The Imperial Age with the Resurgence of Han Style

Chapter 59 Civilization Bonds
February 2, sunny, Thanjavur.

Yang Xingfu held the musket and looked up at the temple in front of him. The entire building was made of granite and bricks. It was tall and spectacular and could be called a model of Indian temples.

"What are you doing standing there in a daze?... Rush in and grab something!" A companion pushed him, took two steps past him, and rushed down the steps to the temple gate.

"Damn it, are you all blinded by money?" Although Yang Xingfu cursed, he followed his companions and rushed into the temple eagerly.

Built in the early 11th century, the Brihadeshwara Temple is large in scale and magnificent. The courtyard is surrounded by cloisters. The temple contains the Bull Hall, two connected spacious worship halls, the front hall and the Vimana. There is a Vimanam tower built above the holy chamber, and behind the three pavilions of the main temple is the sanctum sanctorum, where the "Linga" - the phallic image of Lord Shiva is enshrined.

After easily controlling the priests and believers in the temple, more than a hundred Ningyang guards launched an organized looting of the temple.

In India, when it comes to wealth, apart from the princes of large and small states, temples are the wealthiest.Every year, thousands of believers donate various properties to the temple, and over the years, huge wealth is accumulated.The Brihadeswara Temple in Thanjavur is even more famous, attracting millions of believers to make pilgrimages every year. At its peak, about [-] believers worshiped every day.In the minds of many Hindus in the southern region, a visit to the Brihadeshwara Temple once in a lifetime is considered a "complete meritorious deed".

Moreover, starting from the early 11th century, for hundreds of years, princes and wealthy businessmen from various places also contributed considerable amounts of gold and jewelry to the temple, as well as many bright diamonds and valuable works of art.

Of course, when the Ningyang Guards invaded the city of Thanjavur, they were not specifically targeting the Brihadeshwara Temple, which houses countless treasures, to rob it.The purpose of this trip was to teach the proud Maratha Kingdom of Thanjavur a lesson and extend the power of Bangladeshi trading companies to the middle reaches of the Cauvery River, and also to block the foreign trade channels of the Madurai Naya Kingdom.

In 1674, the ruler of Madurai Nayak, Chokanata Nayak, invaded Thanjavur and made his brother Alagiri the king of Thanjavur.

It stands to reason that such a small country, and it is also a vassal state of Madurai Naya, facing the Qi people, the most powerful people in South India, should live a good life with its tail between its legs and be cautious, and not easily provoke the Qi people.

Unexpectedly, the Kingdom of Cochin, Kozhikode, Kannur, Chullon, and Ramnad in southern India were either annexed by the Qi forces, or surrendered their military and diplomatic powers and became As vassals of Qi, they all prostrate themselves at the feet of the people of Qi.

However, the Maratha Kingdom of Thanjavur brazenly launched a challenge to the Qi State because of a small judicial decision.

In October last year, a young and impulsive prince of the Maratha Kingdom of Thanjavur had a conflict with a merchant when he was purchasing goods in Nanyu Fort (now Cuddalore, India). They were killed.The magistrate who came upon hearing the news arrested him and then sent him to the trial court.

Although the prince expressed his willingness to pay a large sum of money to the deceased in exchange for his release.But he shouldn't have killed a Qi man.Although the deceased was a mixed-race child of Qi and India, according to Qi's naturalization law, all children born from intermarriage between Qi people and Indian natives are from the paternal line and will be recognized as nationals of Qi's overseas territories.

Since you killed my Qi people in order to maintain the authority of Qi, how can I get a lighter sentence?
As a result, the Nanyubao Court sentenced the prince to death by hanging and a large fine.

Well, not only must the perpetrators be severely punished, but the victims must also be compensated.

The furious Maratha King of Thanjavur immediately made a decision that he would regret for the rest of his life. Not only did he disobey the verdict and pay compensation to Qi victims, he also detained Qi merchants in the territory, sealed the border, mobilized the army, and prepared to fight with Qi. The people of Qi are tough.

