Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

Dakshin Bharatiya Empire, Vijayanagara state, capital city - Hampi.

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

Vijay received news about the investment deal proposed by the Venetians.

"It took them long enough," he muttered to himself. He had anticipated this development, sensing that the Venetians were prolonging the process of finalizing the investment deal, especially after the Ottoman Empire’s move to support the Mughals.

Now, with the Empire’s decisive victory over the Ottoman fleet, the Venetians should have harboured confidence in the stability of the Dakshin Bharatiya Empire and should also be assured that it would not align with the Ottomans.

Vijay pondered all these thoughts but he did not feel like he was treated too artificially or being treated as an option. He understood that between nations, there was not actually any friendship; it was only the interests that aligned.

If the relationship between a pair of countries persisted for a very long time, it only meant that it was in favourable geographical and geopolitical conditions and that the people of both countries aligned with each other.

Vijay felt that this was the case even in the 21st century, where India and Russia remained very close diplomatically. Mainly because geographically, it made sense: if Russia wanted to keep China in check, it needed India. Also, if Russia needed to have some say in Indian Ocean trade, it needed India. And it was the same for India, pertaining to Russia.

So, it had always been a relationship based on interests. This long-term relationship had made the citizens of both countries like each other, well, mostly the people of Bharat liked Russians more than the Russians liked Indians.

Vijay quickly shook his head and came back to reality.

After considering the investment proposal put forward by the Venetian representatives, he thought of something. "Isn’t it a good opportunity to privatize all the shipyards at once? The empire needs an overhaul after all, and I cannot use my own resources to develop a world-class navy," he said to himself. With him running all four shipyards by himself, he could only provide so many resources.

Even though he was the richest man in the empire, he could not indefinitely take gold from the treasury of the royal family. He definitely would not go back on his own rules and take money from the government finances; doing that would waste all of the efforts he had put into the last four years of his reforms, pushing the Empire back to the feudal era again, which he did not want to happen.

"Uncle Ravi, do something for me," he called the butler, Ravichandra Rao, and informed him about his plan. Butler Ravichandra Rao understood the assignment and quickly left to get things done.

A message spread rapidly through the business circles of the empire: His Majesty would host an auction for the three distinguished shipyards of the Empire, along with certain patent rights.

This news caused an earthquake in the Empire, as everyone could see how profitable the naval industry was. There were so many orders for the shipyards that they frequently had to refuse civilian orders and even schedule orders for the next year.

Not only that, with the increased demand for merchant ships and different types of vessels, the talents employed by these top four shipyards in the empire were more valuable than the rest of the naval industry combined.

Now, His Majesty announced that three out of the four shipyards would be auctioned off. This news sent ripples of excitement through the merchant families, prompting them to gear up immediately. They began arranging all the liquid assets in their possession.

In the Shetty family, Ravi Shetty swiftly ordered his servants to gather all the gold and Varaha in the family’s possession. "I need every gram of gold that can be found in our assets. Empty every shop we have; this deal has to be concluded at any cost," he commanded.

Similarly, in the Kalyan family, Pawan Kalyan was also scrambling to collect enough gold for the auction. He even asked his wife to temporarily part with her gold jewellery to contribute to the effort.

The seriousness of their efforts stemmed from the news that not only would the shipyards be auctioned off, but also some of the empire’s technologies in the form of patents. This intensified the merchants’ frantic preparations, as they understood the transformative power patents could have on a business.

Ever since the introduction of the patent system and its visible effects, wealthy merchants had been tirelessly searching for talented inventors all over the empire.

Unlike the excitement of the Bharatiyas, it was another matter for the Venetians. Leonardo Bellini, who was frowning, said, "Are you sure that Patriarch Molin would agree to this decision of yours?"

To which Francis Molin responded, "Definitely, Uncle Marco has been trying many ways to break through the bottleneck of our family, so this is just a little try he proposed. You don’t have to worry."

"Well, if it is like that, then I am relieved. With the sudden proposal put forward by His Majesty, we had to invest in the shipbuilding industry through technology, which was never planned. But since only the technology of the previous generation is being asked of us, your family’s shipyard could theoretically fulfil this obligation," Leonardo Bellini said.

