Ming Jiajing: Starting from Immortality

Chapter 304: Tianzhu declares war, the Ash Army!
Eastern Fengshan.

Silver shipped westward.

As the New Year was approaching, Zhu Houcong led the civil and military officials back to the capital. Just when everyone thought that the year should end like this, an urgent military report sent from India surprised countless people.

India, or more precisely the Indian Dynasty and the Mughal Empire on the South Asian subcontinent, declared war on the Ming Dynasty and launched a surprise attack on the two ports of Diu and Goa where the Ming navy was located.

The Mughal Empire's army of more than 30,000 people was easily destroyed by 80,000 Ming navy soldiers.

But the Mughal Empire not only did not stop its actions, but continued to prepare for war, preparing ten times the number of people for the initial battle.

That is, an army of 300,000 marched towards the two ports of Diu and Goa.

In the Battle of Goa between the Ming Dynasty and Portugal, the naval commander Xiong Wencan fought with the Portuguese Governor-General of India Sheffield and died for his country, and was named Marquis of Xihai.

The position of the navy commander was temporarily taken over by the surviving deputy commander Ding Qirui, who was in charge of all affairs in the Strait of Malacca, Diu and Goa.

The original plan of the court was that cabinet minister Wang Chonggu would go to sea with the first treasure ship fleet, and after arriving in Goa, he would take over the position of commander-in-chief of the navy and become the first governor-general of India of the Ming Dynasty as a cabinet minister.

The first treasure ship fleet has sailed southwards from the sea. Wang Chonggu and the 28,800-man Ming navy are about to turn west. The huge fleet is destined to not move very fast, and it will take some time to reach the Strait of Malacca, Diu and Goa.

The Mughal Empire suddenly declared war and raised an army of 300,000. With an outnumber of 80,000 against 300,000, Ding Qirui, who was temporarily acting as the commander-in-chief of the navy, was not too panicked, but more confused.

When Portugal occupied these two ports, the Mughal Empire didn't dare to say a word. Now, the Ming Dynasty navy has defeated the Portuguese navy, and the Mughal Empire is suddenly trying to retake the ports.

Could it be that the Mughal Empire believed that the Ming Dynasty’s navy was weaker than the Portuguese navy?
Were the three previous wars considered flukes by the Mughal Empire?
However, it was a "great power war" after all, and the number of combatants on both sides exceeded 400,000. Out of caution as a general, Ding Qirui still sent the news back to the country as quickly as possible.

A "peace agreement" drafted by the Mughal Empire itself was also attached.

In the agreement, the Mughal Empire made several demands to the Ming Dynasty. First, all Ming Dynasty troops on the South Asian subcontinent must immediately lay down their arms and surrender, and return the two occupied Mughal ports of Diu and Goa.

Second, surrender control of the Strait of Malacca and recognize that the Strait of Malacca will forever belong to the territory and territorial waters of the Mughal Empire.

Third, the Mughal Empire demanded that the Ming Dynasty recognize its special interests and special status in the Himalayas and cede the southern Tibet region.

When Gao Gong saw this "peace agreement", he felt the veins in his head burst.

He originally thought that Portugal's "trade request" to the Ming Dynasty was enough to make it invincible, but he didn't expect that there were even masters in Asia.

Mughal Empire.

After the collapse of the Timurid Empire, once the overlord of Central Asia, its royal descendant Babur led his army to invade the South Asian subcontinent and established a kingdom.

Gao Gong's impression of them was still stuck on Babur and his son Humayun: the former was clever, and the latter was stupid and insidious.

When Humayun became the emperor of the Mughal Empire, the Mughal Empire declined for a time, and Humayun was forced into exile for a period of time before he stood up again.

But Humayun died just six months after he stood up, in the 35th year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty. The current emperor of the Mughal Empire is his son Akbar.

In the South Asian subcontinent, Akbar was a qualified, even excellent emperor. Within just six years of taking the throne, the territory and wealth of the Mughal Empire expanded three times its original size, and its population also experienced a huge explosion.

From Kabul to Chittagong, from Kashmir to the Kaveri River, the entire subcontinent except the southernmost tip of the peninsula and the two ports of Diu and Goa was included in the territory of the Mughal Empire.

More than 100 million Mughal people lived there. In terms of population, the number of people in the Mughal Empire was no less than that of the Ming Dynasty.

Its capital was successively located in Delhi, Lahore, Agra, and finally moved back to Delhi.

Only in a country with a large population can the royal family mobilize an army of 300,000. If it were Portugal, the royal family would be risking their lives, and the Portuguese people would not allow so many people to serve.

Unless, it is a war with neighboring Spain.

