Chapter 59 of Part One

  Deng Zhijiang's navy finally arrived at South Shanghai along the coastline. At this time, after several months of construction, the port of South Shanghai had a certain scale. Due to the attack by the Malacca pirates, most merchants chose to dock in South Shanghai and then enter the Jiangnan region via the Yunmeng Highway. The high tariffs and transportation costs in South Shanghai made these foreign businessmen headaches, but when it came to life and money, most merchants still preferred to choose life.

  Myanmar was originally a Buddhist country. After the construction of a large number of Chinese-language schools and the government's designation of Chinese as an official language, all eligible children were forced to attend free schools to learn about Chinese culture, history, and language. Myanmar has always admired Chinese culture, considering itself a subordinate state, and now the next generation of ordinary people is being further assimilated.

  Gao Wenguang warmly received Deng Zhijiang's fleet in southern Shanghai. Gao Wenguang himself was a warlike person, never sparing military changes to demand going north to participate in the war, showing how fierce his bellicose mood was. The arrival of Deng Zhijiang's fleet presaged that they could share a cup with Britain in India.

  Gao Wenguang's delighted expression has already appeared on his face. The pockmarks on this pockmarked face have all been squeezed together. Gao Wenguang hugged Deng Zijiang and said, "Old Deng, I've been waiting for you like a star in the sky or a moon in the night. If you didn't come, I think Commander-in-Chief would let me, Old Gao, rot here."

  Deng Zhijiang patted Gao Wengu's shoulder and said, "Alright, alright. If you, Gao Wengu, can be a good commander, the General Commander will be overjoyed. Just worry that you'll make another big fuss like before and cause trouble again."

  Gao Wengui was touched to the sore spot. He rubbed his own bald head and said, "Hehe, don't mention that embarrassing thing again. Now I, Gao Wengui, am honestly working on construction here."

  In the headquarters of the Ninth Army, Gao Wengui looked at several division commanders who were already arguing and said, "All of you stop arguing. If we continue to argue, none of us from the Ninth Army will go to India. Let other armies go instead."

  The commander of the 25th Division, Tang Kefeng, stood up and said with a smile: "Commander, you see that the political commissar and chief of staff are both here. You can't just go without consulting them, can you? Since the country was unified, we haven't had a formal battle yet. Now is also the time to train our troops. Look at how the First Army is making a big fuss in Japan, we absolutely cannot fall behind."

  Song Mang took over the conversation and said, "Alright, alright, we haven't even finished discussing the eight characters yet. Besides, we need to get orders from the commander-in-chief before we can go fight those bandits. Even if we do fight, we have to be well-prepared."

  At the same time in Beijing, in Zhu Xiao's official residence, Premier Song Yingxing, Vice Premier Xu Jin, Political Commissar Zhou Lun, Chief of Staff Peng Ying, Logistics Department Head Huang De, Science and Technology Department Head Han Zhi, Jiang Hao, Finance Minister Chen Hui, General Equipment Department Head Fan Jie, as well as the commanders of various group armies stationed in Beijing were all seated around a large conference table.

  Zhu Xiao watched them arguing fiercely.

  Song Yingxing said, "I disagree with our troops expanding territory everywhere. Our great China is vast and rich in resources, with advanced culture. Why bother to fight for those barbaric lands and make a laughing stock of ourselves?"

  Li Dingguo slammed his hand on the table and stood up, saying "Laughing stock? This is simply ignorance. If their countries are all destroyed, what's left to laugh at? I think we must resolutely send troops to India. As for whose troops to send, I, Li Dingguo, won't argue about it. Hehe, anyway, I have Japan to play with."

  Song Yingxing's beard was blown upwards as he said, "Then you are the one who has wasted my reading of the sages. This behavior is no different from that of a bandit. I, your old minister, firmly disagree with sending troops."

  Peng Ying stood up and said, "Old Song, what do you think a country is? Is it worthy of respect?" After finishing speaking, he looked around the room and said, "Wrong! A country is just an organization formed by some people gathering together. I may respect my enemy's opponent, but I won't respect this country. Who decided where our national borders are? No one did. When others were still in primitive society, my Chinese nation had already established many countries. If we follow your way of thinking, shouldn't we now be divided into the Seven Warring States again?"

