October 2, Chang'an, Admiralty Building.

"We will provide Qin with 200 army light artillery, 18,000 muskets, 20,000 pairs of anti-sand goggles, 30,000 sets of woolen army coats and leather boots, as well as corresponding marching tents, sapper shovels, canned food, horseshoes, gunpowder and other war materials." Zheng Depeng, deputy chief of the Admiralty of Qi State and hussar general (admiral), looked at Zhu Boyin, military attache of the Northern Ming Dynasty in Chang'an and general Guangwei (major general), knocked the pipe in his hand in the ashtray, and then continued: "In addition, we will also build five commercial transport ships with a displacement of 2,000 tons and eight inland steamships with a displacement of 300 tons to 400 tons for the Qin State. Qin proposed to build a direct railway from Kaifeng to Lanzhou via Xi'an, and our cabinet government has agreed in principle. ”

"Anything else?" Zhu Boyin asked with a blank face.

"Hehe......" Zheng Depeng smiled when he saw Zhu Boyin so calm, and couldn't help but glance at the little prince of Beiming, "We have also authorized the high-grade cement technology used in military construction to be localized in the Qinguo factory, and at the same time cancel the steel export restrictions to the Qinguo." …… By the way, Qin Guo used Dengzhou Customs and Tianjin Customs as collateral to apply for a ten-year loan from several major banks in our Qi State, with a total amount of about three million yuan, well, equivalent to more than ten million taels of silver. ”

"Did the State of Qin ask your State of Qi to intervene in the war between Qin and Ming, and force me to withdraw from the disputed border area in order to achieve a truce between the two sides?"

"That's right, Qin Guo doesn't want to continue fighting with you." Zheng Depeng nodded and said, "They think that it is extremely cost-effective to fight with you in places such as Liaodong and North Xianning Province in North Korea. However, if we want to directly attack your Zhenzhou territory on a large scale, it will trigger the "Mutual Assistance and Security Treaty" between us and your Ming Kingdom, which will make our Qi State have to intervene in the war and assume the obligation to send troops. At this point, the monarchs and ministers of the Qin State should be very wise, and they will not open up another battlefield in the northeast when the war in Mobei and the Western Regions has not been pacified. ”

"Hmph, the Qin State can't nibble at the dense fortress groups we have built on the Tumen River and the North Xianning Road, and is worried that your Qi State will intervene in the war and continue to bleed them, so naturally they don't dare to continue to fight with us." Zhu Boyin sneered and said, "Don't they boast that they have a strong country and abundant military strength, and they want to teach us to be honest?" …… In the war in the dense forest and mountainous areas, we have never been afraid of anyone! ”

"In the past three years, you have consumed a lot of life through this war, as well as a large number of Koreans and Japanese, right?"

"Chief Zheng, you are my old commander during my naval internship in your country, and I will not hide it from you, although the population of the Ming Dynasty has reached 2 million, more than 30% of the population is domesticated Shengfan and attached to the Koreans and Japanese. The ancients said that the hearts of those who are not of my race will be different, and the territory of my Ming Dynasty is separated by sea routes and scattered everywhere. If there is any major change in the imperial court, these people are the most unstable factor! ”

"Invest a little less in the military, and use the limited resources on the education of the people and the naturalization of foreign races, and your Ming Kingdom will be able to maintain a hundred years of national power." Zheng Depeng shook his head and said.

"Chief Zheng, our Ming Kingdom is different from your Qi Kingdom." Zhu Boyin sighed and said: "To the south of our Ming Kingdom is Japan, and the territory of Zhenzhou is adjacent to Qin State and Korea, all of which are populous countries, and they cannot be conquered and assimilated by our Ming Dynasty. In order to ensure the unity of the hearts of the people in the country, the only way to weaken the contradictions of ethnic disputes is to make the above-mentioned countries the enemies of conquest, so that the people under their jurisdiction can unite with the same hatred and hatred. ”

"So, your Ming State is willing to make peace with the Qin State by armisticapp?"

"Although those Shengfan, Koreans, and Japanese people have very little money, in the past three years, all kinds of materials and military expenses have been spent on millions of dollars, which has already hurt the country." Zhu Boyin said bitterly: "In this situation, our Ming Dynasty can only be forced to respond to the request of the Qin State to armistice. ”

"The Cabinet government has agreed to your request for financial assistance of one million yuan submitted by Daming."

