"In 1660, my subordinates brought me a cup of drink called 'tea'. I took a sip out of curiosity. It was slightly bitter in my mouth, but when I swallowed it, there was an indescribable sweetness." - England Navy.
Chief Executive and Member of Parliament, Samuel Pepys.
At this time, tea was not urgently needed by the British East India Company, and only a small amount of tea was transferred from Europe to the British nobles.
Charles II's return to the throne obviously brought about many changes.
First of all, the British court table etiquette, a four-piece set of knives, forks, spoons, and chopsticks, was established, and spread to the nobility with Charles II as the center.
Members of the House of Lords and House of Commons in the UK adopted four-piece dining sets one after another, and then spread to the citizenry. There were even workshops for making chopsticks in London, which were regarded as a kind of civilized high-end tableware. And the British aristocrats even more
He is a self-taught person who has people make silver and ivory chopsticks, so that he can be distinguished from the chopsticks of ordinary people.
At the same time, Charles II liked to drink tea, but the price of tea in Europe was too expensive, so he ordered the British East India Company to transport some from China for every trade.
The power of the British East India Company is currently mainly concentrated in India. It also sailed to Guangzhou, but finally gave up because it was more cost-effective to order directly in Banten. Of course, the Banten Port has been in relative decline, and ships from various countries now prefer to go to Coconut City.
.
Or you can order in Malacca, but food prices in Malacca are more expensive and more funds are needed to replenish food.
The merchant ship buying tea for Charles II had already set off from London, while British merchants as far away as Banten had just received news of Cromwell's death. They were more worried about the domestic situation. They didn't know that Prince Charles had returned to the country, so they could only guess.
The political situation in London must be chaotic.
Oliver, the head of the British East India Company's Far East, wrote in a letter to London:
"The tough Chinese governor of Palembang annexed all the territory of the Banten Kingdom in Sumatra. The decline of Banten Port is visible to the naked eye, because most Chinese merchants ship goods to Coconut City and Palembang, both of which are related
Tax incentives. The small country of Banten will perish sooner or later. No one can resist China’s expansion..."
"The Portuguese princess married Chittagong to China. Chittagong is also offering tariff concessions. It must be an emerging trade center. More and more Chinese merchant ships are going to Chittagong for transactions. I guess that in one or two years at most, Chinese businessmen will
If we want to monopolize all ports, the tariff preferences will be cancelled, and may even be higher than normal, which will be detrimental to the British East India Company..."
"I heard that the new governor of Semarang is the leader of the rebels who failed in the struggle for the throne in China. He is a murderous guy. He shows no mercy to the natives. Perhaps 20,000 to 30,000 Javanese died in his hands. Vietnam
More and more Chinese farmers are coming to Java and Sumatra to reclaim land. They are all excellent cultivators, and their numbers are as numerous as herrings in the North Sea. If this trend continues, in less than fifty years, Java and Sumatra will be completely
Chinese……"
"Britain cannot colonize and expand in the Far East. We must focus on India. There was a civil war there and the fighting between several princes seriously weakened the strength of the Mughals. This was the opportunity for the British East India Company..."
In fact, the Mughal Civil War was almost over.
The third prince Aurangzeb and the fourth prince Murad led their troops to march towards the capital.
At this time, the old emperor Shah Jahan recovered slightly and sent prince Jaswant Singh to fight. He also told Singh not to hurt the two princes and try to use his prestige to force the rebels to surrender.
Such an outrageous imperial order made it impossible for Jaswant Singh to deal with it. He could only send envoys to negotiate when the two armies were facing each other. The third prince, Aurangzeb, took advantage of the negotiation opportunity to bribe Singh with money.
General under Ge.
The two princes were victorious and continued towards the capital.
When the war started here, it was completely different from what it had been in history.
In another time and space, the eldest prince personally led the troops to fight the second prince, but the distance was too far to return reinforcements. So he sent the emperor's grandson to lead the troops to deal with the coalition forces of the third and fourth princes. Jaswan was defeated.
Marshal Tet Singh simply defected and led his troops to defect to the third prince Aurangzeb.
In this time and space, the second prince obtained Chinese arms and had the ambition to be the emperor, but he remained stationary and observed the situation.
Therefore, now the eldest prince and his grandson were fighting against the third and fourth princes in person. Marshal Jaswant Singh did not dare to rebel. The two sides fought evenly, and the war was in a stalemate for three months.
The third prince, Aurangzeb, suddenly issued an order that as soon as he became emperor, the poll tax for Hindus would be restored, Hindu merchants would be subject to an additional 2.5% business tax, and Hindus would not be allowed to ride horses, elephants, etc., and Hindu temples must be renovated.
It is a green temple.
Holy War Message!
When the news spread, the eldest prince's army quickly fell apart, and a large number of Green Sect princes led their troops to join the third prince.
The third prince, Aurangzeb, gained extremely high prestige and fought all the way to the capital. The eldest prince and the emperor's grandson were executed, and the emperor Shah Jahan was placed under house arrest. Then he poisoned his allies, the fourth prince.
The second prince, who had been watching the theater in Bengal, did not react at all. The third prince had already ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor. If he sends troops now, it will be too late!
