The Sun and the Lion

Just like entering a theater box, Ibrahim climbed to the top of the city gate tower and observed the outside of the city accompanied by his guards.

Some cavalry under Alvand's command came to the city, shouting and provoking, and the curses were unpleasant. The archers have driven them away several times, but these guys are like mosquitoes that stare at you in the dark while you stay up late playing on your phone. They come and go, making you annoying.

Ibrahim took the bow handed over by the guard, aimed at a cavalry who was not moving fast, pulled and released, and an arrow bit the cavalry like a poisonous snake. Although it did not kill him, he also fell due to it. Dismounted.

Then the second arrow was shot, this time not so lucky, it only hit the horse's butt. The horse under the rider's crotch was frightened, and he was forced to use all his energy to control the horse.

Seeing one of their companions fall off the horse and the other rider losing his fighting power, the group of cavalry gradually retreated and returned to their own military formation.

After these provocative riders returned to their own formation, Alvand looked at the significantly increased number of troops on the top of the city and knew that a big shot was coming, so he signaled to his men that strong medicine was ready.

Dozens of cavalrymen held their lances with both hands and their horses trotted all the way to the city.

Ibrahim watched them slowly approach. As they approached, the defenders on the city clearly saw the object on the tip of the lance - the human head. These cavalrymen came to the city holding the human head to demonstrate, although These heads were so stained with blood that their faces could not be seen clearly, but the red hats on their heads could prove their identities.

The bow holders were so excited that they wanted to rush down and kill all the riders. The Armenians also had a look of disgust on their faces. Although they didn't care about the life or death of the Sufi priests, they couldn't accept insulting the corpses.

Ibrahim's face was also very bad. The loss of so many caliphs was a great loss to the order and the Safavid family - the clergy of the Safavid order were called caliphs, which is what the Iranians think of. The title given to a high-ranking pagan cleric, such as the Archbishop of the Apostolic Church.

Unlike orthodox Sunni and Shiite jurists, orthodox clerics basically devote their energy to studying the scriptures and Sharia law. But the caliphs of the Safavid order are different. They do not spend a lot of time on scriptures and Sharia. Instead, they conduct specific religious training rather than formal legal education.

Ibrahim first took out the arrows from the quiver and put on the bow without drawing it. But after a while, he put down his weapon again, and then said to the guards beside him: Go back to the palace.

Returning to the study, Ibrahim called Yusuf, who was dealing with religious affairs, over.

Your Majesty. Yusuf stepped into the study and saluted Ibrahim.

Sit down. The cross-legged Ibrahim told him to sit down. Yusuf stepped forward and knelt on the carpet, facing the King of Kings across the table.

My Sadr, how is the recruitment of Shiite clergy abroad going? Ibrahim asked, pushing the half glass of wine on the table to him.

Your Majesty. Yusuf did not touch the wine in front of him, but said with an expression of embarrassment: Many religious jurists are willing to serve in building a country with only Shia faith, but they are scattered in various places, and the lords of various places are Attitudes are different, which results in the fact that under the lords who are willing to let people go, few people are willing to come to Tabriz, while under the lords who are hostile to you, there are many ulama who are willing to devote themselves to the cause, but the Sunnis who have gained acquiescence The factions continued to harass them and even humiliated them in public.

Yusuf has said the best, but in fact, the ulama who have received formal religious education do not have a high opinion of the Safavid order. According to Shia teachings, only the reappearance of the secluded Imam as the savior can establish a true Shia state on earth. Prior to this, during what is known as the Great Hermitage, only mujtahids—prominent jurists—could provide guidance on matters of social and private life for their followers.

And what about the Order? The members openly ignored the teachings and deified the Sheikh in order to consolidate his authority. Although this is a Shia Sufi order, in the eyes of most religious jurists, this organization is a heretical organization. Moreover, Ibrahim's court practiced traditional Persian court culture, and they could not kneel down and worship an unfavorable heretic.

How many people have come already? Ibrahim nodded and continued to ask.

Less than ten, look for Shuyuan www.zhaoshuyuan.com Your Majesty. Yusuf looked at Ibrahim uneasily.

But even so, for some people who are ambitious to promote Shiaism, this is a temptation that is extremely difficult to refuse. Although there are few people coming, the advantage is that the classics are complete - before the red heads raided mosques in various places, the number of Shiite classics collected was small and incomplete.

Ibrahim pondered for a while, and then said: This is not your fault. In addition, this work can be stopped.

Your Majesty? Yusuf was a little anxious. Even if the work was not going smoothly, he could not stop eating because of choking.

Ibrahim did not express his thoughts, but changed the subject: My Sadr, if he establishes a special religious school in Tabriz and allocates enough caliphs to train devout believers, he can Can’t it alleviate the dilemma of insufficient manpower?”

Yusuf asked: Your Majesty, we may not be able to recruit enough caliphs. I suggest that we send letters to the caliphs in various places and let them select their own believers for training and then send them to Tabriz. The school matters can wait until the war. Let’s talk after it’s over.”

I think it's okay. For the future of the order, the caliphs should give more red hats. The threshold shouldn't be so high.

Yes, yes. Yusuf agreed, writing down Ibrahim's order.

Ibrahim had a lot more on his mind. He planned to use the caliphs of the religious order to establish a new religious system in Iran that served the royal power, with the Shias as the core who were so weak that they could only rely on the royal power. The Persian Empire was a multi-ethnic empire. In order to rule Christians, Ibrahim also planned to reorganize the Eastern Christian Church to manage it uniformly.

But these are just drafts that come to mind. The most important thing at the moment is to kill the three cousins ​​who stole the country.