133 Construction Boom In Vijayanagara Empire
The events unfolding in the Iberian Peninsula were yet to reach Vijay's ears. However, during the entire month of Thomas's absence, an extensive construction project involving the establishment of warehouses took place across the three states. The process was relatively smooth, leveraging the military's pre-existing logistics channels that had spread throughout the main cities during the war. This enabled the quick procurement of the required raw materials. Given that the Mughal nobles held a monopoly on most resources within the three states, these resources seamlessly transitioned into the hands of the Vijayanagar government, further streamlining the execution of tasks.
Despite acquiring the Local nobles' wealth, Vijay did not utilize the gold and silver to pay the labour cost because he had another use where gold and silver were more needed. As for the poverty-stricken people of the three states, he could only wait for the policies of Vijayanagara to be fully implemented before bringing them out of the gutter. He even contemplated that, given the current circumstances, the working efficiency of the people would be remarkable. However, he suddenly felt noxious for entertaining such a thought.
Just a year ago, he could not have fathomed that his mindset would undergo such a significant transformation. Recently, he came to the realization that he was increasingly perceiving people as numbers on a report card, which his brain was sadly getting used to. This shift in perspective gave him chills and woke him up at night. He got really scared by his own thought process. Being from a purely scientific research background, he was far away from politics and controversies.
Now, being in the current position which he is in, he is very slowly adjusting. He did not know if it was a good thing or a bad thing. Only Brahma could know what he had in store for him. But still, being in such a position for a few years and experiencing a rebellion and two major wars, he could slightly understand the minds of the emperors and presidents in his own timeline, about how they operate. In the past, He could never in a million years understand how such people went on with their daily lives knowing very well that one wrong mistake could cost the lives of millions of people. He always thought that these people were psychopaths. Now put in the same position, he felt like he was slowly turning into one.
He also somewhat understood why a lot of countries, in order to reach a certain level in the power ladder, have to sacrifice the interest of some people. For example, the Russian Empire throughout its history sacrificed the interest of serfs, citizens, and even later of their merchants during the period of the Soviet Union. The same goes for the Chinese, sacrificing the interest of the merchants when the Communist Party of China came to power. Even during the time when China opened up and accepted investment, and let its people do business, the state-owned company worker interests were thrown into the trash can as they were fired because the Communist Party of China could no longer afford to employ them. They even propagandized that the state-owned workers are a burden to society.
These State-owned factory workers had dedicated their entire lives to mastering a specific job, without being granted any choice or opportunity to explore other avenues. When China abruptly opened up, they found themselves adrift, unsure of what to do next. The Communist Party of China swiftly abandoned them, leaving them unemployed and trapped in poverty.
The same goes for America, as it was built upon the dead bodies of the black, native and Chinese people. The same goes for Britain, although they say they are one of the first countries to abolish slavery, fortunately for them, they had India—a gold mine with inexhaustible wealth and human resources. They bled India ruthlessly, which brought the richest country in the world to its knees, turning it into a third-world country.
Vijay fervently hopes to avoid finding himself in a position where he must make such tough choices. Fortunately, with foresight into the future, he can navigate certain challenges more efficiently, sidestepping unnecessary detours. Regarding the current issue of road construction, a critical infrastructure component, he acknowledges its status as one of the most labour-intensive tasks in the present era. This work often takes a toll on the workforce, regularly leading to fatalities.
Vijay was aware that he was capitalizing on the momentary vulnerability of the people in the three states. However, driven by a vision for the future, he chose the most pragmatic approach. Instead of employing the minimum necessary workforce for road construction, Vijay opted to hire more individuals to minimize casualties. As part of the incentive, he also promised each worker 15 kilograms of grain, sufficient to feed a family of three for the entire month. Vijay doesn't know if anyone would consider him a hypocrite, but he did what he could do. Notices were disseminated across towns and villages in the three states of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, and Odisha regarding employment opportunities. Upon hearing the news through their local Panchayats, police stations, or post offices, the people responded with genuine excitement. They didn't perceive Vijay's actions as exploitation; instead, they considered him a benevolent king. Working for the government not only guaranteed them 15 kilograms of grain but also offered them the chance to acquire cattle and sheep through contributions. Additionally, everyone was granted a two-year exemption from agricultural taxes.
In this agrarian society, Nation's like Vijayanagara or India as a whole, owning cattle and sheep held the same significance as possessing a tractor or car for future generations. Being able to purchase cows and sheep through work was unprecedented, and the exemption from taxes was beyond their wildest imaginations. Despite initial skepticism, the enticing benefits prompted a considerable number of people to apply for the job. Vijayanagara's planned highway roads were exceptionally wide, considering the anticipated increase in traffic, as directed by His Highness. A staggering 3 million people enthusiastically signed up for the job, resulting in crowded recruitment points throughout the month. Seeing the numbers, Vijay let out a sigh of relief, realizing he was about to make a huge blunder.
Because there was one more benefit that Vijay did not specify: the issue of land distribution. Initially, he contemplated adding land distribution as a reward for labour. However, his ministers dissuaded him by explaining the potential for chaos among the people if this reward was given. Land held immense value in the hearts of all Indians, and introducing such a provision could not only cause disorder but also hinder the progress of road construction, directly conflicting with Vijay's goals.
