Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Solovyov did a lot in Tehran. He also had to do population census, restore order, train the police system, and restore security in the city.

At the same time, he left troops to conduct checks in the surrounding area. What he needs to do now is to get the city running again and solve the problem with the support of the people.

Fortunately, the Grand Ayatollahs of Qom are quite astute. Unlike the clergy in Tehran, they are not radical. Many of them simply endorse Islamic law and are less involved in secular affairs.

Now that the Shahs have been driven out, the invading Russians are showing them great respect. The commander-in-chief also expressed respect for Qom's status as a holy city and for the status of the Grand Ayatollahs.

Things became much easier. In fact, these elders, who didn't like the Shah, even wrote to him, who had fled to Isfahan, hoping he would recognize the situation.

Solovyov's original objective in the war was not to directly rule Tehran, but to establish a protectorate there.

Directly ruling the Iranian plateau would have unpredictable consequences for him. Although the region is rich in resources and could support Russian rule, conflicts would be inevitable in the future due to sectarian and ethnic issues.

But if Shah remains obstinate, then he will have no choice but to follow Plan B.

He awaited news of the arrival of the Tatar cavalry and the presence of Kazakh cavalry in the northeastern part of the Persian Empire, while simultaneously preparing for a southern expedition.

However, there are some things that need to be discussed, such as the presence of Russia's quasi-allies around the Persian Gulf.

The desert tribes had been suppressed by the Ottoman Empire and were still recovering.

However, the Sultan of Oman had established a good relationship with Solovyov himself. By contacting him, Oman's navy and merchant fleet could be mobilized to threaten the southern coastline of the Persian Empire, and supplies could also be obtained locally from the Indian Ocean coast.

His idea was good, but he didn't know that the Sultan himself had already heard about what was happening here. His envoy had even landed in Basra and had been traveling for a long time, passing through Ottoman Iraq and entering the Kurdish region, originally intending to go to the Russian border.

However, the Russian army moved too quickly, which exceeded the envoy's expectations. After he arrived in Tabriz, he was escorted to Tehran by a Russian regimental commander stationed there.

“Friend of His Majesty the Sultan, I have come here from His Majesty’s side to bring you a letter.”

"I wonder how His Majesty the Sultan is doing lately?"

"Your Majesty is well, thanks to the good relationship between His Highness the Prince and the Emperor of China. We have been able to sell spices in China, and everything has been very successful. God will bless His Highness the Prince, who is wise, loyal, and brave, and also wish your family good health."

"Thank you for your greetings, thank you for His Majesty the Sultan's kindness, and thank God and Allah."

Although, in Solovyov's view, the two people looked exactly like one person.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries and business compliments, Solovyov opened the letter from the Sultan of Oman, which, taking into account that Solovyov did not know Arabic, was written in French.

His Majesty the Sultan learned of Russia's impending offensive against Persia and thus dispatched envoys to the Russian camp in the Caucasus Mountains. The plan was to send a fleet to the south to assist the Russian operations, with the sole aim of obtaining trading privileges in several ports and establishing a direct trade route to Russia.

This request was not unreasonable, but Solovyov had not yet marched south to seize those places, and Russia did not have a fleet in the Persian Gulf at the moment. The nearest detachment consisted of only two frigates returning to St. Petersburg from the Far East, and Solovyov did not even know where they were.

Another issue is whether this detachment can receive the news in India or somewhere else and reach the Persian Gulf in time.

Having the help of the Omani navy would also be a good thing for Russia.

At least until the fleet arrives, there is still a potential ally.

However, Oman is unwilling to offend its old friend Britain, and they have their own demands.

“I understand His Majesty the Sultan’s meaning.”

"I wonder what arrangements Your Highness intends to make?"

"Trade rights are a minor matter, but that will have to wait until we occupy the southern coastline. Besides that, I will write to the Ottoman Pasha in Iraq and ask them to provide some assistance to His Majesty the Sultan's fleet in Basra."

"That would be wonderful. May God bless you."

