Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

|| 1655 Vedic Calendar, three months and three weeks after the New Year ||

Mughal Empire, Agra: The Royal Palace

*Shing*

*Crack*

From outside the palace, the guards could hear various sounds emanating from within, it was the sounds of various utensils, glasses, antiques, and furniture being destroyed.

As the noise faded away, the unmistakable click of a couple of musket guns being loaded reverberated in the air. The guards exchanged uncertain glances, debating whether to enter the palace to investigate. They hesitated, fearing that the Emperor, already in a foul mood, might vent his frustration on them. However, they also dreaded the potential repercussions if any harm befell the Emperor.

They were sure that if that were to happen, they, along with their families, would unmistakably be beheaded.

*Bang*

*Bang*

By the time they made up their minds, The guards heard two consecutive shots coming from two different muskets from inside the palace. After the shots of the muskets, to their dread, a person’s scream was heard.

*Ahh*

As they ran inside in panic, fearing that something might have happened to his majesty, they were relieved to find that he was alright and appeared unharmed. If anything was disturbed, it was his eyes, which were red. Looking around, the guards found a maid who had fallen on the ground and was bleeding.

A bullet wound could be found on her back, and fruits were rolling around the place where she fell, along with the tray. They recognized this girl; she was the maid newly employed by the royal palace. Looking at her face, struggling to take her last breath, the guards felt a sense of pity.

Mohammed, who shot the woman accidentally, did not feel any remorse or burden. If anything, seeing some blood made him calm down quickly.

"Discard the body," Mohammed said nonchalantly, as he went on to meet Iqbal.

The guards looked at each other and went forward to carry the girl out of the palace. As soon as the body was lifted, other maids came running in to quickly clean up the blood stains left on the floor.

"What an unlucky girl."

As they carried the girl to be buried, they were filled with dread. Upon returning after burying her, they inquired about the commotion inside the palace and learned that in a fit of rage, His Majesty had begun destroying everything in sight. Unable to contain his anger, he retrieved two muskets and loaded them.

Unfortunately, the new maid, unaware of His Majesty’s behaviour, innocently approached his quarters to serve him some fruits. When she drew near, His Majesty pointed the muskets at her. Realizing the danger, she attempted to flee, but before she could escape, she was shot in the back and collapsed, dropping the plate and the fruits she had been carrying.

"Sigh," the guards sighed as they stood back in their places, continuing to do their duty.

Mohammed, having vented his pent-up anger, sought out Iqbal. His frustration stemmed from receiving news of the destruction of the fleet he had anticipated from the Ottoman Empire. This news boiled his blood, as he had already dreamed of scenarios where he could retaliate by destroying the Bharatiya navy and defeating Vijay’s forces.

However, suddenly learning that the fleet was destroyed and that too by the Dakshin Bhartiya Empire, sent him into a mindless rage. Everyone around him could sense his fury. Unfortunately, a girl met her demise due to his wrath, but overall, he did not care about the dead girl. He would simply provide some money to her family, and everything would be settled. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Meeting Iqbal, Mohammed inquired about the army’s preparations. "Your Majesty, 25,000 troops are ready for battle. We have enhanced our training programs after receiving secret intel from the Dakshin Bharathiya Empire. By implementing these new techniques, the troops were able to maintain discipline more effectively than before.

So, Your Majesty, please give the order for this general of yours to march to the battlefield."

Mohammed nodded his head, satisfied with the army mobilization. When he was about to order an attack on the northern Himalayan kingdoms, he remembered the Bhartiya Empire, which had managed to provide support to the Ahom Kingdom despite not sharing direct borders with it.

Out of caution, he decided to be more prepared. "Recruit 25,000 more soldiers. Didn’t you say that training speed has increased? Have them battle-ready within 2 months," Mohammed said, ready to take his time now. He had learned the lessons from previous defeats and had also learned some tactics of the Dakshin Bhartiya Empire.

This time, he would be fully prepared and would enter the war with overwhelming might.

As Iqbal was about to depart, Mohammed added, "Also, Iqbal, regarding these new recruits, have them trained in Kashmir. Familiarize them with the environment there. And ensure that this information does not leak outside of this palace."

"Spread the word among the nobles. Let them believe that we are preparing to attack Tibet."

"As you wish, Your Majesty," Iqbal responded obediently.

Mohammed watched Iqbal’s departing back, his mind consumed by deep contemplation.

Back in the Dakshin Bhartiya Empire, Vijayanagar state, on the banks of the river Kaveri.

Large industrial buildings were built on the banks of the river Kaveri, with large water wheels spinning continuously. There were 5 to 6 such buildings, and as the water of the Kaveri flowed, the buildings came to life.

Today was a special day because these buildings were decorated with flowers, and the pavement in front of them was adorned with various designs of Rangoli. The butler of the royal family, His Excellency Ravichandra Rao, stood on the street, barking orders like a military general. The workers around him had sweat on their faces as they nervously completed his orders.

Ravichandra Rao who was wearing a black coat along with a dhoti, was looking very majestic.

"Move your legs quickly, the Amrit Kala (Aspecious time of the day) will end soon. I don’t want His Majesty to inaugurate a building that has been half-decorated. If any of you miss the deadline, I will fire every one of you," the old man said grumpily.

Since all these buildings were constructed by His Majesty as a part of the Raya Machinery Company, it was naturally his duty to get the things His Majesty wanted done. As the person who looks after the royal properties, he was quite invested in this ceremony.

