Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology-Chapter 948: Burden sharing & Agni’s Marriage

Under the insistence of Prime Minister Vinod, all the state governments, right after their Chief Ministers got back, got to work immediately, deciding how they would approach the first 5-year plan and how they would adopt their own version to meet the goals of His Majesty.

Back in the Parliament,

"Since His Majesty said that this is the first five-year plan, then that means there will be a second, a third, or even a fourth. So I believe it would be smart to add the canal construction project to the five-year plan for better management. Besides, didn’t the Emperor say that at least 10 million people have to be employed? Then why don’t we simply combine the two projects and make a five-year plan so that at least 15 million people are employed for the next five years?"

Vinod immediately informed his idea to the Cabinet, and it received approval from all the ministers.

Consequently, the plan was sent to all the Chief Ministers, and they agreed as well.

A few days later, a conference was held in order to discuss which state would bear the most burden, and in the end, the decision was made with practical considerations out of pragmatism.

To meet the iron and steel target, most of the burden was placed on the Gangapuri government, as the state has the largest mineral reserve of iron and also has the iron industrial zone.

Then, in order to meet the coal target, a similar logic was used, and Kalachuri Nagar was selected.

For cement, it was Paramara Puri, due to it having the richest limestone reserves in the empire, and for the non-ferrous materials like bronze, copper, and tin, the burden is shared by states like Baluchistan, Pratihara Puri, and other states where large deposits were found.

When it came to the question of infrastructure expansion, like the roads and railways, all the state governments decided to split the burden, but Prime Minister Vinod completely disagreed with their decisions and made an order of his own.

"The transportation infrastructure in the southern part of the empire is already very developed. We now have roads connecting every city in the empire, as well as some major towns and villages on the way, and the same goes for the railway. Being under construction and lying down for the last 17 years, the interstate, state-connecting railway and central railway have mostly been laid. It is just the hard terrain areas that are holding us back, but this can be solved with time. There is no need to spend excess resources on them, as it is not cost-effective. However, in the northern part of the empire, despite years of effort, transportation is still lacking. This is understandable due to the vastness of the empire, but now that His Majesty has given us an ultimatum, we must place our full attention here."

Vinod looked at the CMs, leaving no room to refute,

"The complete burden of reaching the target of road expansion will be borne by the northern states, and so is the majority of the railway expansion target. It is becoming exceedingly clear that the northern parts of the empire have more minerals and resources required for industrialisation. With the invention of the steam engine, the necessity of industries being on the banks of water bodies has already ceased to exist."

"The migration of the industries has already started, and I see this trend only becoming more pronounced as time goes on. So this will be the perfect time to develop the transportation infrastructure in the North, so as to not cause a bottleneck in the industrial capabilities of the empire when most of the industries migrate."

"Also, within five years, we may not be able to completely transform the North’s transportation infrastructure to meet the standards of the South, but we can at least focus most of the resources on the states that have the most important growth models useful for the industry."

"So here’s what I need. All the states in the North will still take on some burden of the road and railway construction, but they only need to develop it around their industrial zones, so that those zones can function as intended, while the majority of the burden will be placed on states with core industries like mining, iron production, cement production, non-ferrous metals, coal, carriage production, and things like that."

" Do the calculations. Discuss among yourselves, take assistance from the central ministries whenever needed, and give me a report on which state will take on how much burden. I need all of you to be quick, as His Majesty is expecting the report by the end of the week, and the projects cannot be delayed. "

All the Chief Ministers and the Cabinet ministers understood the order of the Prime Minister, and they got to work immediately, especially Nirmal, the Minister of Transportation, who personally acted as the bridge between the state governments and the central government, and finally came to an understanding between both parties.

A similar method was used to bundle in the canals as well, but that was not included within the infrastructure expansion part because His Majesty the Emperor wanted it to be separated from the other projects so that the financials wouldn’t be messed up.

In the end, the burden of the canal fell into the hands of the states like Vijayanagar, Kakatheya puri, Solanki Puri, Pratihara Puri, Gupta Nagari, Kashyapamar, and others.

On the 15th of April 1675, the first Five-Year Imperial Development Act was passed in the Parliament, and the news was immediately made public.

