Persian Empire 1845

Chapter 33 Groups
"Teacher, the current reforms have entered a critical phase. What do you think is the most important thing now?"

Amir thought for a moment and said, "Now everything is starting to get back on track, but if we want to bring about change, we still need all kinds of talented people."

This is also Amir's experience: without the right people, even the best measures are useless. The officials currently in use are all forced to obey the governor after being severely punished; they are not truly of one mind with him.

"We still need to increase our talent pool. The first batch of people has already gone to Britain and Prussia to study, and they won't be back for several years. We still need to find some people from China."

Naserdin nodded and said, "Is the teacher in charge of Tabriz now?"

"Ah, yes, I have been in charge ever since the last mayor of Tabriz was dismissed."

Last year, the mayor of Tabriz was dismissed for frequent opposition and corruption, and no new mayor has taken over since, leaving Amir to temporarily handle city affairs.

"In that case, teacher, you shall be the mayor of Tabriz from now on. All your years of hard work should be rewarded."

Amir paused for a moment, then, after confirming what the governor had said in his mind, immediately bowed to Nasser al-Din. "Your Highness, I will never forget your kindness."

"Alright, alright, now is the time to catch up. The Ottomans have already begun reforms, teacher, we can't fall behind."

Nasserdin's support gave Amir a lot of motivation. The most important thing now is people; without someone to execute, nothing can be done. He also needs to build a team so he can have his own power.

The Tabriz municipal government has now added agencies such as the Commerce Bureau, Police Department, and Government Newspaper. The next step should be to train specialized personnel to strengthen these agencies and improve their efficiency. This is the first step Amir has taken.

The new mayor of Tabriz returned home, where the butler said someone was waiting for him. Amir entered the reception room and found Mousavi, the head of the newspaper, Larijani, the president of the Federation of Industries, and even Ayatollah Mirza. It was a rare sight to see these three together; if he had a camera, he would have definitely recorded this historic moment.

"What brings you all here? Is there something you need?"

Mousavi spoke first, "That's right, the Shah has issued a decree saying that everyone can offer suggestions for the development of the country..."

Amir already knew about this, so it seems his memorial had worked. It's said that even the Grand Ayatollah, along with some scholars, submitted a petition offering advice, indicating that their enthusiasm had been mobilized.

Larijani, who was standing next to him, suddenly blurted out something else.

"To encourage people to invest in industry, an expo was held today, and Ayatollah also took people to visit it."

Amir stared at the other person in disbelief. Mirza nodded, surprised that this person was willing to sacrifice himself to such an extent. He had previously said that this was against the doctrine, but now it had turned out like this.

This wasn't entirely Ayatollah's fault; he had witnessed the changes over the past two years firsthand. The transformation of Azerbaijan—from banks and railways to machine industry, new books, and newspapers—was revolutionary. Even within the clergy, some were reading Western books, such as *The Wealth of Nations*, *On Property and the Laws* (Saint-Simon), and *The New World* (Fourier). This had become increasingly common, and Mirza wanted to see just how powerful it was. He himself became engrossed; the theories in *The New World* were exactly the same as those in the Quran.

So Ayatollah and other scholars studied the theories here, what violated the doctrine, this is called learning from strengths.

They also attended the Industrial Exposition organized by the Federation of Industries, where they were amazed by the machines' productivity, which surpassed that of humans. Some priests with family assets were impressed by these machines and decided to have their families buy them to try production. Although maintenance would be necessary, the productivity would be sufficient.

“The Shah’s decree shows his determination to revitalize the country. As his subjects, we should help the Shah solve his problems.”

As Amir said this, Mousavi produced a document, saying, "This is a memorial submitted to the Shah by the forty-two of us. Please help us submit it, Your Excellency."

"This is a petition submitted to Shah by all members of our federation."

“One hundred and twenty-six religious scholars jointly wrote to the Shah, including myself.”

These three documents, representing intellectuals, business leaders, and religious figures, were the first time they had jointly petitioned the Shah for reform. The political transformation of the Ayatollah was particularly striking.

"The treaty that the Ottomans forced Iran to sign has spread throughout the country, and the people of Isfahan are going to form an army to attack the Ottomans and retake Najaf."

Mirza's words made Amir feel ashamed. Well, the idea was good, but not now; they needed to build up their strength first. However, he had come up with a good plan.

"Gentlemen, the current situation necessitates change. Since the Shah has made up his mind, we should make changes in Azerbaijan, show the whole country our achievements, and then lead them to reform."

When I visited Russia, I heard that some local groups were promoting their ideas, and they would travel to various cities to spread the word. Why don't we form one too?

Mirza was a little slow to catch up, but the other two quickly grasped the idea. They had heard that some like-minded people in the West would form groups to exert influence, and that groups from countries like Britain would even fight over seats in a house. They didn't know why they were fighting over seats, but their propaganda was quite effective, so this method should work.

"That's right, Ayatollah. At this time, we need to unite and work together to deal with the impending threats. Russia in the north and the Ottoman Empire in the west are both eyeing our land. Only by strengthening ourselves can we get rid of these difficulties."

Amir patiently explained to Mirza, but he still needed to go back and discuss it with the Ulima. Amir understood that the religious community still had concerns, so he didn't press the issue. With the new intellectuals and business leaders all agreeing, Amir decided to begin forming a new group.

The news of his official inauguration as mayor of Tabriz was also spread in the newspapers, and everyone knew about it. Within the city, people had begun to discuss various new theories, and even Ulima thought some of them were worthwhile, directly referencing a lot of reading materials.

Mousavi added two sections to the newspaper: politics and international affairs. He published articles about the Ottoman Tanzimat reforms and the reforms of Peter the Great in Russia, so that people would realize that the world is constantly changing and that even their two neighboring countries, which were once lagging behind them, have begun reforms. Therefore, they should also rise to the challenge.

(End of this chapter)