The founding father of the country , Cyrus

Around 2000 BC, two Indo-European languages emigrated to the sparsely populated Iranian plateau, one called the Medes and the other called Persia. The Medes lived south of the Caspian Sea, while the Persians lived south of the Medes. Of the two peoples, the original Medes social organization first disintegrated and established a kingdom, with the capital at Akbatana. As a result of the Assyrian Empire's conquests, the Medes were invaded and conquered by Assyria from the 9th century BC onwards. By the mid-7th century BC, the Medes had revived and conquered Persia. Later, the Assyrian Empire was buried. By the time King Astiagus came to power, the Medes had been safe for four generations, ruling the Iranian plateau and Assyria.

One night, the fourth-generation Median king, Astiages, dreamed that his daughter Mandani had peed and flooded the city of Akbatana and Asia. The person in charge of dream interpretation in the palace was shocked and quickly told the king that the princess's future son would replace him as the Median king. So the king forbade his daughter to associate with the young middigitte nobles, but instead married her to a Persian nobleman, thinking that marrying her daughter to a foreigner would save her from disaster.

It didn't take long for Mandani to give birth to a baby boy, Cyrus the Younger. Astiagus ordered the butler Halpagos to bring Cyrus the Younger home and execute him. Harpagos lived in the court for a long time and was well versed in sophistication. He did not want to do this immoral thing, but intended to let Astiages' own men do it.

He found a slave shepherd named Mitradatis in the king's manor. Halpagos falsely preached the holy decree: "The king ordered you to throw this child into the most desolate part of the mountains." If you don't kill this child, you'll be executed by the king, you know! ”

Mitradatis learns that the child's mother turned out to be Princess Mandani, and that it was King Astiages who ordered his killing. It just so happened that Mithradatis' child had just been born and had fallen ill and died. His wife saw this white and fat little Cyrus, very fond of it, and came up with a plan to exchange the tanuki cat for a prince, using the dead child to make an errand and leaving Princess Mandani's child to be raised by herself. Mitradatis also felt that this was the best of both worlds, so he went to the mountains to change the dead baby into the clothes of Mandani's child, and then put him in the basket he used to bring the child. When he was done, he went straight to The Harpagos house and asked him to send someone to examine the child's body. Halpagos then ordered several of his cronies to verify that the child was indeed dead, and only then did Halpagos put his mind at ease. Cyrus the Younger survived.

Unconsciously, little Cyrus had grown to 10 years old and became a mischievous child king. He played games with the children in the village, was pushed by the children to be the king, and really called the shots. One of them was the child of the Broken Medes nobleman, the son of an unconvinced slave who was king against Cyrus the Younger. Cyrus the Younger was so angry that he ordered the "guards" to beat him up. He cried and went home to complain, and his father was very annoyed, but Cyrus the Younger was the king's slave, and the others had no choice but to rush to the capital to beg the king for his mastery. Astiagus summoned Mitradatis and his adopted son Cyrus and rebuked, "What is the sin of your son, the son of a lowly man, who dares to beat the son of a nobleman?" Who knew that although Cyrus was young, he dared to act boldly, did not change his face and did not beat his heart, and said frankly: "Your Majesty, he deserves his sins." The children of our village chose me to be king, but he did not listen to me and did not take me seriously, so I let him be punished as he deserved. Shouldn't it? If I am punished for this, I ask Your Majesty to dispose of me at will. ”

Astiagus listened to the child speak in a very loud tone, and looked like himself. Ask the child's age, just the same as his own grandson who died. So he severely questioned Mitradatis, who saw that the situation was not good and was busy explaining the ins and outs of the matter. When the king heard this, he did not mind his slaves very much, but was very annoyed with Halpagos's disloyalty, and ordered him to find Halpagos.

Halpagos entered the palace, and when he saw the presence of the old shepherd, he knew that the matter involved the king's grandson was involved, and he was busy explaining what had happened. When he heard the shepherd finish talking about the bag, he was stunned. But Astiagus was silent, relieved, and said, "I am miserable about the disposition of this child, and my daughter has been blaming me." Now that fate has given him a good turnaround, go home and have your son come here and eat with me with this child. ”

When he returned home, Halpagos called his only son to him and told him to go into the palace to obey him. He knew that as soon as the child entered the palace, he was killed by the king's knife, cut into pieces, put his head, feet, and hands in baskets, and the meat was roasted into dishes.