In this respect, they are very similar to England and France. As neighbors, they are really risking their lives.

Akbar called all the wars on the South Asian subcontinent "holy wars" and occupied one piece of territory after another in the name of salvation.

The holy war has come to the Ming Dynasty.

Gao Gong didn't know whether Akbar had chosen the right person or the wrong person. Due to the unexpected situation, the speed of returning to Beijing was greatly accelerated.

Hu Zongxian has been studying the world map. The Himalayas are so huge and block so many things.

If there had been a passable road, even just a canyon, it would have been much easier to either conquer or conquer the Mughal Empire.

This is why, even though the Ming navy occupied the Strait of Malacca and the cities of Diu and Goa, it never included the Mughal Empire in the Ming's necessary strategic areas.

It is easy to take down, but it is very complicated to manage and govern it in the future.

Of course, the main reason was poverty. Even though the wealth of the Mughal Empire tripled under Akbar, it was still very poor and had too many people.

If the Mughal Empire could be as rich as the European countries, or even one-tenth as rich as Portugal and Spain, Hu Zongxian would have held his nose and designated the South Asian subcontinent as a strategic area for the Ming Dynasty. Unfortunately, it was not the case.

During these days, Gao Gong, Hu Zongxian, and other civil and military officials did not receive an audience with the emperor. Until the next day after returning to the capital, when Gao Gong was communicating with Hu Zongxian, the deputy prime minister who was formulating global strategies, the imperial decree for an audience finally came from Yuxi Palace.

There are only three people in the cabinet in Beijing at present, Gao Gong, Hu Zongxian, and Li Chunfang. The prime minister and the deputy prime minister both have to meet the emperor, so Li Chunfang simply followed them.

Ok Hee Palace.

Zhu Houcong paced from the monastery to the main hall. He thought about it for ten whole days, but he couldn't understand why the Mughal Empire and Akbar did this.

In the end, we can only reluctantly attribute it to the fact that Akbar got used to fighting those small countries and tribes in the South Asian subcontinent and Central Asia, and gained confidence, to the point where he even forgot who he was.

Babur, Humayun, and Akbar are all descendants of Timur, and Timur is just a descendant of the Turks who failed in the war with the Central Plains a thousand years ago.

The Central Plains gave Akbar's ancestors a defeat and can give Akbar another defeat.

In the hall, Huang Jin had already spread out the world map. Zhu Houcong pointed at the location of the Mughal Empire on the map and waved his hand, saying, "Sweep it!"

……

Mughal Empire, Delhi.

Emperor Akbar expanded the territory and wealth of the Mughal Empire three times in just six years, and the population exploded, which was of course not without cost. The South Asian subcontinent is a place with strong religious beliefs, and Buddhism, which was introduced to the East and Central Plains, originated from here.

However, Buddhism was not able to continue in this place. It changed its beliefs several times and finally settled on Brahmanism.

It absorbed some teachings of Buddhism and Jainism, combined with local folk beliefs, and gradually developed into Brahmanism after being reformed by Shangkalā.

They believe in the three great gods, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, and advocate that good and evil will be rewarded, and that life is reincarnated. The form of reincarnation depends on one's behavior in this life. Only by achieving "Brahma and Atman are one" can one be liberated and achieve the right result.

In the songs of this place, the Brahmins are the mouth of the Purusha, the Kshatriyas are the arms of the Purusha, the Vaishyas are the thighs of the Purusha, and the Shudras are the feet of the Purusha.

As for the untouchables, they are excluded from the body of the original man.

The Brahmins are hailed as the incarnation of the main god, representing the supreme status. They are worshipped as priests, presiding over sacrifices, education and the imparting of wisdom.

They can even appoint or dismiss senior officials.

The Kshatriyas are known as the guardians of the main god and bear the responsibility and obligation to protect the Brahmins for generations.

Including Akbar, the emperor of the Mughal Empire, the royal family, and the civil and military officials of the country, they represented the main god and ruled the world.

There is no essential difference between Vaisyas and Shudras. They are all ordinary people, merchants, landlords, craftsmen... They are engaged in ordinary or basic affairs and support the Brahmins and Kshatriyas.

The lower class of the untouchables, no need to say more.

In Brahmanism, everything is hereditary and people of different classes are not allowed to intermarry, which also makes it almost impossible for anyone to cross their own class.

After Akbar ascended the throne, he reached a cooperation with the Brahmanic high priest Varna, in which Brahmanism would always recognize the royal family of the Mughal Empire as the royal family of the South Asian subcontinent, and Akbar was the only emperor recognized by the three main gods.

And the Mughal Empire and Akbar will always worship Brahman as the supreme being.

