Of course Bruce Van Diemen was instigating Li Jicheng to invade India!
This was a vicious plan that he and Matt Solko discussed to harm the Dashun Empire - the evil Dutch capitalists wanted to lead Dashun, a pure aristocratic peasant regime, astray!
After Matsoko met Bruce in Mrauk-U City, he realized that Dashun was different from Ming Dynasty. They were a "robber kingdom" that didn't want to exploit the colonial people at all, but just wanted to make quick money. When the two of them work together, since they want to rob so much, let's take them to India to rob!
India is as wealthy as the Ming Dynasty. Aurangzeb's Mughal court collects 200 million rupees in taxes a year, which is almost 60 to 70 million taels of silver. He is the second richest man in the world!
Now that Ming Dynasty, the world's richest man, can't rob it, let's just go and rob India, the second richest country in the world.
As for the strength of the Mughal dynasty, it was not a problem in the eyes of Bruce Van Diemen and Matt Salko, because Aurangzeb was strong on land and his navy was very weak, which was equivalent to none. Therefore, it is not easy for Dashun and Holland to join forces to occupy the Mughal territory, and it is not difficult to grab it and leave.
Moreover, Aurangzeb has now taken over his "homeland" Samarkand, and also controls part of Afghanistan. He has a place to recruit fierce Central Asian and Afghan mercenaries, so the expansion is so severe that no one will give him face. The Dutch, English, French, and Portuguese doing business on the coast of India were bullied by him!
What is even more hateful is that the Mughal Dynasty has hated Dutch profiteers since Aurangzeb's father, so they deliberately supported British profiteers and did not allow Dutch businessmen to do business on Mughal territory... If it were not for Without an available army, the Dutch East India Company had long wanted to deal with the Mughals.
But now, the East India Company had no room for expansion in Nanyang, so it could only look for opportunities in the Indian Ocean, and it happened to catch up with the "bandit kingdom" of Dashun.
Dashun had a strong army but no navy, and the Dutch East India Company had a strong navy but no army. The two sides could complement each other. Moreover, the treasures stolen by Dashun also need someone to help sell them. They can't go to the big trading houses of Ming Dynasty. They are rebels! So the Dutch just happened to help. Even if the East India Company was not convenient to come forward, they could organize an Indian trading company to do this.
And robbing India can be a long-term business. India is so big, has such a long coastline, and the coastal areas are so rich. It does not yet have a strong navy, and Aurangzeb is so tyrannical... He is so tyrannical that he has no friends. That kind of thing!
"Robbing and leaving?" Li Jicheng frowned. Isn't this what rogue bandits do? He is clearly the grandson of the emperor and is destined by the emperor. How can he always do the work of a robber? And the more he worked, the more he went back, and he changed from a sitting bandit to a street bandit...
"That's right," Bruce said with a smile, "we can use Chittagong as our base. We Dutch will send out ships, and you Dashun will send troops. If we grab something, we will split the accounts... You Dashun will get a little more, and we will get 60%." How about the Netherlands take a smaller share and get 40%?”
"Sixty-four points?" Li Jicheng pondered for a moment, "Then how much can we get?"
Bruce smiled, "That's hard to say... But according to our East India Company's investigation, the Mughal Dynasty's annual financial income is close to 200 million rupees, which is about 60 to 70 million taels of silver! And close to The Bengal region of Chittagong was an important source of taxes for the Mughal dynasty! The wealth Aurangzeb collected from there every year should be more than 10 million taels!"
"More than 10 million taels..." Li Jicheng took a breath, "Isn't that the Land of Abundance? Hit! Just split the account between six and four!"
Come on, it's a great success, this time I was finally led to evil by the evil Dutch devils! Although they were called bandits by the Ming Dynasty before, their nature was still a peasant uprising! Although the backbone of Dashun's army did not include farmers... but once they colluded with Western colonists to rob India, their nature would immediately change!
This is the degeneration from rogue bandit to colonialist bandit!
