Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 771 Across the Ocean (Thirteen)

In the spring of 1598, Abbas I, who ruled the Safavid dynasty, decided to move the capital of the Persian Kingdom from Qazvin in the west to Isfahan in the central region to get rid of the threat of the Ottoman soldiers.From this moment on, the local city of Isfahan became the capital of the entire Safavid dynasty.

This city at an altitude of more than 1500 meters is located in an oasis.It is not only free from the threat of the capital directly facing the Ottomans, but also closely linked to the central and eastern regions. Whether it is using troops in the northeast (against the Uzbeks and the Mughal dynasty), or going south to attack the Western colonists, it is quite convenient. It can be called the country geographic center of the city.

After Abbas I moved the capital, he began to vigorously manage Isfahan to make it a beautiful city in line with its identity.He invited many designers and craftsmen from Italy and India to build the famous King's Square, King's Mosque, Trufula Mosque and Alicapu Palace. In addition, he also invited about 300 ceramic craftsmen from China, Porcelain and tiles were fired for the king (the tiles are mainly Iranian crafts).For example, the famous King's Mosque spent no less than 50 exquisite tiles, which is staggering.

In order to develop the business of Isfahan, Abbas I also forced the Armenians, who are famous for their ingenuity, to move to the new Zolfa on the outskirts of Isfahan and make it a satellite city of the capital to prosper the industry and commerce of the capital. .In addition, Abbas I also allowed foreigners to freely set up business stations, factories, and build residences in Isfahan, and allowed them to continue to believe in their original religion.Under this tolerant policy, Isfahan at this time finally had the appearance of a regional international city, with Indians, Khwarazmians, Bukharas, Turks, Russians, British, Dutch , French, Venetians, Spaniards, Armenians, Georgians and Jews, you can see all kinds of people here.

At this time, when Ji Wen and others walked into the wide and straight streets of Isfahan, they saw such a scene.Riding on a fine Persian horse, Captain Shay carefully examined the capital city of the Persian Kingdom with a proud expression and slightly critical eyes.Well, the streets in the city are very wide, and they are all stone-paved roads. I don’t know how much manpower was spent on the construction. They are really extravagant and extravagant monarchs of the old continent; the square is very grand, surpassing all the squares in the eight counties on the east coast , However, when the latest Victory Square in the capital Dongfang County (built to celebrate the great victory in the Spanish self-defense counterattack) is completed, its scale should not be lost to these red-headed men (because the Turkmen who ruled Persia used to wear red turbans named after) the Broken Square.

Although he kept belittling the construction achievements of the Persian King City in his mind, Shay knew in his heart that this was a great, prosperous, wealthy and civilized city.Perhaps it is not as modern as many counties on the east bank, but in terms of architectural refinement and historical and cultural heritage, Isfahan is the best of all cities on the east bank.The East Coast Republic is still too young and lacks historical background.

"This city has more than 100 mosques, dozens of colleges, more than 200 public bathhouses, 10 cemeteries, and no less than 1500 hotels." Mr. Smith, who is traveling with him, has been to Isfahan several times, but He was still fascinated by this great city, and he continued to introduce: "Please pay attention, Mr. Shay, what you are in now is a great city with a population of 60. What is the concept of a population of 60? Have you seen it? Many years ago, maybe in the last century, when my grandfather passed through Naples, the city with a population of 30 had already shocked him, but Naples, the most populous city in Europe at that time Only half the population of Isfahan today..."

"It sounds very desirable." Ji Wen complimented, and then fell silent.Captain Givin, the first graduate of the nautical school who is extremely loyal to the east coast and passionate about his career, has fallen into extreme obsession at this time. He fantasizes that he can see the east coast in his lifetime. A mega city with a population of hundreds of thousands.It was a beautiful city, with clean streets, decent clothes, and magnificent squares where people wandered after work.There is a huge monument on the square, engraved with the names of everyone who has contributed to the rise of the East Bank.

The two walked for more than ten minutes, and then the Turkmen military officers who accompanied them led them to a domed building, which looked like a state guest house on the east bank, but the interior furnishings were relatively luxurious: exquisite furniture, Puffy carpets, beautiful lighting and dazzling Persian tapestries.Compared with these decorations, the East Bank State Hotel, which only has a layer of lime water on the walls, is really weak.

Mr. Smith seems to be staying here for the first time, but he has traveled to and from Persia many times, and obviously has a lot of experience, so he comforted Ji Wen not to be too anxious. Anyway, the credentials have been submitted, and the Persians will definitely ask people from the East Coast next time. words.If you're lucky, the current king, the young and promising Abbas II, may even meet Ji Wen in person—of course, this possibility is a little bit low, after all, Ji Wen is not a professional diplomat, and he is just a navy second lieutenant No more, it was unlikely that the king of the Persians would condescend to meet him.But whether the king sees or not doesn't affect the overall situation, as long as they promise what the people on the east coast want.

In this way, after arriving in Isfahan at the end of June, Ji Wen and others stayed in the State Guesthouse.The Persians did not restrict their going out, so Shay, under the leadership of the "old driver" Smith, started to eat, drink and have fun in the city of Isfahan. It is called a chic and happy.