Under the belief, Brahmanism can affect everyone on the South Asian subcontinent, from the elderly to the crying newborn babies.

By gaining the support of Brahmanism, Akbar, to a certain extent, truly gained the blessings of the three main gods.

Wherever Akbar's army arrived, the Brahmanic decree would arrive in advance, and the resistance forces there would either put up a weak resistance or simply give up resistance.

Akbar's army can be said to have pushed forward all the way and flattened the entire South Asian subcontinent.

When the naval war broke out between the Ming Dynasty and Portugal, Akbar's army was busy annexing Kashmir.

After completely resolving the resistance forces in Kashmir, the territory of the Mughal Empire stretched from the Brahmaputra River in the east to the Godavari River in the south, from Kabul in the west to Kashmir in the north. In this world, it was undoubtedly a huge empire.

However, there is no limit to human ambition. The missing ports of Daman-Diu and Goa are like two gaps on a piece of exquisite porcelain, which are always so annoying.

Moreover, these two ports were very important to the Mughal Empire as it sought greater development.

There are two reasons why Portugal chose Goa as its colonial base: one is its geographical location, and the other is economic benefits.

Goa is located in the middle of the west coast, facing the Arabian Sea and the African continent. It is an ideal place for all landings on the South Asian subcontinent from the European direction.

This made Goa an important strategic location for controlling the spice trade and sea routes.

Furthermore, Goa is the horse distribution center of the South Asian subcontinent. A large number of horses are transported from West Asia every year, which can solve the inconveniences faced by the Portuguese on land.

Over the past six years, Akbar had negotiated with Portugal several times, requesting Portugal to return the two ports of Daman-Diu and Goa, but was rejected by Portugal.

Considering Portugal's reputation as the overlord of the sea, Akbar was always afraid and did not dare to completely break off relations with Portugal, so he failed to recapture the two ports.

After Akbar resolved the Kashmir issue, he was surprised to find that the neighboring country across the Himalayas had exposed the "paper tiger" nature of the Portuguese navy, and the two ports of Daman and Diu and Goa had changed hands.

No one in the royal family of the Mughal Empire had forgotten the bond between their ancestors and the Central Plains, including Akbar. No matter how much they consoled themselves, they could not cover up the fact that the prodigal son escaped from East Asia.

Deep in the hearts of the royal family of the Mughal Empire, there is always an obsession with getting back their dignity. After all, their ancestors did not lose in a head-on confrontation, but in a war of attrition.

The despicable people of the Central Plains, relying on endless losses of logistical supplies and manpower, forced our ancestors to run out of ammunition and food, and flee in a panic.

But now, the Mughal empire is a huge one, and when fighting on its own territory, it does not have to worry too much about logistics and supplies, and it does not have to worry about the loss of troops.

In Akbar's view, the Vaisyas, Shudras and other untouchables were inexhaustible "ashes".

Before the establishment of the Mughal Empire, China was bullied by the people of Central Plains. If after the establishment of the Mughal Empire, China was still bullied by the people of Central Plains, then wouldn’t the Mughal Empire have been built in vain?

Faced with new and old grudges, Akbar resolutely launched a sneak attack on the Ming navy in Daman Diu and Goa.

After an army of more than 30,000 untouchables was destroyed by the Ming navy, Akbar did not even feel any pain.

Compared with the deaths of untouchables, Akbar felt more sorry for the swords, guns, sticks and clubs lost on the battlefield.

Akbar believed that he had realized the advantage of the Central Plains population, and immediately approached the Brahman high priest Varna and raised an army of 300,000 from the Vaishyas, Shudras and untouchables.

In order to motivate those "ashes", Akbar persuaded Varna that if Daman Diu and Goa could be recaptured from the Ming navy, one out of every thousand survivors would be able to leapfrog his own class and move up one level.

This made the 300,000-strong army crazy, but Akbar knew that this was far from enough for the Central Plains army.

The so-called 300,000 troops were probably not enough to be killed by the 80,000 Ming Dynasty navy.

Akbar was reluctant to use his own troops that had followed him in countless battles, so he could only seek help from Varna and continue to form the "Army of Ashes".

After killing 30,000 or 300,000 people, he would prepare 3 million or even 30 million people. The Ming army would never be able to raise their swords or kill anyone.

By then, the regular army will be dispatched to completely recapture the port.

But these ashes require the support of Brahmanism. Akbar knows that he must make some compromises with Brahmanism. As long as he can get revenge, it is worth it.

Akbar walked towards the Temple of the Sun and said to the guards who looked like they were gilded with gold: "Akbar, the servant of the God, wishes to see the high priest!"

(End of this chapter)