Back to Ming Dynasty with Industrial Revolution System

Chapter 1129 Conquering Mughal's Ambition
"This is our workshop, which employs a lot of local low-level castes or people who have been engaged in the textile industry for generations. The wages they need to pay are very low, so the cost of cotton textiles is also very low. But they only have People of the upper castes have the qualifications and money to receive education. The quality of the labor force of the lower castes is not high. We can just produce the homemade cloth we need.” Francis Ri brought Chen Bangyan to the handicraft workshop in Surat Port, where there are looms and a large number of employed handicraftsmen.

These thin and humble employees were weaving non-stop, and secretly glanced at the people who came in from the corner of their eyes.Next to their blond employers, stood a few yellow-skinned, black-haired people, and it seemed that the blond employers were even more respectful to them.

"The place has plenty of light and is rich in high-quality cotton. The cotton yarn produced by processing is not easy to break during the weaving process, and the fabric is bright and shiny. Most of the cotton fabrics produced every year are shipped back to Europe, and some are sold to Southeast Asia. Huaxia. The latitude of East India is very low, and the cotton-producing area is close to the coastline, so it can be said to be blessed." Francis Ri sighed.

"Which area of ​​them is rich in cotton?" Chen Bangyan said.

"The northwest of the Deccan Plateau and some places in the north. The place where the Portuguese established a Mumbai Fort is only 150 miles away from here. It seems to be more suitable for serving as a stronghold on the west coast than Surat. We can find a way to take Mumbai Fort And expel the Portuguese, and consolidate the position of our East India Company on the west coast.” Francis Day urged Chen Bangyan to seize the permanent fort established by the Portuguese here.

"In addition to the west coast, there are two other places that should be seized. After my three years of investigation in East India, this place is suitable for controlling the trade on the east coast, and here is suitable for controlling Bengal. Bengal is regarded as an empire by the Mughal emperor. The treasure house, where there is a flat and fertile Ganges plain, and a large and obedient population."

"As long as these three important areas are controlled, it is equivalent to attacking the Mughal Empire from three sides, completely controlling the sea, and then our East India Company will gradually infiltrate inland." Francis unfolded a crude map , with the outline of the Indian Peninsula on it, and Francis Day circled on it, it seems that he has a deep study of the Mughal Empire.

Chen Bangyan did not expect that the manager of the Surat workshop would have such a deep understanding of the Mughals, and he had already planned to monopolize the Mughal coastline.

"The west coast can still capture the stronghold of the Portuguese. The east coast and Bengal are the territory of the Mughals. I am afraid that they will anger them. We don't want to provoke the Mughal emperor yet. It's not that we can't defeat them, but I can't spare any energy now." Chen Bangyan said.

Francis shook his head. Although the Kyushu Army has begun to expand to the sea in recent years, the experience of opening other countries' doors is not rich enough compared to the European sea power countries that have explored overseas for decades or hundreds of years. At the level of opening overseas markets by force.

"The lords here are short-sighted, and they only need to spend a few hundred pounds to buy a large piece of land in the coastal area as a stronghold. In this area, there is nothing that gold and silver can't do. If you can't do it, you may not have enough money. ’ said Francis Day.

"It's interesting..." Chen Bangyan saw that Francis Ri was so keen on completely controlling the huge Mughal maritime trade, he wondered what the report to the military department would be.

As long as enough information is obtained from Francis Day, the report is half completed.

Francis and Chen Bangyan visited other workshops in the port of Surat on the day of Francis.

Chen Bangyan came to receive the assets of the East India Company here. What he wanted to know was the current situation, expansion and development direction of the East India Company, as well as the situation and customs of the Mughal Empire.

"Some people here regard cows as sacred animals, and they worship Ganesha, and some people don't eat pork. It has complicated shapes, so you must pay more attention, otherwise it will cause dissatisfaction among the local people." Francis Day Taking Chen Bangyan to his residence for dinner, he said to him, "In comparison, we don't have so many taboos."

"I need to submit a report to our government, that is, the company's major shareholder. Please help draft the report and report the situation here to the high-level in detail, so that they can decide how to expand the influence of the East India Company here. I believe If your report can come in handy, you will also be appointed by our senior management." Chen Bangyan said to him.

"Extremely happy!" Francis Day also wanted to show his talents in front of the new major shareholder, and the new major shareholder seemed to have more ambitions to conquer the East India than the original shareholder, which coincided with his plan.

"There is a vast land and a huge population here. Where there is land, there will be output. They can provide us with cotton, raw silk, and tea. They in Bangladesh learned the methods of planting mulberry trees and silkworms from China, and they can also produce A certain amount of silk. The Mughal emperors were invincible in this subcontinent, but they were incompetent at sea, and their warships and artillery seemed weak and ridiculous to us. But merchant houses cannot be built only on the sea , We are worried that the warehouses and workshops on land will be surrounded by their army on land, so we try our best to please the Mughal emperor." Francis heard that his insights could be conveyed to the new major shareholder of the East India Company , So he elaborated more enthusiastically on the situation facing the East India Company now.

"Is it allowed to build a bastion here?" Chen Bangyan asked.

"Building a bastion in a place like Surat where they are managed by their officials will be regarded by their emperor as a challenge to his authority. But if it is a purchased no-man's land, it is completely possible to build a bastion. But the building is solid The fortress is useless to resist the Mughal emperor who has hundreds of thousands of troops. The annual monsoon is only a few months, and our reinforcements cannot come to support all year round. They also have troops from Ottoman, Persia and the Netherlands to buy artillery, as long as the merchants are profitable, they even sell the guns and artillery to the indigenous tribes in Africa and America to deal with the merchant forces in other countries. So unless we can have a whole year in the Mughals Only when we have an army, can we turn against the Mughal emperor, otherwise we still have to keep our tails between our legs." Francis said.

(End of this chapter)