NOVEL NEXT Chapter 1079: Invitations sent!
18th February 1689
Tokugawa Tenobu and the other delegates from Nippon were preparing to leave the capital and begin their journey home when they received an official invitation from the Government of the Bharatiya Empire to participate in the 1692 Olympics. When the delegates understood what this Olympic business was about, they looked at each other in surprise. "We are also invited?" Tokugawa asked with disbelief.
"Haha, yes, why not?" Jaishankar shrugged. "This competition is meant to bring the world together; how could we forget about our new friends?"
The sense of gratitude Tokugawa felt at that moment was immeasurable. Not only did the Bharatiya Empire allow them to import industrial products and raw materials from the Bharatiya Empire and from the vassals under it without any extra taxation or premium, but it now even offered to let Nippon join in as well.
"Thank you, Jaishankar-san, we are very grateful." Tokugawa and the Japanese delegates bowed to show their respect.
"There is no need for all this," Jaishankar quickly waved his hand. "We only did what we are supposed to, but," he suddenly paused, then, hesitating for a moment, he spoke out, "we do need a little assistance from your end."
Tokugawa immediately straightened up. "Please tell me, Jaishankar-san. As long as it's within my ability, I'll follow your instructions."
"It's nothing serious, Tokugawaji," Jaishankar replied. "Since the Olympics are a global competition, we want to invite as many nations as possible. We already have relations with most countries in our region, so inviting them won't be an issue. However, we have no direct contact with the Joseon Dynasty. We're aware that your nation maintains trade relations with them, so it would be greatly appreciated if you could introduce our diplomat to their court."
Tokugawa didn't think much and readily agreed. "This is not a big problem, I will personally escort your delegate and be responsible for the introduction myself."
Jaishankar smiled in satisfaction. "Please rest for a few more days in the capital. As a thank you, you are welcome to join us as we set off on our diplomatic mission."
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A few days later,
A fleet of ships set off from the Vishakapatnam Port, and the diplomatic journey of the Bharatiya Empire began. Soon, throughout the next month, every ASEAN nation and vassal kingdom started to receive the news about the Olympics and the general framework of the games that would be played.
Ramayya Senapati, in order to prepare for the Olympics, immediately declared a nationwide scouting for the best talent in various fields.
Yogendra Singh declared a local tournament and personally oversaw team sport matches to pick the best candidates to represent the kingdom.
Gangadhar Nayak declared a huge prize of 450,000 Varaha if anyone in the kingdom could bring an Olympic medal home, which set off a frenzy of people buying sports equipment.
Gusti Praji Shakti, Jayadwaj Singha, Lachit Borpukan, Narasimha Nayak, Gautam, and others put forward their policies to quickly prepare an Olympic team for their nation as well. In this frenzy, even Vedant, the second prince of the empire, and Tanvika, the only princess, had to come back to their kingdoms and personally encourage the citizens to participate in the trials.
It was the same with the rulers of the ASEAN countries as well.
King Narai immediately summoned the government and ordered a million Varahas to be allocated for training the best Kabaddi players in the nation.
Soriyo Reachea III convinced the three local newspapers of the Chenla Kingdom and placed an ad, advertising for the best football teams for a competition.
Sourigna Vongsa II felt a little disappointed because the sports culture in his kingdom was not too high, but still, seeing that he needed people to represent the country, he focused his training entirely on the games in which his country could prosper, like archery and swimming.
Unlike the vassal kingdoms, where generations had grown up within the Bharatiya Empire and were accustomed to annual tournaments that created an enormous talent pool, the nations of ASEAN had none. Hence, they focused their attention on only one or two sports, leaving the rest largely neglected. As a result, although teams were formed for all events, the greatest investment and effort were reserved only for their key athletes and major disciplines.
Zhu Yulang, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, folded the letter from the Bharatiya Empire and looked at his courtiers.
"These Olympic Games are interesting; we will participate in this."
"Send a nationwide recruitment and find the best athletes in all the fields. This is an opportunity to showcase ourselves to the world."
"As you command, your majesty."
Emperor Takehito, the new Emperor of Nippon, was overjoyed after his delegates came back and brought with them not only advanced knowledge about the world but also a trade deal with the largest and strongest empire in Asia, as well as an invitation to the so-called Olympic Games.
