10 July 1722, Bandar Abbas.

The carriage stopped steadily at the door of the Qi consulate in Bandar Abbas, and a hired Persian waiter stepped forward to open the door attentively, and saw Luo Zhihao, the consul of Qi with a gloomy face, stepped out of the carriage, and walked straight into the consulate.

"Where are the warships belonging to the naval fleet now?" After Luo Zhihao summoned Wu Hongyan, the military counselor of the consulate and the captain (captain) of the Navy, he asked in a deep voice: "Also, can the army stationed in Oman to stabilize the local situation be transferred to Persia?" ”

"The commander of the Persian fleet, General Kwong, returned to Jinmenbao (present-day Karachi, Pakistan) with four warships a month ago to perform routine maintenance on the ships." Wu Hongyan responded: "The other nine warships under the fleet were stationed at the port of Bushehr and the port of Jianmen (now the city of Aden, Yemen). Two companies of the Army and three Mocan servant battalions stationed in Muscat have largely stabilized the situation in Oman, helping the Auxiliary Minister of the Kingdom of Oman, Mohsin al-Ghassani, defeat several major opponents and take control of most of the territory. If you want to transfer, you should be able to do it. Consul Luo, is the governor of Hormuzgan still reluctant to lead troops to Isfahan? ”

"Hmph, in the face of the invasion of the Afghans, the Persians are not only cowardly and afraid of war, but also ambitious one by one, thinking that they can take advantage of the defeat of the Safavid Empire to divide one side and achieve princely hegemony." Luo Zhihao said indignantly: "Don't they know that once the Afghans break through Isfahan, maybe they will destroy the Safavid Dynasty and establish a new dynasty with Afghans as the ruling class." Their power as local governors will inevitably be liquidated by the nascent dynasty and replaced by a new governor loyal to the Afghans. ”

"I heard that at the beginning of last month, Prince Tahmasp, the third son of the Shah, successfully led more than 1,000 cavalry to break through Isfahan and arrived in Qazvin, the old capital of the empire, where he is recruiting troops and gathering strength." Wu Hongyan said: "Will the local governors of Persia therefore want to engage in political speculation and bet on several sides in order to obtain greater profits?" Therefore, they will take a wait-and-see attitude and delay in leading their troops to Isfahan to carry out the act of the king of Qin. Moreover, it is reported that under the city of Isfahan, the Afghans defeated several Persian reinforcements in succession, showing great combat strength, which also greatly deterred the local governor from trying to make the king's actions. ”

"The Afghans have besieged Isfahan for four months since the battle of Gulnabad." Luo Zhihao sighed and said, "I'm very worried about whether the defenders in the city can continue to support it. In the unlikely event that things go wrong, we will usher in the biggest political change in Persia in decades, which will have a great impact on our country. In addition, if our envoy of Great Qi, hundreds of merchants and their families stationed in Isfahan, and the army of more than 200 or so that we have sent, if they all fall into it, it will surely alarm the locals. ”

"Consul Luo, do you want to mobilize and organize a rescue force to go to Isfahan?" Wu Hongyan looked at Luo Zhihao, who had an anxious look on his face, and asked carefully.

"Well, there is an idea, but the Persians can't count on it at the moment. Do you have any good advice? ”

"Consul Luo, the port of Bushehr has an armed convoy of 800 men, which is controlled by the Persian trading community. In this situation, it can barely be used. ”

"Eight hundred?" Luo Zhihao frowned, shook his head and said: "Eight hundred people is too few, and most of the guards are still hired local Persian forces, facing more than 10,000 powerful Afghan tribal troops, I am afraid that they can be defeated with just one face." ”

"Eight hundred is a little less." Wu Hongyan nodded and said: "But the Persian trading company has a lot of money, and the funds in its hands are tens of millions, so it can squeeze out a little expense, and temporarily hire thousands of tribesmen in the local area, and if you get together a little, you can also form an army worthy of a war." ”

"Mercenaries?"

"That's right, mercenaries." Wu Hongyan smiled slightly, "Not only in Persia, but also in the Mughal Empire, there are countless cases of spending money to hire troops to fight. More than 100 years ago, Humayun, the second emperor of the Mughal Empire, recruited tens of thousands of Persian mercenaries to fight back to India and re-establish the empire's rule in India. The most important reason why the governors of Persia did not actively send troops to the rescue of King Qin of Isfahan, in addition to their own careful thoughts, was that they did not have much money in their hands. But this situation is not too much of a problem in front of the Persian trading company. ”

"Persian Trading Company ......" Luo Zhihao was suddenly moved, groaned for a while, and asked softly: "Are they willing to spend money on this?" ”

The Persian trading company, as one of the largest trade monopoly trading companies in China, is not only rich and powerful, but also has an extremely deep background, the royal family, the cabinet, the princes and nobles, and the commercial monopoly capital all have a large number of shares in it.

