The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 78 Half-Step Peak Britain

Fort William, Calcutta.

Robert Clive, dressed in military uniform, looked warily at the man in front of him who was wearing gorgeous Seris silk clothes and had his hair piled high and covered with a net scarf.

Behind this man, there is another impressive Qing man with short thin braids. He looks funny, but he is not funny at all if you meet him at sea.

Robert Clive was almost certain that this was a pirate from the South China Sea.

He was not just an ordinary little pirate, because someone recognized him.

The captains of several of the company's armed merchant ships said that they had seen this man bring hundreds of pirates to collect protection fees.

"Mr. Lin, I think you may not understand that the United Kingdom of Great Britain and the British East India Company deeply detest pirates.

You are so bold to appear in Fort William, don't you worry about your life?"

Lin Tong smiled faintly and bowed slightly. "Of course I understand, Your Excellency the Governor, but I understand even more clearly what you British people are pursuing. There is no business in this world that cannot be negotiated, right?"

Robert Clive had no good way to deal with people who knew each other so well.

You have to know that at this time, Britain's British Empire was only halfway there.

Although they dealt a heavy blow to France, their biggest rival in Europe, their former rival, the Netherlands, was already on its last legs.

But in the East, Britain's strength is not strong.

Robert Clive can't even deal with India now. None of the Mughal Empire, the Maratha Alliance, and the Mysore Kingdom can be easily controlled.

Even when he conquered Bengal, Robert Clive relied on the luck of a heavy rain.

Therefore, the British are not very confident now, because they cannot even deal with India, an Eastern civilization that is smaller than China and more fragmented, let alone the Qing Dynasty.

Just a few years ago, the Qing Dynasty closed trading ports such as Ningbo and Quanzhou, and only allowed Europeans to trade in Guangzhou.

This caused strong dissatisfaction among European merchants, mainly British.

Because all trade was transferred to Guangzhou through the Thirteen Factories and was controlled by the government, Europeans completely lost the possibility of bargaining.

As long as the Qing court wanted, they would become fat sheep to be slaughtered.

But the British did not dare to make trouble. Instead, they wanted to go to Beijing to file a complaint with the emperor, asking him to stop this de facto trade autocracy policy.

As a result, such a normal petition request angered Mr. Zhang, and he ordered severe punishment.

So the local officials arrested the British merchants, beat them to death, and expelled the ringleader.

Four years ago in 1762, Zhang felt that after beating the British merchants, they became obedient, so he showed them kindness again, using a combination of kindness and force.

Out of consideration for the Europeans and Brazilians, in order to provide these distant people with daily necessities, each ship was allowed to smuggle 2000 kilograms of silk fabrics out of customs.

The British merchants were overjoyed. According to historical records, they cheered and kowtowed in Guangzhou, expressing their gratitude. Some even wanted to go to Beijing to kowtow to Mr. Zhang, but they were not allowed.

Therefore, at this time, Dai Ying was only half a step away from becoming the sun that never sets. Before they overthrew the Qing Dynasty, they could not be so arrogant in the entire East.

Mr. Zhang is a very smart person and is very good at playing power games.

For example, thirty years later, when Macartney sent an envoy to Beijing, later generations said that it was General Zhang who was ignorant and authoritarian, and forced Macartney to kneel down, which resulted in the two countries failing to gain further understanding.

Humph, do you think Mr. Zhang doesn’t know what the outside world is like?

What a joke, he knew it better than anyone else. He even knew that Britain was on the eve of a productivity revolution.

Do you think he was ignorant, arrogant and authoritarian and that’s why he forced Macartney to kneel? Absolutely not!

The fact is that as Britain's strength grew further, it had already left the Qing Dynasty behind in all aspects. With India as a base for advancement, the Qing Dynasty could no longer suppress the British at its doorstep.

If he could have suppressed the situation, Qianlong would never have allowed the British delegation to come to Beijing to present their credentials.

The fact that the British could send an embassy to the Qing Dynasty with such fanfare was actually proof that even in the East, the power of both sides had begun to reverse.

In this situation, Mr. Zhang thought of forcing Malgani to kneel down.

What he wanted was not simply kneeling to satisfy his personal arrogance, but to let the vassal states in the Far East and Southeast Asia, such as Annan, Siam, Japan, Burma, as well as the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain in the West, see it.

Let them know, don’t think that Britain’s half-step sun never sets will break through to a complete sun never sets, it’s too early.

Don’t be unconvinced, the boss in Beijing is the boss!
At least in East Asia and Southeast Asia, the British had to kneel down to the Qing Dynasty. As long as the Qing Dynasty did not kneel down, their state of "the sun never sets" would not be complete.

This move managed to suppress the British for a while, and at least ensured peace for the Qing Dynasty for several decades. It was not until 1840, when the Qing Dynasty was in decline, that it was finally deposed.

So at this moment, Robert Clive faced Lin Tong and still felt a little tricky after knowing what he wanted to do.

The Governor-General of Bengal even suspected that the Qing Dynasty, a behemoth, had begun to be wary of Britain's success in India.

Lin Tong looked like a pirate, but secretly he was a spy sent by the Qing Dynasty to test the situation.

Is it possible that the Qing Dynasty wanted to ally with France?

You know, in Robert Clive's eyes, the Qing Dynasty was not in the distant Far East, but was located 500 kilometers away in the snowy plateau in the north. The Qing Dynasty and India were neighboring countries.

