Dominate the Country

The meeting between Gao Shida, who was successful at a young age, and He Huazhang and Zeng Ming, who were old but not very successful in the officialdom, was very ironic. Even though He Huazhang and Zeng Ming's current achievements were unimaginable before the Chen family started the rebellion, they still felt sour in their hearts when facing Gao Shida, who was much younger than them and held a much higher official position than them.

Gao Shida was quite elegant. Although he was not well educated, he had a faint smile on his face and looked gentle and elegant.

Such an expression matched his profession, and it was creepy to think about it.

"You two adults have been in Manzhouli for more than a day or two. In addition to the many news reported before, I wonder if you have made any new discoveries about the smuggling network recently?"

Gao Shida, who gave people a gentle and elegant temperament, was straightforward and rude in his actions.

"My Lord, we have made some new discoveries recently, but we are not sure about many things. Based on some clues reported before, we have identified more than 20 suspects in total. We have made some gains through careful investigation in secret, but we have always lacked direct and strong evidence." Zeng Ming and He Huazhang looked at each other and said in a deep voice after paying a salute to Gao Shida.

Waving his hand, Gao Shida said: "You two adults should know the seriousness of this matter. Just tell us who you have identified, what you have found, and who is involved!"

"There are a total of seven suspects found this time, two of which are the most serious suspects, and the other four suspects are related to the police, transportation and tax supervision departments in other places. The last one is a military person." None of the seven suspects are in Manzhouli. Zeng Ming's actions are criminal acts according to the law, and he has no right to directly investigate suspects outside Manzhouli.

However, as a border port city, Manzhouli is more of a distribution center for materials, and the crime itself originated from other places. Zeng Ming made the choice to cross the line when the choice came.

Gao Shida smiled coldly, "As long as you catch the people, I will bear the big trap for you. Have you alarmed them?"

"My Lord, these people are now only monitored quietly and have not moved. How dare we act rashly without waiting for instructions from above!"...

The distant Northeast is about to set off a storm of counter-espionage, but Chen Ming in the Nanjing Palace can't spare any energy to care about this matter.

Because just when the Chinese and Siamese troops retreated in the Burmese battlefield and the rainy season was about to come, the war in India broke out.

In the autumn and winter of last year, part of the British lobster soldiers in India were transferred to the American theater, and at the same time, Haider Ali seemed to have reached a common agreement with the French and the Dutch. When the time turned to January 1780 in the Western calendar, Haider, who seized the opportunity, led an army of 50,000 and more than 100 cannons to attack the Carnatic Plain. Haider occupied Portonovo and defeated a British detachment in the subsequent Battle of Berenberkam. Hyder Ali's son Tipu also led an army of 30,000 northward to prevent the two British armies led by Bailey and H. Monro from joining. Tipu defeated Bailey in Pollilur, captured Alcott, the capital of Carnatic, and forced Monro to retreat to Madras, thus controlling Carnatic. Successive defeats put the British East India Company in a difficult situation. At the same time, the powerful French fleet defeated the British fleet many times and landed the Marines to help Hyder, which reduced the British's "luck" in India to the lowest level. John Bull faced severe challenges and difficult situations.

Forgive Chen Ming's little world history. He didn't know that the Second Mysore War in India in the original time and space actually took place in 1780 in the Western calendar. It's just that it's half a year later than now. At the beginning, the Mysore army also gained an absolute advantage.

At that time, the powerful French fleet also defeated the British Indian Navy many times. It's just a pity that the latter lost little strength although it was defeated.

The British had a complete set of shipbuilding and repair factories in Bengal, and then the British restored their combat effectiveness in a very short time, and took advantage of the time difference of the Dutch intervention in the war to launch an attack on the Dutch, and quickly seized the Dutch stronghold Nagpattinam in South India and Ceylon's best port Trincomalee, the latter of which is a natural harbor. Then the British Indian Navy annihilated the Mysore fleet under construction in Calicut and gained control of the sea.

The French fleet docked in their unarmed port had not yet responded, and the Trincomalee port they hoped to use had been occupied by the British Navy. This is an absolute tragedy!

An ideal port not only has good industrial supporting facilities and excellent defense, but also must have convenient wind direction and ocean currents.

It can quickly restore the combat effectiveness of a fleet, with sufficient craftsmen and materials to repair the entire fleet, and replenish the gunpowder, shells, food, water, meat, salt and other materials needed by the fleet; it can protect the safety of port ships in bad weather, and at the same time occupy the convenience of wind direction and ocean currents, so that the fleet inside can quickly attack its combat targets.

Trincomalee is such a strategic location.

The harbor here is deep, the inlet channel is more than 30 meters deep, and there are multiple docks for large ships.

The French had always wanted to use this harbor as a base for the French Navy to fight against the British Indian Fleet, but the Dutch's evasion and the incoordination of the interests of both sides made this plan completely fail, and also let this strategic location fall into the hands of the British. From a historical perspective, this greatly reduced the combat effectiveness of the French fleet in India and the threat, which provided a huge convenience for the British to finally survive that difficult period.

Last year, the French Navy and Army occupied Grenada in the West Indies. In the Battle of Grenada, the French fleet commander, Admiral Count Destin, fought against 21 British warships with 25 warships, and 4 British ships were severely damaged.

French Army Lieutenant General Count Rochambeau led 6,000 French elite troops to land in the United States, and the military power comparison between Britain and the United States changed.

The situation in North America has changed dramatically, and when combined with the changes in India and Chen Ming's connection with Batavia, these occupied all his attention. Chen Ming really has no energy to spend on the Northeast now.

As for the situation there, he only needs to know the result.

At the gate of the Nanjing Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dekkerma, dressed in a black suit, walked out. You couldn't see his expression clearly. If you just look at his appearance, he is just a big marble statue. But how can the adult world be so superficial? Especially in the field of diplomacy.