"I will let His Majesty know of our decision."

The entire day passed in this manner, and the next day, the auction commenced as planned.

Vijay, who got the answer from the Venetians which he needed, spread the shares allocated to them throughout the three shipyards in order to dilute their influence on the shipbuilding industry of Bharat. Clauses were also put forward to the people who bought the shares stating that they could only be sold to citizens of the Dakshin Bharatiya Empire. This was done to prevent any foreign interference.

"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the first auction held by the royal family. Now, without further ado, let’s move to our first product of the day, a newly designed women’s wear fully designed by Her Highness the Queen," the auctioneer said as she pulled the cloth covering a mannequin at the centre of the stage.

*Swoosh!*

When the curtain came off, it revealed a beautiful golden dress exquisitely designed with various golden embroidery threads. It looked even more luxurious than Her Highness’s first design, and this design appeared much simpler and easier to wear.

The textile merchants in the crowd widened their eyes, along with the attending ladies. "This dress," the auctioneer announced, "was named ’Chudidar’ by Her Highness the Queen. It is made up of golden threads and ruby gems. The dress is designed for special occasions, with a total weight of 3 kilograms, among which a kilogram is attributed to the gold used and 250 grams to the gems."

"So, please start the bidding."

bidder 25 "3,000 Varaha."

bidder 35 "6,000 Varaha."

bidder 53 "9,000 Varaha."

bidder 45 "10,000 Varaha."

The competition quickly heated up as the price shot up to 10,000 Varaha.

bidder 50 "10,500 Varaha," suddenly another bidder started to bid.

bidder 45 "11,000 Varaha," the opposing bidder hesitated for a moment but still chose to increase the price by 500 Varaha.

Bidder number 50 finally stopped bidding as he felt like the dress was not worth it.

"The dress goes to bidder number 45 for a total price of 11,000 Varaha. You have won yourself a magnificent piece of art," the auctioneer announced.

Initially, everyone thought this was a foolish decision by Arjan Bakshi, who was bidder 45 and the owner of Bakshi Textiles. However, it was only later that the churidar became the face of young Bharatiya women throughout the world, and with the increase in prestige of Bharat, this particular style of clothing became popular worldwide.

The dress, which Arjan bought, became a piece of history, becoming invaluable. The price Bakshi Textiles originally paid was already recouped in just the first year it was put out in a museum for viewing.

Several more items were auctioned successfully, but these were smaller items like patent rights for improvements in certain gadgets and the like, as well as patents for the production of screws, nuts, bolts, washers, lock and key mechanisms, pins, bearings, and springs.

Providing these essential tools to the public constituted the raw materials for civilian innovation, thereby encouraging civilian participation in the industrialization of the empire during the first Industrial Revolution in the future.

Finally, it came to the main event.

"Ladies and gentlemen, now for the thing you have all been waiting for: the three shipyards that are being put up for auction—the Shivaji Shipyard in Kochi, the Chola Shipyard in Colombo, and the Ashoka Shipyard in Visakhapatnam.

For the first auction, we have a special situation where 35% of the shares have already been reserved for an important foreign partner, so the bidding will go on for the remaining 65% of the shares of the Shivaji Shipyard."

The information caused quite a stir among the people as they did not expect a foreign buyer to be competing with them. However, as the auctioneer clarified that the shares were reserved, they speculated that this foreign buyer must have entered through the back door of the government. Leonardo Bellini and Francis Molin nodded their heads in agreement, confirming their shares in the shipyard.

They did not expect the shares to be split among the three shipyards, but it made sense since no country would want their shipbuilding industry to be controlled by a foreign power. The Venetians understood Vijay’s intentions and actively agreed to the request.

"Here, let me invite Director Pankaj to explain about the Shivaji Shipyard," announced the auctioneer.

Amidst discussions in the crowd, Director Pankaj, representing the Shivaji Shipyard, took the stage and began to explain, "Good morning, everyone. Currently, 35% of the shipyard is valued at 197,647.06 Varaha or 672 kilograms in weight of gold. The total valuation of the shipyard is 564,705.88 Varaha or 1.92 tonnes of gold.

