Chapter 63: Gunpowder...!
After learning about the imminent disaster, Vijay began making plans. The first thing he did was to send a messenger to inform his father-in-law about the upcoming disaster. Along with a personal letter, he requested his father-in-law to take refuge in the Vijayanagara Empire and evacuate as many people as possible.
"I hope the old man will listen," he said to himself. In this era, being a king still meant that the kingdom and its people were his responsibility, and he had to live or die with the kingdom. Vijay knew his father-in-law well. Although not very talented in managing the kingdom, he was a strong-hearted and righteous man who wouldn't bend for anyone when his ideals were questioned.
Sighing, Vijay moved on to the next matter at hand. His first plan was to make gunpowder. With enough gunpowder, even if he didn't have time to manufacture guns and powerful cannons, at least some explosive barrels could be made, which might still be effective against the Dutch if used properly.
With a proper plan in mind, he called for Vinod.
"Vinod, I need a substance called saltpeter, which is commonly found in organic compost. Have someone collect it from each and every village in the empire. This is a matter of great importance to the empire, so make sure the job is done as fast as possible."
Vijay intended to collect saltpeter through organic methods instead of chemical methods, as he knew that South India had no saltpeter mines and using the chemical method for production was more complex and lacked enough raw materials. There was another way to make saltpeter: the organic method. In compost piles or manure heaps, various microorganisms break down organic matter. During this decomposition, nitrogen-containing compounds from the organic material are converted into nitrates. Potassium, often naturally present in soil or added through organic materials, combines with the nitrates formed in the decomposition process to create saltpeter. Unfortunately, saltpeter produced in this way took a long time to produce, and the quality was not reliable for industrial use. However, Vijay had to make do with what he had and produce gunpowder as soon as possible. Fortunately for him, Bharat had a culture of forming compost piles in every village for its manure, which could be used as fertilizer. This meant that saltpeter could be collected from these compost piles, allowing Vijay to expedite the process and produce gunpowder as soon as possible.
Vinod, who had heard Vijay's words, was stunned. He didn't understand what his highness wanted to do with those heaps of trash, but his strong professional ethics stopped him from questioning the king. He replied to Vijay with a concerning question.
"But, your Highness, where can we find such manpower to do this sort of dirty work? There are not a lot of people willing to do work like this."
Listening to Vinod's concern, Vijay replied non-commitally, "This is not a big problem. Make it known that the salary will be high for people doing this job. There have to be a lot of individuals who would be interested in earning some money for doing an easy, but dirty labour."
Vinod nodded and said, "As you wish, your highness."
Around the Vijayanagara Empire, notices and personnel had been sent from Emperor Vijay Devaraya to every corner of the city, towns, and villages. However, the notice left the people confused, as it stated that the king was collecting something produced from dung.
Rajappa, a common farmer in the empire, who saw the notice, asked, "What do you think His Highness is doing?"
A passerby who heard the question replied, "Who can know the thoughts of His Highness? But he has done a lot for us. It has to be something beneficial to us again."
Another passerby, listening to the duo's conversation, nodded his head in approval and chimed in, "That's right, that's right! And I also heard that the pay is very good, And the job is very easy, it's just that working in that dirty place makes the majority of people reject the task".
He said as he picked up his hoe and headed to the panchayat to sign up for the job.
Rajappa and the passerby, who had initially been skeptical but were now intrigued, thought, "Let's give it a try and quit if the work is too hard." With hesitation, they hurriedly followed the man who had headed to the panchayat to sign up for the job, wanting to join in completing the mission that Vijay had given. The three of them quickly took up the job and circled various compost piles in the village, diligently picking up the white substances on the walls of the compost, as the person from the capital had instructed. After successfully extracting saltpeter in their village, they moved on to neighbouring villages to continue their compost collection, excited that they had been paid promptly after collecting their first compost pile.
