February 24, 1724, light rain, Garigarh.

"The State of Qi has organized a large expeditionary fleet and is about to go to distant Persia, ready to conquer that ancient empire." Rodrigo Bois, manager of the French East India Company's trading station in Garigar, stood in front of the window, looked at the drizzle outside, and said with a little sadness: "Once the Qi people bring Persia under their colonial rule, then they will firmly lock down the entire Indian Ocean region, thus consolidating their maritime supremacy." …… The Indian Ocean will eventually become the ocean of Qi completely! ”

"Yes, Monsieur Bois, your vision is likely to come true in the near future." Captain Jean Yuji, the captain of the carter's guard, nodded and said, "Actually, there are only a handful of countries and forces in the entire Indian Ocean region that can challenge the Qi people. The Mughal Empire, the Maratha Kingdom, Burma and other countries may have some strength, but if they want to shake the hegemony of the Qi people, it is absolutely impossible. ”

"Yes, the war in the northwest launched by the Mughal Empire with 100,000 troops was forced to terminate last month under the forcible intervention of the Qi State, and an armistice was signed with the two rebel kingdoms in the northwest." Rodrigo Boibis said: "After spending tens of millions of rupees and two years of war, the empire barely achieved any results, and it was hastily ended under the extremely partiality of the Qi state. I am sure that after this battle, the weakened Mughal Empire will no longer be able to solve the problem of the northwest, and the Qi state will also extend their tentacles into Punjab to exert more profound influence in this region rich in grain and cotton. As a result, after taking possession of almost half of southern India, the Qi began to increase their infiltration and control over northern India. Looking at this situation, the people of Qi want to completely swallow the whole of India! ”

"Mr. Bois, are you still haunted by the events in Mahe a few months ago?" Captain Jean Huji was relieved: "Actually, it doesn't have to. The Qi people began to set up a presence in India more than 60 years ago, and it was only through several large-scale wars that they established their current absolute dominance in India. If we were to say lost, the British, the Dutch, and the Portuguese would be even more so than we French. ”

Last March, the French forcibly landed at a fishing port called Mahe on the Malabar coast (i.e., the southwest coast of India) and began building a fort to establish a colonial stronghold there.

A month later, the Qi people who heard the news immediately rushed over, and after seeing a small European-style fortress standing on the coast, they made solemn representations and ordered the French to dismantle the fortress with military functions and evacuate the place.

The head of the French East India Company, who was authorized by the French East India Company, immediately rejected the request of the Qi people, claiming that the fort was built here purely to protect the safety of French merchants and expatriates from attacks by bandits from both land and sea directions.

When the people of Qi heard this, they were immediately unhappy. What are you kidding, who doesn't know that the southern region of India is the sphere of influence of our Qi country, whether it is at sea or on land, it is under the protection of our Qi country, where are there any rampant bandits?

They told the French that the entire Malabar coast was under the protection of the Qi naval fleet, and that there would be no pirate attacks at all. In addition, this area is the territory of the Kechin Kingdom (formerly the territory of the Kozhikode Kingdom, which was annexed by the Qi State and incorporated into the territory of the Kochin Kingdom), and its sovereignty is inviolable, and no foreign power is allowed to establish military fortresses and strongholds here.

In the face of the solemn statement of the Qi people, the proud French continued to choose to continue the confrontation. They thought that if the Kingdom of Cochin could allow you Qi people to establish a colonial base on this coast at will and seize rich commercial benefits, why should we French be forbidden to set up an "ordinary commercial stronghold" in this desolate port, so as to share in the rich trade benefits.

If I don't leave, do you dare to do anything to us French?

Don't forget that in Europe, with the exception of the Netherlands and Prussia, we in France are open and positive and friendly to you. You Qi people don't want to fight against us France because of a small colonial stronghold.

True, the Qi people did not directly use force against the French-occupied Mahe strongholds, but they adopted a blockade strategy. As many as seven or eight warships and armed merchant ships took turns roaming the waters around Mahe, and no ships were allowed to enter to provide the necessary supplies for the French.

At the same time, the Qi people mobilized more than 1,000 troops of the Cochin Kingdom to besiege the Mahe stronghold by land to prevent the French from penetrating deep into the interior and obtaining the corresponding food and other related materials.

