Dominate the Country

Even though many ordinary people would not spend money to buy newspapers, they would rather spend the money on drinking tea, watching plays, and listening to books. There are teahouses everywhere in China, and in Chinese teahouses there is a profession called "Newspaper Doctor", that is, a professional newspaper reader.

Their profession is to find interesting anecdotes that the people may be interested in from newspapers, and then read them to the guests of the teahouse in a more vivid and interesting tone to attract customers. It is a variation of the storyteller. An ordinary Chinese only needs to spend the money of a cup of tea to sit in a teahouse and listen to the interesting stories that have happened in the world recently.

However, this phenomenon did not curb the development of newspapers. On the contrary, it has guided the Chinese people's recognition and love of newspapers to a large extent.

What's more, a newspaper is not cheap. The lowest price is 5 cents and 8 cents, and the more expensive ones are more than 10 cents. For example, the highest price of "Global Times" is 15 cents. This price is definitely not cheap, and it can even be said to be a bit expensive.

If a family buys a newspaper every day, it will cost three or four yuan a month. With these three or four yuan, even in a big city like Shanghai, they can still buy a few kilograms of fresh meat to improve the lives of their families.

People who are willing to buy newspapers in China either have a long-term, stable, middle- or high-level job. These people are exposed to a relatively high level of society. They need to know as much as possible about current affairs, which is helpful for their social interactions. These people generally have strong purchasing power and greater social influence, and are also the most valued source of customers for the newspaper industry; or they are not of high social level but have a little spare money. These people buy newspapers not only to read the information on them, but also to recharge themselves so that they can chat.

Here, like London, when a group of people gather together to laugh and chat, whoever is well-informed, knows more and understands more will inevitably become the center of the group. Chinese people especially enjoy this kind of joy.

Robert, who was in a bad mood, was no less "looking at" the two workers from a bad perspective.

"Haha, dear Robert, I'm very happy to see you again." Winston, the chief of the British East India Company on the Tulip, was Robert's old friend. The two of them immediately gave each other a warm hug when they met.

Thirty years, they have known each other for thirty years. When they first joined the East India Company, they were still two young men in their prime, but now they are both old.

"Okay, Winston, let's sit down." After the conversation, Robert was the first to let go of his arm, and he still had a copy of the Global Times he had just bought in his hand. "Tell me, Winston, what is the situation in India like?"

Robert is very concerned about this. Recently, he is talking to representatives of several Chinese banks about buying British government bonds. Although China's finances are also very dangerous, it does not mean that China has no money. This money is just not in the hands of the Chinese government.

The interest rate of the British government bonds is not high, but it is higher than the deposit interest of Chinese banks. The vaults of these Chinese banks have a large amount of gold and silver.

If possible, Robert will be able to get a sum of 2 million to 5 million pounds from China. This money will not be shipped all to Europe, but part of it will be sent directly to India for the ongoing Indian war, which will certainly alleviate the East India Company's military expenditure problem to a great extent.

Anyway, the East India Company already owes more than 3 million pounds, and adding another million or so is not a problem, as long as Bengal can be saved.

"Haider has fallen, and his son has replaced him. Will he continue to cause trouble for the company?"

"I believe you have seen the analysis and comments in this newspaper. Is the analysis correct?"

Yesterday's news, Winston has confirmed the correctness of the report. This is ridiculous. The East India Company, a dignified company, is not as good as a tabloid that has only been established for a few years in terms of delivering news. Although there is a behemoth behind this newspaper to support it, this is really ridiculous.

You must know that this is a critical moment. The Kingdom of Great Britain is in a dangerous situation. China is the only country that can pull London out of the quagmire. Here, the speed of information transmission is very important. A piece of information that arrives even one day earlier can play an irreplaceable role at some critical moments.

After just one night of buffering, Robert has accepted this reality. What he wants to know most now is whether the analysis and comments in the newspaper are correct.

Winston pursed his lips, and the joy he had when he saw Robert just now also dissipated a little. A kind of mean and aggressive breath emanated from him.

Winston's temperament carries the label of "difficult to deal with".

Although he is older, this temperament he had when he was young has not weakened at all, but has become stronger.

His lips are a little thin, and his eyes are slightly raised, with bright and sharp eyes. Although his forehead is occupied by deep wrinkles, when Winston pursed his lips, the lines of his jaw were tightly stretched together, and combined with his sharp eyes, that one glance can make people clearly feel the arrogance and stubbornness in his bones. His temper gave Robert a headache when he was young.

Now Winston has this smell, which clearly shows a problem. The actual situation in India is not as good as analyzed in this newspaper. Robert's heart sank a little.

Winston's three-piece suit is exquisitely made. This kind of clothing is very suitable for Westerners. Winston looks a bit gentlemanly at first glance, but now it makes him look gloomy in London. Fortunately, he often wears a black round hat, which makes him feel a little cold.

Speaking of this, Robert has to admire the genius of the Chinese emperor. This old friend of his looked down on the clothing of European men at that time. He thought that the long coat and knee-length coat were too fancy. The lace and high white socks on the clothes reminded him of women.

So the emperor took the time to design such a set of men's clothing for Perrier, Robert, and the Swedes, Dutch, Portuguese, etc. at that time. This is the triangle suit that is now widely circulated and very suitable for the body shape and aesthetics of men in the Western world.

In just a few years, this kind of clothing has been widely circulated in the Western world. Robert himself also likes this kind of clothing very much, and feels that it is indeed more decent than before. But all along, there has been a knot in his heart, that is, the brand name given to this set of clothes by the Chinese emperor - called Goldlion.

This kind of clothing is for Westerners to wear, and the West comes to China to represent money and interests, so the Chinese emperor gave this clothing a very tacky and inappropriate brand name - Goldlion.

