1635 Han style rises again

On March 1659, 3, Jianye, the Military and Political Department Building.

"In September 1657, Shah Jahan, the emperor of the Mughal Empire, was seriously ill. Among his four sons, only the grand prince Dara Shuke was in the capital city of Agra. Because only a handful of them were allowed by Dara Shuko Therefore, rumors that the emperor has passed away began to spread in the empire. Although the three princes in other places wrote to the agent in the court that the emperor was just sick, the fourth prince Murad claimed that The emperor has died, and it was Dara Shuko who controlled the agents to write letters to coax the three princes. Even if the emperor showed up on the balcony of the palace after his illness improved, several resolute princes refused to admit that it was their father who appeared , and thought it was just a slave who looked like their father."

"In October, Aurangzeb began to communicate frequently with the fourth prince Murad, who was the governor of Gujarat at the time, and the second prince Shuja, who was the governor of Bangladesh at the time. Aurangzeb and Murad made a secret agreement. It was agreed that after winning the throne, Murad would rule the western third of the empire, and Aurangzeb would rule the other two-thirds of the empire."

"At the beginning of November, Murad organized soldiers to plunder Surat and extort money from local businessmen for military expenses. Under the coercion of the authorities, our Indian trading company had to donate property equivalent to 11 Chinese silver dollars. China, Portugal, France and other countries’ business houses were treated similarly to our business houses. Murad then crowned himself on December 12 and began to march north. During this period, Aurangzeb was dealing with the Bijapurs After no results, he finally gave up his desire to completely surrender the Bijapur people, began to withdraw his troops and returned to Aurangabad, and began to go north on January 5, 1658 to seize the throne."

"Another prince, Shuja, also crowned himself in Bengal after Shah Jahan became seriously ill, and marched westward at the end of January 1658. Before the three princes marched to the capital, Dara Shuko had already The troops were sent to meet the three princes. In February, Shuja was raided by Dara Shuko's eldest son Sulaiman Shuko and Jayin Singh in Baldurpur on the Ganges River. Protected by the generals, they fled in dismay by boat to Montguere, where they barely held off the attack of Suleiman Shuko."

"In mid-April, Aurangzeb and Murad joined forces near Ujjain and defeated Shuko's Rajput ally Maharaja Jaswant Singh. After this battle, Aurangzeb became famous Zhen, gained a very high reputation, and made many nobles who are still on the sidelines stand behind him."

"On May 5, Aurangzeb led his army low to the vicinity of Agra. When Dala Shuke's improvised army faced Aurangzeb, after only half a day of fighting, they could not restrain themselves. He broke up and fled. On June 29, Aurangzeb entered the city of Agra and sent troops to besiege the castle where Shah Jahan was located on June 6. Afterwards, he put his father under house arrest."

"On June 6, Aurangzeb suddenly sent troops to capture his ally, Prince Murad, and annexed his army and forces behind him. On July 10, Aurangzeb hurriedly ascended the throne in Delhi, honored title" Alamgir", and then went west to chase and kill the fugitive Dara Shuke. On September 7, Aurangzeb learned that Shuja intended to capture Agra, so he returned first and arranged for his generals to continue to hunt down Dara Shuke. Shuko."

...

"..."

Qi Tian put down the information sent back by the black-clothed guard of the Surat Commercial House in India, and couldn't help but feel deeply moved. The "Emperor Qianlong" of the Mughal Empire--Aurangzeb has finally stepped onto the stage of history. .During his nearly 50 years in power, he expanded the territory of the Mughal Empire to the extreme, and almost unified the Indian subcontinent except for the southernmost tip of India.However, because he launched a Deccan War that lasted more than 20 years in his later years, trying to completely conquer and destroy Maratha, he almost exhausted the national strength.Not long after his death, the Mughal Empire fell apart, and then, after another hundred years, it was finally acquired by the Anglo-Saxons from the British Isles.

"Your Majesty, according to the intelligence analysis from India, we believe that Aurangzeb will eventually successfully cut off all competitors in the empire and become the ultimate ruler of the Mughal Empire. Another prince, Shuja's army The number of people is less than half of Aurangzeb's, and it is said that the equipment is not as good as the opponent, and failure should be a high probability event." He Qing, the deputy commander of the black guards, said.

"Then what do you think our country of Qi should do in the face of the situation of the Mughal Empire?" Qi Tian looked carefully at the guards in black and the officers of the staff department.

"In view of the fact that we have maintained a relatively close relationship with that Prince Murad through the Indian trading company to facilitate business expansion. We think that after Aurangzeb clears out the dissidents in the empire, he may treat us Qi and the Indian trading company. There is hostility. Therefore, we, the Black Guards, suggest that our business houses and strongholds in northern India should be contracted to a certain extent, or even withdraw appropriately, so as to reduce unnecessary losses.”