"The Afghans have traveled thousands of miles in Persia and have been fighting for months, and they must have seized countless amounts of property, and if they can take one or two from it, it is also a lot of wealth." Wu Hongyan said in a low voice: "Furthermore, if the Afghans defeat the Safavid Dynasty, the strategic layout of our government and military in the Indian Ocean will certainly be affected. ”

Hearing this, Luo Zhihao nodded lightly.

-------------------

July 18, Port of Bushehr.

Qi Yanming, the chief treasurer of the Persian trading company in Bushehr Port, liked to do the most was to ride a horse and lead a team of guards to inspect the entire Bushehr City, and then watch countless local residents bow down to him respectfully, and they cast a series of modest and envious glances, as if they were like a king, examining their inherent territory.

In this port city, the Persian trading company is the bread and butter of tens of thousands of local residents, and it is also the master of all their destinies. Although there are a number of official institutions and Ulema (such as the True God Patriarch, Religious Judges, etc.) stationed in the city, it is still the Qi people who have the final decision.

Relying on the busy docks, thousands of Persian dock coolies could easily earn salaries far beyond the rest of the empire; Many craftsmen in the city, all kinds of craft products produced and processed are purchased by Qi merchants; The restaurants, inns, carriage and horse shops, taverns, and brothels in the city were flooded with customers and business flourished because of the constant arrival of merchant ships; The industrious Persian peasants, who grew grain, vegetables and fruits on the outskirts of the city, were also able to sell them at a good price by virtue of the prosperity of the port.

"The population of our Bushehr City seems to have increased a lot." Qi Yanming stopped in the square, looking at the bustling flow of people on the street and the cries of selling one after another, his face showed a little relief.

"The Great Treasurer, since the Afghans besieged Isfahan, the whole Persian territory was in chaos, so that refugees continued to come to the city of Bushehr, in addition to hiding from the fighting, just to beg for a good meal." Qin Maofa, the captain of the Bushehr City Guard, replied: "After all, such a stable and orderly living environment as our Bushehr City is rare in other parts of Persia. ”

"Now that there are more refugees, is there a security problem in the city?"

"Petty theft, fights and brawls have really increased a lot compared to the past. In addition, there have been several violent incidents of exclusion of refugees by local residents who fear for their livelihoods. However, under the lessons of the clubs and whips of my escort, it was temporarily suppressed. ”

"Good." Qi Yanming nodded and said, "In response to those violent incidents that may endanger the normal order in the city, your escort team might as well be ruthless and make an example of each other, so as not to let the Persians think that we are all benevolent bodhisattvas." Sometimes, the occasional appearance of angry eyes is more conducive to stabilizing the ruling base of the city of Bushehr. ”

"Yes, big shopkeeper!"

"In addition, your escort team will recruit some more personnel, increasing the number of people to 1,200 in case of emergency."

"The big treasurer is worried about the city of Bushehr being attacked by local armed forces nearby?"

"That's right. The situation in this Persian region is becoming more and more chaotic, and who knows if those poor local tribes and armed forces will suddenly have a fever in their heads, and want to fight the autumn breeze here and grab some money and food. ”

"The big shopkeeper is very thoughtful. …… The subordinates will go to deal with this matter in the next few days. ”

"Alas, I don't know if Isfahan is besieged, and whether the extremely important materials of our trading company are still safe. If the Afghans break our trading post outside Isfahan, it will be a big loss! The Safavid dynasty was too wasteful to be defeated by a group of nomadic tribes in the mountains of Afghanistan. …… Tsk, when the situation is calmed down, we have to take advantage of the situation and talk to Persia that the lease of this port of Bushehr should be extended for seventy or eighty years, or a permanent lease can be made. ”

"It's better to buy it out on a permanent lease and turn it into a private asset of our trading company." Qin Maofa said cleverly: "Come to think of it, the Persians don't dare to refuse our request easily. ”

"Haha......" Qi Yanming couldn't help laughing when he heard this, "Old Qin, are you soldiers full of ambitions for other people's territories?" ”

"Hehe...... Qin Maofa said with a smile: "Big treasurer, maybe, this Safavid Dynasty has destroyed the Afghans, then we may be able to get this port for free." ”

"Afghans are not easy to deal with, they are too barbaric and backward, and they don't follow the rules at all." Qi Yanming shook his head and said, "If it is possible, we still have to try to protect the rule of the Safavid Dynasty, after all, our Qi Kingdom, as well as our trading company, have spent a lot of time and energy on it." Can't you let it ...... so easily? It's down! ”