On May 2, 1731, Kerman, an important town in the southwest of the Safavid Empire in Persia, seemed to have entered early summer, and the temperature would climb to 30 degrees Celsius in the afternoon, and the dry air made people feel unusually hot.

Ten years have passed since the horrific massacre of the city by the Afghan gilzai, and the once bloody city has once again regained its prosperity, like weeds, and countless crowds of people have emerged from the market, including Persians, Indians, Afghans, Europeans, and Qi people from Hanzhou, all kinds of people, from nobles to ordinary residents, from merchants to craftsmen, from soldiers to merchants, making this a diverse and prosperous market.

On both sides of the street, there are many shops selling jewelry, herbs, and cloth. In the middle of the market, there are rows of small stalls selling all kinds of snacks, such as kebabs, toast, grilled fish, etc., which are fragrant and mouth-watering.

In a corner of the market, there is a small shop selling herbs, and the owner is a kind old pharmacist who is dispensing medicine to a patient.

On the other side of the market, there is a silk shop owned by a young and beautiful woman who is showcasing the latest styles of oriental silk clothing.

At the end of the market, there is a small square, where some citizens are gathering, some are communicating, some are dancing, and it is very lively. Here, one can feel the prosperity and vitality of the empire.

Four years ago, the Qi people funded the construction of two roads, from Bushehr Port to Shiraz and from Bandar Abbas to Sirjan, which greatly facilitated the exchange of people and goods.

However, by virtue of this treaty, the Qi people also officially acquired the land within a 50-kilometer radius of the port of Bushehr, as well as many islands such as Hormuz, Kishm, Larak, and Hengjam in the strait area, as well as the right to garrison troops within the empire.

In the Eastern world, they also have their own religions, mainly Taoism and Buddhism, but most of them do not seem to have a single faith, and will worship many gods and goddesses, and will also worship their ancestors.

However, although the people of Qi treat religious beliefs like this, although many true gods and believers are not very close, it cannot be said to be disgusting. At the very least, they will not be hostile and blasphemous to the True God Religion, like those Europeans, and they will not easily offend the people.

In recent years, there have been more and more Qi commodities flooding the Persian market, from large machinery and equipment, horse-drawn carriages, steam locomotives, to oil, spices, refined salt, sauces, tea, and coffee in daily life, to cotton textiles, hardware, utensils, and agricultural tools that are in great demand by ordinary people, as well as jewelry, jade, ivory products, high-grade porcelain, and exquisite clocks enjoyed by the royal family and nobles.

"When the railway is built, it is necessary to break ground on the ground, and in this case, we should find the land master. So, are we worshipping the wrong god and asking for the wrong signature? Zuo Yanqing, deputy chief engineer of the Persian Railway Survey, said in a low voice.

"Hey, this Qi people's stuff is made of solid materials, and it looks good!" In a hardware store, a middle-aged man in a felt hat held an iron pot, and from time to time tapped the edge of the pot with his fingers, making a dull buzzing sound and praising it.

So the reason why the Qi army can be dispatched must be that there is a huge crisis in a certain area of the empire, so that the imperial army alone cannot solve it, and it is necessary to rely on the people of Qi to "wipe the ass" for the empire and deal with the aftermath.

By sunset, countless devotees have gathered around the temple to perform the daily ritual prayer under the auspices of the imam.

Although, according to this treaty, in the event of a foreign invasion of the empire, the state of Qi was obliged to provide the necessary military and financial support to ensure the security and stability of the empire.

Therefore, to a certain extent, the Qi people are undoubtedly the saviors of the tens of millions of people of the empire and the benefactors of the Safavid Dynasty.

The big mullah politely invited the Qi people into the temple hall of the true god.

In the evening, the mosque exudes an air of serenity and serenity, with rows of Arabian spires that stretch out along the central axis of the basilica. Unlike the hustle and bustle of the market, it is so quiet that it seems that the air has been soaked into the spirit, and standing in the solemn hall, everyone's mind seems to be snatched away.

"But isn't your price a bit expensive?" The man gently put the iron pot down and began to bargain.

What is even more criticized by many Persians is that in order to maintain friendship with the Qi people, the Safavid Dynasty actually gave the Qi people extremely superior super-national treatment, and even issued a separate decree to protect the Qi people, and all their own residents who caused harm to the Qi people in words and deeds will be severely punished.

