Chapter 292 Rohan's Visit
Rohan was on the outskirts of the Empire's capital. He came all the way from the Amir Sultanate to meet their new neighbors—the Vijayanagara Empire. The capital of Hampi was huge; the roads were bustling with carriages entering and leaving Hampi.
He was quite astonished by the grandeur of the capital. There were hundreds of thousands of people. Foreign and local merchants alike roamed the city. The pathways were paved with stone and well-maintained like their roads.
'This is the wealth of the Empire…'
Their carriage passed through the checkpoint at the entrance of the Capital. The checkpoint guards were efficient at their work. They didn't slack off and let people enter without the verification.
Once their verification was done, their carriage was let inside the Capital. Rohan looked out at people happily walking through the capital. The city plaza was beautiful and the temple was doing their morning rituals with hums of devotion in the air.
After a brief verification again at the gate of the Royal Palace, Rohan was let inside. A servant later guided him to his room inside the palace, promptly decorated and filled with luxurious amenities.
Rohan took his time to complete the formalities upon arrival to let them know about their meetings. The palace staff helped him a bit to complete the formalities. He was now waiting for them to give a favorable reply or a timeframe for the meeting.
A servant knocked on his door.
Rohan opened it with his diplomatic smile. Good behavior in a foreign empire was of utmost importance.
"Lord Rohan, Is it?" The servant asked.
"Yes?"
"We cannot provide you with a meeting date right now." He explained. "The officials and the emperor are busy."
"I see…." Rohan kept his smile. "How long would I have to wait?"
"We have no timeframe ready yet." He said. "If there are any changes, the staff shall inform you personally."
"Right."
The servant left.
A week passed from that day and Rohan was still in the palace. He was still not given a meeting chance with the emperor or the officials.
'The hell... a week passed and no proper communication...' He sighed.
It seemed like they were blatantly ignoring his advances. He knew better than to get pissed at this. They were probably testing him.
The servant came as usual to keep tabs on Rohan. He noticed that the palace staff was really more efficient and meticulous than the ones at the Amir Sultanate and his master Yogi.
"Do you have any information about the meeting time?" He asked the servant.
"Hm….I guess it should be soon." The servant said with a smile.
One more day passed by without any meaningful work. Rohan was just going over the reports about the personality of the Emperor and his colleagues. One name that stood out was the Butler of the Emperor—a lower caste that rose from rags to that position.
'This man... is quite capable.'
The reports didn't give any meaningful information about Viswa but Rohan's stroll around the Palace got him thinking. The palace staff was maintained by the butler. If they were so efficient. He could easily guess that the butler must also be a capable man to manage them.
Finally, today was the day he was going to meet the officials. The servants guided him to a large vacant room. It was huge, with bookshelves on both sides of the room and a wooden table with sofas on each side.
A well-dressed man sat on one end with his sword leaning on the sofa.
He got up to greet Rohan with a smile.
"Lord Rohan! I am the butler of His Majesty, Harsha Deva Raya." He said. "Take a seat."
"Greetings, Lord Viswa."
They both exchanged the formalities before moving on to the main agenda of the meeting. Rohan was tasked with ensuring friendly relations with the Empire and also opening up for trade.
"Let's begin," Viswa smiled.
Rohan put on his diplomatic hat and began. "First, the Sultan Fazil sends his well-wishes and gifts to the Emperor."
"I shall relay it to the Emperor, Lord Rohan."
"We as the Sultanate want a good relationship with all our neighbours." Rohan explained. "We maintain good ties."
"As our new neighbour, we wish to work forward and cooperate with the Empire to foster a healthy relationship."
"Hm….I see. We would also like that." Viswa replied with a cough. "The Amir Sultanate is a mercantile and one of the politically stable kingdoms in the region."
"We would certainly want to cooperate in the economic side of things with you."
"Regarding that, we have experienced a lot of influx of refugees due to the annexures of the Qutbs." Rohan said.
"Is it large-scale?"
"Maybe we have still yet to fully assess the situation but the borders are certainly getting more people."
"We would like to avoid a refugee crisis."
Viswa looked concerned for a moment. "Fair enough. We can compensate for the trouble caused by the annexure."Nôv(el)B\\jnn
"Compensate?"
The refugee crisis was mild at best in the bordering regions. He wanted to get some edge in the negotiation part using this information.
"Of course, we can't relocate or identify each refugee and let them blindly in." Viswa smiled. "It's fair to compensate for this."
"What compensation?"
"We shall open our borders for the merchants from the Amir Sultanate and lower some of the tariffs for the next 6 months."
He considered for a moment. It was a great deal on the surface but it seemed like there was something more to squeeze from the Empire. His instincts were saying that he could push a bit more.
"Hmm... How much lower are the tariffs?"
"15% lower than the current rate."
"How about we do 10% and the Empire assist the Sultanate in road networks enhancement?"
Viswa smiled. "You are interested in roads? Of course, those come at a cost."
Rohan expected this. The roads seemed like a good deal for the future. He went in on them.
"The overseers are quite expensive, Lord Rohan. We can have a deal if you drop the tariffs to 6%."
"How about we meet in the middle at 8%, Lord Viswa?"
"Of course, provided the compensation of the overseers shall be borne by the Sultanate." He smiled. Find adventures at empire
Rohan clicked his tongue silently. He knew better than to overextend and lose this deal as well. He had to accept it.
"Fine, you have a deal, Lord Viswa."