Han Hai Tang Ergui

Chapter 220

Eid al-Fitr is one of the main festivals of Tianfang Sect.Together with Eid al-Adha, it is called the two major festivals of Tianfang religion, and at this time it is called Ruzi in Persia.

Before Eid al-Fitr, adult male and female believers need to fast for a month in the ninth month of the Tianfang calendar every year, that is, Ramadan.

The Tianfang calendar has 29 days in odd months and 54 days in even months, and the whole year has [-] days.

The ninth month of the Tianfang teaching calendar this year is from the end of March to the end of April in the lunar calendar.

During this month, all Tianfang believers abstain from food, sex and all indecent behaviors from dawn to sunset every day, in order to examine themselves and cleanse their sins.

In other words, during Eid al-Fitr, from daybreak, you can't eat anything, you can only be hungry, and you can't eat and drink at night, you can only eat some pancakes and drink some water.

For this festival, Zhang Zhao's mood is completely smiling. No matter what kind of warrior you are, no matter how well-trained you are, you will be hungry every day during the day, and eat some pancakes at night. After a month of tossing like this, I'm afraid you won't even have the strength to hold a knife right?

Such a warrior wants to fight in iron armor weighing dozens of kilograms, isn't it just a dream!

. . . . .

In the early morning, just as the sky was slightly bright, the gate of Bukhara was suddenly opened.

The guards of the forbidden city of Arka and the guards of Gulam went out of the city with various banners painted with golden lions, wild boars, tigers, horses, white elephants, eagles and even date palms.

Most of the Gulam guards wore black and white armor, which looked extremely sturdy, but in fact, these armors were not made of iron, but made of braided fabric and cowhide.

It looks majestic and looks like a god, but in fact it doesn't have much protective power. It is similar to the paper armor used as a guard of honor in Chinese history. The "defense effect" is mainly achieved by painters.

Unlike the Gulam guards, the guards of the Forbidden City of Arka, who belonged to Nasr II, wore blue and white robes with black square patterns, and robes with bright yellow as the main tone and petal patterns of various colors.

In this day and age, dyeing clothes is a very time-consuming process, and the brighter the color, the more precious it is, let alone several colors on a piece of clothing.

This kind of cloth is extremely expensive. At this time, there are about [-] guards leaving the city. These [-] sets of exquisite robes are the best proof of the prosperity of Saman Persia.

In addition to the robes, the guards of the Forbidden City of Alka also wore the ancient Persian turban known as the triple crown.

This is different from the Ghulam guardsmen who wear turbans or felt hats that can be pulled down over the face to block the wind and sand, and their style is more Persian than heavenly.

Weapons are traditional wicker shields, short spears, swords or long daggers, bows and arrows, and usually scale or chain mail are worn under tunics.

The shiny spears were also decorated with balls of silver or gold, the former for ordinary soldiers, the latter for officers.

This kind of equipment and style is very similar to the former Persian Undead Army. After hundreds of years of Tianfang's enlightenment, the Persians still maintain a certain independent status culturally.

Among the flags of various colors, the majestic banner symbolizing the Emir stood tall, surrounded by dozens of dignitaries in gorgeous silk robes, the 63-year-old Emir Nasr II of Saman Persia Wearing a golden crown on his head and holding a scepter that symbolizes royal power, he just looks a little sluggish.

Of course it will be sluggish, because King Nasr II is still relatively devout towards Tianfang Sect, and he generally abides by the rules of Ramadan.

Of course, the bigger reason was that he had to abide by it, because since converting to the Shiites, Nasr II has been opposed by a large number of conventionalists in the country.

Many patriarchs and Ah Hong of the Conformity School have been watching Nasr II's every move for a long time. As long as Nasr II dares not to abide by the rules of Ramadan, someone will jump out and confront him.

Don't think that these patriarchs are afraid. Under the blessing of fanatical religious beliefs, they are absolutely powerful people who dare to challenge the secular power.

In Saman Persia and the following era, the political struggles of the Central Asian dynasties were actually carried out between the kingship and theocracy.

Sometimes the royal power is attached to the divine power, and sometimes the royal power suppresses the divine power.

Therefore, the kings in the Hezhong area have a different status from the kings of the Central Plains, and they are also filled with the cloud of theocracy.

Although it is not as perverted as the Europeans, the power of theocracy is above the power of the monarch, but the power of religion is not easy to underestimate.

After Nasr II's frame passed, Prince Hamid was behind.

Although the prince still tried his best to put on a large crowd, all the citizens of Bukhara on the road looked at Prince Hamid with pity.

Because before the Eid al-Fitr this year, the person who was closest to King Nasr II and almost kept pace with him must be Prince Hamid.

He is the crown prince, the number two figure in Saman Persia, and he should be in the position above the tens of thousands of people under this one person.

Today, all the princes, including Prince Hamid's biggest rival, Prince Sadid, surrounded Nasr II. Only Prince Hamid was dismissed on the grounds of arranging guards.

Ha ha!Prince Hamid sneered, saying that he was asked to arrange guards, but he was not allowed to mobilize Bukhara's Gulam guards on the grounds that Ju'er Khan was about to invade Weiwei.

Participating in the escort of the Emir were the Gulam guards from Samarkand and Herat.

Nasr II adopted a compromise plan for Grand Wazir Baal Ami's proposal to change the guards of Bukhara and Samarkand Ghulam.

The Ghulam of Bukhara did not switch defenses with the Ghulam guards of Samarkand, but this year's Eid al-Fitr guards were in charge of the Ghulam guards of Samarkand and Herat.

After crossing the moat, Prince Hamid looked back at the city of Bukhara.

