Chapter 718: Discussions (2/2)
"It can be sold, Your Highness, but only if the quantity is large enough," Vijay replied.
Frederick William was overjoyed. "Thank you, Your Majesty. Don't worry, I intend to equip almost all of my army with this rifle. I won't cut down on the quantity, but Your Majesty, what about the price?"
Vijay stroked his chin and looked at William. "It will depend on your final order volume, but is there anything else you want?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. I also require cannons of calibres 15 kilograms and above, purpose-built to resist the harsh conditions of northern Germany. I also want to ask if you would be willing to train a few platoons of my soldiers to be just like the Bharatiya commandos?"
Vijay's eyes immediately lit up—this was big business. "Of course, it is possible. The price will be the lowest."
"Considering that our empire also requires artillery that will work reliably in snowy and harsh weather conditions, the research could be funded together."
"After the research, you can buy the cannons at a discounted price from the military manufacturing conglomerates."
"I have to remind you, Although theoretically, Prussia-Brandenburg is part of the research, the patents generated in this process will have nothing to do with you. I hope you can understand."
William nodded. "I understand, Your Majesty." He was not expecting to get the technology to manufacture these high-tech cannons either, and even if he did, he would have no way to protect them or even manufacture them.
"Good. In that case, everything is settled. For the training, you can simply send your men, and I will arrange the matters for them when they arrive."
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Frederick William was very satisfied with the conditions put forward by His Majesty. He got up, did a namaskara, shook his hand, and left the palace with a hearty smile on his face.
The whole reason he came to the Bharatiya Empire was simply to procure armaments according to his requirements. He had just made a lot of money in the war against Gustav, so he wanted to take this opportunity to improve the military might of his nation so that he could expand more when the opportunity eventually arose.
And the place that gives the most value for money is undoubtedly weapons from the Bharatiya Empire. They were both cheap and reliable, and their technology had improved a lot over the years, eventually reaching the same rank as some top European gun makers and armouries. So although he did not know if the Bharatiya Empire would be making the special versions just for snowy regions, he still gave it a try. Thankfully, he did not make the wrong choice.
The next person Vijay met was Archduke Peter. Peter did not have any requests from Vijay but simply stayed back in order to have a chat with him. When Vijay learned about Peter becoming the Archduke of Siberia, his eyes lit up because Siberia is an inexhaustible gold mine, which Russia, even in his previous life, could not fully utilize.
Peter might be thinking he'd inherited a barren land where most outcasts and prisoners were being banished to, with only a few cities and only a few thousand kilometres' worth of arable land, but Vijay knew how rich in resources Siberia and Northeast Russia are.
Gears began to turn in his head, and suddenly, he came up with an idea.
"Your Highness, if I am able to point out a natural port and a livable location on the eastern coast of Russia, will you be able to discover a path for it?"
Peter was taken aback. He did not understand why Vijay was asking this question, but he still seriously considered the matter. "It should be possible since the weather is not unbearable all the time. There are a few months in the year where, even in Siberia, the winds are calm, and the hailstorms are not raging. This short window of time should theoretically be enough to traverse the relentless Siberia, given that there is a general direction."
"But, Your Majesty, why do you ask this? Are you willing to point out a natural port on the eastern coast? If so, what does the Bharatiya Empire want?"
"Yes, we can definitely point out the natural port, and what the Bharatiya Empire wants from it is simple actually: we need all the minerals and natural resources that can be obtained from Siberia, which is still untouched."
"If the port is opened up on the eastern coast, the distance between our two nations is drastically reduced. Before, you had to travel around the world to reach the Bharatiya Empire, but now from the northernmost port of the Philippines, it is only around 3000 to 3500 kilometres to Russia's eastern coast."
"Both our empires could benefit greatly by opening this trade route. You can obtain industrial materials and military armaments at a quicker speed without having to worry about West European nations' interference, while the Bharatiya Empire will have another large source of minerals."