However, since no one else had said it, Robert Clive naturally wouldn't take the initiative to bring up this topic and cause trouble for himself. He pondered for a moment, then said:
"Mr. Lin means that you can represent the entire South China Sea. If I agree to your request, British merchant ships will be protected."

Lin Tong shook his head firmly, "Your Excellency the Governor, I have reason to think you are joking."

If it weren't for this kind of occasion, Lin Tong would have wanted to roll his eyes. For such a small benefit, they actually wanted British merchant ships to obtain immunity from robbery in the South China Sea.

Not to mention that Kunlun Mountain Hall can't do it, even if it can, it's impossible!

At least 60,000 to 70,000 South China Sea pirates make their living from this golden waterway of robbery.

Compared with it, the conditions that Longtou Rendegong wanted Robert Clive to agree to were simply not worth mentioning.

"Then it seems that there is no need for us to negotiate, because Mr. Lin and the people behind him cannot provide Britain with any valuable cooperation conditions."

Lin Tong calmly dusted off his clothes and said slowly:
"Your Excellency, we Seres have a famous saying: 'We are not capable of accomplishing anything, but are more likely to cause trouble.' Do you understand what it means?"

Well, actually, this is not what is meant by "not able to accomplish anything but capable of causing trouble", but it seems very appropriate when used here.

A ferocious expression appeared on Robert Clive's face. "Mr. Lin, is this a threat?"

Lin Tong still put on a warm smile, "Your Excellency, I have absolutely no intention of threatening you. I just want to point out that even the powerful British East India Company has times when it needs little people like us.

At least on some things that are not very important, we can have some necessary communication.

And to demonstrate our sincerity, here is an Eastern nobleman who commands thousands of warriors.

Willing to sell all the silk, tea and bristles on an 800-ton merchant ship to the East India Company at a fair price.

This is a good deal that will net you at least £4,500."

Robert Clive's expression brightened slightly, and he said, "It's too late today. I'll arrange for Mr. Lin to taste some Bengali cuisine first. We'll discuss the details tomorrow."

Lin Tong naturally knew that Robert Clive was going to check their background, but he was not panicked at all.

Because there are indeed pirates on Mo Zibu's side, and there are quite a few of them. Li Guangcai, Tanka Er and Li Xianwen can all be said to be pirates.

. . . .

The mouth of the Irrawaddy River, Tharyan.

While Mo Zibu was waiting for news from Lin Tong and Peter, he was not idle either.

The Mon people in Thanlian are not of the same mind as the Burmese people in the Konbaung Dynasty, and it has only been five or six years since they were last defeated.

The Konbaung Dynasty stationed more than 2,000 troops here, but the problems they faced were similar to those in Promyam.

That is, the elite troops of the Konbaung Dynasty went to Siam, and the second-rate troops went to the north to confront the Qing Dynasty.

The troops left behind to suppress the Mon people around Shalian were also second- and third-tier troops. They had already tried their best to suppress the Mon nobles from joining Mo Zibu in causing trouble.

Mo Zibu naturally didn't want to get involved. Apart from recruiting Meng sailors everywhere to lower their wages, he was also very well-behaved, and both sides had a tacit understanding.

These Mon people living on the coast are docile and have been making a living on the water all year round. Now, for the White Elephant King's grand ambition, the Burmese themselves are having a hard time, let alone the Mon people. Many of them don't even ask for salary, and they will take away the food if they are given, and they won't refuse it.

Well, if they don’t want to leave, Mo Zibu can just conscript able-bodied men, which would save them a lot of trouble.

However, just as Mo Zibu was waiting for news, Lieutenant Colonel Bruno, who appeared to be a man of righteous fatherly love, quietly ran to Mo Zibu's room and knelt down with a thud.

Mo Zibu was very surprised and asked around, and finally figured it out after a while.

My goodness, Bruno looks decent, but he is actually a softie.

Why were the Burmese able to capture so many French people seven years ago, and even a large number of field guns and naval guns?

The reason was that after being captured, Bruno succumbed to the threats of the White Elephant King and wrote a letter himself to lure two French supply ships into an ambush by the Burmese.

This directly led to the capture of hundreds of people, including the naval guns on the two armed supply ships, a total of nearly 50 guns, more than 200 sailors, and more than 1,000 flintlock rifles, all of which became prisoners of the Burmese.

I knew it. Mo Zibu finally understood why a few years later in history, a brave general like Mingrui led the elite troops of the Eight Banners to attack the Burmese capital Ava but was unable to capture it.

Wow, Bruno directly gave the White Elephant King more than forty large-caliber naval guns, all of which were placed by the White Elephant King on the top of the city of Ava.

The Qing Dynasty had difficulty in supplying and was bombarded by dozens of new naval guns, so it would be strange if they could break into the city of Ava.

It's no wonder that this guy looked conflicted and reluctant to leave when he was rescued. It wasn't because he was worried about his children, or worrying about his children was only one aspect. The most important thing was that he was worried that he would be tried in a military court when he returned to France.

But who can blame him for being lucky? Mo Zibu still has a use for him.

He immediately promised not to hand him over to the French, but to take his entire family away. Of course, the price was that Bruno had to demonstrate the ability of a European lieutenant colonel.

As for character, Mo Zibu had no intention of letting this guy lead troops. He just wanted to use him as an instructor and an identifier of the military skills of European whites, so his character didn't matter.

(End of this chapter)