1635 Han style rises again

On November 11, the Qi State Task Force arrived at Mumbai Island (Note 10), the Portuguese colonial stronghold, and stayed here for a short one day.

On November 11, the task force arrived in the Surat waters.Fleet Commander Mir stopped the Portuguese attempting to carry out armed provocations against the Mughals, and declared that the visit of the task force was related to the major foreign affairs of Qi State, and no mistakes should be tolerated.

Under the angry eyes of the Portuguese, Mir sent an envoy to the port in a small boat in accordance with the request of Surat port officials, and submitted a visit request to the governor of the Mughal Empire in Surat.

Everyone in the empire, including Aurangzeb, knew about the fact that the Qi State Task Force arrived in India and visited the coastal ports of the Mughal Empire along the way. Moreover, the emperor also heard from the governor of Bengal, Prince Mir Jumla, It was learned that the people of Qi State showed their due "goodwill and flattery" very obediently.

Although this small country in the southern New World sent such a forceful fleet to visit, it was somewhat suspected of showing off its force, but His Majesty the great emperor did not regard this move as a provocative act.No matter how powerful the sea force is, can it still be brought to land?It's nothing more than wanting to use this to obtain more commercial benefits.My Mughal Empire has tens of millions of subjects, has millions of troops, and a territory of thousands of miles. How can I be afraid that you will face the big with a small country!

However, this small country in the south should not be underestimated because it has such a powerful sea power.I heard that they recently had a dispute with a small country from the West, and they even fought a big fight in the southern Gaokangda Kingdom, and took away a business station stronghold.As for the battle process, it seemed to be lackluster. It was just a battle scene with hundreds of people, and it was nothing more than using a lot of firearms.

Because of the competition for the throne of the emperor, Aurangzeb and several brothers launched several large-scale wars in the country. Countless privileges were promised.Now that the general situation has been decided, all competitors have been executed one by one, and the emperor's power is at its peak.

However, due to several wars and the bribery of princes, governors and lords from various places, most of the remaining property of the imperial treasury accumulated during the Shah Jahan dynasty was exhausted and even became extremely empty.In addition, the devastation and chaos caused by the war, combined with last year's nationwide drought, has caused famine in many parts of northern and central India.

In order to make up for the financial deficit, His Majesty the Emperor is planning to increase the business tax on many Hindu businessmen in the country, directly doubling the previous tax rate of 2.5% to 5%.As a devout True God believer, the emperor also seems to have deliberately abandoned the national policy of religious tolerance since Akbar the Great, and imposed a poll tax on domestic non-True believers.He also ordered the confiscation of a large number of teaching fields and properties of Hindu temples to enrich the treasury.

Even so, His Majesty the Emperor, who is determined to do something big, seems to think that these measures are still unable to quickly fill the treasury.Therefore, he set his sights on the commercial forces from Western countries.He issued an imperial edict to the governors of various local provinces, requiring that the taxes and fees levied on foreign businessmen within the jurisdiction be directly doubled on the basis of last year.

However, at the end of October, Emperor Aurangzeb suddenly issued another edict, excluding the Qi State in the southern New World from the foreign merchants who increased taxes and fees, and enjoying the same tax rate as the domestic True God merchants. treatment.

Governors and Mansabudar (Mughal military or administrative officials) from all over the Mughal Empire were very surprised by this. Why did the emperor change his mind and treat this small southern country so favorably? Could it be that he was really afraid of their powerful sea ​​power?

In the city of Surat, the emperor's special envoy, Mughtasib of Gujarat Province (a similar public moral inspector appointed by Aurangzeb to strictly enforce the true God's law) Ali Naqi Khan, in half a month I have been waiting here for the visit of the Qi State Task Force.However, in order to demonstrate the majesty of the empire, after he received the application for a visit from the task force stationed outside the port, he delayed for five full days before replying to the people of Qi and allowing the fleet to sail into the port.

The Mughals lined up a grand welcome ceremony at the port. The special envoys of the emperor, the governor of Gujarat, the chief executive of Surat, the local Mansabudar and many nobles, big businessmen, or those who rode luxuriously produced in Hanzhou Horse-drawn carriages, or elephants with luxurious decorations, stand proudly on the pier, waiting for the visitors from the Qi State Task Force to land.Near the pier, more than [-] imperial troops were neatly distributed around, watching the crowd of onlookers vigilantly.

When fleet commander Mir and his team of more than ten officers stepped ashore, they tidied up their appearances a bit, then walked confidently towards the officials of the Mughal Empire.