At that time, the time from the coast to the imperial capital will be shortened from the current one month to three or four days.

Kerman was also one of the three cities where Qi troops were stationed, and the area was rich in coal and copper mines, which attracted a large number of Qi merchants and their accompanying families, which further stimulated the prosperity of local commerce.

As a result, Kerman's merchants and shops preferred the Qi people who spent a lot of money to the ordinary buyers who picked and searched.

Of course, there are also goods from Ottoman, India and Europe in the market, but in terms of price and quality, they cannot be compared with Qi goods.

The "strange" religious belief of the Qi people is really unacceptable to countless believers with devout beliefs.

Everyone knows that Qi Bo's current relationship is extremely close, and if the Qi garrison wants to organize military operations, it is naturally not aimed at the empire.

"It's all nonsense." Bai Shixian heard this and glared at Yin Dakang, "Do you think you can act recklessly in the territory of Persia?" In such a true god country, religion is extremely rejective of religions that do not belong to its own country, and it is difficult to make a mess. When the time comes, it won't end well. ”

At this time, a group of Qi merchants were probably inspired by Allah and also came to this sacred temple of true gods, which attracted the attention of many believers.

For the faithful, faith should be exclusive and exclusive, and even if believers of different beliefs and sects do not engage in sword-fighting, then it is absolutely impossible to worship and worship other religions or sects without psychological burden.

Although this true temple will be worshiped by Qi people from time to time, he knows that the people of Qi have no intention of converting to the true god religion at all, but only come to worship out of fear of "heaven" or want to pray for a certain private will.

As early as a few decades ago, Qi domestic goods were synonymous with "high-end goods", which were much easier to use and more durable than similar products made in Persia in terms of materials, quality, and workmanship.

Not to mention that relying on the Qi State to shake the field can save the empire from the invasion of the two powerful neighbors of Russia and the Ottomans, in order to gradually eliminate the separatist forces of various warlords in the country, and prevent the barbaric and brutal Afghans from entering the empire again to burn, kill, loot, and plunder the people.

A few years ago, the Afghan rebels ravaged the whole of Persia, slaughtering cities and destroying the land, brutally killing innocent Persian people, plundering civilian wealth, and later, they also broke through Isfahan, captured the imperial Shah, wantonly humiliated and slaughtered those once high-ranking princes and nobles, trampled the great and proud Safavid Dynasty under their feet, and brought the empire to the brink of annihilation.

In addition, when these Qi people came to Persia, they not only made a lot of money from the Persians, but also paid out of their own pockets to continuously repair and improve the poor transportation facilities in the empire, which can be regarded as benefiting the Persian people.

"Otherwise, our Qi country will also build a temple in Kerman and worship some of our immortals." Hearing this, Yin Dakang, the captain of the Persian railway guard, muttered quietly.

It is said that the people of Qi are polytheistic beliefs, which contain practicality, compatibility and diversity.

Although the man was still hesitating, deep down he was already persuaded by the owner of the shop and agreed with his statement.

The people of Qi should be regarded as relatively gentle and charitable "heretics".

In the near future, the Qi people are preparing to build a railway from Bandar Abbas to Isfahan and extend a branch line to Kerman.

"My friend, how can you be too expensive?" "If you think about it, if you buy a locally produced iron pot, although the price is much cheaper, it won't take long for the thin-skinned iron pot to crack or break." When the time comes, if you make up for it and repair it, won't it cost you more money? You must know that all the goods from Qi are absolutely durable products and have an excellent reputation. As long as you buy it back, you won't regret it. ”

"Yes, yes." The owner of the shop echoed with a smile: "You are a person who knows the goods, look at the thickness of this pot, and then look at the material of this pot, it is absolutely solid and well-made." If you want to buy it back, you will use it for ten or eight years, and there will definitely be no damage in the slightest. ”

In other words, there is basically no national religion in the country of Qi, and in this belief system, no matter what religion it is, it has no right to erase other beliefs, nor does it have the right to completely cover all ethnic groups.

In other words, the state of Qi is a purely secular state.

"It doesn't matter." Bai Shixian, the superintendent of the Persian Railway, smiled slightly, and whispered: "Anyway, they are all gods in the sky, let's worship here, maybe it will bring our wishes to the father-in-law of the land by the way." ”

And in Europe, they don't mind going to the Catholic church to pray.

