Chapter 658 Setting up the Stage for a Show

The reason why David Sassoon was so calm on the way to escape was that his wealth had already been transferred to the Far East, so he could be fearless.

As for the industries in Mumbai, he believed that he could get them back sooner or later. After all, the rebels were those Anglo-Indians, so what did they have to do with the Sassoon family?

At worst, there was the support of John Francis Davis, the Governor of Hong Kong. The Sassoon family would definitely be protected. At that time, it would be easy to overthrow Henry Harding, a young man, by using his connections in London.

John Francis Davis was known as "the most unpopular governor in history", but in fact, Pottinger left a mess to his successor.

When Davis took over, the Hong Kong area was almost a lawless place, dirty, violent, and without any order.

There was no household registration, the personnel mobility was high, and the customs was in name only. Some people went to the island to commit murder and then left in a swagger. When the British police found out, they were powerless.

However, these usually do not threaten the interests of the British high-level officials. After all, most of them live in big houses and have bodyguards to protect them.

The biggest problem Davis faces is the most common problem in the colonies, which is that the income is not enough to cover the expenses, and the British government needs to make a lot of investment every year.

However, according to British estimates, although the construction and maintenance costs of Hong Kong are huge, theoretically the income should be higher.

At least it should reach the level of Austrian East Africa or Austrian Zhenla. However, the reality is that Hong Kong at this time is only one-tenth of the former and several tenths of the latter.

This problem can be seen by a fool, so Pu Dingcha was dismissed. What Davis has to do is to make Hong Kong pay for its construction and maintenance of the garrison.

Coupled with the "Qing Pirate Incident" in the book, Hong Kong at this time is facing greater pressure than in history.

Davis, who just arrived in the Far East, naturally needs a local expert, and the Sassoon family has long been informed of the news from London in advance.

Elias Sassoon, the second son of David Sassoon, has become a guest of Davis. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the Sassoon family has infiltrated all walks of life in the Governor's District.

If Davis wanted peace in the Far East, he couldn't do anything to their family, and Henry Harding's actions must not have been authorized by London, otherwise David Sassoon would not dare to be so fearless.

As soon as the Sassoon family arrived in Kalaika, they were warmly welcomed by the local king Kiran Wasje. Although the latter did not directly participate in the rebellion against the British, he took the opportunity to launch an attack on the surrounding princely states, which to a certain extent made the situation more chaotic.

This move was not to capture the city, but simply to rob and destroy. In order to show his strength, Kiran Wasje displayed his spoils on both sides of the road for the Sassoon family to see.

The ultimate goal is to let the Sassoon family buy more opium from Kalaika, so that he can buy more weapons from the Chamber of Commerce in Verawais to be the king of Tamil Nadu!

But David Sassoon didn't want to talk nonsense with him at this time. The former just wanted to leave India, a place of right and wrong, as soon as possible. After all, if the latter found out about the former's predicament, he would probably add insult to injury.

The two sides pretended to be friendly for a while, and probably felt disgusted and started to talk about business. The Sassoon family had to use at least three boats for more than 200 people. In addition, Kiran Vasje had to send people to deal with those restless people along the way, otherwise it would be bad if he disturbed the ladies and girls.

David Sassoon and Victor Sassoon knew that the other party was asking for a higher price. If it were any other time, as the largest evil force in the Far East, they would have to teach the other party a lesson.

But now they not only had to pay, but also had to pay more, and pretend that nothing had happened.

At that time, there were many types of currencies in India, but the most valuable one recognized by all parties was the British pound.

"Five hundred thousand pounds, and give us 700 boxes of opium and send them to the main island of Nicobar."

"You know the goods!"

Kieran Wasje was very satisfied that he could negotiate this big deal, and David Sassoon breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that this trip should be safe and sound, and he could also make a fortune in the Far East to recover his previous losses.

However, Franz did not intend to let this underworld legend continue. In fact, the movement route of the Sassoon family was under Franz's surveillance.

And the reason why they went to the Karaika area to meet with Kiran Wasje, the opium planting tycoon, was all within Franz's plan.

After all, Austria still needed a reason to cheat some land from the British Indian colonial government, and the demise of the Sassoon family should not be lynched. Franz had chosen a suitable stage for them.

Now the "actors" are in place, and the show is about to begin.

In fact, Franz has been studying the Sassoon family's plan for a long time. Since the day when Vienna began to ban drugs (the previous plot), he has been looking for the source of the drug.

However, the reason why it took so many years to take action is that they are too far away and out of reach, and secondly, there is no reasonable reason.

After all, David Sassoon's nickname "Little Emperor of Mumbai" is not for nothing, and Franz can't just kill him like killing a dog.

Another important reason is the poor intelligence work. For a long time before, Franz handed over the intelligence work in the Indian region to Vera Weiss.

After all, Vera Weiss is an Indian, a local snake, and theoretically speaking, this kind of intelligence gathering work should be easy to do, right?

What surprised Franz was that Veraweiss’s men had investigated for several years and spent countless resources.

Then they came to the conclusion:

"The Sassoons are all good people. They are philanthropists, peace-loving legal businessmen, and they like to help the people in the Far East who are harmed by witch doctors, and they travel thousands of miles to bring them the gospel of India."

Veraweiss’s beating was not in vain. If the person who wrote the intelligence came to Vienna, Franz would guarantee that he would not be killed..

After that, Franz asked Archbishop Rauscher to find a group of fanatical anti-smoking advocates among the parishioners. These guys are like the "environmental terrorists" of later generations. Under the blessing of religious fanaticism, they are fearless, omnipresent, and do everything they can.

The effect was immediate. They quickly collected a lot of evidence about the Sassoons’ crimes, and during this period, these people consolidated their beliefs.

Now, even if Franz or the archbishop said that the Sassoons were good people, they would not believe it.

Driven by this powerful subjective initiative, the Sassoon family stepped into the stage set by Franz step by step.

In Tranquiba, Reggie Malpe, the leader of the Astarte organization "Anti-drugs", immediately decided to launch an attack on the port city of Bhunpal, the capital of Karaika, after obtaining the permission of the Governor-General of British India and the exact movements of the Sassoon family.