Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology-Chapter 937: Marriage!!

Things like espionage were constantly happening all over the empire. It was not only in the rubber industrial zone of Ahom but all the industrial zones across the nation. Every moment, the spies hidden in the society, in the cities, towns, and most importantly around the industrial zones, waited with bated breath, like hyenas plotting their next move.

Most of the time, their plans ended in failure. The intelligence network of the Bharatiya Empire, especially the Bharatiya Internal Pragya, the largest intelligence organisation in the world, had seeped into every part of daily life. In Bharatiya society, every city had at least a few dozen agents, and the concentration was even higher around industrial zones.

The carriage driver who made his rounds every day, the cook preparing tiffin for the workers, the road sweeper cleaning the streets, the shop owner at the corner, or even a common labourer, any one of them could be an informant for the Bharatiya Internal Pragya.

This was one of the key reasons why the Europeans had been unable to break through the empire’s defences. But even so, there were exceptions, like the incident a few months ago in Ahom. Sometimes, no matter how tight the net is, someone slips up. And when that happens, the hyenas are always ready to take advantage.

Human error is always the hardest to control. Even under the strictest security measures, human greed knows no bounds, whether it’s to save a bit of money or to embezzle company funds. Some companies were even seen cutting costs in the area of security. From their perspective, security seemed like a waste of money, especially in an empire that felt so safe.

Unfortunately, the government is helpless to stop this because most companies in the empire are still private family businesses or small group partnership companies, and given that they are completely private, they have no reason to showcase their finances, so it cannot be ascertained how much money is going into the security.

Despite the unfortunate image leaks, if there’s any silver lining or saving grace, it’s that the actual technology behind the Kesari K1 steam engine remained untouched. Neither the design drawings nor the technical schematics were leaked, mainly because they exist in only three places across the entire empire: two known locations, Sri Ranga Industrial Tools and Power Labs, and one undisclosed location, Mobility Labs.

In all three facilities, the critical design and technical documents are locked away in secure vaults, accessible only to the research directors and chief engineers.

What has been stolen now could at the utmost be only the drawings of the Kesari engine, which alone is not allowed to replicate the whole machine.

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Nakhodka, Far East Siberia, Tsarist Russian Empire

Peter leaned against the railing in his newly constructed palace, built right on one of the largest hills in Nakhodka.

From the place Peter was standing, he could see the whole town of Nakhodka, be it the constant traffic brought by the Bharatiya ships bringing in merchants to purchase the minerals from his duchy, or his own subjects travelling to the Bharatiya Empire, be it for business or for a tour.

Looking at the scenery, Peter couldn’t help but lament how right his decision was to follow the suggestion of the Bharatiya Emperor Vijay. The last time Peter went to visit Vijay, bringing along his daughter and little son, Vijay had suggested to him to make another port town in Zaliv Nakhodka Bay.

However, Peter was not too sure about this decision, since he had not paid much attention to the bay, which was right next to Vladivostok. However, after sending people to survey the geography and surroundings of Zaliv Nakhodka Bay, he was surprised to discover that the suggestion made by Vijay was actually very good. Not only was the bay large enough to hold the entire navy of the Russian Empire combined, but it even had a fairly large river, stretching over 100 kilometres.

He sent adventurers to see where the river leads to. He was surprised to discover several iron mines right at its banks, so nearly a year ago he finally decided to build a village in the Zaliv Nakhodka Bay called the Nakhodka Village. As of now, a year later, it has turned into a bustling town, almost on the verge of upgrading to a full-fledged city.

The main reason why Nakhodka, or rather the whole area around Vladivostok, prospered was because of the constant population influx, not from the western part of Russia, but from the various tribes of Siberia.

Ever since Peter stepped into the black hole of industrialisation, he realised that he needed more and more people. The Western Russians were unwilling to come, mainly due to the negative propaganda spread about him by the prominent nobles, and the Bharatiyas refused to come due to the harsh conditions. Even if he wanted to employ the Bharatiyas, he had to pay a big price for them, and in the end, he was only left with the tribals and savages living in tribes and various settlements.

When he set his eyes on the tribes, he began the purging operations without hesitation. Over the span of several months, the tribes that showed any signs of violent resistance were completely wiped out. Blood flowed like tributaries into the rivers, and even the rain couldn’t wash away the aftermath. Ultimately, all the young children from those tribes were taken away and raised as Russian Petrovic Christians.

As for the tribes that appeared peaceful and willing to serve, those who followed Buddhism, tree spirits, light spirits, or any other belief system, were spared and granted citizenship in the Grand Duchy of Siberia. But there were strings attached. For them to be spared, they were forced to send their children to Vladivostok for compulsory Russian education, while their young adults were forced to either join the military or join the workforce to work in various factories. The majority of them were pulled to the factories, as the requirement for them to join the military was very high, not because of their battle skills, but because of the question of loyalties.

Nourished by the stable population growth, the industrial scale of Siberia also continued to grow.

Peter began the industrialization of Far East Siberia by importing blast furnaces from the Bharatiya Empire. In that initial year, iron output was barely 1,000 tonnes, and only a single factory was operational.

