Chapter 672 Punch on cotton
Robert Peel, who risked his own reputation and career in order not to risk the future of his country, is truly admirable.
He lived up to his reputation as "the chief architect of the Victorian era" and "Britain's first public servant." Franz preferred to be called a statesman rather than a politician.
It's just that this great politician's all-staking blow was actually of little use, because the uprising that was raging on the Indian subcontinent disappeared without a trace almost overnight.
All this stems from the internal conflict between the Kingdom of Afghanistan and the Sikh Empire. Akbar Khan is considered a very wise king. He is willing to settle the differences with the Sikh Empire and even make concessions (giving up part of the disputed territory between the two parties) with the Sikh Empire. Form an alliance to resist the British army.
However, Queen Jinda, the de facto ruler of the Sikh Empire at this time, did not trust Akbar Khan. The former turned a deaf ear to the latter's request for supplies, neither agreed nor rejected his proposed joint operations, and even offered him Provide false information.
Queen Jinda is a shrewd woman, she hopes to sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight. When both sides were severely weakened, she started picking peaches again, replicating her miracle in the court struggle.
It doesn't matter if the Afghans lose. Anyway, the Indian subcontinent is in chaos now. As long as the Sikh Empire proposes a ceasefire, the British should be very happy to accept it.
The Sikh Empire, which was recharging its strength, could take the opportunity to annex the Kingdom of Afghanistan, and then go south to invade India and catch the British by surprise.
But Akbar Khan was not a fool. His father was an old cunt, and he knew this trick very well.
Akbar Khan endured the humiliation before because he wanted to deal with the British, the big enemy, first, but when he met a pig teammate, he knew that nothing could be done.
As a result, the Afghan army quietly retreated. At this time, Henry Harding was a little confused. He had clearly been attacked from both sides before, but why suddenly there were no enemies on the battlefield?
However, as a veteran, he knew that when something goes wrong, there must be a monster, and now is definitely not a good time to pursue.
A hasty attack will only give the opponent an opportunity. Although the Indian subcontinent is turbulent at this time, judging from the battle in Nepal, except for the Sikh Empire and the Kingdom of Afghanistan, there is nothing to worry about.
It's just that the combination of the Sikh Empire and the Kingdom of Afghanistan is really difficult to deal with, because no matter which side attacks, the other side can take the opportunity to launch a sneak attack on the British-occupied areas.
The two major enemies have occupied difficult terrain, and the Indian colonies are all plains and cannot be defended. Therefore, for the sake of safety, Henry Harding wanted to spend 2-3 years building a perimeter around the Sikh Empire. Surround him to death.
But now the encirclement network has not been completed, and the Afghans are coming from another direction, plus there are numerous rebels behind them.
Therefore, Henry Harding could only ask London for help, and then wait for help. At least he could not lose control of the Indian subcontinent. This was his bottom line.
However, Henry Harding never expected that after the Afghans withdrew their troops, they carried out intense burning, killing and looting in the Kalat Khanate for a period of time, and then withdrew their troops.
Before leaving, Akbar Khan also burned down the plank road in the mountains, completely cutting off the possibility of another invasion in the short term, and by the way cheating the Sikh Empire.
At the same time, internal strife broke out again within the Sikh Empire. Queen Kinda and her lover planned a wave of purges in the royal capital, but things were revealed.
As a result, one-third of the royal capital was burned down, and nearly 10,000 soldiers and officers died in the internal fighting.
After repeatedly confirming the authenticity of the incident, Henry Harding invaded the Sikh Empire. This time, it was overwhelming, and it took less than a month to invade the Sikh Maharaja.
At this time, Queen Jinda still wanted to negotiate, but Henry Harding sent her and the last emperor of the Sikh Empire directly to Delhi.
The Sikh Empire also had to give up its claims, be reduced to a kingdom, be managed by the British East India Company, and fully implement the colonial Letwal system.
The Letwal system was a land taxation system implemented by the British colonial authorities in India. "Leiter" is the Hindi name for farmers.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the British colonial authorities in Bombay and Madras directly levied land tax from farmers, which accounted for one-third to one-half of the harvest. In the later period, it even reached two-thirds of the land harvest.
In fact, this is a means of land annexation, and it is also one of the important reasons for the slow (relatively) population growth in the Indian subcontinent.
After the news of the British capture of Gujranwala (the Sikh capital) came, only a few months later, the rebellion in those Indian princely states disappeared.
That’s right! They disappeared because the princes of the feudal states did not admit that they had participated in the rebellion at all. They were just doing it for "self-defense."
However, the British who came from all directions were still landing on the Indian subcontinent. They did not come to watch a show, they came to fight and make money.
But how can we make money without fighting?
So the war on the Indian subcontinent resumed! Especially in coastal areas and wealthy cities, India's wealthy businessmen have also been "intimately" protected by the Red Shirts.
But no matter what, Britain always kept India, the brightest pearl in the crown of the British Empire.
However, the lack of power in Europe forced the British government's foreign policy and attitude to change.
This was a heavy blow to Viscount Stratford, who had always advocated weakening the Austrian Empire. After all, in the eyes of Stratford Canning, only a weak Austria was in the best interest of Britain.
If we look at it from God's perspective, Stratford Canning's view is simply ridiculous.
Historically, Russia, France, the United States in the New World, the Qing Dynasty in the Far East, and Prussia, which had not yet risen, seemed to be more threatening than the Austrian Empire, a doll that could be broken at the first prick.
But in Canning's eyes, it was a different story. The Austrian Empire was born out of the Holy Roman Empire, and the Habsburg family united Spain to create the world's first colonial empire.
Metternich dominated the Vienna system, and he also killed his beloved brother (George Canning). Metternich asked Russia, Prussia, and Austria to form the Holy Alliance, which was a challenge to Britain.
France was trapped in the Vienna System, unable to threaten British hegemony, and even risked being invaded by Austria.
But in fact, the Vienna System is not very restrictive to France at all, and the European part has not been weakened in any way. The French have been planning to annex the Rhineland region of Germany, and are always ready to invade Northern Italy again.
Russia is an uncivilized country. Their civilization is not worth mentioning, especially in terms of culture, they are just like barbarians.
Russians only drink borscht! (British people only deserve to look up at the stars!)
In fact, Russia is the European military police, with a standing army of 600,000 in the Near East, a land area spanning the Eurasian continent, and a population of 75 million that is almost equal to the sum of the three countries of Britain, France and Prussia.
It was under the guidance of this bizarre view, coupled with the emergence of Franz, that the British Empire fell into an unprecedented diplomatic crisis.