Chapter 1748, the difficulties of the Persian Empire
In the royal palace in Tabriz, the capital of Persia.
Ismail I was test-driving a Mercedes-Benz car from the Ming Empire. On the wide square, he drove awkwardly at first, but he quickly got used to driving the car and fell in love with it.
"This thing is really good. It doesn't need a carriage or a person to drag it. It can walk freely. It's really amazing."
Ismail I got out of the car and was full of praise for the Mercedes-Benz.
"Your Majesty, this car is also very popular in Daming. However, currently, only the truly rich can afford it. Its price is too expensive. It costs more than 6,000 in Daming.
Two silver coins a piece."
Challand smiled and said to Ismaili I.
"It costs more than 6,000 taels of silver, which is too expensive."
"Didn't I say that our Persian Empire is in great difficulty now? We can save all our expenses. These 6,000 taels of silver can buy hundreds of muskets."
When Ismail I heard this, he also frowned and said.
Life in Persia is difficult now.
The fight with the Spaniards in West Africa was in full swing. Not only did they not get any benefits from the West African colonies, they also invested a lot of money and people every year.
The Mesopotamia was at war with the Ottoman Empire again, and the fighting between the two sides was fierce. That is to say, Egypt helped to support it, otherwise the Persian Empire would not be able to support it.
But even so, they have been retreating steadily recently, and even Baghdad has been lost. If they cannot be recaptured, they will have to abandon the Mesopotamia.
Therefore, the Persian Empire had to borrow money from the Ming Empire again to purchase a batch of arms and weapons to increase its strength, and at the same time intended to recapture Baghdad again.
At least, the Persians in the Mesopotamia can never be lost and must be fought for.
Almost all of Persia is located on the Persian Plateau, and the natural conditions are not very good. Many areas are desert areas, and the Mesopotamia Basin is the closest, the richest, and the area with the best natural conditions.
Since ancient times, whoever gets the Mesopotamia has the capital and strength to dominate one side. This is a treasure land that Persia will never give up easily.
In addition, in the past few years, Ismail I has been constantly wiping out the disobedient tribes within the country. At the same time, he has also sent troops to Afghanistan aggressively and occupied the vast Afghan region.
In general, money has been spent over the years, and there are few places to put money in, making ends meet, so even Ismail I had to take the lead in being thrifty and frugal.
"Your Majesty, I know."
"The reason why I asked someone to buy this car is of course not for Your Majesty to enjoy, but to tell Your Majesty how far the Ming Empire has developed."
"The people of the Ming Dynasty have built railways to the South Caucasus, connecting the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea. You can take a train directly from here to the capital of the Ming Dynasty."
"The Ming people have now developed automobiles, and they are already building concrete roads everywhere. Your Majesty can imagine how powerful the Ming Empire is now."
"It may only take two days for them to dispatch a hundred thousand troops from the Western Regions to the South Caucasus. Even if they dispatch a large army from the Ming Dynasty to the South Caucasus, it will only take less than half a month.
"
"The wine from Nanyun Province, the grain and cattle and sheep from the Hezhong area can be quickly sent back to the Ming Dynasty for sale."
"As for our Persian Empire, if we come to Tabriz from Afghanistan in the east, it would be better to ride on horseback. What if we transport a cart of lapis lazuli?"
"It could take several months to arrive."
"I bought this car to remind His Majesty that we must continue to learn from the Ming Empire, so that we in Persia can slowly become as powerful as the Ming Empire!"
Challand said earnestly.
He has been to the Ming Empire several times. Once he went to the Ming Empire, he could feel a huge change. The Ming Dynasty developed too fast and changed too much.
When I went there for the first time, I still took the cement road. At that time, I thought the cement road was incredible.
When he went there for the second time, he took a train directly to the capital of the Ming Dynasty after arriving in the Western Regions. He felt the convenience and speed of the train, which even made him have the intention and plan to build a railway in Persia.
Recently, he went to Daming to discuss the purchase of arms and weapons. He rode in a car again and felt its speed and power.
All of this made Challand feel very incredible and magical.
The development speed of the Ming people was too fast, which also made Charland feel that if Persia did not learn from the Ming Dynasty, the gap between Persia and the Ming Empire might become wider and wider.
He was the first to learn the language and culture of the Ming Dynasty, and he was also the person who understood the Ming Dynasty best. He also always advocated for Ismail I to learn the language and culture of the Ming Dynasty, and learn how to strengthen the Ming Empire.
