NOVEL NEXT Chapter 1039: Bhairavi J1 Engine (1)
March 1687
Akhand Bharatiya Empire, Imperial Capital Bengaluru, Simhasana Bhavana
Flipping through the pages and reading the reports sent by Jagannath Mohan, Vijay couldn't help but smile contentedly. Deciding the fate of the former Ottoman territories, determining the future of Greece, choosing who to support in Egypt, monitoring the Ming Dynasty as it pushed westward into Central Asia, and countless other matters, his hands had already been full, with so many problems and so little time.
Yet even amidst all these responsibilities, looking at the financial reports sent by Jagannath Mohan felt like a brief respite. It gave him a chance to breathe, to stand firmly on the solid ground of the Bharatiya Empire, which grew stronger with each passing day, and to think more about his next move so that future troubles could be avoided.
With a grunt, Vijay got up, stretched his hands and feet, and walked to the Emperor's office.
Ganesh was sitting amidst a mountain of documents, with his clothes dishevelled and expression listless. His over two dozen employees were no different either, their eyes bloodshot and droopy, with some even looking like they hadn't gone home for the last week or so.
Vijay felt a little guilty because he hadn't given the people at the Emperor's office a proper break in over a month, especially because of the matters in Europe. But his face soon returned to normal.
"Your majesty!!"
His entry into the Emperor's office was not immediately recognised, at least not by the people who were working like moving zombies, but when the exclamation of Ganesh was heard, everyone dropped what they were doing and got up, startled.
Ganesh's face was full of sweat, even the manually operated fans in the ceiling unable to alleviate the heat, "Your majesty, there was no need for you to take such trouble to come personally, I would have been right in front of you at your summons."
"Hehe." Vijay shook his head, "Don't worry about it, I was also feeling a little stuffy in the office. Besides, moving my legs and feet once in a while is also good." He waved his hands dismissively and gestured, "Alright, forget about it, give me the news that has been accumulated in the last month."
Ganesh immediately realised what his majesty was talking about, so without any hesitation, he got up, walked to a safe, inserted the key, and took out a bunch of documents, all sealed with SS classified labels.
"I will escort you, your majesty."
Vijay smiled and shook his head, "There is no need, after finishing the work, have everyone take a break, and you take a break yourself."
"Ugh!"
"Thank you, your majesty."
Holding on to the documents with one arm, Vijay waved goodbye and returned to his office. He went through the documents one by one. Most of the documents were about who would be succeeding the commanders in both army and navy, as well as public intelligence reports on who is likely to win the elections for the next prime minister of the empire, now that Vinod is about to step down.
He found a few surprises in the report, especially in the prime minister candidate, but it was not too out of the ordinary, so it was relatively easy for him to go through all the documents and write down subsequent orders for his subordinates to handle.
However, when he got to the end of the document, he was pleasantly surprised. It was actually a report from his son, Vedant.
Suddenly, he clicked his tongue, annoyed. In the midst of all the things that were going on for the last few months, he had completely forgotten about the prototype his son said would be ready by the end of 1686. Looking at when the report was submitted, it was two months ago, January of 1687.
'Tsk!'
Without hesitation, he called for Kattappa and set off to Lake Chilka, the location of one of the branches of the Mobility Labs.
---
One thing Vijay had quickly become accustomed to was the train network spanning most major cities in the southern part of the empire, and due to this network, he was able to travel from the imperial capital Bengaluru to Bhubaneswar in only three days, whereas before it used to take at least two weeks.
His son Vedant was naturally there to pick him up at the railway station, but surprisingly enough, Hey Ram was also present.
"How's your research going, Hey Ram?"
Hey Ram immediately became excited, "Your majesty, His Highness Vedant is really amazing. The engine he built really gave me a lot of inspiration. Using the technology he developed, I am confident in doubling the power of the next iteration of the Balwaan engine."
"Oh! Is it because of the dual cylinder technology?"
"That is one aspect, Your Majesty. The other aspect is the material. Recently, Mr Jaswant managed to form an alloy by combining the previous Chamundi FSC steel with his own Loha MV steel, creating a new steel he named Chamundi FSC Mark 2 alloy. It is over 60% stronger than the previous Chamundi FSC, with heat resistance reaching 232 to 260°Tapans during continuous operations. It also has a pressure capability of 7.49 atm, an increase of over 25% compared with the Chamundi FSC."