"In addition, there are many independent states in the south of India, and they should maintain the necessary vigilance against the Mughal Empire. During the period when Aurangzeb was fighting for the throne to eliminate dissidents, it is necessary for our country of Qi to conduct a certain degree of protection against these states. Weapon support to prevent the Mughal Empire from continuing to expand southward in the later period. At the same time, in order to enhance our influence and deterrence in the region, we should deploy powerful warships from the mainland to support the Indian squadron.”

After He Qing finished speaking, he looked nervously at King Qi.As we all know, King Qi's vision and layout on the strategic macro trend are almost unmatched by anyone in the country.The general staff and the Black Clothes Guards were all taught by King Qi in terms of strategic warfare analysis.Therefore, in front of the King of Qi, anyone who analyzed the evolution of the regional situation and responded to it would inevitably be a little timid.

"Treasurer Bai, how do you deal with it?" Qi Tian was noncommittal, but asked with a smile to Bai Yuangui, the big shopkeeper of the Indian trading company sitting in the corner: "If that Aurangzeb is hostile to our country, will you be punished?" The biggest loss is your Indian trading company. What are your countermeasures for this? I have invested a lot of money in your Indian trading company, so don't let our investment suffer serious losses!"

"Ah?" Bai Yuangui's fat face showed a bit of astonishment. He thought that this kind of military situation analysis meeting, he came to attend just to make up the number, and there was no chance for him to make up his mind.For a while, facing so many eyes looking over, he was somewhat at a loss.

"If that Aurangzeb dares to touch our trading company, he will naturally fight him to death." After all, it was the master who had been a pirate. After a moment of panic, he quickly stabilized his mind. Let’s do it at the merchant stations and strongholds in the Warlord Empire, without saying anything, our trading company’s dozens of armed merchant ships, more than [-] sailors and guards, will definitely be able to smash their coastal towns to pieces.”

...

After more than ten years of rapid expansion, the Indian trading company has grown from three retired armed merchant ships of the navy with more than 26 people to 500 large and small armed merchant ships with more than [-] employees. More than ten commercial stations and strongholds have been established in the empire.

The annual trade volume in India reaches more than 130 million Hanzhou silver dollars, and the annual profit is also more than [-] million.Moreover, with the rapid development of Hanzhou's local cotton textile industry, India has become the most important cotton raw material producing area in Qi State, providing a continuous supply of raw materials for more than a dozen domestic cotton spinning enterprises.In addition, materials such as saltpeter, pepper, and indigo from India have also become the most important source of raw materials in the country.

If it were not for the trade prohibition policy of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Indian trading companies would not be able to get involved in the entrepot trade of Indian cotton cloth, and would even have to resell local cotton cloth in large quantities, or even at zero. More.

Therefore, in order to preserve the millions of commodity trade volume and the important origin of cotton raw materials, and to protect the interests of many domestic shareholders, if the Mughal Empire really moved the "cheese" of the Indian trading company, it would definitely make it jump the wall and make a decision. The above-mentioned strong counter move.

"Treasurer Bai is so strong and fierce, isn't it afraid that Aurangzeb will ban our trade in Qi, and make your Indian trading company completely out of the market of the Mughal Empire?" Qi Tian said with a smile: "This move is cheap Those Western countries."

"If our Indian trading company cannot do business in the Mughal Empire, then no one will be able to do business." Bai Yuangui said fiercely: "We will simply completely blockade the Indian sea area, so that the Mughal Empire cannot sell a single product." go out!"

After everyone listened, they looked at Bai Yuangui in astonishment, and couldn't tell for a moment whether he was expressing the real countermeasures of the Indian trading company, or just for the sake of talking and venting the depression in their hearts.

But how can you act on your own will when it comes to military and national affairs?Moreover, the Mughal Empire was a big country with a population of [-] million, and the number of troops numbered in the tens of millions. It was not something that a "small country" with a population of just over one million could provoke at will.

"Treasurer Bai, don't be so radical." Qi Tian shook his head and said: "In the matter of trade, we pay attention to making money through harmony, mutual benefit and win-win results. It took more than ten years for Qi to develop the Indian market to achieve such a good situation. The change of imperial power in the Mughal Empire should not lead to the collapse of the situation. Once it was completely lost, those Western countries took advantage. Now, in the Indian market, the iron parts, steel bars, hardware, sugar, Soap, wine, as well as military industry and artillery are all indispensable commodities of the Mughal Empire."

