War Palace and Knee Pillow, Austria’s Destiny

Afghanistan, Kabul city.

In the palace at this time, the Afghan King (Emir) Dost Muhammad was pacing anxiously back and forth. Although he has been suppressing the Akbar faction since his return, its scale is still huge and it enjoys great popularity among the people. Broad support.

A person who has "great achievements and surpasses the master" will almost certainly be hated by the monarch, even if the other person is his own son.

Although Dost has a secret agreement with the British, he needs to help them get rid of Akbar Khan, a thorn in their side. But in fact, even without a secret agreement with the British, he would not let his son go.

Because his influence and prestige are already greater than his father's, this is something no king can tolerate.

However, Dost was not without merit except for being ruthless. He still hoped to get rid of his son quietly. After all, in addition to Akbar Khan, there was also Aminullah Khan who was watching covetously.

If his move to get rid of Akbar Khan was too big, it might lead to resistance from the rest of the army, and he might gain an advantage over a lowly guy like Aminullah Khan.

So when he heard the doctor who was sent say that Akbar Khan had taken the medicine he had given him, Dost breathed a sigh of relief.

But this was only a small step in his plan. After Akbar Khan died, he could collect his weapons and use them to deal with Aminullah Khan.

In fact, Dost, who had just returned home, did not have many supporters or available soldiers.

He will first kill the two enemies who pose the greatest threat to him, and then slowly eliminate everyone who has anything to do with them.

In fact, Dost has already thought of a plan to deal with Aminullah Khan.

It is said that Aminullah Khan's daughter Vera Young is the most beautiful woman in Afghanistan and is deeply loved by her father. Dost is planning to marry Aminullah Khan's daughter under the pretense of reconciling the two families, but in fact it is to make the other party relax their vigilance.

(In fact, Afghanistan at that time was much more open than modern times, and some of the teachings were not very strict, and were not even considered teachings at the time.)

This is what Dost did in history. At an early age, Dost married Aminullah Khan's daughter, claiming to reconcile the two families, and invited Aminullah Khan and his tribe to come to Kabul.

Then there is a plot similar to the Red Wedding. The difference is that Aminullah Khan's daughter is indeed beautiful, and Dost just imprisoned Aminullah Khan until his death.

The charge was sedition, and Aminullah Khan was also found dead under his pillow on the second day of his imprisonment. It is said that the tragedy was caused by improper sleeping posture.

It took several years to eradicate all possible rebels and their relatives and subordinates. Dost, who had great power, began to conquer all directions, and the area he finally controlled was the actual border of modern Afghanistan.

But at this time, he still needs to perform in front of his son's body and win over the tribal leaders to work for him.

But when Dost came to the mosque excitedly and walked to Akbar Khan's coffin, he found that the other party was looking at him.

This startled Dost and he wanted to reach out his hand to close Akbar Khan's eyes, but the other man sat up directly.

Dost was so frightened that he fell to the ground and said in horror.

"Are you a living person or an undead?"

Akbar Khan exhaled.

"Father, I'm alive. Why aren't you happy for me?"

"Kill him!" Dost roared.

But no one took action, because the guards he brought had been controlled, and the tribal leaders who pretended to be loyal to him outside were glaring with knives and guns.

"Father, you lost." Akbar Khan's tone was not joyful, but a little sad. He did not expect that his father would be so heartless. But he knew that Dost would definitely come to recruit his subordinates. After all, there was Aminullah Khan who was threatening Dost's status.

Dost tried to run away, but was pushed down as soon as he reached the door.

"I am your father, you cannot kill me. I am the King of Afghanistan! The King!" He turned to Akbar Khan and said.

"Father, you should stay here. I will defeat your enemies. Your kingdom..." Akbar Khan paused and continued.

"Afghanistan will flourish in my hands, and our family will be remembered in history."

Akbar Khan kept his promise and imprisoned his father, Dost Muhammad, in the cellar of the Grand Mosque.

Afterwards, Akbar Khan married the daughter of Aminullah Khan. With the help of their many supporters, the two families quickly swept away the local forces in Afghanistan, and the Kingdom of Afghanistan was reunited.

However, this land was too barren. Akbar Khan wanted to make this country truly powerful, and going south to plunder India's wealth became the country's stated goal.

And if he wants to go south, he needs allies. Although there were many kings in the Indian subcontinent at this time, only the Sikh Empire and the British East India Company were truly powerful.

Afghanistan and the Sikh empire were feuding men, and the British had just been driven from his land and it seemed unlikely that either would be his ally.

But in fact, Akbar Khan had already had his own plan, but it was not enough to have allies, he also needed weapons.

At this time, an Indian businessman came to Kabul and called himself Vera Weiss.

On the island of Kalimantan.

Colonel Hardek Chris was faced with a dilemma. Since the emerging Nanming Kingdom rejected William Hawke's proposal, he was ordered to intercept all ships departing from Kalimantan and the large islands of Natuna.

(William Hawke was a representative of the East India Company, and the so-called proposal mentioned above was the opium trade.)

There is nothing wrong with blocking shipping routes, and the British often use it to deal with small countries like this.

But Zhu Qiongying hired a Dutch ship, and the latter had no reason to refuse in order to make money.

As a result, Colonel Hardek Chris seized the Dutch ships. This was originally just a routine matter to force the Kingdom of Nanming to sign an agreement. After all, the British did not want to fight the enemy in the jungle on the island of Kalimantan.

But at that time, they followed the principle of "three poles if there are dates but no dates" and demanded ransom from the Dutch. What he didn't expect was that the ship had a background in the Dutch military.

In fact, the vast majority of smuggling ships in the South China Sea are warships, and it is not uncommon for the military to take on private work. To be precise, these ships should belong to the Dutch East India Company, and the soldiers are its employees.

The news quickly spread to Jakarta, because Zhu Qiongying bribed the Dutch businessmen in advance, and the British attitude was indeed arrogant.

So those Dutch businessmen made the matter extremely serious, making the Dutch stationed in Jakarta think that the British were trying to steal their business.

At this time, the number of Dutch ships in the Nanyang region far exceeded that of the British, and the Dutch had not encountered an opponent here for too many years.

The Governor of Indonesia personally led the fleet to find an explanation from the British. At this time, the British navy was indeed fierce. Instead of being afraid, it issued a warning to the Dutch fleet.

Afterwards, a brief exchange of fire broke out between the two sides. As a result, two British ships were slightly damaged, while six Dutch ships were sunk and more than a thousand people were killed.

So the Dutch Governor of Indonesia sent an urgent report to Amsterdam.

"The British fleet attacks our merchant ships."