His confidant Hussein will sneak back to Bukhara after the Eid al-Fitr begins, and will close the four gates of Bukhara as soon as he gives an order, and then bring the most elite 10,000 people out of the city to the side of the Qing Dynasty.

Of course, what Prince Hamid expected most was that Juer Khan's army would arrive on time. For this reason, he also brought two envoys sent by Juer Khan with him so that he could communicate with Juer Khan at any time.

"Father, if you want to deal with me, you can blame Hamid for being cruel!"

Prince Hamid muttered something in a low voice, and he obviously felt that his father Nasr II would most likely take advantage of this Eid al-Fitr to take him down directly, otherwise he would not have called Prince Sadid back .

You know, Prince Sadid has been guarding against the Draimu in Herat, and the Ghulam guards from Herat have actually been controlled by Prince Sadid.

And Prince Hamid's side, the Gulam guards who were nominally commanded by him to be responsible for the guards, were all Gurams from Herat.

This is not to let him command the guards, but to let these Herat Gulam guards monitor him, and when they want to get rid of him, they will do it.

In this case, it is not Nasr II who killed his son, but Prince Sadid assassinated his brother.

This set of operations is very suitable for Nasr II's hypocritical and cruel character!

. . . . .

If Tianfangjiao festivals are held strictly according to religious rules, it will be very boring.

There is no drinking, no singing and dancing, and there is a collective khutbah and praise to Allah, cumbersome kneeling and other etiquette.

In particular, you can’t drink alcohol, fresh and tender roasted whole cattle, crispy roasted whole sheep, all kinds of white flour cakes, sweets and fruits, but you just don’t allow alcohol, roasted cows and lambs don’t go with wine, it always feels like something is missing .

But Eid al-Fitr is still a bit different. After a month of fasting and vegetarianism together, even if there is no alcohol, just meat and sweets, people can't help but eat.

At this moment, on the bank of the Wuhu River (Amu Darya River), which is about five miles away from Bukhara, after the tedious praises were over, everyone started to gobble it up.

The month of Ramadan has suffocated everyone, whether it is Emir Nasr II, or the nobles and religious people under him.

The crowd kept cutting off large pieces of meat from the roasted cow, roasted lamb, and roasted camel in front of them with their knives. Everyone was busy eating without talking, and there was a lot of chewing.

Even the Alka Forbidden City Guards and Gulam Guards who guarded around them have implemented a shift system. Only one-third of them are sticking to it, and the rest are eating and drinking.

However, one difference is that according to the unspoken rules of Saman Persia, the Gulam guards are not strict about fasting in Ramadan.

Because it must be considered, what if the enemy chooses to attack after Ramadan?
Therefore, among the Ghulam guards who were mainly slaves, they could still eat and drink normally during Ramadan, but they couldn't eat and drink too much, and they tried to avoid people as much as possible.

This is the last reason why Nasr II wanted to kill Prince Hamid.

Ju'er Khan has arrived, and Nasr II has already felt the danger. He wants to serve as the Grand Salar himself and take control of the military to ensure the stability of the country.

Everyone was immersed in the pleasure of eating, only four of them looked like they were eating, but their hearts were fluttering.

Grand Wazir (Prime Minister) Bal Ami kept sipping honey tea and said he was Grand Wazir, but he knew that he was a pawn used by King Nasr II to check and balance Prince Hamid.

From its own point of view, Baal Ami did not want to offend Prince Hamid. Participating in the alternation of kingship has always been a particularly risky thing.

He is already Grand Wazir, and he is almost 70 years old. Why bother to make an enemy for himself who may become an emir?

But he had to do it again, because it was requested by King Nasr II, so Baal Ami simply 'stepped on the gas pedal'.

Since it is an offense, then offend it more severely, and give Prince Hamid an acceleration directly.

In this way, when the next crown prince appears, Nasr II will send him away.

Because the crown prince at this time does not need a strong prime minister to check and balance, Baal Ami can retire safely and spend his old age in peace.

Prince Sadid glanced at his elder brother Prince Hamid. As the sixth son of King Nasr II, Prince Sadid is the most ambitious of all the princes.

Of course, in his own opinion, he is also the most talented of all princes.

After guarding Herat for ten years, Prince Sadid suppressed the ready-to-move Draim and ensured the security of the southwestern border.

Prince Sadid felt that he was more suitable to be the crown prince and the future Emir than his obedient brother Prince Hamid, who had a good skin but was obsequious.

As for Nasr II, he was sitting on the throne in the center of the north. He was wearing a gorgeous purple flower brocade robe, and he accepted greetings from nobles and ministers one after another with a smile on his face. He looked very happy.

However, when he glanced at his sixth son, Prince Sadid, a meaningful smile curled up at the corner of his mouth.

He will not appoint an older crown prince. The most suitable candidate in his mind is the eleventh son who is only nine years old.

Sadid is just a tool he used to eradicate Hamid. After all, it is not an honorable thing for a father to kill his son. It is not honorable for a brother to kill his son, but it is better than him doing it himself.

As for Sadid, if he is smart, he may be allowed to spend the rest of his life in limbo.

For the power in his hands, King Nasr II didn't care about losing one or two sons. Anyway, he had thirteen sons to choose from.

Prince Sadid felt his father's eyes, and suddenly felt a warm current rising from the bottom of his heart.

He quickly straightened his back, and talked with the people around him with impeccable etiquette, trying to make a good impression on his father Nasr II.

As for Prince Hamid, for the first time he looked straight at Nasr II without flinching, his eyes gradually became hot.

He must take the position of emir, and must vent the grievances he has suffered all these years.

King Nasr II looked at Prince Hamid, but a feeling of disgust rose in his heart. He became more and more unruly, and dared to look directly at his father, his monarch!

(End of this chapter)