Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 442: The Great Indian Uprising breaks out! (6+2K)

By then, when the factory is built and the products are produced, there will definitely be no shortage of sales, whether they are sold directly on the spot or shipped back to the country by sea.

Pan Dajiang is the second son in the family. Although his family has some wealth, most of it does not fall into his hands.

Therefore, if he doesn't want to be reduced to farming for a living after his death, he has to figure out a solution in advance.

The solution he came up with was to open a furniture factory in Lushun.

Upon hearing this, Jin Dashun's expression became a little hesitant.

"Master Pan's salary is not low, but my family still has land to tend, so I'm afraid it won't work."

It goes without saying how much Chinese people value land these days.

If given a choice, farming would definitely come before working.

Not to mention farming for your own family!

You must know that the land policy implemented by the Tang Dynasty in Liaodong was to distribute land directly according to the number of people.

Regardless of gender, age or status, as long as you arrive outside the Liaodong Pass, each person will be given ten acres of land.

After planting for ten years, the land will be yours!

The imperial court even took into consideration the food, farm tools, seeds, etc. needed for the people to reclaim land after they migrated outside the Great Wall.

The Tang Royal Bank even opened a low-interest loan business called Immigration Loan, offering loans to immigrants who came to Guandong so that they would have the capital to take root and survive in Guandong.

Therefore, Jin Dashun is now only focused on taking care of his own fields and has no interest in working outside.

Upon hearing this, Pan Dajiang spoke.

"What are you talking about, Brother Dashun?"

"Isn't it the off-season recently? The most we have to do in the fields is weeding or something, which is not hard work."

"Even without a strong laborer like you, someone at home can still do it."

"If you come to work in my factory, you can earn some money to support your family, right?"

Although the area outside the Great Wall is experiencing a wave of immigration today, most of the people who come here are ordinary people who cannot survive in their hometowns. Skilled craftsmen like Jin Dashun are still scarce.

That's why Pan Dajiang came to invite him warmly!
Upon hearing this, Jin Dashun was obviously moved.

Pan Dajiang continued to add more.

"Besides, Brother Dashun, your son is already nineteen this year, isn't it time for him to get married?"

"But have you prepared the betrothal gifts and the house?"

"Plus, you still have to pay back the bank loan. It's probably not easy to buy all these by just farming, right?"

Farming has never been a highly profitable industry.

Relying on the weather for a living is one thing!
Another point is that for newly reclaimed land like this, the output in the first few years will not be much, and it is not certain whether it can cover the cost.

In other words, in the short term, Jin Dashun can't rely on farming to find a wife for his son.

Furthermore, although the immigration loans provided by the Royal Bank of the Tang Dynasty to immigrants were low-interest loans, they were only low-interest loans compared to the high-interest loans where nine-tenths of the money was out and one-third returned.

The average annual interest rate of 3% is actually not low.

If the donkey really rolls over, it would be very scary.

Therefore, immigrants all want to repay their loans as soon as possible.

After hearing this, Jin Dashun finally made a decision and said through gritted teeth.

"Okay, let's listen to Brother Pan."

When Pan Dajiang heard this, he immediately smiled.

"Good, good, good!"

"Isn't this right?"

"Don't worry, Dashun brother, you will follow me from now on. I will never treat you unfairly."

Upon hearing this, Jin Dashun also nodded vigorously.

……

Meerut, India.

In the barracks of the British colonial army in India.

Lieutenant Colonel George, commander of the 3rd Bengal Light Horse Regiment, is leading his men to review and inspect the troops.

In front of him was an Indian colonial soldier standing with a rifle on his back.

These soldiers wore the red uniforms of the British lobster soldiers, but they wrapped their heads with turbans, which looked out of place.

But there was no other way around it. The number of British troops in India was limited, and if they wanted to control the local situation, they could only use the power of the Indians.

Recruiting Indians to join the British Army is a natural consequence.

Next to Lieutenant Colonel George was Thomas, a recruiting officer from Britain.

"Sir Recruiting Officer, how are the boys under my command?"

