NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 720: Newspapers
4th September 1660
Financial capital of Vijayanagar State, Mangalore
5th Industrial St, Municipality Rd
Ayushmann is the purchasing manager for the Bakshi Group of Companies. Due to the recent popularity of the Gupta Ram Mechanical Loom that has been developed by the Bakshi Research firm, the demand for the loom from other textile companies is through the roof. The production capability of the Bakshi Group of Industries, which was not too outstanding to begin with since until now the whole group was focused on textiles and its sub-products, could not withstand the constant orders from other textile manufacturers and orders from its own parent company.
The manufacturing sector for Bakshi was only a side business, to begin with, that was only started in order to not be choked by competitors or not to be too reliant on other industries. Hence, Ayushmann has travelled to Mangaluru in order to purchase as many 5th-generation machine tools as possible, especially the milling machine, the turning lathe, and the drill press—the three machines used primarily to manufacture the mechanical loom.
Ayushmann walked into the crowded office in hurried footsteps. In the corner of his eye, he saw a poster sticking on the wall with a man lifting up the cup while wearing the Jersey containing the sponsorship of Sriranga Industrial Tools.
'This guy won once again, huh?' It was a fleeting thought, but the image firmly remained in his mind because he was quite impressed by Raftaar Langove, the underdog from Baluchistan who had taken the Bharatiya athletic field by storm.
Fortunately for Ayushmann, he didn't have to wait like the other people in the office because Bakshi Group of Companies is one of the most premium customers for Sriranga Industrial Tools. So although they do not get special treatment, they do get some conveniences like not having to wait in the queue to buy the product.
Going into the office with a practised ease, Ayushmann sat down and took out three sets of papers from his pocket. It was the application to buy the machine tools. Usually, this application could be found in the office itself, but since Bakshi Group of Companies purchased so many machines from Sriranga Industrial Tools, they had taken a whole bundle of applications so as to not waste any time.
The outlet manager put on his glasses, which he had just ordered from Pillai Optics, and picked up the applications without any surprise on his face.
"Twenty sets of milling machine, 20 sets of drill press, and 40 sets of lathes," he removed his glasses and looked up. "Am I correct?"
Ayushmann nodded as he thought, 'I should get one of these for my daughter', he kept his eyes on the glasses of the manager.
The manager, not realizing the gaze that was on him, simply flipped over the invoice book and started entering the details. "Usually, 80% of the payment should be made upfront, but since Bakshi Enterprises has been such a big customer, 50% advanced payment will do. The remaining 50% will be settled after the delivery."
Ayushmann nodded in satisfaction. He quickly took out the company-issued check, which was signed by Director Arjan Bakshi himself, and handed it over to the outlet manager.
The outlet manager carefully took the check, brought out a guide, and went through the list of 10 things to make sure that the check was authentic. The check system is a new functionality that the Raya Royal Bank came up with over 6 months ago, but since valuing a piece of paper in millions of Varaha was a little ridiculous even for the most open-minded people, the functionality was not used much. However, over time, merchants started to use the check in order to do transactions that were small enough to have some peace of mind and large enough where the cash couldn't be carried.
Eventually, even the top companies started to use it.
The manager put down his glasses and nodded with a smile, "Everything checks out. The check will be deposited in the bank in a few hours. Right after that, the delivery will be arranged."
"Should the delivery be done to the usual location?"
Ayushmann nodded, "Do you have stocks, or does it have to be manufactured?"
"Um!" The manager quickly went through the records and replied, "There is stock, but if we sell the whole thing to you, we will have nothing to answer to the normal customers. So the most we can do is fulfil half of your requirements immediately. The remaining half will be fulfilled by November."
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Ayushmann thought about it and felt it was alright since Director Arjan only asked him to procure at least five machine tools in each category immediately. Now he had procured 10, which more than doubled the director's lowest requirements.
"In that case, I thank you for your service. I'll take my leave," Ayushmann said as he was about to get up and leave since he still had to negotiate deals with multiple fiber companies. As the Bakshi Group of Enterprises has expanded, the previous raw material channels are hardly able to keep up, so he has to find new suppliers for high-quality threads and even dye.
However, before he was about to get up, the manager stopped him.
"Just a minute, sir. If you don't mind, would you be interested in checking out the new product of our company?" the manager said with a smile.
