Chapter 68 Overlord

Everything is logical, I paid homage to the tomb of Cyrus last night, and today I went to visit the palace of Darius. Darius was the next great Persian ruler to come to power by coup d'état, after a son of Cyrus and a usurper.He quickly eliminated all the evil results brought about by the brutal perversion of Cyrus' son and the religious conspiracy of the usurper, and restored the dignity of the Persian Empire.He also continued to expand the empire's territory and strength on the basis of Cyrus the Great, which can be said to have reached the point where it was fierce.He formulated laws based on the "Code of Hammurabi", unified weights and measures, dug canals, and built post stations, ensuring the power coverage of a huge empire, and he also sought expansion from time to time.Not only did he regard India as one of his provinces, but he had already set his sights on Greece.

The location of his palace is called Persepolis, more than 60 kilometers away from Shiraz where we stayed.In fact, the original meaning of Persepolis is the capital city of Persia. It was built in 518 BC. It was the root of the Persians and was also the ritual center of the empire at that time. At a glance, the ruins are well protected, occupying a large area, and the pier, door mortar, steps, and reliefs are clearly visible, and what is more clear is the remaining momentum.Backed by a stone mountain, a huge platform is cut out at the bottom of the hillside, and the six palaces and one hall are arranged in sequence on the platform.Passing through the stone gates and seeing the rows of stone carvings, you can see a high hall with a wide staircase going up gently. Gong's lively scene.

Every year when winter turns to spring, envoys from all over the world come here to climb up the stairs according to the posture and atmosphere on the relief sculptures, and the artistic image and the real image completely overlap.The envoys looked up and saw that the spacious Hall of Honor was right in front of them, with giant pillars like a forest, resplendent with gold and green jade, and just in front of the Hall of Honor, the place with heavy doors was Darius' private bedroom, and he had come out with a smile on his face In fact, the envoys of various countries mentioned here are different from the modern concept. They actually refer to those states that were conquered by the Persian Empire of Cyrus and Darius.In the view of Cyrus and Darius, all countries in the world should communicate with each other on an equal footing and live in peace, but how can this be achieved?What if someone can't do it?Therefore, everyone must first obey an absolute will and accept a common order, and they themselves are the representatives of this absolute will and common order, so they call themselves the king of kings and the king of all countries.

The good-neighborly relations among countries that they constantly advocate are also based on this premise.This concept has always attracted subsequent world conquerors, such as the Roman Empire, which has always preached a principle: peace among nations under the leadership of the Roman Empire. In any case, Cyrus and Darius used the powerful force of the Persian Empire to achieve this. Darius wanted to directly reflect this political map in a ceremony, so he built this palace. Several Iranian experts led us to carefully watch the long relief on the edge of the steps.They can also point out where each tributary procession on the relief came from and which ethnic group they belonged to.The representatives of the various countries on the relief looked joyful and serene, guided by the protocol officer of the palace enthusiastically holding hands, and the teams stepped forward one by one.Each team held all kinds of congratulatory gifts, and some even carried their own national weapons with them. The protocol officer did not take it seriously, showing the confidence and mutual trust of the Darius dynasty at that time.

Not far from this image of courts coming from all directions and the joy of the world, there are a group of inscriptions carved on the wall, clearly stating the power behind this atmosphere, and it is worth copying one of them: I, Darius, the Great King, King of Kings, King of Nations, son of Achaemenid Vishtashb, by the grace of Holy Ahura, conquered these countries by the Persian army.These countries are afraid of me and have sent me crowns, they are: Khuzestan, Media, Babylon, Arabia, Assyria, Egypt, Armenia, Cappadukia, Sard, Greece, Sakati, Papa Erte, Zarqa, Herat, Bakhtar, Soght, Khwarizm, Ruhegi, Gondar, Saar, Mana

I haven't been able to match these country names with all the regions in the world now, but I am still shocked by a kind of domineering and heroic spirit that looks down on the world. Chen Luyu counted the images and place names, raised his head and said, "I haven't met China yet." I said that Darius didn't seem to know China at that time, and China didn't understand his empire.Confucius was about to be born when he accepted the tribute from envoys from various countries here.China understands Persia after Persia has long ended the glory of Darius. The tributary of the Indians is engraved in prominence on the image.

There were also tributes from the Greeks, but everyone knew that this was a trap of this dynasty, but Darius didn't feel it at the time. But he is wise after all, there is still a little bit of fear in the dark, praying for the blessing of Ahura, the god of light he believes in.I also saw an inscription, which was translated sentence by sentence by an Iranian friend. The tone of Darius was very different from the one quoted above: Darius prayed to Ahura and the gods to keep this country, this land free from hatred, enemies, lies and drought. You see, so powerful Darius was also afraid of four things.It is understandable that he puts hatred before enemies, because he has fought wars for so many years and conquered so many countries, and he knows that enemies are not to be feared, but hatred is the trouble, and hatred makes enemies difficult to defeat.It is also reasonable for him to list drought as an object of fear, because Iran is in the highlands and deserts, and the greatest kings cannot fight against the forces of nature.But the strange thing is that he listed lies before the drought, and it turned out to be the thing he fears the most, and he must pray to the God of Light to expel it!

This is very shocking to me, because I have witnessed the serious damage of lies to Chinese society over the years. I have spent a lot of time researching and writing a special article, but I never thought of the generation that was almost fearless in ancient times Overlords, who fear lies more than natural disasters. It’s true to think about it, hatred can be extinguished with kindness, strong enemies can be conquered with force, natural disasters are not easy to deal with, but they have a clear form, and what about lies?Both kindness and force are useless, and the form is so ambiguous.No wonder it has been verdant and immortal for thousands of years.There are so many villains hiding behind lies who are invincible and invincible.

Darius makes us all the more lovable by letting us see his fears. November 27, 1999, Shiraz, staying at Homa Hotel