Chapter 232 – Anglo-Portuguese Friendship

“Oh, Louis!” Edwina Ashley had to speak up when she saw that things were heading in an out-of-control direction, “Actually, the Governor General of British India isn’t too much of a sufferer, is it? That is, after all, the supreme administrator of a region, and it’s also a matter of smoothing out your future journey.”

Undeterred by his wife’s diversionary words and still staring at his mouthy little daughter, Mountbatten spoke up, “Pamela, do you know what a civil servant spends his life doing? It’s not to use flashy and un-nutritious words and say things that no one ever understands.”

“What is it? Father?” Pamela Mountbatten wore a girlish smile that left no cause for alarm.

“What civil servants do most often in their lives is to avoid any really important issues. That’s what these talking points are there for.”

In the second half of the sentence, Mountbatten sort of responded to his wife, sitting down worriedly, “British India is in the midst of an independence row, and if I go, I’ll probably be the last Viceroy of British India. The two main political forces in British India are divided on the course to take after independence, but the common denominator is that they want to get rid of the rule of the British Empire, which is a prerequisite.”

Though he had stayed in British Ceylon for a long time enjoying the sunny beaches, it did not mean that Mountbatten did not have a good understanding of British India, on the contrary he himself was long on coordinating and knew all about the claims of the PML-N and the Congress Party.

The present British India is a volcano that is about to erupt, and whether this volcano will erupt during his term of office if he goes to British India as Viceroy is a question that no one knows.

The Viceroyalty implemented the divide-and-rule policy in British India, fragmenting India and creating conflicts and infighting among various forces in India opposed to Britain, making it difficult for them to form a united force, thus consolidating and expanding Britain’s colonies in India.

The implementation of this policy naturally led to the further development of Indian society, which was under the control of the Viceroyalty, and remained in a state of slow economic development or even stagnation and backwardness.

The implementation of the divide-and-rule rule strategy, the disintegration of anti-British forces in India and the maintenance of colonial rule were the core objectives of the establishment and evolution of the provincial administrative system in British India.

And then according to different periods, the British colonial policy changes to continuously improve the British India provincial administrative system, to appease the Indian nationalists, to achieve the purpose of maintaining British colonial rule in India, for different periods of British economic and foreign policy services.

“My dear, for a long time, in the perception of Indians, there were only two major powers in the world, one was the British Empire and the other the Russian Empire which is now the Soviet Union. The Americans were honestly not revered by the Indians.”

Mountbatten spoke eloquently to his wife, “Apart from us and the Russians, Indians had only a vague and confused perception of other countries. To this day as well, apart from us being powerful as rulers in India, the Soviet Union has a lot of influence, just out of sight.”

Mountbatten said all this in the hope that Edwina Ashley would understand that being the so-called Viceroy of British India was not necessarily a scenic and good job at this time.

“Father, but it is a responsibility that the Empire has given you.” Pamela Mountbatten, half-listening, opened her mouth to interject, “And the matter is probably settled, and even involves the question of your contribution during the war time, which would be very objectionable if you were to avoid it.”

“Go back to bed!” Mountbatten took a deep breath and said in a single word, “I’m not going to this powder keg.”

Pamela Mountbatten bristled and turned to walk up the stairs, and the moment she turned, a knowing smile appeared on her face, no longer concealable.

She didn’t care if British India was a powder keg, as long as she got to meet the man. The only beautiful thing was that Patricia was getting married, which might delay things a bit. If only Patricia wasn’t getting married ……

“Want me to go unless I am given full powers and no accountability afterwards. I’ll handle the whole of British India myself, without having to report to the Cabinet, so I might think about it.” Only when his daughter had gone upstairs did Mountbatten say to his wife, “That way the Cabinet will refuse and I won’t have to go to that hellhole.”

“That’s better.” Seeing that her husband had made up his mind, Edwina Ashley went along with the man’s mood of relief.

Mountbatten was confident that if he made such an unreasonable request, those Cabinet ministers would certainly not pass it, and then the blame would be on the Cabinet, not on himself. It was not that he had refused to go to British India as Viceroy, but that the Cabinet would not delegate power to him.

At the same time that Mountbatten himself made a decision, Pamela Mountbatten, who was lying on her bedroom bed cuddling her doll, also made a decision, and he felt that he should give this good news to Allen Wilson by telegraph.