Thomas nodded and said.

"Very good. I think when they arrive in Crimea, they will definitely bring glory to the British Empire. I will report Colonel George's contribution to the mainland."

As the war in Crimea continued to escalate, Britain's military strength began to be stretched.

In addition to passing a conscription order in the mainland, Palmerston's cabinet also ordered troops to be transferred from the Indian colonies to reinforce Crimea.

And this is exactly the reason why Thomas, the recruiting officer, rushed to India from his homeland.

He was responsible for selecting elite soldiers from the Indian colonies and sending them to Crimea.

George heard this and said with a smile on his face.

"Haha, in that case, I would like to thank the recruiting officer here."

You know, if the soldiers under his command are valued and transferred to Crimea to participate in the war, then George, the commander, will be rewarded at home and even promoted.

So, how could George not be happy?
As for whether there will be casualties among Indian soldiers going to Crimea?
Haha, that’s none of his business.

As he spoke, George stuffed a purse into Thomas's hand.

Thomas took the purse, opened it and took a look, only to see many glittering gold coins inside.

These gold coins all have the queen’s portrait on them.

Putting the purse in his arms, Thomas continued with a smile.

"Lieutenant Colonel George, I came to Delhi this time and brought a batch of new rifles. How about letting the boys try them out?"

Hearing this, George nodded without any hesitation.

"Of course not, my dear recruiting officer."

Soon, as the two finished their conversation, several boxes were carried up.

When it was opened, there were Minié rifles inside.

Well, breech-loading rifles are still a scarce commodity in the current Britain, and the limited quantities are supplied first to local white soldiers.

As for India, it began to equip itself with the Minié rifles that were rotated out of the British white soldiers.

You should know that before this, the weapons of Indian colonial soldiers were mainly old muzzle-loading smoothbore rifles.

The Minié rifle is naturally a new weapon for them!
George opened his mouth to give orders.

"Everyone in the company, come forward and get your guns!"

As soon as George finished speaking, a company of Indian colonial soldiers came forward and picked up Minié rifles.

"Everyone, get ready to shoot!"

George continued.

However, after he finished speaking, the colonial soldiers in front of him did not react at all.

George couldn't help but frown, but he still patiently shouted coldly again.

"Everybody, load and get ready to fire!"

However, after he finished speaking, no one moved.

Aside, Thomas's expression began to become somewhat intriguing.

Originally, he thought that these Bengali Indian soldiers under George were of good quality.

But now it seems that this is actually very interesting.

It is not a good sign when subordinates dare to openly resist the commander's orders.

George noticed Thomas's eyes, and fearing that his credit would be wasted, he walked forward with a dark face and slapped Amir, the captain of the first company, in the face without mercy.

There was a crisp sound and Amir's face trembled.

"Disobeying orders!"

"Amir, what do you want to do?!"

After George slapped Amir, he opened his mouth and spit at him in anger, spraying his saliva directly in his face.

Amir wiped his face and his skin twitched, but he still spoke honestly.

"I'm sorry, Commander!"

"We heard that the bullets for these new guns were lubricated with lard. We refused to use them."

The Bengal Light Horse Regiment, as the name suggests, consists mostly of soldiers from Bengal.

Most of the Bangladeshis believe in a certain religion.

According to the teachings of a certain religion, believers are not allowed to eat pork.

The bullets used by the Minié rifle are the most typical paper shell fixed-load bullets. When using them, you need to use your teeth to tear open the paper shell that wraps the bullets and gunpowder before you can load them.

During this process, the mouth will inevitably touch the oil paper and bullets.

And this is something these Bangladeshi soldiers absolutely cannot accept!

That's why they resist orders!

George heard this, but completely ignored it and slapped the company commander Amir again without mercy.

"Follow the order, immediately, right now!"

"Otherwise, I will send you to a military court!"

Amir remains unmoved!
George was completely furious and started yelling.

"Amir, do your company of soldiers want to rebel?!"

Thomas, the recruiting officer standing by, saw this and stepped forward to speak.

