***, is one of the main festivals of Tianfang religion. Together with Eid al-Adha, it is called the two major festivals of Tianfang religion. At this time, it was called Ruzi Festival in Persia.
Before ***, adult male and female believers were required to fast for a month in September of each year in the Tianfang religious calendar, which is Ramadan.
According to the Tianfang religious calendar, every odd month has thirty days and every odd month has twenty-nine days, making the whole year 354 days.
This year's ninth month in the Tianfang religious calendar falls from the end of March to the end of April in the lunar calendar.
During this month, all Tianfang Sect believers abstain from eating, drinking, sexual intercourse and all indecent behavior from before dawn to sunset every day in order to examine themselves and wash away their sins.
In other words, to put it simply, when sleeping, you can't eat anything from daybreak, you can only go hungry. You can't eat or drink much at night, you can only eat some pancakes and drink some water.
Regarding this festival, Zhang Zhao was completely smiling. No matter what kind of warrior you are, no matter how well-trained you are, if you go hungry during the day and eat some pancakes at night, if you work like this for a month, I'm afraid you won't even have the strength to hold a knife.
Already?
If such a warrior wants to fight wearing dozens of kilograms of iron armor, isn't he just dreaming!
.....
In the early morning, when the sky was just getting slightly brighter, the city gate of Bukhara was suddenly opened.
The Alka Forbidden City Guards and the Ghulam Guards came out of the city with various banners painted with golden lions, wild boars, tigers, horses, white elephants, eagles and even date palm trees.
Most of the Ghulam guards wear black and white armor, which looks particularly strong, but in fact, these armors are not made of iron, but are made of braid and cowhide.
It looks majestic and looks like a god, but in fact it does not have much protective power. It is similar to the paper armor used as a ceremonial guard in Chinese history. It mainly relies on painters to achieve the 'defensive effect'.
Different from the Guards of Ghulam, the Guards of the Forbidden City of Alka, who belonged to Nasr II, wore blue and white robes with black square patterns, and robes whose main tone was bright yellow with various petal-like patterns.
In this era, dyeing clothes is a very time-consuming process. The brighter the color, the more precious it is, let alone how many colors there are on one piece of clothing.
Such fabrics were extremely expensive. There were about two thousand guards out of the city at this time. These two thousand sets of exquisite robes were the best proof of the wealth of Saman Persia.
In addition to their robes, the guards of the Forbidden City of Alka also wore ancient Persian turbans known as the triple crown.
This is different from the Ghulam Guards who wear turbans or felt hats that can be pulled down to cover their faces to block the wind and sand. Their style is more Persian than Celestial.
Weapons are traditional wicker shields, short spears, swords or long daggers, bows and arrows, and they usually wear scale armor or chain mail under their outer robes.
The shiny spears were also decorated with balls made of silver or gold, the former for ordinary soldiers and the latter for officers.
This kind of equipment and style is very similar to that of the Persian Immortal Army. Hundreds of years after Tianfang's enlightenment, the Persians actually maintained a certain independent status in culture.
Among the various flags, the monarch's banner symbolizing the emir stood high. Surrounded by dozens of nobles wearing gorgeous silk robes, the 63-year-old Emir Nasr of Saman Persia
The second emperor wore a golden crown on his head and held a scepter symbolizing royal power, but he seemed a little depressed.
Of course he would be depressed, because Nasr II was relatively pious towards Tianfang Sect, and he generally abided by the rules of Ramadan.
Of course, the bigger reason is that he had to comply, because since converting to Shiiteism, Nasr II has been opposed by a large number of regularists in the country.
Many religious imams and Ahong have long been watching every move of Nasr II. As long as Nasr II dares to disobey the rules of Ramadan, someone will jump out to confront him.
Don't think that these imams don't dare to challenge secular power. With the blessing of fanatical religious beliefs, they are absolutely determined people.
In the Saman Persian and subsequent eras, the political struggles in Central Asia were actually fought between royal power and divine power.
Sometimes the royal power is dependent on the divine power, and sometimes the royal power suppresses the divine power.
Therefore, the kings of the Hezhong region have a different status from the kings of the Central Plains, and there is also a cloud of divine power hanging over their heads.
Although it is not as perverted as the Europeans do, with divine authority overriding monarchy, the power of religion is not easy to underestimate.
After Nasr II's carriage passed, behind him was Prince Hamid.
Although the prince still tried his best to show his strength in numbers, all the Bukhara citizens on the road looked at Prince Hamid with pity.
Because before this year, the person closest to Nasr II and almost on par with him must have been Prince Hamid.
He is the crown prince, the second-in-command of Samampos, and he should be in a position where one person is inferior to tens of thousands of people.
Today, all the princes, including Prince Hamid's biggest rival, Prince Sadid, are surrounding Nasr II. Only Prince Hamid was dismissed on the grounds of arranging escorts.
Haha! Prince Hamid sneered and said that he was asked to arrange the guards, but he was not allowed to mobilize the Ghulam guards in Bukhara on the grounds that Juer Khan was about to invade Wei.
Participating in the protection of the emir were Ghulam guards from Samarkand and Herat.
Nasr II adopted a compromise plan regarding Grand Wazir Balaami's proposal to change the defense of Bukhara and Samarkand Ghulam.