For this reason, he has even become an alien in the eyes of many people, including some extreme conservatives.
The Persian Empire was great and the most powerful.
There is no need to learn from anyone, not to mention that the Ming Dynasty and the Persians have different beliefs. Learning from the Ming Dynasty means changing a lot, many things, which is not allowed by the doctrine.
Conservatives even asked Ismail I to implement strict teachings so that Persia could become more powerful.
Challand was naturally worried about this, because he had been to the Ming Empire many times and personally felt the power and wealth of the Ming Empire.
I have experienced the terrifying development speed and extremely powerful culture of the Ming Dynasty.
Therefore, he has been trying his best to persuade Ismail I to learn more from the Ming Dynasty, so that Persia can become stronger.
"Well, I know that."
"Teacher, you have good intentions!"
Ismail I was obviously a wise master and could feel the good intentions of his teacher.
He himself reads newspapers every day and can clearly understand the power of the Ming Empire.
While he was still worrying about military expenditures, the Ming Empire's annual fiscal revenue already amounted to more than one billion taels of silver.
The market value of any stock in the Tianjin Securities Market of the Ming Dynasty might be several million or tens of millions of taels of silver.
Any trading house in the Ming Dynasty might earn millions of taels of silver a year. As for those large-scale commercial banks, they were extremely wealthy. They could earn hundreds of millions of taels of silver a year, which was more than the entire Persian Empire.
I don’t know how rich I am.
The Ming Dynasty was a Hezhong province with a population of only a few million. However, the food produced in one year could feed the entire Ming Empire for a whole year. If it were given to the Persian Empire, it would be enough to feed the Persian Empire for several years.
The annual output of cattle and sheep in Hezhong Province is calculated in tens of millions. It is a large granary and meat warehouse. In recent years, Persia has imported a lot of grain from this side of the river.
The mechanized farming method of the Ming Dynasty was extremely efficient. One person could cultivate thousands of acres of land and produce more food than could be eaten, which was used to make wine and feed livestock, cattle and sheep.
On the other hand, in Persia, the most lacking thing now is food. Food production is too low. Food production in many places is not enough, and many people are hungry.
Coupled with successive years of war and a large number of laborers joining the army, agriculture has been deprived of the most important labor force, and food has become a big problem.
Fortunately, there are still many minerals in the Persian Empire. The output and quality of lapis lazuli are very high, and the price is extremely expensive. It is the best raw material for painting and dyeing.
In addition, there are a large number of copper mines, gold mines and silver mines, so Ismail I has been able to persist until now.
Of course, for this, he also owed a huge debt to the Ming Empire.
"Your Majesty, this car burns gasoline, and the gasoline is smelted from petroleum."
"Now in Ming Dynasty, oil has been sold for more than 100 cents a barrel."
"According to the information I received, the Ming Dynasty's two colonies on the Persian Gulf actually contain extremely rich oil resources."
"So I believe that the price of oil will definitely rise sharply in the future, and the people of Ming Dynasty will continue to increase their demand for oil. Cars are very popular in Ming Dynasty, and there are a large number of factories producing cars. In the future, it may
Every household in the Ming Empire has a car, and the demand for oil will be very large."
"Our Persian Empire is to the north of the Persian Gulf. I believe that we must compete for the Mesopotamia area. This is not only a large granary, but also likely to be rich in oil. In the near future, it will become the most important source of wealth for us in Persia.
.”
Challand told Ismail I in detail what he had experienced when he went to the Ming Empire not long ago. He had a long-term vision and had seen the future of oil. At the same time, he was always concerned about every move in the Persian Gulf and knew that
The affairs of the Ming Dynasty’s two colonies here.
"real?"
When Ismail I heard this, he immediately became energetic. He was now so poor that he could only eat ten dishes for a meal, and he was not even willing to decorate his palace with gold.
Now that he heard that there might be oil in the Mesopotamia, and that this oil might be very profitable in the future, his eyes were shining.
He desperately needs money to support his ambitions and arm a stronger army.
"Your Majesty, this is definitely true."
"No matter what, we must retake the Two Rivers Basin, even if we share it equally with the Egyptians, we in Persia cannot lose the Two Rivers Basin."
Charland said solemnly.
"Hmm~"
"If the Ottoman Empire also knew about oil, it would probably be even more difficult."
