The Imperial Age with the Resurgence of Han Style

Chapter 26 The ambitions of Persian trading companies

September 9, Mubarak Town (today’s Mubarak City, Iran).

The Chayand River, which originates from the Zagros Mountains in western Persia, flows through this town and continues to meander to the north. More than 60 kilometers away, it will pass through the prosperous and prosperous city of Isfahan, and finally Disappearing into the desert of Cavil.

In the evening, a temporary camp was erected by the Chayand River. Countless tents, like blooming mushrooms, were spread throughout the green valley.Tribal warriors in twos and threes led their horses to the clear river, and gently groomed their horses to soothe them from fatigue after running around all day.

"This is not far from Isfahan. Are those Afghans coming to attack us?" Qi Yanming, the head of the Persian Trading Company in Bushehr Port, sat on his horse and looked up at the other side of the river.

"Don't worry, big shopkeeper." Guard captain Qin Maofa immediately replied: "Before setting up camp, I have sent three teams of cavalry to cross the Chayande River to explore the enemy situation within thirty miles on the other side. If there is any trouble, It must not be hidden from the eyes of the reconnaissance cavalry. In addition, defensive trenches were dug around the camp in accordance with our Daqi Army's operating procedures, so that the Afghans would not be able to easily steal the camp."

"After nearly ten days of marching, do you think these more than [-] hired tribal soldiers can stand up to the Afghans?" Qi Yanming nodded, and then pointed at the tribes scattered in the river valley. the soldier asked softly.

"We are not worthy of a battle." Qin Maofa said bluntly: "Big shopkeeper, these more than 3000 tribal soldiers come from six tribes. It is not easy to knead them together in a few days and challenge the Afghans."

"In other words, counting on them will not save Isfahan at all?"

"Yes, if the Afghans take it seriously, it only takes two thousand cavalry to defeat them."

"So do you think the Afghans will take us seriously?"

"Of course it will!" Qin Maofa said with a smile: "Just because of our Qi country's reputation, the Afghans will be very nervous. Maybe they will gather a large army early and stand ready in front."

"Haha..." Qi Yanming smiled and said, "Then we will wait here for their reply. I hope our Qi country's reputation can scare them."

"Big shopkeeper..." Qin Maofa hesitated and said hesitantly: "Consul Luo asked us to try our best to... relieve the siege of Isfahan, but if we respond so passively, what if the Afghans break through the city and destroy Isfahan?" Fawei Dynasty. Afterwards, will it...will it cause criticism and cause big trouble for the trading company? "

"Old Qin, don't you think that the Afghans' siege of Isfahan is similar to the Song Jingkang incident?" Qi Yanming said leisurely: "They are also a group of barbaric tribal armed forces from poor and cold areas. It was the dynasty’s capital city that was directly attacked by troops. It was also the dynasty’s army that retreated from the city after being defeated. It was also the dynasty’s army that besieged the city for several months but the armies of the kings from all over the country stopped to move forward and watched the capital fall into despair. ... Therefore, I am [-]% sure that Isfahan will eventually It will also be like Bianliang, the capital of the former Song Dynasty, which was attacked by the Afghans and the emperor was captured, eventually leading to the humiliation of Jingkang for the Persians."

"Then...then why did the big shopkeeper agree to Consul Luo and let our Persian trading company hire an army to go to Isfahan to save this fatal situation?"

"In the trading station in Isfahan, there is a lot of gold, silver and materials accumulated, about 70 million yuan. We have to get it back no matter what!" Qi Yanming said with a smile: "In addition, there are still some gold, silver and supplies in the trading station. There are a large number of antiquities and classics collected from all over Persia, many of which are exquisite, which are to be presented to the royal family and used for the collection of the royal museum. These things cannot be in vain for those vulgar Afghan tribal leaders!"

"..." Qin Mao looked at Qi Yanming in a daze, not knowing how to answer the question.

More than a month ago, our Daqi Consul in Bandar Abbas Port, Luo Zhihao, personally rushed to Bushehr Port and had a closed-door talk with the big shopkeeper Qi Yanming for a day.Subsequently, Bushehr Port began to mobilize for war preparations and recruited cavalry from surrounding tribes.