The Ghulam Guards of Bukhara did not switch defenses with the Ghulam Guards of Samarkand, but this year's security was assigned to the Ghulam Guards of Samarkand and Herat.
After crossing the moat, Prince Hamid looked back at the city of Bukhara.
His confidant Hussein would sneak back to Bukhara quietly after the uprising began. Just waiting for his order, he would close the four gates of Bukhara, and then bring 10,000 of the most elite people out of the city to Qingjun.
Of course, what Prince Hamid looked forward to most was for Juer Khan's army to arrive on time. For this reason, he also took 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, then you can't blame Hamid for being cruel!"
Prince Hamid muttered something in a low voice. He also clearly felt that his father Nasr II would most likely take advantage of this attack to take him down directly, otherwise Prince Sadid would not be recalled.
Come.
You must know that Prince Sadid has been guarding against the Delam people in Herat, and the Ghulam guards from Herat have actually been controlled by Prince Sadid.
As for Prince Hamid, the Ghulam Guards he was nominally commanded to be responsible for protecting were all Ghulam from Herat.
This is not to let him command the guards, but to let these Herat Ghulam guards keep him under surveillance. When they want to get rid of him later, they will take action.
In this case, it was not Nasr II who killed his son, but Prince Sadid who assassinated his brother.
This set of operations fits very well with the hypocritical and cruel character of Nasr II!
.....
Tianfang Sect's festivals would be very boring if they strictly followed religious rules.
No drinking, no singing and dancing, just collective khutbah and praise to Allah, tedious kneeling and other etiquette.
In particular, you are not allowed to drink alcohol. The tender roasted whole beef, crispy roasted whole lamb, various fine white breads, sweets and fruits are not allowed to drink. Roasted beef and roasted lamb are not worthy of some wine. It always tastes like something is missing.
.
However, there is still something different. After everyone fasts and becomes a vegetarian for a month, even without alcohol, people can't help but gorge themselves on meat and sweets.
At this moment, on the bank of the Wuhu River (Amu Darya River) about five miles away from the city of Bukhara, after the tedious praise was over, everyone started gobbling up the food.
One month of Ramadan has made everyone depressed, including Emir Nasr II and his nobles and religious figures.
Everyone held knives and kept cutting large chunks of meat from the roasted beef, roasted lamb, and roasted camel in front of them. Everyone was busy eating without talking, and the scene was filled with the sound of chewing.
Even the Alka Forbidden City Guards and Ghulam Guards who were guarding the surrounding area implemented a shift system. Only one-third of them were standing guard, and the rest were eating and drinking.
However, one difference is that according to the unspoken rules of Saman Persia, the Ghulam Guards are not strict about fasting during Ramadan.
Because we must consider, what if the enemy attacks specifically after Ramadan?
Therefore, among the Ghulam Guards, who are mainly slaves, they can still eat and drink normally during Ramadan, but they should not eat or drink too much, and they should try to avoid people.
This was also the last reason why Nasr II wanted to kill Prince Hamid.
Juer Khan has arrived, and Nasr II has already felt the danger. He wants to serve as Grand Salar himself and control the government to ensure the stability of the country.
Everyone was immersed in the excitement of eating. Only four people looked like they were eating, but their hearts were agitated.
Grand Wazir (Prime Minister) Balaami kept sipping honey tea and said he was the Grand Wazir, but he knew that he was a pawn used by Nasr II to check and balance Prince Hamid.
From a personal perspective, Balaami does not want to offend Prince Hamid, and participating in the transition of royal power has always been a particularly risky matter.
He is already the Grand Basil and almost seventy years old, so why bother making an enemy for himself who might become the Emir?
But he had to do it, because this was what Nasr II requested, so Balaami simply "stepped on the accelerator."
Since you are offending, then offend him harshly and give Prince Hamid a speed boost.
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, Balaami can retire peacefully and spend his old age in peace.
Prince Sadid glanced at his brother Prince Hamid. As the sixth son of Nasr II, Prince Sadid was the most ambitious of all princes.
Of course, in his own opinion, he is also the most talented among all princes.
After guarding Herat for ten years, Prince Sadid suppressed the Delam people who were ready to move and ensured the security of the southwestern border.
Prince Sadid felt that he was more suitable to become the crown prince and future emir than his brother Prince Hamid, who had a good skin but was submissive.
As for Nasr II, he was sitting on the throne in the center of the north. He was wearing a gorgeous purple floral robe, smiling and accepting greetings from nobles and ministers one after another. 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 would not appoint another elderly crown prince. The most suitable candidate in his mind was the eleventh son who was only nine years old.
Sadid was just a tool he used to eradicate Hamid. After all, it was not a glorious thing for a father to kill his son. It was also not glorious for brothers to kill each other, but it was better than doing it himself.
As for Sadid, if he is smart, he may be allowed to spend the rest of his life in the cold palace.
For the power in his hands, Nasr II did not 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 to 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 directly at Nasr II without flinching, and his eyes gradually became fiery.
He must sit in the position of Emir, and he must lash out at the injustice he has suffered over the years.
Nasr II looked at Prince Hamid, but a feeling of disgust arose in his heart. He became less and less ignorant of the rules and dared to look directly at his father, his monarch!
This chapter has been completed!