Robert feels so. He doesn't like this name very much, and always feels that this name has an ambiguity that cannot be described in words.

But now this kind of clothing has many other brands, and almost every port in the eastern coastal ports of China has a tailor who makes this kind of clothes. But the most authentic and best tailor shop is still Goldlion in Guangzhou.

Winston's three-piece suit is of first-rate fabric and craftsmanship. The fine sewing, neat lines, and perfect tailoring transform his inherent aggressiveness into a kind of solemnity and reserve.

The topic has gone too far. Let's focus on the Indian issue.

"Tip is a tough guy with a strong anti-British tendency. The most important thing is his source of arms."

"China sold a large number of arms to India. Those muskets and artillery we seized were obviously second-hand goods discarded by the Chinese."

"They used their discarded second-hand arms to earn a lot of gold from the Indians through their own ports in Jinghai or through the French."

"With the replenishment of arms, the quality of the Mysore army has declined compared with the beginning of the war, but the total strength has increased instead of decreased."

"Our negotiations with the Mattalas were not ideal. God knows how much arms the Chinese sold to India. Those second-hand guns and artillery that can still be used not only provide Tip with a sufficient source of arms, but also make the attitude of the Mattalas even tougher."

Warren Hastings, the Governor-General of British India, has always hoped to take advantage of the disintegration of the feudal countries in India and the internal disagreements of the Maratha princes themselves to disintegrate Hyder's anti-British alliance, win over the powerful countries among the Maratha countries, and sign peace treaties with other countries. Thus, the war between the East India Company and the Mattalas was resolved.

But this action did not see any effect.

Because the French and the Dutch were still enemies of the British, the Mysore army's combat effectiveness was always strong, which gave the Marathas hope of completely defeating the British and taking back Salcete occupied by the British.

In the previous war, both the British and the Marathas suffered considerable losses. As mentioned earlier, Hastings ignored the entanglement and obstruction of his colleagues and took tough measures to restore the East India Company's reputation in India. He sent a powerful army from Bengal across Central India and successively captured Ahmedabad, Bassain and other places, but the British army suffered a serious defeat in the attack on Pune and was forced to retreat.

But this does not mean that the Marathas won. Another British army sent by Hastings occupied Gwalior with the iron-blooded means of climbing the city with ladders, and the British army in Sipuri also won a victory. The results of these victories improved the reputation of the British and prompted the British to achieve a short-term ceasefire with the Pune Maratha government.

If Hyder abdicated and his successor Tipu could not defeat the British army and revive the prestige of Mysore, the ceasefire agreement between the British and the Marathas might have turned into a real armistice agreement. But the British were defeated in the Battle of Cuddalore, and they were defeated miserably. More importantly, the British chose to continue fighting on the issue of the war in North America, which kept the French and Dutch on the Indian battlefield under great pressure on the British navy.

So Mahadaji Scindia, the Indian prince who stood out in the Maratha War, saw the hope of regaining Salcette and striking a blow to the British majesty.

"Mahadaji Scindia?" Robert frowned. He had not returned to India for many years and was unfamiliar with this name. There was only a little impression in his mind, as if he had heard it from the bosses and employees of the East India Company when he had a drink party with them in the past.

Ten years ago, the Maratha Kingdom relied on its strength to put the Mughal emperor in Delhi under their control, threatened him with certain privileges, and promised to escort him back to the capital, which was a hot power to control the princes. But soon after, the kingdom had internal strife due to the issue of succession to the throne. The British took the opportunity to send troops to central and northern India, thus breaking out the Anglo-Maratha War that has lasted to this day.

The purpose of the British East India Company was to obtain certain coastal territories adjacent to Mumbai to consolidate Mumbai's position. In exchange for ceding Salsette and Bassain to the Marathas and transferring part of the tax revenue of Brochi and Surat counties to Britain, the company sent 2,500 troops to form an alliance with the Peshwa, and the coalition defeated the Maratha government forces in Pune on the Aras Plain.

But that was only an early victory. The 4,000 British and Indian troops suffered a shameful defeat when they attacked Pune, the capital of the Marathas. Then there was Warren Hastings's willful behavior. The bilateral war was on and off, and one side was deadlocked until now.

"Robert, you should feel lucky."

"The analysis in this newspaper is generally favorable to us. I hope you can send the gold to Bombay and London as soon as possible. As long as you can do this, His Majesty the King will not be stingy in awarding you a knighthood. And here I have a request from the company, you must help."

Winston said as he took out a parchment from his arms.

"What is this?"

"Warship order agreement."

Winston answered Robert's question, his face becoming more serious, "The company is in urgent need of warships."

"The Indian fleet suffered heavy losses in the continuous battles with the French and the Dutch, and is in urgent need of replenishment. The shipyards in Mumbai lack dry and good wood, and are under-operated; the output there alone is not enough to replenish so many warships in a short period of time. There is no way, now we can only turn to the Chinese for help. The Chinese shipbuilding technology is not bad, and the quality is also quite good, although they rarely use oak."

"But the important thing is that their naval guns are quite excellent, cheap, and they also have their own characteristics in the anti-corrosion of the bottom of the ship."

Robert nodded in agreement. As for the bad situation in India, if the mainland cannot send a fleet to support, they can only rely on the Chinese.

Although the proud Chinese have always held on to the old Chinese sailing ships, they are still investing huge manpower, material and financial resources to study how to reasonably match the Chinese hard sails and Western soft sails, so that the two completely different things can be perfectly integrated into one, so as to achieve the goal of perfect sailing for all ships with wind and wind. However, they have many medium-sized shipyards that can build Western-style sailing merchant ships of over 1,000 tons, not to mention the large shipyards, so naturally they can also build sailing warships.