The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 462 Super Confident Ah San

The breeze from the Deccan Plateau blew on Mo Zhengcun's face, and he even felt a chill. Seeing this, the Mysore knight who was guarding him shouted a few times to the back.

Not long after, a blanket with a strong Persian style was delivered to Mo Zhengcun's carriage. He leaned out and said thank you lightly.

Contrary to the impression that India has always been a furnace that can kill people with heat, the Deccan Plateau at the southern end of the Indian continent is not particularly hot.

The area in northern India where a large number of people die from heatstroke every year is basically the area on both sides of the Ganges River.

After riding in the carriage for a while, Mo Zhengcun vaguely saw a city with white walls. It appeared very abruptly in this mountainous plain.

At this time, the capital of the Mysore Kingdom was not the Mysore city of later generations, but Srirangapatna, about fifteen kilometers north of Mysore city.

This city is located in southern India, about 120 kilometers northeast of it is Bangalore, the famous IT city in India in later generations.

After entering the city, the members of the delegation headed by Mo Zhengcun rested for less than an hour before Sayyid Sahib, who had returned to Mysore with the delegation, came to inform them.

Nawab Haider Ali Khan Bahadur, the Darwai (Commander-in-Chief) and Chief Minister of the Kingdom of Allah, immediately summoned the messenger from Serish Dayu.

The kingdom blessed by Allah is the Kingdom of Mysore, which is its official name. The Dharawai who is also the chief minister is the actual controller of the kingdom, Hyder Ali.

Mo Zhengcun could only quickly call the tired delegation members and follow Sayyid Sahib to the Sultan's Palace.

Along the way, Mo Zhengcun, who was curious about the city, found that even in Srirangapatna, the new capital built specifically by Hyder Ali, from the architecture to the people, it revealed a strong Brahmanism style, and Muslimism was not conspicuous.

He suddenly understood why Hyder Ali and his son were so determined to declare war on the British and maintain an aggressive fighting posture.

Because the Muslim forces represented by Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan, father and son, were outsiders, they were not mainstream in terms of numbers or culture in Mysore or even the entire South Indian continent.

The important force that pushed them, father and son, to seize power in the Kingdom of Mysore and establish a tyrannical shogunate was the Muslims in the Kingdom of Mysore.

These Muslims took control of the Mysore Kingdom's army. Relying on their outstanding fighting ability, the Mysore Kingdom was able to defeat the Maratha Alliance and Hyderabad successively, ensuring the kingdom's powerful position in South India.

Since the Muslims who supported Haider Ali and his son relied on their martial arts to gain their foothold, Haider Ali and his son could only continue to gain their loyalty if they could continue to lead them to more glorious victories and plunder more money and population.

At the same time, as a tyrant, Hyder Ali and his son also needed to show the people of the kingdom, who generally believed in Brahmanism, that they were more capable and more suitable to rule the country than King Krishila Raja III.

To establish such an image, war, a war of continuous victory, becomes the best and most direct choice.

"I'm sorry, honorable envoy of the Chinese Empire, the matter is too urgent, so I can only disturb your rest."

As soon as he entered the Sultan's Palace and had a brief meeting with the legitimate king Raja III, Mo Zhengcun was taken to the hall next door.

Haider Ali, who looked more like a king, and some ministers had been waiting here for a long time.

"Your Highness Bahadur, you are too polite." Mo Zhengcun said "Your Highness", but in fact he just bowed.

Because he now represents the Emperor of China, no one else in the world needs him to pay formal respects except the Kings of England and France and the Emperor of Holy Roman Empire.

"This envoy's duty is to reach an agreement with Your Highness as quickly as possible to coordinate the joint actions of our two countries. I would be most grateful to see Your Highness as soon as possible."

Mo Zhengcun spoke French. Although Haider Ali did not speak it, there were many French interpreters in the palace.

After all, the Kingdom of Mysore had been cooperating with France for more than a decade before coming into contact with the Chinese Empire.

"Emissary, we hope that the aid from the Chinese Empire can be delivered as soon as possible, as war is imminent. As for the transportation route, we have convinced the Dutch, and they are willing to facilitate it."

The so-called support materials were the aid agreement signed between Sayyid Sahib and Mozibu after he arrived in Guangzhou, totaling 40,000 kilograms of sulfur, 3,000 brown bess flintlock rifles and 20 cannons.

When Mo Zhengcun heard what Tipu, the son of Haider Ali, said, even a professional diplomat could not help but feel that it was a bit magical.

In Southeast Asia, the Chinese Empire had just acquired the most important assets of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands.

However, in the Indian continent not far from the South Seas, the Dutch would cooperate with the Chinese Empire to help deliver sulfur and weapons to the Kingdom of Mysore.

Of course, the Dutch themselves felt extremely speechless at this moment. If they had any choice, they would not want to cooperate with the Chinese Empire, but unfortunately they had no choice.

Because in Europe, the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War had already begun.

The reason for the war was very simple. Even though the Netherlands had conflicts with the Chinese Empire, they would never dare to stand on the side of the British on the European continent.

Because the British were too powerful at that time, they had a naval tonnage far exceeding the total of the second to sixth places, and their combat power was much higher than the sum of the second to sixth places.

