I Became A Hidden Powerhouse Of The British Empire [EN]: Chapter 173

The End of the Old Era (4)

“Yesterday, Whig Party’s Member of Parliament, Francis Baring, shared these difficulties with me.”

As expected, Disraeli looked at me with a slightly puzzled expression and asked:

“Baring Bank has a close relationship with the Whig Party. Does Your Royal Highness need to work for them?”

Hey, don’t treat me so openly as a Tory [a member of the Conservative Party in Britain]. What would other people think?

“As the King’s Consort of this country, it is my mission to promote the well-being of as many people as possible. They asked me for a favor, so I can’t just tell them to go away because they are Whigs, can I?”

“That’s true.”

“And Baring Bank has a lot of money. If we squeeze… I mean, get some investment from them, we can install telegraph lines to India more easily.”

Building a communication network is my ultimate goal, but doing it all with my own money just doesn’t add up. No matter how I think about it.

Of course, it was almost a monopoly business, so in the long run, I could extract a lot of money, but if I can use other people’s money, it’s much sweeter.

“Weren’t you supposed to cooperate with the Rothschilds? That’s what I know.”

“That’s right. But the Rothschilds need to allocate a little more money elsewhere.”

Perhaps because they were both Jewish, Disraeli and Rothschild got along quite well even in the original history.

Now that they are both on the same boat as me, they might work together someday.

“I think I heard it vaguely last time… Was it a canal?”

“Yes. It’s still in the early stages of planning, but the French side is trying to connect the Red Sea and the Mediterranean in cooperation with Egypt. I asked Rothschild to use his connections with France to extract as much information as possible and pass it on to us. Once we know how the business is going, it’s easy to sabotage it or snatch it away.”

“That’s a really good idea. If we can get out of the Mediterranean into the Indian Ocean via the Red Sea, the sea route to Asia will be drastically shortened, and our Great British Empire must have such a strategic point.”

Come to think of it, Disraeli was the one who devoured the Suez Canal while France was suffering a major defeat in the Franco-Prussian War in the original history.

I was planning to entrust him with a heavy responsibility this time as well, so history is truly ironic in this respect.

“Well, anyway, that will be a little later in the future, so I think it’s better to focus on India first. First, I will ask the Prime Minister to take measures because the East India Company is in poor condition and many businessmen in the home country are worried.”

“Then, should I take Your Royal Highness’s side there?”

“You can do that at first. But you know that what I’m trying to do is not to normalize the East India Company, right?”

What I want to do is normalize India, not the East India Company.

I have already told Prime Minister Wellesley and Disraeli about this.

It’s easier to respond immediately when a problem arises if you know it in advance.

“But it doesn’t seem easy to dissolve the East India Company simply because it is running a large deficit. There are quite a few people who recognize the hard work they have done so far. Above all, quite a few upper-class people have invested in the East India Company. To break up the East India Company, we need a strong justification that these people can accept.”

“A company with a huge size like the East India Company will inevitably have illegal circumstances pouring out if you shake it thoroughly. It will come out no matter what.”

“I agree with that. So, isn’t the problem how to detonate it? It would be a reason to say that the deficit is too severe, but…”

“Don’t worry. The lawmakers and capitalists who invested money in the East India Company will be the first to demand the investigation.”

What if the fact that not only is the deficit severe, but also that they have lost a huge amount of money in that state is widely spread throughout the Great British Empire?

If the media gleefully adds fuel to the fire and creates anxiety that even the possibility of recovering the principal invested in it is unclear?

The people who had been covering up the illegality and illegality of the East India Company would be the first to rise up and make a fuss, demanding a thorough investigation and recovery of the money.

“…I understand. So, I will play the role of an executioner who beheads them.”

“That’s right. No matter how I think about it, the only person who can do this role best in the parliament is Member of Parliament Disraeli.”

“Hahahaha, that’s right. I think I’m more qualified than the Prime Minister.”

If you denounce a corrupt company and formally draw up a parliamentary investigation, even the East India Company will have no choice but to be audited.

If the situation goes that far, the game is already over.

At that time, no matter how much you talk about being too big to fail, it will only be an empty promise.

But that’s that. The important thing is how to create such a situation, but I haven’t told Disraeli about this yet.

“How much money did the British government provide to the East India Company when the Indian rebellion broke out this time?”

“It must be at least hundreds of thousands of pounds.”

“That’s good. I will take it as a signal when the East India Company says it cannot repay the amount or asks to postpone the repayment date. At that time, you can condemn their lax management and create public opinion that a state investigation should be launched.”

Although he didn’t tell me the specific means, most of the things I’ve done so far have been like that, so Disraeli nodded without much doubt.

“Then, if the East India Company is torn apart, the vacancy will have to be filled, and that side is… ?”

“Wouldn’t it be like that?”

To completely fill the vacancy of the East India Company, an organization equivalent to a country must be established, which requires not only financial power but also legitimacy.

Above all, although I haven’t given any hints yet, the key to this matter is to attribute all the sources of evil that have occurred in India so far to the East India Company.

The cause of the rebellion, the entity that has oppressed the Indian people so far, the manufacture and distribution of drugs, all of this is the work of the evil incarnation, the East India Company, who covered the eyes and ears of the home country and acted independently.

And these evil people have been defeated by the Great British Empire, so we have to appease the local public sentiment by telling them to rest assured. To create a picture that the Indian people can accept, it is obvious who should be responsible for India.

Governor-General of India sent by the government?

Even so, the current East India Company is under the jurisdiction of the Governor-General of India, so there is no difference.