For the Qi State, the Persians are full of contradictions in their hearts.

It was the Qi people who rescued all the Persians from the clutches of the Gilzails, and when they recovered one city after another, the humiliated Persian people all worshipped the Qi people as the embodiment of the great true God, and the messengers who came to the world by Allah's command, so as to save all the suffering true God people.

At the same time, the imperial market was also fully open to Qi goods, import and export tariffs were negotiated and formulated by Qi and Poland, and the customs were also guided and managed by Qi people, allowing Qi to build railways and highways, develop minerals, and merchants to pass freely within the empire.

However, the wronged Persians can often only forbear themselves, and cannot make any "offense" Qi people's words and deeds, even if they are angry and resentful, they can only hope that the court set up by the Qi people in Persia can be tried fairly and give the victim an explanation.

Although most of the Qi people who came to Persia were modest and gentle people, there were always some "bastards" and "arrogant" Qi people who mixed in, and they would also make some things that were boiling with public resentment.

The Great Mullah Musa watched several Qi people in the hall constantly exchange heads and ears, showing no respect for the true god, and was very angry in his heart, but because of the special status of the other party, he didn't dare to scold, so he could only look at each other coldly.

Could it be that the Afghan tribal forces in the Kandahar region are restless again?

Or did Nadir in the northeastern Khorasan region defeat the imperial army that had come to quell the rebellion?

To the left of the small square is a magnificent temple of the True God, which was badly damaged by the Gilzai massacre ten years ago. Later, when the city was recaptured by the Qibo coalition, the city's inhabitants and nearby tribal leaders donated some funds to repair the temple so that the devastated parishioners could pray for blessings.

However, Qi's support and assistance to Persia was not without purpose.

As an important southwestern town, Kerman was a long-standing trading center between the Persian Gulf, Khorasan and Makran (the coastal area where present-day Pakistan and Iran meet), and was also one of the main producers of Persian carpets, attracting countless foreign merchants, so that the devastated city was restored to its former prosperity and hustle and bustle in a short time.

Although some people in Persia are wary and worried about the trend of Qi becoming more and more influencing (controlling) the empire, there is no doubt that the current form of the empire is inseparable from the "support" and "help" of Qi state.

I heard that the Qi State Garrison Headquarters also sent a letter to the Governor's Office, asking the local government to requisition more livestock and vehicles for the Qi State Garrison, and there are faint signs of launching military operations.

In the past few days, the army logistics department stationed in Kermanzi has suddenly increased the purchase of grain, cloth, and medicinal materials, which has triggered price changes in the entire market.

The political, economic, military, and even cultural and religious aspects of the empire will inevitably be guided (constrained) and influenced (controlled) by the Qi people, and it is no longer a completely independent country.

After liberating Isfahan and expelling the Gilzails, they eagerly signed a very unequal "Zibo Treaty of Friendship and Mutual Assistance" with the Empire, thereby seizing countless political and economic benefits from the Empire.

In the eyes of many people of insight, the above-mentioned rights and interests obtained by the Qi State have turned the empire into a vassal or subordinate state of their Qi State.

This situation has caused a little worry to countless Kerman residents and businessmen.

It can be said that with the increasing political, economic and military influence of Qi in Persia, the goods of Qi almost dominated the entire Persia, squeezing out those goods from Europe, and also with the traditional camel caravans, penetrated deep into the Caspian Sea coast and the hinterland of Central Asia, becoming the fourth largest single market after India, Qin and Ottoman, and the rolling wealth continued to flow from this ancient empire to Hanzhou.

Just when the empire was about to collapse and collapse, the Qi State extended a helping hand in time, mobilized and gathered tens of thousands of troops to land in Persia, drove the brutal and ferocious Gilzai out of the empire's borders, and tried to save the empire from the danger of its collapse.

When they arrive in the world of the True God, they will go to the local temple of the True God to "pray for blessings" and "make wishes".

But people's livelihood is difficult, if you can reduce the price of the shop owner a little more, you can provide a few more meals for your family.

Many of Kerman's residents were amazed when they heard about it.

This is simply a miracle bestowed upon the earth by Allah!

(End of chapter)