Just when the atmosphere of the two parties was harmonious and greeting each other, there was a sudden noise from the crowd of onlookers at the pier, which caused confusion for a while.

"It should be British." An accompanying Indian trading company manager looked at the situation there, and whispered to Mill: "They may have expressed their dissatisfaction and anger at our capture of Fort St. George on the east coast."

Mir just glanced at the chaotic crowd and saw several Mughal Empire officials rushing over with a dozen soldiers, trying to subdue the emotional British. , Scolding loudly in public, what problem can it solve other than humiliating yourself?
The group of senior officials of the Mughal Empire who greeted them was obviously a little unhappy about such a flawed situation on such a high-profile occasion, with a look of dismay on their faces.However, when he saw the calm and calm appearance of the Qi State visitor, he didn't seem to think it was a problem, so he suppressed the anger in his heart, and politely led the visitor to take a carriage to the official residence in the city to stay.

In the next few days, officials of the Mughal Empire continued to entertain the officers of the visiting task force, and the two sides exchanged gifts.On behalf of King Qi, Mir presented Aurangzeb with a luxuriously decorated four-wheeled carriage, two small flintlock pistols, three exquisite and beautiful clocks, five mirrors taller than a person, and eight exquisite cloisonné products. , ten high imitation Jingdezhen blue and white porcelain.

The gifts that the Mughal Empire gave back to King Qi were a copy of the Koran made of the true God with a gold cover, three majestic Mawari horses, ten Gorgonda stones (that is, Indian diamonds), and twenty precious Carpets, fifty bolts of Persian silk, and two hundred gold coins with Aurangzeb's head engraved on them.

The two sides reconfirmed that the armed ships of the Qi State would escort the subjects of the Mughal Empire who went to Mecca for pilgrimage to ensure that these devout people of the true God could travel back and forth safely between the two places. In return, the Mughal Empire would provide Qi State The escort fleet will open Dwarka, Surat, Broch, Balasore and other coastal port cities, and provide all necessary logistical supplies during the fleet escort.

You must know that since the establishment of the Mughal Empire, the army has become stronger and stronger, but the empire has never established a powerful fleet that can sail the sea.During the Jahangir period (the fourth emperor of the Mughal Empire, reigning from 1605 to 1627), the Mughal Empire gradually relied on Portuguese frigates in view of the fact that pirates on the Arabian sea frequently plundered the true gods who went to Mecca for pilgrimage. Carry out escort missions, but the cost is extremely high, not only to provide logistical supplies for all escort ships, but also to pay a large fee to the Portuguese, and also to give the Portuguese the privilege of obtaining imperial goods at a low price and exempting them from all taxes and fees.

Today, they look to the people of Qi, who are more powerful at sea and less obsessed with seizing imperial privileges, to provide them with this very important religious service.In addition, what satisfied the Mughal Empire was that the Qi people seemed to be more tolerant of the True God religion, and they did not have the extreme Western Catholic obsessions that the Portuguese had.Then, during their convoy at sea, they would not have a discriminatory attitude towards the devout true gods.

Compared with his predecessors, Aurangzeb was more devout to True God.In 1658, after he ascended the throne with the title of the first Aramgil (that is, the conqueror of the world), he changed the policy of religious tolerance initiated by Akbar and the policy of peaceful coexistence between Hindus and true gods.In addition to appointing a mutasib in the capitals and other major cities of each state he ruled to ensure that the laws of God were enforced and corresponding prayers performed, he also outlawed all preaching and display of Indian religion Yes, and no building permits have been issued for a new Hindu temple, nor a royal permit for the restoration of a dilapidated temple.

All non-religious ceremonies at court were outlawed, especially those such as wine, song, and dance, which were pagan customs.Aurangzeb also tried to ban all gambling and illegal gambling in the Mughal Empire in order to make the entire empire more "pure and clean".

For the Portuguese, Aurangzeb is quite disgusted, thinking that they vigorously promoted Catholicism in various strongholds such as Diu and Goa, which polluted the hearts of the subjects of the empire.As for the Dutch and English, although they believed in Western Christianity in their hearts, they were not as fanatical about religion as the Portuguese. They competed with the empire for the belief choices of their subjects, allowing His Majesty the Emperor to treat them very peacefully.

