The Sun and the Lion

With the victory of Anjadeep Island ahead of him, Ibrahim was not afraid of the angrily provocations and threats released by the Portuguese envoy before leaving. His mentality towards war with Portugal had changed from worry to eagerness to try.

"Due to the current maritime situation, I have given full authority to the commander-in-chief of the Navy and the governor of the Persian Gulf, Ehsan, to be responsible for the war against the Portuguese infidels. Divan and other officials should try their best to cooperate in the war and give priority to the war..."

Ibrahim ordered Kamran to draft an edict so that Ahsan, who had obtained the authorization, could free his hands and complete the task with the cooperation of other departments.

At the same time, he summoned the military vizier, his deputy in charge of naval affairs, and the spy chief Turgut who was responsible for intelligence work. Although he wants to delegate power to the Commander-in-Chief, he, who attaches great importance to the Indian Ocean strategy, cannot ignore related matters. He may also be wary of the Commander-in-Chief reporting good news but not bad news. It is naturally inappropriate to cast a blind eye on the current naval situation.

"Your Majesty, in addition to these warships, the navy currently controls six fortresses in Hormuz, Shah Port, Thatta, Goa and Aden, as well as corresponding naval infantry. This is the corresponding roster and bill. Please take a look at it. …”

The number of Karaks currently in service has increased to ten, and the number of Karavels and galleys has not changed much. The current main shipbuilding capabilities are used to expand the number of Karaks to meet the gradually expanding escort and combat needs.

The naval infantry under Ahsan's command has exceeded 5,000. This amount was also agreed to by the King of Kings before. After all, it is used for garrisoning overseas fortresses, joining gangs, or raiding operations. Nowadays, coupled with the continuous expansion of the navy, the supporting horses must also gradually expand in scale.

Finally, there is the issue of wood supply. As the raw material that is essential and used in the largest quantities for manufacturing and maintaining ships, the wood used for shipbuilding is undoubtedly one of the largest costs of the Iranian shipbuilding industry. Most of this wood comes from the forests of the Zagros Mountains, and the rest is cut from the southern coast of the Caspian Sea and Transcaucasus. These wood will be transported to various shipyards along the Persian Gulf using shipping on the Karun and Tigris rivers as much as possible.

In order to implement the concept of sustainable development, Ibrahim hired forest rangers for the forests that provided timber to the navy - the forestry personnel were temporarily under the management of the navy - to replenish the felled trees, and also ordered: "Everything under my rule It is prohibited to illegally cut down any trees in the forest, and those who have obtained permission must replant a corresponding number of saplings or pay for the replanting costs of local rangers."

At the same time, he also asked royal merchants traveling to and from India to help import timber from the Indian subcontinent, which is rich in forestry resources. He also wrote to the Sultan of Bijapur requesting to set up a shipyard on site at Goa Port, and the other party would supply timber and other materials to the Safavids. Naval shipbuilding.

The King of Kings had a detailed understanding of Safavid's current situation in the Indian Ocean, and then ordered: "I want you to report the status of the navy to me every month in the future like today, and it must be timely and accurate."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

After the two men received the order and exited, Turgut, who had been waiting outside the door, walked into the room, bowed and saluted Ibrahim and said, "Your Majesty, do you have any tasks to answer when you summon your servants?"

After inviting this loyal and insignificant subordinate to sit down, Ibrahim first planned to find out about the current work of the intelligence department: "How are the tasks I assigned earlier going on now?"

"Well... Your Majesty, it's like this..."

Since the rise of the army, the main tasks assigned by Ibrahim to the spymaster include maintaining contact with members of the religious order in Asia Minor and helping to transport personnel and supplies; collecting information from all international trade routes connected to Iran and Iranian communities abroad , so that the King of Kings can be informed of the developments in neighboring countries in a timely manner; and finally, a spy network is built against the target that is about to use troops to obtain more detailed information and carry out related sabotage operations.

And Turgut used the funds allocated by the King of Kings to recruit people from inside and outside the order, or used them to buy gifts, and gradually operated and expanded the intelligence network. These spies not only had to perform the task of collecting foreign intelligence, but also secretly built up high-ranking officials. The suspicious behavior of dignitaries and the activities of some suspicious private groups can be said to be a heavy task.

Listening to Turgut's detailed report, Ibrahim couldn't help but think of the Alamut Castle of the Nichari Ismailis. A group of well-trained assassins had been operating from Syria to Iran for two centuries, assassinating countless people. Major Seljuk, Abbas and Fatimid military and political officials...

"If I had such an efficient secret organization, would it be able to monitor, threaten and assassinate important officials of the enemy country and cause chaos? Maybe there are other uses..."

After some random thinking, after Turgut basically finished his report, Ibrahim asked him: "Do you know Alamut Fort?"

"Ah?" Turgut looked at Ibrahim with a puzzled face: "I am stupid, I hope your majesty will forgive me."

Ibrahim had to ask the clerk to find historical records about these assassin organizations for Turgut to read. After reading these, he probably knew Ibrahim's intention.

He felt that these spies and even Turgut himself were now regarded as unofficial temporary workers, and as the stall expanded, management and organizational problems would surely surface.

The castle in the old city of Isfahan was given a new purpose. The original base of Assassin in Iran was called the Eagle's Nest, the headquarters of the intelligence department of the King of Kings was called the Snake Nest, and the department was named Peepers. Ergut is undoubtedly the first snake leader.

For the sake of restraint and caution, Ibrahim did not give the peepers too much authority. Their responsibilities are just like their names. When dealing with domestic affairs, unless they have temporary authorization, they can only cooperate with relevant departments to provide intelligence, and can only go abroad. Only by performing tasks can you show off your skills - referring to torture and extorting confessions.

The first task Ibrahim asked the Peeper to do was the original reason why he summoned Turgut: "I want you to immediately mobilize a few capable subordinates to go to Hormuz and Goa to help the Navy Commander-in-Chief. To carry out intelligence work, the information about these Portuguese infidels must not only be submitted to His Excellency Ehsan, but also sent to Isfahan, do you understand?”

Turgut carefully wrote down today's conversation and orders, and after confirming them, respectfully resigned to Ibrahim.