Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

15th November 1659

Akhand Bharatiya Empire, Vijayanagar State, Kaveri Riverbank Industrial Zone

A carriage carrying the crest of the royal family entered the busy industrial zone with great fanfare, with the Royal Guards as an entourage by its side.

The people on the streets were surprised, as none of them knew that His Majesty was visiting the industrial zone today, but no one thought it was an impersonator, as no person dared to impersonate His Majesty Vijay devaraya.

When the carriage passed by, the people spontaneously stood on the footpath, cheering loudly. Factory managers, who were alerted by the commotion outside, soon stood on the street, greeting His Majesty enthusiastically.

Vijay, sitting in the carriage, was in deep thought. As of now, Vijay had no major duties to handle for at least a few weeks, so he wanted to solve the major problem that he had been pushing to a later date. It was about the military industry. Before the military economy was initiated due to the war against the Mogul Empire, the whole of Bharat had Raya Armoury as the only private military enterprise. However, as the war started and Raya Armoury was nationalized, there was no private military company left in the empire, only a state-owned one.

Vijay should have sorted this issue after the war ended, similar to all other companies that were privatized after switching to a capitalist economy, but due to the sensitive nature of the military, he kept hesitating.

He did not know if he should maintain state control of military enterprises, like the Soviet Union, which allowed it to become the world's leader in the military industry during its peak, or allow private military enterprises, like in the United States, which enabled it to prosper for a long time.

Fortunately, he came up with an idea a few days ago that took advantage of both examples, which he thought was quite promising.

---

Soon, the entourage of Vijay reached the military manufacturing industry section of the Kaveri Riverbank industrial zone. This was the zone where parts meant for the military were manufactured, so the security in this area was higher.

The number of people on the streets was drastically reduced, and instead of cheering loudly for Vijay like the employees working in civilian industries, the employees of the military industry just saluted the passing convoy with the utmost respect and soon went on with their duties.

"Welcome to the Kaveri Riverbank military-industrial zone, Your Majesty. It is my utmost honour to receive you," Charan Gowda said, performing a namaskar as he invited Vijay.

Vijay nodded and simply went into the office.

In the Kaveri Riverbank Industrial Zone, there were manufacturing plants from many industrial groups or companies, but the Kaveri Riverbank military-industrial zone only had a single office, and the rest of the area was filled with manufacturing plants. As all the plants were nominally subsidiaries of Raya Armoury, there was no need for multiple offices to waste important real estate in the most expensive real estate market in the Empire.

Charan Gowda was the director of the manufacturing unit in the military logistics department of the Empire Army. He held the rank of Major General in the military along with a nobility rank of Class Two Manthri. Currently, all the factories directly controlled by the government were under the management of Charan Gowda.

Charan Gowda humbly gave up his chair for Vijay and had his assistants provide His Majesty with beverages.

Vijay did not reject the offer since he was really parched from the travel.

Putting down the glass, Vijay looked at Charan Gowda. Charan immediately sat up straight and alert, understanding that His Majesty was about to discuss some important matters.

"How many manufacturing plants do you currently control?" Vijay questioned as he took up a piece of paper.

Charan Gowda was surprised. He was really not expecting His Majesty to come such a long way from the capital and ask him this question, but the expression on his face remained neutral.

Thinking about the question, he paused for a while and answered, "As the largest military manufacturing cluster, Kaveri Riverbank Industrial Zone has over 50 large-scale military manufacturing plants. Godavari Riverbank Industrial Zone has around 30, Tunga Riverbank Industrial Zone has around 28, Mahanadi Riverbank Industrial Zone has around 40, Krishna Riverbank Industrial Zone has around 42, and Narmada Riverbank Industrial Zone has around 44."

"Considering medium and small-scale manufacturing plants on the banks of various tributaries, there are an additional 425."

"And finally, considering the assembly plants located in various secret locations, you can add another 220 factories."

"Overall, I currently control 879 individual military factories spread across various clusters and zones throughout the southern part of the Empire, Your Majesty."

Vijay wrote down the data quickly and looked at Charan. "You haven't mentioned the plants directly under the Academy of Military Sciences, have you?" he asked.

