Persian Empire 1845

Chapter 57 Investment Plan
"Newspapers for sale! Newspapers for sale! One riyal per paper."

Children selling newspapers are a common sight on the streets of Tehran, making newspapers an important means for local residents to learn about new things.

Several factories using machines also emerged in Tehran, producing high-quality fabrics. The Tehran Chamber of Commerce witnessed the power of the machines, and when the Industrial Federation arrived, they all joined in.

The association set up an exhibition in Tehran, where goods from Tabriz were very popular with the citizens of Tehran. They also attracted purchases from the nobility.

Jafar also went to see the exhibition, and he found it fascinating that all the things were made from machines.

"Your Highness, you've arrived too?"

"Yes, I heard there are fun things to do here, so of course I had to come and check it out."

Jafar followed them into the hall and the first thing he saw was a steam engine.

"Your Highness, please look. This is a steam engine, which can easily pump water up from underground. All we need to do is add some coal."

Jafar looked at the dark substance beside him; it seemed to be coal. This was truly amazing. Feeding this guy coal allowed it to work continuously—wasn't that more cost-effective than keeping slaves?

He then looked at the carpets from Tabriz, which looked better than those from Tehran. He had also seen with his own eyes how carpets were woven by machines, at a speed so fast that he could barely see them.

"If I invest in this, wouldn't I be able to make a lot of money?" Jafar thought to himself.

He currently has 45 riyals. If he can get others involved, he can raise 120 million. Then he can invest in a carpet weaving factory, and the money will roll in. He's really smart, but he's not the only one who's thought of this today.

As the capital, Tehran boasts a large number of nobles and wealthy merchants. They possess substantial funds, which they can readily invest in industry. Coupled with government incentives for sectors such as textiles, carpet weaving, and food processing, local investment is poised to surge.

Since the goal was to enrich the nation and strengthen its military, the army also needed reform. The Qajar dynasty had a total of 60,000 soldiers and 150,000 militia. Except for the Tabriz army, which was relatively strong, the others needed to be changed. Moltke, assessing the situation, submitted a larger military reform plan to Nasser al-Din, proposing to train 12 armies with 190,000 soldiers in Iran. Furthermore, a nationwide conscription system would be established, requiring men aged 20 to 40 to serve three years in the standing army and then three years in the reserve army. This would achieve universal conscription and allow for rapid troop mobilization.

These 12 military commanders will be stationed in important cities, and border cities will need to be strengthened with enhanced defenses and equipped with various defensive measures. However, this will require significantly more funding, approximately 2100 million riyals.

Amir was at his wits' end; where was he supposed to get so much money? But Nasser al-Din wouldn't budge, and in the end, he was left to manage it. All he could do was hope for a significant increase in tax revenue. After the rebellion, the government simplified its tax system considerably, and various miscellaneous taxes were gradually abolished.

Apart from agricultural tax, other taxes have nothing to do with farmers, since they are not collected from them anyway.

Making a plan is easy; implementing it is not so simple. The much-discussed civil service examination began in January 1847.

The Ministry of Finance was the first to begin the exams, not because it didn't want to hold them simultaneously, but because the government didn't have enough space. Unlike later generations where schools were everywhere and could easily borrow some classrooms for exams, nowadays, not many venues were available, forcing many to take their exams in open-air plazas.

Inside the examination hall, the candidates were all answering the questions diligently. Some were deep in thought, some were writing furiously, and some were scratching their heads. The invigilators walked quietly back and forth in the aisle; it was extremely quiet. This was Iran's first civil service examination, and the invigilators were all very professional, yet they exerted tremendous pressure on the candidates.

With soldiers armed to the teeth and acting as proctors, anyone with poor mental fortitude would likely underperform upon seeing this setup.

Time ticked by, and then the bell rang, signaling the end of the exam. One by one, the students had to leave the exam room dejectedly. Clearly, most felt they hadn't done well, and many had large blank pages on their papers.

This applies not only to the Ministry of Finance but also to other departments. However, since it's the first exam, the pass rate won't be low. And since most of them come from noble families, they'll definitely need to bribe officials afterwards.

"Your Highness, this time we need more than 5000 people to strengthen the central and local governments. But the number of people taking the exam has already reached 20000."

The pass rate for the four-choice exam is indeed high, but this is only the first step. In future exams, police departments will need to recruit from the military system, and many other departments will also have opportunities.

"This exam is for selecting talent for Iran. You must carefully read the questions and choose truly talented individuals for the country."

Naser al-Din set selection criteria for his ministers, and after they withdrew, the regent began to think about other things, namely separating royal finances from state finances.

Separating royal finances from national finances clarifies responsibilities and avoids other complications. The royal annuity was only recently determined, calculated at 1.5% of fiscal revenue, amounting to approximately 20 riyals annually.

The pension ratio is already quite good; too much would disrupt the fiscal system. Furthermore, incomes in Iran are relatively low now, so earning 20 is quite an achievement.

In addition, a portion of the lands held by the Ulima were allocated to the royal family. There are also the forests of Mazandran and some shops in Qom, which generate hundreds of thousands of rials annually.

This amount of money was far from enough for the royal family, and Naserdin planned to acquire some more properties. But he was racking his brains trying to figure out exactly what to do.

Agriculture is out of the question, even though they have plenty of land; the returns are too low. Even growing cash crops wouldn't provide enough returns to get rich quickly.

The financial industry is an option, but unfortunately, the Crown Prince lacks the knowledge in this area. In this era, the financial industry is rife with shady dealings; if he gets scammed, he won't even have time to cry. Therefore, even with Tabriz Bank, Nasser al-Din only owns a portion of the shares.

After careful consideration, Naserdin felt that investing in carpet weaving and food was the most promising, as businesses that follow policy trends are usually profitable.

Besides, mining is also a very promising industry. It doesn't require much technical expertise. As long as you have strong connections and find a rich mine, you can make money while lying down.

In no time, he wrote down a bunch of business projects in his notebook. As for how to implement them, he would need to do market research.

(End of this chapter)