Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

14th February 1680

In the blink of an eye, two months had passed since the establishment of the Kingdom of Israel, or rather the Republic of Israel, since it is not actually a kingdom but a democracy, with the people getting to vote for their president. Unfortunately, Joseph Oppenheimer couldn't take on the post as the first president as he passed away, but his second son, Ezekiel Oppenheimer, ended up benefiting from his father's contribution and became the first president of the Republic of Israel.

In fact, Moshe Goldstein could have become the president, as he was the richest Jew in the empire after Joseph, but he refused to emigrate to Israel and decided to stay back in the empire.

Moshe was not the only one who made such a decision. Most of the wealthy Jewish businessmen in the empire, those who had risen to the ranks of the top one percent by building their businesses from the ground up, were unwilling to abandon the empire's excellent business conditions, stability, and opportunities for a newly formed and war-torn country with no immediate prospects for commerce.

Most of them still sympathised with their fellow brothers in Europe, but it was not to the point of throwing away their careers and jumping into uncertainty and risk. Even if there were people like that, it was only a minority, and the majority were rational thinkers. So Vijay decided on Ezekiel Oppenheimer, the next best person whom everyone would recognise.

---

It was a hot and sunny day in Bengaluru, almost like summer had come early. People started to put on their summer clothes, and the schoolchildren began to prepare for their final exams before the two-month-long summer holidays. The Bharatiya Premier League had started, and like always, it began to hog the attention of the nation. The campaigns for the election also kicked off, with the year-end summit and five-year plan completion summit right around the corner.

1680 is quite an eventful year for the Bharatiya Empire, in more ways than being the year where the election would be held or the year where the five-year plan would be completed, because this would also be the year where the trains would be introduced to the empire on a large scale.

And for this exact reason, Vijay had called for a meeting with the Minister of Transportation, Nirmal.

" Nirmal, I want you to establish a new department on the level of the National Highway Authority of Bharat to manage trains across the empire "

Nirmal was a little taken aback. He did not expect His Majesty to actually value the train so much that he would put the department to manage the trains on the same level as the NHAB, the most important department currently in the Ministry of Transportation. But he was happy nonetheless, since his power only increased.

" As you wish, Your Majesty, I will get it done "

"Good, but keep in mind, I don't need politicians who are not familiar with trains or railways to work in this department and make decisions. Promote someone who is a mechanical engineer within the department. They should be able to understand the vision of the trains better," Vijay carefully warned. "I don't want someone who does not understand how a train works to take the position and treat it like an elephant carriage. These two are completely different things."

Nirmal took a big gulp and nodded, " As you wish, Your Majesty, and if you agree, I'm willing to send a team of my best subordinates who have a degree in engineering to study in depth about this new train "

Vijay nodded with satisfaction, " Very good, you do that "

After Nirmal left, Vijay put in a word with Ganesh to summon Bhaskaracharya.

In the meantime, he still had to decide how the locomotives would be manufactured. Currently, the locomotive is not being mass-produced. The Balvaan B-2 engine is being handmade in the mobility labs, while the body and other parts are simply manufactured by Sri Ranga Industrial Tools in its free time.

But this cannot go on; a laboratory is for experimenting, not for manufacturing. Although this is not a rule that is set in stone, he does not want to dilute the goal of the mobility labs by designating mass production to it.

Vijay stroked his chin as he had several options he could choose from. If he wanted the maximum profits, then he could monopolise the complete manufacturing of the train, but if he wanted the train to become as widespread as possible in the shortest span of time, then he would have to let other players participate in this feast as well.

He wanted to see what Agni would decide, but unfortunately, the guy was busy with pumping out those steamships that had become ubiquitous in the great southern Bharatiya Canal. The appearance of these steamships has completely eliminated the need for many complicated mechanisms that had to increase the water level and lower it when the ships had to sail forward.

Additionally, the canned foods are now being sold to other European countries like the Holy Roman Empire, Brandenburg-Prussia, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Federation of Italy, and other countries. He looks after those as well.

'Oh well,' he finally shrugged and made a decision himself.

