Back to Ming Dynasty with Industrial Revolution System

Chapter 1549 Treasure Ship

In Bengal, the hometown of cholera, Qin Zuoming led an expedition of 6000 troops to the imperial capital of the Mughal Empire and returned to their stronghold Calcutta Castle. They also brought back gold, silver and jewels loaded with large carriages, including the national treasure of the Mughal Empire, the peacock. throne.

They returned to Calcutta Castle. Basically, the gold and silver treasures from the looting were safe and secure, and they didn't have to worry about being robbed by some Indian princes halfway.

But Qin Zuoming thought too much. On their way back to Calcutta slowly from the imperial capital Agra, their expeditionary army passed by the land of Indian princes. Those Indian princes had no time to escape and did not dare to take the initiative to attack the expeditionary army.

Chen Bangyan led the East India Company's armed merchant fleet to the west coast of India to occupy the most prosperous port of Surat and has not yet returned.

Qin Zuoming wanted to transport the looted gold and silver treasures worth hundreds of millions of rupees back to the capital to claim credit for the military, but because there was no armed merchant ship to escort him, he had no choice but to hoard the pile of gold and silver jewels in a strong castle for the time being.

A ship from Malacca brought news of a cholera outbreak in Tientsin.

The Governor of East India, who learned of the cholera incident in Tianjin Wei, immediately summoned the main senior officials of the East India Company and the East India Expeditionary Force to discuss with them the orders sent from the capital.

East Asia’s submarine cables have been quietly laid from Guangzhou to Malacca. The Dongfang [-]-ton cable laying ship has been in operation, but no one pays attention to it.

The capital sent a telegram to the Guangzhou government, which then transferred the telegram to Malacca. Malacca immediately sent a ship to notify Calcutta, which had not yet laid a submarine cable.

"A plague broke out in Tianjin Wei, and more than 500 people died in the plague. According to investigations, the sailors who carried the plague to Tianjin Wei left from Calcutta. The source of the plague is the Ganges area of ​​​​Bangladesh. The capital suspects that it is a local festival. People and livestock have polluted the river, so we in Calcutta must take protective measures to prevent the plague from spreading from near the Ganges to our castle."

The Governor of East India put a message from the capital on the wooden table.

After the capital extinguished the plague in Tianjin Wei, it did not forget to notify the more dangerous Calcutta.True cholera, caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae, is endemic in Bengal, and the Calcutta castle in Bengal is not doing well.This time it is very likely that there will be a major outbreak of cholera.

Like many epidemics, cholera can break out at a certain point and spread widely.

"The telegram describes that this plague will cause severe diarrhea and vomiting, and the sick will die soon after the symptoms appear. Do we have such a phenomenon in Calcutta?" asked the Governor of East India.

"It seems that several similar illnesses have been reported, but the patients have already died, and there is no major plague. I will investigate further." Qin Zuoming was also afraid of the mention of the plague from Bangladesh in the capital.

This is a plague. As long as you are alone, you will be afraid of infectious diseases with a high fatality rate!

"Is there any order or countermeasures in the capital?"

"Yes, the capital city has introduced a new "Health Regulations", which requires that large towns should use firewood or coal to boil well water or drink water as much as possible, and should also eat cooked food as much as possible. If the disease is found, The patients should be quarantined immediately. And the capital will send doctors who can treat the plague to stay here permanently.”

"Since the capital city has made such detailed arrangements, then we will do it, but it will consume a lot of firewood and coal. Fortunately, the company has found a coal mine in Bangladesh and is recruiting workers to mine the coal mine. The supply of coal on our side is going up. Then the price will come down.”

When a group of high-level officials saw that the capital had already made detailed arrangements, they stopped talking about it and turned pale.

Cholera was originally a terrible disease, but under the guidance of modern medical technology, they know to drink clean water and food, and doctors come here from the capital to help prevent cholera, so cholera is not so mysterious and scary.

"When will the armed merchant fleet led by Chen Bangyan return to Calcutta? We still have a large amount of treasure waiting to be transported back to the capital in Calcutta. In this disaster, the capital should need such a treasure to make up for the treasury." The gold and silver treasures looted from the imperial capital of the Woer Empire were transported back to the capital.

"After he occupies Surat Port, he will build a strong bastion. After the bastion is established, he will lead some armed merchant ships back. Surat Port is just between the sphere of influence of the First Prince and the Third Prince. If Without a strong bastion, it is impossible to defend the port from the offensive of the Mughal army." The governor of the East India Company said.

"Then we have to wait a little longer... Or let the Nanyang Fleet send armored frigates to escort the treasure ship back to the mainland?" Qin Zuoming said.

"That's fine too. If the military master knows that we have looted the imperial city of the Mughal Empire and confiscated hundreds of millions of gold and silver treasures from the Red Fort, he will definitely reward our group."

Everyone in Calcutta was very excited, and almost everyone of them could be considered to have made a contribution. The treasure worth hundreds of millions of rupees was transported back to the capital, which would definitely cause a big sensation.

In view of Qin Zuoming's repeated requests, the Governor of East India requested an armored frigate and two sailing warships to escort the treasure ship to the headquarters of the Nanyang Fleet in Malacca.

Carloads of trophies, including gold and silver, gems, Persian carpets, sandalwood and other items, were almost all loaded onto the galleon.Unless there is a storm or runs aground, several treasure ships can transport the gold, silver and jewels they looted from the Red Keep to the capital.

A steam ironclad frigate and two 24-gun wooden ships of the Nanyang Fleet anchored in the middle of the Hooghly River, waiting for the completion of the loading of the treasure ship.

"You guys are really capable. You even found so many good things from the treasury of the Mughal Empire." The captain of the Nanyang Fleet who was ordered to escort the treasures of the Mughal Empire saw that it cost a lot just to load the treasures on the cargo ship. Time, it is really hard to imagine how much wealth they looted from the capital of the Mughal Empire.

"After all, it is a big empire with a population of hundreds of millions. Unfortunately, for their own safety, their emperors sometimes even live in tents outside the city. They must have hidden part of the gold and silver treasures elsewhere. More than that." Qin Zuoming said.

"A large population is good. Even if each person only receives one bucket of grain, [-] million people are worth [-] million buckets of grain. It seems that the Indian Peninsula is really a good place." The captain of the Nanyang Fleet couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

(End of this chapter)