Half a month later, more than [-] tribal cavalry were recruited one after another. Qi Yanming also mobilized more than [-] musketeers from the Bushehr Port Guard, carrying several light artillery, and headed north in a mighty manner, preparing to rescue Yisrael. Farhan.

As the guard captain of Bushehr Port, Qin Maofa strongly opposed this military rescue activity.The distance from Bushehr Port to Isfahan is more than [-] kilometers. After a long-distance attack, the entire army will inevitably be exhausted. Facing the Afghans who are waiting for work, the chance of winning can be said to be slim.In addition, the members of our own troops come from several tribes, and they cannot be kneaded together to form a strong combat effectiveness in a short period of time. If they fight with tens of thousands of Afghans, they may be beaten into dogs.

However, Qi Yanming paid no attention to the various unfavorable factors listed by Qin Maofa and insisted on going north.

During the march, he told Qin Maofa that he had no intention of fighting the Afghans when he led his troops to Isfahan. He only raised the flag of Qi as a deterrent so that the Afghans would not dare to act rashly.

"The governors and military leaders of all parts of Persia did not care about the king. Instead, they sat back and watched Isfahan being wantonly besieged by the Afghans. This has proved that the fall of this empire is irreversible. And we are just a trading company, here to make money. Yes, we are not fighting for the survival of the Safavid dynasty. For us merchants, as long as it does not affect our trade and delay our making money, who rules Persia and who the Shah of the empire is actually of little significance. The most critical thing is whether we can take advantage of this opportunity to completely control the entire Persian market."

"Our Qi State has been operating in Persia for more than 60 years. Although the bilateral trade volume has expanded to more than [-] million yuan and occupied nearly [-]% of Persia's market share, it is even more difficult to grow further on this basis. Huh. Rozanne, Urumiye, the Caucasus, and the lucrative Mediterranean transit trade are all in the hands of Armenians and Jews, keeping us out of the way. So we hope to break all this through this war.”

"The big shopkeeper is not worried. Through this war, the Afghans not only failed to help me obtain the above-mentioned blank market, but will they destroy or destroy our existing market space in Persia?"

"If we get nothing from the Afghans, or even get hit by them, then don't blame us for ruthlessly killing them." Qi Yanming sneered a few times, looking at the winding stream in the distance. Chayand River, said fiercely: "When the time comes, even their home base of Kandahar will be taken away!"

"With our trading company, I'm afraid we can't do it."

"That's natural." Qi Yanming nodded and said: "If we want to reorganize the order in Persia and safeguard the interests of our Qi country, we must use our navy and army. In the past, Emperor Taizu once said that in this world, truth should be Within the range of the cannon. Similarly, in the eyes of us businessmen, the vast market is also within the range of the cannon."

"...Huh?" Qin Maofa looked at this descendant of the royal family in astonishment, obviously finding it difficult to accept that he extended the words of Emperor Taizu to the way of merchants.

"Old Qin, do you know what the total trade volume of the Bengal Trading Company and the Indian Trading Company in the entire Indian region was before the first Sino-Indian War in the seventh year of the Han Dynasty (1677)?" Qi Yanming said quietly: "Before the war, the total trade volume between the two trading companies with India did not exceed 4000 million yuan. However, in the few years after the war, the total trade volume quickly more than doubled to 300 million yuan. Up to now, only India has The total trade volume of one trading company is 1 million yuan, and the profit is more than 2000 million yuan."

"..." Qin Maofa opened his mouth wide, "Hey, darling, one hundred million!"How many zeros do you need to follow the number?

"Through the Qi-India War, our Qi State has completely opened the door to India, thus occupying this huge consumer market and obtaining a steady stream of trade benefits." Qi Yanming's eyes showed a strange look, and his expression also looked a little ferocious, "If We can also completely establish our commercial control over the entire territory of Persia through one or two wars, and then occupy all the market space. Then, our Persian trading company may not be able to gain absolute control like the Indian trading company and the Bangladeshi trading company. Excess monopoly benefits and expand trade volume to 1 million yuan!"

(End of this chapter)