Persian Empire 1845

Chapter 122 Treaty of Da Nang and Treaty of Saigon

Hundreds of unfamiliar faces suddenly appeared in Haizhou Town, frightening the Vietnamese people. They fled in droves, only daring to peek from afar.

"This place is far worse than Bushehr, and even worse than Iran." A soldier looked at the port and felt greatly disappointed.

"Stop complaining. Now we just need to wait. They will definitely send someone."

Muhammad felt that now that they had shelled the area, the other side should send someone to negotiate. He decided to wait.

Sure enough, within just one day, people from Hue came with a lot of gifts to express their condolences.

"Pan Qingjian, Minister of Personnel of the Great Southern Kingdom, greets everyone."

The visitor was the Minister of Personnel, indicating that the other party valued them highly and had brought many gifts. Muhammad invited him into the temporary command post, and then negotiations began.

"Why do you all want to invade my Great Southern Territory?"

"Why? Our caravans came here by ship to trade, but your officials are greedy and want to imprison our merchants. The Shah is furious. Let me teach you a lesson."

"I never imagined that a country like yours would so readily extort merchants. We originally planned to attack Hue directly, but Shah couldn't bear to see the people displaced, so we changed our plans to attack here."

Pan Qingjian had a bad feeling. It was common for officials in the Nanxi region to extort merchants, but he never expected it would bring disaster upon them.

"It is our dereliction of duty that these officials dared to do this, but your country has directly occupied a large part of our territory, which is war."

"Don't worry, it won't be that soon."

Muhammad produced a document and demanded that they sign it, otherwise they would face further attacks.

Pan Qingjian nearly died on the spot after looking at the other party's peace terms. What were these? Could he even sign them?

The terms included: ceding six southern provinces to Iran, opening the ports of Nha Trang, Tua Trang, and Hue as trading ports, and paying Iran 1000 million rials, or 400 million taels of silver, within five years.

"Forgive my bluntness, but His Majesty will not agree to these conditions."

Pan Qingjian looked at these conditions and could hardly believe it. He could only refuse.

"This is not a discussion, but a notification. If you don't agree, you will definitely suffer even greater losses. I advise you to sign it as soon as possible."

But the Minister of Personnel still wanted to try, so he said, "How about this? Our country is willing to compensate your country with 800 million taels of silver, and at the same time open up Jiading and Tuoyan, but we will not cede any land. What do you think?"

Muhammad chuckled, “I apologize, Your Excellency, I think we haven’t been clear. What I meant was that you can only accept these conditions, and these places weren’t originally yours either; as far as I know, they originally belonged to others.” Vietnam’s current territory was established in the late 18th century. Early Vietnamese territory was mainly concentrated in the Red River Delta. Due to Vietnam’s geographical location at the time—facing the sea to the east, mountains to the west, and the powerful neighboring country of China to the north—the south became the best direction for territorial expansion, hence the name “Southward Expansion.” In 1427, after Vietnam broke away from Ming Dynasty rule, Le Loi established the Later Le Dynasty, and “Southward Expansion” officially began. It wasn’t until the Nguyen Dynasty was established that Vietnam gained complete control over the south.

“Even so, ceding territory is unacceptable; our country will not yield.” Pan Qingjian wore an expression of unwavering resolve. This amused Muhammad.

"But are you sure? If we go directly to Hue, I cannot guarantee the safety of your king. The cannonballs don't know their destination."

A threat, a blatant threat. Pan Qingjian, no longer willing to negotiate, left Haizhou under the pretext of reporting to the emperor. But soon Muhammad ordered the attack to continue, as soldiers discovered pork among the relief supplies.

The soldiers could no longer tolerate this, and they continued their attack, quickly capturing the entire Tuo Rong region. Emperor Tu De was terrified and at a loss, so he once again appointed Pan Qingjian as Imperial Commissioner and sent him to the area immediately for peace talks, saying that if the problem could be resolved, ceding some land would not be a problem.

After several meetings, negotiations, and written coordination between the two sides, Iran and Vietnam each compromised, finally reaching an agreement two months after arriving in Vietnam. The Tuo Tan Treaty was signed.

The treaty stipulated that Vietnam would cede its western region, including Saigon, to Iran, open Tua Trang and Nha Trang as treaty ports, and pay Iran 350 million taels of silver in reparations.

Although some territory was lost, the Hue court was safe. Iran also gained a piece of land in the East and began its own colonial path.

In Saigon, Governor-General Bahram also received a special guest: King Anton of Cambodia, who came in person to hold talks with him. He had originally sent someone, but upon learning that the Vietnamese had been utterly defeated, he came in person instead.

Bahram stepped forward and shook hands with him, saying, "Hello, King Anton."

After a brief handshake, the two left the others and entered the meeting room. Since this was a private meeting between the two, no one except the translator was allowed inside.

After the two were seated, Bahram spoke. “Your Majesty, I sympathize with your country’s plight over the years. Your seeking cooperation with our country is very worthwhile. However, to avoid unnecessary trouble, Cambodia’s diplomacy needs to be handled by our side. Furthermore, your country needs to open its market to ours, and apart from a fixed 5% customs duty, no other fees may be charged. Also…”

Bahram's demands basically cover various aspects such as tariffs, diplomacy, and advisors, extending his reach to all aspects of Cambodia.

Faced with Bahram's conditions, Anton remained silent, offering no objections. The reasoning was simple: Cambodia couldn't defeat them and had no choice but to accept Iran's terms. Fortunately, despite the numerous conditions, the most crucial right of rule was retained. Iran had no intention of directly ruling Cambodia, nor did it seek any other rights.

After the other side finished stating their conditions, Anton spoke up. "My country basically agrees to your conditions. However, I would like to ask, if my country were attacked, could you help me repel it?"

Bahram said confidently, "Since your country has chosen our country, our country will fulfill its obligations to help your country get rid of the attack. If your country wants to retaliate, our country will provide the greatest support."

This made Anton aware of Iran's stance, which was a stroke of good fortune for Cambodia. According to the treaty, Iran gained diplomatic rights in Cambodia, along with the authority to station troops there, deploying no more than 5000 soldiers. Cambodia then opened its market to Iran, allowing it to impose a 5% tariff. Furthermore, Iran could conscript up to 15000 soldiers within Cambodia.

The signing of two treaties led to the continuous expansion of Iran's colonies. Following Iranian Somalia, an Iranian colony also appeared in the Indochina Peninsula, named the Iranian Protectorate of Cochinchina and Cambodia.

(End of this chapter)