I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 888: Wanli Imperial Writings
Shen Wanxiang replied: "Whoever poisoned your brother Ismail II will be killed."

Kodaban was stunned. Who poisoned my brother?

Didn’t my brother die of illness?
No, that's what the news from Qazvin said, but Kodaban knew that his brother could not have died of illness.

He had been wounded in combat in the Lake Cheadle area and had been bedridden for several months.

Everyone had reached an agreement in secret, preparing to depose him and support themselves to ascend the throne.

Just as we had finalized the deal, my brother died of illness.

How could it be such a coincidence?
It is indeed possible that he was poisoned to death by those people.

Shen Wanxiang saw the flicker in Kodaban's eyes and was moved.

He knew that although Kodaban was very smart, he was a gentle person and would not bring himself to do anything evil, so he gave him some advice.

"Kodaban, you are now the Shah of Persia. Our Holy Emperor has always taught us that we must pay attention to our standpoint. You should now think from the Shah's perspective.

No matter what, your brother was appointed by your father, the Khan, and was supported by the Persian army and people. The original plan was to depose him and imprison him, but they ended up poisoning him.

"Lao Ke, if they can poison your brother today, there's no guarantee they won't poison you in the future!"

Kodaban's heart trembled when he heard this.

Yes, these ministers and Kizilbash leaders are indeed capable of doing this.

Now they need me to stabilize the political situation, so they promote me. When the political situation stabilizes, will they think I am a hindrance and kill me?
Wang Yongji saw that Kodaban was moved, and then said, "Kodaban, now is the best opportunity.

Your brother died in Qazvin. People in and out of the government are saying that some powerful officials killed him in order to please you and eliminate future troubles.

You are in Isfahan, and you have no say in Qazvin. Your brother's death cannot be blamed on you.

Now that you have assumed the throne of Shah, you are under the pretext of thoroughly investigating the cause of your brother's death and finding out the person who poisoned him. This is a God-given opportunity and no one can find fault with it.

As Mr. Shen said, your brother is the legitimate Shah of Persia. Regicide is a capital crime punishable by death no matter where you are!

Kodaban, you have to strike first!
Kodaban's eyes flashed and he nodded repeatedly: "Yes, it's better to strike first!"

At this point, Kodaban understood why Shen Wanxiang and Wang Yongji insisted on ascending the throne in Isfahan.

Over the past year, Kodaban has assigned his trusted men, such as Ostagu, to use the money earned from trade to bribe the garrison troops in Isfahan Province.

This is his home ground now!
Kodaban held a "court meeting" the next day and mentioned the matter of his younger brother Ismail II. Then a confidant jumped out to cooperate, crying that the cause of Ismail II's death was suspicious and that according to "reliable information", he was poisoned to death.

Kodaban took the opportunity to go crazy and vowed to find out the truth about his brother's death.

In less than a month, the cause of Ismail II's death was discovered. Among them were the court ministers and Kizilbash leaders who actually did the deed, as well as ministers and Kizilbash leaders who had ulterior motives and were dissatisfied with Kodaban.

Half true and half false, true and false.

Kodaban released the findings and evidence and ordered the arrest of these murderers of the former Shah.

Some people realized something was wrong and prepared to rebel, but they didn't expect that not only the garrison in Isfahan was bribed by Kodaban, but the guards were also subdued by Kodaban.

The guards were loyal to the Shah, and Kodaban was now the legitimate Shah, so he secretly gave them large rewards and they returned home early.

The expected failure of the rebellion actually confirmed the guilt of some people.

Shen Wanxiang and Wang Yongji suggested to Kodaban that he should seize the great opportunity, confiscate the land and army of some ministers and the leaders of the Qizilbashi, reorganize the guards, carry out some reforms in the central and local governments of Persia, and increase the real power of the Shah.
Kodaban was receptive to advice and drew inferences from it, hoping to gain the support of the Ming Dynasty in political and military reforms.

What support?
Kodaban hoped that the Ming Dynasty would send a political and military advisory group to help him carry out reforms step by step.

"Mr. Shen, Mr. Wang, you are all very clear about my situation.

Now I am sitting in the Shah's seat, treading on thin ice and trembling with fear. I know that my biggest problem is that my foundation is too shallow.

The powerful officials in the palace and the local Kizilbash leaders were fighting for power among themselves. I was just the product of their compromise.

To be honest, no one on either side can be trusted, and I dare not rely on them either."

Shen Wanxiang smiled and said, "Shah sees things very clearly."

Kodaban stroked his long beard and said with emotion, "I am very fortunate that my father Khan sent me to the Ming Kingdom as an envoy, which opened my eyes to a new world."

As he spoke, he took out a book from his arms and placed it on the table.

