Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 912 0907 [Great Persian Scholarship]

The Seljuk Sultan Sanjar, still in Baghdad, personally supervises the education of the Caliph.

Why did Your Majesty rebel?

This statement may sound humorous, but it is very troublesome for those who actually hold power.

Punish them severely, it will have a bad political impact.

If we don't punish them severely, the political impact will be even worse.

In the end, the only option was to carefully replace all the people around the Caliph, killing a few, exiling a group, and transferring a large number to other places.

Upon learning that the Ming envoys had landed, Sanjar left his confidant as the governor of Baghdad and slowly returned to Isfahan with his entourage and army.

When they set up camp halfway, he saw that everyone was resting, but the scholar Anvari was writing and drawing on the ground.

Sanjar asked, "How much of the books you brought back from Ming have you studied?"

Anwari said: "I have finished reading "Basic Mathematics" and am studying "Intermediate Mathematics". The Ming Kingdom is indeed the land of the Upper Peach Blossom Stone, and the mathematical achievements there are extremely high."

"Higher than Ibn Sina?" Sanjar asked.

Anwari said: "Ibn Sina's level of mathematics is roughly equivalent to "Basic Mathematics" and a small part of "Intermediate Mathematics."

"Basic Mathematics" and "Secondary Mathematics" are both mathematics textbooks of the Ming Dynasty.

This thing can be bought in bookstores, although Ming officials deliberately guided the Seljuk envoys to pay attention to literature and art.

But the Seljuk envoy secretly bought a few scientific books and took them away.

Sanjar was shocked and said, "Damming's academic achievements have surpassed Ibn Sina's?"

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Anwari said, “Although Ibn Sina is a beacon of my thought, I have to admit that he is no match for the scholars of the Ming Dynasty.”

Sanjar said: "Then we must continue to go to Ming for exchanges."

The Ibn Sina they were talking about was a great Persian scholar from a hundred years ago, who was later honored as the "Father of World Medicine."

He began to study logic and natural sciences at the age of ten, and cured the emperor (of the Persian Buyid dynasty) of his illness at the age of seventeen.

The Persian emperor wanted to reward him handsomely, but Ibn Sina had only one request: free access to the emperor's library.

He believed that there were two possibilities for the formation of mountains: one was the uplift of land caused by earthquakes, and the other was the erosion of the ground by wind and rain.

He believed that land and ocean had replaced each other many times over the long history of the Earth.

He pioneered the scientific classification of rocks and minerals.

He used anesthesia in surgery and discovered parasites in the human body. His medical papers covered a wide range of areas, including gastric ulcers, diabetes, and the flow of blood in the fetus. He also wrote medical monographs on decoctions, herbal medicine, anatomy, and nutrition.

He also wrote works on philosophy, literature, chemistry, biology, music, physics, logic, astronomy, etc.

He has a total of 276 works and papers, which are currently hidden in the Isfahan Library, waiting for the Ming envoys to exchange them for treasures!

The Anvari in front of us is a famous philosopher, writer and mathematician.

Anwari often wrote poems to flatter the emperor, but he also wrote many poems of exhortation and satire, advising kings and officials to be benevolent and love the people.

……

As soon as Sanjar returned to Isfahan, an official came to him and muttered, "Your Majesty, the Ming envoys were attacked by several nomadic tribes in the northwest of Shiraz. Our officials were killed, three Ming soldiers were killed, and another 20 to 30 were injured. The Ming army massacred the nomadic tribes in the mountains near Shiraz, and they also beheaded women and children."

"Shiraz, Shiraz...very good!" Sanjar was extremely angry.

It was once the largest city in Persia, but was razed to the ground by the Seljuks and has now been redeveloped into the fourth largest Seljuk city.

The nomadic tribes of Shiraz actually dared not to give face to the Sultan!

