Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

October 23rd, 1655

This chapt𝒆r is updated by frёewebηovel.cѳm.

The city of Bhuj in the Mughal-occupied Gujarat region.

The plan to distribute propaganda in the city of Bhuj has begun. The pamphlets, which followed the same design that Vijay made with more localized details, were quickly printed and transferred to the forward base of Surendra Nagar, after which overnight they had been smuggled into the city of Bhuj.

Bhuj is a city that is only 60 kilometres from the Rann of Kutch and only 45 kilometres from the Gulf of Kutch. This city has a very high probability of becoming the salt-making capital of Bharat, as the region of Gujarat is the main producer of salt for 21st-century India, contributing upward of up to 76% of the total salt consumption of the country.

So, this city is of great importance to the empire of Bharat, as it concerns the empire for its food security.

With no large-scale interference with the Mughal Empire, the plan to infiltrate the city of Bhuj is looking very positive.

Back in the Mughal Empire, small-scale riots occurred as soon as the new war tax was implemented. People are angry and disappointed by this new rule that has been promulgated by the emperor. The people were already tired of the constant war and increasing taxes caused by His Majesty the Emperor, but now with the increase of the tax again, they were almost at their breaking point.

Unfortunately, the people were still very divided for reasons of caste, class, race, and such, because of which true unification of minds had not occurred. Maybe if a large-scale famine had taken place, it would have happened, but unfortunately, this is a continent where Mother Nature has gifted its children with an abundance of food, so this unification was far from happening.

Muhammad resorted to brute force to suppress the rebellion, resulting in the loss of almost a few hundred thousand civilian lives. Despite the Bharatiya Empire’s support through weapons and information, these scattered rebellions couldn’t unite due to significant differences among them.

They opposed the Mughal Empire’s nobles, who wielded absolute power in their regions, backed by His Majesty the Emperor.

In earlier decades, such riots would have been among the most serious in the empire. However, with the advancement of locally produced muskets, the level of danger posed by riots has diminished, relatively speaking.

Muhammad may have overlooked this data Because he was once again successful in putting down the riot, but the people’s tolerance limit pertaining to his way of doing things has been decreasing year by year, and the people starting the riots have also been increasing, especially with the Dakshin Bhartiya Empire supporting these rebels.

On the other hand, the rebels’ firepower is also slowly increasing iteration by iteration. If things go on like this, a civil war in the empire of the Mughals is no longer a dream.

One more hidden danger in the Mughal Empire is the monopoly of the nobles on the heavy industry of the empire. With His Majesty Muhammad proving the feasibility of the assembly line production model stolen from the Bharatiya Empire, the nobles also jumped on this opportunity to get a piece of this large military industry cake.

Originally, it was only the smaller nobles who had very little to lose, who participated in the new production method brought by His Majesty the Emperor. But after seeing the result of constant profits, even the stronger and more influential nobles jumped in, and they came up with a proposal to the emperor: the empire would only procure these weapons from their factories.

In exchange, all the nobles would work together to set up various supporting industries to increase the production capabilities of the weapons. Muhammad, who could not see the drawback in accepting this request, readily agreed to it. Currently, the regions of Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand, rich in iron resources, have become the industrial centres of the Mughal Empire.

However, what Muhammad failed to notice was the gradual increase in the price of finished weapons, despite the increased exploration of raw materials. It is evident that this is because of the greed of these nobles. However, the current Muhammad does not see these small details.

The only thing he is Putting his attention on and is very happy about, is the growing capacity of the Mughal Empire to produce these muskets, causing him to ignore the gradual increase in the price for procuring these weapons and the gradual increase of local thugs wielding these weapons.

Unfortunately, Muhammad is the cause of this too. When the Empire took back the military rights of the nobles, an internal deal was made that the nobles would have a certain right to run the black markets in their local areas, as long as it did not cross the threshold put forward by the empire.

With His Majesty currently fully focusing on defeating the Dakshin Bhartiya Empire, he has failed to notice the weapons being funnelled into this black market. Unfortunately, Muhammad is likely not going to realize this detail anytime soon, as he is currently in a very jovial mood with the recent breakthrough in the replication of the Flintlock by Adam.

As for the Dakshin Bharatiya Empire, it is also bustling with energy. With the sudden increase of quotas for the job of a police officer, the mothers and aunts in various neighbourhoods have already come to the doors of people’s homes who have a teenage son, in order to pressure the poor kids to join the recruitment.

Whether due to the pressure from their neighbours and family or their strong willingness, the poor kids came in droves to sign up for this job.

Within a few days, over 500,000 or more applications were submitted to the various police stations in the empire. With a headache, Arjun had to close the recruitment immediately.

With the help of The Observer of the Empire, Kishore Balabatra, the director of the Election, Nobility, and Exams Commission, an emergency exam was held for the selection of capable recruits among these 500,000 applicants in the major cities of the empire.

At the same time, notices have been sent to various police stations about the increase in training intensity for police officers below the age of 30, as they are required to join the war march to the battlefield on the northern border.

As for the police officers who are more than 30, they are required to take the recruits under their hands and ensure that the weapons allocated are used responsibly.

Although a rare number of people quit their jobs as a police officer after hearing about the mandatory military service recruitment in this war, the majority of the police officers agreed with excited expressions.

