January 18, Isfahan, Alikapu Palace.

Under the guidance of two Persian eunuchs, Zhang Guangping, the envoy of Qi to Isfahan, walked through the vast and grand Imam Square to the Alikapu Palace on the west side, and then met the tired Imperial Shah Sudan Hussein, as well as more than a dozen ministers with solemn expressions.

"I heard that your country sent an army from the port of Bushehr to Isfahan?" The Grand Vids. of the Empire, Mohammad Kurihan Shamru, asked bluntly.

"Your Excellency, I don't know where this rumor got to your ears?" After Zhang Guangping heard the translation next to him, he was shocked, and glanced at Shah, who was silent on the throne, and then his face remained unchanged, and he asked in a calm tone: "My Great Qi Empire has always cherished its friendship with your country, and has always regarded your country as my country's most important strategic partner in the Gulf region. Under such circumstances, how can our country act in such a way as to infringe on the dignity of your country by sending an army to Isfahan in such a hurry? ”

"The city guard has received news that ten days ago, a large caravan of your country arrived in Isfahan, accompanied by hundreds of guards. They behave like soldiers. The caravan is said to have been attacked by a large group of bandits in the mountains near Kazelen, and the escorts were no different from your army in terms of weapons and attacking formations. How should you explain this? ”

"Your Excellency the Great Vizi." Zhang Guangping smiled bitterly and said softly: "In recent years, the public order in your country has been unstable, and bandits and mobs are rampant, which has greatly affected the merchants of our Qi country to walk back and forth in your country. As a result, the caravan had to hire more armed guards to ensure the safety of the merchants and the transportation of goods. In the face of the more vicious bandit mob, those ordinary people who have never experienced battlefield fighting are simply unable to deal with it. So, what kind of people does the Grand Vizzi think the merchants will pick to defend their wealth and lives? ”

"What does your envoy mean that those caravan guards are all retired soldiers of the former Qi Army?"

"As Da Weiqi said, those guards must be composed of retired soldiers in our Qi army." Zhang Guangping said with a determined face.

Do you Persians dare to send troops to the trading post outside the city and arrest all those army officers and soldiers to be tortured?!

"Your Majesty, there are rumors in the market that the army of Qi has arrived in Isfahan, and the old minister has found out that it is purely false." Muhammad Khurihan Shamr didn't really want to get to the bottom of this issue and add trouble to the empire. Immediately, he turned his head, put his hand on his chest, bent his back slightly, and said respectfully to Shah, "I wonder if Your Majesty still has the words to ask questions?" ”

"Now that the facts have been clarified, it will be fine." Imperial Shah Sudan Hussein waved his hand and said with some impatience: "The Qi State has always been friendly with the Empire, and it will definitely not do anything offensive to the Empire. Even if the State of Qi really sent an army to Isfahan, it would not do anything to endanger the empire. Oman invaded our Gulf islands and plundered the coastal towns of the Empire, and the Dorai Kingdom drove them away with a powerful naval fleet to ensure the safety of the Empire's maritime frontiers. In addition, many of the Imperial Guards had Qi military instructors who carefully guided and helped the Imperial Army to familiarize themselves with firearms drills, and it was a painstaking effort to improve the Imperial Army's military strength. Don't be gullible in the words of the market, so as not to destroy the traditional friendship between the Qi Kingdom and the Empire. ”

As he spoke, the Shah glared at the commander of the Guards, Rostam Khan, believing that at a time when the Afghans were invading on a large scale, it was purely groundless to accuse the Qi people of intending to offend the authority of the empire and the Shah, just by relying on some rumors in the market.

Even if the Qi people really sent a small force of more than two hundred people to Isfahan, it did not mean that the Qi State wanted to make some kind of dangerous move against the empire. It should be known that the capital of the empire is a huge city with a population of more than 500,000, and the Imperial Janissaries and the Shah Guards are garrisoned together, and the size of the scale is more than 20,000.

What can a small army of a few hundred people do here?