It would be fine if they just robbed ordinary merchants, but they were envoys from the Ming Dynasty. Doesn’t the Sultan have any shame?
Sanjar called his nephew and said, "You must lead your troops to Shiraz immediately and find out which tribes were involved in the attack. Kill all the men and take the women and children as slaves."

The Sultan was wise and tolerant, but also extremely cruel.

After dealing with this mess, Sanjar went to check the "tribute" in person.

At least, he thought it was a tribute from the Ming Dynasty.

Five pieces of top-quality Shu brocade, five pieces of top-quality velvet, twelve pieces of top-quality porcelain, and twelve pieces of top-quality lacquerware.

There are ten carvings, two of which are miniature carvings and require a magnifying glass to appreciate.

A crystal magnifying glass.

A half-foot square mercury glass mirror with a gilt frame.

A composite cotton armor with embedded steel plates.

Twenty kilograms of premium black tea.

One hundred wax beetle candles.

Sanjar saw the cotton armor at a glance, which seemed to be cloth decorated with many rivets.

He lifted it up and weighed it, and it weighed several dozen kilograms, and he immediately knew that there was something hidden inside. He opened it and found that there were indeed many scales.

"Put on your armor." Sanjar said to the guards around him.

The guards quickly put on their armor and stood in place, waiting for the Sultan to conduct experiments.

Sanjar drew his sword and chopped several times, but found that he had not cut through the cotton layer, not to mention that there was another layer of armor inside. His eyes lit up immediately: "What a treasure! Let the craftsman sew the damaged outer layer back together!"

Then he picked up the glass mirror, which was more transparent and flawless than the one brought back by the Seljuk envoy.

Sanjar admired himself in the mirror again and again, and was soon impressed by how handsome he was. He immediately ordered: "Except for me and the queen, no one is allowed to touch this mirror!"

Then he examined the other treasures, and he liked every one of them.

It’s just that the purpose of black tea is unknown, and Sanjar thought it was some kind of oriental miracle medicine.

As for the white candles, he didn't know what their characteristics were, but he still had them kept well. That night, he used top-quality porcelain plates, cups, and bowls to eat and drink.

According to doctrine, alcohol is not allowed, but the religious atmosphere of the Seljuks is very tolerant and open. Most of the nobles drink alcohol, and scholars of various religions are invited to serve as consultants. It is normal for a monk to appear around the Sultan.

After dinner, the queen looked at herself in the mirror again and again, and even slept with it under her pillow that night.

The next day, Sanjar warmly received the Ming envoy.

He prepared a sumptuous feast of delicious food and fine wine, and invited many nobles and scholars to join him.

The main seat was covered with an exquisite Persian carpet, and something similar to a coffee table was placed on the carpet to serve as a table.

The Sultan and the Queen sat at one end of the tea table, the chief and deputy envoys of the Ming Dynasty sat at the other end, and the rest sat on both sides below, also covered with carpets.

Among the crowd, dancers were performing.

Sanjar said: "I have received the gift from your emperor. I have decided to send another envoy to Ming to give back a batch of precious gifts. Just tell me what you want."

Cheng Yu said, "I have heard that the Seljuks have many great works. Your Majesty has long admired them and hopes to read them. Your Majesty, I have also heard that the Seljuks have extremely majestic war horses. Please give them twenty stallions and twenty mares."

"That's no problem," Sanjar said. "You can ask scholars to go to the Sultan's library and take away any book they like if they have a copy. If they don't have a copy, ask someone to copy it. You can also ask generals to go to my horse farm and take away any horses they like, except for my favorite ones."

Cheng Yu added: "Our country does not understand Persian and Turkic characters. Please ask His Majesty the Sultan to send a scholar to Ming Dynasty to translate the books brought back. When this scholar arrives in Ming Dynasty, His Majesty the Emperor will grant him an official position."

"Haha, that's easy." Sanjar agreed with a smile.

Anwari, the most learned scholar of the Seljuks, volunteered: "Your Majesty the Sultan, I would like to go to the Ming Dynasty."

