Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology - Chapter 829

Chapter 829: Scramble for Patent Authorisation (XXL)
“Huh! What is this?”

A middle-aged man drinking coffee at a restaurant let out a small exclamation. His friends, who were sitting around the table along with him, hearing the exclamation, turned their attention to him.

“What happened, Mava (Bro)?”

The middle-aged man turned the newspaper over and lifted it up, showing the front page to everyone. When the group of friends saw that the front page of the newspaper was not about the opening ceremony of the Bharatiya Premier League, and they did not see the headline of the beautiful singer Sri Latha singing in the inauguration ceremony; instead, it was about a mute father and his great invention, their reactions were intense.

“What the **** is this?”

A chubby middle-aged man took over the newspaper and read it out loud,

“A mute father, in order to have his daughter come back home after college, builds a revolutionary carriage that is capable of moving at high speeds without any horses or oxen. Human power alone will suffice. Learn more about this story below.”

The man, along with his group, was immediately taken aback. They were feeling a little disappointed due to there being no headlines about the Bharatiya Premier League at first, but now, reading the article, they felt like the news about the Bharatiya Premier League paled in comparison.

Everyone hurriedly huddled together in order to read the article in more detail. If the news was about some politician or an industrialist doing something, they wouldn’t care so much, but now that it was about the revolutionary new method of transportation that could very well alter how they travel, they were immediately curious and invested. Especially considering that all of them held jobs in industrial companies—making them relatively rich, if the price of the two-wheel carriage was not too much, they might actually very well purchase the product.

“Do you think we can buy the two-wheeled carriage mentioned in the article?”

“I don’t know, maybe. But since we all know how efficient those businessmen are at making money, they should have already purchased the manufacturing and research rights of the two-wheel carriage from… Um, what was his name again…”

“Suhel Karan?”

“Yes, him!!”

“Hopefully, the price is not too much. If it is 60 to 70% of the cost of an ox-drawn carriage, I might actually buy it.”

“Hmm, it’s a smaller vehicle. It takes fewer materials to build, so it will definitely be cheaper.”

“The only problem is, since it is driven by humans, I don’t know if it can be driven for a long time.” Everyone unconsciously looked at the chubby, fat man.

“Machi (Bruv), maybe if you come to work riding the two-wheel carriage, you can lose some weight, and maybe you will live longer.”

“Hahaha”

“Tsk, ****** ”

Such discussions were happening not only in the town of Kakatiya Puri but also throughout the empire, especially since almost all the major newspapers in the empire had reported about the revolutionary mode of transportation invented by Suhail Karan. The reach of the news was very wide, causing people of all walks of life—like teachers discussing if they could travel across the campus faster, policemen wondering if they could use the two-wheeled carriages to patrol the city, town, or village, soldiers discussing whether it could be used to quicken travel, children discussing whether they could use it to race with other children—along with many other discussions that broke out one after another.

Even the hot topic of the Bharatiya Premier League had been drowned out. It was almost as if the people in the 21st century were informed that a flying car was put into production and would be available very soon. Suhail was suddenly hailed as the Saint of Transportation, and some newspapers even lobbied for him to get the Dharma Award in Mechanics and Engineering.

On average, newspaper sales suddenly increased by 40%, especially newspapers like The Observer, Times of Bharat, Bharatam Daily, and others, which got to interview Suhail directly and had exclusive information. These sold even more copies, nearly double the sales from last week. But the newspapers that did not get to interview Suhail, or where the reporters did not know how to use sign language, were in despair. Not having enough content to write about Suhail Karan and his invention, they resorted to typical news about the Bharatiya Premier League and the inauguration ceremony.

This caused the sales of those newspapers to actually drop by 15% from the previous week. As the reporters feared, they were thankfully not punished, but to their dread, they were actually fired. And since the reason for their firing was reflected on their resume, no large or medium-scale newspaper agency employed them. In the end, they had to settle for a local tabloid with little sales in order to make a living.

