The Imperial Age with the Resurgence of Han Style

Chapter 259 Travel to India (continued )

The jurisdiction of the Qi Shazhou Governorate covers the vast plain area between the Hubu River and the Indus River, including the entire Indus River Delta. Overall, the area is not large, about 36,000 square kilometers, with a population of The scale is about 250,000.

However, there are not many real Qi people, or Han people, in the entire governor-general, only three to four thousand people. Even if you include the Qi and Indian mixed-race people and their descendants, there are no more than 15,000 people. Most of them live in Jinmen. The remaining people are the local Sindhis, Rajputs, and Baluchis.

As the seat of the Shazhou Governor-General Government and the seat of the Qi State Indian Fleet Headquarters, Jinmen naturally gathers a large number of people, including officials, clerks, clerks, soldiers, scholars, businessmen, craftsmen, and their families. In addition, a series of primary light industrial industries such as ship repair, grain processing, cotton processing, building materials processing, pottery making, and tapestries have been built over the years. This has attracted many foreign residents to come to work, making the entire city's population reach With a population of 80,000 to 90,000 people, accounting for nearly 30% to 40% of the population of the entire Viceroyalty, it is one of the leading industrial and commercial towns along the Arabian Sea coast.

With the development of the port and the construction of roads to surrounding areas, Tianjin has also become the gateway to the Indus River Basin. Cotton, wheat, wool, livestock, and various minerals from the inland areas are exported to the mainland of Qi and other overseas markets. Territory (or colony).

During the three days he stayed in Jinmen, Ibrahim Khan, as usual, spent some time wandering around this city founded by the Qi people.

To be honest, this city shocked him.

Ibrahim Khan had never seen such a majestic city, with row upon row of high-rise buildings, splendid commercial buildings, lively and noisy streets, beautiful and luxurious carriages, well-dressed officials and businessmen, and people wearing traditional oriental costumes. The beautiful women make the country bumpkins from the "backcountry" feel ashamed.

What shocked him even more was that in such a huge city with so many people, there was no such mess as Mashhad, where urine, urine and garbage were everywhere, and there were no countless beggars and refugees gathering in the market. Everything seemed so orderly and planned.

Although this city is located in the Sindh region, it has no Indian style at all, and there is no real temple or Western Catholic church. All the buildings are oriental and orderly, and the overall look is very coordinated. The cornices, blue tiles and white walls, brick gates, houses, ancestral halls, bell towers and archways all reflect the traditional oriental classical style.

In the northwest corner of the city, there is a large garden-style manor, which is obviously the residence and leisure place of high-ranking officials. The high-angled roof, coupled with the walking horse tower, brick-carved gatehouse, exposed tile windows, and street building, make people feel an invisible elegance. and nobility.

In the southeast of the city, huge factories are roaring, and the tall chimneys are constantly spitting out black smoke, like ferocious demons. Looking from a distance, there is a bit of fear in the heart.

This is the city built by the people of Qi!
Of course, Jinmen City is not all so glamorous. There are also large areas of chaotic and cramped slums. There are a large number of war refugees or people fleeing famines living there, mainly Sindhis from northwest India and Baluchis from the Karat Khanate. They can't bear the war, government exploitation, corruption, or food harvest failure and bankruptcy. In short, they can't survive. So he traveled across mountains and rivers to seek food in Jinmen, a place where order was stable and life was prosperous.

After several rounds of "border expansion", the Shazhou Governor-General's jurisdiction has already exceeded Jinmen City, and the area has increased more than ten times. It only has two battalions of Shazhou garrison troops and a regiment of Qiyin servants. , it is simply impossible to defend such a long border, especially at night, when a large number of Sindhis and Baloch people easily climb over the border trenches or simple fences and pour into the territory of Shazhou, leaving everyone helpless.

For this reason, every once in a while, the Shazhou Governor-General would order the police department to cooperate with the Qiyin servants to launch a large-scale population census operation to clear out countless "black households" from the borders of Shazhou.

As for the destination of the repatriation, there are only two places, either to be driven to the Kerat Khanate to enrich the population base of this close vassal, or to be shipped to overseas colonial territories that are in urgent need of development and have a relatively harsh environment, to serve as Qi's Contributing to colonial construction.

Ibrahim Khan did not understand the Qi people's behavior. Isn't the influx of more people into a region, or even a city, a huge wealth and resource?

Oh, the people of Qi are still too merciful, or not too shady. If they stay in the Khorasan area, if there are so many war refugees and famine victims, they will not be able to draft all the young men into the army. Expand the size of the army, and then carry out continuous conquests and plunders, and declare all the rest as slaves. Whether it is farming or herding livestock, they are all good labor.