"Huh!" Ayushmann was taken aback, and he sat down immediately because anything new produced by the Sri Ranga Industrial Tools is of great value and benefit to the industry of the Bharatiya Empire. But he was confused about one thing, "There has been no publicity for this machine. Why is that?" he asked because whenever Sri Ranga Industrial Tools produces a new type of machine or a new variant, there is usually a lot of publicity involved in order to reach their target audience.
The manager smiled, "This product is special, you see. It has only been manufactured in limited quantity. What's more, its cost is a bit too high for even some medium-scale industrial companies to own it. So the head office has given the task of selling these machines to us outlet directors to directly sell them to elite customers like you."
Ayushmann nodded in understanding, and he took over the brochure with curiosity because he still did not know what the product was. But as soon as he saw the heading on the brochure, he was taken aback: Two Revolution Printing Press Water Wheel Variant.
"You're finally selling the printing press?" he blurted out. Not being able to purchase the printing press has been a complaint of the elites in the empire because even though Bharatham Daily remains as unbiased as possible, there are still many people who do not agree with the content, and want to start their own newspaper.
"But this does not seem to be the improved Gutenberg printing press. What is happening?" he asked doubtfully.
The manager smiled, "This is a completely new printing press. More efficient than the improved Gutenberg printing press. What's more, it can actually be connected to Raya Atmospheric Steam Engine if you have one, to run it continuously for days."
Ayushmann got excited because he knew his boss would definitely want to have this product since he had been saying that he wanted to establish a newspaper company of his own for the longest time.
"Can I get a copy of this brochure?" he hurriedly asked.
"Sure, sir, you can keep it."
"Thank you."
Ayushmann quickly hurried out of the office and went straight to the nearest Arkha Dristhi Communication Station. He even ignored a few companies with which he had to negotiate deals.
Not caring about the cost of communication, he encoded the whole brochure into Kumar Code and sent it.
Arjan Bakshi, who had come to Mysore to inspect a few silk weavers, was immediately alerted when his assistant came running to him and handed over a letter.
Reading the letter, Arjan Bakshi's eyes became red, "I need it, as many as possible, no matter the cost," he declared as he immediately stopped his tour, boarded his carriage, and set off to Mangaluru.
A couple of hours later, Ayushmann finally received the reply from Arjan that he was hoping for. Getting the reply, he quickly ran back to the Sri Ranga Industrial Tools outlet office and asked the manager,
"How many printing presses can I reserve, and what is the price?"
The manager did not look surprised since everyone in the industry knew that Arjan Bakshi really wanted to start a newspaper company.
"Maximum four machines could be reserved. As for the price, it is 25,000 Varaha per machine. They will be returned to you once the whole payment is made."
Ayushmann was immediately troubled because the Finance Department had only granted a single check to purchase the machine tools and nothing else. But fortunately, he was not truly helpless. He quickly took out a check from his other pocket and handed it over.
"This has 150,000 Varaha in it. I would like to reserve 4 presses."
The manager once again took his time to make sure that the check was legitimate, and after he did so, he smiled and replied, "All right, sir. I'll reserve the four machines for you. You will have to Complete the payment of 950,000 Varaha per Machine within a week for immediate shipping to happen. If you delay the time, I am sorry, but you will have to wait another few months until your pieces are manufactured."
"As for the remaining amount, please collect it tomorrow after the money is deposited in the bank."
Ayushmann nodded and left happily.
He did not feel troubled by spending away his year-long earnings in a single day because he knew that the director would pay him back immediately.
In fact, he was not wrong because as soon as Arjan Bakshi arrived at Mangalore, apart from paying back the 100,000 Varaha the company owed Ayushmann, he also gave him a bonus of 50,000 Varaha for procuring the printing presses so decisively.
A few days later, after Arjan Bakshi officially received the Two Revolution Printing Press, he established a media company called Bakshi Media Corporation, and he established a newspaper called *Times of Bharat.*
Simultaneously, without people realizing it, many newspaper and media companies had been formed overnight. The job of reporter and editor became the most sought-after.
*Ahom Daily, Nepal Times, The Observer, My Hampi, Lanka Observer,* and other newspapers had been established—from newspapers directed towards local areas to newspapers directed to the whole state or even the whole nation.
The newspaper industry is a very resource-intensive industry, and most importantly, newspaper companies and media groups can only be fully owned proprietorships according to the constitution, in order to hold owners accountable for what is spread in their newspapers.
This requires even more capital and requires the owners to endure a lot more risk. But over the years, the Bharatiya Empire has grown a lot, and many rich people have been created in the Bharatiya Empire. Among them, there are still many who are willing to take the risk.