Empire of India: Rise of the Ruthless Prince

The Royal Palace was brimming with activity as the tensions eased in the subcontinent. Merchant guilds started to trade in the Maratha kingdom. Mithun already spread his business the day the alliance was finalized. He realized the worth of the relation and decided to make the best use of it.

Harsha's head was piled up in the mountain of papers. It piled up a lot during his trip to Surat. Although Viswa took care of a substantial amount of things. There were things that he personally had to address.

His mind racing with the plan of caste reform. It was going to cost a lot. Fortunately for him, their trade of paper was booming and the Europeans were buying them in bulk, including the high-quality paper.

Due to the rarity of the high-quality paper. It became a treasured item for the merchants to take back to their home country. The nobles bought them at exorbitant rates. In the end, the Empire's coffers were filling up with less cost needed to produce the paper.

Harsha knew that sooner or later. The Europeans would find a way to replicate it. His main focus was wealth. The expenditure of the court system was close to recouping thanks to the high trade volume in the recent months.

The constructions and recruitment of the courts were reaching their last phase. The drafting of the laws under the supervision of Aradhana and Asokan was taking place.

"The merchant guilds are getting powerful too." He mused, glancing at a paper. There were powerful merchants from the subcontinent. Their wealth dwarfed many small nations and kingdoms.

Harsha didn't encounter any big power problems with these merchants but the guilds still held a lot of influence.

There was recent information from Karna about a new guild forming in the Empire. They were led by a wealthy merchant named Arnav. Their influence expansion was rapid. Their trade spread across from the Gajapathi borders to the region of the Nayakas. It was quite a large area.

Mithun under Harsha's rule didn't have to worry about the guild stuff as they didn't mess with him due to his connection with the royal court.

"What should I do about them?" Harsha thought.

Just then, Viswa barged into the room. He had two letters in his hands. He was huffing heavily.

"Your Majesty. We have some news." He said.

"Calm down and say it."

Viswa took a deep breath. "The ship's maiden voyage was successful."

Harsha's serious face turned into a grin. "Is that so?"

"There is more."

Harsha nodded.

"The kid from the shipyard created his own design and it was also successful in its voyage."

He leaned back. He was correct about the kid. Ashwin, that kid was capable and talented in shipbuilding.

"That's honestly unexpected. I expected him to fail." He sighed.

His glance fell on the two letters. "I suppose there is more good news." He grinned.

"Yes, even the Culverins were successfully reverse engineered."n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"The timing is great."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Viswa said brightly. "How should we proceed?"

"Grab that kid and his father and make a separate department."

Viswa tilted his head. "Separate?"

"Yes, have them design and test new ship designs. We don't just need a third-rate ship." Harsha smiled. "We need ships that stand equally with the European ships."

"As you wish, Your Majesty." Viswa bowed. "How much percentage of the current shipbuilding funds should be directed to this department?"

"More than 30%: We need to allocate more funds for the shipbuilding."

"I see." Viswa noted it down.

"What about the cannons? Should we ramp it up as well?"

"Yes, ramp up the cannon production also; have them cooperate with the ship crew to build the ship cannons as well."

"Alright."

Viswa put down the letters and took a seat on the sofa. He was much more open now after the brief talk with Harsha. He felt like he had gained some sort of acknowledgement for his efforts.

"Viswa, what do you think about Arnav and his new merchant guild?"

He turned to him. "His..." He scratched his head. "He is quite shrewd and clever."

"Of course. How else does one become a wealthy merchant?"

"His rapid expansion certainly brought wealth. Is the rise of his influence troubling?"

"Definitely." Harsha replied. "Wealth is powerful in the right hands."

"That man's business acumen rivals Mithun's. If not, surpasses him."

"Hmm…" Harsha thought. "Concerning Indeed."

"We have a little problem on our hands."

Harsha's plan to introduce large reforms came at a cost. He needed to raise a large amount of capital. He can't just empty the treasury for his reforms. The production of ships and cannons also required money.

