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Sima An, Lu Zhenfei, Li Yuan, Liu Boquan, Meng Ke, Liu Meng and many other civil and military officials were summoned to the Huagai Palace because two important news had just been received from Wang Bencheng.
First, Sengge defeated Aurangzeb again, and Aurangzeb retreated to Delhi. Batur Khan marched into Punjab and launched a policy in Punjab, that is, no matter what sect you believe in, as long as you swear allegiance to me, you can preach freely and enjoy fair treatment.
Batur Khan's policy was exactly the opposite of Aurangzeb's policy of strengthening the status of Shiites and excluding other sects. Those sects that were originally suppressed by Aurangzeb all turned to Batur Khan.
India is a place with weak national self-esteem, and whoever is stronger can rule. For thousands of years, India has basically accepted foreign rule.
The policies introduced by Batur Khan enabled the Dzungar tribe to quickly win the support of many people in the Indus River Basin and quickly gain a firm foothold. If nothing unexpected happened, it would only be a matter of time before the Dzungar tribe captured Delhi.
What should Daqin do about this matter? It must come up with a countermeasure quickly.
Secondly, Abbas II of the Safavid Empire surrendered and not only sent envoys to seek peace, but also prepared to send a princess to marry.
In this regard, whether the Qin Dynasty should adjust its policy toward the Safavids and how the adjustment would be most beneficial to the Qin Dynasty all need to be discussed.
After all the ministers entered the palace and paid their respects, Qin Mu gave them a seat. Lu Zhenfei immediately said, "Your Majesty, as for India, our dynasty might as well wait and see what happens and not intervene for the time being. As for the Safavids, since Abbas II intends to seek peace, I think we should not go to war with them anymore. Peace is the most precious thing."
Yang Tinglin also said: "Your Majesty, I agree with what Lu Ge Lao said. Safa is a vast country with a strong national power. If we go to war, it will be difficult for our dynasty to achieve a decisive victory in the short term. Once the war is delayed, the national treasury will be greatly depleted. Moreover, even if our dynasty can win quickly, it will be difficult to rule that area. It will not be worth the loss to fight it now.
Furthermore, the Central Asian region was not stable yet. Once Su Jin's army got caught up in a war with the Persians, the remnants of the Kazakhs, Bruts, and Bulats, who were suppressed now, would inevitably revive. Su Jin's rear was on fire. If he lost sight of one thing while focusing on another, he would end up losing more than he gained, or even be wiped out.
In addition, Li Ding's army will march westward, and the Kipchak steppe urgently needs Su Jin's troops to garrison in the north to provide support for Li Ding. If a war breaks out with the Safavids, Su Jin will be unable to protect himself, so how can he go north?"
Liu Meng, the commander-in-chief of the Central Army, thought for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, what Minister Yang said makes sense, but I think that if we want to go to war, it is not impossible. We can temporarily not send the army to attack, but just let the navy capture Hormuz, threaten the coast of the Persian Gulf, and cut off the Safavid trade route. Then, we can take advantage of its internal contradictions and disintegrate the country."
Yang Tinglin immediately retorted bluntly: "Your Majesty has no intention of ruling Persia. Since the Safavids are willing to make peace with our Great Qin, they are friends, not enemies. Why do you still have to spend so much effort to disintegrate their country
Although a country may be great, it will perish if it is warlike. There is no need to fight a war with Sav. If we insist on fighting, what else can we say but warlike? The generals now have been overwhelmed by the continuous victories. If this continues, our Great Qin will be in trouble!"
Qin Mu pondered and said, "The decision to blockade the Persian Gulf was made because the Safavids were eyeing Transoxiana and the Indus River Basin. Now that Abbas is willing to make peace, there is really no need to fight this war."
Liu Meng was a little unwilling and continued, "Your Majesty, as the saying goes, if you don't think about the future, you will have immediate worries. The Persian Empire was once extremely prosperous, and the later Arab Empire even defeated the Tang army and controlled the Central Asian region.
Now the Safavids have a vast territory and a large population. If they become powerful, not only will Transoxiana be threatened, but the entire Indian Ocean will also be threatened. Now that we have the opportunity to disintegrate their country, why not disintegrate it so that they will not be threatened by them in the future?"
