NOVEL NEXT Chapter 979: 2 New States
"Well, isn't this an unexpected surprise?"
Standing on the deck of a ship sailing at 15 knots and feeling the sea breeze hit his face like a hammer, Vijay couldn't help but marvel as he glanced at the reports threatening to fly away from his hands. He was currently sailing through the Bengal Sea, just off the coast of Vishakapatnam, heading directly toward the port of Kolkata.
Gazing at the distant shore, he muttered, "I didn't expect Zhu Youlang to be this lucky in this life."
In his last life, Zhu Youlang had fled to the Burmese Kingdom seeking asylum, only to be killed in the end. But this time, not only had he defeated the Wu warlord, he had also managed to restore the Ming dynasty.
He couldn't help but be amazed at how mysterious fate can be sometimes.
Vijay crumpled the paper and let it slip from his hand; the pages flew away, disappearing into the vast sea.
This wasn't the outcome he had hoped for, but it wasn't the worst either. In terms of disadvantages, a unified nation in Asia came into existence that could potentially rival the Bharatiya Empire, perhaps in the distant future, when the empire weakens after his passing. But truth be told, even if things had gone exactly according to his plan, with the Chinese kingdoms remaining divided, unification would have happened eventually, and perhaps then, it might have posed an even greater threat.
Yet this is where the advantages begin, because, in many ways, it was the Bharatiya Empire that enabled the Southern Ming dynasty to prevail.
Thanks to that, relations between the two nations were genuinely cordial, and with the massive Himalayas acting as a natural barrier, ensuring there was no overlap in strategic interests, there was a very real possibility that this friendship could endure for a long time.
Maybe now Vijay could even use the Ming dynasty as a shield, to let them expand to Central Asia and act as another buffer between the Bharatiya Empire and Central Asia Minor and Europe.
However, despite everything, he would have loved for the Chinese nation to be still split apart. But the circumstances were not in Vijay's favour. Because of the plague, the allocation of military supplies to Russia was cut off, and in this way, the matter where he had arranged a few Russians to sell arms to the Wu overlord as support from Russia could no longer be done. And this led to the numerically superior Wu overlord faction slowly losing ground over time, until eventually the Southern Ming dynasty succeeded in conquering Beijing, taking control of the local armed forces as well as the wealth in its treasury.
Vijay went into his personal room, took out a bond paper, and wrote his instructions to Jalandhar Keshav, instructing him to spread propaganda in the Ming dynasty for a demand to expand west towards Central Asia into the various Mongol tribes.
After passing the letter to an escorting ship, the journey continued.
---
In the meantime,
Standing on the main road of Guwahati, Jigme Namgyal, the general of the Tibetan resistance army as well as the last remaining heir of the Bhutan Royal family, was feeling extremely complicated.
"It's amazing, isn't it, general?" Jigme's right-hand man, Tenzin Wangchuk, could not help but marvel.
Jigme took a quick look at his subordinate and then at the streets as well as the people, unable to hide the sense of melancholy.
"It really is, there is no denying it. " a look of nostalgia appeared on his face. "It's just that so many things have changed since the last time I was here."
Tenzin Wangchuk was taken aback, "You have been here before, general?" He found it hard to believe, since his general famously avoids travelling unless a necessity arises.
Jigme nodded, "That's right, I did come to Guwahati when I was a child with my father, but at that time, this was the Kingdom of Ahom. The Bharatiya Empire had not existed yet; it was still the Vijayanagar Kingdom, and it was still the Mughal Empire that dominated the subcontinent, but how things have changed."
Tenzin Wangchuk suddenly remembered that his general was not originally a person from Tibet; he was rescued by a chief of his small tribe and had lived in Tibet ever since. Originally, he seemed to be a prince from a small kingdom in the Himalayan region. He did hear these rumours spreading around in the army, but he did not pay much attention to them because, honestly, the news was mostly irrelevant, but now it looks like it's true.
'Wait, the Kingdom of Bhutan is now annexed by the Bharatiya Empire. Does that mean that the general has an enmity with the Bharatiya Empire?' This thought made him extremely nervous.
It is with the help of the Bharatiya Empire that they were able to snatch back their land from the grasp of Güshi Khan, but now he has just found out that the Bharatiya Empire and his general actually had an enmity. How could this be a good thing?
