In March of the fifteenth year of the reign of the Ming Dynasty, a major event also occurred in distant Western Asia, that is, the emperor of the Persian Safavid Empire, Safavid, died, and their prince, Prince Abbas, was less than ten years old at this time.

The situation in the Safavid Empire of Persia began to be turbulent, and the ministers fought openly and covertly, fighting for power and profit, and were very busy.

It was at this time that the Earl of Trafford led a delegation of British envoys to the capital of the Persian Empire, of course, he did not come to pay a letter, he did not know that the emperor of the Persian Empire would die.

The reason why he came here was that he was commissioned by Richelieu to lobby the Persian Safavid Empire to assemble a large army and deploy troops near Kandahar.

Why did Richelieu invite him over? Could it be that the Earl of Trafford is very eloquent and a master lobbyist?

This is not true, the Earl of Trafford is just like that, mainly because the Persian Safavid Empire had the best relations with Britain at this time.

The rise of the Persian Safavid Empire can be said to have a lot to do with the British, the legendary Persian Safavid Empire's legendary Abbas I at the beginning of the succession of the Persian Empire was not very good, at that time the Persian Empire was almost overwhelmed by the Ottoman Empire and the Yueji Khanate, and the Mughal Empire was also eyeing it.

Abbas the Great had to cede large swaths of northwestern land to the Ottomans in exchange for a brief period of peace, and then he hired retired British general Shelly to help him reorganize his army and introduce gunpowder, muskets, and artillery.

This move has made earth-shaking changes in the army of the Persian Empire, and its combat effectiveness is not even under the regular army of the European continental powers, according to historical records, the Persian Safavid Empire at that time had no less than 10,000 artillery and hundreds of thousands of musketeers!

With a strong army, he had the capital for revenge and expansion, first from the Yue-bebe-Khanate to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and other places, then from the Ottoman Empire, and finally, with the help of the British Navy, he even occupied the Persian Gulf.

He was therefore grateful to the British, and during his reign he not only strengthened trade with the British East India Company, but also benefited the Netherlands, which was part of the anti-Habsburg coalition, and the Dutch East India Company was allowed to enter the Safavid Empire in Persia.

After the death of Abbas the Great, his successor Safavid also maintained good relations with the British, whether in the political, military or economic aspects, the two countries were more frequent, and the Earl of Trafford also led many envoys to the Persian Safavid Empire for exchanges, so Richelieu asked him to lobby the Persian Safavid Empire.

Anyway, it's too bad for him to come here, just in time for the death of the emperor and the turmoil in the court, what should I do?

Although the old General Shelly has returned to England, his younger brother Shelly Jr. is still there, and he is also the chief instructor of the army.

With the help of such a special insider, Trafford quickly identified the target of lobbying, which was Sultan, the Minister of War of the Persian Safavid Empire.

Of course, if you can buy off the prime minister of the Persian Safavid Empire, Bandqi, at this time, then the matter of sending troops will be simpler, because now Abbas, the heir of the Safavids, is just a child, and the military and political affairs of the entire Persian Safavid Empire are decided by Bandqi.

However, he learned from little Shelly that the prime minister especially hates corrupt people, and even offends the ministers of the court and the central government because of this, and it is simply boring to bribe such a person!

The Minister of War, Sultan, was different, not only did he love money, he also had a good relationship with Shelly, and most importantly, he was also the real power figure of the Persian Safavid Empire, second only to the Prime Minister Kuiqi.

With a goal, it was easy to do, and after Trafford had paid a tribute in front of the Safavids, he paid a pretended to pay a visit to the Prime Minister, and in the evening, he brazenly came to Sultan House with General Sheli, and in the name of a visit, in fact, it was a bribe, encouraging him to gather a large army and go around Kandahar.

Of course, Sultan didn't know what they were here for, but Trafford was a British earl, and it would be a great deal to visit him at his house, so he received Trafford and Shelley and his party very warmly.

After the two sides exchanged polite words, Shelly hinted that Sultan waved back left and right, which seemed to be beneficial, and Sultan naturally drove all his men away without hesitation.

Trafford was not verbose, and when there were only three people left in the room, he said directly: "Lord Sultan, I want to ask you for a favor." “

Sure enough, it was beneficial, Sultan immediately smiled and said: "Lord Earl, you are out of sight of what you say, if there is anything you say, as long as I can do it, it will be absolutely fine." “

Trafford also smiled and said: "It's very simple, I want to ask you to gather 200,000 troops and go around Kandahar." “

"Poof", Sultan was frightened by his words and squirted out all the tea that had just been poured into his mouth, what kind of joke, gather the army and go to Kandahar to take a turn, there is the territory of the Ming Empire, don't you want to seek death!

He gasped and said in a panic, "This, this, Lord Earl, you're not joking, are you?" “

Trafford still smiled and said: "Lord Sultan, I didn't ask you to lead the army to attack Kandahar, just to go around, what are you afraid of?" “

Afraid of what? I'm afraid that the Ming Empire will beat him!

Sultan was embarrassed and said: "This, what if the Ming Empire misunderstands?" They are too terrible, such a big Mughal Empire, they were wiped out in less than a year, you must know that the strength of the Mughal Empire was not under our Persian Empire, what if the Ming Empire misunderstood us and called us directly? “

Trafford immediately relieved: "Lord Sultan, don't worry, the Ming Empire will not fight, and they will not be able to protect themselves at this time." “

Sultan asked curiously, "Oh, what's going on?" “

Trafford seduced: "You know that they are fighting against Tsarist Russia in Siberia, right?" “

Sultan nodded and said, "I've heard of this, but Tsarist Russia doesn't seem to be able to defeat the Ming Empire, right?" “

Trafford said mysteriously: "Tsarist Russia naturally can't defeat the Ming Empire, but with our anti-Habsburg alliance behind the support, their strength is about the same, and the Tile Spur Department in the northwest of the Ming Empire has also sent troops, do you say that the Ming Empire still has air traffic control in South Asia?" “

Sultan asked incredulously, "Really?" “

Trafford spread his hands and said: "Of course it's true, you can try it." “

Hearing this, Sultan hesitated: "Try? Too dangerous, right? “

Trafford directly took out a gold bar, stuffed it in his hand, and said with relief: "Lord Sultan, don't worry, no matter how powerful the Ming Empire is, it is not the opponent of our anti-Habsburg alliance. “

Sultan flipped the gold bar in his hand, almost a catty, a hundred is not a thousand taels, so he went around and didn't really fight, what are you afraid of!

Thinking of this, he nodded slowly and said, "Okay, I'll try it." “