Since the Dutch broke up with the British last year, Dekkerma's expression has been like this. No matter where you see him, his stiff face is always fresh in your memory.

Let's go back half an hour ago. Dekkerma and Dong Gao were having in-depth consultations on a certain issue in a small conference room of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Chen Ming sent someone to contact Batavia last year. Don't think that you can be safe by shrinking your head into the tortoise shell and being a tortoise.

The potential connection of the British is no longer there. Chen Han can completely seize the East Indies now and drive the last bit of European power out of his back garden.

At this time, the Dutch have not yet hooked up with the Gallic rooster. Now the big windmill is unguarded, which is a piece of fat meat in front of Chen Ming.

Chen Ming thought from a distance and did not want to have a deadly feud with the Netherlands, a tiny country that would later wander between Britain, France and Germany and have unclear connections with European powers, even though they were the leaders of the Red River Massacre.

Chen Ming wanted the Dutch to withdraw from the East Indies on their own initiative, and also showed his desire for colonies in Ceylon and the Indian continent, but it was obvious that the Dutch would not give up so easily.

Although the Netherlands of this era had many colonies, the East Indies must be the place with the greatest benefits and the most promising future. And it was also related to their economic and trade exchanges with Japan.

The loss of the East Indies was a heavy blow to the entire Dutch economy. Especially after the Dutch lost their thigh, the psychological blow was even more serious.

"The East Indies belongs to the Netherlands and is the legal property of every Dutch citizen..."

Dekelma did not express any protest to China. It was useless. People were going to rob them with guns.

Dekelma's clamor was useless. Dong Gao only needed to know that the Dutch rejected the "goodwill" of His Majesty the Emperor. You should know that his Majesty originally planned to keep Ceylon and let the Dutch lend it to France to deal with the entire war before taking Ceylon Island. And he also prepared a symbolic purchase fee.

But now..., all of this is unnecessary.

They should have discussed it directly with the French.

Every country has its own interests and plans, and no one can take the initiative to dance around the other's baton.

Chen Ming's plan is great. He not only seized the territory he wanted, but also did not completely tear his face with the Dutch, and provided convenience to the French. Although John Bull is pitiful in India now, Chen Ming still doesn't believe that the French can turn over.

Mysore is stronger than the same period in history. Just look at the number of Indian white slaves in China's sphere of influence now, but Chen Ming doesn't think that the strength of the Mysore Kingdom itself has changed qualitatively compared with the same period in history.

"No, no, no. If Your Majesty seizes the East Indies now, it will touch the bottom line of the entire Netherlands. They joined the war because of the British blockade that did not distinguish between enemies and friends. But the price of participating in the war is to immediately lose the East Indies and Ceylon. Even if the British are defeated in the war, what good will it do for the Netherlands?"

The Netherlands is no longer a first-class power in Europe. Then, if Britain, a country with a bit of "superpower" momentum, is brought down, the first-class powers such as France, Russia, Prussia, and Austria will benefit, and the post-war benefits will never be tangled in the Netherlands. In this way, this war will not benefit the Netherlands at all.

They might as well choose to continue to endure, endure the huge troubles brought by the war, and maintain this relationship between them and the British. No matter how greedy John Bull is, he will not let the Dutch lose the East Indies.

Because they know the importance of the East Indies to the Netherlands, and from the perspective of national security, the Netherlands will definitely not want to push the Netherlands into the arms of the enemy.

Because of the geographical advantage of the Dutch, it is of great strategic significance to Britain. It is very close to the British mainland and is a very suitable base for launching attacks on Britain. Moreover, the importance of the two countries is very similar. In addition to the Netherlands, Prussia, France, Spain, Portugal, and distant Austria and Russia are the main countries near Britain. Due to religion and other reasons, the relationship with Britain is not very good, so Britain needs to win over the Netherlands, which is of the same religious sect.

It is not a hundred years later, and the Kingdom of Great Britain has not yet reached the time of glorious isolation.

In short, the French strongly oppose China to attack the East Indies now. In short, Perrier, who has already boarded the ship to leave China and stayed again, firmly opposes China to attack the Dutch East Indies now.

The French firmly believe that the huge interests of the East Indies will make the Dutch turn around in an instant and succumb to John Bull again.

Chen Ming didn't care much about the friendship of France. After the war against Britain and the United States, the Gallic rooster was destroyed faster than the Ming Dynasty after the Korean War. In a short time, the French Bourbon Dynasty, which had defeated the arrogant Kingdom of Great Britain, collapsed.

Chen Ming didn't care about this at all.

He even thought about robbing France and Spain in the future Napoleonic Wars. Thus laying the foundation for his great wish.

So Chen Ming didn't care about the French. What really shook him in Perrier's words was the British. If the Netherlands turned around and leaned under John Bull's crotch again, and the people who came to China for negotiations changed from French to British, it would be very bad.

Chen Ming could not care about France, but he couldn't care about Britain. The economic and trade interests between China and Britain are far greater than those between China and France. Especially after the British imposed a naval blockade, the number of merchant ships other than British was greatly reduced.

Chen Ming felt that he should wait until the Dutch officially announced their joining the war. But when would this wait?

In the side hall, a large world map was marked with many ‘X’-shaped symbols representing wars. India, Burma, Europe, and the east and west coasts of America were all in flames.

Chen Ming stared at the west coast of North America. It seemed that he could not attack East India now. The restriction period might be a whole year, but he could not just watch time slip away.

He stared at the west coast of North America, which was also a battlefield. Should he add more troops and add more fire to make the smoke of war in the world more intense? Fight Mexico well and try to make the Spanish feel pressure so that they can conclude a ceasefire and peace agreement?