Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Many things also happen during the Isfahan Constituent Assembly.

Solovyov still enjoys dealing with petitions, such as those concerning the landlord withholding wages; he really likes to take on those cases.

However, the wealthy landlords all felt that this man was too ruthless when he was wearing a Persian robe. Not only did he impose the fine, but he also supervised the process and made a written agreement. Most importantly, he made the local mullah sign it to confirm that the judgment was valid.

In this way, the esteemed wealthy gentlemen always lose their cases after submitting their petitions.

Things like withholding wages, not giving extra pay for doing extra work, and others. In short, they all sound like trivial matters, but for farmers, they are big issues.

However, this would also result in a large workload.

Solovyov was also troubled, and he even consulted the Great Ayatollahs on how to govern the grassroots in Persia.

Even letting the mullahs teach the rule of law might be better than letting the rich landlords govern. Solovyov was indeed somewhat helpless after hearing this conclusion.

However, the mullahs all accept donations within their respective mosque districts. These donations are generally handled collectively rather than becoming private property. Such donations are quite common, so the mosques usually possess a lot of assets.

Solovyov is also considering solutions for this.

"If you think it's feasible, we old men do have a way, just like how Christians organize parishes, with people conducting regular inspections and management. However, this would be a lot of work, and it might be..."

“I understand what you’ve said. There’s no fundamental difference between this and the churches in Spain, Russia, or even the British.”

However, there are also many problems within the church, and in order to supervise each other and facilitate management, it will probably be necessary to set up many additional institutions.

Solovyov has witnessed more than once the outcome that would have delighted Sir Humphrey and caused Wang Anshi to die suddenly.

But it was one of the few available options, so he made the arrangements.

In addition, at the conference in Isfahan, he was also listening to opinions from all sides. He believed that the Bai lords should not be completely eradicated, as they controlled a great deal of wealth and essentially belonged to the same ecological niche as the Russian serf owners; they were all lords.

It was easy to deal with these people, but Solovyov also had to be careful because he was now a high-ranking nobleman. He could sympathize with the people on a personal level, but his class position was antagonistic.

He can implement many good policies that benefit ordinary people, but he cannot always stand with them.

If he had been a French second lieutenant instead of a Russian second lieutenant, he would probably be a general or a civil servant somewhere in France right now, and his promotion might not have been so fast.

Ironically, it was Russia's aristocratic system that gave him the opportunity to rise to the top.

Because Russia itself, in the stereotype, is a reactionary feudal regime, and also an executioner who suppresses uprisings.

Solovyov has never suppressed an uprising to this day, and his crackdown on the Southern Association was swift, giving them no chance to rise up.

His hands are so clean that even when someone finally gives their final verdict on him, they'll probably be lenient.

Prince Solovyov of the Threst class had a relatively wide social circle.

Even the conservative Arakcheyev had a good personal relationship with him.

He has so much to do.

In this environment, Solovyov inevitably felt somewhat tired.

"I think it's good to go out for a walk at times like this."

Many meetings in Isfahan are held behind closed doors, so he also has the opportunity to go out and about.

In addition, handling matters related to military intelligence at the front.

"My lord, Herat is quite restless."

The documents Gorchakov brought contained intelligence about the eastern part of the Persian Empire. Local warlords in Herat were making moves. This was a region that the Persian Empire had always wanted to control but had not been able to.

"So what? The British will bet in several places; they can do anything."

"Sir, what should we do?"

"Let's go out and ride some horses."

After arriving in Persia, Solovyov developed a passion for collecting various fine horses, including Arabian horses from the stables of the Persian Shah, which were truly beautiful.

When he was a guard officer, he often dealt with all kinds of horses.

This is also a kind of professional habit; sometimes you have to find good horses for the Tsar.

He was also very skilled at riding horses, which made him feel more relaxed.

"This feels much better, and since there's no one here, I've started to have some ideas."

"Sir, what do you think we should do?"

“If possible, we should make some contact with the warlords in Afghanistan. Those Pashtuns will take action. In many places, the tribes don’t get along well with each other.”

Solovyov's approach was essentially to use the British methods to counter the British strategy. He created a divided Afghanistan, making Herat's rear unsafe.

Even if it doesn't involve places like Afghanistan, Russia and Bukhara have always had close relations, and there's something to it all about.

In addition, we need to pay attention to the recent situation in Egypt.

After reading the documents, Solovyov knew that Muhammad Ali's aggressive move this time was bound to be backed by Britain, France, and Germany.

But Talleyrand is about to step down, and a prime minister who is about to step down will not invite trouble.

This cunning old fellow, though he betrays everyone, is still a diplomat who is responsible for France's future and wants to benefit himself.

France might have coveted Algiers, but the British were more precise in their choice of location, even targeting the very heart of the entire maritime trade route.

If they control Egypt in the future, regardless of whether France or Russia advocates for the construction of the Suez Canal, Britain will ultimately find a way to control it.

Solovyov, however, had a simplistic and crude idea: since Russia's advantage lies in its army, why not bring the army closer to Syria?

However, Nikolai did not reply to the Ottoman Sultan's plea for help, so he could only wait and wait. These times were always difficult, and he felt somewhat stifled, so he would find things to do.

"Sir, what do you think of this arrangement? What should we do?"

"We need to contact the Pasha in Baghdad and also write to the Emir of Bukhara, asking him to mediate. We will not easily engage in fighting with local armed groups in Herat. We are here to bring peace and prosperity, not war."

Solovyov emphasized this point again, saying that after he arrived in Persia, the level of governance there had indeed improved, and even Russian engineers led local laborers in a major cleanup of the city, which made the city look much better.

