1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 760 The Visit of the Indian Task Force ([-])
May 1659, 8, Dhaka, Bengal.

Dhaka is located on the north bank of the Buriganga River in the Ganges Delta. It was built in 1608 by Subeda Khan, Governor of Bengal, Mughal Empire.Dhaka in this season still belongs to the summer monsoon period.The humidity is still high, but the temperature is relatively lower than in May and June.

In January of this year, Aurangzeb led an army to severely injure another contender for the throne and the former governor of Bengal, Shuja, at Hajwa near Dakola, and then returned to Agra, led by Mir Jumla. Continue to chase the fleeing Shuja.

However, to the surprise of Aurangzeb's most trusted vassal, his son Muhammad Sultan was instigated by Shuja before the battle and left the dominant Aurangzeb army. Joined the Shuja side.

Annoyed, Mir Jumla launched a continuous and fierce attack on Shuja, and conquered Dhaka, the seat of the Governor-General of Bangladesh, in one fell swoop. On May 5, Shuja, who had been defeated, escaped from Bangladesh and took refuge in Arakan.Muhammad Sultan, the son of Mir Jumra, chose to return to the emperor's army and was immediately arrested and sent to prison.

In view of Mir Jumla's loyalty and a series of military exploits, Aurangzebu made him a prince and appointed him as the new governor of Bengal to manage the vast eastern territories of the empire.

When the Governor-General of Bangladesh, Prince Mir Jumla, saw the commander of the Indian Task Force of the Qi State Navy, General Guangwei (Rear Admiral) Mir, his face was obviously surprised.

Didn't it mean that all the Qi people from the New World in the south have oriental faces?Why does this visiting general have a typical Western face?
Could it be a pirate force from a certain European country coming to impersonate it?
Mir couldn't help touching his pointed nose, and smiled wryly.As the Yi people who accompanied the first batch of Qi state veterans to land in Hanzhou, although they were already senior officers in the navy, they still received a lot of strange eyes in China.

However, more than 20 years have passed, and he has been able to turn a blind eye to these scrutiny.Back then, he was an Italian boy under the age of 16, but now he has become a dignified and personable senior officer of the Qi State Navy, and he will dedicate the rest of his life to this second motherland that gave him everything.

"It's a great honor to meet you, Your Majesty the Highness." Mir nodded to the governor of the Mughal Empire with the same name as him, and at the same time handed over a power of attorney granted by the king of Qi and the cabinet to him. other side.

Mir Jumra hesitated for a moment, took the document handed over by Mir, and glanced at it quickly, and saw that there were many bright red scarlet seals on the cover and cracks of the document, and the texture of the document itself was quite exquisite, so it should not be some pirate force can be easily faked.

"On behalf of our great emperor, I would like to extend my sincere welcome to the visit of your Qi navy." Mir Jumla handed the document to an attendant behind him, and then solemnly said to Mir.

Next, Mir presented the Governor with gifts from the State of Qi, a sharp steel knife, an exquisite clock, a beautiful set of cloisonné, and three highly imitated Jingdezhen blue and white porcelains of the Ming Dynasty.

These exquisite gifts immediately narrowed the distance between the two sides which was a little strange.As a reward, the Governor of Bangladesh was also very extravagant. He directly sent ten beautiful Gorgonda stones (that is, Indian diamonds), five blue gemstones from Ceylon, a Bengal tiger skin and one hundred pieces as a souvenir. Aurangzeb's accession to the throne became the gold coin of the emperor of the empire.

At the same time, the generous governor also ordered his officials to deliver a batch of fresh food, vegetables and fruits to the Qi task force stationed outside the mouth of the Ganges.

When the fleet commander Mir asked the governor tactfully, in order to maintain the friendly cooperation between the two countries, Qi’s naval ships were willing to provide corresponding maritime escort services for the followers of the Mughal Empire’s pilgrimage to Mecca, and to vigorously combat the rampant violence on the east and west coasts of India. Piracy, to protect normal commercial and trade activities, will it offend the great emperor.

When Mir Jumla heard this, his eyes lit up, and he immediately said that Qi's move fully demonstrated that you are a peace-loving country, and you are also a sincere trading partner who especially cherishes the friendly business cooperation with the Mughal Empire.For the Qi State Navy to provide maritime escort services for the imperial subjects to go to Mecca for pilgrimage, it will not hurt the dignity of the Mughal Empire, but will win the friendship of the empire.His Majesty the Great Emperor is also very happy to see the Qi State Navy combat rampant piracy off the coast of India and maintain normal trade and transportation in the region.