Li Jicheng, who didn't know that he was walking on the wrong path, paused, and then asked: "Mr. Fan, you just said that you should send a reliable person to see... Can you tell me what to see?" In what name should those who go out go to the Mughal Dynasty?”
Bruce said: "Now that Dashun and the Mughals are neighboring countries, of course they should send someone to inform Aurangzeb and discuss the issue of demarcation... The Mughal Kingdom and the Arakan Kingdom can always be Because there is a conflict over the ownership of Chittagong. Now that Chittagong belongs to Dashun in name, why should we not say anything to the Mughal Empire?
Moreover, the Portuguese and Bengali pirates in the Chittagong area had been harassing Bengal under Mughal rule. If you can promise to guarantee religious freedom in Chittagong and expel Bengali pirates there, Aurangzeb may still temporarily recognize Chittagong as belonging to your country.
And if we want to rob money along the coast of India, we must first control the stronghold of Chittagong! It was not only a springboard into India, but also a fortress against Mughal counterattacks. Only if Chittagong is well managed can the business of robbing wealth in India be carried on for a long time. "
Now Chittagong only belongs to Dashun in name, because the Portuguese colonists and pirates in the Bay of Bengal actually control it. Portugal was invaded by Spain because its local strength was too weak, so the other colonists outside were a little out of control. Many Portuguese colonists The rebels no longer obeyed Lisbon's command and became an independent force.
Some Portuguese colonial groups also served the feudal states where they were located, and this was the case with the Portuguese colonists in Chittagong. After the Arakan Kingdom was destroyed by Dashun, the Portuguese in Chittagong colluded with Bengali pirates and took Chittagong as their own. However, they also knew how powerful the Dashun Empire was, so they sent people to Mrauk-U City to proclaim their vassal status to Li Jicheng.
And if Li Jicheng wants to team up with the Dutch to rob India, he must first firmly hold Chittagong in his hands.
"Catch!" Li Jicheng clapped his hands, "That's it...I'll send an envoy to Tianzhu immediately. Mr. Fan, you are very capable and knowledgeable, so why don't you serve in our Dashun country?" I am an errand. I will be a consultant minister with a salary of 1,000 dan. I will go to Tianzhu with the envoy sent by me in a few days!"
This is a good thing that can only be wished for...Being Li Jicheng's advisor can lead him down the wrong path!
Bruce Van Diemen quickly stood up and bowed to Li Jicheng, "I am willing to serve His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."
...
South of Mrauk-U City, Poki Island Pier.
The Dutch Provincial Assembly, which was less damaged in the Battle of the Strait of Malacca, has now been repaired. Today is the day when this new battleship, which was found to be outdated just after the battle, sets out to return to the Netherlands. Accompanying the return were a dozen armed merchant ships transferred from the East India Company—these merchant ships would be used to transport personnel from other Dutch warships back.
The remaining dozen Dutch warships repaired in Mrauk U City will join the Dutch-Dasun joint fleet after complete repairs, and will be used to transport Dashun's army to fight against local tyrants in India...
Tropp, the commander of the Dutch East India Fleet, will also return aboard the Dutch Provincial Assembly. At this moment, he has not boarded the ship and is in the fortress on Poki Island with David Jones, Bruce Van Diemen, and Matt Solko and the other three people said goodbye - these three people have their own places to go. David Jones will stay in Mrauk U and be responsible for training the Netherlands-Dashun joint fleet together with a group of Dutch naval officers. Bruce Van Diemen will soon go to India with Song Yaowen to meet Emperor Aurangzeb. Matt Solko will return to Batavia, and then go north to Yingtianfu to discuss the future of the Dutch East India Company with the Ming Emperor!
Tropp looked at the people who were about to go their separate ways and sighed softly: "Everyone, we have witnessed the end of an old era and the beginning of a new era... In this new era, The ocean no longer belongs only to Europe. We must learn to coexist on the ocean with the Eastern Empire. This is not pleasant, but it is the reality.
Only by learning to coexist with the Eastern world empire can the Republic of the Netherlands maintain its wealth and freedom for a long time! I hope that we can strive for the greatest benefits for the Netherlands in the coming years! "
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