Solovyov's previous deployment in Oman did indeed play a significant role.

To his surprise, Sudan took the initiative to send people over.

On the Sudanese side, the Shah's defeat was unexpected and swift.

The envoy even said this when he was being entertained at a banquet.

“Oh my friend. I didn’t expect them to be defeated so quickly. The Shah’s rule over Bahrain ended in less than fifty years, and now it’s come to this.”

At that time, the Persian Empire was still in the midst of decades of civil war following Nadir Shah's death, and the Qajar dynasty had not yet been established.

Bahrain emerged from the fragments of the Persian Empire as a separate nation and is now a British protectorate.

The British have effectively blocked the entrance to the Persian Gulf, and Solovyov is unsure whether a war will break out there with the British in the future.

Even the Persian issue threatened to cause a falling out with Britain on the European continent.

This is good news for France, because after fifteen years of recuperation, France has recovered its strength and even has a naval fleet.

In terms of naval vessels, France still has some unique advantages, but the Royal Navy has too many wooden ships, giving it an absolute numerical advantage.

In terms of quality, because the Royal Navy absorbed the experience of the French, it did not have as many advantages, and was even leveled off.

In that case, at least France, Russia, and Spain would need to unite to barely contend with Britain.

At this stage, all parties were afraid of the outbreak of war.

Solovyov is also worried because Russia's current economic orientation remains unchanged.

They export raw materials to Britain and France, but the competitiveness of their industrial products is still only average.

Unless tariffs are imposed, the situation will improve when Russia is able to produce all categories of products.

He's had this idea for a while now.

At this time, Russia possessed the longest operational railway network of its early days, and Pierre was still working hard to build it, with Nikolai willing to subsidize him.

If transportation efficiency can be improved, Russia can still operate, but the cost will still be high.

Therefore, more action is needed in the Middle East.

Solovyov reassured the citizens of Tehran and, after requesting that a trial be organized in the rear, decided to send an advance team of Cossacks and Tatar cavalry south to scout the location of the Persian Shah.

Unfortunately, this Shah ran even faster than Muhammad Sultan. Solovyov was neither Jebe nor Subutai; he hadn't even deployed his main army.

The Shah has left Isfahan, and although there are still garrison troops here, their morale is low.

He had already gone to Shiraz, and Solovyov could only lament that each generation was worse than the last.

The founding monarch of the Qajar dynasty was a former eunuch who was castrated at the age of six. When he was assassinated, his nephew, the current Sultan Fatih Ali Shah, succeeded him as the Shah as the governor of Fars.

Then, during the decades of his reign, he suffered repeated defeats and was attacked by Russia at least four times.

Meanwhile, the Qajar dynasty, a regime established by the Turkmen, did not allow the Shah to return to his homeland because Solovyov had cut off his route back.

If they went east from Shiraz, it would be difficult to circle back, because the various minor khans of the Kazakhs had passed through Bukhara and, led by freed Persian slaves, were heading towards the cities in northeastern Persia.

Shah could only continue running south; he knew this time he was truly finished.

As long as he wasn't captured like the Ottoman Sultan, it would be a victory for him.

He even sent letters to the Ottoman Sultan and various local power pashas, ​​expressing that if Russia controlled Persia, it would be in a situation where the Ottoman Empire was surrounded on three sides.

The empire also has Christians from Assyria and Syria, which happens to be located in the heart of the Ottoman Empire in Asia. This will surely trigger a chain of disasters.

Despite this, His Majesty the Sultan remained unmoved. He would not send troops, but instead would try to deal with these Pasha and Bey in Asia.

He couldn't deal with the one in Egypt because Muhammad Ali had complete control over Egypt. After the Ottoman Empire's disastrous defeat in Europe, Egypt was effectively independent, only still recognizing His Majesty the Sultan as its sovereign.

If Muhammad Ali wanted to, he could decide at any time how to confront His Majesty the Sultan.

It's even possible that he's already preparing to do so.