"In addition, we have also deployed a naval squadron in the waters around India. If we add the many armed merchant ships under the Indian trading company, we can say that we have absolute sea control in the Indian Ocean region. I believe that the soon-to-be Aurangzeb, who became the ruler of the Mughal Empire, should also know all this. As the treasurer Bai said, if Aurangzeb insisted on embarrassing our Qi country, wouldn’t he be worried that our Qi Congress would overthrow the table because of this? , so that they can't go into the sea?"

"So, in our future relationship with the Mughal Empire, we will benefit from cooperation, and we will suffer from separation. I heard that Aurangzeb seems to be a devout true believer. He is limited by his own identity and status. He will personally go to Mecca for pilgrimage, but every year he will send his subjects and family members to go there by boat. The sea route between India and Mecca has never been very peaceful. Countless Western pirates and Arab pirates have robbed the Mughal Empire countless times The ships of the subjects on the pilgrimage to Mecca, and plundered the wealth that was brought with them in honor of the true God."

...

"If so, our country of Qi negotiated with the government of the Mughal Empire and agreed to provide escort for the pilgrimage ships to protect those devout believers of the true God who arrived in Mecca safely. I believe that this move will definitely gain Aurangzeb's favor. We also Let him know that the reason why our Indian trading company has made friends with the fourth prince Murad these years is only because he is the governor of Gujarat and the owner of Surat City."

"However, regarding the balanced policy of the Indian continent, I agree with the suggestion of the black guards, secretly increasing the supply of weapons to several states in the south of India, and hindering the Mughal Empire from unifying the Indian mainland. It should be noted that the Mughal Empire, It is a big country with a population of [-] million, and it is our most important commodity dumping market and raw material origin now and in the future. But now, its national power is on the rise, and our country Qi has no choice but to not engage in war with it. But The necessary coercion and differentiation must be carried out and carried on persistently."

"In view of the unpredictable changes in the situation of the Mughal Empire in the next few years, our country needs to fine-tune and shrink the previously implemented commercial expansion policy to a certain extent, and wait for the opportunity when the future situation becomes clear. Therefore, I suggest The Indian trading company will suspend dividends in the next two years, and invest the annual profit into the consolidation and improvement of existing strongholds and commercial stations. Especially Anfeng Fort (now Cochin City in Southwest India) and Ningyang Fort, which are located on the east and west coasts of India (Today's Pondicherry, India, also translated as local governance), it is necessary to intensify construction. If possible, it is advisable to expand the control area of ​​the above two places by purchasing land or leasing, and build a series of fortresses. The land will become a solid stronghold and frontier base for Qi to attack the Indian mainland in the future."

"In addition, Daxi Island near the exit of the Strait of Malacca (today's Great Nicobar Island in India), I heard that for so many years, it is still a small midway supply point with more than a hundred people, not only unable to compete with the Dutch city of Malacca and the Portuguese Even the Temasek Island (now Singapore) that the Nanyang Trading Company took possession of two years ago is not as good as Colombo. You Indian trading companies, sometimes you should not be too concerned about money. The infrastructure that you should have is still very necessary. "

After hearing this, Bai Yuangui agreed, and hurriedly nodded in agreement.Since it is the king's suggestion, then take advantage of the situation to suspend the dividends of the trading company's share capital. In addition to strengthening the necessary stronghold construction in the Indian region, many of the ships under its banner should have reached the necessary replacement period, and it is just right to purchase a few new large ships from several shipyards. , Enhance the transportation capacity of the trading company.

After the meeting, a group of military officers surrounded Qi Tian and left the military building.Before they had gone far, a group of cadets from the military academy happened to pass by, and Qi Tian spotted the third son Qi Zi'an in the middle of the group at a glance.

"Are you still used to military school life?" Qi Tian asked in a harmonious voice.

"Back to father, my son likes life in the army very much." Qi Zian glanced at the team that was gradually going away, and said in a low voice.

"What's wrong with your face...?" Seeing a few bruises on his son's face, Qi Tian couldn't help frowning.

"...Oh, I fell from a horse..." Qi Zi'an stretched out his hand to touch his face nonchalantly, and replied with a smile.

"So..." Qi Tian shook his head, "Looking at you, you won't be able to meet people anymore. You're on vacation this week, so don't go home.... In case your mother looks distressed."

"Hehe..." Qi Zian grinned, "Father, don't you feel bad when you see me like this?"

"A man, you should beat him more." Qi Tian patted his son on the shoulder, "You need to know that dedication is the only ambition, and the industry is the only one that is diligent. I love you, so I hope you will go through a lot of tempering so that you will not become an old man in the future." An idler who eats and waits to die."

"Don't worry, father." Qi Zi'an nodded solemnly and said, "When a child is in the army, he will be strict with himself and will not humiliate my royal family."

1635 Han style rises again