'Does that mean the reason why the Bharatiyas invited the Dalai Lama and the general was not to talk about business, but to quickly silence His Excellency Dalai Lama and the general?'
This thought drove him mad, but fortunately, Jigme seemed to have figured out what his best subordinate was thinking.
"You don't have to worry too much. I have long since given up the hope of regaining my kingdom. Now Tibet is my homeland, and it will not change."
"As for whether they have any hidden plans, that shouldn't be a worry either. The Bharatiya Empire had every chance to take over Tibet; they had the strength to do it, you've seen their weapons, but instead they chose to invite all of us and make a proper deal. If they really wanted Tibet, they would have just taken it. His Excellency the Dalai Lama even offered the whole region to Ambassador Akhilesh Banerjee on a platter, and when they said no, it became clear they didn't have bad intentions. So this talk about the Bharatiya Empire having some secret plan can be put to rest."
Listening to the words of the general, Tenzin Wangchuk, somewhat calmed down.
"Alright, let's move. We still have a few streets to secure."
In such a way, the pair of military leaders walked through the streets, marvelling at the various urban infrastructure and amenities in the capital of Ahom, Guwahati.
---
Vijay received a grand welcome as soon as he set foot in Kolkata. The sound of the authentic dhak drums, as well as Gaudiya Nritya music, was breathtaking; it acted as a way of relaxation for Vijay, who stayed in the city for a few days after the long journey. But receiving the news that the Dalai Lama, as well as major military officers of Tibet, were waiting for him in Guwahati, he did not delay much longer and set off.
Of course, during this time, a major piece of news reached him. The council that had been set up to manage the autonomous state of Khalsa Nagari had unanimously decided to disband itself. This came after the deaths of several council members and growing dissatisfaction among the people. On top of that, there was strong public demand to fully join the Bharatiya Empire and not remain a separate autonomous state.
This decision was a little hard to make. Vijay was a little embarrassed, as he could have made Khalsa Nagari the 24th state of the empire when the empire first took control of the state, but he stopped himself in order to leave more means for the empire to fight against the invaders, both cultural and military, in the future. But it looks like he was being too idealistic.
So, in the end, taking advantage of the time and the nation still being in this situation of emergency, he preliminarily decided that Khalsa Nagari would officially join the empire as its 23rd state and not as an autonomous state controlled by the Imperial Council.
Of course, despite agreeing to the request of the people of Khalsa Nagari as well as the council members, Vijay only agreed after he considered the matter even more.
The main reason he wanted the state to exist separately from the government, and maybe even become a different country in the future, was to take the first hit if anything came from Central Asia. But now that the plan couldn't continue, and with no doubt that the Ming dynasty would reunify the Chinese mainland, he could just use the Chinese to form a protective wall in Central Asia. This would also shift Chinese attention away from Tibet and towards the northwest.
It was two birds with a stone
---
Finally reaching Guwahati after several weeks of travel, Vijay right away met up with the 5th Dalai Lama of Tibet, as well as the previous prince of Bhutan, with an inquisitive gaze. Thankfully, the previous prince didn't look to be like someone who was seeking his death, because he would hate to do the cliché thing of wiping out the roots and leaving no one behind.
Vijay's talk with the Dalai Lama was cordial, but he was not surprised because the conditions for cooperation had already been negotiated by the team of diplomats that had been previously sent. The only thing that was remaining was for Vijay to sign the agreement and make it official.
And that is exactly what he did.
"I, Vijay Devaraya, Emperor of the Akhand Bharatiya Empire, do solemnly proclaim before all nations and peoples, that the sacred land of Tibet shall be protected from all external threats under the aegis of the empire. The people of Tibet shall live in peace upon their own soil, speaking their own tongue, preserving their ancient culture, and practising their faith freely, without interference or imposition from the empire."
"As declared, from this day forth, Tibet shall stand as the 25th state of the Bharatiya Empire. Its people are henceforth citizens of the empire, entitled to all rights and protections therein, and the full process of integration shall now begin in earnest."
"All terms of this integration shall be guided by the Treaty of Tibet-Bharat, whose articles shall come into immediate and binding effect."
P.S. Sorry, I thought my project ended yesterday, but at the last moment, I discovered a minor problem, and this minor problem is proving to be a bitch.