The Ming Dynasty and Mongolia borrowed money and paid it back to India... This sounds very reliable!
Anthony Van Diemen's eyes lit up after listening to Zhu Youjian's suggestion. The Indian market was a headache for him.
As the Governor of Batavia of the East India Company, he was extremely powerful. He was not only in charge of the company's business east of Malacca, but also the business in the Indian Ocean. However, unlike the situation east of Malacca, the Dutch East India Company's business in the Indian Ocean was not going smoothly.
On the one hand, Portugal, the co-monarchy alliance of the Kingdom of Spain, had a large number of trading strongholds on the coast of India, the west coast of Africa and the island of Ceylon, and had formed a trading empire centered on Goa.
On the other hand, the Indian Mughal Empire has been pursuing a pro-British, anti-Dutch and anti-Portuguese line since Emperor Jahangir (father of Shah Jahan), which made the Dutch East India Company's business in India very difficult - they It did not have as many strongholds as Portugal, nor did it have the support of the Mughal emperor like Britain. Therefore, it is completely at a disadvantage in the competition.
To break the extremely unfavorable situation for the Netherlands in the Indian Ocean, a war that would be difficult for the Mughal Empire to cope with was needed.
As for whether the Indians will repay the money for the Ming Emperor and Mongol Khan, Anthony Van Diemen doesn't care.
"Your Majesty," Anthony Van Diemen quickly asked, "do you plan to conquer Central Asia first and then India this time?"
"No, no," Zhu Youjian waved his hand and said with a smile, "I have no intention of entering India. I just want to be friends with Shah Jahan. If possible, I also want to adopt one of his daughters as my concubine."
Of course Zhu Youjian knew that the Mughal dynasty in India was rich, and he also knew that most of the princes and princesses of the Mughal dynasty were beautiful.
Oh, it turns out that this emperor launched the Western Expedition just for beautiful women. Anthony Van Diemen was a little disappointed, but after thinking about it, he found another opportunity... He turned around and asked someone to buy a few white slave girls from the slave market of the Ottoman Empire and give them to the Ming Emperor and Mongolian Khan. Well, then there will be someone to support the East India Company in the future.
"Long live the Lord," Zheng Zhihu couldn't understand Latin, but Putsman was on hand to translate, so he could understand the conversation between the two and could also interject on behalf of the Zheng family, "If the heavenly soldiers do not enter India, the king of India will How can I offer my daughter to the palace? Moreover, I heard that the Western Region has become increasingly poor since the rise of sea trade, and I am afraid that it will be difficult to afford the cost of the permanent garrison of heavenly troops."
"Vice General Zheng doesn't know something," Zhu Youjian said with a smile, "The lifeline of the Mughals in India is actually in Afghanistan, in the land in the river in the Western Regions, on the Mughal grasslands! If my great Mongolian country occupies For those territories, Shah Jahan of the Indian Mughals would have to sacrifice his daughter as tribute... With the generosity of the Indian Mughals, millions of taels of silver, what does it mean?"
"Your Majesty, the lifeline you mentioned is..." Zheng Zhihu continued to ask.
Zhu Youjian smiled and uttered three words: "Gulam!"
What is Gulam?
Zheng Zhihu didn't know it, but Anthony Van Diemen figured it out immediately, with an expression of admiration on his face - this Ming Emperor is really incredible. Even the Indian Tianfang Sect regime must rely on Central Asian troops to maintain its strong fundamentals. Clear as day.
Zhu Youjian continued: "Anthony, you Dutch have been dealing with India for a long time. You should know that the Tianfang Sect kingdom in India was established by the Tianfang Sect tribes who entered through Afghanistan. And the population of these tribes when they entered India was not very large. There will be a lot, and after the conquest is completed, everyone will be a master. If they cannot be replenished from Afghanistan and the river, at most one or two generations will become weak and weak.
The Mughal Kingdom's hegemony in India began with Babur, but suffered setbacks during the reign of his son Humayun and lost the country for a time. Later, with the support of the Persians and relying on the force of the Persians and Afghans, they entered India again and fought until Abak before the situation was truly established. And Arbak passed on to Jahangir, and after Jahangir came Shah Jahan, exactly three generations. During this period, the father-son civil war between Jahangir and Shah Jahan occurred, causing the Indian Moguls to lose all their land in Afghanistan. Therefore, the Moguls have lost their sources of troops in Hezhong and Afghanistan, and it is only a matter of time before their military strength weakens. "
"But Shah Jahan may not realize this, right?" Anthony Van Diemen frowned, "Most of these Indian conquerors are arrogant and don't know their own weight."
