his gaze southward from the Khyber Pass to the passage connecting Sindh and Balochistan, Quetta and Sibi here seemed a bit dazzling to Ibrahim.

Ibrahim could still clearly remember that the Alkhun family that ruled this passage was taken under his command when he was plundering India. However, in the past few years, he had ignored this vassal and had no idea what was going on there. .

After getting rid of the neglect of the Alkhun Dynasty, the King of Kings felt that something should be done about his vassals.

Except for the various tribes below the provincial level, there are not many vassals with the same status as high-ranking officials and governors. The most stable among them is the Kakia family that rules Tabaristan. After all, they were previously supporters of the Safavid order. , and is Shahbanu’s natal family.

Ali Kakia was quite obedient to Ibrahim's control and delegated almost all domestic affairs to officials recognized by Tabriz and the imperial envoys who came to Gilan to supervise him. However, he still maintained his position in Lahijan. Enjoy life with the pomp and ceremony of being a monarch of a small country and a relative of the emperor.

For now, Ibrahim does not think that annexing the Kakia dynasty can create more profits than it does now. At present, he has obtained the majority of the profits from the silk monopoly, and other income from Tabaristan has also flowed in in the form of tribute. In his treasury.

Ibrahim, the Mihrabanid dynasty of Sistan, did not want to keep it. Fortunately, through previous operations, Sistan had actually become a red-headed fiefdom. The King of Kings only needs to issue an order to directly let the red head who controls the small palace launch a coup and directly send Sistan Malik Mahmoud to Mecca to retire or die directly.

As for the Alkhun dynasty that divided Quetta and Sibi, Ibrahim had no patience to deal with it. He planned to directly take down the Alkhun dynasty on the charge of "repentance, respect for heresy, and resistance to orthodox belief". The palace could serve as the governor's official residence.

He immediately summoned the great emir to inform the other party of this idea. Hussein was very interested in this. After all, the cake was limited. If he could cut off these vassals who did not know the details and were not reliable enough, the gold coins they would get out of them would definitely be huge. Can be divided into some red-headed tribe.

"I very much agree with your Majesty's idea. It is appropriate to impose any punishment on these people who will only follow the overall situation and have no loyalty at all." Hussein said this with disdain in his tone, but he The old man who still hasn't left the sect even in the trough period is still qualified to laugh at the grassroots.

However, another person present had some objections to this operation.

"Your Majesty, I think it is inappropriate to annex vassals like this." Kamlan on the side interjected: "It would be a bit ugly to arrest them directly by using violence... It would be better to let them voluntarily hand over their territory and Go to a holy place to live in seclusion.”

Ibrahim and Hussein looked at him at the same time after hearing this. The King of Kings was a little speechless: "Although it does look better if you do it this way, the final result is to annex vassals, which doesn't look good to outsiders." Is it the same?"

Kamran argued vigorously: "Your Majesty, I think there is still a difference. Although the same purpose is achieved, the means will still affect the final perception and evaluation. If you treat your Majesty roughly, then you still have to think about what happened next." Catholics in India…”

At this point, Ibrahim realized what Kamran was worried about. Although news in this era does not spread very fast, such events that cannot be kept secret can still be found out. What will the Sultan of Bijapur think then? But I don’t know.

But in the final analysis, the chief secretary was overly concerned. Reputation is very important, but in the end it is just the icing on the cake. Even if his reputation spreads, Ibrahim can still rely on force and interests to talk and negotiate with the other party and bind him to the same camp.

For Bijapur, Goa's horse trade alone was enough to make it difficult for the Sultan to renounce relations with Iran, let alone be friends with the same religion.

Thinking of this, the King of Kings laughed disdainfully: "I dare say that a sultan far away in the Deccan has no time to worry about who rules Zaranj or Quetta. As long as I don't deliberately show off to him or... Threats don't need to worry too much about what he can talk about and hear."

"I hope so, Your Majesty." Seeing that Ibrahim's attitude did not change, Kamran chose to give in and no longer entangled with the King of Kings.

After deliberation, Ibrahim finally decided to write a letter to see if Sistan Malik and Alkhun Sultan were current people. If they still chose to remain stubborn after seeing this direct letter, then it would be a shame. I can only use some crude methods.

The writing of these letters was completed by Kamran, after all, this was his job.

When Ibrahim and Hussein walked to one side, the emir said dissatisfiedly: "Your Majesty, no matter how you say it, he is just a clerk, and it is still wrong to interfere in the conversation between you and the vizier without permission. It is beyond his authority, and I think it is best to issue a warning."

Ibrahim shook his head: "My authority is not highlighted and consolidated by such details. Unless it is deliberately disrupted, I will listen to your thoughts. Or do you think that there will be someone around me? A disloyal traitor?"

Seeing Ibrahim thinking this way, Hussein quickly stepped on the brakes: "I am not questioning His Majesty's employment decision. I am just worried about it, so I reminded him. It seems that I am overly worried."

"It's good to know."