Finally, on July 7, the Persians sent an official with the appearance of a scholar to the State Guesthouse, and formally talked with Giving himself (Mr. Smith avoided it as usual) in Spanish.The scholar looked not like a Persian, but a Westerner serving Shah Abbas II. He first asked about the relationship between the East Coast Republic and the Ottoman Empire.Even in Isfahan, which is far away in the Middle East and has no news, news about the people on the east coast of the New World is occasionally circulated with the flow of Armenian businessmen, most of which are naturally their various deeds in the Ottoman Empire.

To be honest, this question is very difficult to answer.After all, the relationship between the East Coast Republic of China and the Ottoman Empire is indeed too close, and the Persian Safavid Dynasty is a feud with the Ottoman Empire. The peace treaty concluded between the two parties has just passed. Remaining hostile is an ordinary thing.

Although Captain Ji Wen is not a professional diplomat, he also knows that this question is difficult to answer, so he only vaguely stated that the East Coast Republic has opened many trading stations in the Ottoman Empire and has certain commercial connections. The commercial station opened to the territory of the Kingdom of Persia, strengthening the connection between the two sides.

Fortunately, the Persians didn't care too much about Ji Wen's answer, or they didn't care at all, because the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, which are now doing business in Persia, are still doing business in Ottoman well?Therefore, the Persian scholar quickly changed the topic and asked whether the people on the east bank could provide the Persian Kingdom with a large number of high-quality weapons and even naval ships?

This question fell right into Ji Wen's hands. One of the main tasks of his trip was to sell goods from the east coast.Now that the batch of weapons and equipment he brought has entered the eyes of the Persians, the next business will be easy.Now with the end of the 30-year war in Europe, the export volume of the military industry on the east coast has begun to decline. Except for the Crimeans, Cossacks and Ottomans who are still buying, sales in other regions have basically stagnated.Therefore, it is definitely a boon for the domestic military industry, which has always had excess production capacity, to be able to find another big local tyrant customer in the Middle East.

But they also mentioned naval ships?This is a bit difficult. Mr. Gain Smith has been telling Shay that if the people on the east coast want to participate in the big market of Persia, they must abide by the tacit agreement reached between the English, the Dutch and even the Portuguese, that is, any country that wants to participate in the Persian market. When Persia exports ships with two masts or more, it must obtain the consent of everyone.Mr. Smith vividly called this "the principle of unanimity among civilized nations" and urged everyone to strictly abide by it.

This agreement is actually easy to understand, that is, to limit the sea power of the Persians, so that businessmen from "civilized countries" who come from afar can reap greater benefits.For example, in order to win over the British navy, which is known as the number one in the world (it defeated the Armada in 1588, and the Persians also heard about it), Abbas I ordered in 1615: British ships can dock at any port in Persia at any time; And British goods can reach anywhere in Persia; British people and property are protected in Persia, they can open factories in Persia, free trade, freedom of belief; the tariff on British goods is the lowest, only less than 3%.

These preferential measures moved the British East India Company greatly. They chose Jask Port as their base camp in Persia. trading. In November 1616, the British merchant ship "King James" sailed into the port of Jask with a full load of cargo, and was warmly welcomed by Persian officials and Abbas I himself.At the same time, Abbas I also announced that British ships were completely tax-free in Jask, and that Persia provided Britain with 11-1000 dans of raw silk every year, which was another series of preferential policies.Under such circumstances, the British finally made up their minds to provide warships to assist the Persians in occupying Hormuz, an island that had been occupied by the Portuguese for nearly a hundred years.

The Persians gave the British such great benefits because they took a fancy to the other party's sea power.However, no matter how generous the conditions offered by the other party, the British still refuse to spread shipbuilding technology to them. The fear is that they will be kicked away by the Persians in the future and will no longer enjoy any privileges.

Therefore, facing the ardent expectations of the Persians at this time, Ji Wen could only vaguely express that he had no authorization and had to consult the country for instructions.After remembering this point, the Persian scholar discussed other matters with Captain Ji Wen expressionlessly, of course mainly limited to business matters.At the end of the discussion, the other party obviously didn't want to be perfunctory, and hastily ended the negotiation with the people on the east bank, promising to provide the east bank with a quota of up to 300 tons of raw silk every year, provided that the people on the east bank normally deliver the specified amount of army weapons to them equipment.

There is no preferential tax rate, only trading at Abbas Wharf is allowed, and there is no permit to open a factory, let alone allow people from the east coast and goods from the east coast (except arms) to enter Persia, which is completely different from the privileges of the British. All this made Captain Shay clearly realize that he was underestimated.

Granny bear!

On July 1649, 7, when Captain Given returned to the wharf of Bandar Abbas and took away his raw silk, and was about to set sail for the Ottoman Port of Suez to have a look, he couldn't help but secretly said: "Maybe next time I have to let the The flagship of the Second Fleet of the Navy in Xinhua Port came here and wandered around here, so that these Persian turkeys could see what a powerful warship equipped with 25 artillery pieces looked like when they fired a salvo. Maybe at that time, their faces will change a little bit! "

(End of this chapter)