"This is absolutely impossible!" the Governor-General of India, Cornwallis, immediately exclaimed. "Vijayanagara now belongs to the East India Company."
England had spent a huge amount on this war, having only occupied the northwestern half of two provinces of Mysore and the trade along the western coast of India had been stagnant for more than half a year, they were already at a loss, how could they possibly give up their spoils of war?
Sultan Tipu ignored him and looked instead at the Hyderabad Chancellor, Abuzzam, "Are you just going to watch the people of Vijayanagara be ruled by heathens?"
Hyderabad and Mysore were both Islamic, and decades ago, they had even formed an alliance.
Abuzzam also knew that Sultan Tipu was trying to divide him from England, but Hyderabad had lost more than 30,000 soldiers for England in this war. It was only right that they received Vijayanagara as compensation.
He coughed lightly and cautiously said to Sir Sidney, "Sir, if you could entrust us with managing Vijayanagara, we could increase the taxes by thirty percent..."
"Your opinion is not needed here." Sir Sidney bluntly interrupted him, rapping his fingers on the table, "Vijayanagara is not within the scope of negotiation."
Sultan Tipu immediately stood up, "If that is the case, then we shall meet on the battlefield."
In reality, as he said this, his heart wasn't quite steady; the British Army had an absolute advantage on the battlefield, with Seringapatam in grave danger. Yet, he firmly believed in the words of the Marquis de Lafayette—that the British would definitely retreat before the end of the monsoon season. Hence, in negotiations, he had to put on a brave front.
A look of helplessness flashed in Sir Sidney's eyes—the British Expeditionary Force had less than half a month's supplies left and had to retreat to Karnataka as soon as possible; otherwise, their retreat might turn into a rout.
After some haggling, Sir Sidney finally agreed to allow Hyderabad to "manage" the area north of Bellary and permitted the people of other areas in Vijayanagara to move to Hyderabad.
Abuzzam exchanged a grateful glance with Sultan Tipu, the resentment towards the British growing a bit deeper.
Then Sir Sidney and Sultan Tipu began to discuss the issue of Carnatic. According to the secret treaty between England and France, Eastern Carnatic of Mysore would terminate its alliance with England and remain neutral.
In this Mysore war, the main force of the British Army was concentrated in the northwest, providing almost no assistance to Carnatic, which was given a beating by Mysore.
Had it not been for Sultan Tipu heeding Joseph's advice to contract his forces in defense, it's likely that the whole southern part of Carnatic would have been impossible to defend.
Therefore, Carnatic had no objections to ending the alliance—what use is an ally who only commands and collects taxes, but cannot protect its friends?
After the three parties settled the matter of Carnatic's status, Sultan Tipu said to Carnatic's negotiator, "There should not have been a war between Mysore and Carnatic."
His gaze swept towards Cornwallis and Sir Sidney, nearly saying, "It was all instigated by the British," and then continued, "Thus, I am willing to return Tiruchirappalli to you."
Tiruchirappalli was a province in the southern part of Carnatic and had been occupied by Mysore shortly after the war began.
According to the French people's advice, for Mysore to govern here would require a great deal of effort, and it would be resented by Carnatic. It would be better to return it and gain Carnatic's gratitude.
France's last foothold on the Indian Peninsula, Puducherry, was adjacent to Carnatic; if the latter were accommodating, Mysore might be able to secretly establish contact with France.
The diplomat from Carnatic clearly did not expect to recover the lost territory and immediately bowed excitedly to Sultan Tipu, "On behalf of His Majesty the King, I extend to you the sincerest gratitude!"
After several days of bargaining, on October 2nd, England and Mysore signed the truce agreement.
Mysore, although having lost nearly three provinces' worth of territory, hadn't been hurt fundamentally.
Historically, even after losing half of its territory including Seringapatam and Bangalore, Sultan Tipu still dared to fight the Fourth Mysore War against England.
With his remaining strength, should he find the opportunity, how could he possibly not take revenge on England?
On England's side, it seemed they had won against Mysore, gained some land, and maintained their hegemonic status on the Indian Peninsula, but they had invested substantial military funds, and gained no indemnity.
Moreover, the reason England launched the war was "Mysore's annexation of Travancore," but now, with the truce, no one brought up Travancore again. The British could pretend to forget, but all the Indian states had witnessed it.
The hegemon remained the hegemon, but it had lost its former luster.
A group of more than ten leaders from the Tax Farmers Association, surrounded by servants and hounds, were merrily riding toward Mr. Fould's hunting ground.
Mr. Hope said with a smile to the few beside him, "You can probably imagine the look of despair on Mr. Charles's face when he said, 'Due to business reasons, the previously mentioned loan might not be provided.'"
A middle-aged man on the left had a smug expression, "There are only two months left in the year, how is our Finance Minister going to come up with 200 million francs?"
Another man laughed, "Soon various government departments, as well as the governors, will be asking for next year's funding from him, and then he'll really experience hellish despair."
The middle-aged man looked at Mr. Hope, "Mr. Hope, then we need to accelerate the negotiation for the tax."
"No, on the contrary," Mr. Hope looked toward the distant fences of the hunting ground, "you see, we are almost there. It's Brian who is in a hurry now, we can actually afford to let Viscount Bertrand fall ill or something.
"By mid-November, Brian probably won't even be in the mood to bargain, and we might be able to sign the agreement for the same amount as last year."
Fankevich spurred his horse forward, speaking loudly, "I see no difference between the Finance Minister and those poor folks who take out high-interest loans. As long as we hold tight to the purse strings, they'll all come begging, and we'll dictate the terms, won't we?"
"You are absolutely right."
As the group passed the wooden fence of the hunting ground and began directing the servants to set up a temporary camp, sending out squads with dogs to find game, Mr. Fould and Mr. Hope were chatting about the autumn game when a carriage drove up quickly. Due to the uneven ground of the wilderness, the carriage occasionally jolted.
Soon after, the carriage stopped and a tall man in his forties jumped down.
Seeing the man's appearance, Mr. Fould slightly frowned, "Viscount Bertrand?"
Tax Farmers Association's negotiating representative Viscount Bertrand, short of breath, quickly approached Mr. Fould, "Mr. Fould, there has been an incident... I was just informed by the assistant to the Finance Minister that the tax negotiations have been officially canceled."