The new emperor Aurangzeb, without waiting for the second prince to send troops, rushed towards Bengal without stopping.
The generals of the vanguard were Mirjumullah and his son Sultan. A magical scene happened. The father and son were actually instigated by the second prince to rebel. Sultan led the army to rebel, decisively fled to Bangladesh, and transformed into the second prince.
son-in-law.
Immediately afterwards, Nawaz Khan, the father-in-law of Emperor Aurangzeb, also launched a rebellion and announced his support for the second prince.
In desperation, Aurangzeb had no choice but to return to the army and go straight to Gujrat, killing his father-in-law first. Things went smoothly, and the new emperor's father-in-law was killed by a cannonball.
Two accidents happened one after another, and Aurangzeb had no choice but to fight again next year.
The war has dragged on until now, and the second prince's territory is only the Ganges Delta. The territories in the southwest such as Gongyutuo and Wucha have all been lost, and they rely on a complex water network to survive.
By this time, the new emperor Aurangzeb was also tired.
He successfully imprisoned his father and killed his brother through a jihadist manifesto. After ascending to the throne, he must fulfill his promise. A series of policies caused Hindus to revolt everywhere, and the Rajputs even announced their separation from the Mughal Empire (the most important place in India).
The horse-producing area is also the main source of troops for the Mughal cavalry).
The brothers immediately declared a truce and recognized each other's status.
The third prince, Aurangzeb, was the Mughal emperor. He stopped attacking Bengal and led his troops back to suppress the Hindu uprising.
The second prince, Shah Shuja, was the emperor of Bengal and ruled the Ganges Delta.
Shivaji, the rebel on the west coast, also made a truce with the Bigapur Kingdom and attacked the Mughal Empire with all his strength. This guy's territory was less than one-thirtieth of Aurangzeb's, but he took advantage of the Mughal uprising.
The tide killed the Mughal army and retreated steadily.
This series of wars caused great harm to China’s maritime merchants.
The Mughal green princes, because of their extravagance and extravagance, borrowed large amounts of money from Hindu businessmen. Aurangzeb favored those princes and allowed them not to repay the money, and also raised the taxes on the Hindu businessmen. The princes were encouraged and not only did they not repay the money
, and began to impose excessive taxes on businessmen.
Over time, a large number of Hindu businessmen went bankrupt.
Although the territory of the Bengal emperor was not affected by the decree, most of the goods bought by merchants here had to be shipped to the Mughals for sale. Business taxes there increased and merchants went bankrupt in large numbers, resulting in a huge backlog of goods for Bengal merchants.
When Chinese maritime merchants received orders to ship cotton and other goods to Bangladesh, they were faced with a collective breach of contract by their business partners. They could only take the risk and continue south, selling the goods to the Dutch and British at a discount, and then through the British and Dutch
Sales network, selling to various states in southern India.
The Mughal people, merchants, craftsmen, as well as Bengali merchants and Chinese merchants, all suffered heavy losses. The only ones who really benefited were the princes and nobles of the Green Religion, and they benefited by killing the goose and seizing the eggs.
The Ganges River Basin is the Mughal handicraft and commercial elite zone. Under the influence of the new emperor Aurangzeb, the traditional Mughal industrial and commercial system almost collapsed!
The Mughal Empire, which was already in financial difficulties, suffered another fatal blow. Coupled with the continuous uprisings, local governors and princes took the opportunity to grow in size and support the bandits, so Aurangzeb, who was powerful in force, could still control it.
Once Aurangzeb died, the Mughal Empire was effectively abolished. It could still exist in name, but in reality it was divided all over the country.
When Zhao Han received the news from merchants and craftsmen, he couldn't help but sigh: "The Mughals are over. Once Aurangzeb dies, it will be like a vassal state in the late Tang Dynasty."
Of course, Aurangzeb was still very strong.
This guy quickly put down uprisings in various places. Although he could not kill the rebel Shivaji, he successfully planned to recruit him to surrender. Although the trap failed, he regained the territory captured by Shivaji, and then beat up the states in the Deccan Plateau. Who was he to arrest?
Beat whomever you see and destroy whomever you see.
Squeeze out the last bit of blood and sweat of the Mughal people and create the supreme hegemony of Emperor Aurangzeb!
The losses to Chinese maritime merchants are only temporary.
As the handicraft industry in the Ganges River Basin declines, the demand for Chinese goods will be greater. At most, within a year or two, the sales of Chinese goods in the Mughals will continue to rise.
The second prince, who failed in the fight for the throne, saw that his brothers no longer fought against him, and he settled down to be the emperor of Bengal. This prince continued to bully the kingdoms in the east, and would attack the mountain tribes from time to time. It seemed that he was showing off his power and expanding his territory, but in fact it was all
Trading at a loss is simply a way to vent the anger of the mountain tribes.
Bengal's finances were quickly in embarrassment, but the nobles were more content to enjoy themselves. They restarted the collection of poll taxes, commercial taxes and agricultural taxes were also increased, and a large number of people fell into a state of abject poverty.
The Mughal and Bengal emperor brothers, call them stupid because they are expanding their territory. Call them wise, the people in the country are in dire straits.
