2nd March 1657
Akhand Bharatiya Empire, Capital City of Vijayanagar State, Hampi
"Uwwaaaaahhh!"
"Uwwaaaaahhh!"
Heartbreaking cries could be heard from Agni. No matter how much Kavya consoled her son, he wouldn’t quiet down. It’s not like she was in the right state of mind anyway; similar to her son, tears were also glistening down her cheeks.
Vijay, standing alone in full white attire, had a look of sadness on his face. Ravi Chandra Rao, the old man who had taken care of him since childhood, had passed away. He was no more. Seeing the contented and happy expression on Ravi Chandra Rao’s face, Vijay felt relieved, knowing that the old man had passed away in peace.
Perhaps it was his final wish to see the birth of an heir to the Devaraya family, the family he had served and cared for all his life. Now that there was an heir, maybe he felt he had nothing more to live for.
Agni, who had spent quite a while with the old man, seemed to know what had happened and had been crying since morning. Agni was now 9 months old, an age where a normal child would begin to gain some awareness and start to be curious about everything around them. But Agni, being a bit smarter than a normal child, understood things more clearly.
Vijay was worried about how this would affect Agni’s growth and mental outlook in the future, but sadly, there was nothing he could do. He could only hope that his son would not be affected too much.
"We are ready, Your Majesty," Vinod, said with a hint of sadness on his face.
Vijay understood why Vinod, even as the Prime Minister, would personally participate in arranging the burial vehicle (a stretcher made of bamboo, although the exact term in English isn’t clear). Since Vinod was an orphan taken in by the royal family, it was Ravi Chandra Rao who acted as a father figure, teaching him and his fellow brothers everything they knew.
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Because of this, the death of Ravi Chandra Rao had a huge impact on him.
Vijay resolutely took one side of the weight and carried Ravi Chandra Rao on his shoulders.
All the government officials from all the ministries were present to watch and send off the old prime minister of the empire.
They knew that it was this man who had held onto the empire’s power when it was the hardest, and they also knew that he was the absolute helmsman in the royal family whom even Vijay had to respect, not to mention being a direct teacher and almost a father to the current prime minister of the empire.
So, it is not an exaggeration to say that the scale of important figures who attended the burial ceremony was comparable to that of a king or emperor’s passing.
Three hours later, the body of Ravi Chandra Rao was placed in a pit six feet deep on a bed of salt, and eventually, the soil was pushed onto him. Ravi Chandra Rao was finally laid to rest.
---
The mood of Vijay and everyone in the Royal Palace was not too good for the next few days, but eventually, things had to go on, and Vijay chose to move on as he got buried in a mountain of documents.
If there was anything Vijay was thankful for, it was that his son seemed to have recovered and was no longer crying all day long. Although he no longer giggled as he used to, he had improved; he laughed occasionally and even moved his little legs to play with the baby elephants. However, there were times when he would start crying, asking for the old man.
"Tsk, concentrate, damn it," Vijay clicked his tongue in annoyance as his eyes started to moisten once again.
Fortunately, he had been through a lot and recovered fairly quickly.
Two hours later, all the paperwork he had to look at was done, and he had no more work for the day.
Unfortunately, he did not feel like going home, so instead, he set out to visit various industries to see if the quality of the products was keeping up to standards.
"Let’s go to the Kaveri Bank industrial zone, Pilla," Vijay said as he got into his exclusive royal carriage.
The driver, Pilla Reddy, skillfully commanded the horses to pull the carriage, which weighed at least two tons.
That’s right, horses. Vijay had not given up on the idea of importing draft horses from Europe, but sadly, no draft horse could survive in the climatic conditions of Bharat. For that reason, he started to crossbreed various European and Bharatiya horses to see if they could produce a horse with the advantages brought by both breeds.
He also considered Mongolian and Kazakh horses, which are famous for their strength and endurance, but sadly, many crossbreeds were created, but none of them had the advantages of their parents.
Either the horse was strong but couldn’t adapt to the climate, or it could adapt to the climate but lacked strength. There were also rare cases where both strength and climate adaptation were found, but unfortunately, resistance to diseases in the Bharatiya subcontinent was not inherited from the Bharatiya breed.
Fortunately, The resources were not wasted since these breeds were sold to foreign markets. Europeans found that the crossbreeds of Indian and European horses could increase endurance even further, making them a valuable commodity for a time.
When Vijay was about to give up funding the experiments, things suddenly took a turn for the better. The European Shire and the Indian Marwari horse were crossbred, and the new crossbreed inherited all the advantages of both its parents. For example, it had the size and strength of the Shire, weighing around 1 ton and standing almost 193 centimetres tall.
Its strength was capable of pulling loads up to four tons, and its endurance was exceptional for a horse of its size. Its speed could reach a staggering 35 km/h when running alone and around 20 km/h when pulling a carriage. Considering the horse weighs a ton, its athleticism is extraordinary.
Not only is it physically amazing, but its temperament is also brave, loyal, and courageous—an excellent horse for a battlefield.
After this crossbreed was produced, Vijay personally named it "Raja Vamshi," meaning "Royal Lineage" in the Bharati script.
Due to the stringent conditions for breeding the horse, Vijay could not popularize the breed on a large scale. Currently, only important personnel of the empire use the Raja Vamshi breed horses to pull their carriages, as these carriages are usually quite heavy due to being reinforced with steel and having various self-defence features. Previously, such carriages required an elephant to pull.