As for the second option of returning the land to the peasants working on it after recovering the documents from the Mughal administration, he faced opposition again. The Mughals did not keep records well, and most of the rich landlords were Muslims or individuals close to the administration, usually Hindus who oppressed their own people to curry favour with the Mughal administration. The latter kind, Vijay just loathed them with every fibre of his existence, and with no mention of the peasants working on the fields on the records, he relented and decided to distribute land after the completion of the four highways, based on the contributions of various workers and families. This decision mostly saved him a lot of trouble.
Consequently, even with the original benefits, three million jobs were generated. "Whew..." Vijay heaved a sigh of relief, realizing the potential consequences that could have unfolded if land distribution were added to the incentives. As a result, the construction of the four highways commenced simultaneously. Despite the fact that the highways could be constructed with a labour force of only 1.8 million, Vijay chose not to sacrifice so many individuals merely to cut costs.
Facing a shortage of government employees, certain sections of the highway roads were contracted to private individuals, such as the Kalyan family, who previously took on the road construction for the Government. The Kalyan family has emerged as a prominent name in the construction business, having successfully executed projects for both Vijayanagar and Sri Lanka. Impressed with their commendable track record, Vijay entrusted them with the construction of an entire highway, confident in Kalyan's construction expertise and capabilities.
The remaining three highways were divided into sections and contracted to other private individuals from Vijayanagara.
As for the relief work scheme, it turned out to be highly successful. The first recipients of the grain joyfully brought it home and stored it. Within a few days, a fortunate family managed to reclaim a pair of cattle. This success was attributed to the family's unique situation, boasting five boys above the age of 18, contributing more collectively than individual members.
Cases like these soon became commonplace throughout the empire at various construction sites. Cattle, sheep, and grain rapidly dwindled in the warehouses at a noticeable pace. Vijay, observing this progress, felt immense satisfaction as the road construction advanced at an unprecedented speed, comparable to the road construction rates in the 19th century. This remarkable achievement, though barely achieved, was made possible by the vast pool of human resources. Vijay was especially pleased to learn that the number of casualties was less than 5000, with the majority resulting from private disputes among the workers. Again, Vijay heaved a sigh of relief as he was sure the death toll would be in Five digits if land was granted.
Overall, Vijay's mood was jubilant, except for the military logistics director, Arya, who visibly displayed nervousness witnessing the stocks depleting rapidly.
But soon, His nervousness quickly dissipated when merchant ships from Portugal arrived at the Mumbai port. Each ship carried approximately 900 tons of grain, and a total of 150 such ships graced the Mumbai port. The unloading process took place in batches, with 50 ships docked and unloaded at a time. Vijay, on the other hand, marvelled at the naval background of the world's first naval Empire. Despite its weakened state, these merchant ships still showcased the enormous legacy of the once-mighty naval power. It's worth noting that Vijayanagara's merchant ships averaged between 150 to 200 tons, and witnessing the Portuguese fleet in front of him highlighted their ability to easily mobilize 150 ships. After two full days of unloading, the goods were stockpiled in an open space in the army camp of Mumbai, as there wasn't a large enough warehouse to accommodate all the grain.
The delivered grain amounted to a total of 135,000 tons, sufficient to feed 3 million people for three consecutive months of road construction work. As the workers earned cattle, their families back in their villages swiftly resumed ploughing and planting crops, kickstarting the local economy.
The Portuguese merchant ships swiftly dispersed to various ports of Vijayanagara to load assorted military supplies scattered across workshops nationwide. Each of the Cochin Port, Visakhapatnam Port, and the Mangalore Fort received a visit from 50 Portuguese ships. The surplus military supplies were efficiently loaded onto the merchant ships. The Portuguese merchants did not want to go back empty-handed with their empty ships, and considering their country was going to start a war with the Spanish Empire, they took this opportunity as good businessmen and ordered for more military products, along with the civilian products which the merchant was sure that it could increase in cost soon.
The turn of events proved to be an unexpected surprise for the Vijayanagara workshops. Initially content with clearing their excess stock, receiving orders for more products left them in disbelief. However, the workshops of Vijayanagara quickly sprung into action, the entire workshop economy roaring with newfound vigour, showcasing prosperity like never before. The inclusion of the three states of Maharashtra, Odisha, and Chhattisgarh made the labour force even more abundant, contributing to the unprecedented boom in activity.
The workshops were consuming the raw materials and putting out the finished products so fast that Vijay had an illusion that they had already entered the first industrial revolution. But he knew that this momentum could be held only momentarily, as they do not still have developed marine channels to export their products. To some extent, this sort of efficiency was obtained by sacrificing some of the workers' interests.
Vijay wanted to impose some sort of barrier to the rampant behaviour of using the workers as tools and working them for 12 hours continuously, but he did not want to stop the momentum. So instead, he sent a collective letter as a warning to all the major workshop owners to control their greed and to treat the workers better, or he would severely sanction them.
The workshop owners who received the letter were scared out of their wits and quickly controlled the rampant behaviour by allowing the workers to only work for 10 hours and paying them a little bit more. Although this hindered their interests, the merchants and workshop owners would not want to argue with a king who single-handedly slaughtered most of the nobles in the empire. Moreover, since the military economy had been lifted, they could make more money, so the loss was not huge.
P.S (Brahma: A deity in Hinduism associated with creation, and knows what the future holds for a particular individual)
( Just got to know that it was highly improbable for Portugal to produce 135000 tons of grain, apparently it could not be more than hundred thousand even with Brazil, so we are not far off, but please for the sake of the story consider that the Portuguese has cultivated more land than in the previous timeline and they already have sufficient food for their own use and traded all the remaining grain to India.)
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