"Yesterday, Francis Baring of the Whig Party came to me with a rather serious concern."
As expected, Benjamin Disraeli looked at me as if the topic had appeared out of nowhere.
"Baring Bank is closely tied to the Whigs. Is there any reason Your Highness should involve yourself in their affairs?"
Hey now. Don't treat me so openly like a Conservative. What would other people think?
"As the Prince Consort of this nation, my duty is to accommodate as many people as possible. When someone comes asking for help, I cannot simply say, 'You belong to the Whigs, so go away.'"
"That is true."
"And besides, Baring Bank has plenty of money. If we could extract—no, not extract—if we could obtain some investment from them, installing telegraph lines to India would become much easier."
Building the communications network was my main objective.
But funding it entirely with my own money would be unreasonable.
Of course, since the telegraph network would practically become a monopoly, it would eventually generate enormous profits.
Still—
Using other people's money was far sweeter.
"I thought you had already decided to cooperate with the Rothschilds," Disraeli said.
"That was the plan. But Rothschild has another matter where his money will be more useful."
Perhaps it was no coincidence that Disraeli and the Rothschilds, both Jewish, had worked very well together in the original timeline.
Now they were both aboard my ship.
Sooner or later they might work together again.
"I think I heard you mention something before… a canal, perhaps?"
"Yes. It's still in the early planning stages, but France will likely cooperate with Egypt to connect the Red Sea and the Mediterranean."
"I've asked Rothschild to use his French connections to gather as much information as possible. Once we understand how the project develops, interfering—or even seizing the opportunity ourselves—will be easy."
"A brilliant idea," Disraeli said. "If ships could travel from the Mediterranean through the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean, the route to Asia would be drastically shortened. Such a strategic point must belong to the British Empire."
Ironically, in the original timeline it was Disraeli himself who secured the Suez Canal for Britain while France was distracted by the Franco-Prussian War.
History had a curious sense of humor.
"Well, that lies further in the future," I said. "For now, India deserves our attention. I intend to tell the Prime Minister that the situation of the East India Company is causing serious concern among businessmen in Britain and that action is required."
"So I should support Your Highness during the debate?"
"At first, yes. But you know that my goal is not to restore the East India Company."
What I wanted was the normalization of India, not the salvation of the company.
I had already explained that to Prime Minister Wellesley and Disraeli.
They needed to understand in advance so they could respond quickly when problems arose.
"Still," Disraeli said thoughtfully, "dismantling the East India Company merely because it is running deficits will be difficult. Many people still respect its achievements. And quite a few members of the upper class have invested in it. If we intend to break the company apart, we need a strong justification."
"A company as massive as the East India Company," I said calmly, "will always produce illegal activities if thoroughly investigated. Once you begin digging, you will find something."
"I agree. The question is how to expose it. Financial losses might provide an excuse, but…"
"Don't worry. The call for investigation will come first from the very investors who placed their money in the company."
If it became widely known that the company had suffered enormous losses—
And if newspapers began fueling anxiety by suggesting that even the principal investments might never be recovered—
Then those who had previously protected the company's misconduct would be the first to demand investigations and repayment.
"…I understand," Disraeli said slowly. "So my role is to become the executioner."
"Exactly. Frankly, no one in Parliament could perform that role better than you."
"Haha, indeed. I suspect I would do it better than the Prime Minister himself."
Once corruption was denounced in Parliament and an official investigation began, even the East India Company would be forced to submit to scrutiny.
At that point, the game would already be over.
No amount of talk about "too big to fail" would save it.
Of course, the real issue was how to create that situation.
Even Disraeli did not yet know the full details.
"When the recent rebellion broke out in India," I asked casually, "how much financial support did the British government provide to the East India Company?"
"At least several hundred thousand pounds."
"Perfect. When the company requests to delay repayment—or admits it cannot repay the funds—that will be our signal. At that moment, you will condemn their reckless management and call for a parliamentary investigation."
I had not explained the exact method.
But since most of my previous actions had followed similar patterns, Disraeli simply nodded.
"And when the East India Company collapses," he said, "someone must fill the vacuum. That would presumably be…?"
"Most likely."
Replacing the company would require an organization with authority comparable to a state.
Money alone would not suffice.
Legitimacy was necessary.
More importantly, the core of my plan was to place all responsibility for India's problems on the East India Company.
The rebellions.
The oppression of Indian people.
The production and distribution of narcotics.
All of it would be attributed to the wicked actions of the company acting independently while deceiving the British government.
Once those villains were destroyed by the Empire, the local population could finally be reassured.
But for the people of India to accept that narrative, someone credible had to take responsibility for governing the land.
A governor appointed by the government?
That would change nothing.
After all, the East India Company was already under the authority of the Governor-General of India.
