Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

At the ruins of Persepolis, Solovyov saw only broken walls and ruins.

The reason is quite simple: Alexander the Great's companions, after getting drunk, set fire to the palace and later expressed their regret.

"The Greeks of that time were not necessarily civilized."

"Sir, do you really think so?"

"Civilization can also be barbaric, and greatness can be a mere thought away. We have overthrown the brutal Persian Shah, and we will bring prosperity and peace to this place. There will be no more tax collectors who levy exorbitant taxes. I have heard that in some places, taxes are like those in the Roman era, perhaps even five times higher. We will shatter the old tax system within the Persian Empire and make everyone understand it."

"Sir, what if they disagree?"

“Gorchakov, then we’ll be like Julius Caesar in Gaul, making them realize exactly what level they are at.”

After returning to Isfahan, Solovyov wrote to the religious leaders and set off for Qom to visit the Grand Ayatollahs.

Only by passing all levels of doctrinal examinations and dissertation defenses can one attain such a highly respected position and have the right to interpret doctrines.

When Solovyov arrived here, he also received news that his wife had given birth again, albeit with some delay.

The daughter was named Alexandra because the Queen herself came to visit her, and as her godmother, she was very important to her.

If it were a son, perhaps these scholars would not only congratulate him, but also persuade Solovyov to convert his young son to Islam.

If it's a daughter, then congratulations are in order.

"Thank you for your congratulations, elders. I have come to Qom today to ask you, esteemed elders, how to effectively govern the countryside and the city?"

"The prince is a 'Book of the Lord' and has always been tolerant of all faiths. He also understands our Islamic law. However, in governing the villages, he will probably need the help of the mullahs. We are just Islamic scholars who can offer guidance, but we cannot forcibly interfere."

Solovyov wasn't surprised when he heard this. The actions of the Grand Ayatollahs were more about appeals than guidance, meaning that Khomeini, who had overthrown Pahlavi, and his successors were getting involved in politics.

However, this was already quite advanced for the Persian region, because the Shahs and kings were always either foreign agents or cruel and reactionary rulers.

At least they will provide guidance based on their own understanding, which is still somewhat standardized.

Even in modern times, during football matches, elders would advise that during Ramadan, it is permissible to eat if necessary, rather than observing a strict fast.

Moreover, in the Persian countryside, these mullahs had much stronger control than the priests in the French countryside, because they could still organize religious courts in terms of Islamic law.

In France, Solovyov recalled the troublemakers in the Vendée, where the priests had been killed by the special envoy, ultimately causing these troublemakers, who were originally in the revolutionary camp, to become royalists.

If it weren't for Solovyov's clever arrangement to have the Prussians stationed in the Vendée, these troublemakers wouldn't have turned against him again.

Solovyov has some experience in this area.

He spoke to the elders about the experience of the French Revolution, the ruling methods of the Russian Empire, and how other countries governed themselves.

The French Revolution was quite shocking to the elders, but they did not express any regret upon hearing that the tax farmer chemist Lavoisier had been beheaded.

Solovyov realized that the Islamic law has an ingrained aversion to usury, and that tax farmers must also dislike it.

Because these are all ways to exploit the people. The rich and powerful are not like religious leaders; they might even enjoy usury.

This is why, in the Nasreddin stories that are prevalent from the Middle East to Central Asia and Xinjiang, Nasreddin always carries the hidden attribute of a wise man, which is even more evident in the Persian and Turkish stories.

The stories of Central Asia and Xinjiang tend to focus on the working people and wandering imams, while here they are purely religious elders.

To be fair, the reason the elders in black robes agreed with what Solovyov did was because he made sense and knew how to respect their opinions.

In this way, Solovyov easily gained their trust. Although the Tatar cavalry sent later were Sunni, the Russian army was able to control them.

Therefore, the area under Russian control is currently relatively stable.

If those people were to cause trouble, Solovyov couldn't think of any good solutions, for example...
Just like the young Khoja who loved stamping documents, the emperor Qianlong was someone who didn't know what gratitude was and even tricked the elder Khoja into a trap.

Since he has no descendants and is invincible, the eldest brother will naturally bear the consequences of any harm done to him.

Solovyov had also expressed concerns about the Persian issue.

However, when he went back to read the Gallic Wars, he also discovered the problem.

Similar to the problems the Russian army had previously encountered in the Caucasus, any large-scale resistance was related to taxation and the distribution of benefits.

This is strongly related. When he was in the Caucasus, he resolved the Chechen issue through negotiation alone. This was because it was after Yermolov went down to implement the "three alls" policy, and the carrot came after the stick, which made the locals more convinced.

In this expedition, the Chechens were always in the ranks as light infantry. Although they were somewhat sidelined in several major battles due to their formation, they still put in a lot of effort overall.

Because their faith is closest to that of the Persians, their work of maintaining order in towns is always led by their accompanying clerics, who enforce Islamic law. Although there are some differences from the Islamic law of Qom, there are no major problems.

It's much better than some poorly disciplined former Caucasian troops who would steal a few Hami melons from a villager's house for free.

However, even these Caucasian soldiers who were just watching the drama unfold didn't dare to do anything too outrageous because Solovyov had specifically deployed the military police to keep watch.

If you are caught committing certain crimes that you shouldn't have done, you will be hanged from a tree, just like some bandits.

Such a deterrent effect also demonstrates Solovyov's very fair law enforcement: those who commit murder, arson, harm women, and other unspeakable crimes are all publicly shamed and then burned in the square.

The locals were afraid of going to hell, while these soldiers were afraid that they would have the life to rob things, but not the life to spend money.

Therefore, the situation here was still quite good after a winter.

