Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

There was a brief lunch break right after Vinod's report. The majority of the ministers came out of the parliament hall with smiles on their faces, looking forward to a scrumptious meal. In the meantime, Arnav Sharma quickly sent the memos he had written to the head office and proceeded to do some interviews to gather the views of different ministers regarding the issue raised by the Solanki Puri Minister.

He identified a minister who had become quite popular in his state and asked him about his views on the issue raised in parliament.

The minister stroked his beard in deep thought and responded, "I believe it is not very fair for us if the Solanki Puri Minister expects the same per capita wealth output in the North as in the South, despite being under the suppressive rule of the Mughal government for several centuries. And it's even more shameful to compare northern Bharat to a colony. It's disrespectful to all the soldiers who fought in the war, and most importantly, it's an offence to His Majesty."

A minister who had been drawn to the interview and overheard the statement shook his head in denial:

"I'd beg to differ. I am an MP in the Guntur district of Kakatiya Puri, so you can tell that I am not biased."

"Looking at the industrial policies pushed forward by the government in recent years, you can clearly see the interesting trend that is taking place, where the policy is highly tilted towards the southern part of the empire becoming an industrialized economy. Meanwhile, the North serves as a resource hub, mining site, or warehouse. The only support in industry that has been given to the North is in processing technology and not manufacturing. The only exception is the timber industry of Ahom, which has gained a dominant position in the empire due to its strategic geographical location and its heritage, but even that could only be considered a processing industry since there is really nothing to be manufactured in the timber industry."

"The Prime Minister said a lot has been done in the northern part of the empire to rebuild its economy to a time before the Mughal Empire. This is true, I accept it, but it is my opinion that he could be doing more to enable the northerners to look after themselves. As the saying goes, it is better to teach a man to fish instead of giving him the fish." He had an expression of disappointment. Arnav keenly realized this and pressed forward on the topic to see if he could get a more juicy take.

"Are you going to file a complaint against the prime minister, Minister?" he asked.

"If necessary, yes, because the Constitution of Bharat is fair, and it allows me, as the representative of my people, to do so. But I believe it is not necessary since His Excellency, the Prime Minister, has already promised to make changes before the elections. And more importantly, it is not a surprise; every smart person in the empire can see that we are on the brink of a big change. Maybe it was to see this change that the inequality of resources came about, but all I and my supporters would do is wait patiently. If our hopes are let down by next year, then I would not hesitate to support my brothers and sisters of the North."

Arnav Sharma was overjoyed—this was big news. However, he did not show the emotions on his face. Instead, he put on a polite smile.

"Thank you for your insight, Minister. I will let you enjoy your lunch."

The year-end summit this time around was not organized by Ganesh but by a small unit in the government called the Event Organization Committee. So, there were a lot of changes in the decorating elements of the summit, but what remained the same was the place at which the catering was ordered.

It was naturally the Bhookha Yodha Street.

The ministers enjoyed the buffet to their hearts' content as the food cooked was the best the empire could offer.

"Dong!"

The bell in the parliament rang, indicating that it was already 2:00 PM. Understandably, most of the ministers were used to managing their time properly. Their lunch wasn't long, and they quickly made their way into the parliament building.

Inside, there were a few people who had already arrived, while the others joined in later. Vijay, who had gone to a private room to have lunch, came back and got seated on his throne.

"Commence the report."

Raja Kiran Pujari, also the Marshal of the Empire, stood up and came forward. All the murmurs and little noises that were present immediately disappeared as everyone looked at the Marshal with respect and curiosity.

"Good afternoon, everyone. I hope all of you had a pleasant meal."

He took out a small book from his pocket and proceeded to flip it over.

"Let me first start with the strength of our army. After the war with the Mughal Empire, our army had to be demobilized since the empire could not afford to maintain such a large standing army without a war."

"However, a year down the line, the necessity arose once again as the army personnel required to be stationed across our borders exceeding 2 million square kilometers was immense, and most importantly, we had to station our forces in foreign countries like the United States of Philippines, the Kingdom of Mindanao, the Kingdom of Persia, and Lalishsthan."

