Chapter 64: Road construction
Vijayanagara Empire :
Off to the next task, Vijay convened a government meeting.
"Gentlemen, I hope you have all received the news about the upcoming disaster. We are currently in a very dangerous situation, but with all of your efforts and cooperation, we can get through this situation together. Fortunately, the Military Institute of Sciences and I have recently worked on the development of a substance called gunpowder, which is the main component in the production of weapons and ammunition. The research has a very high chance of success. With Vishnu's Grace, maybe it will be completed in the next few days. Now, the reason I have hosted this meeting is to discuss a very important matter with all of you. For the first topic, Finance Minister Jagannath Mohan, if we expand the army right now, how much strength can it support with the current existing treasury?"
Mohan, the newly appointed Finance Minister, replied, "Your Highness, due to the abundant grain harvest this year and the improvement in the livelihood of the people, we have a bit more surplus this year. We can currently double the size of our army without affecting any other projects that is ongoing."
Vijay nodded in satisfaction as he ordered, "Yogananda, at this instant, send out a recruitment order throughout the Empire to recruit 100,000 new recruits. Build temporary camps throughout the empire and provide them with intense training for the next 5 months. Let the veterans who are currently serving in our army train them 24 hours a day. If there is not enough manpower, recruit some instructors from the police and military academy to prepare them for war."
Yogananda, who heard the order was overjoyed, as a stronger army is what makes a military leader like him happier than anything else in this world, So he quickly got up and saluted. "As you wish, Your Highness."
Moving on to the next task, Vijay turned his attention to the new member of the council, the Minister of the Ministry of Transportation, Nirmal. Nirmal, the temporary minister of the Ministry of Transportation, was nervous under Vijay's intense gaze.
"Nirmal, this is an opportunity for you. This is a huge task that would require a considerable amount of resources from the empire. However, once you have completed this task perfectly, you will be promoted to a permanent position in the Ministry of Transportation."
Listening to Vijay's words, Nirmal became even more nervous, but he answered Vijay with determination, "I will not let your hopes down, Your Highness."
Vijay nodded and explained, "I hearby order the construction of Unified Standard roads in all parts of the Empire, connecting all the major cities and towns. Even the smallest village should be connected to the main road network of the Empire."
Everyone in the room was shocked by the king's words, as they all knew what type of roads were being built. Even though the raw materials were easy to find, it took a lot of labor and resources. They couldn't understand why the king would do such a thing. Even Yogananda couldn't figure out the uses of roads in war. The most intense reaction came from the Prime Minister Ravichandra Rao, the old man immediatly wanted to say something, but he kept quiet, knowing that it was not his place to question the king.
However, Mohan, the Minister of Finance, did not hold back. He got up immediately upon hearing those words.
"Your Highness, please reconsider. The Empire cannot bear this amount of expenditure with our current finances. If this project is started, the money we have in our treasury would not be enough. And if I may say, Your Highness, I don't see how this construction of the road network can be of any use in war."
*hehe*
Vijay, upon hearing Mohan's words, chuckled in amusement, understanding Mohan's concerns as he thought to himself. Maybe in this era, people wouldn't fully grasp the importance of a unified road system for a country. But he, from the future, know the significance of a unified road network. The Germans were the first to utilize their unified road network to the fullest extent and fight a war on multiple fronts against a stronger enemy, yet they held their ground. A major contributing factor for this was their unified road transportation system, which immensely helped with logistics in the war.
"Minister, you may have a misconception about the road network. Let's put it this way: our weapons are manufactured in the central region of the Empire, whereas our armies are scattered throughout the borders of the Empire. Our medicinal suppliers and farms are also scattered in various parts of the Empire, along with the supplies needed for the war."
Yogananda, the most experienced military general in the room, quickly understood Vijay's intentions as soon as he heard the First sentence. His face blossomed with a huge smile, as if he had seen a new world and was unable to contain his excitement. Paying no heed to him, Vijay continued.
"Now, let's put it this way. If the road network of the Empire connects every city, town, and village in the Empire, how fast do you think we can mobilize our armies, ammunition, weapons, medicines, clothes, armor, and every other necessary element for a war? And this is only one of the important aspects of building the unified road network. Imagine how fast news can be transported from one corner of the Empire to another. Imagine the convenience in trade and the revenue that would be generated by the construction of the road network. And the most important part is that with the implementation of a unified road network, local rulers like in Bangalore, wouldn't be able to form by taking advantage of the king being far away."
Listening to the explanation, everyone in the room suddenly understood the king's intention for the first time. It was like a mind opener, "War can also be played like this," they thought to themselves in amazement.
"That's right, why can't it happen?" they concluded as they banged the table in excitement.
But Mohan was still hesitant, "That may be so, Your Highness, but how can we pay the workers who work hard to construct the road? I think it is not possible to recruit them to work for free."
"Of course not, I would never allow that. I had thought about it before bringing up this subject. Don't we have a surplus harvest this year? Although we exported a large amount to the Maratha Kingdom, we still have hundreds of tons of surplus grain. Although a lot of peasants own land, there are still a large number of people who don't own any land or property in our Empire. We should be able to recruit them with a little amount of money and a large amount of grain. I think this could work, as grain is still used as hard currency between our citizens. Moreover, I have another idea," Vijay said as he side-eyed Yogananda with an evil grin.
Yogananda, sensing that something bad was about to happen, regarded the king with a wary expression.
Vijay explained further, "Don't we already have an army of a hundred thousand and the newly recruited recruits, which would bring our army size to 200,000 strong men? Make them build the roads in the empire during their training schedule. Building roads would be very helpful to build endurance for a long battle, along with the skills needed to construct emergency roads and bridges when in a foreign land. Moreover, don't we already pay the army? Just increase their food intake; that should be enough."
Yogananda was surprised by these words but still ended up nodding in acceptance, with a wry smile on his lips.
"So we have been reduced to coolies, huh?" he remarked as the recruitment of new personnel and the construction of the road network in Vijayanagar began.
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