Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

14th June 1660

Bharatiya Mahasabha (Parliament)

The usually empty parliament is currently filled with over 45% occupancy. This might be considered low by modern standards, but in the Bharatiya Empire, this is actually very high. Since the Bharatiya Empire focuses on meritocracy and the ministers themselves are highly experienced in their own fields, they usually do not attend parliamentary sessions that have nothing to do with them and on which they have no opinion.

It turns out that if you do not pay the ministers to cast a vote one way or another, most ministers do not care what bill is passed unless the bill has some sort of effect on them or they have personal opinions on it.

"The parliamentary session will soon commence. Please welcome the Prime Minister of the Empire, Shri Vinod Ji."

'Tap' 'Tap' 'Tap' 'Tap'

The ministers in the parliament delicately tapped on the table as a way of welcoming.

Vinod got onto the stage with a namaskar.

"Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining me on this fine, fine morning.

"Since everyone here is busy, I'll get straight to the point. As you have all been briefed, today's session is held on the subject of the initial development of industry in the northern part of the empire.

"Everyone knows that one of the promises I, representing the government, made is to put in efforts to develop actual industrial companies in the northern part of the empire and not just some raw material extraction plants.

"Initially, several riverbank industrial zones were planned to be established, kick-starting the foundation for industrial development in the northern part of the empire, but now plans have changed drastically."

The words immediately caused a commotion in the parliament. Narasimha Modi, the Minister of Parliament from Solanki Puri, immediately frowned. He got up from his seat and directly questioned Vinod with a determined expression, "Why is the government no longer willing to follow through with your end of the bargain?" As if finding a backbone, other ministers who were silent joined in too.

"Yes, what is Mr. Vinod's government thinking?"

"Are you being hypocritical, Mr. Vinod? This is unbecoming of a prime minister like you."

Vinod was silent. He was speechless, not because he was being questioned, but because he could see how impatient the ministers from the northern part of the empire had become due to the disparity in wealth between the two parts of the same empire.

'sigh!'

"Ministers, ministers, please calm down. Let me finish my speech. After that, you can decide and judge the actions of the government yourself."

Vinod waved his hand, requesting Narasimha Modi to sit down. He knew who the backbone was to the ministers of the northern part of the empire.

Modi stared into the eyes of Vinod but finally chose to sit down. He would listen to the reason provided by the prime minister and then he would decide what to do next.

"Everyone, the plans have changed not because the government wants to go back on its words, but because a few developments in the empire make the government wary of wasting money and making wrong decisions."

"Everyone is aware of the new steam engine that has been put into use by major mining companies, aren't you?"

Almost all the ministers nodded. Although the people might still be unclear about the details, these ministers, who have extensive social connections, were definitely not so uninformed. Narasimha Modi frowned, "We do, but what does it have to do with the change in the government's plan?"

"Right, I am getting to it." Vinod nodded, almost rolling his eyes. ' Can't this guy wait until i finish? '

"After a feasibility analysis was done by some of the researchers in the Bharatiya Institute of Civilian Sciences, we got to know that these steam engines could potentially be used to transport water from one region to another quite efficiently."

"Meaning the steam engines can be indirectly used to power the water wheels, which currently are the wheels and fulcrum of Bharatiya Empire's industrial prowess."

Narasimha Modi's eyes widened. The other ministers were no exception. They had never expected the steam engine to be used in such a way.

Vinod did not pay attention to their reactions as he continued, "After knowing such information, it would have been a disaster to set up industrial economic zones on the banks of major rivers in the northern part of the empire. "

"What if, as soon as they are set up, they become inefficient and outdated? Will that not further provide fuel to some of the ministers who clearly have some scruples with the government?"

Narasimha Modi's lips curled up into an awkward smile. He clearly knew who this sentence was pointed at, but unfortunately, he couldn't really stand up to refute because if he did, it would mean that he really did have some scruples with the government.

"So in the end, after intensive research, the government has come up with the Initial Industrial Development Bill for the northern part of the empire, which consists of policies directed towards 20 unique regions spread across 11 different states rich in various valuable resources.

"The central government will provide the necessary funds, policy tilt, loan support, technological support, human resource support, and other kinds of support in order to set up the 20 industrial special economic zones spread across the northern part of the empire."

