Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology-Chapter 709 ASEAN Establishment: (1/2)

Vijay looked at the faces of all the Southeast Asian kings with a grave and sombre expression on his face as he spoke, "You might not have realized it since it is so common in our part of the world, but notice that none of you have allies who will come to your aid during difficult times. Also, haha, I don't know if it is ironic or tragic, but you don't even have permanent enemies, with whom you can strategize specific methods, research new weapons, and train better soldiers to defeat them. In this way, at least innovation could be seen in the military industry. But No! Today, the guy in the north is the enemy, tomorrow it's the guy in the south, and a few days later it's the guy in the east. "

"The enemy keeps changing like the weather, it's sunny today, rainy tomorrow, and cloudy the day after. In this condition, it does not even matter what strategy is used to defeat the enemies since all enemies have different conditions, and strategizing to defeat one enemy will take too many resources, which might actually be dangerous since the other two enemies can take advantage of it."

"Now tell me, is this a good phenomenon?"

He asked, looking at all the kings with a hint of barely noticeable pity. If it was not for this, in his previous life, the economies of most Southeast Asian countries wouldn't be so shit. If not for the fact that it had no historical foundation, he could not think of any other reason. One or two countries having political and geographical difficulties leading to economic decline was understandable, but all of them? He found it way too coincidental. Not to mention, even at their strongest points, their economies were butchered like sheep without any resistance by the vampire Soros. If not for the lack of trade accumulation and experience, he couldn't think of any other reason.

"All of us have the mentality of being self-reliant and doing everything by ourselves, which leads us to wage wars with each other in order to attain absolute security for the kingdom, becoming completely independent and not relying on anyone. I can understand this since I have the same mentality and have been successful in safeguarding the interests of my civilization, my nation, and my people. But remember, this is always a double-edged sword. The pursuit of absolute security will never end. I believe this to be very true. As most of you have already known, the expansion of the Bharatiya Empire has already stopped and come to a standstill. After the fall of the Mughal Empire, we no longer expanded our territories through war on land."

Vijay paused briefly and continued

"The current situation in the Southeast is such that the growth of your economies and technologies progresses at a snail's pace. And almost the majority of you have not mastered the technology of producing even muskets. Now, I'm not looking down on you since the situation of my empire a decade ago was very similar to yours, but I am simply showing that all of you have come to a standstill."

"If that were not the case, why would the Westerners, who lived like barbarians a thousand years ago, have become so technologically adept and advanced that they could traverse the oceans and come to this part of the world to enslave us?"

"I don't want to be rude, but the Bharatiya Empire, in the current situation alone, can steamroll the entire Southeast Asia and make all your kingdoms disappear within a year."

Vijay's words were tough and sonorous. All the kings were left without words as they fell into deep thought. Soon, one by one, they started to realize how big of a sinkhole they were in. If they had been unwilling when Vijay had asked them to join ASEAN, now they were a bit neutralized. 'by joining this association, at least my kingdom would not be left behind on the emerging trends', most of the kings thought.

King Narai thought the same, but being the only one who actually wanted to wage war for his ambition of unifying the whole peninsula, he looked at Vijay and asked with a hint of scrutiny,

"Your Majesty, what you said makes sense, but could you please tell me why the European countries, despite fighting wars all year round, not only did not reduce in strength but, on the contrary, increased? Isn't this truth contradictory to what you said?"

All the king's eyes suddenly lit up—if what Narai said was true, then there was indeed a problem. Everyone started to look at Vijay with a doubtful gaze.

Looking at the reaction his question had caused, King Narai was a little smug. In fact, he was the one most familiar with European countries out of all the neighbours around him because when the Dutch were still the dominant force in Southeast Asia, he had to turn to someone to counterbalance them. The ones he turned to were the English and the French, especially the French because they were a powerful empire in Europe but did not have excellent naval capabilities. Feeling that cooperation with this nation would not threaten his own and that he would not be feeding a wolf that would later seek to devour him, he initiated contact.

Though fortunately or unfortunately—he still couldn't decide whether the Bharatiya Empire gaining dominance was a good or bad thing—the need to take assistance from the French ceased to exist. Even if he still wanted to maintain the relationship, he had no channel to do so, since the whole Indian Ocean was controlled by the Bharatiya Empire, as well as the only port capable of receiving ships traversing the Pacific Ocean.

Hearing the question, Vijay looked at the King of Ayutthaya, King Narai, who in his last life was called King Narai the Great for his military strategies, diplomacy, and most importantly, as one of the greatest Siamese kings of the Ayutthaya dynasty in surprise. Vijay did remember that King Narai had a very close relationship with the French in his last life. Now, looking at it, the foundation for this relationship might have been built a very long time ago.

"It's a very good question, Narai. I'm very happy you brought it up," Vijay smiled at Narai with a slight nod of appreciation, which caught Narai a little off guard.

"I agree the situation is somewhat similar on the continent of Europe, but unlike our part of the world, where we give a lot of importance to legacy, loyalty to the kingdom, and take the grudge of the kingdom as our own, the West is completely different. The kingdom and the people are completely divided into three different entities—the kings may fight with each other, but for the people, it will not matter. The nobles might quarrel with each other, but for the kings, it will not matter. The people only identify with their masters and not the kingdom or the nation they belong to. In this way, although they constantly fight with each other and kill each other at every turn, their economies are still connected. Trade between countries continues, and even after wars, diplomatic ties are reestablished. This way, instead of war becoming a shackle that brings down civilizations, it has become a boon for growth."

"Now, I do not hope you learn from the warlike nature of the Western countries or the disloyal nature of their merchants who do not recognize the country but only profits, but I at least hope all of you will learn from their economic and diplomatic methods. Currently, the trade and diplomacy conducted between nearly all of your countries are almost nonexistent, locking you all into a prison of mediocrity " Discover hidden content at novelbuddy

"So, I propose that from now on, the ASEAN summit be held once every five years, where we will discuss various economic policies and initiatives that will benefit the whole region."

"Additionally, this could be a platform used to solve disputes between one another instead of going to frequent wars and damaging the future potential of your own countries."

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"And even if any of you go to war with one another this committee will make sure that economic and diplomatic connections between the countries remain stable and working "

The kings were all looking at each other, confused. Was His Majesty asking them to stop waging wars or to wage wars? They couldn't tell.

King Sourigna Vongsa, the oldest of the kings, furrowed his brow and asked,

"Your Majesty, do you mean that you are forbidding any of our countries from expanding our lands?" He asked with a respectful attitude but anyone who had seen his eyes could see the cold glint in them.

Vijay, however, did not feel threatened. Looking into the old man's eyes fearless, he smiled.

"I am not forbidding anyone from doing anything. If you have differences and want to settle them through war, be my guest, no one will stop you. Neither the association will have that power, nor will the Bharatiya Empire meddle in your affairs. But the Bharatiya Empire would very much love for there to be uninterrupted trade channels and diplomacy between all the countries in Southeast Asia. This is the only and the core reason for the establishment of ASEAN. Because if such a thing does not happen…"

"Wouldn't most of your countries become targets for colonists, Your Excellency? Haha."

Looking at that jovial and playful expression on vijay's face as if he had not just threatened the whole of Southeast Asia at all. Sourigna twitched his lips in disgruntlement and became silent.

That's right. Vijay might have explained everything to the kings as if he were giving them choices and options, but in reality, he was giving them no choice at all. Whether they liked it or not, they would be joining ASEAN. Vijay would even dare to completely replace the king of a country if they went against his wishes.

To be Continued...