---
Vijay promptly entered a tool-making workshop that had signed many deals with Europeans to export professional toolkits.
"Swastik Enterprises Private Limited, huh? Come to think of it, there was such a company in my previous life too, engaged in the same industry. What a coincidence," he thought to himself while continuing to inspect the finished products.
"What do you think, Your Majesty, is the quality up to par?" the owner of the Swastik factory asked with a humble and expectant attitude.
A few hours ago, He almost jumped for joy when he was informed that His Majesty would visit his workshop to inspect the quality of the products exported to Europe. For this reason, he personally oversaw all the production of the toolkits and made sure that there was not even a single mistake.
The workers, knowing that His Majesty would be coming, also adopted serious attitudes and worked with the precision of heart surgeons operating on a heart. Their work exhibited an extraordinary level of dedication that day.
Vijay, looking at the uniform wrenches, screwdrivers, axes, chisels, hammers, and spanners in his hand, nodded his head in satisfaction. He was pleased with what he was seeing so far.
"It’s not bad; the quality is very good. You have done a good job. Keep up the good work," Vijay said as he praised the man and then left the workshop.
Suddenly, Vijay thought of something and immediately changed into more casual attire.
He then instructed that his arrival as a monarch not be declared to the next company, as he wanted to inspect the factory without the owners paying special attention to him.
Vijay proceeded to the Assembly workshop producing export versions of Brown Bess rifles and began to inspect a random gun among the pile.
Thankfully, there was nothing wrong with it, but as he went on to choose ten guns from different piles, he was shocked to find that two of the ten guns he had tested were defective.
Although the defects were not too serious, there were defects nonetheless.
"What is this?" Vijay asked in an angry tone, pointing his finger at the iron site that was slightly bent to the left.
The director of the factory, who had been informed about the inspector’s visit, had not paid any special attention to the inspector. According to their ranks, they were of the same level, and in terms of actual power, he had more influence since he controlled the assembly plant, while the inspector’s role was merely to ensure quality.
Considering there were no major issues with his assembly workshop, he allowed the manufacturing process to continue unchanged. However, upon hearing the questioning tone of this obviously young inspector, the director immediately grew angry. How dare this person, who knows where he came from, question him in such a tone? Who did he think he was, his superior?
"We produce guns like this; some small defects are natural occurrences. There is nothing that can be done," the man declared, His voice obviously containing a hint of ridicule.
Hearing the rude words, Vijay did not lose his temper, reveal his identity, and slap the director’s face like a typical Chinese protagonist. Instead, he immediately calmed down, nodded, and left. Based on the director’s attitude, Vijay concluded that the problem lay with the system rather than the individual.
Even if he punished this one director, it would not address the broader issue; it would only alert other factory directors across the empire and make it harder for him to identify the problems. By observing this one assembly factory, Vijay suspected that similar issues were occurring throughout the empire. To test this theory, he visited many other factories and conducted inspections.
Unfortunately, the results were as he expected, with some factories showing advanced defects in the products.
Theoretically, this should not be possible, as strict requirements were imposed on these factories. However, Vijay now knew that requirements alone could not ensure compliance. "The aftereffects of an authoritarian government are showing, huh?
Fortunately, the war ended quickly, or else who knows how much the bureaucracy would have entrenched itself in the industries of the empire like a deadly blood-sucking parasite?" Vijay couldn’t help but shudder thinking about what such a society would become, and he couldn’t help but remember the purge of the Chinese state-owned factories and the obliteration of the Soviets.
He immediately decided to make changes. He would introduce accountability and responsibility for these factory directors, also tying in rewards and punishments to performance.
If there was anything positive from this trip, it was that Vijay identified which factory directors were serious about their work, had good working ability, and great ambition, and which ones were simply content with their current positions, not improving themselves, and just waiting to benefit as much as possible from the state and die.
Returning to the Simhasana Bhavana, Vijay summoned Rajesh, who was only a few blocks away and ordered...
"In the next few days, I need you to send inspection teams to all the manufacturing enterprises in the empire and find out how many defective products are in each shipment they produce. Based on this, make a list of all the factories and their Directors.
Those with the least defects could be considered for promotion, while those with more defects will be demoted, and depending on the severity, they may be fired from their positions."
"Yes, Your Majesty," Rajesh said as he left.
Vijay knew that this plan wouldn’t fully work because there would undoubtedly be rats inside the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Commerce working for the interests of the big bosses of various state-owned factories. Sadly, this was the best Vijay could do for now. At least in this way, the numerous small offenders would be weeded out, leaving only the big fish remaining in the sea.
This action could also serve as a warning to these big fish not to act too arrogantly, as the big man is watching from above.
Vijay could theoretically use his power to root out all these rats, but with the empire expanding continuously, removing them would leave a temporary shortage of people to fill their positions.
"Three more months and a new batch of students should graduate. Let me wait until then," he said to himself with a ruthless expression, while simultaneously sending a letter to the Observer of the Empire, Kishore Balabadra, the head of the Election, Nobility, and Examination Council.
P.S. Thank you, godofsparta for the Pizza
P.S. Thank you, I_am_truck_kun for the Ice cola