January 16, 1724, Bengal, Linchuan (present-day Howrah, India, opposite Kolkata).

On the bank of the Hooghly River, which is more than ten kilometers away from Linchuan Fort, and beside the dirt road on the south side of the town of Bali, there stands a temple of the mother of time. The temple was noisy and exotic. This is especially true when people come from far and wide to worship the goddess after the rainy season is over.

The air was filled with the scent of incense and flowers, and the dust raised swirled around the temple's walls, and the paths were filled with ox carts, wandering herds, beggars, and barefoot worshippers.

Day and night, the lambs were consecrated to the goddess, and their blood flowed down the steps of the temple. Sometimes, the screams of these sacrificial animals are heard, and the worshippers fall into a trance in ecstasy, and even their own flesh and blood are blurred by the whipping, but they still pray for the grace of God, who is the wife of Shiva the Destroyer, the god of cruelty, the god of blood, and even the god of darkness.

It is a mecca for Indian thugs, a gathering place for generations of murderers who have been a terrifying nightmare for Indian travelers and traders for centuries. From the Indus River to Bengal there are branches and followers of their secret societies, which have their own hierarchies, as well as their own religious rituals and cultural traditions.

Moreover, they believe that the stranger who strangles the way they are actually accomplishing the cause of their mother. When Shi Mu killed the Asura blood seed at the beginning of all things, she created two people with the sweat on her forehead and ordered them, along with their descendants, to kill all the aliens.

In addition to the peasants' fear of becoming their accomplices, their murder for money was secretly protected by Indian maharajas and wealthy people, both true God and Hindus. These assailants would come to the temple every year to pay taxes to the priests, and in return they would receive instructions from the gods on where they should "practice" the following year, how much money they should bring back to the temple the following year, and what rituals to perform in order to enjoy the blessings of the goddess.

If they fail to fulfill these obligations, they will be rejected by the Mother of Time and become ownerless souls, wandering and wandering hopelessly in the chaotic world.

All this may pose a serious security threat to the Qi people who are trying to colonize India in an all-round way, because no one wants merchants and travelers who are wandering around India to be suddenly attacked by such a savage and ignorant crowd on a deserted road and lose their lives in vain.

"Therefore, we should tear down this temple of the Mother of Time, destroy everything in it, and hang all the priests, so as to avenge all those who died unjustly."

More than a dozen murderers were dragged out of the temple like dead dogs by the officers and soldiers of the Qiyin garrison, and then tied up into zongzi and rudely thrown onto several flatbed carriages, ready to be taken back to Linchuan Fort to be judged by law. Seeing this, Feng Jinping, a writer for Bangladesh's United Business Daily, turned his head and suggested to the magistrate of Qi who was in charge of the arrest.

"That's not necessary." Wang Kaicheng, the magistrate of Linchuanbao, shook his head and said: "Although this is the sphere of influence of our Bengal trading company, it is not our direct territory after all, so it is not good to interfere in local affairs and religious customs in India. We just need to get the people back and give an account to the local Bengali businessmen. If other people's temples are destroyed, I am afraid that it will cause a big storm. ”

Throughout India, with the exception of a few viceroyalties and two ports and trading cities under the direct control and occupation of two monopolies, the Qi people had a consistent policy of not interfering in their religious practices and cultural traditions. Therefore, the people of Qi knew that this temple harbored many murderers, robbers who robbed money, and villains who abused women, but they chose to turn a blind eye and turn a deaf ear.

As long as these evil believers don't target the people of the Qi Kingdom, you can toss whatever you want, after all, the rumors and legends of the murderers have no more impact than bringing chills to the newcomers to the Qi Kingdom.

You know, the biggest difference between the trading companies and the overseas territories and colonial satrapies under the government is that the merchants have no intention of ruling India, let alone trying to transform the Indians, they just want to make more money. In this regard, both Bangladeshi and Indian trading companies have been quite successful. After working for a trading company for more than ten years, most of them have been able to return to their home country to live a good life and support them to recuperate in a quiet and quiet village after retirement.