Moreover, I heard that the merchant escort who was suspected of being a soldier did not enter the city at all, but stayed in the merchant station of their Qi people unconventionally, waiting for the caravan of trade to return.

Shah believes that the reason why the Qi people organized a team of elite armed guards to come to Isfahan, in addition to escorting the caravan through the interior of Persia, which is getting worse and worse, is probably because they are worried about the current tense security situation in the empire, and want to transfer the families of the Qi people in Isfahan and the large amount of purchased Post products to the sea in advance.

A country from the distant Han continent, apart from coveting the exclusive interests of the empire's trade, could they still pose a direct military threat to the empire?

-------------

"This Persian princess is so beautiful!" Xu Kuiyuan reluctantly turned his head and whispered.

"Concentrate on duty, don't be so sneaky peeping!" Li Yanliang glared at him, and said angrily: "People are princesses, but it's not like us ordinary people can make up their minds casually." ”

"Sir, I know she's a princess, how dare you make any idea of her?" Xu Kuiyuan argued: "Didn't I look at her good-looking and secretly take a few more looks." ”

"We are overseas, so we should always be cautious in our words and deeds, so as not to tarnish the image of our army." Li Yanliang said with a straight face.

"Yes, sir." Xu Kuiyuan responded in his mouth, but he was quite unimpressed in his heart. In the battle array, the soldiers sacrificed their lives to fight and did everything they could, so they didn't care about the image of soldiers. I heard that a few years ago, in order to kill the rebel forces of the Aceh Kingdom, our Daqi army carried out extremely cruel methods, not to mention the destruction of villages and villages, but also indiscriminate massacres of more than a dozen. As for the looting, forcible room, and torture of prisoners that occurred in the course of the clean-up, there were not a few incidents.

The commander in front of him had just come out of the military academy for a year, and he had a bit of idealism in his heart, and he took it for granted that a violent army was the perfect teacher of benevolence and righteousness.

Of course, compared with the armies of other countries in the world, our Daqi army can be regarded as a "benevolent and righteous army", at least it has not wantonly burned, killed and looted in the war, let alone carried out large-scale barbaric massacres of cities.

When I was young, I heard the old people in the village say that in the former Ming Dynasty Jiashen years, the Qing captives entered the customs, and there were countless massacres in the entire land of Shenzhou, such as the ten days of Yangzhou, the three massacres of Jiading, and the ......massacres of Guangzhou, and it is reported that dozens of hundreds of cities were bloodily slaughtered, and the people were killed innumerable.

After all, those shocking massacres have been going on for a long time, and they have happened in the ancient land of Shenzhou, and Xu Kuiyuan, as an ordinary soldier born in the powerful and wealthy Qi State, can't have much empathy at all. In his view, the suffering of the people in those poor and weak countries and regions is entirely self-inflicted. Who made your emperor and government too poor in governance, making the whole country miserable and full of civil strife, and thus facing the danger of destroying the country!

The beautiful Persian princess in the courtyard, who heard that she was also the niece of their imperial Shah, was forced to flee out of the country with their Qi caravan because of the political turmoil between the DPRK and China to avoid being killed.

Pitiful, in this declining empire, even the royal nobles and the ladies of heaven must face the threat of death at any time and go into exile.

Li Yanliang looked around to check the vigilance of several guards, and pretended to glance inadvertently at the courtyard. But I saw the Persian princess sitting on a stone bench, looking up at the tall cypress tree in the courtyard, and she was stunned. Delicate face, clear facial features, high nose and deep eyes, glamorous.

"The Qin family has a good daughter, and her name is Luo Fu. …… When the young man saw Luo Fu, he took off his hat and put on his head. ......" Li Yanliang couldn't help but think of a poem "Mo Shang Sang" in Han Yuefu.

Princess Nasid Mirza seemed to feel something, and looked sideways towards a corner of the courtyard.

A young man with an eastern face was looking at her, with a tall posture and a resolute face, and his eyes revealed a little curiosity, a little amazement, and a little sympathy.

Princess Nasid Mirza smiled politely at him, nodded slightly, and then got up and walked towards the room behind her.