At the dinner, Halpagos ate his son's meat. After drinking and eating, Astiagus told Halpagos the truth and ordered him to uncover the basket to see his son's bloody head and feet. Where did Halpagos dare to say half a word, and after doing so in pain, the king asked, "You have seen the contents of the basket, are you satisfied with the dish you just made?" Halpagos replied calmly, "I am satisfied with anything Your Majesty has asked me to do." When the feast was over, he packed up the remaining pieces of meat and took them home, weeping bitterly, gritting his teeth and saying, "This vendetta will not be repaid, and he will not be a man." ”

The king punished Halpagos and summoned the monks who had come to jammed dreams and asked him what to do with Cyrus. The monk said, "If this child had been king once, he would not have become king a second time." Your Majesty can rest assured. When the king heard the great joy, he hurriedly returned Cyrus to the house of Mandani, and the princess and her husband were very happy.

Halpagos wanted to avenge the king's murder of his son, actively contacted, and organized a revenge plan, so he had a close relationship with Cyrus, he actively encouraged Cyrus to rebel, and Cyrus was also dissatisfied with the Median oppression of the Persians. The two hit it off and secretly discussed plans for an uprising.

Cyrus, in his capacity as a Persian nobleman, gathered together the young men of the Persian tribes, and the Persian youth had long held a grudge against the rule of the Medes, so most of them were willing to take the risk with Cyrus. The rebellion of Cyrus made Astiages very angry and regretted that he had not killed Cyrus. He mobilized his army and sent Halpagos as commander to block Cyrus's advance. Who knows, Halpagos defected in front of the battle, and joined forces with Cyrus to attack Astiagas. When Astiagus received the news, he was furious and personally led his troops out of the city to meet the battle. As a result, he was defeated and made a prisoner himself. Cyrus really became king of the Medes. Since he belonged to the Ahemenid tribe, his dynasty was also known as the Ahemenid dynasty. For his maternal grandfather, Astiages, Cyrus did not do harm, but was kept in the palace.

After Cyrus overthrew the Medes, it annoyed Lydia, the great power of Asia Minor. The Lydian king Knoissos was both a brother-in-law of Astiagus and an ally of the Medes, and was extremely dissatisfied with Cyrus's overthrow of Medes' rule. And he had long coveted the territory of the Medes, so he waited for an opportunity to send troops, and Hitu took advantage of Cyrus's unstable foothold to attack Persia. Cyrus heard the news and drove his troops out of the Iranian plateau and straight into the peninsula of Asia Minor. The two armies met in Puteria and drew. Seeing the large number of Persian troops, Knoissos returned to Asia Minor to invite the Neo-Babylonian kingdom and the Greeks to help him fight again the following year.

Cyrus did not catch up at first. Thinking that since the two sides had reached a draw, the Persian army should also go back to rest, Knoissos disbanded a large number of troops and returned to their hometowns. Cyrus was surprised to learn the news and drove his army into Asia Minor, approaching the Lydian capital of Thyria near the Mediterranean Sea.

Although Knoissos was not mentally prepared, the Lydians were able to fight, and he quickly gathered thousands of cavalry out of the city to meet the battle. In front of the hilly city of Sardis was a plain that made it easier to fight with cavalry. The Lydian cavalry was a master for many years, and was good at cross-cutting horses and guns, fighting on horseback.

Cyrus saw Lydia's strict formation, his heart was a little weak, not knowing whether his infantry could withstand it, Halpagos offered an urgent order to his men to gather the camels carrying grain and grass and luggage with the army to the front of the line, and ordered the riders to carry weapons and ride up, forming a forward, the infantry forming a second echelon, and the cavalry behind. Knoisos lost the opportunity to attack in vain due to the temporary adjustment of the Persian army in his predecessors.