As the viceroy of Persia, Solovyov wielded considerable power; he could even appoint and dismiss officials and decide the future of many people.

However, he placed more importance on the Constituent Assembly, and aside from that, he appointed and dismissed local governors and officials at all levels.

He wanted to meet all these people in person, inquire about the local situation, and instruct the officials from the former Persian Empire who had come from Tehran to carefully examine past documents and provide intelligence.

After questioning them, he found that he was not at ease with more than half of the officials. However, the Persians had one advantage: they knew the source of their power. Although Solovyov's strict management measures in Crimea were not implemented in Persia, they had dealt with the Shah before and were always somewhat worried about their own safety.

So the Persian officials took up their posts and went to their respective provinces to oversee tax collection, local road construction, and census.

Solovyov needed these officials in addition to the endorsement of the Grand Ayatollah and the mullahs to achieve effective governance.

Using Russian officials might actually be less reliable.

In addition, it was important to have one's own people in customs. Solovyov knew that reliable customs officials could play a huge role, and he didn't even think it would be a problem to find a British officer.

Officials have already been dispatched, and now he is preparing a Persian local cabinet in Isfahan, only the center of power has changed from Tehran to Isfahan.

He did this intentionally in order to better control southern Persia. For Russia, Tehran was not a bad thing; it was also beneficial for controlling the route towards the Turkmen.

However, in Isfahan, Shiraz lies to the south, and Iraq is within sight to the west, which is advantageous for Russia's southern strategy.

Because of their defeat, the Ottoman Empire has been relatively peaceful for the last twenty years, but there's no guarantee that there won't be any revanchist sentiments, or what bizarre events might unfold in the new Sultan's court in Bursa.

This has happened before, so it's not surprising that there are more plays being performed.

"The personnel deployed should also be in these aspects: our local garrisons should be composed of Cossacks and Tatars as much as possible, which is an effective deterrent, while the main forces should be concentrated in major cities."

"But when trouble breaks out in the local area, the Cossacks are not necessarily disciplined. Those Tatars, however, were quite surprising. What method did you use?"

"Let them know that I'm on their side, and that I'm a true warrior, it's that simple."

The Mongols would be convinced, and Solovyov's previous repeated victories in battle were also a key factor.

Another crucial point is that Solovyov, much like the "great Genghis Khan" they spoke of, reiterated the importance of discipline.

One of the key reasons for the Mongol army's strong fighting power was their excellent discipline; they would not act without orders, a fact also recorded in notes from the Southern Song Dynasty.

When looting was forbidden, it was strictly enforced, and all participants received a share of the spoils, which was considered fair.

Those braver warriors deserve a larger share; that's the rule.

Then, as the Mongols declined, this rule was gradually broken, and by the time of Emperor Shun of Yuan, they had gone to extremes.

Now that someone is maintaining discipline, the Mongols are convinced.

The Cossacks, however, are the ones who are truly worrying.

Solovyov had previously dealt frequently with the Kubans and the Don Cossacks, and was therefore able to control their leaders.

The Cossacks from other places also joined the battle, but their situation was different.

This war required far too many cavalry, and even the Cossack troops from the Urals and Siberia came south from the Eastern Route Army.

Solovyov only knew that these settlements and unit numbers existed; he was completely clueless about the specifics.

The Selenga Regiment, which he had always commanded, was named after the distant city of Selenginsk, but its troops had long been stationed in Russia or Ukraine. In the new round of military reforms currently being discussed, it was incorporated into the 11th Infantry Division.

Solovyov was also worried that the Cossacks' activities in the eastern part of the Iranian plateau would have a ripple effect there.

So he wrote to Baron Essen, who had already arrived in Bukhara, hoping that he could smooth things over with these eastern Cossacks' Gethmans.

If the local area can be kept running, that would naturally be the best option.

The problem is that the Russian military has limited manpower.

The Persians' new army had not yet been established at this time.

Solovyov planned to recruit 30 infantry regiments and 10 cavalry regiments in Persia. The artillery units were to be organized into several artillery batteries, and the weapons used were mostly captured British equipment.

These troops were modeled after the British Indian Army. Solovyov had too many things to do in Persia, and after establishing a Persian army here, it might even be able to replace some of the Russian army's combat missions in the future.

There won't be any problems while he's running it himself, but what about later?
The future is sometimes unpredictable, but the present situation can still be handled properly.

While the Constituent Assembly was being held, he was also clearing out locally produced poppies in Persia and communicating with the Sultan of Oman, hoping that his fleet would subsequently inspect American cargo ships in Persia to investigate opium smuggling.

This matter was something he had agreed to after speaking with Jiaqing years ago, and it was simply his duty.

After all, opium is a very harmful substance.

Nicholas has not yet agreed to send troops to the Ottoman Sultan because Sultan Mahmud has not yet decided whether to ban opium production and poppy cultivation within the Ottoman Empire.

If it can be prohibited, the Russian army will naturally send troops quickly, and will also contact France to ask France to exert diplomatic pressure on Egypt, and the two countries will send fleets to jointly patrol the Eastern Mediterranean.

This was all a form of protection for the Ottoman Empire; if they were to collapse now, the south of Russia would become very unstable.

A weakened Ottoman Empire, but still able to maintain its current size, would be quite beneficial to Russia, as it would be relatively easy to infiltrate it in any way.

The problem is that if the Sultan agrees to the ban on opium, there will be some questions within his court, and the same is true in Egypt.

Thus, the problem was once again in the hands of the Russians. (End of Chapter)