Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

Chapter 159  Dakshin Bharata Varsam Part: 2

Hearing the words spoken by Logananda and Ravichandra Rao, Vijay was very disappointed and sad as he furrowed his brow and thought, "Were they threatening him?" This was something he never expected to happen. However, Vijay decided to wait for both of them to explain themselves, giving them an opportunity to clarify their intentions.

Observing the frown on Vijay's face, Ravichandra quickly concluded that Vijay had misunderstood them. He promptly cleared the matter, "Your Highness, this is not because we disapprove of your decision. We had already decided to retire after the war with the Mughal Empire ended. We both are getting old, and the responsibilities in the Empire are getting heavier. We can no longer fulfil our duties. So, please let us retire," Ravichandra explained.

Hearing this, Vijay's frown lessened. It was okay if they weren't threatening him, but thinking about the reason for their retirement, Vijay fell into deep thought as he looked at the grey hair of the two old men. Although reluctant, he couldn't help but agree that they were getting too old for these core positions. Moreover, judging by their reaction after he revealed his decision to change the name of the Empire, Vijay concluded that these two loyal old men were becoming rigid and unable to accept new things. He reluctantly agreed, considering the interest of the Empire.

"Alright, I will grant you this request, but you are still responsible for all the affairs in the Vijayanagar Empire until you can train a capable successor for me. Do you both have anyone in mind?" Vijay asked them.

The old men were surprised that the task fell on them; they thought his majesty would promote someone himself. Looking at their disbelieving faces, Vijay replied, "Come on, you both don't need to be surprised. I know you are very loyal to the royal family and the empire, and I never doubted your loyalty. So, just bravely recommend someone who could take your place."

Hearing his majesty's words, both Logananda and Ravichandra felt touched. They believed that their loyalty was not placed in vain on the young man in front of them.

Vijay thought about it for a moment and felt that what his old butler said made sense. Vinod had been very good at managing the industries of the royal family. Due to Vijay further providing him with important knowledge about management, he became even more outstanding, and the workload currently placed on him felt minimal. Vijay could see him around the castle, just ordering around the servants as if he had nothing else to do. When he looked at the personal reports pertaining to the royal industries, they were all impeccable; he could not find fault anywhere.

It was Ravichandra who chose to speak out first. "Your Highness, in the government, there are many people who could potentially take my place. Considering the promotion of education, there are numerous talents joining the government services. However, Your Highness, I wholeheartedly recommend Vinod to take charge as the prime minister. He has already served under you as the butler of the royal families, so he has access to all the financial details about the empire. I have personally trained him since a young age to be loyal to the royal family and the empire, so his loyalty is guaranteed. I think, with a little training, he could easily handle the tasks I am currently doing."

Vijay thought about it for a moment and felt that what his old butler said made sense. Vinod had been very good at managing the industries of the royal family. Due to Vijay further providing him with important knowledge about management, he became even more outstanding, and the workload currently placed on him felt minimal. Vijay could see him around the castle, just ordering around the servants as if he had nothing else to do. When he looked at the personal reports pertaining to the royal industries, they were all impeccable; he could not find fault anywhere.

"What you said makes sense, but what about my butler?" Vijay asked. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Your Highness, let me take my old position back. I have already served as the prime minister of the Empire, so these tasks of managing the royal industries should be no problem. Taking care of the heir of the Bharatiya Empire will be my greatest wish."

Vijay totally ignored the old man's comments about his child and felt that what the old man said for the rest of the part made sense. "Okay, Uncle Ravi, we will do as you say. From tomorrow, take Vinod with you, and make him familiar with all the mechanisms of the government. I am planning to hold a canonization ceremony in a week at the latest," Vijay said.

"Marshall Logananda, do you have any suggestions?"

"Your Highness, although I know that you have no good feelings about the person I am about to recommend, I can see no one more suitable than him."

This sentence intrigued him. At first, Vijay thought that Logananda would recommend his son, Ramaiya Senapati. But according to what the old man said, he has bad feelings towards the person the Marshall is about to recommend. Who could that be? Vijay fell into deep thought. Before Vijay could guess, the old man answered himself.

