Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

Setting off from Nagpur, Vijay did not directly return home but went straight to the Simhasana Bhavana and called a meeting with the director of Bharatiya Internal Pragya, Selvan.

Selvan was originally not in the capital, but since Vijay sent him a summons while he was in Nagpur, the moment he reached the capital, Selvan was already back and waiting for vijay's summons.

Vijay, responding to the greeting with a gesture, asked Selvan to sit down. He swiftly went through a bunch of papers and quickly pulled one out.

"A new invention has been made in the Bharatiya Empire. This is a ground-breaking invention that will change the way everything works in this society, and it is not an exaggeration to say that this one invention alone can set the empire on a path of accelerated development for decades to come. Here, take a look."

Selvan took the paper almost reflexively, but even before he read what was written in it, he was surprised by the claim His Majesty made, an invention that could put the empire on a fast track of development and push its technology a decade into the future. Not that he was doubting His Majesty, but he knew how hard the claim was to be achieved, especially in the current situation where the empire's technology is already decades ahead of any other nation in the world in multiple fields.

The Devaraya Atmospheric Steam Engine, the Kabbina Converter, the latest larger-capacity and more efficient blast furnaces, bicycles and its three-wheeled variants, mechanical looms, the Two-Revolution Printing Press, and the latest 5.5 generation machine tools have all caused drastic changes in their respective industries—be it the mining industry, iron and steel industry, personal transportation or rail transportation industry, textile industry, media industry, and finally, the most important, manufacturing industry—pushing all of them to a level where they are already years ahead of even the most technologically advanced competitors of the West.

Now His Majesty is saying that on top of this, a new invention has been made that can push the productivity even further. Although he trusts His Majesty, he couldn't help but take a look at the letter with a pinch of skepticism. But when his eyes were laid on the content, they couldn't help but widen in surprise. Oh boy, was he wrong.

"This is incredible, Your Majesty," Selvan was shocked once he realised how big of an innovation the Kesari Engine was. He is a layman; he knows nothing about mechanics, machinery, or anything even close, but even he could tell that once this machine, which can be used to run other machines, is sold to the market, absolute mayhem will definitely occur. Industrial companies, which were constrained to using animal, human, or water power to run their machines, can now simply burn coal.

The empire might lack anything, but coal is not one of them; there are boatloads of it in Gangapuri, Maurya Nagari, Palanagari, Gupta Nagari, and other places. Not to mention, this gives the freedom for private business owners to set up manufacturing plants closer to the raw material points or transportation hubs, not being reliant on the power generated by flowing rivers. Large-scale enterprises that had no choice but to settle on the banks of various tributaries or rivers can now completely ignore the constraints imposed by geography. It will be like adding armour to an elephant.

To the exclamation of Selvan, Vijay simply shrugged. "It is good that you can see the importance of this machine. Its manufacturing is being planned this very moment as we speak. A hundred of such machines should be manufactured by Sri Ranga Industrial Tools in a month or two. Nearly half of the manufactured machines will be allocated to the three military hegemons of the empire: the Himalayan Group, Dynasty Corporation, and the Mahabalee Enterprises. Raya Heavy Industries Group will be allocated 20 Kesari Engines, while the remaining 30 will be allocated to the core industries in the private sector."

"By the end of 1673, or even sooner, the world should be aware of the new weapon of productivity at our disposal. Allies and enemies alike will try every means to get hold of one of the Kesari Engines or its technological drawings."

"And as you expect, I don't want that to happen."

Vijay looked at Selvan with a serious expression.

"Here's where you come in," he said, handing over a document that contained a lot of content—it was almost like a book. "You will lead Operation Maya. This is a long-term operation that will go on for several years, with the main goal being to spread propaganda throughout the empire to ensure that not even our own people know how the Kesari engine is manufactured."

"More importantly, in the document I have given you, there is information about a new project to produce more derivatives of the Kesari engine. It's classified research at the same level as the Kesari engine. Under no circumstances should the knowledge of this research be compromised, especially since the security for this research will not be as intense as it was for the Kesari research."

"The core objective of Operation Maya is to direct all the attention of the world towards the power labs under the Raya Research Institute, which was responsible for the research of the Kesari engine, so that no one will suspect the mobility labs under Raya Mobility, which will be the lab undertaking the new research."

"The power labs are like a smoke screen, hiding the mobility labs."

Selvan listened patiently and quickly understood the gist of what he had to do. "Leave it to me, Your Majesty. I will oversee the operation and make sure that it is completed properly."

"However, Your Majesty, in order for Operation Maya to work, I am afraid the power labs should have some actual content in it. If it is simply an empty shell, it will not be able to fool anyone. Also, Your Majesty, if the mobility labs attract public attention by being too ostentatious, no amount of propaganda can stop it from drawing unwanted attention."

Vijay shook his head. "Don't worry, that will not happen. Although the core research of the Kesari engine is no longer taking place in the power labs, it's still an important research institute. Prominent scientists in the empire will still be invited to research improvements based on the current engine. As for the mobility labs, apart from Heyram, who will occasionally appear in the media, no one else in the lab will say anything. At most, occasional updates will be given about unrelated research to avoid drawing any attention."