If he had worked his way through a difficult journey to become the head of a trading post or the governor of a colonial stronghold, he would have lived like a prince in India.

You don't see, Zhang Guangkun, the chief treasurer and local governor of the Bangladesh trading company in Gangneung (present-day Kolkata, India), was the nephew of the empress, and he liked to parade around in a luxury carriage drawn by four horses, followed by hundreds of musketeers and large groups of cavalry. Wherever he passed, the horse's hooves kicked up countless clouds of smoke, and the Bengalis, with their water bottles on their heads or heavy loads on their backs, would stop and watch the convoy pass with respect, all the passing vehicles on the road would make way for him, and the Indian soldiers who maintained order would salute him.

This big man with royal connections has more than a dozen concubines in Bengal, each of whom lives a luxurious life like a princess. Well, at this time, there were still very few Qi women in India, and the climate here was so bad, that the way of life of the Qi people in India at this time would be slightly closer to the local - they had Indian wives or concubines, made friends with local princes, nobles and merchants, and rarely had a sense of superiority over race and civilization.

Compared to the self-proclaimed great Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb a few decades ago, the Qi people were quite tolerant of religious control in the region-—— in fact, they also managed nearly 1,000 Hindu temples in the Qi's territories and satrapies. They also maintained a friendly attitude of cooperation and mutual respect with the Indians in plundering, fighting, and trade.

In short, they don't want to change the continent, the people here, and their religion and culture just yet. India, as long as it maintains sufficient docility to our country, can provide a steady stream of resources for domestic industrial and commercial development, and becomes a huge market for commodity dumping, it is the most perfect "sacred place."

"I heard that the Cabinet Government has recently established a new department called the Department of Overseas Colonial Affairs." Feng Jinping sat in the carriage, glanced back at the temple of Shimu that was gradually moving away, and then said to Wang Kaicheng with a mysterious expression: "This new department seems to have jurisdiction over colonial affairs in India, Bangladesh, and Burma. At that time, several trade monopoly trading companies, including our Bangladeshi trading company, will be subject to the constraints and policy intervention of this overseas colonial affairs department, in addition to the management and guidance of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Trade. In this way, our good days are coming to an end. ”

"Oh?" Wang Kaicheng was stunned for a moment, and then said with a senseless face: "The establishment of the Overseas Colonial Affairs Department is just an extra mother-in-law who is in charge of our trading company, and the impact is somewhat or less, but if it touches the direct interests of our trading company, it won't be enough, right?" Even if the trade monopoly of our trading company is abolished, our trading company has been operating in Bangladesh for more than 60 years, and its tentacle network is already deep-rooted, and it will not shake the dominance of our trading company at all. Besides, even if there is really any major impact, it is also a matter for the big people to worry about, and it should not be a big problem for us little shrimps. ”

"You're thinking too simply." Feng Jinping shook his head and said: "Since the cabinet government has set up this department, it must change the current colonial policy and transfer the colonial affairs that were previously dominated by trading companies to the government level. The entire Nanyang region is close to the mainland of Hanzhou, and it will inevitably be included in the scope of direct management in the future, and the establishment of provincial, government, and county-level management institutions will eventually realize localization. In Burma, India, Persia, and even Arabia and Africa, the cities, ports, and inland strongholds controlled by a few trading companies would inevitably be transferred to the Cabinet Government and placed under the unified management of the so-called Overseas Colonial Affairs Department. ”

"Therefore, all colonial affairs administrators, including Governor Zhang of Bengal, will either be reappointed by the cabinet and continue to perform their duties, or will be replaced by officials sent from the local area, and can only return to the trading company and resume your position as treasurer or steward, and will no longer continue to enjoy the status of a prince on the upper side."

(End of chapter)