"Commander, I would like to discuss the matter of transferring your Bengal Light Cavalry Regiment to Crimea later."

"The fighting in the Crimean War was extremely brutal. No matter what the reason, once such disobedience occurred, the consequences would be too serious."

Hearing this, George's face became stiffer. He just forced an ugly smile and said.

"Mr. Recruiting Officer, please give me another chance."

"I promise to make my soldiers obey orders!"

Hearing this, Thomas just shook his head, said nothing, and turned away.

As for the money bag that George stuffed into his hand before?
What purse?
Didn't Thomas pick that up from the ground? What does that have to do with George?
Watching Thomas walk away without looking back, George's fists hardened and his face turned frighteningly dark.

He turned around and scolded.

"Come here, take down all the soldiers in the company for me."

"All of them are taken to jail and await processing!"

Amid George's shouts and scolding, a company of soldiers took off their uniforms, put on shackles, and walked towards the prison without being escorted.

Behind them, Commander George was still cursing like crazy.

……

Inside a pub in Meerut.

Several officers of the 11th Bengal Light Horse Regiment and the 20th Bengal Light Horse Regiment were drinking together.

Although the doctrines of their faith prohibit the consumption of alcohol, wheat juice is permitted.

Andal drank the wine in the glass in one gulp, slammed the glass heavily on the table, and spoke with resentment.

"I heard that the military court has already made the ruling."

"Captain Amir was sentenced to death and will be shot soon. The rest of the people were mostly sentenced to five or ten years of hard labor."

"These damn British people are blaspheming our faith like this!"

Andal was very angry about the British tyranny in India.

As soon as he finished speaking, the people around him echoed his words, and everyone was unanimously dissatisfied with the British.

"What should we do? Are we just going to watch our compatriots being killed?"

"Also, those damn British are planning to transfer troops from India again and send us to the Crimea battlefield to die."

"We can't go on like this, we have to do something and can't just sit there and wait for death!"

A group of people were talking about it, and many of them were getting excited.

"God bless us, let us unite and kill all those British!"

"India, to regain independence, now, at this time!"

"..."

With a loud bang, Andal threw the beer glass in his hand and shouted.

"Brothers, rebel!"

"Gather your weapons, call the troops, and follow me to the imprisoned brothers of the Third Regiment!"

Amid shouts, the officers of the 11th and 20th Bengal Light Horse Regiments set out from the tavern and returned to the barracks.

After gathering all the men, they rushed towards the prison where the soldiers of the Third Regiment were held!
……

The third regiment’s headquarters is inside the barracks.

Lieutenant Colonel George, commander of the 3rd Regiment, was hosting a banquet for recruiting officer Thomas.

"Sir Recruiting Officer, what happened before was just an accident. I promise that it will never happen again."

"Please give me another chance!"

"The soldiers of the Third Regiment are eager to go to Crimea to fight for Britain and serve Her Majesty the Queen."

George said this very sincerely, and as he spoke, he pushed a small wooden box towards Thomas.

Thomas opened the wooden box and saw two small yellow croakers inside.

He picked up a small yellow croaker, weighed it in his hand, and even bit it with his teeth.

After confirming that the small yellow croaker was genuine, Thomas spoke.

"Haha, for the sake of the gold bars... no, for the sake of Lieutenant Colonel George's loyalty to Daying, I will give Lieutenant Colonel George a chance."

"Lieutenant Colonel George will go and gather the troops. I will go and inspect them again."

"If they are qualified, send them on a ship to Crimea!"

Hearing this, Lieutenant Colonel George couldn't help but smile and nodded hurriedly.

"Good, good, good!"

"In that case, thank you very much, Mr. Recruiting Officer."

As he spoke, George prepared to go out to gather the soldiers for inspection.

But at this moment, there was a burst of noise.

The entire camp was in chaos. George's face darkened as he heard the noise outside. Damn it, again?

Are you kidding me?

However, before George could respond, gunshots were heard in the camp.

Snapped! Bang bang!