The Qi people from the southern New World do not have any religious preferences. Although they also have faith in their hearts and worship gods, they are very tolerant of all religious behaviors.Some of them merchants and sailors on board even went to the Temple of the True God and knelt down to pray for the protection of the True God.The performance of the Qi people made the Mughal Empire feel an inexplicable closeness.They even have a kind of expectation. If they are guided, will the great Mughal Empire guide this country into a true god country?
Therefore, after receiving the news from the Governor-General of Bangladesh, Maharaja Mir Jumla, Aurangzeb was more satisfied with the "knowledge and interest" of the Qi people, and decided to give this small country in the southern New World special and different treatment and provide them with more More preferential trade policies, and at the same time allow their merchants to go deep into the inland and build more business houses.

During the friendly conversation with Mir, the emperor’s special envoy, Ali Naqi Khan, tentatively asked several times whether Qi could sell a large number of firearms and high-quality swords to the Mughal Empire to strengthen the armament of the imperial army.

During this period, the sturdy Afghan tribes on the northwestern border of the Mughals had become a thorn in the heart of the empire. They wantonly plundered border villages and towns and the wealthy Punjab province, which was annoying.In addition, there is the powerful Persian Empire in the west, eyeing the western territory of the empire. The Mughal army lost all three battles with the Persian Safavid Dynasty in the battle for Kandahar, and even the soldiers of the empire more or less suffered from "" Phobia".

Under such circumstances, His Majesty the Great Emperor decided to strengthen the armed forces of the army, first to consolidate and operate the northern defense line of the empire, and to fight against many rebellious Afghan tribes and the threatening Persian Empire.It is said that Qi State can produce a large number of artillery and muskets, and the high-quality swords they provide are also very good. These are the ordnance equipment that the imperial army urgently needs.

After pondering for a moment, Mir verbally agreed to the Mughal Empire's military needs.For this country that has not yet established a serial industrial foundation, even if it is provided with a large number of firearms, it will not pose any threat to the future of the country.Because, in frequent wars, any weapon is a consumable. After a large-scale battle, countless muskets and swords are damaged. Even the high-quality artillery produced by Hanzhou has a certain service life.

If the army size of the Mughal Empire is the size of the army, the demand for weapons will be a huge number. Presumably, this kind of continuous military orders will definitely make the local military enterprises laugh from ear to ear, and will greatly promote cooperation with the military. Improve the expansion of the scale of the local military industry and the continuous stacking and updating of technology.

Mir carefully asked Ali Nachi Khan if he could allow the State of Qi to lease a piece of land in a fishing village (now the port of Karachi, Pakistan) on the northwest coast of Mughal, between the Kuriri River and the Maril River, in order to establish A naval supply point that enables Qi's navy to better execute against pirate forces in the Arabian Sea.

This stronghold is a fancy place for the Indian Fleet of the Qi State Navy. It is located in the northwest of the Mughal Empire, bordering the Arabian Sea in the south, only tens of kilometers away from Persia, and it is also close to the Gulf area (Persian Gulf) that the king wanted. Has a strategic position.After Mir learned of this, he made this request to the emperor's special envoy at this moment.

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Ali Nachi Khan turned his head and discussed in a low voice with the Governor of Gujarat for a while, probably asking whether this place is an important place for the empire, and whether it would cause the emperor's dissatisfaction with leasing it to the Qi State.

A moment later, Ali Naqihan replied to Mir with a smile. Regarding Qi's lease of a piece of land on the northwest coast to establish a supply port, he himself expressed his support and approval in principle, but he needed to return to Delhi and report the matter to His Majesty the Emperor.Regarding this remote small fishing village, he believed that His Majesty the Emperor would most likely agree to lease it to the Qi State.

The Qi State Task Force stayed in Surat for more than half a month. During this period, the visiting military officers and accompanying merchants from the Indian trading company were warmly received by Mughal Empire officials and true God merchants.Compared with participating in official banquets, Qi people prefer to have feasts with Mughal merchants.

Because, as an official, the former was full of a serious and rigid atmosphere at the banquet, and he was afraid of His Majesty's strict teaching laws. There was no wine, no music, and no beautiful women dancing, and the discussions were boring political and military affairs. question.

The Mughal merchants, on the other hand, appeared to be more "active and enthusiastic". All kinds of fine wines from Persia, Ottoman, Western, and even Hanzhou were poured into crystal clear wine glasses. In the enchanting dance.Soldiers can enjoy the rare gentle time and leisure time here, and businessmen can negotiate a lucrative import and export trade while drinking.

On December 12, the Qi State Task Force rejected the invitation of the Portuguese and did not go to Diu to give them military support against the Mughal Empire.The five ships of the fleet, under the warm welcome of the officials of the Mughal Empire, left the Surat Wharf one by one, preparing to end this successful visit and return to the mainland of Hanzhou.

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