"Your Majesty, there is another issue here. If we sell India's fertile lands to those Princely Rulers, will that make them stronger and create a situation where the tail grows too large to wag? Take Hyderabad State, for example. It originally has over a hundred thousand square kilometers of territory and a population of twenty million. If its territory doubles, it will have nearly three hundred thousand square kilometers of land and almost fifty million people. Even on a global scale, that would make it a populous major nation," Imperial Foreign Minister Wachth said.
Oscar shook his head. "It won't be that easy. Though Hyderabad State can be considered India's largest princely state, aside from having a somewhat larger population, it has no other advantages. Its industry is backward, practically a blank slate. Even if its territory and population doubled, in the Empire's eyes, it would still be a weak lamb, ready to be slaughtered at will if the Empire wished.
"Besides, India has far too many princely states—nearly six hundred of all sizes. There are quite a few that are no weaker than Hyderabad State. Once their strength expands, they will keep one another in check. That will leave them with no energy at all to resist the Empire.
"Moreover, India's parties, large and small, may advocate different things, but their goal is the same: they hope that India can become independent. That is clearly in enormous conflict with the interests of those Princely Rulers. Therefore, those Princely Rulers will absolutely not allow those parties to run wild. Fierce conflicts and wars will likely erupt between them. In that case, all their energy will be spent suppressing the rebellions of those parties. This will only make them draw ever closer to the Empire rather than betray it. After all,