I Became A Hidden Powerhouse Of The British Empire [EN]: Chapter 175

Became a Hidden Tycoon of the British Empire 175 (2)

Service Termination (2)

Just as Lial was settling into the joy of cheaply ordering new merchant ships for the reopened opium trade and the newly pioneered Northeast Asian trade, he, the person in charge of the opium department, was baffled. He’d been trading opium without any problems for months.

“What the hell are you talking about! Are you telling me Brown’s company has completely disappeared!?”

“T, that’s the truth. We went to check after the payment due date, and the office was completely empty.”

“Maybe they just went out for a while. People don’t have to be in the office all the time…”

“No, everything, including the furniture, is gone. And when we checked, even the company’s traces were completely erased. It’s as if it never existed from the beginning…”

What on earth is going on?

So, am I supposed to believe that we’ve been scammed by the infamous East India Company?

But the more I think about it, the stranger it seems.

Isn’t the purpose of scamming to gain some kind of financial benefit?

But what did this Anthony Brown guy gain by pulling off this scam?

The payment for the 50,000 pounds worth of opium we handed over has been paid in full so far, and they haven’t even taken over the 100,000 pounds worth of opium that has already been produced.

In other words, those guys didn’t actually benefit from anything either.

“Did they do this just to screw us over? No… that doesn’t make sense either.”

It would have taken considerable manpower and funds just to fabricate the company’s history and create the appearance of a solid company.

It doesn’t make sense that all of that was simply to make things difficult for us.

Even they clearly suffered losses…

“Anyway, what should we do? We’ve already instructed the farmers to increase opium production.”

“What do you mean, what should we do! We have to cancel it immediately!”

“But how can we cancel something that’s already in production? At least we have to be prepared for the inventory to pile up for this quarter…”

“I’m going crazy. What grudge does this Brown bastard have against us to do something like this!”

No matter how much I think about it, I can’t understand it, but now that things have gotten this big, I can’t possibly cover it up.

I have no choice but to report it to the board of directors and try to find a way to fix it.

On the other hand, the Bombay trade department was almost in a festive mood because Bengal, which they already hated, had suffered another major loss in the opium business.

“Hahaha! I heard they suffered another big loss after acting so cocky? They were strutting around like Bengal was the center of the East India Company, but now they only have ruin left.”

“That’s right. They were acting like they owned the world just because that little bit of opium was making them money, but now they’re really going to go bankrupt.”

“Isn’t it a bit strange that the Governor-General is in that dying region? How about we ask the government to move the Governor-General’s residence here?”

“That’s a good idea. With Joseon [ancient Korean kingdom] and Japan opening their ports, the Asian market is expected to grow even more in the future, so the home country must have already calculated which region will be more promising.”

Unlike Bengal, which was deceived by foolish and clumsy scammers and suffered huge losses, our business is still progressing smoothly without any setbacks.

This time, the large-scale order for merchant ships is saving more than 15 percent of the budget than expected, proving a level of competence that is on a different level from them every day.

It is clear to everyone that the center of the East India Company will now be Bombay, not Bengal.

Compassion as a business partner never existed from the beginning for the people belonging to this company.

They are just grinning at the thought of picking up as much pie as the other side collapses.

That was the spirit of the East India Company.

* * *

It didn’t take long for the reality of the East India Company to be conveyed to the British Empire.

It is related to the Indian market, in which the upper class of the British Empire, not other places, is considered to have invested at least once.

Recently, at the request of the Baring family, I gave a speech in Parliament asking them to pay attention to Indian affairs, so the political world as well as ordinary citizens were paying attention to India.

But as if waiting for it, the problem broke out right away, so there was no reason for the political world not to deal with it.

I shouldn’t give the impression that I’m leading this, so I shouldn’t get directly involved, but there was no problem in directly observing how things were going, thanks to being called as a witness in Parliament.

“We must never condone this! Rumors that the East India Company is in a bad situation are spreading, and the domestic stock market is being affected all at once!”

As Disraeli began to speak passionately, many members of parliament, regardless of whether they were Conservatives or Whigs [British political factions], applauded and nodded.

Among them, some members of parliament were even banging on their desks, cursing the executives of the East India Company.

It seems like they lost a lot of money there. My condolences.

“The deficit is increasing every year due to reckless management, and they are not even properly repaying the money borrowed from the government. In this situation, they even greatly increased opium production to resume the already declining opium trade, and it has been discovered that they have suffered losses of more than tens of thousands of pounds. Does this make sense?”

“It doesn’t make sense! They even say they were scammed, but when you listen to it, there are too many inconsistencies.”

“I think so too. What kind of scammer in the world would scam in a way that they also lose money? This is not a simple scam, but can only be interpreted as something illegal is involved. The East India Company is a place where public funds from the British Empire government as well as money from numerous investors are invested. The board of directors seems to be mistaken that this company is their private property, but I think we should take this opportunity to eradicate these absurd practices!”

“Mr. Disraeli is right! The East India Company must be audited!”

“We must not condone this situation where good shareholders are suffering from the board of directors’ unilateral actions!”

As the voices of the members of parliament, who are written as good shareholders and read as us, rained down, Disraeli took out the ultimate move he had received from me, judging that it was time.

