Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING

14th March 1657

This chapt𝓮r is updat𝒆d by ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom.

Akhand Bharatiya Empire, Vijayanagar State, Economic Capital Mangaluru

The Mangaluru port was busy as always, especially now when the trade with different European nations had nearly quadrupled in quantity. For this reason, the expansion of the port has been a constant process for the last few months.

Large customized carts carrying sand and gravel were constantly moving in and out of the outskirts of the port. Small villages near the coast were continually annexed by the port administration and integrated into the port city of Mangaluru.

Due to this growth, major state-owned infrastructure companies like Kalyan Infrastructure Limited decided to settle down. Along with this, supporting industries focused on building materials, like the Shetty Group of Industries, or companies focused on minerals, like Bhosale Mines and Minerals Private Limited, had decided to settle down.

Due to the complete supporting industries, the city of Mangaluru had begun to attract a lot of private capital from the new entrepreneurs of the empire. Given that the Bharatiya Empire was transitioning from a military-economic model to a capitalist economic model, many medium-scale factories were now being auctioned off to the public.

Managers and directors who had previously worked in these factories were constantly becoming rich.

However, not everyone had the means or ability to invest all of their life’s work to gain a higher stake in the company they had worked for previously. For this reason, many managers had decided to decisively cash out their dividends and stakes in the company for liquid money in order to buy a smaller state-owned company as a whole.

There were a lot of people taking this route, resulting in nearly 900 companies being registered daily across all the states in the southern part of the empire, with the most active being the Vijayanagara state, where over 1,000 companies were registered per day.

Mangaluru, the economic capital of Vijayanagara, was constantly receiving benefits, and its growth was rapid. That is not to say that other important port cities in the Empire were not growing—no, that was not true because other port cities were also constantly expanding.

Trade and commerce within the empire surged, giving more opportunities to the small people who had no chance to rise up in the new Bharat.

---

Leonardo Bellini and Francis Molin, who had just returned to the Bharatiya Empire after spending some time back home in Venice, couldn’t help but marvel at how much things had changed yet again.

"Although I had already expected the growth of Bharat to be terrifying after the war, it looks like I still couldn’t grasp how terrifying this growth would be," Leonardo Bellini said with a complex light in his eyes.

Francis Molin, looking around at the tall buildings and constant construction all around, couldn’t help but nod in agreement.

"No wonder you two gentlemen hurriedly came back to this empire even though you could have stayed back home longer," a voice suddenly said, making Leonardo and Francis a little taken aback.

But looking at the middle-aged man beside them, who was gazing at everything with a novel expression on his face, Leonardo and Francis couldn’t help but laugh in embarrassment.

It was true that after going back home and experiencing life there for a few days, they couldn’t help but admit that they had fallen in love with life in the Bharatiya Empire. The clean streets, the nice people, the excellent food, the lack of bureaucracy, and the lack of a fanatical religious atmosphere made them feel at ease.

Although some of their thoughts could be considered blasphemous, they still felt a lot freer and more comfortable in the Bharatiya Empire.

Leonardo Bellini did not want to delve into the topic anymore, so he resolutely chose to divert the attention of his boss.

"Your Excellency, do you know why the Bharathiya Empire invited the top leaders of our nation in such a hurry? I heard that His Highness, Prince Peter I of the Tsarist Russian Empire, would also be attending this meeting."

Matteo Contarini, the boss of Leonardo Bellini, is the External Foreign Affairs Minister of the Venetian Republic. He is the son of Giovanni Contarini, the Patriarch of the Contarini family, one of the six major families controlling the Venetian Republic.

The Contarini family is a family of diplomats that handles all relationships between the Venetian Republic and neighbouring countries, so the Contarini family could be considered one of the most influential families not only in the Venetian Republic but also in the entire Italian Peninsula.

Matteo Contarini, hearing the question of his subordinate, couldn’t help but shake his head as he was clueless about this too.

He then turned his head towards three other middle-aged men of his age and asked, "Aldo, Andre, Romeo, do you have any idea?"

The three middle-aged men, whose average age was not less than 35, were respectively Aldo Erizzo, the second son of Antonio Erizzo, the Admiral of the Venetian Republic; Andre Barbarigo, the son of Lorenzo Barbarigo, the Venetian Minister of War and the Patriarch of the Barbarigo family; and lastly, Romeo Gradenigo, the son of Francesco Gradenigo and the current Finance Minister of the Venetian Republic.

As most of the patriarchs of the top six families in Venice are getting older and over 60 years of age, they have started to delegate their powers to the younger generation. For this reason, Matteo, Aldo, Andre and Romeo were sent overseas to deal with the Bharatiya Empire upon their invitation.

Aldo, Andre, and Romeo all had no clue because no matter how much they thought about it, except for some economic ties, there was really no connection between the Tsarist Russian Empire and the Venetian Republic.

Looking at the helpless expressions on the faces of his friends, Matteo was not too disappointed. "Oh forget it, Let’s not speculate on this any further. Isn’t the meeting tomorrow? Let’s take a good rest for the day. We will naturally know the truth when the time comes."

