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Chapter 1307 Potential Enemy 3
Hong Tao was not doing this favor just for Glauber's sake. The Royal Academic Fund was paid entirely from the internal treasury, and anyone who spent his money had to have some real talent and knowledge.

Arjun's skill is very humble, in two words, extraction. His ancestral herbal medicine skill is similar to traditional Chinese medicine, which also uses various plants to treat diseases. But there is a small difference. Chinese medicine puts various raw materials together to complement their medicinal properties, while he extracts the useful essence from the plants first.

The two have their own advantages and disadvantages. Traditional Chinese medicine can treat many diseases through different prescriptions and proportions, but the effect is often not very fast. Arjun only has seven or eight extraction techniques, specializing in treating diarrhea, but the effect is very fast.

After reading Glauber's letter of recommendation, Hong Tao went to the laboratory of the Royal College of Medicine to see Arjun's extraction technique before he approved it.

Arjun's medical skills were not very advanced, but his ancestral plant extraction technology was quite unique and very close to the extraction methods of later generations. With only slight improvements, it could be used to purify penicillin.

This is what they mean by "a thousand tricks are not as good as one effective trick". With this skill, Aqiong will not only be able to eat the emperor's food in the Ming Empire, but will also become a world-famous medical expert and leave his name through the ages.

This is all later. The penicillin research and development project has just reached the stage of large-scale culture of bacteria, and there is still a long way to go before it can be purified and used in clinical practice.

However, the motto of "use what you have free time to make use of what you are busy" has worked once again. Now Hong Tao is going to collect the interest first and let Arjun temporarily play the role of an expert on Indian issues and talk in detail about the current situation of the Mughal Empire.

"Professor of the Department of Medicine..." Wang Datou hesitated at this order. How could a traveling doctor know about this situation that even the Advisory Office and the Ministry of Rites didn't know much about?

If it was just because they were from the Indian Peninsula, that would be too hasty. Not to mention the faraway places, there were many Indian merchants coming and going in the ports of Tsharyan and Colombo. Wouldn't it be more useful to ask a few of them than the Advisory Office, the Statistics Department, and the Ministry of Rites?
In fact, the Mughal Empire was not the only force in the Indian Peninsula. It was just more powerful. Most merchants from the Indian Peninsula could only speak the local language and could not even communicate normally with each other. They did not have much knowledge and knew nothing except the few ports they frequently visited.

"Since I have said so, I am at least 80% sure. He is not only a Brahmin but also a Sikh, and he is fluent in Latin. Go and come back quickly, and be careful with your attitude, don't scare him."

Seeing Wang Datou's expression, Hong Tao knew what he was thinking. He should have been concerned about this, but the Royal Academy was close, so it wouldn't matter if he was delayed for a few hours. He might as well give it a try.

"...Sikhism...Student understands, Your Majesty, please wait a moment!" After hearing this explanation, Wang Datou finally gained some confidence. He stood up, saluted, and walked out quickly.

Why should Sikhs know the details of the Mughal Empire? As the Chinese saying goes, the person who knows you best is often your enemy!
Sikhism originated from Hinduism, just as Protestantism originated from Catholicism. At the end of the 15th century, the Mongols invaded the northern part of the Indian peninsula, defeated the Delhi Sultanate and established the Mughal Empire.

In order to maintain the stability of the rule, it is necessary to suppress local religions, and most Hindus are cowardly and are at a disadvantage in the confrontation with Islam. So some Hindus established Sikhism, which is more equal and more advocating force than traditional Hinduism.

From then on, religious conflicts began in northern India, with the Sikhs being the most militant. In order to fight against the Mughal high-level officials, the middle and high-level Sikhs would most likely know more about the enemy. It would be too reckless to confront them without knowing anything. If Arjun was born a Brahmin, he should have a deeper understanding of the internal situation of the Mughal Empire as the emperor hoped. What's more convenient is that he is proficient in Latin and Portuguese, and can express what he knows smoothly and ensure that it is not distorted.

Arjun once again proved the emperor's wisdom. Not only did he know the details of the Mughal Empire, he also studied it and was willing to tell it to the emperor. He also tried to describe it from a neutral perspective to reduce misunderstandings.

As for the Indian Peninsula, not only did the Advisory Office not pay attention to it, Hong Tao also ignored it. It's not that he deliberately looked down on them, but this country is quite special.

The Mughal Empire was established by Mongolian nobles who were forced to move south after losing the battle for the Central Asian grasslands and defeated the Delhi Sultanate. You can roughly guess the territory at that time by listening to the name. Delhi, which is basically the same place as New Delhi in later generations, is located in northern India.

The Delhi Sultanate was a country established by Turkic and Afghan nobles and believed in Islam. That is to say, before Babur established the Mughal Empire, Islam had already ruled the northern part of the Indian peninsula.

In fact, before the Delhi Sultanate, this area was also ruled by Islamic monarchs, who were also nobles from Afghanistan.

The eastward expansion of Islam began very early, at least before the Tang Dynasty, and the results were very remarkable. From land to sea, most areas where it passed were converted.

If it weren't for the Chinese civilization with its large population and vast territory, the whole of Asia would probably have become believers of Allah without having to wait for the Industrial Revolution and the invasion of Western powers.

From this perspective, the Western powers passively saved East Asia. I don’t know what others think, but in my opinion, if I can only choose one, I would rather be enslaved by the colonizers than worship five times a day.

However, compared with Islamic countries such as Sumatra, Indonesia, Persia, Bukhara, and Kazakhstan, the Mughal Empire was not pure. It had too many religious beliefs. The ruling class was mostly Muslim, while the middle and lower classes believed in a variety of religions, especially the large number of local Hindus.

The main reason for this situation is the source of the rulers. After all, it is a minority group that rules the majority group. In order to ensure stability, the original religion and culture cannot be changed on a large scale. This is somewhat similar to our Qing Dynasty.

However, every generation of rulers of the Mughal Empire did not give up their efforts to expand the influence of Islam. During the reign of the current ruler, Shah Jahan, he changed his father's conciliatory approach and began to take strong measures at home. He formulated many policies that discriminated against and oppressed Hindus, which also triggered protests in many remote areas.

But in the Indian peninsula in the 17th century, the military force controlled by Shah Jahan was indeed unique. The rebellion was quickly suppressed, and he took the opportunity to occupy the territories of several small kings who were not very submissive, including Punjab, the traditional territory of Sikhism.

(End of this chapter)