"To weaken or even disintegrate a country, it is not necessary to resort to conventional military means." Qin Mu has been ruling the Qin Dynasty for several years and has become more and more calm. He speaks slowly and steadily, and his powerful majesty is reflected in his words and deeds. "Looking at domestic and foreign history, there are always economic roots behind the political crises of every country, and if the economy is going to be in chaos, there will inevitably be signs in the currency.
Conversely, any impact on a country's currency can cause problems in its economy. Once the economy has serious problems, people's livelihood will decline, society will be in chaos, politics will be in crisis, governance will be problematic, and even collapse."
In later generations, looking around the world, the most chaotic places are always the poorest countries. Once a country's economy is depressed or collapses, the country will inevitably be in turmoil.
The same was true in ancient times. Why did so many rebellions occur in the late Ming Dynasty? It was simply because of economic problems. The court had no money, and it was constantly levying taxes, which caused prices to soar and the people to suffer, leading to rebellions everywhere.
As rebellions arose everywhere, the imperial court had to organize armies to suppress them, which required more money. Where would the money come from? The only option was to exploit the people even more cruelly, which in turn forced more people to join the rebellion.
The more rebellions there are, the more urgent it is to suppress them; the more we suppress them, the more rebellions there are, forming a vicious cycle.
The only way to break this vicious cycle is to improve the economy so that everyone has enough food and warm clothes, so that more people will not rebel.
It is rare for a country to be very rich and its people to live a prosperous life but collapse from within.
In short, behind a political crisis there is always an economic crisis. Currency is the backbone of a country's economy, and as long as there is a problem with currency, it will inevitably be affected.
Xu Yingjie, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue, thought for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, the Persians mainly use silver coins as their currency, and Persia does not produce much silver. They mainly obtain silver through external trade to support domestic currency circulation, which is similar to the entire Middle East.
The commodities of the Persians' foreign trade were mainly cotton and wool textiles, bronze ware, pottery, carpets, etc. Among them, cotton and wool textiles, carpets and bronze ware were the three main products of the Persians.
If my country establishes diplomatic relations with Persia, in addition to the three traditional flagship products of silk, porcelain and tea, my country will also have spices and rubber from Jinghai Province, as well as a large number of industrial products such as cotton cloth, soap, cement, steel, and even electrical appliances.
Therefore, our trade with the Persians must be in a state of trade surplus. In other words, a large amount of Persian silver will flow to Daqin.
Persian cotton and wool fabrics, bronze wares, and carpets were very popular among Indians and Westerners. With these three major products, Persia's trade with India and European countries was basically in a surplus. This is why Abbas I's national strength grew rapidly after he started trading with the West.
Your Majesty, fellow ministers, most of the production processes of cotton cloth in our country have been mechanized, and the production cost has been greatly reduced. There is no need for us to deliberately suppress it. Our cotton textiles will inevitably have a huge impact on similar products in Persia.
Another mainstay product of the Persians is carpets. Liaodong, Monan, Mobei, Hetao, Hexi, and Longyou all produce high-quality raw materials. In the past, the carpet weaving skills of the Dangxiang people in the Hetao area were also very exquisite, but unfortunately most of them have been lost. At present, the weaving technology in these areas is backward and they cannot weave carpets as exquisite as those of the Persians.
However, if we introduce some skilled craftsmen from Persia to develop the carpet textile industry in the above-mentioned areas, it can boost the economy of the above-mentioned areas. As the saying goes, when the granaries are full, people know etiquette, and when they have enough food and clothing, they know honor and disgrace. The economy of the above-mentioned upper areas has been backward since ancient times and is often the source of unrest. If there is one more industry, the local people will have one more income, which is very beneficial to the long-term stability of the above-mentioned areas.
Secondly, once this industry develops, it will naturally have a huge impact on the Persians. If two out of three Persian key products are gone, only one copper ware will be left, which can also be used to deal with them.
Now that the Yanran Mountain copper mine has been discovered in Mobei, and a huge copper mine has also been discovered in Nanhuazhou, our Great Qin's casting technology is not inferior to that of the Persians. If we introduce some Persian technology and further improve our Great Qin's casting skills, it is not impossible to have a major impact on Persian bronze ware."
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(To be continued…)
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