Persian Empire 1845

Chapter 2 Governor-General of Azerbaijan
Tehran, the capital of the Qajar dynasty in Iran. More than 60 years have passed since Agha Muhammad Khan established the dynasty, and more than a decade has passed since the previous wars with Russia, yet everything seems unchanged.

Tabriz, the capital of western Azerbaijan, was once the capital of Persia. It was on the front lines against the Ottomans and Russia, and due to frequent physical exchanges, it became one of the most progressive parts of Iran.

In the military camp outside the city, the soldiers were undergoing training. Unlike the Qajar dynasty's army, the army here used muskets, cannons, and swords.

"Ready, release..."

Snap... Snap... Snap
The trained musketeers hit the bullseye and cheered, while the young men watching them applauded, very satisfied with their achievement.

The young man was dressed in a European-style military uniform, wearing a noble hat from the Qajar dynasty, decorated with feathers; he also wore a cat's eye ring on his hand, exuding an aristocratic air from head to toe.

"Not bad, as expected of the person you found, teacher, the training is so good."

"Your Highness is too kind. I was just doing my duty."

Looking at the army and reflecting on his own situation over the past few years, Naser al-Din almost burst into tears; these were tears he shed.

Chen Cheng never expected that he would be able to time travel. In an accident, he traveled to Persia and into the body of Naser al-Din Shah, the eldest son of the Persian king in the 19th century.

Although history has a complicated history regarding this future king, with history books describing him as weak, he was appointed governor of Azerbaijan by his father when he was 10 years old. To assist his son, his tutor Amir also went to Tabriz.

When Nasser al-Din first arrived in Tabriz, the area was quite underdeveloped. Local officials and gentry blocked all changes, which gave him a headache. Fortunately, he had a good mentor. Amir took on all the external communications and assisted him in making changes.

I remember when I first arrived here, all I had were 1000 soldiers and 10 tomans (5 pounds) given to me by my father. With these things, Naserdin began his journey.

"Based on the current training progress, we should be able to complete the training in a little more time. The only issue is funding..."

Naser al-Din, as Amir had described, knew that the army needed money, as did the factories that produced muskets and cannons. But Persia was currently short of funds; peasants were required to hand over four-fifths of their income, while the gentry refused to pay taxes. This was also a problem for him as governor—he was too young, and no one took him seriously.

"Let's go back to the official residence."

We need to find a way to raise funds, otherwise the army we've worked so hard to build will have to be disbanded again.

Back at the official residence, Nasser al-Din and Amir sat in their office, racking their brains for a solution. Their instructor had suggested they take out a loan for training, at least to establish a proper military system. "That's a good idea, but the problem is, what can we use as collateral? We don't have any collateral right now."

Naser al-Din is currently just a governor and has nothing to mortgage. However, the increasing tax revenue from Azerbaijan is something they can be happy about.

When Naser al-Din became governor, he initially found Tabriz to be a very underdeveloped region. Corrupt officials, decadent nobles, and struggling commoners created a precarious situation.

Fortunately, Amir was confident and capable of handling everything. Moreover, the governor had his own ideas; upon arriving, he executed a local tax collector on the grounds of disrespect for the Shah. In reality, it was because this man had embezzled less than a fifth of the local people's wealth, handing it over to the government.

On charges of corruption, Nasser al-Din listed 26 officials and seized 300 million tomans from their homes. Of these, 200 million tomans were handed over to Tehran, while the remainder was confiscated, with Nasser al-Din claiming that the remaining 200 million tomans were embezzled.

This money served as Naser al-Din's seed money, and was subsequently invested in the construction of the army. Being far from the emperor's reach, he, as governor, wielded considerable power, though the local gentry were somewhat displeased.

The Qajar dynasty's economic structure was amorphous and chaotic, lacking a unified national market—different regions used different currencies; for example, coins minted in Tehran had different values ​​in Khuzestan. Copper coins were typically worth less than their face value, while silver and gold were usually worth twice their face value. The free use of various European, Indian, and Ottoman currencies in transactions further complicated the situation.

Naser al-Din put the teachers in charge of the tax system, and Amir began to redefine the taxes and reduce the burden on the farmers. The gentry wanted to oppose this, but the opposition got powerful support: the local Ulima declared that everything Naser al-Din did was in accordance with the doctrine, and no one could stop him, or they would be traitors.

It's unclear what agreement Nasser al-Din reached with the Shiite Urimah that led him to speak in this way. The Iranian clergy have become a distinct class, similar to Confucian scholars in the East. They are responsible for education, law, and other matters, and also act as a connector between the upper and lower classes.

With Ulima's support, Amir's reforms in the area were able to proceed smoothly. First, he revised local tax rates to reduce the burden on farmers, and then converted some local taxes from in-kind to monetary revenue. This also alleviated some of the burden.

In just one year, Azerbaijan's income increased by half, boosting farmers' enthusiasm. With a stable source of income, the construction of the new army continued.

"Teacher, how much more money do we need to complete the plan?"

When Nasserdin raised this question, Amir immediately pulled out the plan and reported it to the prince.

"Your Highness, according to the plan, we still need 40 tomans to complete the construction of the artillery factory and ammunition factory. Currently, we are preparing to recruit 8000 soldiers, and we need 16000 tomans per month to pay them. If we include food and lodging, it will cost at least 25000 tomans per month."

These things were within Naserdin's expectations. The 25000 tomans were not a problem; the main issue was the 40 tomans that needed to be resolved.

(End of this chapter)