Solovyov also sent people to investigate the situation in the south. While he stayed in Qom, he also issued some decrees based on the advice of the Grand Ayatollahs, such as granting local civilians, organized by the clergy, the right to supervise tax collectors.

There are precedents for mutual oversight. Solovyov is not too worried because he knows that the Taliban, including religious students—who could become the Taliban in the future—have rather simple and honest beliefs.

If the mullahs and religious students are willing to take on the responsibilities of safeguarding tax revenue and distributing salaries, they will use a simple, effective, and down-to-earth method.

After collecting the donations, they were all put into a box and hidden under the bed of the most respected local cleric. Generally, no one would bother him. Moreover, according to Islamic law, these clerics also had the right to accept donations from the wealthy, but most of the money was used for public purposes, such as almshouses.

They kept a large, locked iron box under their bed, which was actually very safe.

Then religious figures would open the box when distributing money, supervise from the side, and the religious leader would personally distribute the money.

After thinking about this, Solovyov couldn't help but feel that although Persia and Afghanistan were somewhat backward and sometimes barbaric, the things they did were simple and effective, and even a fool could understand them.

Even the great Ayatollahs advised him to adopt this approach.

Solovyov insisted on bringing in specialized auditors on top of that, because the religious leaders weren't necessarily good at math, even though Arabic numerals were invented by the Indians next door.

Fortunately, the Persians only used precious metal currency and resolutely refused to accept paper money, which saved Solovyov a lot of trouble, but also increased his workload.

It was even necessary to organize some local militia, who, although armed with farmers' pitchforks, were also responsible for protecting their own villages.

Less than a year after Solovyov arrived in Persia, these people also discovered that things were much better than they had been in Shah's time.

Following religious tradition, the priests began to provide relief to the common people and were responsible for distributing money, and taxes were also reduced significantly.

The Shah's exorbitant taxes have almost disappeared. Now, the poll tax is gone. Those Russian infidels only collect land tax and commercial tax, and they adjust them frequently. Although the wealthy have to pay more taxes on their land, they don't have to pay attention to the Persian officials' system.

The instructors also gained power at the grassroots level, and they even discovered that Solovyov didn't seem like he was going to stay there permanently.

He hoped that Persia would be a protectorate of Russia and maintain order at the grassroots level. He believed that even without the United States, Persians and Azerbaijanis could live in harmony. There were already many Azerbaijanis in the religious upper class, while those like Khomeini who had ties to the Parsi people of India were relatively rare.

Without external pressure, as long as Persia can serve as a trade hub, it will benefit the local area when oil is developed and oil prices rise.

However, if this oil is cheap, Russia has already entered the Persian Gulf and will eventually gain control over oil pricing, which would be advantageous to Russia.

Solovyov sometimes wonders if he has a fungal infection.

But on the streets of Qom, when he encountered religious figures and local residents, they would greet him and bow as is customary, rather than shake hands.

When Solovyov wore a Persian robe, his green eyes told the locals that he was a Russian Field Marshal.

These people have no hostility; it is entirely a victory for the system.

Solovyov originally planned to stay in Qom until spring. If Prince Abbas Mirza's army did not move at the front, he would not move either, as Paskovich was already enough to deal with him.

The two had faced off in the mountains of the Caucasus in previous years, with Paskovic often winning despite being outnumbered.

In this situation, there's no need for him to claim credit. Besides himself, Nikolai's most trusted general is Paskovich, and he wouldn't object to Nikolai accumulating military merits.

What he needs to address now is a problem of understanding in Persia: the Islamic law still lacks definitions for things like industry.

Whether Persia served as Russia's lifeline or developed its own industry, as a reliable ally or protector, the products of the Industrial Revolution were still essential to it.

Therefore, he wanted to discuss these issues with the elders. However, to his surprise, the Great Ayatollahs were well-read and fond of Greek manuscripts. They knew about the existence of steam spheres and also had some knowledge of the Greeks.

They only appear conservative because of their personal stance.

Some of the elderly even enjoyed writing poetry in their youth and have maintained the habit of practicing Persian calligraphy ever since.

Sometimes, they would recite poetry, and even enjoy Greek philosophy; they were highly learned beyond their religious doctrines.

That's right, the old man in the black robe and white beard who would later become Khomeini. In his youth, he was also a poet who read Greek philosophy and enjoyed exchanging knowledge with others.

Within religious systems, from the Caucasus to the Iranian plateau, it seems particularly easy for poets of various schools to emerge.

Solovyov brought his coachman Zaza this time; his great-grandson was also a poet, but eventually changed careers.

Some people even wrote martial arts novels, but the reason they ended badly was that they went off to save the country and its people.

Strictly speaking, Solovyov was half soldier, half translator and poet. He also wrote his own poems, participated in literary societies, and expressed his personal views not only to Mrs. Porkamir in literary salons, but ultimately appeared as a commander.

In short, poets are more likely than novelists and other writers to stray from their profession.

As he continued making arrangements, the religious leaders were willing to be his pen pals, as he had mastered Persian very quickly, which greatly reduced the communication barriers between them.

If this continues, a new legal code might be compiled specifically for the Persian Empire.

Solovyov didn't realize that if he continued down this path, the jeweled crown of the Persian Shah would eventually end up on Nikolai's head.

He hoped that with more time and in a stable environment, he might be able to create a number of prosperous cities and villages here.

However, things don't always go as he planned, and a plea for help from the Ottomans arrived from Iraq.

Mohammed Ali has sent troops to Gaza because of the deadlock in talks with Sudan over the Syrian issue.

Therefore, His Majesty the Sultan could only think of asking Tsar Nicholas for help. The messengers went in two directions, one from Bursa to St. Petersburg, and the other directly to Persia.

As for the current situation, Solovyov was also somewhat confused.

Is this a plan to attack both Egypt and Persia at the same time? (End of Chapter)