Chapter 339 Want to dispel rumors? I'll help you.

Chapter 340 Want to refute rumors? Let me help you

Tens of kilometers west of Mysore city.

This is close to the Cannanore area controlled by the British.

At this time, in a luxurious building with a Mauryan era style, Callum Griffiths, a senior representative of the British East India Company, was looking at Jahanzeb in front of him with a dark face: "Are you sure these were done by the French? ?”

"Well, I have no evidence, Mr. Griffiths." Sudan's private secretary, Jahanzeb, said, "No evidence," but his tone was quite firm. "These rumors all appeared after the French came to Mysore. According to reports, I know that the French have been secretly encouraging the Sultan to attack British territory."

The Prime Minister of Mysore, also known as the "Vizil", is only a ceremonial official position. Above the four core ministers of real power and below the Sultan, there is also the position of the Sultan's secretary, which has very heavy authority.

However, even such an important minister hooked up with the British after the Second Mysore War and used the power of the British to consolidate his position.

Griffith was not surprised when he heard this - in India, Britain and France have never stopped stabbing each other in the back. But since the Seven Years War, French forces basically withdrew from India, and they have never caused such a big scene again.

It stands to reason that the Indian peninsula no longer has French interests. With France's current financial situation on the verge of bankruptcy, they should not invest so much here.

However, Griffiths still ordered Jahanzeb in a cautious manner: "I hope these rumors will disappear within a month.

"If you can help it, buy half a boatload of cheap fabrics or ironwork from me."

British textiles and ironware are very popular in India. If you can get half a shipload of goods at a low price, you can sell them at almost double the price, making a profit of at least twenty to thirty thousand pounds.

Jahanzeb was overjoyed. He immediately flipped his wrist and said with a serious expression: "Dear representative, I promise that you will not hear those rumors tomorrow morning."

When he returned to Mysore, he immediately ordered through the administrative system to arrest those who spread rumors and slandered the British across the country.

In Sheikh Khan's summer residence, several Mysore officials who were of the same faction as Sheikh Khan looked at Salah anxiously.

They had already received the news. Jahanzeb ordered a large-scale arrest of those who spread rumors. In just three or four days, thousands of people had been thrown into prison, many of whom were sent by them.

The most troublesome thing is that what Jahanzeb did this time was "reasonable" - to eliminate rumors. Even if they went to the Sultan, they would not be able to tell Jahanzeb's fault.

After a long while, a thin "Umda", a senior officer of Mysore, said with a sullen face: "There are not many people who dare to talk about the British these days. Even when I sent my men to spread the news, no one Dare to listen.”

Another person nodded immediately: "If this trend continues, things about the British will soon be forgotten by everyone. Moreover, Jahanzeb will also enhance his authority due to the large-scale transfer of officials."

Sheikh Khan sighed and said to Salah: "Mr. Consul, it seems that we need to find another way to deal with Jahanzeb."

The latter had been thinking with his head down before, but now he raised his head with a smile on his face: "Your Majesty General, do you still remember why we spread the 'story' about the British?"

"Of course it is to arouse people's hatred for Britain, so as to bring down the pro-British Jahanzeb and others."

"That's right." Salah nodded, "Actually, people's hatred of Britain cannot directly affect the pro-British faction. There is still something needed to ignite public opinion.

"And now, Jahanzeb's arrest of the rumor mongers is giving us this opportunity."

Sheikh Khan and others looked at each other, and then looked at Salah: "What are you going to do? Send more people to spread the news?"

"No, we are helping Jahanzeb catch the rumor mongers." Salah made a grabbing motion with his hands and said in a stern voice, "Catch him harder than him, to make everyone start to fear!"

A few days later, the Mysore military also began to "respond" to Jahanzeb's order and arrest people spreading rumors about the British across the country.

Their arrest standards were more stringent than those of administrative officials. As long as someone accused someone of saying bad things about the British, the soldiers would immediately come to arrest them in the name of "executing the orders of the Sudanese Secretary."

Especially in the two political and economic centers of Mysore and Selingabadan, tens of thousands of people have been imprisoned. The prison that could only hold more than a hundred people was now packed with thousands of people.

Then even the barracks were crowded with prisoners.

At first, Jahanzeb thought this was the military trying to show favor to him, and happily sent people to reward the soldiers who caught the rumor mongers. This made people more certain that it was the Sudanese secretary who was mobilizing the army to arrest the people. So in addition to the British, Jahanzeb was also added to the story of the war of public opinion.

But Jahanzeb soon realized that something was wrong. These military guys were so crazy that one of his wife's relatives was arrested because the latter didn't object when she heard someone talking about the British in the street.

At the moment, everyone in Mysore is in danger and dare not even go out, fearing that if someone talks about the British when they meet on the street, they will be in trouble soon.

At the same time, people's hatred of the British has become stronger - people are like this, the more you don't let them say anything, the more they will believe it.

Soon after, even Tipu Sultan was alarmed and summoned Jahanzeb to discuss the mass arrests. The latter knew that the matter was too big, so after explaining the rumor, he immediately told the Sultan that he would identify the arrested people as soon as possible and release them immediately as long as they were not particularly serious rumormongers.

Sheikh Khan's political circle then held a meeting.

"Jahanzeb was reprimanded by the Sultan and had to start releasing people." The thin "Umda" seemed very happy, "This will be a big blow to his prestige."

Another person nodded and said, "After this lesson, he will definitely not dare to arrest people at will in the future. We can continue to send people to tell those "stories" about Britain."

Several people remembered that this was Salah's clever plan, and turned to look at him. Just as they were about to flatter him, they saw Salah said seriously: "The day after tomorrow morning, Jahanzeb will release the first batch of arrested rumormongers. This is our best opportunity. We must seize it firmly!"

"Ah? Opportunity?"

Salah looked at Sheikh Khan: "Please mobilize all the manpower, send them to all parts of the country, and make preparations in advance..."

"Wait until noon the day after tomorrow, and launch at the same time..."