Persian Empire 1845

Chapter 12 Tinkering
Unlike these students, Nasser al-Din had a more important task for Abdullah: he would become a private delegation sent by the governor to visit six countries—Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Austria—before heading to London to study.

Accompanying him were 15 people, including religious scholar Hariri and Hussein, the newly promoted Deputy Minister of Finance. They would report back to Nasser al-Din after Abdullah's trip to London for further studies.

Wallace also began searching for the talent Nasserdin needed; as ambassador, he had many connections. Moreover, Nasserdin was willing to offer these people an annual salary of £300, so many would surely be willing to come.

The munitions factory also replenished its funds and began full-scale operations. Naser al-Din renamed it the Tabriz Military Factory. At this time, the factory workers were paid four to six times more than ordinary workers outside, and they began producing rifled guns and bullets, with an annual budget of around 20 tomans.

The carpet factories also began to equip themselves with British machinery, which had originally been purchased by the Ottomans, but the deal was cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances. This benefited the Persians.

"That's really great, the machine is really fast."

Looking at the newly woven carpets, Ahmed, the carpet factory manager, said that since the factory was established and several machines were imported, carpet production has already exceeded the annual workload of these workers. Moreover, the exquisite beauty of Persian carpets has led to large-scale purchases from countries like England, France, and Russia, and with reduced time costs, profit margins will be even higher.

"Manager, those British businessmen want more carpets, and businessmen from other countries also want to place orders. Should we continue to hire people?"

"No need for now, let's go and buy some more machines first. Their efficiency is higher than that of 100 people."

British trading posts received a large number of machine orders, while Russian merchants' trade declined.

Russia mainly exported textiles to Persia. Before Persia adopted machine production, Russia was able to dominate the local market. However, as Persia's industry upgraded, Russia's advantage diminished.

Although they still enjoy ultra-low tariffs, Tabriz's textile industry is beginning to recover. Nasser al-Din's swift and decisive measures unified the local market, which reduced transportation costs and made them more competitive.

The Russian consul wanted to protest, but he had no reason to. Moreover, intervening arbitrarily would invite unnecessary trouble. His only option was to have the Russian merchants pressure the Persian merchants to act, and then he would intervene himself, thus securing greater profits.

Nasserdin hasn't had much free time lately either. Besides being busy with his studies and industry, he hasn't forgotten about weapons development. He doesn't have a military background, nor is he a military enthusiast, but he is still clear about the development of weapons in this era.

Next to the governor's residence was a small research lab where Nasser al-Din often conducted experiments with others. He also commissioned British merchants to purchase books on various European firearms.

"Let me see, this is how it should be done..."

Naserdin knew of a suggestion made by an Englishman for the improvement of muzzle-loading guns, so he tried to improve it by polishing the ordinary bullets. This was because the black powder used in firearms at the time was very easy to accumulate in the barrel. If it was not cleaned in time, it would be very troublesome to insert spherical bullets into the rifled barrel. Sometimes it was even necessary to use a hammer to knock them in.

So he made the bullets smaller and added several ring grooves. Unlike the previous spherical bullets, this bullet was conical.

Naserdin made a few bullets and then prepared to let others test them. He was a little hesitant, after all, they were test subjects.

The soldiers had never seen such bullets before, and they were unwilling to try this new thing, but they couldn't resist the governor's order and the reward of 500 tomans, so one soldier gritted his teeth and went for it.

The bullet was loaded, and then fired at the target. A gunshot rang out, the bullet flew out and hit the bullseye, then disappeared without a trace.

"Report: No bullets found."

The soldier didn't find any bullets lying on the ground near the target, something he always did. He continued searching, expanding the search area, and finally found one 150 meters from the target. This distance was three times the distance of their usual training, which astonished everyone. Even Nasser al-Din was surprised, thinking it might be pure luck; the fact that it hadn't exploded or experienced any other mishap was already a blessing from Allah. He ordered the craftsmen to study the bullets carefully and strive to produce them as soon as possible.

"Luckily I remembered what the Minié ball looked like and its history, otherwise it would have taken me a lot of effort," Naserdin thought to himself.

Of course, he also gave the factory another task: because the rifles were too inefficient, he hoped they could develop a gun that could fire hundreds of bullets per minute. If they could do it, they would receive a reward of 10000 tomans.

Ample funding and rewards spurred the craftsmen's thinking, so they decided to get to work.

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Mustafa had already negotiated with the Shah of Persia several times, with even the Russian ambassador getting involved. Faced with this mortal enemy, Mustafa decided to end the negotiations as soon as possible.

Agassi also successfully persuaded Muhammad to make certain concessions and to order the merchants of Trabisun to return.

"Shah, I take my leave."

As soon as Agassi left, Muhammad's expression changed, and he angrily threw the book he was holding away.

“Don’t think I don’t know anything. Mustafa has been going to see him these past few days, sending him truckloads of gifts. He’s become a traitor just like that.”

Mohammed was angry, and his father, Saeed, and his wife, Malik, helped him lean against the bed. The Shah's health was deteriorating day by day, and he needed to find a way to protect Iran.

"Your Majesty, I have found out that the British minister has gone to Tabriz."

“Tabriz, what is he doing there?” Upon hearing this, Muhammad immediately sat up, but the pain in his body forced him to lie back down on the bed.

"The atmosphere in Tabriz has changed recently. The Crown Prince ordered the execution of 42 tribal chiefs and the confiscation of their property."

Upon hearing that her son had done this, Malik immediately said it was impossible; she knew her son best and he would never do such a thing.

"Your Highness, that is indeed the case. And the news has already spread."

At this moment, Muhammad smiled. His cowardly son was now using force to protect himself. He was pleased with this growth.

"In that case, I can rest assured. Bring me some paper; I need to write the transfer order."

Mohammed decided to give his son more motivation, transferring power over Gilan, Mazandran, and Bahtaran provinces to Nasser al-Din, and granting him even more authority. The transfer order was issued directly in the Shah's name without going through a cabinet meeting.

(End of this chapter)