Oh, after all these years, no country in southern India dares to challenge the power of Qi so blatantly!
The governor of Ningyang (now a local municipality in India) immediately ordered the mobilization of more than [-] armed guards from all over the country and eight armed merchant ships to attack the Maratha Kingdom of Thanjavur in a mighty manner.

The army passed through the mouth of the Cauvery River for more than 80 kilometers and entered the royal city of Thanjavur.After a less fierce battle, the Ningyang Guards entered the city and captured more than [-] ministers and generals.However, King Wasim I took advantage of the chaos to escape from the royal city and went to the Madurainaya Kingdom.

After occupying the city of Thanjavur, the convoy carried out brutal looting of this ancient city with a history of thousands of years. Numerous buildings, including the Brihadeshvara Temple, were severely damaged.

"Why do those chiefs from the mainland value so much the statues and murals in the temple? They have to spend so much effort to pry these things off, pack them in boxes, and transport them thousands of miles back to Hanzhou! Can this thing still be used? Will it be sold at a high price?" Yang Xingfu leaned against the wall, supervising the indigenous soldiers to move supplies, while looking at a dozen craftsmen in the temple hall carefully dismantling the statues and murals, full of curiosity.

"Who knows?" Zhang Keyi played with a delicate gold hairpin, imagining how to please the woman he admired after bringing it back to Ningyang. "Maybe the local nobles think these things are rare."

"Isn't Hanzhou the most prosperous and affluent place? There should be no shortage of everything there, and yet these indigenous things are so rare?"

"What do you know?" Zhang Keyi curled his lips and said: "The local nobles just like to collect rare and exotic treasures from all over the world to satisfy their luxurious desires! The things in these temples have hundreds or thousands of years of history. , it’s an antique, it’s that…archaeological civilization.”

"But as far as I'm concerned, it's still gold and silver."

"Tsk!" Zhang Keyi sneered: "You don't understand the world of rich people. They have so much gold and silver that they don't care about this stuff anymore."

"Oh..., if I have the chance, I can go to Hanzhou and see it, then my life will be in vain."

"Then you should join the trading company's fleet, so that you have the opportunity to go to Hanzhou mainland."

"...I'm seasick. This time I set off from Ningyang and took a boat all the way here. I vomited out the gall in my stomach."

"Then you don't want to go to Hanzhou mainland in this life." Zhang Keyi shook his head and said: "It will take at least more than a month to sail on the sea from Ningyang to Hanzhou mainland. If you are like this, you will probably die on the way! "

"...Even if we can't go to the mainland of Hanzhou, it would be good to stay in India all our lives." Yang Xingfu said with regret: "At least, we have a superior status here, and we can make a little fortune from time to time. This Life may not be worse than that of the natives of Hanzhou."

As a native of Qiyin of mixed race, Yang Xingfu has some yearning and admiration for Hanzhou natives in his heart.There is my mother country, with highly developed industrial manufacturing, scientific and technological civilizations like bright stars, and prosperous modern cities, with crisscrossing highways and dense network of railways.

Whenever businessmen and sailors from Hanzhou mentioned the development and current situation of Hanzhou, they had a strong sense of superiority. They even showed a condescending attitude towards overseas Qi people like them. .

Hey, redneck, have you seen what I'm talking about?
Apart from a slight yearning and envy for Hanzhou, native Indians like Yang Xingfu, who were born in Qi, may not actually be emotionally close to him.They were born here, grew up here, lived here, and built their homes here.Although I received an oriental education and spoke Chinese, my inner belonging was somewhat inclined to the local area.

If not, these Indian-born Qi people have a higher political and economic status than the indigenous people, eat scraps from a few monopoly trading companies, and have a completely different oriental face, I am afraid they would have been eliminated by the giants long ago. assimilated by the indigenous people.

(End of this chapter)