Chapter 1421: Old Hands at the India Game
Lord Hawkesbury bowed gravely and said, "Indeed, something significant has happened, Prime Minister."
Pitt frowned slightly, gesturing him into the office. "Please, have a seat and tell me."
"A civil war has erupted within the Maratha Confederacy," the Foreign Secretary stated anxiously. "Daulat Rao Scindia, acting in the Peshwa's name, dispatched troops to sack Indore. In mid-July, Yashwantrao Holkar gathered his forces and declared war on Scindia. Currently, over 80,000 troops from both sides are fiercely engaged south of Ujjain. Baji Rao II has demanded that other Maratha states send reinforcements to Scindia..."
Pitt quickly made a stopping gesture, then indicated for his secretary to retrieve a notebook from the bookshelf, which he began to carefully examine.
He couldn't be blamed for this; India was home to dozens of various factions with peculiar names, so many that even the Governor-General of India couldn't remember them all.
A short while later, with Lord Hawkesbury's assistance, he finally managed to roughly grasp the internal situation of the Maratha Confederacy.
The Maratha Confederacy was the most significant state in southwestern India, composed of five major powers. The ruler of the Confederacy was known as the Peshwa. The current Peshwa was Baji Rao II, a weak and useless figure.
Scindia, one of the two strongest military powers in the Confederacy, had taken control of the capital, Idar, three or four years prior. Since then, Baji Rao II had become a puppet of the Scindia family.
Afterwards, Scindia attempted to fully control the other three major families in the Peshwa's name, which provoked strong opposition from Holkar, another powerful military clan within the Confederacy.
Immediately, Holkar rallied his forces for a counterattack, pushing the front lines all the way back to the vicinity of Ujjain, Scindia's core city.
Pitt's earlier ease and confidence vanished instantly.
The Maratha Confederacy was Britain's most powerful ally in India, expected to provide over 70% of the troops in Britain's war against Mysore.
Now, with Mysore's formidable army menacingly preparing to attack British-controlled territories, the Maratha Confederacy had descended into internal strife.
This would instantly cut the number of troops Britain could muster by more than half.
He turned to the Foreign Secretary and asked, "Has the East India Company attempted to mediate?"
"They tried, but while Baji Rao II agreed to all our demands, the Scindia and Holkar families simply refused to listen."
Lord Hawkesbury took a report from his pocket. "This is Lord Barlow's report. The East India Company requests Parliament to send at least 9,000 more expeditionary troops and provide 800,000 Pound Sterling in aid, as only then might they repel the Mysorean forces."
George Barlow was the current Governor-General of India.
Pitt's face began to darken.
He certainly had 9,000 soldiers — the British forces recently withdrawn from Porto numbered over 20,000 — but sending these troops to India, tens of thousands of nautical miles away, would cost 60,000 to 70,000 Pound Sterling just to gather the necessary transport ships.
Then there were expenses for weapons, logistics, and pensions; without hundreds of thousands of Pound Sterling, it would be impossible to resist.
And adding the 800,000 Pound Sterling allocated to the East India Company...
He took a deep breath, his gaze involuntarily darting towards his desk drawer.
Inside, over a dozen applications were piled up, including those from the Fuel Committee, steam engine companies, and the Railway Association — all crucial research and development institutions, waiting anxiously for funding.
The biggest money pit, of course, remained the Admiralty. To reclaim the Mediterranean Sea, over 1.1 million Pound Sterling in shipbuilding funds annually was non-negotiable, not including substantial costs for auxiliary equipment and crew training.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance's funds had been poured into sugar and grain subsidies. To cover various fixed expenses, Parliament was forced to approve one proposal after another for currency issuance.
Now, nearly a million Pound Sterling in paper currency was issued almost every two months.
Pitt knew that Britain's economy would eventually collapse if things continued this way, but to blockade France's ports in the Mediterranean, he could only grit his teeth and persevere — it was the only hope for restoring the balance of power on the European continent.
He furrowed his brow, contemplating that if he were to allocate over 1.5 million Pound Sterling to the East India Company now, he would have to get Parliament to approve at least a one-million-Pound Sterling currency issuance plan.
However, at the beginning of the month, Parliament had been embroiled in fierce debate over the previous 650,000 Pound Sterling currency issuance proposal. If another issuance were proposed, the Whig Party would certainly seize the opportunity to cause trouble for him.
'Or, issue a batch of National Debt?'
He immediately shook his head. The 800,000 Pound Sterling National Debt issued at the beginning of the year had an interest rate exceeding 10%, yet it still took a full four months to sell out completely.
He stood up restlessly, thinking to himself, 'Damn the Maratha Confederacy. After we defeat Mysore, I'll make sure these scoundrels are severely punished!'
'Wait.' He suddenly thought of something.
'If we're going to punish the Maratha Confederacy anyway, why wait until later?'
'They caused this problem, so they must bear the consequences.'
'That's right, this way all the problems can be solved!'
Pitt quickly formulated a plan, then slowly settled back into his chair, looking at the Foreign Secretary. "Perhaps, we won't have to spend a single penny."
"No, no, the Mysoreans recently acquired a batch of weapons, presumably from France. If Lord Barlow cannot receive reinforcements, they might very well be..."
"What if we ally with Mysore?"
"Ally? With Mysore? What are you saying? They'll never agree!"
"That depends on what leverage we can offer." Pitt smiled. "For instance, we could cede the Raichur river basin and the Desh region to them."
Lord Hawkesbury was momentarily stunned. The Prime Minister was speaking of the southern region of the Maratha Confederacy.
"Are you, are you suggesting..."
Pitt nodded. "The Marathas are embroiled in internal conflict; they are at their weakest right now. If Mysore and we attack the Marathas simultaneously, they will surely crumble swiftly."
"But this would mean losing our most important vassal in India."
"What does it matter? We can directly control the Maratha lands. Their rulers will work even harder for our benefit and collect more taxes. As for vassals, why shouldn't Mysore become our vassal?"
Lord Hawkesbury hesitated. "What if Tipu refuses?"
"Then give him Bijapur, and Gulbarga too, until he can no longer refuse."
The combined territories he mentioned would instantly expand Mysore's land by nearly 50%; no one could possibly resist such an offer.
The Foreign Secretary voiced another concern: "Won't this make Mysore too powerful, to the point of becoming uncontrollable?"
"Southern Maratha is relatively stable. Tell Tipu that if he wants more land, he should go and conquer it himself," Pitt stated. "We can enter the battlefield a little later."
Scindia and Holkar were both in the northern part of the Maratha Confederacy, closer to British-controlled territories. Mysore, on the other hand, was to the south of the Marathas.
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