"The current number of our standing army is over 1.2 million, with a reserve force of 150,000."

There wasn't a big reaction in the parliament because this was data that was more or less common knowledge. However, a Minister from Kashyapamar (Kashmir) inquired out of curiosity, "Marshal, what is the quality of the soldiers? Are all of them literate, or are we simply making do like we did during the war?"

"It's somewhere in the center," Kiran Poojari answered honestly. "For all squad captains, the requirement of literacy is present, unlike during the war, where it was only a requirement for higher-ranking officers. But for those new recruits, there is no such thing. It's not because we don't want to employ literate army officers, but we simply are not able to. The empire does not have a large enough literate population for the army to be picky, so we make do with those students who barely passed college and high school while doing well in physical education at the beginning of the academic year."

Kiran looked at Raghavendra Bhatt. "Thanks to the Minister of Education, the military can now recruit directly from high schools and colleges, saving us a lot of trouble in training these recruits."

Raghavendra nodded in acceptance. Kiran continued, "Talking about the latest regulations brought forward in the military by the suggestion of His Majesty, a few changes have been made regarding how the army is operated. For one, the army is divided into five different commands: Western, Northern, Eastern, Central, and Southern. And for two, the whole army is divided into twenty-seven independent regiments located in different parts of the empire according to their specialty."

"Bharat is a very diverse country, so we found it tiring to reconcile differences between different beliefs and kinds of people. This regimental system has been put forward not only to make the military more effective and efficient but also to make it flexible in its approach to solving problems."

Vijay slightly nodded his head. In fact, the regimental system of the Republic of India in his last life had been established by the British, but it proved to be too inefficient for the British themselves, so they evolved from it to a more standardized and updated structure. However, it remained in India in his past life, even until he was assassinated and reborn. The main reason for this was that it was simply impossible for a diverse country like Bharat to implement a one-size-fits-all approach. The regimental system, where specializations and differences were taken into consideration, worked wonders for the Republic of India, where each regiment developed its own specialities.

Kiran continued, "Not all regiments are equal, as certain regiments focus more on the traditional warfare approach, while others focus on unconventional methods. So do not be surprised when certain regiments have fewer personnel than others. It does not mean that the regiment is weaker with few people it just means that their tactics are unconventional"

"Currently, the top-ranking regiments are the Chola Regiment, the Sikh Regiment, the Vaidya Gurkha Regiment, the Kashyapamar Regiment, the Ahom Regiment, and the Kakathiya Regiment, among 21 others."

"The Western Command has 15 regiments under its command, comprising nine complete legions with over 672,000 soldiers, making up 56% of our army."

"The Northern Command has 4 regiments made up of 210,000 soldiers, occupying 21% of the nation's army capabilities."

"The Eastern Command has two regiments with a strength of 120,000 soldiers, making up 10% of the army."

"The Central Command has four separate regiments comprised of 84,000 soldiers or 7% of the army."

"Finally, the Southern Command has command over two regiments or 72,000 soldiers, or 6% of the army."

Kiran briefly stopped and looked up, waiting to see if anyone had any doubts, but from the looks of it, no one did.

"Now moving to the Navy. The naval expansion bill put forward by His Majesty in 1657 is almost coming to fruition. By May, all the ships should be constructed."

"By then, we should have 25 Delhi-class battleships, 27 Guwahati-class merchant ships, 90 Pune-class battleships, 405 Colombo-class frigates, 105 Chennai-class clippers, 657 Amaravathi-class frigates, and 249 Kolkata-class clippers, making our navy an 832,000-ton giant comprised of three fleets: the Indian Fleet, the Atlantic Fleet, and the Pacific Fleet, having five battle groups in each, where each battle group comprises 102 warships."

"As far as infrastructure is concerned, military ports ranked in tiers are being constructed as we speak. The smaller ones should be done in a few months, and the larger ones, like the one being constructed in Socotra, should be completed by 1662."

To be continued...

P.S Thank you Kalsang_Dolker, for the iceCola