NOVEL NEXT Chapter 973: Canning!! (2/2)
"Father, this?" Agni questioned in disbelief.
Had his father already predicted what would happen? But how can that be?
These design plans are clearly old. He could tell at a glance from the dust covering his fingers that these documents had not been opened for a long time.
Vijay could understand the surprise of his son, so he did not keep anything in suspense and answered, "I came up with this method of preservation during the war with the Mughal Empire. At the time, rationing was hard, so I had to think of something, but unfortunately, appropriate material could not be found for packing, so I simply put away the idea until the metallurgical technology improved."
"7 years ago, we had a breakthrough in tin production. I took up the project once again, as we can produce cans on a large scale."
"But the preservatives were the bottleneck."
"Over the years, as new chemicals were being invented and new technology was discovered, I kept adding various preservation methods to the tinning technology until finally, I completed a mature concept a few years ago."
"I didn't bring it up earlier because there was no need, but now we need it more than ever. So there's no reason to keep the technology in my hands, gathering dust."
Agni carefully put down the document and nodded in understanding,
"What do you want me to do, father?"
Vijay looked at his son and said, "You'll be in charge of the canning business, of course," speaking as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Just procure the necessary food from the local farms. The canning technology patents are yours." He stood, walked over to his cabinet, and returned with a stack of patent authorisation documents, dropping them on the table. "Manufacture it, pack it, and sell the canned food to the Middle East. Vinod should have the platform ready within a month or two; by then, you need to start production."
Vijay thought for a moment and added, "Building a factory from the ground up will take too long. You can directly take over one of Dynasty Corporation's new factories. With arms sales to Europe drastically reduced due to the plague, that facility is sitting idle. Rather than wasting a few months, it's better if you put it to use immediately."
"Besides, the machinery is already installed. All you need to do is modify the production line and set up a proper workflow."
Agni nodded in understanding.
"I'll get it done, Father."
Saying that, Agni was about to leave, but suddenly he heard his father say,
"Oh, and Agni, this new canning factory will be your private property. Make sure to invest your own funds in its operations. The factory, patents and the machinery will be considered as an investment, 75% of it. Do it well."
Agni briefly stopped, and a slight smile appeared at the corner of his lips, "Thank you, father."
Even though he would only receive a 25% stake, he wasn't dissatisfied; in fact, quite the opposite. The factory was located in a prime area of Nagpur, the military capital of the empire, and the steam engines and machine tools installed there alone were likely worth over 93 million Varaha.
On top of that, his father had already handed him the canning technology patent for a price that was practically free. Maybe he wouldn't make huge profits from the Middle East right away, but he could clearly see a future where canned food would sell in massive quantities across Europe, at ludicrous profit margins.
With all things considered, his father is doing him a huge favour.
Agni did not stay for long in the capital. He informed his wife about his travel and immediately set off to Nagpur.
---
Roxana Atashban stood on the balcony of her palace, looking over Baghdad. The cries of sorrow could faintly be heard over the city, but there wasn't a change of expression on Roxana's face.
She had experienced too much since the last year for anything to shake her anymore.
But today might be an exception, because when she was lost in thought, her subordinate actually came forward and informed her that an agent from the Bharatiya Empire had come seeking her audience.
There was finally some fluctuation in her eyes. She turned back, her face filled with a little grievance, annoyance, hatred, and even a little hope.
Will the Bharatiya Empire be able to help her Kingdom out of its current predicament?
She didn't know.
As a matter of fact, she didn't even know whether the Bharatiya Empire was still in one piece. She was not thinking maliciously due to envy or jealousy, but it was what she genuinely thought would happen after the Moroi's Fiend broke out.
And this thought came from her own experiences, where she had to quell several rebellions and countless riots since the plague broke out, and she had almost forgotten how many people she had gotten butchered. It's definitely half a million, that's for sure.
So she didn't think it would be any different for the Bharatiya Empire, an empire which was much larger both in size and population than the Kingdom of Persia. She imagined that the plague would rip through the highly populated regions of the Bharatiya Empire and leave them in devastation. Cannons and guns alone can't fight the plague, after all.
But now, seeing as how an agent was requesting a meeting with her, was she wrong? Was the behemoth of the East unscathed and doing well?
