Persian Empire 1845

Chapter 400 Solving a

Prime Minister Tolbert asked Austria to find a well-sealed room at Schönbrunn Palace, as he was preparing to reach an agreement with Iran. The Netherlands could no longer delay.

"Your Excellency the Prime Minister, please understand our country's attitude toward Aceh. This is a letter written by the Sultan of Aceh himself to the Shah, clearly stating that he will bring his subjects to join Iran."

Tolbert knew this was just a ruse; the claim of Aceh's voluntary participation was probably coercion.

"Your Excellency Abdullah, I think you are also aware that there are many such letters in Amsterdam."

"In that case, let's talk about something else."

Tolbe presented the Netherlands with conditions: they would cede the land north of Medan to Aceh and open the markets in Sumatra, part of the Dutch East Indies. A temporary ceasefire was reached, with the issue to be resolved through negotiations.

"Please believe that this is our country's greatest sincerity."

Abdullah shook his head. "The Prime Minister should know what our country wants. Besides, you don't have much of an interest in Sumatra at all. Now that our country is buying it, aren't you happy?"

Happy? Absolutely thrilled! Who would trade colonies unless they lost money or the war was lost?

"Your Excellency, your country's conditions are truly... somewhat unreasonable."

"What?!" Abdullah raised his voice. "Nonsense! If you really want to argue, then I have to tell you. Your country occupied Java and then expanded. It went all the way to Sumatra and kept carrying out massacres there."

The Shah received their plea for help and initially intended to resolve the matter peacefully, but your country is truly ungrateful.

Torbe also became a hot topic, arguing against Abdullah's situation and saying that it was normal for people to die or get injured in order to develop the area.

"Really? Are you sure?"

Looking into Abdullah's eyes, Tolbe also seemed somewhat unsure of himself. He then adopted a more bureaucratic tone: "Our country is deeply indignant about the dispute between our two nations in Sumatra. However, in the spirit of maintaining friendly relations between our two countries, we are willing to make concessions. We are willing to hand over Sumatra to your administration, but our country has previously invested a significant amount of money in infrastructure construction there, and that cost should be borne by your country."

These were concessions made by the Netherlands, a way of giving some explanation to its domestic audience. The Netherlands did not transfer its Sumatran colony under pressure from Iran; rather, the colony was already operating at a loss, and Iran happened to want it. This provided a convenient way to exchange it for funds to improve people's livelihoods, which was not shameful.

"This is reasonable, as your country has invested a lot of money in the area. However, we hope that your country will not ask for too much."

Tolbert immediately replied, "300 million pounds, we believe that is a very reasonable figure."

Three million pounds—that's more than half of Iran's oil revenue—just to compensate the Dutch? They're being incredibly greedy. Besides, Iran isn't exactly wealthy; spending money like this is completely pointless.

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, your country's demands are somewhat perplexing."

The subtext is that the Dutch demands are unrealistic. But are the Dutch demands reasonable? From a fair perspective, asking for three million pounds isn't excessive at all. Even though the Dutch control hundreds of thousands of square kilometers of Sumatra, which are still largely undeveloped, five million pounds wouldn't be considered expensive, let alone three million.

However, for Iran, transactions naturally require negotiation. If the Dutch are asking for an exorbitant price, then Iran needs to negotiate slowly; a reasonable price is the most important thing.

The two talked from dusk till dawn, ultimately purchasing Sumatra from the Netherlands for £235 million. It seems the Dutch have their business acumen fully realized—they're obsessed with money!
Iran and the Netherlands also signed a diplomatic agreement, under which the Netherlands not only sold Sumatra to Iran but also agreed to allow Iranian investment in Amsterdam's textile industry. The two countries will jointly develop the Netherlands.

"I hope this will become a new starting point for cooperation between the two countries."

"I hope so. Now I must report to His Majesty the King. Excuse me."

Prime Minister Tolbert hurriedly returned to the Netherlands with the treaty, intending to have a proper discussion with the King. He hadn't even said goodbye to Lord Russell before leaving, so by the time he found out, the man had already left Vienna.

"Aaaaaah!!! Shameless! Traitorous! Why didn't the Duke of the Nation burn Holland down back then?!"

Lord Sumatra remained in his room, seething with impotent rage. The Dutch were utterly stingy; selling Sumatra for a mere £235 million, equivalent to 587 million guilders. How could they possibly justify their actions to the East India Company?
"Sir, what should we do?" the secretary asked from the side.

"What should we do? Send a telegram to London immediately. This is probably going to be a tough battle."

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Inside 10 Downing Street in London, Prime Minister Palmerston inquired about the situation from Chancellor of the Exchequer Gladstone and Colonial Secretary, the Duke of Newcastle.

"How much impact will Iran's capture of Sumatra and Malaya have on us?"

"It's impossible to say there's no impact. The Governor of Malaya sent me a telegram complaining that Iran is becoming increasingly prominent in Southeast Asia, squeezing out too much of the profits of British merchants. Those Chinese they've brought into the open are now running around Southeast Asia, competing with our merchants."

As the Colonial Secretary finished speaking, Prime Minister Palmerston then said, "In that case, let the Governor of Malaya devise a solution so that we can negotiate with the Iranians."

Britain had little confidence in this potential war; after all, while it might be able to bully uncivilized countries on its own, it had little faith in Iran. Russia claimed it would provide 20 troops, but that was pure boasting; they hadn't even suppressed the Polish uprising yet, demonstrating their poor fighting capabilities. France was busy managing its colonies and couldn't even afford to take anyone down with them.

"Prime Minister, this matter must be resolved properly. The opposition has already begun submitting a motion of no confidence in Parliament."

As fate would have it, Prime Minister Palmerston had planned to use the victory in the war against the United States to dissolve Parliament and call for new elections, but the Malayan crisis led to relentless attacks from the opposing Tories. They even submitted a motion of no confidence; if passed, this parliament would be dissolved and new elections would be held. He was no longer confident of winning a majority in that scenario.

"It probably won't pass; we just need to resolve this issue properly. I never expected the Iranians to be even more difficult to deal with than the Ottomans and Russians."

Speaking of the Ottomans, after the British sank an Ottoman merchant ship, there were demands for an explanation from Britain, but the Ottoman government suppressed them. This further disappointed the Ottoman people with the Sultan, leading them to support Iran, which spoke out for them, hoping that the Shah could seek justice for them.

(End of this chapter)