Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology - Chapter 892

Chapter 892: Dawn of Steam (1/3)
July 1672

Kaveri river bank industrial zone, Vijayanagara state, Akhand Bharatiya Empire,

Vijay excitedly stepped onto the 6th factory floor of Dynasty Corporation, located in the Kavari Riverbank industrial zone. Next to him was an energetic 5ft 4 inch animal called Vidhant, his second son, the only person in his family who was willing to accompany him. Vijay wanted to bring along Agni as well, but unfortunately, he had already gone to Kashyapamar to prepare for his thesis defence, while his daughter had gone with her mother to a writers’ convention.

He felt a little disappointed on their behalf since today is the day the Bharatiya Empire will officially kick open the doors of the Industrial Revolution a century ahead of its time, but there was nothing he could do. Vedant walked forward, not minding the slightly greasy floor as he curiously looked around at all the machinery around him. “Turning lathe, Drill Press, milling machine, grinding machine, screw press, rifling machine—I have never seen all of these things in a single place. Also, Father, it looks like all of these have been modified to the 5.5th generation,” he exclaimed excitedly. He had never been in a factory this large. He had been to some of the factories his family owned, but never one this large.

Vijay diverted his attention from his son, who was rambling on and on, towards a tall middle-aged man who was coming towards him with a smile on his face. “How have you been, Charan? I haven’t seen you in a while.”

“With God’s grace and your blessing, I’m doing very well, Your Majesty,” Charan Gowda felt flattered as he bowed respectfully.

“Is everything ready?” Vijay asked, with a hint of anticipation and excitement revealed in his tone, which made Charan Gowda a little taken aback, as he had never seen His Majesty slip out when it came to maintaining his composure.

“The engines have been installed in all the plants, Your Majesty. The workers have been trained as well. We have drilled the procedures into their muscle memory since last month, 10 times every day, even paying them the overtime salary.”

Vijay was very satisfied. The steam engines, in fact, had been manufactured nearly three months ago and were ready for shipment. The operators were fully trained and prepared to work at any moment. However, there had been an oversight: some of the regular workers hadn’t been trained to operate the machine tools at a steady pace with the steam engines providing power. To complicate matters further, the modifications to the production plants were still incomplete.

Logically, all the problems should have been taken care of by the Bharatiya Standards Organisation by setting strict standards for the operation of the steam engine. But since this was a new invention being put into use, no one had any idea what they were working with, especially since the steam engine was developed in such secrecy that even some of the Cabinet ministers did not know of its existence until the last moment, making it impossible for the Ministry of Standards to access the Kasari engine information.

In a way, he was at fault—he should have ordered the Emperor’s Office to act as a bridge between the laboratory and the ministry. But he couldn’t be entirely blamed, as he was preoccupied with managing the war in Europe, which could very well spell the end of the Ottoman Empire. On top of all this, the Department of Industry was undergoing reorganisation to transform into a ministry, following the ideas of Jitendra Sehwag. This led to a situation where the production plants had to wait several months until all preparations were completed and the necessary certifications from the Bharatiya Standards Organisation were obtained.

Coming back to his senses, Vijay motioned forward, ”In that case, let’s get started.”

“Right away, Your Majesty,” Charan Gowda grinned as he led Vijay and Vedant into the newly constructed power rooms.

The power room was a massive hall with three pairs of chimneys at the top; it was a massive installation, massive enough to make the teenager gasp in awe. On the ground, three enormous steam engines sat menacingly, commanding attention. Around each engine stood two operators, each dressed in a different uniform, who watched Vijay and his company with a mix of respect and nervous anticipation.

As soon as Vidhant laid his eyes on the machine, he excitedly moved forward and began touching various parts of it. The operators got very scared when the prince suddenly came so close to them and started playing with the steam engine as if it was a giant toy, but fearing any sort of offence, they became very nervous, unable to speak out and persuade the prince to be careful, since several parts of the steam engine had been lavishly greased with heavy oil. Unfortunately, before one of the two could summon the courage to give the warning, it was already too late, as the flawless hands of the prince were stained by the black and gooey lubricant that was applied to the sun and planet gears, the main component of the flywheel.

Both the operators suddenly felt like they had been imprisoned in an ice cellar, feeling chill seeping into their spines. The operators of steam engines two and three looked at the operators of steam engine one with pity and also, within the depths of their eyes, relief, thankful that it wasn’t them.

Looking at the scene of his son playing with the steam engine as if he were a toddler playing with mud, Vijay’s forehead darkened.

Vijay’s gaze turned stern as he called out to his son, “Vedant, haven’t I given you the smaller model of this exact engine back home? You should already know that the sun and planet gears are lubricated. Why did you have to touch it and make yourself all dirty?”

Vedant immediately froze, as if he suddenly remembered that he was not alone but with his father. He bit his tongue with annoyance and turned around with a smile that he thought would be adorable.

“Erm, father, the thing at home is just a replica. It cannot work, whereas this one—it’s the real deal. I want to feel and see each of its parts for myself.”

“You—”, Vijay didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. His second son is good at everything, but the only trouble is that he is too obsessed with machines. It made him happy that he hadn’t shown any ambition or capability to be an emperor, since he would hate to choose whom to support in the Imperial Emperor’s elections when he eventually steps down, but he is helpless with his obsession with machinery, which sometimes goes too far.

Due to him, a weird situation has arisen in the Shaurya Royal Palace where all the machinery has to be kept out of reach of his second son, or else, once he gets hold of a machine, he tears it apart until he figures out how it works. The latest, yet the most costly example of one of the perfectly good machines sacrificed for his curiosity was the first typewriter Vijay had gotten, which he gave to Kavya. The brat, only a couple of days later, when he was not at home, completely disassembled it claiming it was for educational purposes and got his ass whooped by his wife until he cried and begged for mercy. Unfortunately, this did not satiate his curiosity and drive for machines. Ever since he had given the model of the Kesari Steam Engine, it seemed to have become more intense.

“Wipe your hands clean and come back quickly. The auspicious time isn’t going to wait for anyone,” he ordered.

Looking at his son, who was trotting away with his shoulders drooped, Vijay couldn’t help but shake his head in amusement. If he is being completely honest, Vidhant, his second son, is at times a headache to deal with and can be a handful. But he personally likes him quite a bit, because his sensibilities, his obsession, and even his mannerisms were exactly like his own in his previous life—the one who was obsessed with rockets and everything related to it.

Pushing away the nonsensical thoughts, Vijay stood in front of the first boiler while Charan Gowda stood in front of the third boiler.

The operators at the first steam engine let out a sigh of relief when the young prince had left, and they were not being blamed. But when His Majesty came and stood right next to them, their heartbeats increased further, making them go numb in their feet.

One of the operators, Ramesh, felt that he had to say something or else it would be disrespectful. He finally squeezed out all the courage in his heart and poured it into his throat.

“L-L-Long l-live Y-Your M-Majesty. I-It’s m-my h-honour t-to m-meet y-you, s-sir.”

His words came out in several stutters, as if he were a broken tape recorder, but Vijay, who was already used to this, simply smiled and nodded, relaxing his gaze and appearing more cordial.

To be continued…