1st January 1656
Dakshin Bharatiya Empire
In the last 21 days, not only the optical and medical industries made huge strides, but even the infrastructure of the empire came a long way forward.
The three main heliograph networks of a state, which connect all of its three main cities, are almost completed in some smaller states. Meanwhile, the network that connects one state to another is almost halfway done.
Currently, in some lines that are operational, positive results are already showing in multiple fields due to the installation of these communication lines.
In one such instance...
Cultural and educational capital of Kalachuri Nagar (Chhattisgarh), Jagdalpur
A professor who had entered the campus of Bharatiya Institute of Technology Jagdalpur was taken aback by what he was currently seeing in front of him. It was the reply to his discovery of a new kind of bacteria, and he could see multiple praises and experimental suggestions in the message in front of him. What actually surprised him was the speed at which he received the reply.
A few Days Ago...
He was invited to the BIT Jagdalpur campus to give a brief overview of the microscopic world to the young scientists of the BIT Institute. His original job was as a researcher in the Bharatiya Academy of Sciences’ biology department.
Ever since the existence of microbes was proved, the scientists in the biology department have been very busy, being invited by multiple universities to educate their own students. Hence, Guru Prasad, without any choice, had to travel throughout the empire on an educational spree across multiple universities.
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It was supposed to be one of those routine lectures about the known microscopic world to the students, but when demonstrating the microscopic world to the curious eyes in front of him, there was an accident.
He never would have expected that in the sample he collected, he would find a new bacterium that had never been seen before.
Although this bacterium was very small and he could barely identify it, he was still sure that such a bacterium had not yet been discovered. This was one funny twist of fate he experienced. Originally, he felt disappointed because he had wanted to stay back at the Academy of Sciences to conduct more research, fearing that he would be left behind by the other scientists.
But in actuality, by sheer coincidence and ungodly luck, he made a discovery while the majority of his colleagues did not.
And the funny thing is the sample he took was not even special; it was from a blood sample collected from a normal cow.
Immediately after discovering this, he happily left the classroom, with the questioning gazes of the students still on him.
Feeling that he needed to at least explain what happened, Guru Prasad declared, "I discovered a new bacterium. I need to do some experiments. Sorry for the abrupt end of the class; I will continue in a few days," he said with confidence and pride on his face. But feeling it was still not enough, he added, "I will tell you everything about my discovery when I come back."
Guru Prasad, immediately after leaving the university, began testing the bacteria in one of the bigger medical clinics in the city.
He used a chimpanzee to test the bacteria. Unfortunately, the bacteria did indeed affect the chimpanzee, and the disease was one that was already recorded—it was anthrax. There were already Ayurvedic prescriptions for this, but Guru Prasad was still happy that he discovered the cause of the disease.
As a trial, he used penicillin on the chimpanzee. Surprisingly, although anthrax couldent be completely cured with penicillin, it still showed signs of naturally healing over time.
He immediately wrote a report on his research and the rough effects of the bacteria he discovered. Subsequently, he named the bacteria Bacillus anthracis.
Unknown to Guru Prasad, the bacteria he discovered would only be fully understood a century later by biological scientists Aloys Pollender, Pierre Rayer, Casimir Davaine, and Robert Koch, all contributing to the full understanding of the bacteria.
Guru Prasad could not wait for his research to be published. Knowing he was in a city where Arka Drishti communication was set up, and that the nearest station was not too far away, since most of the stations were located in close proximity to universities and administrative bodies, he quickly reached one of the few Arka Drishti stations.
Approaching the station, he could see the tower made of wood, towering above all the buildings and trees around it. It was gigantic.
"Please stand in line, sir."
When he was lost in thought, a person who looked like a civil servant due to his clothes said to him with a smile on his face.
It was only now that Guru Prasad realized there were a lot of people standing in line. With just a single glance, he could tell most of these people were either educators like himself or government officials. Guru Prasad even met a few familiar faces and proceeded to chat with them.
"Hey, Mr. Ranga, have you used this communication channel before? Is it reliable? I have never used it, so I’m a bit worried," Guru Prasad asked with a hint of doubt on his face.
"Oh, it’s Mr. Guru Prasad. You haven’t used this communication channel? Well, that’s a surprise considering you are a scientist from the Academy of Sciences, the place that invented this communication."
