The Sun and the Lion

"Good! Good! Good!" Ibrahim praised happily after reading the battle report. At this time, he was like a lucky man who succeeded in speculating and turned his bicycle into a motorcycle.

So many years of building up the navy have finally brought the greatest reward - less than half of the Portuguese fleet that took the initiative to attack Goa escaped back, and a total of nearly ten enemy ships were sunk and captured, dozens of naval guns, prisoners and The bodies of the Portuguese soldiers gathered together exceeded 500. If this is used to subtract from the known pre-war strength of the Portuguese army, it can be basically judged that it will be difficult to organize new military operations before new reinforcements arrive throughout the next year.

Ahsan had done a good job in disposing of the spoils and prisoners after the war. All captured Portuguese warships belonged to Safavid. He planned to send all the improved models built by Portugal back to Hormuz for shipwrights to study. And he also recruited a new group of traitors from the prisoners to join the navy, while the die-hards were demoted as slaves and sent to the capital for exhibition.

In contrast, the property seized from the Portuguese army was almost negligible. Hussein, who had made the most sacrifices, directly gave up these trophies and asked Ahsan to provide enough supplies for the Egyptian fleet to return to the Red Sea and enough corpses and flags to deliver to Cairo. wait.

Therefore, the only spoils Ehsan returned to the capital were ten captured Portuguese cannons, more than a hundred Portuguese prisoners, and several flags. This escort was not as fast as the royal messenger and would take some time to arrive. Documents such as charts and logbooks collected from captured warships were translated and copied and sent to Diwan. Other navigation tools were simply left in the navy for the traitors to slowly introduce these novelties to their new owners.

Next, it was the Safavid fleet’s turn to have the privilege of controlling shipping in the Persian Sea (Arabian Sea). After some praise, Ibrahim instructed: "Making the Franks surrender is the first priority at the moment. We must seize the time to use this power that cannot make them resist and drive them out of India."

For this reason, he very generously decided to directly upgrade Ahsan's military rank to 1,200 Cavalry. Although it is slightly higher than the generals of the army, this military rank is temporarily second only to Ismail, which can be said to be the highest. Very prominent.

After issuing the edict, the Khan kings were puzzled, so they entrusted the Great Emir to write a tactful letter asking why the Navy Red Deer could rise to such a high position after fighting such a battle.

"I know that you have worked hard and made great contributions. Shaher of Iran can only stand in this world without your hard work, but..." Ibrahim was speechless about such dissatisfaction. Each tribe has occupied fiefs and nomadic populations. This is Critical, and the Navy does not. Moreover, the levels of the nobles of each tribe are also not low, and the level of the Khan King is directly linked to the tribal manpower provided during the war. There is nothing to argue about.

The "Sea and Land War" that was submitted to the imperial court this time was settled in this way. Now no tribe is willing to offend or even confront the King of Kings for this matter.

News of the victory in the Battle of Goa spread quickly, including the Venetian ambassador Franco, who roughly inherited the network built by his predecessor Francesco. He also heard some rumors from his "friends", but for him There is no way to confirm it yet, and there is no need to go to the trouble of going to the King of Kings to ask about it. It is impossible to hide such a victory. He is waiting for a public event to celebrate the victory.

Sure enough, he soon received an invitation to attend the celebration at the World Model Square. Franco suppressed his excitement, put on the most gorgeous clothes and prepared the best gift he could give.

At this time, the Portuguese prisoners who had been sent to the capital were still parading on the avenue. The citizens of Isfahan looked at these Franks with curiosity, watching them being escorted along the avenue and heading north towards the square, with others following behind them. Ten naval guns pulled by mules.

"Is this the Kafir who was captured in the Holy War? Tsk..." Onlookers pointed at these Portuguese prisoners and commented: "What small country do these Franks come from? How dare they take the initiative to provoke the King of Kings and even all believers? , it seems that when Adam propagated their ancestors, they forgot to let them inherit wisdom and reason, and then they inherited these defects together."

After wandering the streets, the prisoners of war were then left to the disposal of the powerful. They slowly walked into the World Model Square amidst the sound of trumpets and drums. The naval officer in charge of escorting them respectfully reported to Ibrahim: "Your Majesty, The prisoners of war, flags, cannon, etc. captured in Goa by your loyal and brave subjects shall be presented to you, the most noble and powerful monarch in the world, as a reward and as proof of victory.”

Then there was some gratitude, emphasizing that the victory in this war was the result of the king of kings' good governance and the blessing of Huda. The kindness of this king and father would not be over yet. These flattering words were very helpful to Ibrahim, and he was still trying his best to control his facial muscles so that the corners of his mouth would not rise so obviously.

Seeing the Portuguese prisoners kneeling and obeying below, Franco was also happy. The rumors were true. This was not only a victory for the Shah of Iran and the Mamluks. Find Shuyuan www. zhaoshuyuan.com It is also a victory for the Venetians and all Italian merchants involved in Levant trade!

Ibrahim then announced the rewards for the naval officers, which mainly included a large amount of money and promotion of officer levels, as well as a special reward - commemorative gold coins.

After receiving the report of the war, he suddenly summoned the Armenians responsible for managing the financial industry and the mint to explain his idea of ​​minting a batch of related commemorative coins for every major victory or important memorable event in the future.

It happened that the gold mining work in Transoxiana Province was going very smoothly. Except for a small amount of it that was turned into handicrafts as rewards for nobles and officials and gifts for Shahbanu, since the main currencies circulating in the market were silver and copper coins, Herat The treasury of China and Isfahan are hoarding many gold bricks with excessive purchasing power.

Ibrahim first asked the court artist to design the pattern and edge inscription of the commemorative coin. Thomas returned to the mint with the design plan and asked the craftsmen to make molds and mint gold coins accordingly.

Ibrahim was quite satisfied with the finished product presented by the Armenians. He could not put it down and played with this commemorative coin that was of full quality, weight and exquisite workmanship.

The pattern on the front is the fragmented coat of arms of the Portuguese royal family of Aves - in the middle are five blue shields arranged roughly in the shape of a cross. Each shield has a plum blossom shape composed of five white dots. It is said that this represents The five wounds of Jesus are surrounded by a castle.

The inscription on the edge of the gold coin reads - Huda protects, no one can break the peace of the sea.

The inscription on the back reads: "The Father of Victory, King of Kings Ibrahim Haidarzad ordered it to be cast in 887 for the victory against the Franks."

These commemorative coins were first distributed to all soldiers who participated in the battle.