  Zhu Xiao couldn't help but interrupt, taking over the conversation and saying "Alright, I'll tell you all a story." He glanced at everyone's confused eyes and continued, "You've all heard of Journey to the West. Although it's a fictional story, during the Tang Dynasty, there was indeed a monk named Xuanzang who traveled to Tianzhu to retrieve scriptures. This Tianzhu refers to present-day India. There's also a legend from the Eastern Han Dynasty, during Emperor Ming's reign. Emperor Ming had a dream in which he saw a golden man with a radiant aura on his head. He asked his ministers what this meant."

  The courtier said, "This is the Buddha of Tianzhu."

  Then Emperor Ming sent Cai Xiao as an envoy to Tianzhu (India) to fetch Buddhist scriptures and statues, and also built the White Horse Temple outside Luoyang. However, it is a country that has been frequently invaded by foreign tribes throughout history, from the Turks, Arabs, to our own Yuan Dynasty. Now, India's Mughal Empire had been invaded by Portugal, Spain, Holland, and Britain since 1498. A foreign sage once told me, "Indian society fundamentally has no history, at least not a known history." (Marx said that) So do you think if we didn't go to India, would India still be intact?

  Zhu smiled and continued, "After the British East India Company's fleet defeated the Portuguese fleet in Surat 3 years ago, its prestige in India greatly increased. The Mughal Empire therefore agreed to sign an order allowing the British to establish a permanent agency. Look at this, this is the thinking of Indians. Do you think our country's current national strength still needs to fear any other country?"

  Song Yingxing said, "Then aren't we tearing up our partnership with the UK? That's probably not suitable."

  Zhou Lun sneered on the side and said, "Partnership? Song Lao, there is no friendship between countries, only exploitation and being exploited. For the sake of national interests, we can abandon Britain and ally with Holland instead. National interests are always paramount."

  Zhu smiled and signaled Zhou Lun to stop talking, then continued: "The Mughal Empire is a feudal autocratic country. The Mughal Emperor is the highest landowner. This is different from us. Our highest landowner is the entire Chinese empire. Therefore, the Mughal Emperor's greatest income is land tax revenue. As a result, the struggle between the big feudal lords and the Mughal Emperor has never stopped even in the most prosperous period of the Mughal Empire. The Mughal Empire looks strong but is actually weak inside. Now it is even more fragmented. You can see for yourself that Britain and France can do whatever they want in India by sending just a few hundred people. So if we send General Wen's troops into India, we will be invincible."

  No matter how stupid a person is, they now understand the meaning of Zhu Xiao and others. They all nodded in agreement to enter India. At this time, Lü Jun stood up and shouted, "Not okay! All the good things have been given to the First Army Group and the Third Army Group. This time, no matter what, we must get on board. Otherwise, when the time comes, the combat effectiveness of the three army groups will not be equal. We will become a local force."

  Peng Ying glared at Lü Jun with a bad temper, "Just your guerrilla army. Our headquarters still needs to keep useful ones."

  Zhu Xiao finally stood up and said, "I think you'd better not argue anymore, just let Gao Wen Gui arrange it himself." After finishing, he looked at the crowd and said, "It's nothing. I'm going to go keep my sister-in-law company now. She's pregnant and needs to be taken care of." He ignored the crowd's astonished gazes and walked out. As he was leaving, he turned to Zhou Lun and said, "Arun, you're in charge from now on."

  The order telegraphed from Beijing soon reached the hands of Gao Wenrui. Gao Wenrui immediately gathered some Buddhist masters and monks, and also dispatched Tang Kefeng's 25th Division to lead troops into India.

  All the troops had been previously notified to the Governor of the British East India Company. The troops received a warm welcome from the British, although on the surface, relations between England and France were still very friendly. However, several wars in India had caused unpleasantness. Although there was no open declaration of war, it was as if a thorn had already entered someone's heart and could not be pulled out again.

  Tang Ke Feng swiftly launched an offensive, bringing Buddhist monks to exchange Buddhist teachings with monks from various Indian temples. At the same time, through the introduction of the monks, Tang Ke Feng also quickly got to know a group of high-ranking officials. He also obtained a piece of land for construction. The secret actions finally provoked the French.

  The war between France and China was inevitable under Louis XIV's proud character. As soon as