Guru Prasad was soon embarrassed by the statement, as he indeed had many chances to try it out but always felt it was not so reliable and that his research might be easy to leak.
Seeing the embarrassed face of Mr. Guru Prasad, Ranga also felt a little embarrassed for mentioning it and replied, "The communication is very reliable and most importantly, it is very fast. I suspect you want to communicate back to the capital, but unfortunately, that line is yet to be established.
You will have to relay the information through Bhubaneswar, and from Bhubaneswar, there is a connecting line to the capital. Although it is a little slower than a direct connection, it is undoubtedly faster than going to the capital yourself."
Guru Prasad did not know this, so he nodded his head and did a namaskar in gratitude.
They chatted some more about work, family, changes in society, and similar topics. In the meantime, the line reduced without him noticing, and it was already his turn.
He was taken aback by the realization but quickly recovered and immediately handed over the research results, which he had compressed to one page to ease the cost, to the civil servant who was surprisingly a woman responsible for transferring this data through the communication channel.
"Name, scientist ID, and destination?" She asked, with a professional smile on her face.
Guru Prasad quickly answered the questions and then enquired, worried if he had enough money, "What is the cost, miss?"
Hearing the polite question, the civil servant, with a genuine smile on her face, responded, "There is no cost required for people in the Academy of Sciences, respected Sir Guru Prasad. Your expenses are covered by the empire. Thank you for your service."
He felt very good and proud after hearing this reply. He did not know he had such privileges. Even the people around him, who did not know his identity, looked at the normal-looking man with complex gazes.
In the meantime, his report was converted into Kumar code by the dedicated encryptors and sent to the transmission personnel.
Immediately, the device on top of the tower started to work, with its blinds opening and closing swiftly, relaying the information at light speed.
Within a few hours, the message was received at the Academy of Sciences, and people were excited again about the discovery of a new bacterium. The biologists were up in arms because they felt regretful for not discovering this bacterium, which is found in common things like cattle.
After this day, scientists of the Academy of Sciences also started to utilize the network despite being skeptical.
This was only one instance where a communication station came into use. There were also many other instances of government officials making great use of this station, as well as doctors, teachers, and anyone who felt they needed to use this communication channel.
Unfortunately, communication is still very expensive for anyone who is required to pay, hence most of the clients of the communication channel are government-funded.
Simultaneously, there was a small industrial revolution that also took place within the last 20 days or so.
A scientist who studied fluid and its properties, specializing in fluid mechanics, was successful in inventing two types of water wheels that function in shallow depths. The two water wheels he invented served different purposes.
Since it was at the time when His Majesty mentioned the expansion of heavy industrial enterprises, it was immediately bought by the military logistics department, and construction work for these water wheels began.
The water wheels invented by Sanjeev Bansari were of two types: undershot and breast shot, each serving different purposes.
The undershot water wheel was constructed for shallow water conditions, running with a simpler design and being easier to construct. The military logistics department utilized this water wheel in the man-made canals, which were typically used for irrigation.
This water wheel operates on a simple principle: as water flows through the wheel, it creates higher pressure at the back than at the front, where the water exits. This pressure turns the water wheel, rather than the pressure of the water itself.
While the power of this water wheel may not be significant, it is sufficient to operate a simple hydraulic tool, which has already been simplified to lower functionality.
Hundreds of such water wheels were being constructed and installed in all the suitable canals in the empire.
The breastshot water wheel could function in slightly deeper conditions and produce more power. It was installed on various tributaries of rivers with some power generation potential. This type of water wheel operates on the principle of gravity, where water falls from a higher place to a lower place, turning the water wheel as it does so.
These water wheels require specific conditions, which are not too rare since even a small tributary typically has 10-20 waterfalls of varying sizes. With thousands of tributaries in the empire, hundreds were equipped with these water wheels.
Some Machine tools, based on what had already been installed, were utilized to produce smaller parts for the empire’s military industry.
Currently, there are 200,000 workers in the region of Baluchistan, 700,000 involved in the construction of Arka Drishti communication channels, 2,500,000 engaged in road construction in Gujarat, and nearly 1,850,000 working on maintaining the infrastructure and defending the northern frontier. This totals the workforce of the empire to five million two hundred and fifty thousand.
These efforts propel the empire’s industries forward at high speeds.