May 30th, 1656
The birth of a prince has spread throughout the empire. There is joy permeating every street and valley as people spontaneously start hosting Homas and Havanas, praying for the betterment of their prince and the royal family.
Although according to the law, his majesty’s son would not inherit the throne, the people do not care. Since the choice to select their king lies with them, they will naturally choose their prince. Hence, it makes no difference to them. If anything, the prince will be more beloved since he will be the People’s Emperor and not just the royal family’s.
Vijay thought about hosting a huge festival, but this thought was forcefully crushed by himself. Since now was a time of war, he, who advocated the efficient use of resources, did not want to waste resources on festivities that did not bring actual combat effectiveness to the empire.
It is true that such activities will increase the morale and spiritual fulfilment of the soldiers, but the price to be paid is too much, so Vijay suppressed the feeling.
The more time Vijay spent with the child, the more thankful he became for the decision he took early on in his reign about the inheritance of the throne. If it was him right now, he did not know if he could make the same decision and give the power to choose the Emperor to the people.
"Woooah woooah"
Vijay is currently playing with his son, making funny expressions.
Kavya, who looked at the scene, was helpless, But she had a smile on her face, a smile of fulfillment.
However, this warm atmosphere was destroyed when the old butler Ravichandra Rao came over with a few important reports.
Seeing the reports, Vijay had a reluctant expression on his face, but knowing what was important, he did not hesitate to leave the child with his wife and left to handle the affairs of the empire.
Ravichandra Rao, after looking at his majesty who had left, picked up the prince and played with him a little. He had a happy expression on his face. His last wish of seeing the heir of the Devaraya family had been fulfilled, and perhaps due to his satisfaction in life, his health had been deteriorating. He had been having drowsy spells regularly and could feel that his end was approaching.
Noticing the deteriorating health of the old butler, Kavya was obviously worried. She knew how much Vijay respected and cared for the old man, but unfortunately, there was nothing anyone could do anything about it.
For this reason, she left her son, little Agni, to play with the old man as much as possible as compensation for the old man, who could not be there at his birth due to being required to manage the affairs of the empire sent to Vijay.
She still remembers how the old man, as soon as he saw the child, suddenly knelt down, burst into tears, and carefully placed his little feet on his forehead, sobbing emotionally.
It was then that she understood what the royal family meant to the old man. For the old man, maybe the royal family was more than his own family and perhaps equivalent to his proof of existence. Hence, Kavya, who still had a little reservation about the old man due to his behaviour of ignoring her when she could not give birth, let go of her reservations.
She now understood how much the old man longed to hold the heir of the empire. Now that she thinks about it, the old man did not do anything excessive and stayed true to his duty, not doing anything harmful to her, which she feels would have been done by anyone else in his position.
Hence, Ravichandra Rao, in the eyes of Kavya, has gained the respect he deserves. On the other hand, Ravichandra Rao would prefer to be hated by the empress, as he did indeed ignore her and did not stop anyone from gossiping about her when he could have. He disliked the queen for not giving the empire and the royal family an heir.
This dislike was amplified when Vijay outright refused to remarry, so Ravichandra thought that the fate of the Devaraya Dynasty had ended.
Although he came to regret this decision now, he did what he did and does indeed recognize them as his own mistakes. The queen not hating him was the second biggest gift he had received, while the first was being allowed to play with the child.
---
Vijay, who had completed reading the reports, did not stay long in the palace as he immediately set off to the Bharatiya Institute of Sciences Hoysala.
The reason? Well, it is because the animal-powered harvesters have completed development and are now waiting for his approval for production. Vijay, who knew about the situation where the agricultural sector is not growing this year and may even shrink, understood how important this machine is for multiple reasons.
One, it could help the empire’s agricultural sector grow even in this time of total war, where nearly 9-13 million people are directly or indirectly engaged in various industries related to war. That is nearly 20% to 22% of the population, which explains the large scale on which the war is being fought.
Two, it could prove crucial for the empire to step into the age of steam as it could alleviate a lot of labour force in the empire, causing most of the labour to move towards industrial jobs. Given that the nation has an adequate population, the talents and human resources would cost less than in Europe, leading to faster progress in industrialization.
Hence the importance of the harvester is paramount
*Carriage stops*
"Welcome, Your Majesty."
"The heartfelt congratulations from the Bharatiya Institute of Technologies for the birth of a prince."