The moment the crisp sound of musketry was heard, George could not help but stand there in a daze, his face full of stiff expression.

"This...what on earth is going on?"

"Who fired the shot?"

"Are you crazy? Who allowed you to shoot at will in the camp?!"

George roared as he prepared to push the door open to check.

However, just as he reached the door, he saw a white soldier striding towards him with a panicked look on his face.

"Commander, something big has happened!"

"Those lowly and dirty Indian natives have mutinied and rebelled!"

When George heard this, he was stunned on the spot, his face was extremely stiff and unbelievable.

"Wha...what?"

"Oh my God, what on earth is going on?!"

Thomas, who was sitting at the table in the room and playing with the small yellow croaker, could no longer sit still after hearing this.

He stood up from the table and strode to the door, asking anxiously in his voice.

"what's the situation?!"

"The Indians mutinied? Who gave them the courage?"

When asking this, Thomas cast a doubtful look at George, as if asking him, what the hell did you do? !

He actually caused his subordinates to mutiniate!

George also looked dazed when he heard this.

Because he couldn't figure out what was going on!

Just because of a few lard bullets?
Isn't it?

In fact, the reason why the Indians staged a mutiny at this time is very simple.

Because at that time the British had offended too many people in India.

First of all, in terms of the military, as the situation in Crimea becomes tense, Britain is preparing to withdraw troops from India to reinforce Crimea.

This was certainly something the Indian soldiers in the colonial army were unwilling to do.

And more importantly, the British new conscription law stipulated that not only would soldiers not be promoted to officers, but their salaries would also be reduced; the religious customs of the soldiers would not be respected.

These regulations have greatly infringed upon the interests of the military.

Secondly, the feudal rulers of India, that is, the local princely states, have now been offended by the British.

Initially, during the process of conquering India, Britain adopted the strategy of colluding with the local ruling class in order to establish effective rule in India.

That is, by utilizing feudal states and recognizing their existence, the pressure of conquest can be reduced.

However, with the outbreak of the British Industrial Revolution and the growth of bourgeoisie power, Britain's policy towards the feudal states in India began to change.

In the first half of the 19th century, the colonists deprived a large number of princes of their ruling rights and privileges under the pretext of "loss of power due to heirlessness" and "poor governance".

After Dalhousie became the Governor-General of India, he annexed a number of princely states on the grounds of loss of power and poor governance, among which the important ones were the large princely states of Oudh, Jhansi, Nagpur, Satara and so on.

As a result of the intentional annexation by Britain from 1848 to 1856, the area of ​​all Indian princely states was reduced by one third, and the princely states that were not annexed were all under the control of the British East India Company.

After each state was annexed, the British sent a commissioner to rule. His three or four attendants replaced dozens of state officials, and hundreds of soldiers replaced the thousands of troops maintained by the original king.

In addition, the pensions and titles of a number of feudal princes were cancelled.

Even the last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah II, who was in name only, was told that after his death, his successor could not be called emperor, that the royal family would have to move from the Red Fort to the suburbs, and that the royal family's maintenance would be reduced from 10 rupees per month to 1.5 rupees.

In addition, Dalhousie confiscated a number of lands from landlords in the Oudh and Bombay districts in the name of checking the legal qualifications of tax-free land holders, causing panic among the landlords.

In addition, after the Industrial Revolution, Britain turned India into a dumping market for its own goods.

Under the industrial power of the British, a large number of Indian handicraft workshops went bankrupt and a large number of Indians lost their livelihoods.

And the brutal plundering by Britain bankrupted India's economy and caused constant famine.

1770年的大饥荒夺去了孟加拉1/3居民的生命，从1781年至1824年马德拉斯发生了5次大饥荒，1812一1813年和1824一1825年，孟买发生了严重饥荒，1803一1837年，西北省发生了7次大饥荒。

It can be said that the British Empire almost killed every Indian equally.

The British rulers have become so crazy that they have pushed all classes in India to the opposite side.

