The Shadow of Great Britain-Chapter 605 - 304 Field’s Analysis

"No matter the crime, to capture the culprit, first find who benefits from the misdeed. Who benefits if you are gone?"

— "The Count of Monte Cristo"

Great Dumas pulled a small notebook from his pocket and waved a page gently at Arthur.

Arthur certainly understood his meaning, but today’s events made it impossible for him to simply weigh out the matters of assassination through mere profit and loss.

If considered from a personal grudge perspective, the most likely suspects were former MP Bernie Harrison and magistrate George Norton.

But, his role now bore a particularly special identity.

If considering his role as the Commissioner for the Anti-Smuggling Task Force in Liverpool, those who wanted him dead included the import-export companies dissatisfied with port control. These companies were not just those within the Liverpool Association but also included giant corporations that held royal monopolies around the world, such as the British Africa Company, British West India Company, and British Moscow Company, among others.

Although these trade companies controlling extensive monopoly powers were incomparable to the cartels, syndicates, trusts, and concerns that emerged in the late 19th century, even the leaders among them, like the East India Company, still had to bow down to Parliament both legally and practically.

But if anyone thought these companies were benevolent citizens simply because they bowed to Parliament, they were sorely mistaken.

Take the East India Company, headquartered on Leadenhall Street in London, for example. Established in 1600, this company received a 21-year monopoly of trade in the East Indies directly from Elizabeth I, and also undertook the task from the royal family to develop trade routes to the East Indies, Malay Peninsula, Ming Dynasty coast, and the Japanese Archipelago.

However, the task of developing these routes was not smooth at the inception of the East India Company. Expeditions faced frequent dangers, and the pirates of East Asia were far more troublesome than anticipated. Even key members, including Britain’s renowned explorer John Davis, died in a skirmish with Japanese pirates.

By the eighth year, even the King had lost hope in the search for the Eastern trade routes, but suddenly, the East India Company brought great news. After numerous bloody battles and relentless efforts, the company’s fleet officially landed at Surat in India and established its first factory near a small town in the Bay of Bengal.

The news overjoyed King James I so much that he issued an unlimited charter to reward the East India Company, declaring that this charter would only be cancelled if the company failed to turn a profit for three consecutive years.

To protect the hard-earned success of the East India Company, James I even sent diplomats to visit the ruler of the Mughal Empire in India, securing a diplomatic agreement with Emperor Jahangir by offering regular supplies of European treasures, confirming the rights for the East India Company to settle and establish factories within the Mughal territory.

With these legal documents for protection, the business domain of the East India Company rapidly expanded, quickly overpowering the long-standing Portuguese traders in India.

And while the East India Company was enjoying its success, the Glorious Revolution erupted back in Britain. Since their main assets were concentrated in India, they miraculously weathered this half-century-long turmoil unscathed.

What’s more, in a bid to secure the support of this golden goose known as the East India Company, both Lord Protector Cromwell and the British royal family, which was seeking restoration, extended olive branches to them.

Cromwell enhanced their status in Parliament, but Charles II went further.

He directly issued five decrees for the East India Company, granting them the rights to occupy land, mint coins, command fortresses and troops, form alliances and declare war, sign peace treaties, and adjudicate civil and criminal cases in occupied territories.

Granting these rights to the East India Company was akin to declaring it a sovereign state.

Although the East India Company always publicly claimed it was not a government, by then it effectively functioned as a government independent of the British government.

And with a philosophy that power unused is useless, the East India Company soon organized its own private military force and, after years of preparation, brazenly launched what was called the British-Mughal War, though it was essentially the East India Company vs. the Mughal.

However, the newly formed military force of the East India Company clearly overestimated its own combat capabilities while underestimating the strength of the Mughal Empire and the extent of resentment held by French and Portuguese traders in India who had suffered losses at their hands.

After four years of intense fighting, having endured a barrage of French and Portuguese artillery and with the British domestic situation destabilized from the Glorious Revolution and unable to offer assistance, the shattered company’s board of directors finally lost heart.

Under pressure from the 125 principal shareholders, the company held an emergency board meeting and decided to cut losses timely, shaking hands and making peace with the Mughal Empire at a cost of compensating 150,000 Gold Rupees.

This battle severely debilitated the East India Company, and following the Glorious Revolution, both the royal family and Parliament finally realized, perhaps we have been a bit too indulgent with this private enterprise?