Robert Fortune, a Scottish botanist hired by the British East India Company, disguised himself as a Chinese merchant to steal tea cultivation secrets and recruit skilled growers. He smuggled both knowledge and workers to India, which eventually surpassed China to become the world's largest tea producer.
The British East India Company. Prepared for this? China had like a monopoly on tea production. The British decide to do something about this. Hire this guy named Robert Fortune, Scottish botanist. You are going to infiltrate China and you are going to steal the tea industry secrets. He looks like a Scottish man. He disguised himself as a Chinese merchant. He traveled deep into China's tea region. This guy was supposed to be Chinese? I don't know how he did it. He looks like me. He's you with sideburns. Like, if you had— Then he started recruiting Chinese tea growers, hiring them and persuading them to leave China secretly. Quietly and relocate to India. He pulled it off. Deals the trade secrets, he hires the tea growers, he smuggles them out of the country, and they start growing tea. And soon after that, India surpassed China in terms of its tea production. That's insane that this guy pulled this off.
