"This is our workshop. We hire many local low-caste people or people who have been engaged in the textile industry for generations to work. The compensation they need to pay is very low, so the cost of cotton textiles is also very low. However, only high-caste people have the qualifications and money to receive education. The labor quality of low-caste people is not high, and it is okay to engage in repetitive work, but it is difficult to serve as managers. Our East India Company does not allow them to become managers. They only need to work hard to help us produce the local cloth we need." Francis Day brought Chen Bangyan to the handicraft workshop at the port of Surat, which contained looms and a large number of hired handicraftsmen.

These thin and humble hired people kept weaving cloths and secretly glanced at the person coming in. Next to their blonde employers, there were a few yellow-skinned and dark-haired people, as if the blonde employers were more respectful to them.

"There is plenty of light here and high-quality cotton is abundant. The cotton yarn processed and produced is not easy to break during the textile process, and the fabric is brightly shiny. Most of the cotton fabrics produced every year are shipped back to Europe, and some are sold to Southeast Asia, and even China. The latitude of East India is very low, and the cotton production area is close to the coastline, which can be said to be unique." Francis Ri sighed.

"Which area of ​​them produces a lot of cotton?" Chen Bangyan said.

"There are some places in the northwest of the Deccan Plateau. The Portuguese built a Mumbai fort, which is only 150 miles away, which seems to be more suitable for serving as a stronghold on the west coast than Surat. We can find ways to seize the Mumbai fort and expel the Portuguese, and consolidate our East India Company's position on the west coast." Francis Day encouraged Chen Bangyan to seize the Portuguese to establish a permanent fortress here.

"In addition to the west coast, there are two places that should be seized. After my three years of investigation in East India, this place is suitable for controlling trade on the east coast, and there are also places suitable for controlling Bengal. Bengal is a treasure house of the Mughal emperors regard as the empire, with the flat and fertile Ganges plains and a large obedient population."

"As long as we control these three important areas, it is equivalent to attacking the Mughal Empire from three sides, completely controlling the sea, and then our East India Company gradually penetrates inland." Francis Day unfolded a simple map with the outline of the Indian Peninsula and the circles and dots of Francis Day above. It seems that he has a deep study of the Mughal Empire.

Chen Bangyan did not expect that the manager of the Surat Workshop would have such a deep understanding of Mughals, and he had already made plans to monopolize the Mughal coastline.

"The West Coast can also seize the Portuguese strongholds. The East Coast and Bangladesh are the Mughal territory. I am afraid it will anger them. We don't want to provoke the Mughal Emperor yet. It's not that we can't defeat them, but that we can't spare our energy now." Chen Bangyan said.

Francis Ri shook his head. Although the Jiuzhou Army has begun to expand into the ocean in recent years, its experience in opening other people's doors is not rich enough compared to European maritime power countries that have been exploring overseas for decades and hundreds of years. It is still at the level of relying on force to open up overseas markets.

"The lord here is short-sighted and only needs to spend a few hundred pounds to buy a large piece of land on the coast as a stronghold. In this place, there is nothing that gold and silver cannot do. It may be that money is not enough." Francis Rie said.

"It's interesting..." Chen Bangyan saw that Francis Japanese was so keen to completely control the huge Mughal maritime trade, and thought about the report submitted to the military headquarters to be settled.

As long as you inquire enough information from Francis Day, the report is halfway done.

Francis Ri and Chen Bangyan visited other workshops in Surat Port.

Chen Bangyan came to take over the assets of the East India Company here. What he wanted to know was the current situation of the East India Company, the direction of expansion and development, as well as the situation and customs of the Mughal Empire.

"Some people here regard cattle as sacred animals, worship elephant-headed gods, and some people do not eat pork. They have complex shapes. You must pay more attention, otherwise it will cause dissatisfaction among the locals." Francis Ri took Chen Bangyan to his residence for a meal and said to him, "In contrast, we don't have so many taboos."

"I need to submit a report to our government, that is, the company's major shareholders. Please help draft the report and report the situation here to the senior management in detail, so that they can decide how to expand the influence of the East India Company here. I believe that if your report can come in handy, you will be appointed by our senior management." Chen Bangyan said to him.

"Extremely happy!" Francis Day also wanted to show his talents in front of the new major shareholder, and the new major shareholder seemed to have ambition to conquer East India than the original shareholder, which coincided with his plan.

"There is a vast land and a huge population here. If there is land, there will be output. It can provide us with cotton, raw silk, and tea. The Bangladesh places learned how to plant mulberry trees and raise silkworms from China, and they can also produce a certain amount of silk. The emperors of the Mughals are invincible on this subcontinent, but they are incompetent at sea. Their warships and artillery seem powerless and ridiculous to us. But the mall cannot be built only on the sea. We are worried that the warehouses and workshops on the land will be surrounded by their army on the land, so we please the emperor of the Mughals as much as possible." Francis Ri heard that his insights could be conveyed to the new major shareholder of the East India Company, so he explained the current situation facing the East India Company with greater enthusiasm.

"If building a bastion here, will it be allowed?" Chen Bangyan asked.

"Building a bastion in a place like Surat, which is managed by their officials, will be regarded as a provocation to his authority by their emperor. But if it is a land where no one is bought, it can be built. However, building a strong bastion is useless to resist the Mughal emperor with hundreds of thousands of troops. The monsoon is only a few months each year, and our reinforcements cannot come to support it all year round. They also buy artillery from the Ottomans, Persians, and the Netherlands. As long as the merchants are profitable, they even sell muskets and artillery to indigenous tribes in Africa and America to deal with the merchant forces of other countries. So unless we can have an army in the Mughals all year round, we can turn against the Mughal emperor, otherwise we must keep our tails together as human beings." Francis Ri said.
Chapter completed!