Vijay, who had only come back to the empire a few weeks ago, was pleasantly surprised when he received the news. He had never expected that a bicycle that was closest to the modern bicycle would be invented so quickly. You have to know that the bicycle closest to the modern bicycle was the Rover Safety Bicycle, invented in 1885 by John Kemp Starley, a British inventor. Before he invented the Rover Bicycle, people were using a much more dangerous penny-farthing bicycle, which had a bigger front wheel and a very small back wheel. Vijay thought that the Bharatiya Empire would have to go through this phase as well, but seeing the news in his hand, he was happy to be wrong.

“Has he registered the patent and all the intellectual property pertaining to this invention of his?” Vijay spoke out without looking back.

Ganesh took a few seconds to remember the details and replied, “He has, Your Majesty. A utility patent has been generated for his simplified braking mechanism, an invention patent has been generated for his two-wheel carriage, and several other patents have been generated for his working mechanism involving crankshaft, sprockets, and the chain set.”

“That’s a relief. It would cause a loss of faith in the government if such an inspirational figure was robbed of his achievements.”

“Anyway, send a message to Baskaracharya and have him directly obtain the research and manufacturing rights from the inventor. Also, doesn’t he have a daughter who is supposedly good at mechanics? Then, from the Raya University, have them send a first-tier scholarship to the girl.”

“I’ll get it done. Leave it to me, Your Majesty.”

—

Baskaracharya, as soon as he received the news from the Simhasana Bhavana, immediately took the director of Raya Mobility with him and set off to Kashyap Amara. Raya Mobility is the company of the royal family, which is responsible for manufacturing the highest-grade carriages in the empire. The carriages produced by Raya Mobility might not be seen everywhere, but every high-net-worth individual and every elite of the empire aspires to own one one day, because it is not only a mode of transportation but also a show of wealth, influence, and societal standing.

Although Baskaracharya did not understand why His Majesty wanted to manufacture the two-wheeled carriage—since, in his opinion, it is a product focused on the middle class and aspirational class, and it would be a waste to manufacture it in Raya Mobility—he did not ask any questions and didn’t allow Jitendra Sehwag, the director of Raya Mobility, to ask either. He directly took a boat from Mangaluru and reached Jamnagar in a few days, setting off by road to Kashyap Amar.

In fact, the royal industries were not the only ones that moved quickly after seeing an opportunity. Like insects smelling sugar, major industrialists, manufacturing company owners, carriage builders, and even some real estate developers who focused on agriculture, arrived. Even Akarsh from Akarsh Carriages, the largest carriage company in the empire with the highest valuation on the stock exchange, arrived in Gulmarg, Kashyapamar.

Receiving so many high-net-worth individuals who were richer than his own boss every day, Suhail Karan was overwhelmed and panicked. He had just applied for the patent, since he was taught that it is an important step after inventing something in his vocational school, but he did not think so many people would come to him asking for patent rights. Still, he was happy. He would have been alright if the way he made the two-wheeled carriage spread across the empire and people started to manufacture it themselves, but since large companies were actually paying him to get his authorisation to manufacture his invention, he was satisfied as well.

In the end, with thorough consideration, he put forward a price of one million varaha for both the research rights and manufacturing rights of his two-wheeled carriage, which he named Sheila Carriage after his daughter.

Unfortunately for Suhail, the price he thought was very reasonable was not reasonable at all. If he had contacted any patent agent, they would have told him that he was crazy and that he wanted to disrupt the whole ecosystem. But since he did not employ a patent agent, as he didn’t think his carriage would cause such wide-scale repercussions in the first place, the price he mentioned shocked a lot of people, not because it was too much, but because it was too little. One million varaha might be a lot for some small companies, but for companies that have reached a medium scale and higher, it is actually nothing.

The business owners of medium-scale industries were happy and immediately paid the fee and bought the patent, but the owners of large-scale industries were panicked because such a low price meant they would have more competition and their expansion would be hindered, as every state, every major city, and every major manufacturing hub would have one or two of these carriage manufacturers. Akarsh even advised Suhail Karan to increase the price of the patent to five million or even 10 million.