But now, more than a decade later, the annual iron production capacity of Far East Siberia has already reached 180,000 tonnes. While still a far cry from Bharatiya’s 1.5 million tonnes, it was impressive nonetheless, especially considering that all the output came from just one city in the Far East.

And even this single city completely dwarfed any single dukedom or region in western Russia.

However, despite achieving so much, Peter was worried. He had become too dependent on the Bharatiya Empire. If the Bharatiya Empire, for some reason, decided to not support him anymore, then he would be left in a very bad situation where he would have to develop everything himself, without any help from the outside.

His fear only increased when the Bharatiya Empire set up the Bharat-Russian Economic Corridor, a trade route cutting through the Middle East and the Caspian Sea, completely sidelining his territory. Peter is not angry or feeling betrayed by the decisions taken by the Bharatiya Empire, since it was logical to do so, but by the deal they made, he was still made aware of his own inadequacies.

And now, even if he wants to put some distance between himself and the Bharatiya Empire, he cannot, because he has already signed the agreements to sell several iron mines for the Bharatiya Empire to provide him with the atmospheric steam engine, which could be used to pump out water from the mines.

With this engine now installed, the production of iron will increase once again, and consequently, the manufacturing capabilities of arms.

In such a critical situation, he cannot make a hasty decision to alter the relationship with the Bharatiya Empire. If anything, he has to do his best to further his connexions with the Bharatiya Empire, so that the bond could be stronger. And this is exactly what is troubling him. He knew what had to be done to make the situation better, it’s just that he is a little opposed to following through with what he was thinking.

Besides, his wife was opposed to it as well. However, no matter how many times he pushes the matter aside, his rational mind keeps reminding him that going through with the plan would be like hitting several birds at a time.

Finally, hardening his heart, he made the decision to marry his daughter Ekaterine to the Prince of the Bharatiya Empire, Agni Devaraya.

His wife, who got to know about his decision, was shocked. Tears flew from her eyes.

" My lord, how could you do it? How could you marry Ekaterine to a pagan? "

Peter was not surprised by his wife’s reaction. Growing up in a traditional noble household and not travelling anywhere before meeting him, her worldview had already been fixed. She was unable to accept giving her daughter to a pagan, no matter how powerful the pagan was.

In fact, Peter was no different. He had also been resistant to the idea of marrying his daughter to Agni. But he had seen more of the world, and his worldview had expanded. He had grown more open-minded, enough to accept the idea of his daughter marrying a pagan, albeit just barely.

If this marriage meant that his dynasty would prosper, and if it gave him a real chance to turn Siberia into a kingdom, or even conquer Russia, then he had no choice but to accept it.

Marrying off his daughter was a small price to pay for his massive ambitions that had recently sprouted.

" Wife, we are already considered pagans by those so-called dukes, marquesses, and counts. We are being called savages, barbarians, and tribals. Just because I marry my daughter to an Orthodox Christian doesn’t change this view of them on us, so since this is already the case, why do we need to care what those shortsighted idiots think? "

"Besides, the new school of Christianity that originated in this land is already considered blasphemy by those Orthodox and Catholic believers. They do not think that Jesus is the embodiment of all the spirits, totems, gods, and goddesses of Europe. They do not think he comes in different forms and helps people in different ways. Instead, they still insist on believing in their age-old story and continue to call for the world to punish me at every turn. Since things are already like this, why should I care?"

Peter was seething with anger. At first, he hadn’t wanted to lose his temper, but the more he spoke, the more furious he became.

He had personally created a new school of Christianity, Russian Petrovic Christianity, whose core doctrine claimed that all spirits, totems, gods, and goddesses of Europe were simply different manifestations of Jesus Christ. His goal wasn’t heresy, it was integration. He wanted a unifying belief system that could bring the diverse tribes under his control. And in his mind, creating a new branch of Christianity was the only way to achieve it.

But who would have thought that the very bishops, emissaries, and clergy he hoped to work with would turn on him, calling him a blasphemer and a sinner?

Did they not understand? By following the doctrine he had crafted, the people could be integrated far more smoothly. Even the pagans still scattered across parts of Europe could be brought into the fold, without resistance, without bloodshed.

Peter was disgusted by the hypocrisy of the Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church, and their hypocrisy was the thing that made Peter realise that their opinions did not matter. Even though his power in the world can be considered as not too amazing, in Siberia he was the emperor. Not to mention, his brother Dmitri, the so-called Emperor of Russia, and even the Bharatiya Empire have to weigh their weight before setting foot into Siberia.

So then he decided he would turn this land into his empire, and from this empire, he would... conquer Russia.

Wilhelmine Adelheid von Hohenzollern, seeing the ruthless expression on her husband’s face, knew that there was no more change in his decision. And no matter how reluctant she was, she could not do anything about it, since she neither had actual power in her hands nor even had a powerful backer. Even though she comes from the Hohenzollern family of Prussia-Brandenburg, her family’s power and influence in Siberia is non-existent.

She could only run into the palace, crying...

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