All classes in India were offended by the British. The whole of India had reached the limit of its tolerance under the British oppression.

India today is like a powder keg.

And this lard bullet incident was just a fuse.

However, the arrogant colonists obviously did not regard Indians as human beings, so naturally they did not notice India’s strong dissatisfaction and resentment towards them.

That's why I feel confused about this uprising and feel that it shouldn't have happened!
However, after taking a deep breath, George forced himself to calm down and gave an order to a white soldier.

"Go, give my order to the British native soldiers, and assemble immediately to prepare to suppress the riot."

"I will kill all these damn Indian bastards!"

Now George really hated the rebellious Indian soldiers.

Because, in his opinion, even if he could suppress the Indian mutiny this time.

Then his plan to send people to Crimea to gain credit and promotion for himself will probably fail!

And the bribe he gave to Thomas would be wasted!
How could George not be angry? !

He wanted to kill all those damn Indians.

However, just as George gave the order to quell the rebellion, there was a commotion, several white soldiers were shot dead, and a group of Indian soldiers in turbans rushed in from outside.

Coming towards George with great momentum!

Among these Indian soldiers, the leader was Amir, the captain of the first company of the Third Bengal Light Cavalry Regiment, who was ordered to be imprisoned and then tried in a military court and sentenced to death.

"A...Amir, how did you get released from prison?"

George subconsciously took a few steps back and his face changed suddenly.

Amir raised his gun, aimed at George in front of him, and said with a twitching face.

"It's time to end your damn British rule in India!"

"Long live Indian independence!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Amir pulled the trigger.

After a gunshot, a pool of blood burst out from George's chest. He staggered back several steps, then fell to the ground holding his chest.

Behind Amir, several Indian soldiers also pulled the trigger.

Gunshots rang out, and all the British in the room, including Thomas, were shot dead.

"Mr. Andar, what should we do next?"

Amir looked at Andar, who led the uprising, and asked for his opinion.

Andal took a deep breath and then spoke.

“To Delhi!”

"Support our Emperor and let him rule his great India again!"

The biggest problem facing the rebels now is that they do not have a feasible political program and lack a leader with sufficient prestige.

Because Andal and others who led the uprising were mostly grassroots officers. They had limited prestige in the army and it was impossible for them to control the army.

Therefore, they urgently need a leader with sufficient prestige to gain legitimacy and control the army.

Otherwise, their uprising would be just a mob and would be crushed by the British sooner or later.

In today's India, the only person suitable to be their leader is the current emperor of the Mughal Empire, Bahadur Shah II.

With the prestige of the Mughal Empire ruling India for hundreds of years, if Bahadur Shaikhan stood up and led the uprising, the whole of India might have followed suit.

By then, they might really have the possibility to overthrow British rule in India!
Amir heard this and nodded.

"Okay, let's get ready to go to Delhi!"

"I believe that our Emperor will definitely stand up and lead us to resist the rule of the British!"

……

Delhi, Red Fort!
Indian palace!

Bahadur Shah II stands on a tower, looking out over the Red Fort.

Outside the Red Fort, a large number of rebel soldiers gathered, and the entire city of Delhi became noisy.

After yesterday's uprising, the soldiers quickly fought their way from Meerut to Delhi.

And defeated the British garrison in Delhi and took control of the Delhi area.

After doing this, the rebel soldiers began searching and killing British officials and Christians in the city of Delhi.

These acts were mixed with robbery, rape, and murder.

The whole of Delhi was in chaos.

Bahadur Shah looked at the commotion outside the Red Fort with concern.

"Ali, what exactly do those rebels want to do by surrounding the Red Fort?"

Bahadur Shah could not help but ask the chief eunuch beside him.

Upon hearing this, the eunuch chief named Ali said with a serious expression.

"Your Majesty, as far as I know, the rebels gathered outside the Red Castle, hoping that Your Majesty would step forward and lead them in the uprising."

Upon hearing this, Bahadur Shah did not feel relieved, but his expression became extremely solemn.

“This…how is this possible?!”

"I can't do it, I really can't do it!"