By joining this war, they will not only be able to serve their motherland, but they will also avail the benefits that come with serving as a soldier, such as free education for their children, retirement pension enough for a family of three to feed themselves throughout their life, and priority placement of capable offspring in suitable departments.

So, who wouldn’t want this?

With both nations preparing for an eventual second stage of war, Vijay is looking forward to increasing another card for the Dakshin Bharatiya Empire, and that card was better communication channels.

It has already been nearly two weeks since he assigned the task for the creation of Morse code, the design of a catamaran, and the production of the Aranmula Kannadi Mirror. Fortunately, throughout these 13 days, all three pieces of the puzzle have been completed one by one.

The Aranmula Kannadi, in the capable hands of Ganapatra Pillai, has been put into production. After a week, it has reached stable mass production of 50 units per day. Although the quality is not as good as the handcrafted pieces of the Pillai family, it is still better than 99% of all the mass-produced mirrors in the empire.

Fortunately for Vijay, the old man Prasanna Pillai did not seem to have disclosed Vijay’s blackmail to his son, because Ganapatra Pillai had not shown any sort of uncooperative behaviour or even shown that he had been working for the empire due to being forced by the emperor.

On the other hand, it looked like the guy had become very interested in the assembly line production model and was working day and night in order to improve the quality of the mirrors even further.

Vijay now felt even more guilty about threatening the old man Prasanna, but thinking that after the war, some of the shares of this company would go to the old man and his family, he felt better, because Pillai Optics is the largest state-owned optics manufacturing company in the present Dakshin Bharatiya Empire.

As for the code language Vijay requested, just a few days ago, the linguist Venudas Kumar, whom Vijay found in the Bharatiya Academy of Sciences, formally submitted the book that compiled the language of code. This book can be considered the first code-based language for military use in the world. Subsequently, Vijay named the code the Communication Code of Kumar.

Vijay was very happy and increased the allocation for Venu das Kumar in the funds of the Bharatiya Academy of Sciences.

The final piece in this puzzle was the nodes in which this communication channel would run; it was the naval vessel. Vijay has recently received the mock-up model of the ship along with its expected specifications.

He had already guessed the reason why it took so long to prepare the model and design drawings of the warship, but still, in order to be accurate, he inquired with the Bharatiya Internal Pragya.

What he learned was the same reason that he had predicted: due to the ship being a new species of its kind, Vishesh Niladri had to experiment with different types of wood, materials, and combinations, as well as different models for each failure.

Hence, it took so long to come up with the prototype because the small models Vishesh Niladri produced were mock-up representations, so it takes time to perfectly balance all the aspects of these ships, especially for the ones that had never been done in the history of the world.

Vijay picked up the mock-up model of the catamaran and was very satisfied with the model. The catamaran looked like two separate ships that were connected by two bridges filled with planks in between. In this unique ship, there were two hulls and two masts with a large platform in the middle, which was unusually elevated.

Vijay, in order to test it, placed it in a swimming pool in the palace and produced violent waves with a shield.

The catamaran model lived up to his expectations; although it shook violently in the water, it did not tip over and steadily stood in the same spot. After conducting several additional tests, including determining critical sinking angles for the ship and various other assessments, Vijay was finally very satisfied.

Although these tests could not prove the actual data of the ship, they could prove the practical feasibility of the full-sized prototype.

Then he picked up the document containing the design drawings, the prototype drawings, and the technical design drawings.

Then, there was a sheet detailing the expected specifications of the ship.

Ship Code Name: BNV Drishti Class (Sight)

Ship Use Case: Dedicated Communication Ship and Fixed Naval Turret.

Type: Catamaran

Material: Pine or Oak Wood

Displacement: 50 tonnes

Length: 60 to 70 feet (18 to 21 meters)

Beam: 12 to 14 feet (3.6 to 4.3 meters)

Draught: 5 to 6 feet (1.5 to 1.8 meters)

Platform Height: 20 to 25 feet (6 to 7.6 meters)

Number of Masts: One central mast on each hull

Mast Material: Wood

Sail Type: Lateen Sail

Sail Area: Modest, prioritizing stability

Crew: 12 to 15 members

Provisions: Enough to last several weeks at sea

Platform Location: Center of the catamaran

Platform Material: Wood reinforced with iron

Access to Platform: Stairs or rope ladder

Platform Stability: Braced and secured to the two main masts

Defences: A single 30-kilogram calibre Large cannon, as per Vijay’s further request to Vishesh Niladri.

There were also additional considerations, like a larger anchor for better mooring, a ballast capable of holding rocks or other heavier materials for stability, and an optional winch system that could be useful for raising and lowering the platform when needed.

Vijay was surprised that Vishesh Niladri was able to predict the advantages and disadvantages of these ships from the model itself. But from what Vishesh Niladri had prepped, the advantages would be exceptional stability due to the design, shallow draught, manageable crew, and a dedicated function that maximizes space for provisions and the platform, along with a powerful turret.

The limitation is that it is very slow, not manoeuvrable, and very vulnerable to attacks.

After looking at all the detailed specifications and discussions involved in manufacturing the ship, Vijay signed an order with the Raya Shipyard, which is currently state-run, in order to produce its prototype within a week.