"Oh!" Zhu Boyin raised his eyebrows, and a satisfied smile appeared on his face, "Then the sail warship purchased by our Ming Navy has ever been promised?" ”

"Four fourth-class sailing warships with a displacement of 800 tons, as well as a supply transport ship with a displacement of 1,500 tons, will be delivered to your Ming Navy by the Ryukyu Fleet in the next six months."

"Has your cabinet agreed to the request for the extension of the railway from Zhenzhou (now Vladivostok) to Shuangcheng (now Ussuriysk, Russia, i.e., Shuangchengzi)?"

"Although the cabinet has not yet made a clear statement, I don't think it is a big problem." Zheng Depeng nodded and said: "As long as the conditions given by your Ming Kingdom are attractive enough, my Qi State is a business consortium to intervene in this railway." ”

When Zhu Boyin heard this, a subtle wry smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

Several of your Qi trading companies have already controlled all the railways in operation in the Yunzhou (now Hokkaido) area, so that if we want to transport troops and grain and do war readiness mobilization, we have to apply to those railway companies in advance, and there are almost no secrets to speak of, which makes the DPRK and China complain about this.

Why, now you Qi people are eyeing the railway in the Zhenzhou area again?

But our Ming Dynasty is asking for aid in construction, and we want to completely control this railway in the hands of the imperial court!

Let's go! Since I, the Ming Dynasty, want to obtain the armed protection of the Qi State, I have to pay some price.

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October 11, Chang'an, Persian Legation.

Haddadi Payam, the plenipotentiary of Abbas III of the Safavid dynasty, could finally breathe a sigh of relief. After months of lobbying, His Majesty the Emperor of Qi and their cabinet finally recognized Abbas III as the Imperial Shah, and decided to send troops to assist the Empire in expelling the Afghans and restoring the Empire's existing ruling order.

In return, the Safavid Empire will open all domestic markets to Qi and establish a nationwide customs system under the "guidance" and "help" of Qi State, and the relevant import and export trade control policies and tax rates will also be "negotiated and formulated" by the two sides.

In addition, in view of the fact that Qi expelled the Omanis who invaded the coastal areas of the empire and effectively maintained the security of the empire's maritime frontiers, the empire will give many islands in the bay such as Hormuz Island and Kissam Island to the Qi State free of charge in the name of Princess Nasid's dowry, and permanently renounce the sovereignty claims of the above-mentioned bay islands.

For the port of Bushehr, whose lease has expired, the empire not only extended the lease for a period of 50 years, but also stipulated that the state of Qi has the right of unlimited priority to renew the treaty, and the empire will not revoke its right to use it without any excuse. At the same time, in order to give Qi a broader space for development in the port, the empire also extended the territory of Bushehr Port to the surrounding area by 50 kilometers.

After the war, in order to ensure the security of the empire and obtain strong military support from the Qi state in a timely manner, the empire will invite the Qi army to settle in the three cities of Bandar Abbas, Shiraz, and Kerman, and the imperial government will provide 300,000 tomans (1 toman is equivalent to about 2.7 taels of silver) military funding for the Qi garrison every year.

The cabinet government of Qi said that it would also make every effort to mediate diplomatically in response to the invasion of the Caucasus by the Ottoman Empire and Tsarist Russia into the Caucasus and the western province of Arabistan (present-day Iranian province of Khuzestan) to ensure the territorial integrity and unity of the Safavid Empire.

Although, the above-mentioned conditions given to the Qi State have greatly damaged the authority and sovereign integrity of the empire. But if the empire were to be seized and replaced by the savage and crude Afghans, and then to ride on the heads of all Persians, it would be unacceptable, both in terms of religious beliefs and national identity.

Qi was far away from Persia and was no real threat to the empire. Even if they were given a great deal of privileges and benefits within the empire, and a number of islands and ports were ceded up, they were nothing compared to the destruction of the empire by the Afghans.

What Qi is trying to do is only "benefit", but the barbarian Afghans are asking for the lives of our Persians.