"And most importantly, it is extremely corrosion-resistant, matching the corrosion resistance capabilities of bronze. To add icing on the cake, it exhibits minimal expansion under extreme temperatures. It's highly resistant to fatigue, can be precision-engineered with tolerances of 0.001 inches, and allows a mirror-finish bore capability that reduces friction. Its weight is also slightly lower than the previous Chamundi FSC. I must also note that its quality is remarkably consistent throughout the alloy, which leads to its production failure rate being lower than that of Chamundi FSC, making it far more reproducible."
"Using this magical metal, I am sure to make a more powerful and more efficient engine, despite sitting at a similar stature to the previous engines."
Vijay's eyebrows were raised. He never knew such a development took place in the empire, but to be fair, he had not seen the development in the Metallurgical field for a long time. But he could not be blamed; achievements in metallurgy are extremely slow. The last time something major happened was over five years ago when the Chamundi FSC steel was invented.
But hearing the parameters, he was really shocked. Could this metal really match the capabilities of high-carbon steel of the future? " Jaswant, is this the same person who came up with Loha MV-1 along with Agni?"
"Yes, that's him, your majesty."
Vijay let out a sigh of admiration, "It looks like the Dharma Award winner in Metallurgy this year has no suspense."
Hey Ram and Vedant both nodded, admiration clearly visible on their faces. They had achieved so much, yet their appreciation for others excelling in fields they themselves were not skilled in had not diminished.
Especially Hey Ram. He could be considered one of the metallurgical experts in the empire as well, but after becoming embroiled in machinery, his focus had completely shifted.
Still, no one would dare question his expertise, and even he was displaying such admiration; that alone was enough to demonstrate just how brilliant this Jaswant truly was.
The journey was long as they travelled from Bhubaneswar to Chilika Lake, so in order to pass the time, Vijay learnt about how Vedant was handling his kingdom.
Truth be told, Vedant didn't want to be a king of any kingdom, and neither did his daughter Tanvika. But after he came up with the sequential inheritance law in the family, they had no choice but to accept the position. Because even if they did not want to inherit the throne of the Bharatiya Empire, they at least wanted to give their descendants a chance. Besides, even if Vedant and Tanvika did not want to fight with their brother and his descendants for the throne, Vijay himself would have forced them to accept it. After all, to inherit the position of the patriarch, more options meant the merrier.
So, coming back to the topic, Vedant had consulted several of his loyal retainers, like Bhaskaracharya, Ganesh, Kattappa, and others, and appointed the person who had been trained by the royal family to serve as his contact in his kingdom in his absence.
Vijay frowned upon learning this, feeling that this was not the way to rule a kingdom. Placing full trust in subordinates made it extremely easy to be usurped. Even he, after achieving so much, did not dare to fully trust any of his subordinates, be it Ganesh or Bhaskaracharya; he always kept a few cards close to his chest. But thinking about his son's disposition, he could only helplessly shrug and give up. Besides, he would still be there to deter any malicious thoughts, wouldn't he? After all, he still felt healthy and well.
Since they were on the topic of the titles of the kings and the kingdoms, Vijay suddenly remembered something and looked at Heyram, "Hey Ram, you also had an opportunity to become a king of a kingdom. Are you really sure it is wise for you to give it up?"
That's right. Hey Ram, as the only titled king among the intellectual community, he had an opportunity similar to all the kings in the military to gain his own kingdom. But when he was asked to choose a frontier, he actually refused the offer and opted to stay as a nominal titled king within the empire.
Heyram smiled and shrugged, "I'm not interested in ruling some kingdom, your majesty. Besides, it's a huge waste of time. I don't want to spend all day thinking about how to manage various things."
"But even if it is not for you, you could have taken the position for your daughters."
"I could have, your majesty, but I observed them, and they don't seem to be interested in becoming some sort of queens either."
Vijay immediately became silent and did not comment any longer. Truth be told, constitutionally speaking, Heyram is currently the most powerful person in the empire after his son Agni, Vedant, and Tanvika, because he is the only remaining titled king of the empire. So if anything were to happen to his family, then according to the constitution, Heyram would immediately become the emperor of the Bharatiya Empire.
Thankfully, the scenario was highly unlikely.