Therefore, the auction will be conducted for the sale of the remaining 65% of the shares in the shipyard. The Shivaji Shipyard is capable of proficiently manufacturing 500-ton Vinayak class frigates and has the capacity to manufacture a 1000-ton Battleship with some accumulation.

Located in the city of Kochi in the Cheranadu state, the shipyard occupies an area of 1 square kilometre, providing ample room for expansion. Now, please start your bidding."

The bidding war commenced, with participants vying to secure shares in the shipyard. Notably, the minimum share that could be purchased was 0.5%, limiting participation to only the wealthiest merchants in the Empire.

Finally, within a few hours, the Shivaji Shipyard was sold and was no longer a property of the Raya Group of Industries. Thirty-five per cent of its shares belonged to the Molin family of the Republic of Venice, while the remaining 65% were owned by the rich merchants of the Empire. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

In the same way, the Chola Shipyard was auctioned off, valued at a total of 594,117.65 Varaha, or 2.02 tons of gold. With the auction underway, the Shetty family jumped in and seized the opportunity, obtaining 40% of the total shares at a cost of 237,647.06 Varaha. Out of the remaining 60% shares, 20% was acquired by the representative of the Republic of Venice.

The remaining 40% was snapped up by the merchants of the Empire, bringing the total value of the 60% to 356,470.58 Varaha or 1.212 tons of gold.

This influx of liquidity was significant for the Royal family, who previously owned 100% of this shipyard. Moreover, after the auction, Vijay’s uncle managed to gain the majority shareholding in the Chola Shipyard, making him nominally the most powerful person and new owner of the Chola Shipyard.

Next was the sale of the Ashoka shipyard, valued at around the same range as The Chola Shipyard, which was 2.01 tons of gold or 591,176.47 Varaha. Out of this, 30% was acquired by the Kalyan family for 177,353 Varaha or 603 kilograms of gold Making him the largest shareholder of the shipyard.

Bhupathi acquired 7% of the shares for a valuation of 41,376.47 Varaha or 14.07 kilograms of gold, while Arjan Bakshi acquired 15% of the shares for a total value of 88,676 Varaha or a weight in gold of 301.5 kilograms.

Out of the remaining 48% shares, 18% was acquired by the Venetian Republic and 30% by the merchants of the Empire. These shares were sold for 283,411.76 Varaha or 964.8 kilograms of gold.

By the conclusion of the auction, the Venetians had acquired roughly 18.25% ownership of the Bharatiya Naval Industry, which included the Raya Shipyard and the smaller shipyards in the calculation.

However, if only the three major shipyards were considered, their ownership would amount to around 24.33%, exchanged for the man-of-war battleship technology. Initially, the Venetians didn’t display significant interest in the naval industry of the Empire, given their more advanced capabilities in this field compared to what Dakshin Bharat could offer.

However, they showed considerable interest in the arms industry and other labour-intensive sectors.

So, Vijay decided to create a pay-to-enter system where the Venetians must invest in the naval industry to receive preferential treatment in the arms industry and other sectors.

The Venetians employed a clever tactic in their investment strategy. While the total investment from the Venetian empire in the naval industry wasn’t notably large, the majority of it came from the personal investment of the Molin family, primarily in the form of technology.

Interestingly, the Molin family didn’t possess a dominant naval shipyard back home, nor did they have the opportunity to establish one, as most resources were already monopolized by other noble families. Recognizing the opportunity presented by the Bharatiya Empire, they seized it by investing in a Bhartiya shipyard.

Ultimately, as the auction drew to a close, Vijay found himself in possession of a substantial amount of liquid assets in Varaha and gold. "Now the gold standard currency could be implemented," he thought to himself.

P.S. I reckon I can make two chapters out of it, but no, I need to finish this volume quickly and start the unification arc. This volume will end by the time my exams finish, and next month I’ll have some free time. My upload speed will be faster then, so I’ll see if I can finish the unification volume next month.