The cover had many creases, and it looked like it had been read many times, but it was very clean and tidy. Kodaban's hand gently stroked the cover, gently smoothing out the curled corners of the pages.

Shen Wanxiang and Wang Yongji glanced at each other.

"Selected Writings of the Wanli Emperor" was published by the Imperial Household Department. The first edition was published in May of the fifth year of the Wanli reign. Every official in the Ming Dynasty had a copy. It was even more popular in universities. It was printed more than a dozen times, and paper was expensive everywhere.

I remembered that Kobanda also bought a book. Can you understand it?

But when they saw the folded mark on the cover, Shen Wanxiang and Wang Yongji swallowed and recalled what they wanted to ask.

I didn’t expect that Kobanda, who looks gentle and honest, is also very knowledgeable!
"Kodabanshah, the Holy Son of Heaven's Imperial Writings, read it every day, but many of the contents are inconsistent with your Muslim teachings."

Kodaban laughed and said, "Mr. Shen, I am a devout Muslim, but I am also a Persian, and now I am the Shah of Persia.

Responsibility is the most important thing. Only with a sense of responsibility can we treat everyone sincerely, turn work into a career, and fulfill our duties.

Ordinary people need a sense of responsibility, officials and generals need a sense of responsibility, and monarchs also need a sense of responsibility.

With great power comes great responsibility!"

Wang Yongji looked at Kedaban, his eyes flickering, and he was a little excited, "This is from the fourth chapter of Wanli Imperial Writings, "Every Man Has a Responsibility for the Rise and Fall of the Nation."

Kodabanshah, you have memorized it all."

"I'll keep it in mind," Kodaban replied cheerfully, "and please help me, gentlemen."

Shen Wanxiang said solemnly, "Of course we are willing to help. But this matter is of great importance, we must report it to the country and ask for the grace of the Holy Emperor.

We will present Shah's sincere heart to the emperor in detail."

Wang Yongji added, "We still have to continue our journey eastwards, and it will take a long time to travel by land. Qianhe and I will write a letter together and bring it back to the capital by sea, which will be faster."

"Okay, then I'll leave it to you two. I'll also send a delegation of envoys to the capital by sea to meet His Majesty the Emperor." At Kodaban's request, Shen Wanxiang and Wang Yongji stayed in Isfahan for more than two months, helping to train officials, select officers, and teach Kodaban how to use both kindness and power to win over the hearts of the people and gather his confidants, so as to perfect his "grassroots team" and consolidate his hard-earned throne.

In the autumn of the ninth year of the Wanli reign, Shen Wanxiang and Wang Yongji left behind some personnel to set up an office in Persia, and the group continued on their journey.

Kodaban and Ostagu were escorted to Kashan, two hundred miles north of Isfahan.

"Shah, Governor Ostagu, we say goodbye!"

Kedaban held the hands of Shen Wanxiang and Wang Yongji, reluctant to let them go, "You two gentlemen are very talented. When you return to Ming Dynasty, you will definitely be valued by His Majesty the Emperor.

"In the future, when you two are in high positions in the Ming Dynasty, please remember our friendship and speak well of Persia. Please also tell His Majesty the Emperor that as long as my lineage of Kodaban is the Shah of Persia, I will never betray the Ming Dynasty!"

"Don't worry, Shah. We will definitely pass on the message!"

"In three years," Kodaban said, holding his son Abbas, "when my eldest son Abbas is ten years old, I will send him to the capital. I also ask the two gentlemen to help arrange it well so that he can learn more skills in Ming Dynasty and come back."

Kodaban originally wanted his eldest son Abbas to return to the Ming Dynasty with Shen Wanxiang and Wang Yongji, but Abbas was too young, less than eight years old.

The journey to Ming Dynasty was long and bumpy, and he might not be able to bear it. Shen Wanxiang and Wang Yongji advised Kodaban to wait until Prince Abbas was older and stronger before sending him to Ming Dynasty to study.

"Don't worry, Shah. After all, Prince Abbas has officially accepted us as his teachers. We will definitely respect this teacher-student relationship."

Shen Wanxiang and Wang Yongji rode their horses forward and walked very far. When they looked back, they saw two figures, one tall and one short, swaying in the sunlight. They could not help but raise their arms high and wave them again and again.

Wang Yongji couldn't help but ask: "Qianhe! Do we really want to help Kodaban Shah and Persia?"

"Ming Shou, do you remember that we were summoned to the Advisory Bureau by the Ministry of Public Administration, and the emperor and several advisors gave us confidential information in person?"

"remember."

