The Sun and the Lion

The prosperity of Basra could not stop Ibrahim for long. The crowds on the river bank watched the King of Kings' vehicle preparing to go upstream through the Karun River to Ahvaz.

Before leaving, the emir in charge of Basra's city defense escorted several ragged prisoners to the shore and said: "Dear Shah, these heretics learned that they could meet His Majesty here today, and they became evil and wanted to assassinate him. , almost caused a catastrophe, but thanks to Huda's protection, the villain's plan was exposed."

After that, the weapons seized from these assassins were placed on the ground. Short-term weapons such as daggers were used to make up the number. In the current situation, the only weapons that could really be used for assassination were short bows and light crossbows. Their poor and crude workmanship was not the same as those of the exiles. matching dilemma.

Ibrahim glanced at them without asking any more questions. Feeling that the attempted assassination was not a careful plan but just a spur-of-the-moment idea, he calmly ordered: "Execute them all, now."

None of the onlookers expected that such a commotion would occur before the monarch left. Under the angry docile people's condemnation of the heretics and rebels, the guards who acted as temporary executioners wiped their necks with daggers and pushed them into the river. Let the body float away with the current.

It was a bit unexpected for Ibrahim that the city defense force responsible for maintaining order on the scene could catch the assassin. He originally thought that after several years of attacks, no one would be able to continue to resist. At most, they would flee or live in seclusion.

Thinking of this, Ibrahim decided to intensify the crackdown. Unlike the border tribes, these Derwigs who are still hostile to the status quo will not be the target of winning over from the beginning to the end, so they will simply start and continue to crack down.

"I didn't expect that something like this would happen under my administration." After the royal chariot set off, the mayor of Basra, who received the oral instructions, was still a little scared. He turned his eyes to the emir standing beside him. If it hadn't been for this timely arrest, then Presumably his career will stop here.

After returning to the government office, he diligently took the initiative to discuss with the emir and admiral who controlled the armed forces, as well as the spies who had previously helped suppress the heresy, how to carry out this task which was equivalent to picking out the ginger shreds from the potato shreds.

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The tour of Lower Mesopotamia, which is the most important area in this tour, has been completed. Ibrahim, who disembarked from Ahvaz, will continue to plan his itinerary. He can go directly to the northeast and return directly through the Zagros Mountains. Isfahan, or walk southeast into Fars, via Shiraz and back to Isfahan.

After some weighing, he decided to take the opportunity to go to Fars. Since the founding of the country, he had not visited this hometown of Iran, the place where Cyrus and Ardashir rose.

Compared with inspecting local economy and pilgrimage, such a trip purely for sightseeing is undoubtedly much easier. The messenger from Ahvaz sent the rough itinerary planned as quickly as possible back to the palace, telling the Grand Vizier and Shahbanu that he would stay outside for a few more weeks.

In Ibrahim's view, the geography of Khuzestan is actually somewhat similar to that of the Mesopotamia. The terrain is high in the north and low in the south. Agriculture also relies on river irrigation, and the soil downstream is also troubled by salinization.

He had no intention of staying anywhere. When the local officials gathered enough supplies for the team, they immediately set off eastward from the plain and followed the mountain road into the hinterland of the plateau.

Climbing over the water-deficient mountains, the statue of Shapur and the rock wall reliefs left from the Sasanian period on the way attracted the King of Kings to stop for a moment, and then arrived at the densely populated Shiraz.

Shiraz is located in the center of the southern Zagros Mountains. It is the largest agricultural area and transportation hub of Fars. It was also lucky to survive two catastrophes caused by Mongolia and Timur. The atrocities it suffered recently are It was the execution and expulsion of heretics in the city by Safavid soldiers during the initial conquest, and most of the population and buildings have been preserved.

Therefore, what Ibrahim saw was not a dilapidated and depressed city. The high-ranking officials in charge of Fars happened to attach great importance to the construction of governance. The maintenance of moats and city walls was obviously better than that of most other cities under Safavid rule. There are new public buildings such as mosques and religious schools, as well as gardens spread throughout various districts of the city.

As in Baghdad and Basra, the King of Kings was welcomed unanimously by people from all walks of life in the city, and Shiraz, as an important cultural center, the local literati's obedience to him was characteristic.

In just a few days, Ibrahim got a thick collection of poems - dozens of poems by different creators and levels were placed in front of him or recited in public, all of which were about him. Personal praise and flattery, including but not limited to martial arts, culture, beliefs and many other aspects.

In addition to the text, the artist also painted many paintings with Ibrahim as the subject. The content is mainly based on various battles and hunting scenes imagined by the artist. Find Shuyuan www.zhaoshuyuan.com to die by his sword or in front of his horse. The defeated ones who knelt included but were not limited to various Aries tyrants, the emirs of the ancient Leganes, the Sultan of Delhi, and the King of Portugal who were at war with them... while the beasts killed by lances or bows ranged from lions to cheetahs. , tiger to dragon.

The most outrageous painting is that all the monarchs in the world kneel to him on the throne. According to the artist's explanation, the monarchs kneeling in the front row are - the king of all the Franks, the Padishah of Rome, Egypt and Malik of Syria, the Khan of the Tatars and Turks, the Sultan of Hindustan and the emperor of the Peach Blossom Stone Kingdom in the easternmost part of the world, and in the back row are the heads of other small countries. This made him want to cover his face. At least he didn't draw famous conquerors such as Alexander, Genghis Khan or Timur. In the end, he forced himself to hold back. He just shook his head and complained: "If I instruct someone If I create such a painting or similar poetry, then Huda will definitely come to earth to punish me for my complacency and arrogance."

He patiently scored these creations one by one. He believed that high-level works would reward the author generously, enough to make an ordinary literati become a rich man, while low-level praise would only reward the author with a few symbolic silver coins. Works whose content is just right and suitable for dissemination are handed over to printers to supply cheaper books and periodicals for dissemination across the country.

Regarding printed matter, literati once discussed the communiqués issued by Diwan: "Previously, news about government orders, wars, etc. could only be obtained through a few words from merchants and travelers, but now they can be understood so conveniently and accurately." This is also an important point in praising the King of Kings. a little.

The interaction with the literati and scholars made Ibrahim very happy. Finally, he visited the Ishtahel ruins and collected various local historical records as materials before embarking on his way back north.