Similar cases occurred in various parts of the Empire where some lower-caste people seized the chance to earn their first pot of gold. Since the requirement was to work in compost piles, it was mainly the lower-caste and poor people who did the work. When they discovered how easy the task was compared to their daily labour, they became more enthusiastic and brought in more of their fellow people. Not only was the task fulfilled, but it was also completed in just a few days, resulting in the collection of at least 5 tons of saltpeter. Upon receiving this news, Vijay was elated that he had managed to collect more saltpeter than he had initially imagined. When he learned the reason behind this success, he felt happy for the lower-caste individuals who had earned their first pot of gold.
Now, the next step was obtaining another key ingredient, sulfur. Fortunately for him, the iron ore the Raya Iron Works uses is iron pyrite, which contains a large amount of sulfur. After processing this ore through the blast furnace, a substantial amount of slag was left behind. This slag could be used to extract sulfur from it. Vijay had already ordered Hey Ram to collect all the iron slag after the iron processing as this slag had many uses for it , which let to the slag to pile up to a mountain.
As for the last key ingredient, it was even simpler to procure – carbon, or in simpler terms, coal. With all the necessary ingredients procured, Vijay could now move forward with his plan.
He called for the Bhartiya Institute of Military Sciences to an emergency meeting. Due to the urgency of the situation, he had to promote a few promising people from the civil sciences to the Bhartiya Institute of Military Sciences. To ensure their loyalty and maintain confidentiality, he also relocated all their families to an isolated village under his control.
"Welcome, gentlemen, to this important meeting," Vijay began his speech. "I have called you all here to discuss the manufacturing of a crucial product that will be essential for the upcoming war. You may not be aware, but we are anticipating a foreign invasion of our lands in the next 6 months."
Upon hearing this information, everyone was stunned. They thought to themselves, "No wonder the king is in such a hurry," as they recalled the rapid procurement of saltpeter and the increased arms exports to the Maratha Empire. Some even pondered, "Maybe the Mughal Empire is attacking again," but these doubts remained unspoken as they all remained silent. Vijay wasn't surprised by their somewhat composed expressions, as in this era, war was a common occurrence. Every year, there was at least one major war happening somewhere in the subcontinent.
Vijay continued, "The country that will be invading us is not the Mughal Empire, as some of you may have guessed, but a foreign country called the Netherlands, located to the northwest of our country. They originate from halfway across the world."
A researcher in the room raised his hand and asked, "Your Highness if they are indeed from so far away, how are they able to attack us?"
Vijay noticed the doubt in the researcher's question as he explained, "Your doubt is correct; they may not be able to launch an all-out attack on us if they are so far away on another continent. However, they are a significant seafaring nation and one of the few major naval powers in the world. With this advantage, they have the ability to travel all over the world and conquer territories for profit. Unfortunately, we are their next target and they already have a stronghold in Lanka. Let me also inform you that they have managed to produce a long-range attack weapon called a cannon, which shoots iron balls weighing several kilograms. These cannons are capable of being effective hundreds of meters ahead of the firing point to destroy their enemies' fortifications and artillery. That's not all; I have recently received another piece of bad news that they can also produce a weapon that shoots small iron projectiles called bullets at incredible speeds to kill an enemy almost instantly."
"What? How is this possible..."
"..."
Panic and discussion broke out among everyone.
"Quiet," Vijay silenced them all with a word. "What I have called you here to do is to find out how to manufacture a substance I call gunpowder. What I have found out is that all the weapons our enemy uses are powered by gunpowder. Your task is to determine the optimal ratio for the most effective gunpowder."
After saying this, Vijay's assistant passed out documents that he had prepared earlier.
"This document contains the method for manufacturing gunpowder. All the required materials will be provided by the empire. Your task is to determine the optimal ratio of these materials for the highest effectiveness of the gunpowder."
Seeing them engrossed in studying the document and discussing it among themselves, Vijay nodded in approval and left the room. In all honesty, Vijay had access to the ratios required for gunpowder, but he wouldn't disclose them just yet. He needed to observe and choose a leader among these researchers for the Bharatiya Military Academy. With a capable leader, the research capabilities of the institute would improve, ensuring that the technology of the empire could continue to develop even after he passed away. He hurried to the government building because he still had a few more critical pieces to prepare for his defence against the Dutch. If, by the time he completed his other plans, the gunpowder wasn't finished, he would then disclose the ratios himself.
"On to the next task," he thought.
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