"Your Highness, I can find no one suitable to take my place than Kiran Pujari."

This caught Vijay by surprise. He would have never guessed that it would be Kiran Pujari. Now that he thinks about him, although he did not have any bad impressions on him, he did not have any good impressions either.

"Your reason being," Vijay asked, truly intrigued by the reason Logananda would have in choosing Kiran instead of his own son.

Looking at the doubt in Vijay's eyes, Logananda answered, "Your Highness, although my son Ramaiya is very talented, he has not experienced the loss of a battle, and he has a more radical way of thinking, which is not suitable for him to be in my position. On the other hand, I see both these talents present in Kiran Pujari. After he defeated one of the topmost generals in the Mughal Empire with huge casualties, he has grown more stable and is more adept at noticing minor differences on the battlefield. Also, due to him losing so many soldiers, he has been trying new ways and tactics that could be used. So, Your Highness, I really think there is no one more suitable for the task than Kiran Pujari."

Listening to all the things the marshal said, Vijay had to accept the suggestion as he could not find any fault in it. "Alright, Marshal, we will do according to your wish. Similarly, Kiran Pujari will hand over his guard duties to his deputy and work under you until he is ready to take over the task."

Both the old men were happy with the result they obtained.

While everything was calm in the royal palace, the earth-shaking news spread throughout the empire, causing the people to be excited and start discussing the new development spontaneously.

"Hey, did you hear? His majesty is going to end his reign as the emperor of the Vijayanagar Empire and establish a new Empire."

"What are you saying? How can his majesty do that? The Vijayanagar Empire has prospered and become our home for the past 320 years. Does his majesty not value the hard work done by his ancestors, especially the founder of the Vijayanagara Empire, Harihara Maharaj?"

"Hey, don't you know? His Majesty said that the new Empire would be called the Dakhin Bhartiya Empire. Doesn't Bharat mean us? If there is Dakhin Bharat, will it become Akhand Bharat after defeating those barbarians?"

"Hey, what you said does make sense, but who told you that Bharat means us?"

"Don't know. All the slokas as well as my parents at home keep saying that Bharat is the place where all the sanatanis live. Doesn't that mean even the land occupied by the barbarians is our land?"

"Hey, what you said makes sense. Maybe His Highness wants to conquer the rest of Bharat and free our brothers and sisters in the north of the Empire and be a great Samrat like Maurya Maharaj or Ashoka Maharaj. I think we should support him. What do you say?"

"Hey, that's what I was also thinking. Since His Highness took the throne, it has been good days for us. We had an abundance of food and cheap clothes, ample spare money to buy whatever we wanted, and our family was even able to get a plot of land after the land was distributed by his highness. I am sure our future will be bright with the rule of his highness."

Such conversations took place in various places of the Empire, as the common people were very supportive of the new change. However, the elite was skeptical of this change; they did not know if this was a good change or a bad one. For the most part, their immediate interests were not being damaged, as the only thing that had changed was the name of the Empire they were loyal to.

When this news reached the Mughal Empire, Muhammad frowned, fully understanding what this name change meant. It was a direct declaration of war on the rest of the subcontinent. He became uneasy, knowing that if he did not take any action, the rebellion would break out at any moment. He had worked a lot to bring the Mughal Empire into cohesion with violence and various factors. Now, if Vijayanagara could bring the people together with only a name change, he was in big trouble.

But soon he calmed down, thinking about the representative sent by the Ottoman Empire. He was excited, as the Ottoman Empire had promised to support him in his conquest against the Southern Indian Empire. In a few weeks, he was about to receive a shipment of artillery from the Ottoman Empire. The transportation was so fast because the trade route from India to Europe through the Red Sea was controlled by the Ottoman Empire. The shipments would be received at a port in Karachi. Although he could not compete against the Vijayanagara Empire right now, he could divert the attention of the Empire to another place.

To Be Continued...