NOVEL NEXT Chapter 1029: 4th Gen engines
October 1686
Simhasana Bhavana, Imperial Capital Bengaluru, Akhand Bharatiya Empire
Looking at the treaty conditions put forward in front of him, Vijay was in contemplation for a long time. The conditions of the treaty were simple enough, without containing any discussions about tariff plans or any other important thing that had to be discussed, but he wouldn't have it any other way.
Vijay knew that with the actions taken by the Bharatiya Empire, it had already firmly planted itself as the number one enemy of the Western World. The current Bharatiya Empire is like the USSR for the Europeans in the 20th century, and China for the Americans in the 21st, so he already expected to see a large number of retaliatory actions taken against the Bharatiya Empire directly and indirectly for the foreseeable future. Hence, a basic treaty with few conditions but clear regulations is much more valuable than a comprehensive treaty that would be torn up within a year.
As for why he is so eager for stability, it was because it was not yet the time for the world war, which Vijay could already vaguely see the tale of. The West was developing at a rapid rate, and although, thanks to the existence of the Bharatiya Empire, whose strength alone was enough to counterbalance and rival the might of all European nations combined, the East was also advancing quickly.
However, the European nations inherently had better foundations than the eastern nations, so if they advanced further, the Bharatiya Empire could be expected to face trouble. And in this situation, it was inevitable that conflicts would once again arise for resources, and resources were a zero-sum game.
Apart from Africa, no other continent in the world was left behind. If Bharat wanted to secure its resources in these regions, it could not do so alone. The Ming dynasty had been restored, yet it would take time before it regained its full battle effectiveness.
The Southeast Asian nations were still in the early stage of accumulation, while the frontiers of the Bharatiya Empire in Suvarna Dhwipa were also developing rapidly. For now, vast amounts of resources were being poured into building these countries, but their true battle strength had not yet taken shape.
Give it ten to twenty years, and Vijay was certain the East would become the new West of the world. In such a situation, he would not be shaken; even if all the European countries united to form a coalition army and navy, he would dare to face them head-on.
Also, since Vijay had already anticipated the inevitability of the situation, he followed the examples of the British in his last life and set up various frictions between different nations. He stopped the support to Peter as soon as he conquered the Russian Empire so that his brother Dmitry could be left alive. Although Dmitry conquering the eastern side of the Balkans and establishing a Slavic Byzantine kingdom was unexpected, it was a pleasant surprise for Vijay, because now, even though Dmitry knows that it was he who was behind all this, he would still place his hatred on his own brother.
The same goes for Leopold I. Even though he would know that it was the emperor of the Bharatiya Empire who was responsible for the disintegration of his empire, his enemy would mostly be focused on Ferdinand. As for Ferdinand and Peter, although their dependence on the Bharatiya Empire might have decreased a lot and even a hint of alienation is formed, since they are smart people and could see the chess game Vijay had played, they could not openly oppose the Bharatiya Empire now that they have risen to the throne.
Not to mention, most of their weapons are still from the Bharatiya Empire. Their only hope for self-reliance is to slowly develop military technologies and replace the Bharatiya weapons with their own. Until then, they can only persist.
The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was also left with no other choice but to seek the support of the Bharatiya Empire, due to its situation of being surrounded by Germans and Russians. Even if they knew it was the Bharatiya Empire that was responsible for this mess, they would have no choice but to ask Vijay for help.
And these were only some of the straightforward relations he had created. There were many intricate relations hidden underneath. Overall, Vijay made it so that European countries would be in constant conflict and miss the chance to catch up with the East.
But Vijay was not completely convinced that his plan would work. Historically, although constant conflicts had no net positive impact on any country, it was completely opposite for Europeans in the early times. It was due to their conflicts that they came up with better ways of killing each other, and in the end, pointed these killing tools at the rest of the world. In a way, Europe used conflict as a whetstone to sharpen itself and then turn those weapons against the rest of the civilisations.
Vijay did not know if the same thing would happen this time as well. What he was hoping for was the situation in Europe to turn into something similar to the situation in Africa, or the situation in the Middle East in his last life, where constant war continued to devastate the economic and political landscape of the two regions of the world.
It was due to this hesitation that Vijay found it hard to sign the treaty, but, thinking that he was left with no other choice, because he had already laid down the game beforehand, he shook his head, picked up his pen, and then, with a determined stroke, finally signed the treaty.
He says signing the treaty, but in reality, it was simply a permission slip allowing Moshe Goldstein, the president of the Kingdom of Israel, to sign the treaty and officialise the agreement.
Signing the agreement, Vijay let out a sigh of relief and got up, combing his silver hair to the side. He then finally left the Royal Palace and set off to Nagpur. Heyram and Vedant had invited him to show him something; apparently, they had come up with a new version, or a new generation, of the Balwan engine.
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Arriving at Nagpur in a secret mobility labs research base, Vijay was heartily welcomed by Heyram, his son, and a group of researchers.
After the formalities, such as singing a song for him, putting a shawl on him, putting a garland, and other things, he was finally taken to the laboratory to look at the new generation of Balwan engines.
Coming to the laboratory, he was surprised. Looking at the engine, it looked much sleeker than before, although in size it was not much different from the Balwan B-1, B-2, and B-3 engines. It appeared much more thought-out, and its layout had changed a lot. There was no longer a crank wheel the size of the whole locomotive sticking to the side. Instead, it seemed to be replaced by a slot where a handle could be put, and this handle could be turned to start the engine.
Not only that, he could see that the boiler had gotten bigger. The material of the combustion chamber had once again changed. It looked like everything was packed in a much tighter fashion, and generally, it felt much heavier than the first three generations.
Of course, these were all his simple assumptions, so he asked Heyram to explain.
"This is the Balwan B-4 engine, Your Majesty. It is a large step ahead of the previous versions. It is currently capable of handling over 60 PSI of pressure in the combustion chamber, thanks to the newly developed heat-resistant and pressure-resistant steel called the Chamundi FSC.
It is also capable of outputting over 22% thermal efficiency, as opposed to 17 or 18% before. Its cylinder is two inches larger than the earlier variant, and its piston stroke is 0.5 feet larger. As for its power output, it produces over 60 horsepower at maximum and 55 horsepower at a stable pace, a huge 60% leap in power from the previous generations.
Its torque output has reached over 8,500 khand-metre, an increase of 40% from the previous generation. Its crankshaft speed has also increased by 30%, bringing its maximum RPM to 50. Its weight has increased by 20%, now at 12 tonnes, but considering the 50% to 60% increase in power, we feel that it is worth it."
"Ultimately, Your Majesty, installing this B-4 engine onto a locomotive, you can expect the locomotive to have a longer range, faster speed, and higher carrying capacity."
Vijay was very happy with the improvements. The improvement from the first to second, and second to third, was large, but the improvement from the third to fourth was the biggest leap yet. With the reliability of the engines improving, he could now allow the locomotives to navigate in harsher weather, like in sweltering deserts or freezing Himalayas.
"It's an excellent improvement, well done, Heyram. You as well, Vedant."
"Oh, by the way, I'm looking forward to the result of your experiment," Vijay said with a smile.
Vedant was caught off guard, but, realising that his father was talking about his research on the Bhairavi engine, he smiled. "I'm running trials for it, Father. If there is no problem with its working, I should be able to present you the working prototype by the end of the year."
Vijay's lips upturned, "I will be looking forward to it then."