It was not that Bahadur Shah was not interested in the uprising, he just had a psychological shadow on the British.

He knew only too well how powerful Britain was.

Britain in the Victorian era was a true global hegemon.

Even the Tang Dynasty could only ignore Britain within East Asia and Southeast Asia.

Once outside this range, the world is still the British home ground.

Otherwise, Bahadur Shah would not have lost his throne and still not dared to resist.

If he really had the courage to resist, he would have done it long ago!
After struggling for a while, Bahadur Shah said to Ali beside him.

"Ali, please reject them on my behalf."

"Just say, I'm old, I can't do anything anymore, I just want to spend my old age in peace..."

However, at this moment, another servant came in to report.

"Your Majesty, something happened!"

"Prince Mirza was elected commander-in-chief by the rebels..."

Upon hearing this, Bahadur Shah II felt as if the sky was falling and he felt as if he had lost all his parents.

He knew that he couldn't hide now even if he wanted to!
Taking a deep breath, Bahadur Shah spoke.

"Send the order to summon several leaders of the rebel army to the palace to attend the imperial meeting..."

"Just say that I am willing to support the uprising!"

Deep down, Bahadur Shah was unwilling to get involved in such matters.

But there is no way, who told his son to be involved?
In the current situation, even if Bahadur Shah expressed his position to the British and said that the matter had nothing to do with him, the British would probably not believe it.

In this case, the best option before Bahadur Shah is to just do it!

……

Li Yi took the train back to Beijing from Tianjin.

Then he immediately devoted himself to government affairs.

However, Li Yi had just begun to deal with the accumulated government affairs for a short time when he saw Li Liang hurriedly coming in to report.

"Your Majesty, urgent report from the Military Intelligence Department!"

Upon hearing this, Li Yi stopped reviewing government affairs and asked with a frown.

"whats the matter?"

Li Liang took a few steps forward, leaned close to Li Yi's ear, and said with a gloating expression.

"It's news from India."

"Indian colonial soldiers mutinied and marched into Delhi in an attempt to overthrow British rule in India."

"According to the latest news we have received, the rebels have taken control of Delhi. The emperor of the Mughal Empire of India, Bahadur Shah, has openly supported the uprising, and uprisings have broken out in various states of India."

"The various rebel forces are now converging towards Delhi!"

"I'm afraid the British will have a hard time this time!"

After saying this, Li Liang handed a report to Li Yi.

This report records in detail the entire process of the Indian uprising.

And the Military Intelligence Department’s forecast on the subsequent evolution of the war situation!

In this report, the Military Intelligence Department was very optimistic about the war situation in India's anti-British uprising.

According to the estimation of the Military Intelligence Department, Britain is now deeply mired in Crimea and is unlikely to be able to withdraw troops to reinforce the war in India in the short term.

In addition, in order to reinforce the Crimean battlefield, Britain also transferred a lot of troops from India.

This means that the current British Indian Army is quite undermanned.

In the view of the Military Intelligence Department, with the current strength of British troops in India, they would inevitably be unable to withstand the fierce attack of the rebels.

In a short period of time, the rebels may achieve significant results.

By the time the British withdrew from Crimea and sent troops to suppress India, the Indians would have consolidated the results of the uprising.

By then, the British counterattack will probably achieve effective results soon!

In the end, even if India cannot successfully gain independence, the British will inevitably bleed in this quagmire of India!

Looking at the report from the Military Intelligence Department, Li Yi had a complicated expression.

Logically speaking, the Military Intelligence Department's estimate is correct, and if nothing unexpected happens, things will most likely develop in this direction.

But, that’s India!

India, how could there not be any accidents?

But the experience gained from later generations tells Li Yi that one should never underestimate the level of Indians' lameness.

Because no matter how much you underestimate them, you will only overestimate them in the end!

……

PS: This chapter is finished, and I still owe one chapter for the update that was not completed last month.

Plus this month's 200 monthly tickets for extra chapters, I currently owe two chapters...

(End of this chapter)