After the Persian army was deployed, Cyrus gave an order, and the camel caravan swarmed out. Because the horses were afraid of camels, the Lydians had not yet fought their horses, and the horses under their seats withdrew their hooves and fled backwards. Knoisos was not a coward either, and ordered a death-defying battle. The two sides fought together. After all, the Persian army was numerous, and the Lydian army was defeated and retreated into the city. So the Persians besieged Thirdis.

Cyrus's 13-day siege was fruitless, and the troops sneaked Hiloyad out of the enemy's rear. In the evening, there was a large row of banquets in the Persian military camp, guessing fists and drinking orders, and it was very lively. The Lydian sentries in the city saw the situation, thought that they were safe and sound, and they became careless. The soldiers, who had not slept soundly for 14 days, yawned, leaving a few to continue staring at the enemy camp, while the rest took a nap against the city walls.

Hiloade led 500 elite soldiers lightly and headed for the cliff behind the Lydian army. Then set up a ladder and climb up the cliff. Perform rock climbing skills to reach the top of the city walls. Cyrus led a brigade of infantry to lie on the open ground on the side, and only waited for the signal to be issued, and then rushed to the mouth of the city.

Hiload fought the defenders at the head of the city, ordering the signalmen to light fire and rushing straight to the city gate. Cyrus saw the city on fire and ordered an attack. There was a lot of killing. Because the Lydians were very tired and unexpected, the city was in chaos. The gates of the city were eventually opened by the sneaking Persians. After the fierce battle, Knoissos tied his hands and captured. Cyrus could not bear to kill the hero, so he released Knoissos, treated him as a friend, and listed the people, forbidding soldiers to loot. After Cyrus conquered the kingdom of Lydia, he took in the Greek city-states along the coast of Asia Minor and allowed the states to govern themselves. It then marched eastward, deep into Central Asia, and built the border fortress "Cyrus City" in the territory of the present-day Tajik Republic.

Cyrus was able to fight a good war, and in just a dozen years he destroyed the three kingdoms of Medes, Lydia, and Neo-Babylon, surrendered Judea and Phoenicia, and incorporated the vast area from the eastern shore of the Mediterranean sea to the Syr Darya River valley in Central Asia into his territory. This changed the historical pattern of West Asia, Europe and North Africa.

Cyrus was one of the few reputable kings in ancient foreign countries. He did not humiliate the losers, adopted a policy of devotion to the kings of a country, and did not burn and plunder conquered cities. What is valuable is that he also has great respect for other ethnic groups, and can also show respect to the local gods, act according to local customs, and use religion to buy people's hearts and minds. Therefore, the Persians and the Jews were grateful to him and called him "the king of holy oil."

Cyrus, after resting for a while, planned to subdue the Massagletians, who were famous and brave at the time.

Masakotay was a nomadic tribal state ruled by a queen named Tomiris. The people grew up on horseback, riding well and shooting well, brave and good at fighting. In order to make the division famous, Cyrus sent envoys to propose to Tomiris. The queen's husband was dead, and she knew that Cyrus was not drunk, and when she was thinking of beating her kingdom, she simply refused to receive her envoys.

So Cyrus drove his army into the Arakes River, a river on both sides. The two sides agreed that the Persian army would retreat for three days and wait for the other side to cross the river to fight. The Persian army, as planned, went ahead a day. Leaving some old and weak soldiers, preparing a large number of wine and meat delicacies as bait, and then the brigade circled to the rear of the enemy army. The Masagtai people, captured fine wine and delicacies. The People of Massagle thais lived a miserable life, and they could not help but eat and drink heavily, yawn after drinking and eating, and bury their heads in their heads one by one. The Persian army returned in the night, and even Tomiris's son was captured alive. When he woke up, he died without being prepared to kill himself.

Tomiris was furious and vowed to fight the Persians to the death. The two sides first fired arrows at each other, and after the arrows were fired, they engaged in hand-to-hand combat. Cyrus was cut down and fell from his horse. A few days later, a generation of Tianjiao died before he could succeed. However, the Persian Empire he founded is famous in history.