In a sense, General Mountbatten felt the powder keg state of British India, but which is sitting on the powder keg Allen Wilson more able to feel, he is a daily dance on the powder keg.

Finally find an opportunity to let Patel roll, does not mean that Nehru is good to deal with, in fact, the latter is the one that should be difficult to deal with, but now, the two governors of the handover of the window period, the whole of British India is the people’s servant to say never mind.

At this sensitive time, the Portuguese Viceroy Pedro, arrived in New Delhi, and his old friend, the assistant commissioner of British India to meet, the two sides met in a warm embrace, Pedro sat down and asked, “How is it lately, Allen? Isn’t it all a relief to have the Viceroy gone.”

“On the contrary, I’m busier than I was when the Governor was here.” Alan Wilson let out a long sigh, relying on his age certainly made the other feel fulfilled when he was up against the movie queen, but time management always took extra energy, not as much as having a marriage contract in place could save.

That’s probably where the so-called legitimate charm comes in! After sighing, Alan Wilson waved his hand and said, “Without mentioning about me, in fact, what kind of relationship we have, from the point of view of the country, even the most tense and the Third Reich ravaged Europe, Portugal did not end up on the opposite side of the British Empire, not to mention that now we all have a common purpose.”

“The friendship between Portugal and Britain will always be maintained, I wonder what Alan has asked me to do here?” Pedro stared carefully at Alan Wilson’s face, trying to see something in the other’s expression.

As an honorable imperial civil servant, Allen Wilson of course could not let the other party see it, poured two cups of black tea, “The administrator of Assam, recently in the tea business, this is also considered a good thing, the advantageous industries of each place are different, the Governor General’s Office will not prevent the provinces from generating their own income well.”

“British India land is extensive, like Goa is not so large, there is no need to adjust anything.” Pedro brought up the black tea, his words showed envy.

“That’s true.” Alan Wilson nodded his head in recognition, a large land with a large population had that benefit. Treating ordinary people with high ceilings, it was not easy to feel the hardships of survival. It’s miserable for people in small countries to have to endure the country’s much lower ceilings.

It’s even better for officials; there’s another side to the benefits of high ceilings, which is that officials are naturally distant from ordinary people. What does an official want to do that ordinary people don’t even know about, and what’s the point of talking about opposition?

This is just like the embezzlement of a village mayor. The villagers know their village very well, so they can roughly figure it out.

But the mayor embezzles the citizens but they are in the dark. The richness of British India has endowed the provinces with different strengths, and it is not too much to ask that the chief executives of the provinces now capitalize on such strengths.

Goa is a bit sadder, the place is small and the population is small, similar to the relationship between villagers and the village headman, the village headman suddenly became rich, the villagers will certainly inquire about each other.

After enjoying the afternoon tea, Alan Wilson only slowly opened his mouth, “Pedro thinks how about this place in the subcontinent.”

“Huge population and market, the cornerstone of the British Empire.” Pedro honestly said, the British Empire close to three hundred years of hegemony, this seizure of the subcontinent has a close relationship, this is a fact known to all countries.

“We Britain called the Sunset Empire, but now after all, it is already past noon, there is no previous hot light.” Alan Wilson said with a slight sigh, surprisingly becoming a colonizer when the colonial era was about to pass, in all fairness, he was very aggrieved in his heart.

“In fact, Goa is a good place, if it can be grasped in the hands. Can bring great benefits for Portugal, the geographical position is there, directly facing India’s huge population and raw materials. If the subcontinent becomes independent, it will increase in importance, it depends on whether Portugal can utilize this card well.”

Finally speaking of Goa, Pedro was instantly refreshed and not at all sleepy, that was what he had come to New Delhi for, it was just that the owner of the place didn’t take the initiative to talk about it, he might have come across as a little too eager if he had mentioned it.

“The security of Goa has always been a matter of great concern in the country.” Pedro organized his language, hoping to get Britain’s attention but not acting too eager, which could make this party anxious.

“Pedro, I understand, I understand everything.” Alan Wilson smiled with a knowing look, “No one understands the subcontinent better than me, what you want to want, I understand, what I want, I don’t know if my guest understands.”

“I don’t know, what Mr. Allen wants first. In the traditional Anglo-Portuguese friendship, we are very much looking forward to some important people, playing a key role.” Pedro was very on the ball and gave Alan Wilson the hint.