Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1899 Diu Island and India ([-])

"This damn weather is really hot!" Although he has lived here for several years, Navy Captain Echito still can't adapt to the hot climate here, even though it's only May.

Beside him was a humble Indian with a low-ranking background. He was a "Kumbi" (a branch of the land-owning Sudra group). The son of a merchant and the famous poet Tuklam admires him very much, and he often brags about how powerful this man is in front of people on the east coast, so that Captain Axito knows his poems——

"...you've done well, god! Tuka dances and rolls at your feet."

"...our servants of Vishnu are softer than wax, yet strong enough to crush thunder and lightning. Dead yet alive, asleep yet awake, we always give, however much we are taken."

These poems, how should I put it, Captain Echto is a little "strange", which may be the reason why he cannot understand it because of his different cultural backgrounds. He always feels that the content and intention of some poems written by Tukram are a bit strange, although there are many People adore him.But so what?People from the East Coast will not pamper him and pamper him. I don’t care what books or poems you usually read. Now you have to work hard for me and don’t be lazy!

It is said that there are more than 5000 Indian residents on Diu Island, basically all Rajputs, who live on agricultural planting, livestock raising, fishing and commerce on weekdays.In addition, there are some Portuguese and Indo-Portuguese, whose total number is more than 1000. They are basically merchants, priests, soldiers, sailors, nobles or government officials, occupying the middle and upper classes of society, and even Brahmins are also under their rule. under.

Of course, there is now a new wave of classes on this island very close to the mainland.The Brahmins must not like it very much, because they already had a Portuguese on their heads, and now it is said that a class that is even better than the Portuguese has come - this, this, this is not going to reduce them to the third class where?Every time I think of this, the Indian priests, big businessmen, and landlords on Diu Island can't help feeling sad, and their status has been lowered again!

Captain Echto is not interested in the weird and deep-rooted hierarchical concepts in the heads of Indians, but he also admits that this hierarchical system divides the entire Indian society, making the various classes confront each other and cannot be unified, which is very conducive to foreign colonization rule of the ruler.In history, there were white people from the north, Mongolians and Portuguese nearby, and now people from the east coast also came in big boats. The life of Indians is really "colorful".

In all fairness, the Portuguese showed great sincerity in sharing the so-called familiar land of Diu Island with the people on the east coast.Because it has been built for more than 100 years, the infrastructure cannot be said to be the best, but it is definitely not bad. There are lighthouses, forts, docks, warehouses, roads, military camps, hospitals, and various government facilities, which cost the Portuguese a lot. blood and money.

Captain Echto had carefully inspected the stone forts, fortresses, and piers built by the Portuguese. They have been eroded by wind and rain, and they are still functioning today.He was thinking, now the new funds allocated to their Diu business station by the mainland will be in place soon-grandmother, this fund process has been going on for almost a year, and it is beyond hope-the owner of Diu Island With full authority, he intends to work with the Portuguese to take a good inventory of the various buildings on the island that were built more than a hundred years ago, the demolished and reconstructed ones, the repaired ones, the lighthouses, forts, docks and other infrastructure needs. Modernization is also on the agenda. In short, this island shared by both parties—of course, the people on the east coast may regard it as their own—has a thorough transformation, which is expected to cost 6 yuan. Above, this is still in the case of a large number of seasonal Indian short-term laborers on the mainland opposite the island.

Xinhua Island, which is in charge of the Diu Island Commercial Station, once instructed that if there is insufficient funds to repair the premises and hire personnel, part of the trade profits can be retained for use, but accounts must be prepared.This promise has further strengthened the financial resources of the Diu Island Commercial Station, allowing them to have more money to do other things—don’t believe it, after several years of construction and promotion, the Diu Island Commercial Station is now The Diu Island Commercial Station began to make efforts gradually. Through the Portuguese distribution network, it continued to sell many East Coast specialty products, including weapons, military supplies, hardware products, vehicles, and medicines, to northwest India, and then from Portugal, India Or a large number of horses, dried fruits, spices, opium, raw silk, gemstones, perfumes, tapestries and other Indian specialties are purchased in the hands of local merchants. The annual trade volume exceeded 20 yuan last year, and it is expected to reach a new high this year. The growth momentum It's so strong, it's hilarious.

The Indian subcontinent is not peaceful. Wars cannot be said to be frequent, but they are definitely not rare. Therefore, there is a lot of demand for weapons and military resources.The flintlock guns produced by the people on the east bank are of good quality, long life, high precision, and cheap prices. The most important thing is that they can be supplied stably. They are very popular with Indians and have a large sales volume.Of course, a lot of military funds indirectly flowed into the hands of the nearby Moorish countries. After all, these groups are more capable than the Hindu people. It is very common to fight twice in three days, so the business is very prosperous.

It is worth mentioning that thanks to Xinhua Island’s protests to the mainland many years ago, the trading companies that sell goods to other places through the island’s entrepot trade must be registered in Xinhua Island.As in the past, registering at a local port (which means that taxes and profits will also fall on the mainland), and then setting up the office address and business address in Xinhua Island for entrepot trade, has been strictly prohibited, said It seems that it is to appease the dissatisfaction of Xinhua Island, so that people don't feel that the exploitation is too serious.

These trading companies mainly registered in Xinhua County, after selling many special products bought from the local area to India, basically spent all their money and purchased a large amount of various products needed by Xinhua Island, South Africa and South America. Commodities are very profitable.Needless to say, in the Eastern Republic of China, where consumption power is increasing, the people’s resistance to goods from India is also very poor. Every time the goods at the Indian specialty exhibition are sold out, wholesalers Laughing from ear to ear, the government's tax collection is naturally soft.