He had already planned for this. The power labs would take charge of refining Heyram's initial design. Though Heyram did an excellent job building the Kesari engine, the project's interdisciplinary nature meant he couldn't fully perfect certain aspects like hydraulics, pressure management, and other technical details. These could be improved upon by the experts brought into the power labs. This approach would not only draw widespread attention, effectively masking the more critical work, but also allow the enhanced knowledge to be fed back to the mobility labs, accelerating the development of Kesari engine variants.

As for the cover Vijay had chosen for the mobility labs, it couldn't be simpler: a new type of carriage—a lighter version of the luxurious model that Raya Mobility is currently manufacturing, which only the ultra-rich in the empire could afford.

Essentially, his plan is to take fool's gold, hide it in a secret location, and spread treasure maps all over the empire while the real gold is hidden right beneath everyone's noses. He came up with this plan mainly because if he tried to pull something similar to the Kesari research, spies would definitely sense that something was up. So he devised this strategy—a strategy of deception written in Chanakya's memoirs, which were translated from the Nalanda ruins.

---

A few hours later, Minister of Trade, Commerce and Industry Rajesh, as well as the Prime Minister of the Empire, Vinod, were sitting in front of Vijay. Neither ministers understood nor had any clue as to why they were summoned, but still, they remained silent, waiting for His Majesty to speak.

Vijay did not mince his words and got directly to the point. "Rajesh, I'm going to split the Ministry of Trade, Commerce and Industry. From now on, it will be the Ministry of Trade and Commerce and the Ministry of Industry. Would you like to stay as the Minister of Trade and Commerce, or would you like me to appoint you to the Ministry of Industry?"

Rajesh's mouth was agape. Even Vinod raised his eyebrows in surprise. He was not expecting a new ministry to be formed when he came to the Simhasana Bhavana today. Not to mention, this new ministry did not appear out of nowhere like all the other ministries, but it was, in a sense, the promotion of the Department of Industry within the Ministry of Trade, Commerce and Industry. This never happened.

It took a few seconds for Rajesh to calm down. He had been the Minister of Trade, Commerce and Industry for more than a decade—he wouldn't let his emotions get out of control for too long. Hearing His Majesty's irrefutable tone and seeing the expression that made it clear there was no room for manoeuvring, Rajesh didn't even attempt to ask whether the split could be avoided. Instead, assuming the split was inevitable, he asked a question he believed was very important.

"Your Majesty, this new ministry, in its power, will it reach the same level of importance as the ministry I am in charge of?"

Vijay thought about it for a moment and responded, "Initially, no. Due to the split, both the Ministry of Trade and Commerce and the Ministry of Industry will be weakened. But," an intriguing smile appeared on his face, "huge changes are coming, changes that will drastically reshape the traditional way of life in the empire. And when these changes arrive, the Ministry of Industry will be directly rejuvenated and will rise to heights never seen before. As for the Ministry of Trade and Commerce, although not directly impacted, the upcoming shifts will inspire many more people to engage in business. It's even possible that the financial markets become more prosperous. So, in my opinion, the level of power held by the Ministry of Trade and Commerce and the Ministry of Industry will eventually become almost equal."

Pausing for a bit, Vijay immediately noticed the doubts and curious gazes of Rajesh and Vinod. They wanted to know more about the so-called massive changes in the empire, but Vijay did not disclose anything to them. "The changes I mentioned are not too far off. In a month or two, everyone will get to know them. Just be patient."

Coming back to his senses, Rajesh thought about it for a while and finally made a decision in his heart. "I choose to stay in the Ministry of Trade and Commerce, Your Majesty." Since the position of both ministries would be equal, he would stay behind in his current post, especially since he was more inclined towards finance than industry.

Vijay had been expecting something like this, but he still suggested one last time, "Are you sure? Because if you switch, you can avoid the elections this year entirely, as I have the right to appoint new ministers to the new ministries as I see fit."

Rajesh hesitated a little, but he was still determined. "While that may be the case, Your Majesty, everyone in the empire knows that if a minister is not competent enough, he will be replaced by someone else. I know myself—I can say that no one in the empire is as good as me when it comes to trade and finance. But when it comes to industry, I'm still a bit behind. So, even though I can take advantage of this incident and switch ministries, the probability of me getting reelected drastically reduces. As for the elections this year, Your Majesty, I have already given an excellent report to the people. I believe that they will be fair and judge for themselves."

Vijay smiled. "Very good. It's admirable that you have such foresight."

"Thank you for your kind words, Your Majesty."

Turning his attention toward the Prime Minister, Vijay handed over several books.

"Over ten years ago, I went on a trip throughout the empire and decided what the core driver of each state would be. Details about that are in these documents. Until now, we could do nothing with this information, but soon it will be useful. So I want you to set up a new department in the empire wholly responsible for managing special economic zones throughout the nation. You can communicate with the chief ministers of various states and have them set up something similar in their governments as well. The state-level department will be subordinate to the imperial-level department."

"For now, everything will be under the direct management of the imperial-level department, and the state-level department will simply handle auditing and other responsibilities. But in the future, if viable growth models come out from proposals made by the state-level departments, then the state-level departments can take the managerial role while the imperial-level department can take the auditing and inspection role."

"You have, let's see..." Vijay closed his eyes and thought for a while, "until the end of the year to get it done."

Vinod humbly took over the documents and promised to fulfil the orders.