Persian Empire 1845

Chapter 67 Railway Plan
"In the next decade, our country will have to complete a series of tasks, including currency reform, investment in industry, and increasing agricultural income. This is a difficult path for Iran, but only in this way can the country be reborn."

Amir's bold words at the expert meeting made everyone feel good; it seemed that the former glory was about to return.

Today's meeting approved proposals to expedite currency reform and financial sector restructuring, while Ulima also proposed encouraging people to brew fruit juice.

This proposal sparked a heated debate among Shia Muslims, with supporters, opponents, and those who neither supported nor opposed it arguing fiercely. These men, whose combined age is over 1000, debated the question of whether fruit juice is alcoholic beverages with tremendous fanfare.

Most people have offered grape juice to others before, so this is generally accepted. However, some people say that all the instructions in the Quran should be strictly followed, but they agree that farmers can sell fresh juice to earn more income.

Moreover, Arab tribes in the desert sometimes use dates to make juice; if they can do that, why should we have to suffer?

The expert panel members were shocked by this proposal; the definition of "fresh juice" is too broad. When something is considered fresh, and whether there are other limitations, are all issues that need to be discussed.

But Ulima did just that, and they had already reached an agreement at the religious council that this order would allow Iran to resume making grape juice.

According to regulations, Iran allows the production and sale of fresh fruit juice, with a shelf life not exceeding 30 days. This is to prevent alcoholic fermentation.

Note that this refers to juice made from fresh fruit, not alcoholic beverages brewed from grains. They believe this circumvents the Quran, satisfying the general public while increasing government revenue—a win-win-win situation.

This has already been approved, and given the current situation of the Shia Muslims, they can't cause any major upheaval. This is already a step forward, and they've recently begun collecting and compiling ancient Iranian cultural texts to maintain their position.

This expert meeting was destined to be eventful, as it not only passed financial resolutions and lifted the ban on juice, but also 17 other resolutions, including the establishment of a railway bureau and increased encouragement for public investment in factories. These policies will guide Iran onto the path of industrialization.

"Your Highness, this is our draft proposal for the rapid construction of a nationwide railway network. Please take a look," said Ali, the newly appointed director of the railway bureau.

Naserdin took the document and began to look through it. It wasn't long, but it was very informative. There were tables and text descriptions, and everything was handmade; perhaps because it was rushed, some lines were still crooked.

"I need a map, teacher. Could you please bring it to me?"

This is a plan for the national railway network, which involves many places. The Crown Prince does not have a good memory to remember every single place clearly.

Looking at the map, if this plan is implemented, all of Iran's major cities will be connected, and some railways will even extend to the border regions, clearly taking military needs into account.

“The plan is fine, the problem is whether it’s technically feasible? In many areas, railways have to pass through high mountains and deep valleys, which will pose a very serious challenge to railway construction,” Naserdin said after thinking for a moment.

"Your Highness, this is only a draft. In reality, before construction begins, engineers must be sent along the route to conduct on-site investigations. Without this data, we cannot guarantee its implementation. Naserdin is not worried at all about whether this railway network plan can be completed; the only question is when it will be completed."

Although Iran has relatively few cities, the plan still covers a distance of nearly 13000 kilometers. Key railway lines include: Tabriz-Tehran-Mashhad; Mazandran-Tehran-Isfahan; Isfahan-Shiraz-Bushwar; and Isfahan-Yazd.

Of course, the actual construction distance will be much longer than this; these are just the main lines. The Yazd railway will extend south to Bandar Abbas, and there are also a bunch of branch lines in between.

"How long will it take to complete this project?" the Crown Prince asked with concern.
"At least ten years, but this time can be greatly shortened if there are sufficient financial resources."

Alibaba didn't rule out the possibility of failure. Building railways is not like other industries; as long as you're willing to invest money, you can start construction on multiple lines, which will naturally increase the construction speed.

But Amir said, "The plan is to spend more than 1 million riyals, and we'll need to save up for 20 years."

According to Amir's calculations, aside from the cost of raw materials, the biggest expense would be the wages of the hired workers, and that wouldn't be low either.

Building railways in those days was incredibly brutal. There was very little machinery, so most of the work had to be done by hand, carrying things on shoulders and backs. In dangerous sections, both the workers and the equipment often perished.

Therefore, the cost of hiring workers needs to be higher to secure employment. If someone dies unexpectedly, do you pay compensation or not? What if there's a disturbance and the railway is dismantled?

Yes, railways also cost money. With current financial resources, we simply cannot support large-scale construction. Issuing national debt at this time is also not recommended, as the public simply doesn't have the money, and even if they tried to sell, they wouldn't be able to.

"In any case, let's finish building the railway from Tabriz to Tehran first, and put the rest aside for now."

Let's connect these two cities by rail first, and then we can wait for the rest of the city to be connected. This will not only boost the economy but also allow us to quickly transport troops to the front lines.

Moreover, Iran is not a plains country; its complex terrain is a significant obstacle to railway construction. While environmental limitations can be overcome—by simply taking detours—it was impossible to excavate tunnels several kilometers or even tens of kilometers long for railway construction in that era.

Encountering challenging terrain, whether by taking a detour or forcing the way forward, significantly increases costs. As for the final cost, no one can answer that question; perhaps engineers will be able to provide a preliminary estimate after the on-site survey is completed.

However, to Naserdin's delight, the price of sand and gravel skyrocketed due to the construction of the railway. Since the previous law on the nationalization of resources had been passed, these sand and gravel mines were also state assets, which immediately provided the royal family with an income of 200 million rials.

Because there were too many mineral resources to manage, a contracting system was adopted to increase revenue and development. Smaller mines were entrusted to minor nobles and merchants for development, and the government only needed to collect a fee each year, with the royal family receiving half of that as a subsidy.

(End of this chapter)