Although he didn't care much about the Olympic Games since the trade deal was much more important, he still decided to find some people to represent Nippon, at least in name.
On the western side, nations and settlements like the Persian Kingdom, Lalishsthan, Qasmid State, Mahara Sultanate, the frontiers at the Congo River Basin, Ubangi River, Chari River Basin, Israel, Egypt, and others began to receive invitations.
Dmitri Alexandravich Romanov, the King of Slavic Byzantium, was the first among the Europeans to receive the invitation from the Olympic Committee, after which Peter Alexandravich Romanov of Tsarist Russian Empire, Leopold I of Austria, Frederick William of Prussia, John II Casimir Vasa of Polish-Lithuania, Charles X Gustav of Sweden, King Christian V of Denmark-Norway, Baltasar Charls of Spain, Alfonso IV de Braganza of Portugal, and finally Giovanni Morosini of the Italian Federation all consecutively received invitations.
"Breaking news! Athens to host the Olympics 1,298 years after Emperor Theodosius I banned them!"
"The flame of Olympia burns again!"
"Athens rises, the Olympics return to their birthplace!"
"History revived! The world gathers once more in Athens!"
The news immediately spread throughout Europe, causing wave after wave of discussion and gossip.
The nobles, commoners, serfs, or slaves, it did not matter; everyone was interested in the Olympics. Not to mention, according to the reports, three gigantic stadiums capable of hosting over 40,000 people would be built in Athens for the Olympics.
Given the relationship of the Bharatiya Empire with several Eastern European countries, positive replies were immediately received.
Countries with neutral relationships, like Poland-Lithuania, Denmark-Norway, and Sweden, were a little late to respond, but ultimately, they still signed up to participate in the Olympics.
In the name of the Olympic spirit, Maharana Pratap, who took the post as the Chairman of the Olympic Committee, sent invitations to the British, Dutch, and French as well. However, no reply was received for a long time.
Paying no attention to the noise around him, Maharana Pratap, along with a few athletes he had recruited into the committee, began formulating the detailed rules and regulations for each sport and tournament.
Up to this point, only a general framework had been sent to all participating nations, outlining which games would be played and their basic guidelines. The specific regulations, however, had not yet been drafted, a gap that was now being rapidly filled.
Meanwhile, the United Greek Socialist Republics was going through exciting times. Though the people had collectively chosen socialism, many were still uncertain and confused about its workings. Yet, after just a year of living under the new system and witnessing clear improvements in the economy and living standards, acceptance had begun to spread. Even the once-stubborn religious hardliners of Syria and Anatolia were starting to come to terms with reality. It was hard to oppose a system that at least ensured everyone had food on their plate.
The construction of the Suez Canal alleviated unemployment in the Greek republics by a lot, and now, with the large-scale infrastructure construction going on for the stadiums and sports venues, unemployment has been brought to under 20%.
And not only that, as the investment poured into the Greek economy from the Bharatiya Empire, it immediately turned into fuel that ran the Greeks' own infrastructure projects, like roads and ports.
At the same time, back in the empire, a sports boom like no other was taking place. Due to the developed sports industry of the Bharatiya Empire, the industry began to heat up as the spending in the sector by civilians suddenly went up by several hundred percent. All the clubs, stadiums, and venues were completely booked, and sports equipment and kits sold like hot cakes.
The Bharatiya Empire had not yet announced the criteria to be selected in the Olympics, so all the top athletes in the nation began to train their hardest to get selected and represent the empire for the first time. Representing the state was the biggest honour an athlete could aspire to reach before, but now, since they got the chance to represent their motherland, the frenzy could be imagined.
Aspiring athletes, or even aspiring governments of other countries, realising their own inadequacies, started to send their best athletes to the Bharatiya Empire for training purposes, which raised a lot of eyebrows throughout the country, with each match getting steady viewers.
And finally, several months after the invitations were sent, the three countries of the Netherlands, France, and Britain relented and accepted the invitation to participate in the Athens Olympics 1692.
In such a way, the day that would be celebrated in the future as World Sports Day finally kicked off.