Zhu Youjian laughed and said: "If he doesn't know his own weight, I will send a Mongolian expeditionary force to cross the Khyber Pass and follow Persia, Macedonia, Kushan, Sassanid, Ghazni, early Mongolian conquerors and The Mughal Kingdom conquered its own route and entered India!"
"Okay!" Anthony Van Diemen smiled, "Your Majesty, since you are so determined, the United East India Company is also willing to participate in your western expedition... We will provide 3 million taels as an investment !”
"Long live my lord," Zheng Zhihu saw that Anthony Van Diemen had invested, and of course he no longer hesitated. "Brother Chen also has quite a lot of assets, so you can..."
Also what?
invest?
partnership?
It doesn’t seem to work, right? Investment is to be the boss. The Zheng family is so brave that they dare to be Zhu Youjian's boss?
A partnership is even less acceptable...the courtiers are in partnership with the emperor? Do you want to be on an equal footing with the emperor?
"I can give your Majesty 3 million!" Zheng Zhihu gritted his teeth and said "give".
Zhu Youjian originally only wanted to borrow 3 million taels, but he did not dare to borrow more for fear that he would not be able to pay it back in the future. Moreover, the cost of using the Mongols for the Western Expedition was also low. These 3 million taels were mainly used to supplement the equipment of the Mongolian tribes who sent troops. The Mongols would provide their own horses, cattle and sheep, and Zhu Youjian did not need to provide additional supplies. Of course, they will not give it for free, but will recover the cost and gain profits through robbery after seizing the territory in Central Asia.
However, most Mongolian tribes are now poorly equipped and do not have enough weapons and armor, especially firearms.
If such an army goes to the West, it will not be able to defeat the Jungar people who have a supply of firearms from Central Asia. Therefore, Zhu Youjian must provide enough weapons and armor to the Mongolian tribes accompanying him to ensure victory.
As for the cost of replenishing equipment for those Mongolian tribes, Zhu Youjian roughly estimated that 300 taels would be about the same.
Of course, if Zheng Zhihu and Dimen are willing to borrow twice as much money, Zhu Youjian is also willing to accept it... That's money! And it seems like you don’t have to pay it back in person, so why not?
Zhu Youjian laughed and said: "Let's consider it a loan. Vice General Zheng, if you brothers have money, just lend me 3 million!"
Zheng Zhihu hurriedly replied: "Your Majesty uses money, and we should be filial to him, so there is no need to borrow money."
"If you want to borrow something, you have to pay it back. It's not difficult to borrow again." Zhu Youjian smiled and said to Van Diemen, "Anthony, the 3 million taels from your East India Company can be considered as lent to me... ..I am the Son of Heaven, and I will pay all my debts, and I will also pay interest to you."
And interest?
Zheng Zhihu trembled in his heart, collecting the emperor's interest would not put his life in danger, right?
Zhu Youji glanced at Zheng Zhihu, who had a gloomy expression, and said with a smile: "When the time comes, let the Indian Mughals give you two families a port on the Indian coast. How about the interest?"
"We, the East India Company, can only ask for it!" Anthony Van Diemen nodded with a smile.
The ports along the coast of India are super high-quality assets that you may not be able to acquire even if you spend millions!
"Okay, okay, I'll listen to Lord Long Live." Zheng Zhihu actually had no interest in Indian ports - his family didn't have the ability to collect protection fees in the Indian Ocean. But Emperor Chongzhen didn’t dare not accept it if he wanted to give it!
"Your Majesty," Anthony Van Diemen asked again, "when do you plan to send troops?"
"Next year," Zhu Youjian said, "send troops next summer!" He looked at Anthony Van Diemen and Zheng Zhihu, "When will your money arrive?"
"Six months... If His Majesty wants food, we can also transport 2 million stones of Siamese white rice to Tianjin Port."
"I want rice!" Zhu Cixiang chose rice without hesitation, "Add another 300,000 pounds of potatoes and sweet potatoes."
Zheng Zhihu also asked: "Your Majesty, should our Zheng family's 3 million taels be given to silver or rice?"
"Give the turtle dove a gun, gunpowder, cloth armor, saber, bow and arrows!" Zhu Youjian said, "I will have someone send you a list later."
