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Clive sailed north in Royal Navy ships, recaptured Calcutta and then pursued Siraj-ud-Daulah up-river.
克莱夫乘坐皇家海军的战舰一路北上，夺回了加尔各答，随后溯流而上追击西拉杰·乌德·达乌拉。
In June, 1757, he took on an Indian army that outnumbered his ten to one.
1757年6月，他遭遇了一支印度军队，其士兵人数是他麾下人数的十倍。
But Clive had been in India long enough to know that there was more than one way to fight a battle here.
但克莱夫久居印度，对此地颇为熟稔，他知道要想打赢战争并不是只靠蛮干。
The Battle of Plassey has gone down in imperial textbooks as one of those stellar victories, with a handful of European soldiers pulling off a long-shot victory against massed elephant cavalry.
普拉西之役是一场具有决定性的战役，一直写入大英帝国的历史课本，欧洲士兵以少胜多，大败印度的大象骑兵，赢得了这场冒险之战。
What really happened was Clive cut a deal with Siraj-ud-Daulah's second-in-command, "Make sure your soldiers disappear and you can be the next Nawab."
而幕后的真相则是克莱夫与西拉杰·乌德·达乌拉的副将达成了协议，“只要你把你们的军队引开，我就任命你为新任纳瓦布。”
Well, of course, he went for it. The soldiers duly evaporated and that was that.
那位副将自然依计而行。战场上的印度军队作鸟兽散，不战而降。
Courtesy of his tamed new Nawab, Clive helped himself to a quarter of a million pounds reward.
在这位恭顺的新任纳瓦布授意之下，克莱夫得到了25万英镑作为回馈。
It made the delinquent from Market Drayton one of the wealthiest men in Britain, and Baron Clive of Plassey.
这样一来，当年什罗普郡的小混混摇身一变，成了英国最富有的人之一，还获封普拉西克莱夫男爵。
When challenged, years later, at the scale of his plunder, Clive would reply:
多年后，人们指责他在普拉西进行了大举掠夺，他却辩解道：
An opulent city lay at my mercy. Vaults were thrown open to me alone, piled on either hand with gold and jewels. At this moment, I stand astonished at my own moderation.
一座丰饶的城市尽归我有。我出入于只为我自己敞开的金库，两手抓满了黄金和珠宝。此时此刻，我不禁对自己那时的节制大为惊奇。
The new Nawab would have disagreed. Clive cost him his independence, as well as his jewels.
而新任纳瓦恐怕不敢苟同。因为克莱夫不仅剥夺了他的统治权，还夺走了他的财产。
The British could and would replace him at their whim.
英国人想将他罢免就随时能罢免。
As Clive turned from a general into a power broker, an Indian Caesar, suspicions began to mount back in London.
当克莱夫由将军转变成政治掮客，进而变成印度的凯撒，伦敦的权贵们便开始议论纷纷。
Was this an economic exercise in damage containment or was it empire building?
他的举措是为了减少损失的经济手腕，还是图谋建立起一个帝国？
For empires notoriously came with long bills.
要知道，帝国大多离不开债台高筑的阴影。
But Clive was one step ahead of them. He would solve all their problems by turning Bengal into a money-making machine for the company.
但克莱夫棋高一着。他把孟加拉地区变成了东印度公司的摇钱树，所有的质疑便不攻而破。
Not by trade, but by collecting its land taxes.
不是靠贸易，而是征收地税。
The temptation was not just for company men to build private mega-fortunes, it was for the company itself to want to grow rich, fast.
这种做法所带来的益处不仅仅是让东印度公司员工肥了自己腰包，还能令公司财力愈发雄厚，发展更快。
This was just so much easier for the business. Increasingly, the stocking trade of British India was not spices, not cloth, but taxes.
如此这般，生意便更好做了。慢慢地，英属印度最主要的贸易收入由来自香料和布料贸易转向了税收。
Taxes would pull down one empire in America, but now they were going to set one up in India.
苛捐杂税令大英帝国失去了美洲殖民地，而现在他们想失之美洲，收之印度。