Charan Gowda shook his head. "No, Your Majesty, of course not. I have only mentioned the military manufacturing plants under my direct control. As for the plants under the Academy of Military Sciences and subsidiaries of civilian industrial groups who act as third-party manufacturers for the military, I did not add them into the calculations."

"Good!" Vijay nodded, as he had no intention of privatizing top-secret manufacturing plants capable of producing rocket launchers and large-scale explosives.

"Charan, I have a task for you," Vijay kept his head down and was writing something on the paper.

"I promise to get the job done, Your Majesty," Charan Gowda declared.

Vijay looked up and handed Charan the doodle he had just drawn. "Your Majesty, this...?" Charan was confused, and the only thing he could see in the doodle was the southern part of the Empire, which was split into three different divisions.

"I need you to split the manufacturing plants under your command into three separate departments," Vijay said.

Charan Gowda's eyes bulged like saucers, and his mouth was wide open as he couldn't keep a straight face this time around. But he quickly recovered from his gaffe, "I am sorry you had to witness my unsightly appearance, Your Majesty, but can I know to what degree the separation should take place?" He said with an apologetic smile.

Vijay waved his hand as if to say he didn't mind. "The separation I want is at a very deep level."

"Only in name should these separate departments be part of the same unit, but in practice, they should be like separate independent companies."

"All three should have their own finance department, their own raw material acquisition channels, their own markets, their own patents, their own technologies, their own real estate, their own tax department, their own third-party supporting industry partnerships, their own machine tool service department, their own list of employees, their own cooperating civilian industries, and finally, their own accounts."

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Charan Gowda was shocked. His immediate instinct was to ask His Majesty why he wanted to sell away the military industries. But when the question was almost on the tip of his tongue, he stopped himself with what little political acumen he had.

'His Majesty is definitely planning something big with these industries,' he thought. 'I better not delve too much into the matter. But if His Majesty is doing what I think he is doing, what will happen to my position? Will I go back to the logistics department to serve as another executive?' He felt a little sad but quickly recovered.

"I promise to get the job done, Your Majesty," Charan Gowda declared.

Vijay nodded in satisfaction. 'What a smart guy,' he praised in his heart. He could tell that Charan Gowda had discovered something by his orders, but despite the discovery, which potentially put his job in jeopardy, he still decided to follow the orders. Vijay had a good impression of him.

"Work hard; you will have greater opportunities in the future," he said with a knowing smile on his face.

After inspecting the manufacturing plants, Vijay quickly left to visit the Raya Machinery Company.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"What's the status of the 5th Gen machine tools?" Vijay asked.

There were no researchers present in the factory, but the manager of the factory was still someone in the executive level of the company, so he knew the information.

"According to what I know, we have hit a bottleneck in some core mechanisms, Your Majesty. The researchers said that it would take anywhere from four months to one year to solve the problem."

Then, remembering something, he said with his face filled with anticipation, "However, I do remember them mentioning that the new generation machine tools would be a game-changer for the empire. They said that it was no longer a quantitative change but a qualitative one."

Vijay smiled happily. He knew that what the researchers mentioned as a qualitative change was nothing but a watershed in machine tools before the steam age.

Until now, there has been a quantitative change in machine tools every generation, with precision and manufacturing capabilities becoming a little better year by year. But now, if his guess was correct, the 5th Gen may just be able to produce tools precise enough to make some cool gadgets in his mind from the future. Even thinking about it made him smile unconsciously. Vijay was feeling giddy, remembering what he could make with high-precision springs, gears, seals, fasteners, valves, brushes, shouts, needles, pins, and rollers. Maybe he could finally come up with the bicycle.

Vijay was about to leave, but in the corner of his eye, he saw something he had not seen before. "Oh, this looks like a new production line. What is it for?" he asked.

The manager looked at the conveyor belt being tested and replied, "It's a new production line for Reddy Thermometer, Your Majesty."

"General Manager Bhaskaracharya Personally suggested we manufacture it."

Vijay nodded in understanding, but then he frowned. He looked at a corner of the factory where Generation 4 machine tools were being produced. He looked at the other side, where harvesters were being produced. He looked to another side, where lab equipment was being produced. Remembering that in another factory, even the improved Gutenberg Press was being manufactured.

'It's too messy,' he thought. 'Should I split apart Raya Machinery?'