The Sun and the Lion

The sun has gone down, and the moonlight shines on the depressed street. Looking from the street to both sides, there are many abandoned buildings waiting to be demolished on the edge of the city wall.

A few huddled beggars were shivering in the cold autumn wind. They had no quilts or blankets, and even the clothes they wore were incomplete. They could only hold tightly to the rags they had and hide in the cold autumn wind. In dirt-strewn alleys and abandoned houses.

Suddenly, the sound of horse hooves hitting the road surface was heard on the street. Perhaps because the street was too quiet, the sound of horse hooves sounded particularly loud. The shadow under the moonlight ducked into the alley before the cavalry's torchlight could reach him.

"Stupid riders, damn it." Seeing that the riders were far away and the sound of horse hooves could no longer be heard, the shadow dared to stick its head out of the alley and continue to observe the street. He raised his feet and looked at the soles of his shoes in the moonlight - they were covered with an unknown sticky substance that could not be described in words - and then looked back at the narrow and dim alley, maybe because the moon didn't want to look. Come to the filth inside.

"It's just a pity that I just got these clean shoes yesterday."

The thief walked a few steps on the street and realized that there would be obvious shoe prints, so he took off his shoes and threw them away. He simply walked barefoot on the uneven street, just like other homeless people.

He carefully observed that based on past experience, the curfew had been relaxed in recent months, and the scope, frequency and scale of nighttime patrols had shrunk significantly - this also laid the foundation for the establishment of various gang organizations on the fringes since the autumn. With the rise of urban areas, in order to show their disdain for the authorities, some gangs even named themselves after one of the Twelve Imams - this is also the reason why they dare to go out frequently at night.

Speaking of which, the homeless people had countless reasons to hate Ibrahim. During the riots caused by Sunni clerics, Ibrahim not only slashed the clerics and rioting citizens with his sword, but also beggars. Those caught will be sent to mines and workshops to become slave labor. For the militaristic Safavids, the demand for steel and weapons was unlimited, and the demand for workers also increased greatly.

Moreover, like other religious facilities, in addition to the most basic religious functions, mosques are also relief houses. In order to show their generosity and concern for the people, sultans often donated large sums of money to mosques without paying any attention to their subjects. The Ottoman Sultan, who was discriminatory and discriminatory, was no exception.

After Ibrahim purged the clergy, he reduced the expenditure on religious affairs because military expenditures were too high. This cut off the supply of vulnerable groups. Not only did the beggars not receive relief meals, they were also arrested to work in the mines. It is true. Bring evildoers.

There seemed to be no one, so he breathed a sigh of relief and walked to a house. The old-looking wooden door was closed tightly.

Taking out a simple tool, the door was pried open and he walked in.

There were subtle noises coming from inside the house, including the collision of objects, and the sounds of outdated parts caused by drawers and cabinet doors being opened.

The fire appeared on the street again, and there was the sound of metal colliding with each other, and the sound of heavy and steady footsteps. It sounded like there were quite a lot of people. The opened door was quickly illuminated by firelight, and in the alleys and abandoned houses, countless hostile eyes were cast on the team, but the soldiers marching on the streets did not care about this.

In short, there are only two types of people in Tabriz, those who have been driven bankrupt by taxes, and those who are being driven bankrupt by taxes.

The Ottoman envoy who was notified to attend the banquet followed the heralds on horseback to the city gate. The bow holders responsible for guiding the mission escorted the envoy along the avenue to the square in front of the palace. Then these bow holders separated from the envoy team. , entered the square first.

The square usually filled with stalls and tents has been cleared. Military bands and bow holders have occupied the square, leaving a passage in the middle for the envoys to pass. Amidst the majestic military music and the cheers of the bow holders, The mission passed through the square and entered the palace.

"Dear Ottoman Padishah's envoy, the Shah has been waiting for you in the hall for a long time."

Entering the spacious meeting hall, the interior decoration is several dimensions higher than that of the urban houses outside the palace - the windows are covered with stained glass of different shapes and sizes, and the patterns on the walls and floor tiles are exquisite and look... It is very new, the candlesticks on the pillars are also very beautiful, and there are many candles.

Except for Ibrahim, all the senior officials of the central government were present. Those with high status were sitting on carpets or sofas, and those who stood up and moved around were waiters.

Although the splendor of this banquet was not as good as the banquet at Topkapi Palace, it was already very luxurious for the rulers of Azerbaijan.

The messenger did not take his seat first, but saluted Ibrahim first: "Dear Shah of Azerbaijan, look for Shuyuan www.zhaoshuyｕan.com I express Padishah to you on the order of my master Osman Padishah. I express my goodwill to you and hope that our two countries can forge a deep friendship.”

"The envoy is polite. I am very grateful for the Ottoman friendship. Our country also hopes to form friendly relations with neighboring regimes to jointly promote the progress of the Tianfang world, resist the Kafir invasion and spread the true faith of the Lord to the entire world." Ib Rushing responded with some nice words.

"Dear Shah, this is a small gift from my master. Please accept it." A list of gifts was sent to Ibrahim through the waiter. The gifts inside were the same as what Ibrahim had seen in the letter. There is no difference, the whole text is written in Persian, and there is the monogram of Bayezid II at the bottom.

Ibrahim put away the list with satisfaction, "Unfortunately, our country is weak and poor, and there are no good things to give back to Padisha. The only thing we can get is these." After that, he took out another list, It was handed to the envoy through the waiter.

Isn't this called much? The envoy read the list very quickly, and Ibrahim gave Bayezid II twenty Circassian slave girls, seven Persian carpets, a cart of Persian silk, and a book on Shiite Sufism. An annotated hardcover version of the Prophet's Book, a hardcover set of Hafiz's poems, etc.

"Then I dare to thank you for your gift on behalf of my master. You are a generous Shah."

After both parties continued to blow a few more rainbow farts, the banquet officially started. They entered the stage of blowing rainbow farts while eating. After eating and drinking, they went to the dancers as usual, and then entered the stage of blowing rainbow farts while watching the performance. stage.

The rainbow fart was played from about seven or eight o'clock until midnight, and the dancers and musicians performing in the center of the venue changed several times, and the banquet was finally over. The Ottoman mission has completed its mission perfectly and will leave tomorrow morning.