The Sun and the Lion

Is this the new capital of the King of Kings? William marveled at the scale of the construction site in Isfahan. As a German craftsman born in an unknown town, it was very rare to be able to watch the grand scene of building a city with his own eyes.

The caravan leader on the side did not answer the Frank's question, but continued along the road to let the foreigners who came here for the first time visit by themselves.

It is not only the Mesopotamia that has attracted the attention of the King of Kings and is prospering, but also the Zaindarud River Basin located in the central plateau area. The most important city standing in the basin is Isfahan - the intersection of roads that cross Iran.

Thanks to the fertile soil and important transportation status on the banks of the Zain Darud River, Isfahan has a very ancient origin as a settlement. The history of the Jewish community can even be traced back to the liberation of Babylonian captivity by Cyrus the Great.

When the King of Kings gave the order to build the city of Isfahan, this ancient city took on new life. The original Isfahan was ravaged by Timur and was dilapidated. The surviving old city was very small and chaotic.

The old city that everyone sees now is very different from before. The streets are no longer dusty dirt roads, replaced by smooth and beautiful brick pavements. The earthen walls and trenches originally used for city defense were also demolished and filled in, and other public facilities were renovated and expanded, improving the quality of life of local people.

Thanks to the completion of the water conservancy project, the output of nearby rural areas has increased a lot, greatly alleviating the needs caused by rapid population growth.

At the same time, in order to stabilize social order, a group of red heads were mobilized to invade the old city and destroyed almost all the dens of illegal organizations. All the leaders were executed and most of the members were punished with hard labor.

However, the German craftsman and his Azerbaijani apprentices had no time to pay attention to the old city. The ordnance factory of Isfahan was not in the old city. They were going to the new city.

At this time, the new city was still a large construction site, especially the palace, the grand mosque and the cathedral were still unfinished. Infrastructure such as main roads, water supply and drainage systems, and some buildings including the new factory had been basically completed.

William did not start work immediately after settling in the workshop, because the buildings and facilities had only been completed, with only him and a few apprentices, and there was nothing in the warehouse.

Let's go to the bazaar to buy some food first. William ordered the apprentices. Not only was there no food in the cafeteria in the factory, but there was also no chef. They might have to buy ready-made cooked food in the next few days to survive.

As he spoke, he shook his money bag, and the heavy bag immediately made a sound of metal colliding, filled with silver coins. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel relieved. He originally thought that the Venetian's words were exaggerated. This pagan monarch had given so much.

He took out the money he needed to go out from his wallet and went out on the street.

Although Ibrahim spent a lot of money to build Isfahan, the palace will not be responsible for the construction of all buildings. Except for the royal palace and various public and military facilities, most residential buildings must be built or rented by the owners at their own expense. , only low-rent housing provided to the urban poor was funded by the royal family and nobles as a public welfare project.

Looking at both sides of the road, the architects responsible for the design have placed many gardens in the city. However, these new gardens are not very beautiful against the surrounding construction sites.

Just as he was thinking about his new life in a foreign country, he came to the bazaar in the new city. Looking at the dense flow of people and the chaotic scene in front of him, everyone was on guard.

Because the large number of people flowing into Isfahan attracted a large number of caravans, the place became a major consumption center. The temporary bazar near the construction site was almost filled with necessities such as food, building materials, tools, fuel, and daily necessities.

Naturally, due to the prosperity of economic activities and the concentration of the population, criminal activities have sprung up. Even if there are no big crimes that dare to be committed, there are still a lot of petty thefts.

They looked past the stalls and went straight to the stalls where the naan makers and herdsmen stood nearby: How do you sell these naan, cheese, and yogurt?

The hawker looked at the Frank in front of him: The prices are all marked. If you can't read the words, I can read them to you.

William was a little surprised: You can read? Then why are you still baking naan here? Wouldn't it be better to be a scribe?

Isn't this the market supervision officer's strict control? He not only controls the upper limit of prices, but also requires clearly marked prices. If you don't trade according to the marked prices, it is illegal. Not everyone can read, and those of us in the city have guilds to help us. , look for Shuyuan www.zhaoshuyuan.com Farmers from outside the city will be in trouble. The vendor said while looking at the stalls on the side.

In fact, Isfahan is not the only place to strictly control the market. Although the majority of commercial income comes from international and long-distance trade, market order is not something that the rulers can ignore. Local merchants and hawkers cannot charge much, but It is also related to the quality of life and even stability of a place.

After the local market supervision officials used practice to figure out a series of management methods that were beneficial to the government, the palace quickly adopted and promoted them as standards.

He immediately checked the price signs. Unable to read, he had to ask an apprentice who could read to help him. He took out silver coins from his pocket and bought enough naan and dairy products for the apprentices. After instructing the apprentices to take these back to the workshop for their own consumption, he also went non-stop to meet with local administrative officials and relevant guilds.

William showed his palace-issued identity certificate to the official guard who stopped him, and looked at the guard who hurried to report. After a short wait, William was invited in.

This Frank, uh, Your Excellency. The official responsible for receiving him looked at all the documents that William submitted to him. I understand your purpose. Although the transportation capacity in the city is used to transport building materials needed for the construction site, but After all, this is Shah’s order, so we have no choice but to free up some large trucks for you to transport raw materials and fuel.”

The officials are a little confused. He wants to do his best to ensure the construction project in Isfahan, but now he has to divert the transportation capacity to transport necessities to the ordnance factory. Both of these things were ordered by Ibrahim, and he didn't know which was more important.

William couldn't see what the officials were thinking, but he just felt that the contact with the local officials was very smooth. He quickly returned to the street and went to find a restaurant nearby to eat. I plan to visit other parts of the city later to experience the exotic customs.