At the same time, it also owns two perfect colonies, Bengal and the Thirteen Continents of North America. This is simply six pieces of divine equipment. If it is not reduced, how can others play? So now France is leading the way, and everyone is fighting against the British together.

If the Dutch dared to stand on the side of the British at this time, France, Spain and the Holy Roman Empire would have to send out their armies to directly destroy the Dutch.

As soon as the Dutch sided with the anti-British alliance, the cunning British immediately thought of the debts they had borrowed from the United Provinces and Dutch merchants, some of which were about to mature.

So they decided to go all out and simply dispatched the fleet to physically eliminate the creditors, and looted Amsterdam, Rotterdam and other places.

Not only can you physically eliminate the debt, you can even rob the creditor to make up for your loss.

Europe was fighting with Britain, and Goa was the only remaining European stronghold on the Indian continent besides the Portuguese.

Moreover, the Dutch colony of Nagapattinam, which had a port bordering the Kingdom of Mysore, would definitely be attacked.

Therefore, they had to cooperate with the Kingdom of Mysore to protect themselves, and naturally they had to cooperate with the Chinese.

Well, this kind of complicated diplomatic relations and situation really has a bit of the flavor of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Mo Zhengcun thought, touching his chin.

"Please rest assured, Your Highness. The aid has already departed from Guangzhou and is estimated to have reached Jiading. They will soon reach Nagapattinam under the escort of the Imperial Chinese Fleet."

Hearing Mo Zhengcun mention the fleet, Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan and his son exchanged glances, and Tipu Sultan finally spoke:
"Thank you, envoy. Please convey our gratitude to His Majesty the Emperor of China.

At the same time, the Kingdom of Allah will fulfill and even exceed our commitments.

My father, His Highness Hyder Ali, has recruited over 80,000 soldiers and will soon be able to launch an attack on the English."

Tipu also corrected a mistake made by Mo Zhengcun in addressing him. In Haider Ali's name, Nawab is a title, meaning governor or high-ranking official.

Bahadur means warrior or hero, so Haider Ali cannot be called His Highness Bahadur.

In fact, Mo Zhengcun didn’t know that the word Bahadur originated from Mongolian, and was actually Baturu of the Qing Dynasty and Batu of the Yuan Dynasty.

Tipu Sultan described in detail how hard they had worked to recruit so many warriors and how difficult it was to allocate a large amount of money and food. Finally, he talked about their prospects after defeating the British.

After talking about a lot of random things, he finally stated his demands.

"Our navy construction has just begun, so we hope that the great Chinese Emperor can help us in this regard.

Considering that naval construction is a very costly undertaking, His Highness Haider Ali hopes that it can be carried out in the form of aid so that we can use our limited supplies and money to attack the British on land.

The fleet doesn't need to be too powerful; a main fleet of one Tier 3 battleship, or two Tier 4 battleships, with a total tonnage of around 8,000 tons will suffice."

After that, Tipu Sultan added confidently, "I think this is in the interests of both parties. After all, you have acquired a fleet of over 20,000 tons from the VOC in Batavia alone."

A third-tier battleship? 8,000 tons is enough?
Mo Zhengcun was stunned. It was the first time he witnessed the confidence of his third brother.

He really wanted to say, even if you recruit more people and spend more military funds, isn't this what you should do?
Because the biggest beneficiary of defeating the British is your Mysore Kingdom!
Did the Chinese Empire have to pay the price of helping the Mysore Kingdom build a navy in order to respond to the call of the French Alliance, support them in the battle, and finally plunder British India a little?

What's wrong with Batavia? We fought hard to conquer it. Why do you want a share of it just by asking for it?
Mo Zhengcun felt deeply that the emperor's request that Mysore should not only be a vassal of the Chinese Empire, but at least a younger brother, would probably not be realized in the short term.

He really wanted to spit back, but he held it back. Now was not the time to turn against them or let these Mysore people see the power of the Chinese Empire.

Mo Zhengcun rolled his eyes twice, and immediately responded very cleverly: "Sir, the war is urgent right now, it is too late to build a fleet now.

How about this? Your country should set aside a port for the Chinese Empire's fleet to dock and pay a certain amount of mercenary fees. Then, when necessary, the Chinese fleet can directly help the kingdom fight.

This will not only save construction costs, but will also quickly enable your country to possess a powerful fleet."

Damn it!
Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan, father and son, were both stunned that Mo Zhengcun was actually fleecing them.

The two men shook their heads at the same time, and Tipu Sultan gave a dry laugh and changed the subject.

"The envoy's proposal is very good, but as you said, the war is urgent. We should discuss the battle plan first. The construction of the navy can be postponed for a while."

. . . .

Just when Mo Zhengcun was on a diplomatic mission to the Kingdom of Mysore as the Left Vice Minister of Rites, a merchant ship carrying sulfur and weapons from Guangzhou had indeed arrived in Jiading.

Afterwards, the officers and soldiers of the Sino-French joint fleet began to end their vacation. Chen Lian handed over the command to Lieutenant General Suffren. The fleet was about to set out for the Indian Ocean to carry out the mission of destroying the British Indian Fleet.

(End of this chapter)