"Your Majesty once used the example of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty. From Temujin to his grandsons Mongke and Kublai Khan, their armies reached the Mesopotamian and Danube rivers, and were unstoppable, establishing the largest empire in the history of human civilization.

But this empire collapsed in just a few decades. Why is that?"

Wang Yongji immediately replied: "First, the Mongols do not have their own civilization. Even their writing system was created by Temujin. No matter how powerful the iron hooves are or how sharp the sabers are, they will eventually be dissolved in civilization.

The second is biting off more than you can chew. How could they rule hundreds of thousands of Mongols who had conquered tens of thousands of miles of territory and a population of hundreds of millions? In the end, they all disappeared among the common people everywhere.

"Yes, His Majesty said that our Ming Dynasty has a 5,000-year-old civilization and a large population, which is enough to eliminate all indigenous tribes. Conquest is not just about force, but also about culture, economy, and many other means.

His Majesty said that it is impossible for our Ming Dynasty to occupy the entire world.

As citizens of the Ming Dynasty, we must take responsibility and enable them to live a prosperous life. This is the responsibility of the country.

We cannot make everyone in the world live a prosperous life, and the current productivity is far from meeting this huge demand. So we must expand selectively.

Areas that are of concern to the safety of the Ming Dynasty, such as the South China Sea and the East China Sea; uninhabited areas, such as the Dingzhou Continent; places with vast land, sparse population, fertile and rich land, where the Ming Dynasty will not have to worry about arable land for the next thousand years, such as Genxunzhou.
The Ming Dynasty must be taken into its possession.

As for those with their own civilizations and large populations, such as Europe, the Ottoman Empire, Persia, and India, we only need to insist on free trade and conquer them through culture and economy.

Wang Yongji was silent for a while, "Qianhe is right, the emperor is very wise, and he made a joke that I will always remember."

"Which sentence?"

"Domestic trade is not as profitable as foreign trade!"

Shen Wanxiang and Wang Yongji burst out laughing almost at the same time.

Laughter, accompanied by the sound of horse hooves, rang out across the Persian Plateau.

In Qom, he met Nahmardan, whose father was the elder brother of Kodaban's biological mother and Kodaban's cousin. He was also a Kizilbash leader in Shiraz and was now appointed by Kodaban as the governor of Herat and entrusted with the important task of guarding the eastern part of Persia.

All three of them knew each other.

Nahamardan once served as the captain of the guard and accompanied Kodaban and Ostagu on a diplomatic mission to the Ming Dynasty.

Kodaban became the governor of Isfahan, and Nahmardan and Ostagu traveled around to help him gather local garrisons.

The three-person team headed eastward along the southern coast of the Caspian Sea, passed through the Mazandaran region, and arrived in the city of Mashhad before the heavy snow arrived in winter.

Nahmardan went to Herat to reorganize the local troops.

Shen Wanxiang and Wang Yongji stayed in Mashhad until the spring of the tenth year of Wanli, when the snow melted and the road was reopened.

Nahamardan brought 10,000 elite cavalry from Herat and rushed to Mashhad to escort Shen Wanxiang, Wang Yongji and his party to continue northward.

The first destination was Merv (Mary, Turkmenistan), an important city of the Bukhara Khanate.

But as soon as we left the Persian border, we found that it was even more chaotic than we had imagined!

Khivans, Bukharians, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Tajiks, Afghans. There were thousands of them or as few as one or two hundred, like a pack of hyenas wandering in the wilderness.

When they saw Nahamardan's escort, they all stayed away from them.

At noon that day, scouts came to report that the city of Merv was ten miles ahead.

"Mr. Shen, Mr. Wang, we finally arrived in Merv." Nahamaldan wiped the sweat off his face, "I never thought it would be such a mess here."

"Yes, we didn't expect that after the destruction of the Khiva and Bukhara Khanates, this place would become a wilderness where the strong prey on the weak and there would be no order at all."

Shen Wanxiang narrowed his eyes and said to Nahamaldan: "Governor Nahamaldan, after I return to the Ming Dynasty, I will communicate with the local governor and the governor. I think it is necessary for our two countries to cooperate."

"How to cooperate?" Nahamardan's eyes lit up.

Shen Wanxiang was about to answer when suddenly someone pointed to the east and shouted.

"Look over there!"

Everyone looked in the direction where his finger was pointing and saw dust rising in the east, like a gray cloud, drifting towards them quickly.

"Be alert!" Nahamaldan shouted, "Damn it! Such a large army is almost right under our noses, and the scouts didn't notice it at all!"

The trumpets sounded, and ten thousand Persian cavalry quickly deployed into battle formation.

Half an hour later, the dust and fog drifted closer, and everyone could see the flags of the opposing cavalry clearly, and they were all shocked.

(End of this chapter)