At worst, they can be used as coolies, building bridges, paving roads, digging ditches, or as auxiliary soldiers, sent to the battlefield as cannon fodder.

Like the people of Qi, who have to expend a huge price to send a large number of foreigners into a situation like this is simply a waste of money!
Or, to be more ruthless, when the refugees are pouring in, just go on a killing spree to see who dares to sneak into the country at will?
Although he did not understand the Qi people's approach, Ibrahim Khan did not dare to deny it easily. He had been in India for decades and must have accumulated a lot of experience. If he did not resolutely prevent the influx of Indian refugees, , maybe there is another deeper meaning.

During the three-day tour, Ibrahim Khan and his entourage could not help but buy a large amount of goods, preparing to take them back to Khorasan on their return trip. In addition to offering them to Nadir, Most of them are kept at home and enjoyed individually.

The commodities and materials in Tianjin are so rich, and the price of most similar commodities is only 20 to 30% of those in Khorasan, making everyone eager to pack up everything on the market and take them back.

The people of Qi State did not show too much surprise at their crazy sweeping of goods. It was obvious that they were used to this kind of situation, whether they were the Baloch people of the Karat Khanate or the Sindhi people of the Nawab Kingdom. Or the Punjabis from the Panjinad Kingdom, as well as the Persians and Arabs who are farther away. Whenever they arrive in Tianjin, they all turn into shopaholics like this, bringing various goods back to their homes in large and small bags. hometown.

They either resell it locally and earn high trade profits from it, or use it to bribe local princes, nobles and tribal leaders in exchange for corresponding political or commercial interests and further develop and strengthen their own strength.

In this era of scarcity of commodities, no matter what kind of commodity or material, it can greatly meet people's various needs.

Moreover, the goods produced by Qi's large industries are not only of high quality, but also affordable, and are naturally loved by consumers all over the world.

How could the "country bumpkins" from the Khorasan region not be excited when they see such a wide variety of products at such favorable prices, and go shopping like crazy?
When the merchant ship to Surat was about to set off, Ibrahim Khan and others were still not satisfied. They felt that there were still many novelties and practical items that they had not yet had time to buy. It seemed that their wallets were bottomed out and they were constantly shopping for goods.

However, after boarding a sailing ship with a displacement of 2,400 tons, the high-spirited Ibrahim Khan suddenly showed a depressed and painful look.

The ship drifted on the sea, and the seasick people continued to vomit on the ship. Seeing that they had become accustomed to vomiting and seemed to have gradually adapted to the symptoms of seasickness, Ibrahim Khan was surprised to find that the ship It seems that we have arrived at our destination - Surat. Surat used to be the largest commercial center and the most important foreign trade port in India. Countless businessmen and scholars from all over the world lived here. In the words of later generations, it was a very high degree of internationalization and extremely economical. Prosperity.

However, during this period, because the Qi people focused on building and developing their own two trading ports, Tianjin and Shanghai (today's Mumbai), they greatly diverted the flow of business and people from Surat, making this former international trade port inoperable. avoid falling into recession.

In addition, the Mughal Empire has been on the verge of bankruptcy for many years, and its domestic finances have been on the verge of bankruptcy. It is unable to continue to build and maintain Surat. In particular, the siltation of the port is getting worse and worse, and it cannot be cleaned all the year round, making the access to and from the waterway difficult. It is crowded and cramped. If you are not careful, it will be tragically stranded in the harbor. You can only spend a large sum of money to ask the towing boats from all over the world to drag it out.

Therefore, many merchant ships coming to the west coast of India for trade will sail to Tianjin or Shanghai. Even if they want to trade in the Gujarat region, they will sail to Haining Port on the west side of the Bay of Cambay (now Pao Nagar City, Gujarat, India). ) dock.

After all, Haining Port is the largest trading port in Mozhou (now Katiawa Peninsula). It not only has advanced port loading and unloading equipment, but also has a large number of supporting warehousing facilities, various complete financial services, and there is also a The railway leads to Ahmedabad, the largest and most prosperous city in western India. The goods transported can be quickly digested by the huge market, reducing the time for merchants to wait and stay.

However, even though Surat's commercial status is no longer what it used to be, it is still the most important trading port and commercial center in the Gujarat region.

After landing at Surat Port, Ibrahim Khan saw many Qi officials and businessmen here, and a Qi army was stationed here. He thought that this place had become a colonial territory of Qi, and he couldn't help but be very surprised. shock.