The labourers who had completed working for the Great Southern Bharatiya Canal Project were overjoyed and immediately journeyed north and started the work all over again. The Feelings of the labourers in the northern part of the empire who were looking for jobs were over the roof when the government announced millions of jobs available so suddenly.

The rich people were overjoyed because people began to leave the farmhand work on a large scale, as working for some company in road, railway, or canal construction was much more profitable than helping in farming. In this situation, the agriculture companies swooped in and ate up the land rights for agriculture at a cheap price, and immediately started large-scale agricultural development practices.

The construction companies were naturally happy as well. Some small and medium-scale construction companies had already thought about shrinking the size of the company due to the completion of the Great Southern Bharatiya Canal Project, and the large-scale construction companies had already thought to expand to the overseas territories, but now not only did they not have to shrink, they could actually expand even more.

Unsurprisingly, that was exactly what they did; they recruited more labourers from the north and started the work immediately.

The growth of agricultural companies, human resource companies, and construction companies was naturally reflected in the stock market, but unfortunately, all the people in the empire were completely focused on another matter altogether.

It was the marriage of their beloved Prince Agni Devaraya. freewebnoveℓ.com

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Agni, riding in the royal carriage on the outskirts of the capital, looked at his soon-to-be wife, Ekaterine Wellhelmina Petrovna Romanov, and placed his hand on her hand. "Don’t worry, princess, you will be wholeheartedly accepted by my people," he comforted.

Ekaterine looked up at the beautiful face of her fiancé, which looked as expressionless as always, and she did not know what to say.

"Was it really that simple?" She couldn’t help but worry further. She had lived in the Bharatiya Empire long enough to know that what Agni was saying was very close to the truth, but after the incident in Vladivostok, where not many people attended her Orthodox wedding ceremony, and her mother had even shown a look of reluctance and pain, she no longer had the confidence she once did.

Thankfully, even in that dreadful ceremony, there was at least a silver lining: the ceremony had been held between her and her stand-in, instead of Agni himself. This was a tradition used in noble European marriages when the husband’s land was too far away and he couldn’t travel to the wife’s land.

If Agni had really come to attend the ceremony and participate with her, she did not know if the marriage could still be held. After all, from what she knew, it was her father who asked the Bharatiya Empire for marriage, and the Emperor Vijay Devaraya, who was now her father-in-law, which was kinda hard to believe, had simply agreed to her father.

As the carriage got nearer and nearer to the city, the screams and shouts of the people could already be heard.

"Ah, His Highness’s carriage is here!"

"His Highness, please look over here!"

"Welcome, Princess, welcome to the Empire!"

"Princess Ekaterine, you shine like the moon!"

"The future Emperor is here!"

"Agni Devaraya! Agni Devaraya!"

"Blessings to the Royal Couple!"

"May the Goddess bless our new Princess!"

"Prince Agni, lead us to greatness!"

Ekaterine’s eyes widened as she opened the curtain, and good-looking people dressed in gorgeous clothes were throwing flowers at the carriage and were actually cheering for her. They looked very happy, they looked welcoming, completely different from the twisted imagination of her being welcomed by the hits of sticks and stones.

"See, didn’t I tell you?" Agni chimed in as he waved his hand with a slight smile.

Ekaterine covered her mouth and leaned back, becoming short of breath due to the intense emotions flowing through her mind.

As soon as Ekaterine reached the palace, the turmeric ceremony was held, after which was the reception. There, all the ministers of the empire attended, as well as the monarchs of the nearby countries.

The next day was the wedding. Thankfully, the number of people attending the event had been reduced to only the important people in the empire, as well as the immediate family and relatives of the royal family, like the Shetty family and Bhonsle family. Ekaterine quickly remembered everyone because the family tree of the Devaraya royal family was too simple in her opinion, unlike European noble families, which are practically a very big net of cousins, nephews, and nieces.

Mangala Sutra was tied, and she walked around the sacred fire with her husband. She even saw her mother-in-law, Empress Kavya, covering her mouth and crying, while the Emperor seemed to be looking at them with some pride and relief. As for Vedant and Tanvika, the two little guys were simply clapping with excitement and enthusiasm.

P.S. Sorry, I couldn’t get myself to write a whole Chapter on marriage

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