She was a little disappointed by this possibility, but the resentment was reduced a little, and it was replaced by fear. How could it not? That which almost brought her kingdom to its knees was shrugged off by her neighbour.
Roxana finally met up with the intelligence agent. He was young; in fact, he looked to be in his early 20s, only a little older than her own son. Thinking about her son, the emotions in her heart fluctuated, but she quickly stabilised her mood and greeted the young man.
"Welcome, Mr. Bose from Bharat. Forgive me for welcoming you like this, but it is tough times we are living in, so I hope you can understand."
Bose was already feeling nervous standing in front of a monarch, but when the queen actually apologised to him, he was flustered and waved his hands repeatedly, "No, no, Your Highness, even allowing me to see you in person is a great show of kindness, you do not have to feel sorry."
Roxana smiled, "What can I do for you, sir?"
Bose quickly took out the document from his shirt and showed it to the queen.
"Your Highness, the letter in my hands consists of two methods that are able to suppress the plague."
"Would you like me to read it out loud, Your Highness?"
Roxana's eyes jumped, as she expected the Bharatiya Empire to be able to avoid the disasters and even came up with a countermeasure.
Roxana immediately wanted to take the letter and see what was written in it for herself, but thinking about the plague, she didn't get close to the man. Instead, she looked at her subordinates, who understood what she meant, and all left.
"Please go ahead and read it out, Sir Bose. I will note it down."
Bose did not take any offence at the actions of the queen, because if it were him, he would do the same thing. These were tough times, and everyone had to learn how to adapt.
He did not delay and quickly spoke out all the herbs necessary to make the Tanvika blend for the fumigation, as well as about the camphor method.
Roxana quickly noted down everything, but she let out a sigh of regret. All these herbs were not too widely available in her kingdom.
If only this could be imported from Bharat.
Having this thought, she did not wait any longer and asked, "Sir Bose, do you have any information about what the situation in the Bharatiya Empire is? How long will the communications and transportation channels take to recover?"
Bose smiled wryly and shook his head, "I'm not sure about this either, Your Highness. I haven't been to the Empire for more than a few years as well. I just sought your audience to deliver the message, since spreading the information to as many people as possible was the order we all who have received the intelligence have received. I happened to be the closest to the palace, and I figured that it would be the most efficient if I directly contacted you."
"But given that the Empire is already reaching out, it should not take too long."
---
Nagpur
A month later...
"Brrrr!"
With Agni taking full control of the factory, the production of canning began in full force.
Agni wore a yellow safety helmet as he inspected the cans that were newly produced.
"This is not right, there are still too many unqualified products."
He roared, trying his best to be heard over the sound of the steam engine.
Producing the cans was not a complicated thing, since Agni hired people with rich experience in the production of kitchen utensils, but given that this was the first time canning was being tried, there were still a lot of errors encountered in the process of manufacturing.
"Increase the pressure of the steam by 10th Sampida's (pascals), the steam pressure is not enough," Agni said as he found the engineer of the steam pressure tinning production line.
He went to another production plant, cracked open a tin, smelled the contents, took a bite of the mutton, and spit it out.
"The meat is cooked all the way through, but the ratio of ingredients is not right. What's the current ratio?"
"Mutton 10 parts, mustard oil 5 parts, salt 1.5 parts, saltpetre 0.5 part, and turmeric 1 part, Your Majesty."
Agni thought about it and replied,
"Cut the salt and turmeric by half, let's see how it will taste then."
In such a way, he went to each and every production line, inspected the product, and came out. At the end of the day, he was tired and he had a headache. He realised a problem. Even though canning is not a very complicated process, it is extremely difficult to get it right, especially the taste. It is imperative that these foods retain as much taste as possible throughout the time they are in the tins. He just lacked a person who could help him in this department.
"Your Highness, why don't you employ a chef from the Buka Yoda Street? Those guys are practically researchers when it comes to food and anything related to it. You can find someone who is particularly focused on researching culinary ingredients and have him research the right recipe." Secretary Srikanth Krishnamurthy responded
Agni's eyes lit up. This was an excellent idea. He acted immediately.
P.S. Thank you, Sudhanva_SH, for the third gift of the week, damn, thanks.
P.S. Thank you, Siddhesh_Sawant_2828, as well, for the ice cola.