Such a hot trade situation has naturally aroused the interest of many people, so the matter of increasing investment in the trading station on Diu Island, whether it is at the government level or the private level, is naturally a voice of approval.India has now become the darling of many businessmen in Xinhua Island.

The navy is naturally happy to see that India's trade has become another high-speed growth point for the economy of Xinhua Island.On the one hand, this is because their home port is on Xinhua Island. Naturally, they hope that the economy here will prosper and the people will be stable and prosperous; It is becoming more and more prominent, isn't it?After all, without the warships of the Second Fleet to escort them, how can this business be done?Therefore, based on circumstances and reason, investment in the Second Fleet will also be strengthened in the future, and this has already been approved by the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the level of the local executive committee. Part of the fleet.

Strictly speaking, the trading station on Diu Island where Captain Echto and others are currently located is also an asset of the Second Fleet of the Navy.Of course, the military and government will be separated soon. The commercial station itself will be managed by professionals, and the subsidiary fortresses, lighthouses, forts, and ports will be managed by the navy, which means that Captain Echto will be fully responsible.

This early immigrant of Italian descent, who is not too young, now has the most important task, in addition to repairing the fort mentioned before, there are less than a hundred backbone veterans and non-commissioned officers from Xinhua Island at hand. , Formed an armed force of up to 1000 people.

The existence of this force is actually very important.First of all, it is impossible for the people on the east coast to be protected by the Portuguese all the time, and their armed forces on Diu Island are also very poor. One can imagine.Most of these people were the lucky ones who survived the attack on Diu Island when Yang Liang led people to raid Diu Island. People are not at ease, so they must have a reliable armed force that they can directly control.

Secondly, according to the local high-level plan, the future is to take over the entire Diu Island from the Portuguese-what?The Portuguese might be reluctant?No, their opinions don't matter!It doesn't matter at all!It’s a big deal to give a compensation of 20 to [-] yuan—at the same time, I will even look at the situation in the Indian subcontinent to see if I can find an opportunity to enter the mainland, so that the benefits of trade or other aspects will probably be much greater. .

And when it comes to this, we have to mention Aurangzeb, the Mughal emperor who is now in full swing.To be honest, this guy has a very individual character and is also a very tough person.It is quite difficult to pry a piece of Indian land from him.The Portuguese, who now own the most land in India, also rushed early. Before the Mughal Dynasty rose, they defeated the local maharajas and obtained a lot of land.After the establishment of the Mughal Dynasty, due to various factors, it also acquiesced in the occupation of these lands by the Portuguese, and did not necessarily send troops to take them back.

Therefore, under such a background, it is very difficult for people on the east coast to gain a foothold in India, unless they are willing to go to war with the Mughal Dynasty.But that would be extremely stupid, because even if the war is won (which is unlikely), it is very difficult to say whether the business will survive, so it is very undesirable.

From this point of view, it is indeed a great favor for the Portuguese to invite people from the east coast to set up a business station on Diu Island. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is a stepping stone to directly enter the Indian market.With Diu Island, people on the east coast have a foothold in India, and the rest can be gradually figured out.Don't look at the Mughal dynasty now that it is as prosperous as flowers blooming and fire cooking oil, but the continuous wars over the years have exhausted the country's national strength.Once there are any changes in the future—such as the death of the powerful monarch Aurangzeb, etc.—then the various contradictions that were suppressed in this country before are likely to erupt in a short period of time, and then cause great damage.I dare not say that the country fell apart because of this, but local rebellions will definitely arise one after another. At that time, it will be the opportunity for the people on the east coast, and of course it will also be the opportunity for all foreign colonists who are interested.

Think about it, the Indian subcontinent has a population of more than [-] million, what a huge fortune that is!With such a large population, even if the continent has no natural resources - practically impossible, India is very rich in resources - the wealth that can be created by just this [-] million people is enough to make People are dizzy.From this point of view, the value of the Diu Island Commercial Station is even more inestimable.

As the general manager of the Diu Island Trading Station and its affiliated fort, Captain Aichito is also very familiar with these situations.Therefore, he understood the importance of forming a force of appropriate size and in the hands of the East Coasters themselves.At present, he has recruited more than [-] Rajput soldiers from Diu Island and the opposite mainland, making the total number of soldiers in this reserve force called the Diu Garrison more than [-]—the Rajput soldiers recruited Many of the Jept soldiers are ex-soldiers who were fired by the Portuguese before the rainy season. The people on the east coast recruited them and became professional soldiers. They were paid for a long time. These people are still very grateful, although the Portuguese may not be too happy , but who cares?

In the next step, Captain Axito intends to find a way to get some Ottoman soldiers who were exiled to Xinhua Island, and the number of soldiers will be controlled at about 200.For the remaining vacancies of nearly 500 people, he plans to report to his superiors and use the "good family" militiamen from the counties of Xinhua Island to fill them up, and eventually fill up the establishment of 1000 people. Traveling across the ocean to serve in India, so in the end, most of this matter will be in the form of compulsory dispatching by counties in turn.

After the formation of the Diu garrison was completed, a considerable number of artillery had to be recruited.The number of remaining Portuguese turret gunners is not very large, and many of them have very problematic skills and levels, and they continue to be replaced and supplemented.This matter must also fall on the side of Xinhua Island.And only when the troops and forts are fully enriched, can they deal with threats from all aspects, such as threats from the Dutch East India Company.

(End of this chapter)