Suhail Karan was shocked by this request, but he had already earned a lot of money, more than he could ever spend, so he rejected the offer and maintained the same price. After Akarsh was rejected, he became silent, but some large carriage manufacturers were very angry, since they didn’t want to see a drastic reshuffle in the transportation sector. However, they did not do anything, as General Manager Bhaskaracharya, the asset manager of the royal family, had also come to buy the patent rights.

Bhaskaracharya did not advise Suhail Karan to do anything. Instead, he simply paid the amount in full, got the authorisation, and finally gave out a scholarship certificate to Sheela, allowing her to join any first-tier pre-university college in the empire, with all the costs being borne by Raya University.

Receiving the scholarship letter, Suhail Karan felt tremors in his hand. His heart was overwhelmed, and his eyes immediately became wet. He profusely thanked Bhaskaracharya and made his daughter thank him as well. Even the rich industrialists who had come to purchase the patent rights looked at the mute father enviously, because even if they gave millions of varaha, they wouldn’t get the favour of Raya University. Unless their kids were geniuses, they weren’t even allowed to step into the compound of Raya University. But now, this mute father got this opportunity right before their eyes. How could they not be envious?

Bhaskaracharya waved his hands with a smile and left.

Akarsh robotically entered his carriage and left Gulmarg. He was lost in thought and feeling the pressure. From the time he stayed at the house of Suhail, he had seen 12 people who got the authorisation to research and manufacture the two-wheeled carriage. He couldn’t even count how many people had received the authorisation since the time the news had been made public. Thinking about the competition that was about to slam into his company like an unstoppable tsunami, his mind went blank. But as if he saw the light at the end of the tunnel, a crazy idea flashed in his mind, and his expression became ruthless.

“This might be the biggest danger I have faced, but it might also be the biggest opportunity.”

“Since everyone will manufacture the same two-wheeled carriages, the only point of difference will be the price and quality.”

“In that case, if I make a two-wheeled carriage with the lowest price and the highest quality, wouldn’t I sweep across the empire? It doesn’t matter if there is competition from local manufacturers; unless the local manufacturers can compete with me in price and performance, they have no chance to win against me.”

“Yes!!”

In terms of financial operations, he might not be as good as some medium-scale idustry directors, but when it comes to managing the operation of a factory, cutting down on its costs, and maintaining quality, he would say that no one in the empire is as good as him.

Not to mention, he already has a workforce that is highly skilled and trained. With such an advantage, does he have to fear anyone?

“No!”

His eyes turned bloodshot. “If it takes 200 varaha to manufacture and 20 varaha to reach the customer, then I will price the product at 230 varaha. I will completely compress the living space of all the competitors. I will make them unable to breathe. So what if the competition has increased? As long as I produce the best two-wheeled carriage at the lowest cost, wouldn’t all the competition be my nutrients for growth?”

For a moment, he was confused by the arrival of so much competition, but now, regaining his clarity, he went back with confidence.

He got down at the port of Mangaluru, and saw the stock price of his company fall further by two percent. Ever since the news about the new type of transportation had been made public, all the carriage companies’ stocks had been falling. The stock price of his company, which was over 1050 a week ago, had now dropped to 982, a decrease of 6.84%. It was as if, overnight, 34 million varaha had evaporated.

If it had been before, Akarsh would have been confused and a little heartbroken, but now, with regained clarity, he was no longer influenced by this stock price. Instead, he even planned to buy back a few stocks secretly. Now that the price of this stock had reduced, he could increase his shareholding. This way, if he wanted to raise money further in the future, he would continue to have the major decision-making rights in his company.

P.S. I wrote 3 more chapters, will upload tomorrow, I Promi.. well, never mind, there is a 90% chance I won’t be lazy

P.S. Since I’m in the mood for talking today, thank you, Tervantas, for Inspiration Capsule x3, its_a_joke for Inspiration Capsule, varunniks007 for IceCola, Asurendra_Ravana for Inspiration Capsule, and Anime_brus for IceCola.

P.S. I will send the redeem codes to you guys when I get them from WEBNOVEL BABA