Everyone agreed with this statement, and eventually, after a few hours of travel, along with constant praise from the Venetian ministers for the quality of travel, the journey ended as they reached the capital, Bengaluru.

"Leonardo, don’t you have some friendship with the Economic Minister of this nation? Introduce him to us tomorrow," Matteo ordered.

"Yes, Your Excellency, I will make it happen."

Francis Molin, who had been quietly listening to the discussions, was suddenly called upon, catching him off guard.

"Francis, doesn’t your family have a shipyard in this empire? Can you show it to us?" Aldo Erizzo asked with anticipation as he was looking forward to seeing how the San Marco class warships were built so quickly. Initially, he doubted whether the Bharatiya Empire could fulfil its promise. Manufacturing more than a dozen warships in just four months seemed absurd.

However, when he saw the warships dispatched to Venice during his journey to Bharat, specifically when he reached Cape Town in South Africa, he had no choice but to accept the reality. The Bharatiya Empire had indeed delivered on its commitments.

When he saw the San Marco-class battleships at that time, he already knew that his father, Antonio Erizzo, would absolutely love these warships, so he began to get curious about how these warships were built.

As soon as Aldo finished his question, Romeo Grandinigo’s eyes lit up. As the Financial Minister of the Republic, the question intrigued him because he wondered if the same technology could be adopted back in Venice. If the price could be reduced even further, it could lead to more profits for the Republic.

With this thought in mind, he stared intently at Marco Molin, the young master of the Molin family.

Molin being looked at by two top figures in the nation, couldn’t help but sweat a little. However, having grown up very familiar with these uncles, he quickly recovered. "I will take you all after the meeting. My Shipyard is called the Shivaji Shipyard, which is located in the city of Kochi. It’s a bit far from here, so we can go there after the meeting."

Aldo and Romeo were both satisfied with the answer.

Andre Barbarigo, on the other hand, had no interest in inspecting the shipyard. What he was interested in was visiting the military academy he had heard of, to see if there was anything special about it.

Unfortunately, neither Marco Molin nor Leonardo Bellini had any connections with the military of the Bharatiya Empire, so he was considering putting forward his request to the Economic Minister of the empire, hoping it would work out.

---

March 15th, 1657

The day of the meeting finally arrived, and Vijay promptly invited the Russian delegation, headed by Peter I, and the Venetian delegation, headed by Matteo Contarini, to a conference room in the parliament building.

"Welcome, gentlemen. Thank you for responding to my invitation. Please sit down," Vijay said as he looked at the new faces in the Venetian delegation.

Matteo, noticing the Emperor’s gaze, immediately understood and got up to introduce himself. "Thank you, Your Majesty of the Bharatiya Empire, for inviting us. My name is Matteo Contarini, the External Affairs Minister of the Venetian Republic. This is Andre Barbarigo, the Provveditori General of the Venetian Army, and this is Aldo Erizzo, the captain of a fleet in the Venetian Navy.

And this is Romeo Grandinigo, the Minister of Trade and Commerce of the Venetian Empire." As Matteo introduced his delegation, each one stood up respectfully and took a bow.

Vijay nodded his head in recognition, after which the meeting began.

Introductions between the Russians and Venetians were unnecessary, as they were familiar with each other’s names and titles from back home, even if they were not personally acquainted.

"So, gentlemen, I apologize for being abrupt, but I have been busy with the affairs of my empire and there is still a lot to do. I will get straight to the point to avoid wasting time."

Matteo, Aldo, Andre, and Romeo all had frowning expressions on their faces, as this was quite rude even for an emperor. However, seeing how Peter handled the situation as if what happened was normal, they quieted down and listened silently.

Peter was also taken aback, knowing that Emperor Vijay had been busy with purging corruption in a certain sector of the empire. Given that the Emperor mentioned he was not yet finished, Peter realized that the Bharatiya Empire was about to undergo a thorough clean-up.

Peter couldn’t help but feel envious; he didn’t even want to imagine the trouble he would face if he attempted something like this back home.

Nevertheless, he was curious about what Emperor Vijay had in mind, as he could not understand why the Venetians were invited to this meeting.

Vijay noticed the various expressions of the attendees but continued without concern. "The Bharatiya Empire will support the Tsarist Russian in expanding its reach in the Eastern European region, specifically the Balkans. Additionally, the Bharatiya Empire will assist the Tsarist Russian Empire in fulfilling its long-term goal of conquering Constantinople and controlling the Bosphorus Strait."

"The Bharatiya Empire will open up all its weaponry, except the absolute strategic ones, at a discounted price. The Empire is also willing to provide other benefits, which can be discussed further."

*Boom*

Vijay had delivered everything he wanted to say in one breath, but his seemingly simple words caused an earthquake among the Tsarist Russian delegates. They could never have imagined that the Bharatiya Empire would make such a bold move.

To Be Continued...