Vinod had the civil officials working in the parliament spread the document he had prepared, which contained all the information about the 20 locations chosen by the government.

Everyone read through the data, and noticing the precise statistics provided, they nodded in appreciation.

It was the same for Narasimha Modi too. He did not have anything to fault, and he was genuinely happy that places near his home state would finally be developed. However, reading the list, he suddenly got a doubt.

"Prime Minister, first of all, I want to say thank you for making decisions with long-term vision in consideration. On behalf of all the ministers and people from the northern part of the empire, I thank you."

"Now the doubt that I had is, are the new industrial development zones really better than the riverbank industrial zones? If they are better, then there is nothing more to say about it, but if they are not better, then what's even the point?"

Vinod nodded with a smile. He had the same doubt when His Majesty proposed to change the plan.

"Thank you, Minister Modi, for the question. The new Industrial Development Bill might not be as successful as the riverbank industrial zones immediately, and its overall industrial output at least by the end of the year cannot surpass the riverbank industrial zones. Especially since the Empire already has extensive experience in how to set up, build, and run the riverbank industrial zones. But what it has going for it is the potential for growth."

"The riverbank industrial zones are bottlenecked in many regions. For one, there is only so much real estate on the riverbanks, constraining the company's expansions. Two, they are highly dependent on the flow of the water, whereas the new plan has no such constraints, since the steam engine could be used to store water in a reservoir, and the reservoir could be used to provide a steady flow of water to the water wheels. Now, keep in mind, this use of the steam engine is still confidential. Everyone has signed the non-disclosure agreement, so please be careful."

The ministers nodded.

"Number three, raw materials have to be shipped to the riverbank industrial zones from faraway places, which both increases the cost and limits the amount of productivity that can be seen. This is a problem that is evident even in the riverbank industrial zones in the southern part of the empire." Discover hidden content at My Virtual Library Empire

"The Industrial Development Plan that is being put forward now solves all the problems visible in the riverbank industrial zones. Although these industrial zones will be slow to start at the beginning since it takes a few months to accumulate the experience, their expansion capabilities and potential are larger than any riverbank industrial zone."

Narasimha Modi looked a little confused. "Then doesn't it mean the industrial capabilities in the southern part of the empire will be greatly decreased?" He paused and added, "Over 80% of all industrial companies use the major riverbank industrial zones or the banks of smaller rivers and tributaries for industrial production. With the implementation of His Majesty's steam engine on a large scale, will it not destroy these industries?"

Vinod looked at Narasimha Modi appreciatively. "You are definitely correct, Mr. Modi. The new technology invented by His Majesty and its use in providing water to the water wheels really does affect the southern part of the empire a lot. But I would like to point out, like you said, over 80% of industrial enterprises in the southern part of the empire are allocated near water bodies, but this number used to be over 95% four to five years ago."

"Doesn't this prove that the whole industry is in a slow transitional phase?"

''Ever since the integration happened and a lot of migrant workers came in from the north to look for work, the industry has been transitioning from being positioned near the water bodies to being positioned near the raw material development locations."

"These companies that had been transitioned may not be producing a lot of profit right now, but once the usage of the steam engine and Kabbina converter is increased, it is inevitable they will benefit greatly."

"I cannot deny, like Mr. Narasimha Modi pointed out, there will still be a lot of companies that will be affected and might go bankrupt."

Vinod looked at everyone in the parliament and shrugged "But as His Majesty said, the job of the government is to put forward policies for the betterment of the people without considering anyone's interest."

"So if the business owners in the southern part of the Empire will be affected by this change, then there is nothing we can do about it. All we can do is provide knowledge about the change and let the business owners decide for themselves if they are willing to take the risk and transition, or continue to work with the present model and risk becoming outdated and eliminated."

The ministers all remained silent. They realized the ruthlessness of change—one morning the business was doing very well, but the next morning, due to an invention some guy made, They were going bankrupt.

The ministers were all a little relieved, since at least they would not have to worry about such a thing for at least five years at a time, and their salary, although not as attractive as that of the elite class of society, was still comparable to the high class.

After thorough discussion, the Initial Industrial Development Bill for the northern part of the empire was passed smoothly.

P.S. Only 1 today sry