Peter's eyes lit up; he had not thought about it this way. "It can be done, Your Majesty. Please do pass on the location to me. I will mobilize my army to find the safest and most reliable way."
Vijay smiled happily. In fact, the port he was talking about was none other than the port of Vladivostok, one of the largest ports in Russia in the 21st century, with a cargo turnover of 13 million tons annually, an infrastructure of 15 berths, extensive warehouse space, and a large amount of handling equipment. In his last life, this was a crucial hub for trade with Southeast Asia and Asia-Pacific nations for the Russian Federation.
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A few days passed, and Vijay immediately acted on his promises.
Together with the logistics department of the Bharatiya military, Frederick William, representing Prussia Brandenburg, made the tender public for any military design companies to design reliable artillery to be used in cold weather terrain.
The requirements were not harsh; it was simply to maintain the current battle effectiveness of the existing 15-kilogram and above calibre artillery, be it culverins or anything else, and to modify them in such a way that the metal should be more resistant to rust, and ammunition storage should be upgraded to be more weather-resistant ultimately they should be more manoeuvrable in cold climates.
When this news got out, a lot of military design companies were excited, as weapon designs were a very lucrative business. But over the coming weeks, something even more surprising happened.
The Western Command of the Bharatiya military suddenly requested their own version of the brown Bess rifle to make it more resistant to dust and debris, as well as to account for extreme heat in desert environments, so the expansion of the metal would not affect its effectiveness in the heat of battle.
Currently, The Brown Bess rifle is still used throughout the western command, but it can only be said to be passable because out of 10 rounds, three rounds are failing, and 70% combat effectiveness in a battle zone is equivalent to putting your life on the line with a constant 30% chance of death.
Soon afterwards, the Central Command and the Southern Command followed up with their own requests, where they asked for a brown bess rifle variant suitable for humid environments and forest terrain.
The artillery department wanted to join in the fun as well; they soon submitted a petition to the military logistics department for artillery built for different occasions: desert terrain, snowy terrain, and humid terrain.
Two days down the line, the Navy of the Bharatiya Empire decided to join in the fun as well. They submitted a petition to the naval logistics department for a custom-built heavy cannon that is built only for the Navy.
With constant orders, the military design firms all over the empire were having a carnival. They were like sharks smelling blood.
The stock prices of the three military conglomerates—the Mahabali Enterprises, Himalayan Group, and Dynasty Corporation—also saw a drastic increase in their stock prices. Mahabali Enterprises saw a rise from 1016 varaha per share to a whopping 1350 varaha. Himalayan Group saw a jump from 450 Varaha to 612 Varaha, and Dynasty Corporation saw a jump from 18,000 Varaha to 18,920 Varaha. Even the stock market, which had already been constantly rising due to the popularization of generation five machine tools in the industry and the Devaraya hydraulic steam engine in the mining sector, blew up once again. The stock price of Mangaluru's stock exchange finally crossed the one-billion mark for the first time, becoming one of the most valuable stocks in its own stock market.
The craze for the stock market in the coming months was so high that Chairman of the Board of Directors, Joseph Oppenheimer, had to warn the Director of Securities and Commerce Exchange, Badradri Rama Chandraya, about the blind investment of their hard-earned money, leading to the over-inflation of some industrial stocks in the MSE.
However, since Badradri had no power to meddle in normal market operations, he chose to do nothing about it. But in the coming weeks, the market finally crashed, becoming the first economic collapse of the Bharatiya Empire ever since the stock exchange had been established. Although the collapse was only a minor one, since it began to pick up soon after, it was a major deal for the academic committee nonetheless, since the economic collapse practically demonstrated the concept of over-inflation to the Bharatiya Empire.
P.S. Thankyou Lucifer_6671, for the Inspiration capsule
P.S. Thankyou its_a_joke, for the Inspiration capsule x3 (Damn)