It seems that the Qi people have occupied almost all the important foreign trade strongholds in India, and then rely on the hundreds of millions of people in the area to obtain a steady stream of commercial interests. Under this situation, it is difficult not to get rich suddenly.

In fact, Surat is still legally the legal territory of the Mughal Empire, Mughal officials still exercise their management authority, and more than 100,000 people and many merchants in the city still pay taxes to the municipal authorities. and undertake corvées.

However, the central government of the Mughal Empire owed a large amount of foreign debt to the people of Qi due to various reasons, either the government's endless borrowing or war reparations, and had already taxed the entire province of Gujarat, including Surat. The tax and expropriation rights were given to the people of Qi.

After decades of continuous infiltration and influence, Gujarat has become a de facto colonial territory of Qi, and all serving Mughal officials, petty officials, officers, and soldiers have become "employees of the Qi people" "Everything depends on the breath of the people of Qi.

It can be said that the Qi people have almost fully controlled the entire west coast of India from Jinmen to the Mozhou Peninsula, gradually extending southward to Gujarat, Shanghai, and to the Kingdom of Cochin, which completely controls the southern tip of India.

On the east coast of India, the Qi people also occupy large and small colonial territories and trading ports. Coupled with the deeply controlled Bangladesh region, this vast and fertile Indian subcontinent has been completely surrounded by Qi forces. And continue to penetrate into the hinterland.

If something goes wrong in the Indian mainland, or if a major event occurs, the people of Qi will change from being able to only achieve "single-sided printing" in the early days to "comprehensive printing". They can initiate attacks on all parts of India from any place and any angle. Forces intervene (attack).

With the strong military strength and regional control of the Qi people in the Indian Ocean Rim, the only obstacle that can prevent Qi from fully colonizing India is probably its huge population.

At present, Qi State still has some differences on how to colonize India. The radicals believe that the Indian region should be directly ruled, just like the Nanyang region, and the ruling power of various states and local separatist forces should be gradually abolished and replaced by the Qi State. Chinese officials took office as regional governors, taking the endless Indian wealth as their own, and using the abundant Indian manpower for their own purposes.

However, moderates believe that the colonization of India should be pursued slowly. While continuing to consolidate coastal colonial strongholds and trading ports, they should choose opportunities to go deep into the hinterland, control strategic places, and continue to attack and weaken the Mughal Empire and Maratha Empire. The ruling foundation of these two major local forces will then support more local puppet regimes, making the political units in this region more fragmented and separated, thus achieving the purpose of indirectly controlling the entire Indian subcontinent.

You know, the Indian continent has a population of hundreds of millions, with sharp religious conflicts and constant cultural conflicts. If you want to achieve direct control, how much manpower and material resources will be spent!
But the radicals sneered at this. Throughout India's more than two thousand years of history, it is a history of humiliation at the hands of foreigners.

The Aryans came and left the caste system to Indians.

The Persians came and brought Zoroastrian genes to Brahmanism in India, which later developed into the religious idea of ​​karma and reincarnation.

The Macedonians also came, but after breaking into the Khyber Pass, they encountered the powerful Magadha Kingdom in the Ganges River Basin. They did not bite down and occupied India for a while, and then turned around and left.

Immediately afterwards, the Greeks from the Kingdom of Bactria, the Serbs from Central Asia, the Parthians from West Asia, the Yuezhi people who were driven out by the Huns, and later the Turks and Mongols came to India one after another and established one after another. foreign ruling regime.

The native Indians could only continue to become slaves and captives in these foreign invasions, and they suffered silently for two thousand years without any resistance.

Well, now that our Qi people are here, and our national strength is stronger, our military power is more prosperous, and our civilization is more advanced, there is no reason to deal with this group of Indians who are as docile as sheep.

Therefore, many fanatics clamored that the Qi State should launch a comprehensive attack on the entire India, wipe out many local forces in India such as the Mughal Empire, the Maratha Empire, the Kingdom of Mysore, etc., and then establish a set of operations. The effective colonial system completely annexed this vast and fertile continent.

However, ordinary people's emotions and thinking often only focus on the immediate or short-term, lacking macro thinking and unable to see things that are too long-term. However, national grand strategies are usually calculated in units of five years, ten years, or even decades. How can we brazenly launch a war of annihilation and annexation if we are so enthusiastic?
Although India is plump and juicy, it is huge in size. It takes time to eat, chew it slowly and digest it slowly, so as not to fill your stomach.

(End of this chapter)