200 meters away...

Vijay, along with Kavya, was travelling in a carriage. Kavya was clinging to his arm as she slept peacefully, her drowsiness evident due to their sleepless night. Remembering those moments, a smile couldn’t help but form on Vijay’s face. As they neared the banks of the Kaveri River, Vijay woke Kavya up as she quickly tidied her hair and shook off the drowsiness from her face.

She put a beautiful bindi on her forehead, which made her look very traditional and pleasing to the eye.

Vijay, bringing his attention to the factories, was excited as the machine tools he had designed could finally be manufactured. Currently, the banks of various major rivers were being turned into special industrial zones, and in this particular industrial zone, Vijay decided to concentrate on the Raya Machinery Company.

The sole purpose of the Raya Machinery Company for the next few years is to manufacture machine tools for military and civilian uses.

For the rest of the special economic zone, Vijay would allocate it to civilians after granting enough rights to the military and government. Vijay was thinking that about 30% of the quota would go to the military, and the remaining 70% would go to the civilian field.

As Vijay and Kavya proceeded forward, the people around them began to bow their heads in reverence, creating a path for His Majesty and the Queen to enter. Petals of flowers were showered upon the couple, while the beat of drums filled the air with a joyous rhythm.

Vijay soon met up with the butler, Ravichandra Rao. As he looked at Uncle Ravi, Vijay felt a sense of dignity emanating from him, as always. Uncle Ravi greeted him with a warm smile and welcomed him to inaugurate the factory.

Looking at all the decorations around the factory, Vijay couldn’t help but marvel at the precision of these decorations, knowing his butler’s hand was quite busy dealing with these affairs.

After the priest completed the rituals, Vijay cut the tape and inaugurated the Raya Machinery Factory. Claps rang out throughout the venue. Vijay stepped inside the factory and saw various machine tools newly arranged and built, placed right in front of him. He could see the lathe, drill press, milling machine, grinding machine, and screw press.

On the backs of these machines, he could see a wheel spinning, which was attached to the water wheel.

Vijay approached the grinding machine and moved towards the back of it. He then pulled the lever attached to the machine. The gear, which had been meticulously designed, swiftly descended as power was transferred from the water wheel to the grinding machine.

Vijay turned his head as he saw the large grinding disc running at high speed. The onlookers were surprised by this operation as they had never witnessed anything like that, especially the businessmen who knew a little bit about craftsmanship. Uses for this machine were being thought of one after another in their heads.

Vijay took out his sword and began grinding it on the grinding machine. Sparks began to run across Vijay’s body as the sword was sharpened, and a smile slowly formed on his face as he started to enjoy himself quite a bit.

"Your Majesty, please..." Ravichandra came forward, deciding to stop Vijay’s action out of concern for his safety. However, he was abruptly stopped by the queen as she held his hand and pulled him back. Kavya was also initially worried for Vijay about the sparks flying towards him, but seeing his long-lost happy expression, she did not wish to disturb his peace.

Wanting to alleviate the worry in Ravichandra Rao’s mind, she pointed at Vijay and said, "Look, those sparks are not even burning the clothes on his body. He is wearing a chain mail underneath, so don’t worry."

Upon hearing this comment, Ravichandra Rao calmed down, noticed the details her Majesty mentioned, and quickly thanked her. "Thank you, Your Highness, for saving me from embarrassment," he said.

Vijay had been completely lost in grinding his sword. Sweat trickled down his face, adding an air of manliness to his figure. After grinding both sides for a while, he suddenly moved towards the back of the machine and pulled another lever. The gear ratio of the machine changed as the grinding disc started to run at faster speeds.

Vijay put the sword on the grinding disc again, but this time the sparks became more intense. However, from Vijay’s perspective, he was actually putting less force on the sword because, with the increased speed of the grinding disc, the torque had decreased. He balanced both carefully and continued grinding the sword to get a perfect sharpening.

After he was satisfied with the grinding, he quickly pulled the sword and swung it towards a wooden plate.

*Swoosh!*

The sword cut right through the wooden plate like butter.

Vijay inspected his sword again and was impressed with its condition.

"Wooooah!" exclaimed the guests who had been invited to the inauguration, all surprised by the capabilities of the machine. His uncle, Ravi Shetty, quickly saw an opportunity to make money and approached Vijay, reaching out to shake his sweaty hand.

"Vijay, will your company take orders from outside? I want to send a lot of weapons to be sharpened, and there are also some wooden items that need to be smoothed down. What do you think? Do you want to make this money?"

Vijay rolled his eyes. He was the richest man in the empire, so why would he want to involve himself in a lower-tier industry when he could be at the forefront of the industry?

"No, uncle, my factory does not take external orders," Vijay replied, disappointing his uncle and other smart businessmen who had hoped to capitalize on the capabilities of the machinery after witnessing the grinding machine.

But Vijay’s next words left everyone satisfied.

"This factory specializes in making such machines. From today, the factory will be taking orders for these machines. You can inspect them and place your orders, and the factory will produce them for you. The manager of the factory will explain all the terms and conditions for buying the machine tools, which you will have to follow."

"Also, I know many of you are not familiar with these machines and what they are capable of. I will let the manager give all of you a brief demo of each of these tools," Vijay added as he took Kavya in his arm and left the machinery factory. Vijay couldn’t help but anticipate the changes that were about to come.

P.S. 4 more exams to go. After that, I am pretty free.