The Governor-General of Bangladesh even claimed that he would suggest to the emperor that the Mughal Empire would open several important coastal ports to the Qi Navy in order to more effectively combat piracy and provide escort services.

After hearing this, Mir couldn't help but be extremely pleasantly surprised.Originally, Qi State only wanted to provide escorts for the pilgrims of the Mughal Empire, so as to ease and improve the possible deterioration of the relationship between the two parties, and use this method to attack potential commercial competitors. After all, every merchant ship may be transformed into a pirate ship at any time at sea. .In the name of combating piracy, the Qi State Navy can arbitrarily intercept and attack the merchant ships of other competitors, so as to form Qi State's commercial and trade monopoly in the region.

Unexpectedly, the governor of Bangladesh actually proposed that the Mughal Empire's coastal control could be handed over to Qi State, and he took the initiative to open several ports to provide the necessary logistical support.

This is definitely a surprise!

During this period, the Mughal Empire existed like a tyrannical dinosaur in the entire Indian subcontinent. Although half of Afghanistan was lost in the north, before Aurangzeb took office, the empire was still expanding, and the Safavid Dynasty was punched in the west. Slapping the Bukhara Khanate in the north, kicking Bangladesh in the east, and stepping on many states on the Deccan Plateau in the south, so that the four barbarians were subdued and all nations came to the dynasty.

However, the Mughal Empire ruled the roost on the Indian mainland, but when it came to the sea, it was a little soft-footed. Not to mention that many devout true gods go to Mecca every year for pilgrimage, and they will be attacked and robbed wantonly by Arab pirates and Western pirates on the sea road. The entire east and west coasts are also harassed by some nasty pirates from time to time.Some of these pirates are from the Arab world, some from Western countries, and more are pirates from Arakan and Malays. They frequently plunder the Bangladesh region and the east coast of India, which is very annoying.

Aurangzeb defeated several brothers one after another and ascended the throne of emperor.The lifting of the succession crisis restored the unity of the empire and gained the authority of the Mughal monarch.War, however, strains the fortunes of a militarized state and society.The crisis consumed a significant portion of the vast imperial reserve wealth, including the provincial and central coffers, as well as the personal fortunes of nobles and officials.There was a surge in local military spending, temporarily reversing revenue flows and stockpiling, especially during wars when normal tax streams all but dried up.

Although, there were no high-profile or widespread Zamindar (landlords and taxpayers) and peasant uprisings.But the devastation and chaos caused by the war, coupled with several years of drought starting in 1658.Famine occurred in many areas throughout northern and central India.In some places starving people poured into each city from the surrounding countryside.The emperor and emirs everywhere were forced to open free canteens in every city, where scarcity and a flood of reserve currency drove up prices to famine-high levels.

Therefore, as Aurangzeb's most trusted courtier, Mir Jumla knew very well what their great emperor needed most.Killed several brothers competing for the throne (At this time, another prince, Dara Shuko, was betrayed by the Afghan chief who took him in, dedicated him and several children to the emperor, and was executed in Delhi on August 8 ), dispatched a large army to quell the rebels everywhere, conquered Siyi, and named himself "Alam Kil (that is, the conqueror of the world)", all of which can fully demonstrate the emperor's supreme authority.

However, now the emperor needs domestic stability, the love of the people, countless gold and silver entering the treasury, prosperous trade, and a rich and diverse supply of materials in the Mughal Empire market.And all of this requires a good external business environment.Those nasty pirates will disrupt normal trade, but the weak imperial navy is not enough to calm pirate raids in coastal areas.Then, it would be best if the Qi country from the southern New World is willing to provide the necessary sea power to help the empire maintain the order of maritime trade.

Regarding this point, the shrewd Governor-General of Bangladesh believes that it is very much in the interests of the empire.In return, it is nothing more than promising more preferential trade policies to Qi State and allowing them to open more business stations.Moreover, the various industrial products produced and provided by this country completely filled the gap in the imperial market and met the needs of the empire.

Their steel bars, ironware, hardware, sugar, leather goods, soap (soap), paper, clocks, glass, porcelain, etc., are widely sought after in the imperial market.Governor Mir Jumla believed that for the Mughal Empire, this small southern country was more important than those countries from Europe and could provide more trade opportunities.