An entity that is clearly distinguished from the government or the East India Company and that all local Indians can accept and follow.

There is only one such group in the current Great British Empire. There was no one but the royal family.

* * *

It is commonly referred to as the East India Company, but the East India Company is not a group that functions as a single company.

Logically, how can an organization that governs such a vast land of India be run as a single group?

The East India Company is largely divided into three places.

It had major administrative departments in Bengal, Madras, and Bombay, and operated under a somewhat independent system.

Among them, the Bengal administrative department was based in Calcutta and was the area under the jurisdiction of the Governor-General of India, who was sent down from the Great British Empire, so it was no exaggeration to say that it was the operating entity of the East India Company.

This place had the most wealth as it oversaw the opium trade, which had the highest profit margin in trade with the Qing Dynasty [historical dynasty of China, 1644-1912].

Madras, headquartered in Chennai, also had a large organization and army, and the Bombay organization, headquartered in Mumbai, had accumulated considerable wealth as a trade hub.

But that is now only a good old days.

After the opium trade was hit hard, Bengal’s finances deteriorated rapidly, and now it was barely making money as if squeezing a dry rag.

In addition, a large-scale rebellion broke out last year, adding a lot of additional debt to the already poor finances.

Not only did they receive a loan from Baring Bank, but they also received hundreds of thousands of pounds in support from the British government, so they had to repay it in a short period of time no matter what.

Therefore, Edward Lyall, who is in charge of drug distribution, the core source of funds for the Bengal administrative department, was increasingly worried.

Even when the Great British Empire crushed the Qing Dynasty in the war a few years ago, he believed that the opium trade would resume.

But what is this?

The politicians of the Great British Empire seem to want to erase the fact that they did the immoral act of opium trade, and they began to turn away from opium thoroughly.

Thanks to this, the profits of the opium department, which had been sweetly sucking honey from the opium trade, began to decline vertically, and there was still no sign of improvement.

As a result, his influence within the organization weakened, and the East India Company’s board of directors gradually began to move to liquidate the opium department.

Anthony Nathan Rothschild, the second son of Rothschild, who received a special order from Killian, decided to target this side first.

As expected, Lyall, the head of the opium department, who received Anthony Rothschild’s proposal to purchase large-scale opium, set aside all other matters and responded to his call.

“Hahahaha, I’ve heard the story. You want to buy opium?”

“Yes. My name is Anthony Brown. We are a textile company, but recently we have been trying to develop the opium market.”

“Opium is good. If it sells well, there is nothing more profitable than this. But just in case, I’m asking, but you know that the opium sales route to the Qing Dynasty is blocked, right?”

“Of course. Do you think I wouldn’t have investigated that?”

Rothschild, who used the pseudonym Brown, shrugged and pointed to the far east of the map he had brought.

“The place I’m going to sell the goods is not the Qing Dynasty, but further east. It’s a place called Joseon [historical Korean kingdom] and Japan, which recently established diplomatic ties with the Great British Empire.”

“Oh… It’s true that those two markets have been additionally opened this time. The trade department is busy recruiting merchant ships to go there, but you’re going to sell opium there?”

“Yes. Most of the merchants who used to sell opium in the Qing Dynasty have gone bankrupt and are not trying to jump into the business again, but I think now is the perfect opportunity. If opium is successfully sold in Joseon and Japan, I will monopolize most of the profits.”

“Will those two countries become a market that can digest opium?”

“It’s much smaller than the Qing Dynasty, but the combined population of those two countries is over 40 million. The absolute population is not small. If we keep sucking silver coins from there, we may be able to earn as much as when we sold opium to the Qing Dynasty.”

Of course, I didn’t really intend to bring opium to sell, but the more plausible the excuse, the better.

Anthony Rothschild, who recited the scenario written by Killian, secretly smiled as he watched Lyall’s face bloom in real time.

“You certainly have insight. Hahaha! Then, how much opium should I prepare for you? Have you already developed a sales route?”

“Of course. I bribed an officer who went to Japan with His Highness and made acquaintances with local merchants. But since it’s the first time, I’m thinking of selling a small amount of about 10,000 pounds.”

“10,000 pounds from the beginning? That’s too much. I’m sorry, but we’re not in a good situation right now, so payment in installments is not possible. You must pay in advance, and we cannot refund you even if the goods are not sold out.”

“Don’t worry. It’s because I calculated that I can sell that much. Of course, I have to pay in advance. When can I receive the goods?”

“If you pay in advance, I will prepare it as soon as possible! Please wait a moment!”

Rothschild took a leisurely sip of tea as he watched Lyall hurriedly call his subordinates.

To be honest, it was a bit of a waste of money considering that all that expensive opium would go into the sea and become unusable.

In addition, I can’t give trust with just one time, so I have to do the same thing at least four or five times, so wouldn’t that be like throwing away almost 50,000 pounds or more into the sea?

‘But he said that the loss can be recovered from the other side…’

In fact, if you assume that you can get rid of the East India Company and save India with that 50,000 pounds, this is by no means a waste of money.

Rather, shouldn’t it be called an investment?

Even if it’s not 50,000 pounds, but 100,000 pounds, I’m willing to bear it.

First, I will pay the price of 10,000 pounds, then again 10,000 pounds, and then I will increase the order quantity to 20,000 pounds, and I will definitely finish the calculation at that time as well.

If I continue to pay diligently like that, trust will be built, and the other side, who is already eager for performance, will want to increase the scale of the business more and more.

That will be the day when their joy turns into despair.

Anthony Rothschild smiled brightly and signed the contract presented in front of him without hesitation.