" Your Majesty, Sir Baskaracharya is here "

" Let him in "

" Long live Your Majesty "

" Sit down, Baskar "

" Thank you, sire "

" Bhaskar, the Power Labs are currently a subsidiary of the Raya Research Institute, aren't they? "

" Yes, Your Majesty, it is "

Vijay nodded. This was the place where he had gaslit the entire world into believing that steam engines were being developed, but now he was thinking of making it a reality, because he planned to keep the mobility labs where Heyram worked under wraps for a long time. Mobility Labs would still be the laboratory responsible for researching the steam engines, but Power Labs could become the manufacturer of these engines. After all, the original purpose of Power Labs was to research engines, and it was indeed responsible for the construction of the first Kaseri engine.

But for that to happen, he would have to restructure the company a little.

Organising his thoughts, Vijay finally spoke.

"Right now, Raya Mobility is part of the Raya Heavy Industries Group. What you need to do is separate Raya Mobility from Heavy Industries and create a new entity called the Raya Mobility Group. Under this group, we will have Raya Mobility itself, the carriage manufacturing company, and, in the future, the company for manufacturing other transportation vehicles.

Mobility Labs will stay as the research institute, but it will operate independently from Raya Mobility. Also, move Power Labs from the Raya Research Institute to the Raya Mobility Group. Power Labs will still handle engine research, but for now, its focus should shift to developing mass-production methods for the engines. Then, create a new company, Raya Power Company, which will be solely responsible for manufacturing the steam engines.

So, in short, the Raya Mobility Group will include Raya Power Company, Power Labs, Raya Mobility, and Mobility Labs."

" You got all that? "

Baskaracharya wrote everything in a notebook and nodded, " I have, Your Majesty, please rest assured, I will get it done. "

" Perfect, we will not be responsible for building the locomotive, hand over this job to the private sector. We will put all of our resources into mass-producing the Balwan B-2 engines. "

Baskaracharya stopped writing as he looked up in hesitation, " But, Your Majesty, no company in the private sector has the capabilities to manufacture the locomotive. Maybe if we take the job of assembling the locomotive and hand over the task of manufacturing smaller parts, it can be done, but I'm not sure if any one company is capable of assembling it entirely. "

" Hmmm. " What Baskaracharya said did make sense, but honestly, he did not want to waste his time manufacturing things that are not critical, so he quickly came up with a solution.

" All the patents for the construction of the locomotive will be sold to the private sector as a package, and I will allow researchers under Hayram to be hired as consultants. "

" With their help, it should not be too difficult for the locomotive to be built. "

" As you wish, Your Majesty. "

---

The reorganisation did not take too long, especially since all the companies were wholly owned assets of the royal family. It was like moving a file from one folder to another in the same drive; it was simply too easy, but what was not was finding suitable manufacturers to hand over the responsibility of manufacturing the trains. So Bhaskaracharya shortlisted a few top-ranking manufacturing companies in the empire and sent them invitations for an auction.

" Welcome, ladies and gentlemen. Without further ado, I will get straight to the point. I am sure that everyone has seen the power of the new locomotive. This is an invention made by Sir Heyram, His Highness Vedanth, and His Majesty the Emperor himself. "

" His Majesty is looking to replace all the elephant-drawn carriages in the empire with these machines, which are called locomotives. "

" His Majesty's Raya Power Company will be responsible for manufacturing the main engine of the locomotive, but in order for the locomotive itself to be constructed, His Majesty is looking for partners to partner with. "

" So there are currently five spots available. "

" And these spots will be auctioned off, but the auction is completely different from the auctions all of you might have seen. "

" In this auction, you will not be stating how much you are willing to pay for the patents and technical support, but you will be stating how much you are willing to invest in the construction of factories to build the locomotives. "

" Your Excellency, what about the compensation then? "

" Good question, and the answer is simple. Didn't I say that the royal family would be partnering with you? Then it's obvious that the royal family will get a certain stake in the company. "

" How much is the stake, sir? "

" Well, it depends on multiple factors. If you're willing to invest a lot of money, say, over 30 million varaha, then the stake His Majesty requires is naturally less. But if your investment is less, then the stake is naturally higher. "

" Also, these are not the only factors; the technical ability of your company also comes into play. So overall, the amount of stake His Majesty can take as compensation will depend on the amount of money you are willing to invest in manufacturing and your own technical abilities. If a company has excellent technical abilities and excellent funds, then we will choose you. Even if the funds are a little lacking, but the technical ability is excellent, we will still choose you over other companies willing to invest heavily but with no technical ability, albeit with a higher stake in the name of His Majesty. "

" With that being said, let's start the auction. "