Chapter 672: A Punch on Cotton

Robert Peel, who gambled his reputation and career instead of the future of his country, is indeed admirable.

He lived up to the title of "chief architect of the Victorian era" and "the first public servant of Britain". Franz preferred to call him a politician rather than a politician.

However, the great politician's gamble of everything was actually of little use, because the surging uprising on the Indian subcontinent disappeared almost overnight.

All this originated from the internal conflict between the Kingdom of Afghanistan and the Sikh Empire. Akbar Khan was a very wise king. He was willing to make peace with the Sikh Empire and even make concessions (giving up some disputed territories between the two sides) to form an alliance with it to fight against the British army.

However, Queen Jinda, the actual 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 proposal for joint operations, and even provided him with false intelligence.

Queen Jinda was a shrewd woman. She hoped to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight. When both sides were seriously injured, she would start to pick peaches and replicate her miracle in the court struggle.

It didn't matter if the Afghans lost. Anyway, the Indian subcontinent was in chaos. As long as the Sikh Empire proposed a ceasefire, the British would be very happy to accept it.

The Sikh Empire, which had been recuperating, could take the opportunity to annex the Kingdom of Afghanistan, and then invade India to catch the British off guard.

But Akbar Khan was not a fool. His father was an old shaman, and he knew this trick very well.

Akbar Khan had endured humiliation before because he wanted to solve the British enemy first, but when he met a pig teammate, he knew that it was impossible.

So the Afghan army quietly retreated. Henry Harding was a little confused at this time. He was obviously attacked from both sides before, so why was there no enemy on the battlefield suddenly?

But as a veteran, he knew that there must be something wrong with things, and now was definitely not a good time to pursue.

A rash attack would only give the opponent a chance. Although the Indian subcontinent was turbulent at this time, judging from the Nepal War, there was nothing to worry about except the Sikh Empire and the Kingdom of Afghanistan.

It was just that the combination of the Sikh Empire and the Kingdom of Afghanistan was really difficult to deal with, because no matter which side was attacked, the other side could take the opportunity to launch a sneak attack on the British-occupied areas.

Both enemies occupied strategic terrains, and the Indian colonies were all plains with no strategic defenses at all. Therefore, Henry Harding wanted to build a siege network around the Sikh Empire in 2-3 years to be on the safe side.

But now the siege network has not been completed, and the Afghans are still attacking from another direction, plus there are so many rebels behind him.

So Henry Harding could only ask London for help, and then hold on and 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 withdrawing his troops, the Afghans carried out a period of high-intensity burning, killing and looting in the Khanate of Kalat, and then withdrew their troops.

Akbar Khan burned the plank roads in the mountains before leaving, completely cutting off the possibility of another invasion in the short term, and by the way, pitted the Sikh Empire.

At the same time, internal strife broke out again in the Sikh Empire. Queen Jinda and her lover planned a wave of purges in the capital, but the matter was exposed.

As a result, one-third of the capital was burned down, and nearly 10,000 soldiers and officers died in this internal strife.

After repeatedly confirming the authenticity of the incident, Henry Harding marched into the Sikh Empire. This time, he was unstoppable and took less than a month to attack the Sikh prince.

At this time, Queen Jinda still wanted to negotiate, but Henry Harding directly sent her and the last emperor of the Sikh Empire to Delhi.

The Sikh Empire also had to give up its claim, downgrade to a kingdom, be managed by the British East India Company, and fully implement the colonial Letwar system.

The Letwar system is a land tax system implemented by the British colonial authorities in India. "Right" is the Hindi name for farmers.

In the early 19th century, the British colonial authorities in Mumbai and Madras directly levied land taxes on farmers that accounted for one-third to one-half of the harvest, and in the later period it even developed to 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 (relative) population growth in the Indian subcontinent.

After the news of the British capture of Gujranwala (the capital of the Sikhs), only a few months later, the rebellion in those Indian princely states disappeared.

That's right! It disappeared, because the princes of those princely states did not admit that they had participated in the rebellion at all. They were just for "self-defense".

However, the British who came from all directions continued to land on the Indian subcontinent. They were not here to watch the show, they came to fight and make money.

But how can you make money without fighting?

So the war on the Indian subcontinent was rekindled! Especially in those coastal areas and wealthy cities, the wealthy businessmen in India were also "closely" protected by the Red Shirts.

But no matter what, Britain always kept India, the brightest jewel in the crown of the British Empire.

However, the lack of power in Europe forced the British government to change its foreign policy and attitude.

This was a heavy blow to Viscount Stratford, who had always advocated weakening the Austrian Empire. After all, in Stratford Canning's eyes, only a weak Austria was in the best interests of Britain.

If we look at it from a God's perspective, Stratford Canning's view is simply absurd.

In history, whether it is Russia, France, the United States in the New World, or the Qing Dynasty in the Far East and Prussia, which has not yet risen, they all seem to be more threatening than the Austrian Empire, a doll that can be broken with a single poke.

But in Canning's eyes, it is a different scene. The Austrian Empire was born from the Holy Roman Empire. The Habsburg family united with Spain and created the world's first colonial empire.

Metternich dominated the Vienna system, and he also killed his beloved brother (George Canning). Metternich made Russia, Prussia and Austria form the Holy Alliance, which was a challenge to Britain.

France was trapped in the Vienna system and could not threaten Britain's hegemony, and there was even a risk of being invaded by Austria.

But in fact, the Vienna system was not very restrictive to France, and the European part was not weakened at all. The French had always planned to annex the Rhine region of Germany, and were always ready to come to northern Italy again.

Russia is an uncivilized country. Their civilization is not worth mentioning, especially in terms of culture, which is no different from barbarians.

Russians only know how to drink borscht! (The British only deserve to look up at the stars!)

In reality, Russia is the European gendarme, with 600,000 standing troops dominating the Near East, a territory spanning the Eurasian continent, and a population of 75 million, almost equal to the sum of Britain, France and Prussia.

It was under the guidance of this strange view, coupled with the sudden emergence of Franz, that the British Empire fell into an unprecedented diplomatic crisis.