The Sun and the Lion

"Your Majesty, and gentlemen, good news! Mosul has been captured!" The herald rushed into the camp on horseback, shouted, and walked along the road to the entrance of the tent in one breath - and heard the news on both sides of the road The red heads were a little surprised. It was no secret that Mihad only led one regiment to attack the city - and then dismounted and entered panting.

Ibrahim, who was drinking and chatting with the khans, saw the herald and asked: "How is the battle going? How much did Mihad lose?" Seeing that the first siege was over, the khans also sat upright and listened carefully to the front line. Battle report.

"Good news, Your Majesty, Mosul has been captured."

Ibrahim was startled and almost spilled the wine in his hand. The Khans also looked at each other in disbelief.

Did I really catch a fierce general and come back?

After calming down, Ibrahim saw that the herald continued to stay in place and continued to ask: "Have the results and losses been calculated?"

"Not yet, Your Majesty, Lord Mihad just captured the city and asked me to come back and tell you all."

"I understand. You go back and inform Mihad, asking him to regulate the military discipline and not loot, burn and kill wantonly. Ask him to appease the residents in the city and count the results and losses as soon as possible."

"Yes." The herald ran out of the tent like the wind and jumped on his horse.

This amount of information was a bit large. After thinking about it, Ibrahim thought that Mihad was able to capture Mosul so quickly, which had been under siege for several months, because he must know something, maybe it was unique. Siege tactics? Or a spy in the city?

In short, you must ask clearly when you come back.

At this moment, another messenger entered the tent.

"Your Majesty, these two letters were sent to Erbil not long ago. The messenger from Tabriz said that they are very urgent and must be delivered to you as soon as possible."

Ibrahim took the letter and opened the first letter.

There was not much content in the letter, it was very brief, but the content inside was also very powerful. The more Ibrahim read, the angrier he became. The Khans could already see that Ibrahim’s hands holding the letter were trembling, and his expression was trembling. The changes are also very obvious.

"Your Majesty, what happened?" Romruhan asked carefully.

Ibrahim resisted the urge to crumple the letter into a ball of paper and handed it to Romulukhan: "Some people have rebelled in Azerbaijan. There are many people. It is said that they have also colluded with several overseas tribes."

Several Khan kings read the letter very quickly, and the expressions on their faces soon became as angry as Ibrahim.

Sunnis, Sunnis again.

The more Ibrahim thought about it, the angrier he became. He drew out his long sword and struck it on the table, and then yelled: "A bunch of ungrateful beasts, this is how you repay me? I will kill all the gangsters who caused trouble, and will never forgive or cancel everything." Tolerate the policy of heretical factions, expel all non-Shia jurists! Execute all people who are unwilling to convert to Shia! Use stoning!"

Kamran, who was writing down Ibrahim's order on the paper, after writing the last letter, took the drafted order with both hands and handed it to Ibrahim, "Your Majesty?" He also asked carefully I wrote a sentence as a test.

Ibrahim took the draft, glanced at the words on it, and handed it back, "That's it. I will never treat my enemies with kindness again."

After processing the first letter, Ibrahim opened the second letter.

A brief summary of the content of this letter is that the Ottoman mission has arrived in Tabriz. They hope that Ibrahim can come back to meet them as soon as possible in order to establish friendship between the two countries.

Ibrahim also looked at the list of gifts. Although the gifts sent by the Ottoman mission were not many, they were not low in value. They included seven well-trained horses and a falcon, and two long horses decorated with precious stones and gold and silver. Sword, a set of well-made and luxuriously decorated armor, a well-made hunting bow and some spare bowstrings, ten newly purchased and unused Rus slave girls, several sets of silk uniforms and furs, and a latest painting world map and several other personal items made of gold and silver.

Seeing the list of gifts, Ibrahim could only express envy. In the eyes of powerful powers like the Ottomans and Mamluks, his Safavid dynasty was still a small country. Giving so many gifts would not only strengthen the favor of the monarch of a weak country, but also There is also a sense of showing one's own strength.

Among so many monarchs in Europe, the richest was probably the Ottoman Padishah.

"It seems I have to take the first step. The bow holder and I will return to Tabriz tonight."

After thinking about it for a while, Ibrahim made the following arrangements: "Romru Khan, I will give you the red heads of five regiments and all the Armenians, and I want you to maintain the order's control of these two cities. Heraclius, I order you to take away all the Georgian cavalry and serve as the vanguard to kill all the rebels. Gaulabelli, you take ten regiments of red heads and go straight to Mazandaran and send this man to hell. I will kill the heretics and let the world know what will happen to those who hide my enemies secretly.”

Ustaji Khan asked: "Your Majesty, there are still several regiments of red heads, what are your plans to arrange them."

"Lead it to you, find Shuyuan www.zhaoshuyuan.com and Heraclius to fight the rebellion. And Mihad, after the results of the battle are counted, let him bring his troops to Tabriz."

After arranging everything, the bow bearers began to pack Ibrahim's luggage and prepare to rush back to Tabriz.

Azerbaijan, a village on fire somewhere

A group of ragged people crowded on both sides of the road, holding various improvised weapons in their hands. They watched several poor people also holding simple weapons or even bare hands dragging the tax collector towards the center of the village on the dirt road.

The tax collector, who was being dragged by several people, had wounds all over his body, and his face still looked frightened. He couldn't believe that a group of cows and sheep suddenly rose up against the herdsmen. The soldiers who escorted him to collect taxes were also beaten to death, and their bodies were found in the chaotic scene. was torn into pieces. Compared with them, this tax collector may be a little lucky.

But this tax collector was unfortunate. Compared to the soldiers who had been torn into pieces, his body had to be dragged to the door of the mosque for everyone to vent their anger. The cotton clothes on his body had already been torn off, and he was a naked tax collector.

Lin Dengwan just sat on his horse and watched the carnival from a distance at the entrance of the village. He looked at the crazy rebels and the priests who manipulated their emotions at the door of the mosque. He could only shake his head and sigh.

"General, Lord Mazandaran has agreed. The brothers stranded in Mazandaran will be able to return to Azerbaijan soon." A messenger came to Lindenwan on horseback.

"I understand, has Tehran not replied yet?"

"not yet."

He once again unfolded the map that had been with him for who knows how long, and looked at the list of place names on it, "Perhaps, leave Azerbaijan and go to Tehran or even Isfahan?"

Lindenwan shook his head and threw away this unrealistic idea.