The two sides were in a stalemate for more than two months, and the poor French exhausted all their supplies and finally had to give in to the Qi people. They used explosives to destroy the hastily erected fortress, took all their belongings, boarded a merchant ship, and left Mahe in disarray, returning to the Garrigal trading post.

Yes, this trading post in Garigal was also set up with the permission of the Qi people and the requirement that they should not be armed. The people of Qi seem to be the masters here, deciding everything.

"Don't you think that the Qi people are becoming more and more powerful in India? A few days earlier, they had issued an ultimatum to the kingdom of Madurainaya, demanding that they surrender King Vasim I, of Thanjavur who had fled to the country, to be punished by the Qi people. Rodrigo Boibis said quietly: "The people of Qi not only sent troops to swallow up this small country, but also wanted to send their king to the judgment seat and accept the punishment of the laws of Qi. ”

"Mr. Bowa, I think the people of Qi have the strength and the ability to punish any king who disobeys their will." Captain Jean Hugue shrugged his shoulders and was noncommittal to Rodrigo Boibie's words.

As a mercenary by profession who served in several colonial territories in the French Caribbean, they were more aggressive than the Qi people, killing the island's indigenous and black slaves without treating them as human beings.

Although Vasim I was the king of the kingdom of Thanjavur, he was no different from the natives of the Caribbean islands. The same ignorance, the same savagery, the same ignorance. They knew that the strength of their kingdom was far inferior to that of the Qi people, but they wanted to provoke them. If this is the case, then there are corresponding consequences.

"What do you think, then, of the proposal of the English to unite all the European nations and resist the control and monopoly of India by the Qi State, and indeed the trade of the East as a whole?"

Outside, the rain seemed to be getting heavier, and Rodrigo Boibis gently closed the window and turned to look at the well-informed mercenary captain who had traveled all over the world.

"The English are simply not credible." Captain Jean Hugue shook his head and said: "For hundreds of years, they have been hiding on several islands in the Atlantic, peering over the entire European continent, and taking advantage of the unpredictable situation in Europe at any time to seize their major political and economic interests. Decades ago, we in France experienced a series of wars, all of which included the English and suffered from their calculations. As for uniting all the countries of Europe to boycott Qi together, I don't think it's advisable at all. The English wanted nothing more than to use the power of continental Europe for their own important commercial gains. ”

"However, if we can't break the monopoly of the Qi people, all of our European countries will not be able to share in the rich eastern trade. Captain Yuji, can you imagine? Arabs, Persia, India, Burma, the East Indies, Siam, Annam, as well as Qin, Japan, and Korea, ...... so many countries and regions, so many people, such a vast market, are almost all controlled by the Qi people. Oh God, the people of Qi are simply sitting on a mountain of great wealth, eating with fat brains and mouths full of oil! ”

The French East India Company was founded in 1602 and failed three times in 1650. It was founded in 1664 by Louis XIV's finance director, Colbert, for the fourth time, and was mainly engaged in trade with India and East Africa. But for so many years, the business situation has not been ideal. The annual performance is not comparable to that of the Dutch East India Company, and even the British East India Company is not comparable, the trade volume is less than one-third of the British, and the profits obtained cannot even cover the costs in individual years.

Four years earlier (1720), the failure of the French paper money reform led by the Scotsman John Law, coupled with the bursting of the Mississippi bubble, not only dealt a heavy blow to the French economy, but also dealt a fatal blow to the French East India Company, which was on the verge of bankruptcy again.

As a result, the French East India Company had to be reorganized and reformed, and the directors and senior heads overseas were reappointed. Rodrigo Bois, a former treasurer of the French crown and now a senior manager of the East India Company in India, naturally wanted to prove his ability to win the favor of Louis XV and the regent Duke of Orleans and return to the court.

Last year, he rashly sent a fleet of ships and armed escorts to land in Mahe, in an attempt to break the Qi people's monopoly on trade in southern India, and trade directly with local merchants and princely princes to obtain higher trade profits.

Unexpectedly, this move was strongly countered by the Qi people, who drove the French out of the Malabar coast in the aggressive way of armed blockade.

In this regard, in addition to further realizing the strong control of the Qi people in India, Rodrigo Boibis had a strong unwillingness in his heart.

Perhaps, the advice of the English is worth considering.

(End of chapter)