Sanjar shook his head repeatedly: "No. If you leave, who will write poems praising my greatness?"

Anwari said: "Your Majesty has many wise poets around him, and he does not need me. When I go to Ming, I can bring back more oriental works for Your Majesty."

Sanjar thought about it and agreed, "Okay then."

The reason why Anwari wanted to go to China was because the previous envoy, Aibu, praised the Ming Dynasty to the skies in "Journey to Peach Blossom Stone".

There are schools everywhere in the Ming Dynasty, and even the common people can go to school.

What about the Ming Dynasty scholars governing the country? Even if a person is a farmer's son, as long as he studies hard, he can pass the exam and become an official.

Officials in the Ming Dynasty who embezzled a silver coin would be executed, so all officials were very honest.

The emperor of the Ming Dynasty is decided by the people. If the emperor is too cruel, he will lose the blessing of God, and the people will elect a wise new emperor.

Anvari has long been fascinated by all these things.

Not only him, but many scholars also yearned for the Ming Dynasty.

Because the Seljuks were so chaotic and corrupt, the local lords who succeeded the hereditary system had the power of life and death over the people.

Nobles of all sizes, also known as sultans, were like a country within a country, and often levied heavy taxes within their jurisdiction.

There are also wars every year, either to suppress this or to conquer that.

In comparison, the Ming Dynasty, the land of peach blossom stone, was so prosperous, peaceful, and civilized...

Abu's book "Travels to Peach Blossom Stone" has been circulated in many major Seljuk cities and has been continuously spread through handwritten copies by scholars.

Even Sanjar himself has read "Journey to Peach Blossom Stone".

But his focus was different, and at this moment he asked, "Is your emperor still fighting against Zhong Taohuashi?"

Cheng Yu replied: "Our country has recovered the lost territory and conquered Zhongtaoshi long ago."

Sanjar was quite shocked.

The Ming Dynasty already possessed Upper Qin and Central Qin. If it continued to fight westward, wouldn’t it have to unify Taohuashi?
Aibu said: "I have written a long poem about the achievements of the Ming emperor and set it to music."

Sanjar smiled and said, “Let’s perform.”

A Persian girl came forward and began to sing a long poem about Zhu Ming to the accompaniment of music.

After the performance, Cheng Yu quickly expressed his gratitude.

Sanjar smiled again and said, “Next is my hymn.”

Smelly and long!

This long poem describes in detail the division of the Seljuk people, how Sanjar fought for the position of Sultan, how he reunited the Seljuk people, and how he continued to expand outward.

Every battle was not missed and the chanting lasted for a full twenty minutes.

Sanjar loved this poem very much, and every time he won a new victory, he would ask scholars to lengthen the poem.

The translator knelt beside the chief and deputy envoys of the Ming Dynasty, and continued to translate the contents of the poems into Chinese.

When the long poem was finished, Cheng Yu complimented him: "Your Majesty's greatness is unmatched by many kings from ancient times to the present."

"Hahahaha!" Sanjar laughed triumphantly.

The next day, Zhu Xiaozhong took people to the Sudanese horse farm to select the best Seljuk horses.

Cheng Yu took officials and scholars to the Sudanese library to select books.

Chief Medical Officer Yan Xiuqing also went there and asked the administrator where the medical books were, only to find several densely packed bookshelves.

He then asked which medical books were the most famous and finally discovered the works of Ibn Sina.

Although I can't understand Persian, there are a lot of illustrations in the book.

Yan Xiuqing even found a perspective view of a fetus, detailing how the mother's blood vessels were connected to the fetus.

Really, he didn't even need to read the text; he got excited just by flipping through the pictures.

The biggest gain of the Ming Dynasty envoys' voyage was not the wealth or the excellent horse breeds, but the preliminary navigation charts and the huge amount of Persian academic works in front of them!
(End of this chapter)