On September 9, Fleet Commander Mir and his party stayed in Dhaka for ten days, left Bangladesh with a full harvest, and led the fleet to the east coast of India.

On September 9, he arrived at Balasore on the right bank of the Brabaran River, where the commander of the fleet, Mir, visited the governor of the Mughal Empire in Orissa.The Dutch East India Company built a permanent business here. They watched with jealousy several warships of the Qi State Task Force lined up at the pier, and invited the governor of the place to inspect and express their condolences.

The governor of Odisha said that businessmen from Qi State are very welcome to set up business offices and carry out trade activities in this place to prosper the local market.The officers of the Qi Fleet routinely presented gifts to the governor, but their scale and value were completely incomparable with those given to the governor of Bangladesh.This move won the joy of the governor, who generously provided a large amount of supplies to the fleet, and at the same time presented two elephants and the fleet.

The task force left Balasore and continued south. On September 9, it arrived at the Kokanda Sultan Kingdom in Visakhapatnam in the middle of the east coast.During this period, a prince of Gao Kangda tentatively asked if he could buy a batch of firearms from Qi.In return, they can allow merchants from the Qi State to enter the interior and start business offices, and provide more favorable trade policies.

Since 1611, the Mughal Empire has repeatedly invaded the Kokanda Sultan Kingdom, and it was forced to cede territory for peace.At present, because of the struggle for the throne of the Mughal Empire, Aurangzeb, who had previously been in charge of the Deccan military and political affairs, withdrew and returned to the north to eliminate competitors one by one. When you have no time to look south, quickly arm yourself, so as not to be beaten up again.

The Kokanda Kingdom even stated that they would pay more for the firearms as long as they could get them in large quantities.Although, the Dutch, British, and even the French and Danes also sell some firearms with them, but the number is very small, and they are all old-fashioned matchlocks that were eliminated in the 30 Years War in Europe.

Since Qi State can send such a powerful fleet to visit India, they must also provide more guns and artillery with more advanced performance.For this reason, the people of Gao Kangda Kingdom even hinted that if the Qi State is interested, they can follow the example of the Dutch and allocate a piece of land in the coastal area for them as a fixed commercial base.

In this regard, the fleet commander Milton was a little moved, and tentatively proposed whether he could sell a piece of land in the coastal area of ​​this town as a temporary anchorage for the Qi fleet to and from India.

Here, it is located near the mouth of the Mahondra River, in the middle of the east coast of India, about 800 to [-] kilometers away from Bangladesh in the northeast, and Ningyang Fort (now Pondicherry, India, also translated as local governance) under the Indian Trading Company in the south. With a distance of more than [-] kilometers, it is the only natural deep-water harbor, and it is adjacent to the Bay of Bengal. The situation is hidden and the strategic position is important.If it seeks a foothold here, it is bound to strengthen its control over the east coast of India.

The prince Gao Kangda only hesitated for a moment, and immediately said that everything can be discussed.As long as Qi State is willing to provide a large amount of military supplies, he believes that King Sultan will definitely agree to this matter and agree to Qi State's establishment of a naval base here.

As a full-fledged visiting representative authorized by the king and the cabinet, Mir immediately stated that in order to support the Kokanda Sultan Kingdom in resisting aggression, the Qi State would provide it with the necessary defense weapons through the Indian Trading Company.

As a high-ranking naval officer of the Qi State, he knew the strategic decision of the Qi State, which was to try his best to delay and prevent the Mughal Empire from unifying the Indian continent, and to keep the entire India in a state of division so that the Qi State could be divided and ruled in the future.

The task force originally planned to stay in Shakhapatnam for two days, but in order to promote the further in-depth exchanges between the Qi State and the Kingdom of Kokanda, and to secretly sign the relevant arms supply and trade terms, it is convenient to stop here for seven days.Afterwards, the two sides took what they needed, shook hands with words and smiles, and reached an agreement. After the officials of the Gaokangda Kingdom cordially sent off, the fleet set sail on October 10 and headed for Ningyang Fort.

On October 10, a group of five ships from the task force sailed to the coast of Madras (now Chennai on the east coast of India), when they suddenly encountered two fleets engaged in a sea battle.

"Report to the commander, the two merchant ships fleeing ahead are unidentified. But among the five merchant ships chasing behind, one is suspected to be the "Xingming" under the Chinese Navy's Indian Fleet!" The lookout reported loudly.

"Go up!" Fleet commander Mir ordered decisively: "Take down the two merchant ships in front with all your strength!"

(End of this chapter)