Vijay, as soon as he entered the premises of the Institute, was welcomed by multiple deans who were involved in the project. Hearing their congratulations, he was very happy as he nodded his head in acceptance and entered the Institute in a good mood.
He directly entered the testing grounds where the machine would be tested.
He was eventually shown a machine as tall as an elephant. For better reference, in future generations, it was as large as a Xuv 500.
It was only made up of wood construction and had multiple mechanical parts attached to it. Vijay, looking at the machine while walking around it, could figure out the basic principle of the harvester. He was very satisfied and took another look at the harvester, which radiated a beautiful aura of intricate machinery.
"So, mind explaining?" he asked.
"With pleasure, Your Majesty," a middle-aged, balding man stated, first taking a bow and then continuing to explain. This man was called Rajaram Gowda, a scientist at the Bharatiya Academy of Sciences and the Dean of the Department of Mechanics at the Bharatiya Institute of Technology Hoysala. He led this project with the help of multiple fellow scientists and scholars.
Vijay, seeing the middle-aged man, felt a sense of familiarity but waited patiently.
"This harvester is designed to be used by oxen and is fully powered by the forward movement of the oxen."
"Its frame material, as you can see, is made up of wood, specifically oak and teak wood."
"We have used large wooden wheels and reinforced them with iron rims for durability and strength."
"Due to the most staple crops of the empire being wheat and ragi, in the north and south respectively, we have decided to use fields producing these crops as the main clients of this machine."
"For the cutting mechanism of ragi, rakes are used, which gently gather mature ragi heads while ragi is collected on a large flat wooden platform behind the cutting mechanism. As for the cutting mechanism of wheat, a series of long angled blades mounted on a horizontal bar at the front are used, which cuts mature wheat stalks just above the ground.
Both of these functions could be adjusted depending on the type of crop being harvested," he said as he physically showed each and every part while Vijay nodded his head in understanding.
"This machine would require at least four oxen to harness the wooden yoke, but it is recommended to have six."
"We have implemented, as you can see, a gear system where lightweight alloy steel is used to forge gears for speed control and power transfer. We have also utilized the clutch mechanism seen in the Raya-type printer, which is used to disengage the drivetrain."
"The harvester can improve the ability and efficiency of farming, considerably reduce strain on farm owners, increase safety, and enhance adaptability."
Vijay was satisfied. In theory, everything should work, but he still asked, "Let’s test it out once."
Rajaram nodded his head, having expected this question. Immediately, a team of six oxen arrived and was attached to the harvester with a yoke.
A man, who appeared very experienced in this sort of work, sat on the harvester where there was a small place to be seated and commanded the oxen to move with a shout.
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"HAYAAH!"
The oxen slowly moved the harvester across the field. They were currently in a ragi field. As the oxen moved forward, the gears converted the movement from the wheels into rotational energy for the cutting mechanism to spin. It is to be noted that the gears are in a ratio of 1:2, meaning every turn of the larger wheel is equivalent to two turns of the harvesting mechanism.
Although the torque in this case is reduced, it does not matter since harvesting crops does not require much torque.
Hence, as the oxen moved forward at a steady pace of four kilometres per hour, the harvester spun at the rate of eight kilometres per hour. It is to be noted that this data is only possible due to there being six oxen, which reduced the stress on the team greatly, allowing them to move forward at a relatively high pace.
If it were a team of four oxen, the speed of the team would be three kilometres per hour, and the speed of the harvester spinning would be six kilometres per hour.
The driver, noticing that the collection platform had become full, quickly pressed down the clutch lever to disengage the drivetrain and then stopped the oxen.
The ragi heads were quickly unloaded, and the process started once again after releasing the clutch.
Vijay, who had been watching the scene from a close distance, had a happy expression on his face. However, there was still a little regret in his heart. "Rice harvesters are still not possible, huh?"
Rajaram Gowda smiled bitterly as he replied, "No, Your Majesty. We are still not able to manufacture a harvester for rice. The resistance for machines in muddy water is too high, and the corrosion it causes damages the machines very regularly. We have not yet found a solution."
Vijay nodded his head. "Alright, let the production of these machines begin. I need these machines mass-produced and harvesting crops in all the large-scale farms in the empire within four months."
Rajaram happily nodded. "Definitely, Your Majesty."