Persian Empire 1845

Chapter 64 Greater Iran

Iran today needs to appoint officials based solely on merit. Regardless of your character, as long as you can implement policies, you can become an official.

A matter that would normally cost 200,000 yuan was accomplished by an official of impeccable integrity for only 100,000 yuan, saving the country 100,000 yuan. This is a pillar of the nation and must be given priority for promotion.

For the same task, another person with high moral character might need 200,000 to complete it. In that case, he is a capable official who can follow the steps to complete the tasks assigned by his superiors and can be promoted to a special position.

If a capable corrupt official were to handle the same matter for 100,000 yuan, pocket 50,000 yuan of it, and ultimately save 50,000 yuan, he would be considered a capable official, someone who could be given important responsibilities but must be used with caution.

Corrupt officials are valuable as long as they have ability; they can be used to get things done, or they can be fattened up like pigs. Once they're fattened up, they're slaughtered to win over the people and incidentally increase government revenue.

It can't be said that all the wealth of corrupt officials comes from embezzlement. Capable people can make money from money. They can embezzle one million and then earn ten million. This kind of corrupt official is the kind of person the rulers like the most.

Have you seen the TV series "The Eloquent Ji Xiaolan"? In Nasser al-Din's view, one Heshen's contributions exceeded those of a hundred Ji Xiaolans. A minister who could handle things perfectly for his monarch, take the blame for all the infamy, and even be used as a scapegoat when the monarch was short of money—such a minister was truly a model of virtue!

As for the nobles, they could follow the Prussian path: join the army and become officers, manage their lands and properties, or invest in factories.

According to the upcoming reform plan, the aristocratic class will continue to absorb new blood, and outstanding individuals from commoner families can become members of the aristocracy through their contributions to the country. After all, as the ruling class, Nasser al-Din cannot allow the aristocracy to decline, otherwise the power imbalance in the country would be disrupted.

The nobility now have a new goal to strive for: to oppose Russia and the Ottoman Empire. The idea of ​​restoring the Great Persian Empire is a powerful weapon, and most people are working towards this great goal.

This is thanks to the efforts of the Ayatollahs, who began to tirelessly promote the three ancient Persian empires: the Achaemenid, Sasanian, and Safavid dynasties. They advocated that Iran should restore the territory of the First Persian Empire, stretching from Anatolia to India, including Egypt and the Arabian Peninsula, and establish a Shia state with Persian culture.

The term "Greater Iran" arose to refer to the region inhabited by Iranian tribes, unrelated to any political entity. It was also used to describe the scattered ethnic groups of post-Bronze Age Iran, predating the emergence of political entities by several centuries. The Sasanian dynasty first used the politically charged term "Iran" in third-century inscriptions.

From Mesopotamia and the Caucasus, extending to Khwarezm, Transoxiana in Central Asia, Bactria, and the Pamir Plateau, the various peoples there, including the Persians, Medes, Parthians, and Sogdians, were Zoroastrians before the Arab conquest. Therefore, some consider this the extent of Greater Iran, but many more believe it should be defined by the largest territory of the Safavid dynasty. Furthermore, not only the people of present-day Iran, but also the Pashtuns of Afghanistan, the inhabitants of the Caucasus, the tribes of Transoxiana, and the people of Mesopotamia and Syria are all Iranian. All of these people should belong to Iran.

The controversy surrounding grape juice is currently raging in the religious council, while Zoroastrianism is watching them closely. As non-believers, they are allowed to make and drink wine. Furthermore, in order to promote Persian culture, the government has begun to loosen restrictions on Zoroastrianism, and Yazd has become their holy city. The government is even funding the construction of temples for them; if it weren't for the fact that it is a native Persian religion, they would likely have been wiped out by the Shiites long ago.

The Báb, who had been promoted to Ayatollah, held an open attitude towards Zoroastrianism and grape juice. He believed that while behavior after drinking alcohol was extremely reprehensible, it was only caused by high levels of alcohol. Grape juice, he argued, was simply a fruit juice that had been stored for a while and had nothing to do with alcohol.

Furthermore, Persia produces a lot of fruit, and if the fruit farmers don't sell their fruit, won't it all rot? It would be better to have them make juice, which would help preserve it and also increase the farmers' happiness.

This viewpoint makes sense to most people, but it still requires a long period of discussion.

Jafar listened carefully to his men's report. He and a few brothers had pooled their money to build a carpet weaving factory in Tehran.

This weaving factory, powered by steam, employed hundreds of people. They purchased raw materials from Mazanderland, which were then woven into carpets by workers and machines for sale. The profits were substantial, leading them to decide to increase investment, thus freeing up more funds for themselves.

"Haha, at this rate, we'll be earning hundreds of thousands of riyals every year."

Prince Mohammed Karim patted his brother on the shoulder, saying that although rent was more stable, the factory was still the better option for earning more money.

“From now on, we can also be called factory owners, which is the term used in Europe.”

Everyone laughed heartily, but Jafar looked somewhat preoccupied, because he had heard rumors that Iran's monetary system needed a major overhaul, which could lead to a significant devaluation.

Iran has begun issuing paper money, designating the rial as the country's sole currency, with the dinar as a sub-currency. However, due to a current shortage of funds, the large-scale issuance of paper money to fill the gap has led to inflation.

Soon, the relatively stable rial in Tabriz was devalued throughout the country. And this gap seems unlikely to be filled in the short term, and will likely continue to widen.

In such a situation, their income would decrease accordingly. It would be great if they could have real, tangible cash.

“Jafar, what are you thinking about?” Lotfra asked.

"It's nothing. I was just thinking that there's no point in continuing like this. Why not go and see other places? If I can contribute to the country, that would be great too."

Of course, that's not all. We can also look into whether we can acquire some local businesses, which would increase our income.

Everyone agreed with the idea, but where would they go?

“Let’s go to Oman. Muscat is also an important port city with plenty of arable land. We can buy some there.”

This was a good time to visit Oman, as Oman's fortunes began to turn around after Britain declared the slave trade illegal. Oman's economy began to collapse, and many families migrated to Zanzibar. The population of Muscat dropped from 55000 to 8000.

They've learned that during economic downturns, it's possible to acquire a large number of high-quality assets. They all agree to go to Muscat and see if they can find anything of value.

(End of this chapter)