There would be no real difference.
What India required was an authority clearly separate from both the company and the government.
An authority every Indian could recognize.
And in the entire British Empire—
Only one institution possessed that legitimacy.
The Royal Family.
Although people casually referred to the East India Company as a single entity, in reality it did not function like an ordinary corporation.
How could one organization directly govern a territory as vast as India?
In practice, the company consisted of three major administrations.
Bengal, Madras, and Bombay.
Each maintained its own administrative structure and operated with a degree of independence.
Among them, the Bengal administration, headquartered in Calcutta, held the greatest authority.
It was overseen by the Governor-General appointed by Britain.
In effect, it was the central pillar of the East India Company.
Bengal also controlled the opium trade with China, which generated the highest profits.
As a result, it possessed the greatest wealth.
The Madras administration, based in Chennai, maintained its own large organization and army.
Meanwhile, Bombay, headquartered in Mumbai, had accumulated considerable wealth through trade.
But those prosperous days were fading.
After the opium trade collapsed, Bengal's finances deteriorated rapidly.
Now they were squeezing revenue from the economy like water from a dry cloth.
Last year's large-scale rebellion had only worsened matters.
Already struggling financially, the company had taken on even more debt.
It had borrowed heavily from Baring Bank.
And it had received hundreds of thousands of pounds in emergency support from the British government.
Repayment had to occur soon—somehow.
Which meant Edward Lyall, the man responsible for the Bengal administration's most important revenue stream—the narcotics trade—was under growing pressure.
A few years earlier, when Britain had crushed Qing China in war, he had believed the opium trade would revive.
But to his surprise—
British politicians now seemed eager to erase any association with the immoral trade.
As a result, profits from the opium department plummeted.
And there were no signs of improvement.
Within the company, Lyall's influence had weakened.
Some members of the board had even begun discussing shutting down the department entirely.
Meanwhile, acting under Killian's secret instructions, Anthony Nathan Rothschild, the second son of the Rothschild family, decided to target the opium department first.
As expected, when he expressed interest in purchasing a large quantity of opium, Lyall immediately agreed to meet him.
"Hahaha! I hear you wish to purchase opium?"
"Yes. My name is Anthony Brown. Our firm normally trades cotton textiles, but recently we have been exploring opportunities in the opium market."
"Opium is a fine commodity. If it sells properly, nothing is more profitable. But just to confirm—you know that the Chinese market is closed?"
"Of course. Did you think I would come without researching that?"
Using his alias, Rothschild pointed toward the far eastern side of the map he had brought.
"The place I intend to sell is not China. It is further east—Korea and Japan, which recently opened relations with Britain."
"Oh? Those markets did open recently. Our trade department has been recruiting ships to sail there. And you intend to sell opium?"
"Yes. Many merchants who previously sold opium in China went bankrupt and refuse to return to the trade. I believe this is the perfect opportunity. If opium sells successfully in Korea and Japan, I will control most of that market."
"Do you believe those countries can absorb such a market?"
"They are smaller than China, of course. But together they have over forty million people. That is hardly insignificant. If we can drain silver from them steadily, profits may approach what we once earned in China."
In truth, Rothschild had no intention of selling the opium.
But a convincing pretext always worked best.
Repeating the scenario Killian had prepared for him, he watched Lyall's face brighten with excitement.
"You are truly a visionary," Lyall said with a laugh. "How much opium shall we prepare? Have you already secured distribution channels?"
"Of course. I bribed an officer who traveled to Japan with His Highness and made contact with local merchants. Since this is my first venture, I will start modestly—perhaps £10,000 worth."
"Ten thousand pounds on your first order? That is quite large. I must warn you—our finances are not strong enough to allow delayed payment. It must be paid in advance, and there will be no refunds, even if you fail to sell the goods."
"Don't worry. I am confident it will sell. Payment will naturally be made in advance. When can I receive the shipment?"
"If payment is made in advance, we can prepare it as quickly as possible! Please wait a moment!"
As Lyall hurried off to summon his subordinates, Rothschild calmly sipped his tea.
In truth, it felt wasteful.
All that expensive opium would soon sink uselessly into the sea.
And one shipment would not be enough to build trust.
They would need to repeat the process four or five times.
That meant throwing over £50,000 into the ocean.
Still… if those losses can be recovered elsewhere.
If £50,000 could destroy the East India Company and purchase India itself—
Then it was hardly wasteful.
It was an investment.
Even £100,000 would be worth it.
First he would purchase £10,000 worth of opium.
Then another £10,000.
Then perhaps £20,000.
Each time paying promptly.
Trust would build.
And the desperate company would push to expand the business further.
Then—
Their moment of joy would become despair.
Smiling brightly, Anthony Rothschild signed the contract placed before him without hesitation.