The Middle East is about to descend into chaos, and the Ottoman Empire will not come to the aid of the Persians.

Russia might even have to help the Ottoman Empire at that time.

Mahmoud II is already entangled with Egypt over the Syrian issue and is unwilling to pay any attention to the Persian Shah.

Therefore, seeing that the situation was hopeless, Shah continued to flee south.

When Solovyov set out, he was still planning to march towards Isfahan and then on to Shiraz.

But he didn't know that the Shah continued south, leaving only his son, Abbas Mirza, to command the army in Shiraz.

In other words, there was no conflict between them, father and son, like that between Sultan Muhammad and Jalal ad-Din.

The prince personally reorganized the army in Shiraz, which restored the Persian army to tens of thousands of men, and they also received aid from the British.

But he was not confident in fighting Solovyov, who was too strong, unless he reduced his forces and left some of his troops along the line.

In that case, perhaps Abbas Mirza could still put up a fight.

After the prince took over the army, discipline improved somewhat, but the Persians continued to plunder nearby villages, causing widespread panic.

Therefore, when Solovyov arrived in Isfahan, he saw the Persians surrendering. After receiving letters from the elders of Qom, the local mullahs persuaded the defenders to lay down their weapons. Although the Russians were infidels, they would not kill innocent people indiscriminately and would treat prisoners well.

Solovyov even allowed them to keep their military flags and personal belongings, but they had to be disarmed. Many of these people were locals, so he simply arranged for them to go home.

Next, we headed to Shiraz.

Solovyov sat in the old palace in Isfahan and marveled at its luxurious decorations.

"The Persian style is also very interesting, but the patterns are too complicated, and you won't get used to it after living there for a long time."

"Sir, shall we remove these decorations?"

“Stay put. We’re going to send men to Shiraz to see what the Shah of Persia is up to now. We’re going to stay here for the winter and not go south anymore.”

"But what about in the summer?"

"Gorchakov, Napoleon's fighting conditions in Egypt were much worse than ours. We were still on the Iranian Plateau, while they were in Egypt, in harsh desert environments away from the Nile River."

It wasn't like we were in Iraq. In the summer, it's not a place where people can live. In many places, the temperature can reach over 40 degrees Celsius, and it's even hotter near Basra.

Solovyov had seen such hot places in Oman before. Even if he were to march into the Persian Gulf, it would probably be in the autumn of 1830; he wouldn't go there for the entire summer.

He still doesn't know where the Persian Shah has gone.

On the Iranian plateau, there are also places where the various successors fought during the War of the Successors, such as Gabienne, whose name is now unknown. Antigonus and Eumenes fought there, and the latter was eventually betrayed by the Silver Shields.

Solovyov had some interest in ancient Persian civilization, and along the way he collected various documents, which he would then have translated and published in Tbilisi.

He also wrote to Pushkin in Tbilisi, hoping he could help the translators complete the task.

In addition, they were also inquiring about Nina's situation.

Lisa's letter said that although both mother and daughter were sick, their condition was relatively stable.

Solovyov also gave special instructions that since the child was weak, the same method should be used as before: stick a hot water bottle to the outside of the cradle to keep the child warm.

As for Nina herself, she was in a very bad mood.

Thinking of this, Solovyov naturally also hated the Persian Shah. The direct murderers were now being escorted to Tbilisi to be tried by the Caucasus governor who remained there.

They also need to be provided with defense lawyers, Islamic law scholars, and the endorsement of the Grand Ayatollah to ensure the trial is conducted under fair conditions and that a deliberation is held at the end.

In this case, even if it is recommended that these people be beheaded or hanged, the decision must be made after discussion between secular and religious jurists.

It is clear that even the jurists and clergy had their limits in their tolerance of Shah's relatives and thugs.

Having set aside the court proceedings, Solovyov also proposed a ceasefire to the Persian prince during the winter camp, with both sides agreeing to a truce.

Knowing that his credibility could not afford any further lapse, Abbas Mirza finally agreed to Solovyov's request. (End of Chapter)