"What is the problem, Your Majesty?"

"Going forth with the plans. We might hit a financial crunch."

Viswa glanced at the papers and thought. "Certainly. The court system's overhead would be large as well."

"With the new costs for the cannons and ships. We cannot do any more significant reforms without burning through the treasury."

"Exactly." He exclaimed and flapped his arms in defeat.

"I thought of pushing it back for later but it seems the more I push it back, the harder it would get to implement."

"What exactly is the plan? Your Majesty?" Viswa asked with a curious look.

Harsha handed him the initial draft of his plan for the caste reform. It included several reforms in itself, like the temple reform, priest reform, and education reform. The cost was huge.

Viswa's eyes widened. "This is not just the problem of Capital." He muttered. "This will be a nightmare to manage."

"I know that." Harsha said.

"Are the other reforms necessary?. We could stall them for a while."

Harsha shook his head and rejected his idea. "It should be done simultaneously."

"The outrage would be one time also but if it's implemented separately." Harsha sighed. "We have to deal with it over and over."

"That's true." Viswa scratched his chin. "Would the council agree?"

"You have been reducing their influence by quite a lot. We need some measures not to upset them first."

Harsha smiled. "I already thought of a solution for that problem."

Viswa nodded. He knew that Harsha would have a solution for it. He was a calculating person after all.

"This caste reform has the temple reform. We need a figurehead for it." Viswa said. "I researched recently about the Bhakti movement. We need a figurehead like Shankaracharya."

"I have found a perfect man for it." He smiled.

"Who is it?"

"It was an old monk in the forest."

Viswa turned his gaze back to the paper. "...I...see."

"He would be the figurehead of the temple movement but you, Viswa, shall be on the forefront of the whole caste reform."

Viswa's face lit up. "I will do my best."

"Now that's out of the way. We need capital." Harsha said. "We might need the help of Arnav."

"That man is very clever from our sources." Viswa warned. "There are a lot of hidden things about him as well."

"Hm…." Harsha thought. "Get Karna to investigate the guild."

"I shall have Mithun accompany me." Harsha stated. "You arrange a meeting with Arnav."

"Understood, Your Majesty."

Suddenly an idea flashed in his mind. He remembered it at the thought of cannons. The Empire didn't have gunpowder of its own yet. They needed it to mass-produce the cannons. Relying on the Europeans was suicidal.

Viswa got up to leave and do his task, leaving Harsha with the pile of papers.

"Wait, I got another task for you." Harsha smirked. "Do it after you arrange the meeting."

Harsha began to brainstorm the recipe from his mind. There were many ways to make gunpowder, but he wanted a way to create it in the subcontinent without relying on the outside powers.

Sourcing materials locally would ensure they wouldn't be at the mercy of other powers for gunpowder during conflicts.

His mind raced with methods for the powder. He wanted a less smoky and less residue-laden black powder.

'That should be a great formula,' He thought.

He noted it down on the paper immediately with a wry grin.

Harsha handed it to Viswa with a grin.

"Find all these materials and bring them to the Palace."

Viswa took a glance at the ingredients. He looked confused at the mention of Sulfur.

"Sulfur?"

The others seemed fine to him but he didn't know what sulfur looked like.

"Oh, wait."

Harsha opened his drawer and took out the map of the Empire. He pointed at the region of present-day Andhra Pradesh.

"Is that ingredient in that region?"

Harsha nodded.

"Where would I find it? The region is huge." Viswa raised a concern.

"It should be in the river valleys in the region."

"I see. Any pointers on its appearance, Your Majesty?

Harsha thought for a while. His face brightened.

"It's usually bright yellow, sometimes has an orange or greenish tint."

"Alright." Viswa turned to leave.

"Oh…The places with sulfur usually smell like rotten eggs."

Viswa glanced back and nodded.

"I shall have it done as soon as possible, Your Majesty."