“The allegations of corruption in the East India Company are not just a problem for the Bengal administration. I have received an anonymous tip that Bombay is also creating illegal slush funds.”

“Creating illegal slush funds? What is that? Was there such an allegation?”

“If you are interested, you may have heard that Bombay has recently ordered a large number of merchant ships to expand the scale of Asian trade. But this is not actually for ordering merchant ships.”

Francis Baring, who had been listening to the story quietly until now, was startled and stood up from his seat.

“W, what are you talking about? They clearly said they would order several new armed merchant ships. Our bank also provided loans, and there were no problems in the procedure.”

“Of course there would be no procedural flaws. Because this is a meticulously planned slush fund creation scam. They create a fake company, then make that company win the bidding competition and deposit the contract money. Then, if that fake company goes bankrupt, the contract money is hidden somewhere as the slush fund of the East India Company’s board of directors.”

“No, that’s too far-fetched… do you have any evidence?”

“Evidence. Of course I have it. As a result of investigating at the time this incident was reported, this Asian Shipping company, which is said to have its headquarters in London, could not be found. It is a fake company that only exists on paper. And we have confirmed that the ships that this company built are also all fabricated. Above all, according to the informant, the East India Company prepaid a whopping 20 percent of the contract amount to this company as a deposit.”

“That’s because that company offered to build it much cheaper than other companies…”

Francis Baring, whose face turned pale at the fact that his bank might have been swindled out of money, protested, but Disraeli dismissed it with a light smile.

“That’s a very plausible excuse. And anyway, if you investigate, it will be revealed immediately whether this informant’s confession of conscience is true or a false accusation. The circumstantial evidence is so clear that the investigation will not be very difficult.”

“If we are going to investigate, of course I am in favor! If this is true, the East India Company has completely deceived not only the shareholders but also the bank! We must never condone this!”

“That’s right. To be honest, until now, our parliament and government have been giving too much vested interest and power to a specific company under the pretext of governing India. But everything rots when it stagnates! I think we should reveal the whole story of this incident through a thorough investigation, and if there is a rotten area, we should cut it off boldly.

No matter how painful it is, if you leave a rotten body alone, eventually other healthy parts will also rot and eventually your life may be in danger. Before the affected area called the East India Company endangers the home country, we must resolve this situation as quickly and quickly as possible! A parliamentary audit of the East India Company!”

“That’s right!”

“We must send an investigation team right away, even today!”

The members of the House of Commons applauded Disraeli’s enthusiastic speech all at once.

One of the scariest things in this world is the anger of people who have lost money.

The Baring family, which provided huge loans for the East India Company’s order for merchant ships, and the Whig Party, which was planning to receive election funds from the Baring family.

And apart from that, countless members of parliament who have invested small to considerable amounts of money in the East India Company.

Everyone’s voices became one and gave strength to the opinion that the East India Company should be investigated.

With overwhelming support close to unanimous, where the Speaker of the House of Commons did not even need to count the pros and cons directly.

A bill to form an investigation team to investigate the corruption of the East India Company under the leadership of the British Empire’s parliament and government was passed on the spot.

To ensure a fair and objective investigation, the contents were massaged so that the investigation team members were evenly composed of members recommended by the ruling and opposition parties, and the royal family.

But perhaps even the members of parliament who voted in favor now do not even imagine that the East India Company will disappear altogether.

They probably think that all they have to do is replace a few hopeless superiors and severely reprimand them to come to their senses.

Of course, it is already far beyond the line to fix it with just that much.

* * *

Exciting parliamentary investigation team inspection.

The members of the investigation team, which was supported by the government, parliament, and the royal family, stormed the East India Company like grim reapers.

But of course, the East India Company, which believes that they are the victims, still did not take this situation seriously.

“What? Creating illegal slush funds? A self-made scam? You’re so frustrating! We’re the victims!”

“That’s something that will all come out if you investigate. And the real victims are the good shareholders in the home country who have entrusted their precious money to your company.”

“Really? Then investigate it more!”

“That’s what I was thinking of doing anyway. Everyone, sweep up all the documents and take them away! We must thoroughly investigate so that nothing can be hidden!”

The board of directors, who believed that the investigation would reveal that the East India Company was a clearly innocent victim, initially did not object to the parliament’s decision.

However…

“A large amount of opium has been found on an island near the Maldives. Judging by the quantity, it exactly matches the quantity of opium sold to the Brown Company, which committed the scam this time!”

“It has been confirmed that a large amount of money has recently been deposited in the names of the board members at a local bank in India!”

As the investigation revealed that none of the internal informant’s confessions of conscience were wrong, the entire British Empire was shocked.

If they have been embezzling money in this way until now, how much money has gone into the pockets of the company’s executives?

[Shock! The hidden face of the East India Company! Causing a self-made scam and using it as a means of illegal accumulation of wealth?]

[Are shareholders fools! Exposing the corruption of the East India Company, which only filled its own pockets with the country’s money!]

Now that things have come to this, not only this case but even the accumulated deficits and losses cannot be accepted as they are.

“Dissolve the East India Company!”

“Arrest all the rotten bastards from the root and entrust India to a proper place!”

The anger of investors who invested in the East India Company and lost money spread beyond London to the entire British Empire.

The time it took for the giant, which had lasted for over two hundred years and controlled huge countries, to end.

It was only a year.