Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology
Chapter 956: Economic Crisis 1

Chapter 956: Economic Crisis 1

The United States of the Philippines

After the essential provisions of the exchange were decided by Vijay and Peter, their subordinates immediately started negotiating the rest of the smaller details and started ironing out the broader premise for cooperation.

The negotiations were going on, but Vijay didn’t want to stay back in the Philippines any longer, as he felt like the economic crisis was just around the corner. The negotiations can still continue without his presence, but he is indispensable in the Empire during the tough times, so he immediately bid farewell to Peter and Tamblot and got on a carriage back to the port.

Just when he was about to board the ship, Vijay received an emergency letter from Prakash Varma, the governor of Hawaii, and when he read the letter, his brows furrowed.

"Is this a show of Dissatisfaction?" Vijay couldn’t help but conclude, because other than trying to show their unhappiness, he couldn’t think of any other reason why the Spanish would do such a thing.

Vijay muttered to himself, "Is this your revenge, Charles?"

He knew that by supporting the unification of Italy, he would offend the Spanish, but he did it anyway. For him, taking down the Ottomans was a far bigger priority than backing the Spanish in European affairs. Besides, he was already providing Spain with significant support in the Americas to fight against the English, the French, and the Dutch, so he always believed things would not spiral out of control.

In a way, he was right, because despite how things looked, the Spanish did not push it too far. If they wanted, they could have radicalised the rural population to riot, but they did not; instead, it was only the urban folk that were, and not to mention, they could have sent a naval fleet outnumbering the Bharatiya Empire’s own naval force to catch them off guard, but they didn’t do that either.

Their message was very clear: " You may be an overlord in Asia, but we still have some strength in the Pacific. "

Thoughts raced through Vijay’s mind as he considered how to respond. He wasn’t going to take the provocation lying down; doing so would make him look like a pushover, and worse, it would tarnish the dignity of the Empire.

But in the end, he shook his head. "Since the Spanish did not escalate matters too far, I must find a way to retaliate in kind. I cannot resort to direct military action, but Hawaii is too important to the Bharatiya Empire, and any threat to its sovereignty is unacceptable."

Vijay pulled out a slightly yellowed piece of paper, the same special paper used for printing the empire’s currency. He always carried a few sheets with him in case he needed to make official decisions while away from the capital, and this time, it proved to be the perfect moment to use them.

"I can no longer be lenient on the chiefs and the priests," he muttered, his expression turning emotionless as if he were a butcher cutting up pieces of chicken by the gram.

The native Hawaiian society is divided into three different castes. The first caste is the chiefs, *ali’i*; the second caste is the priests *kahuna*; and the final caste is the common people, *maka’āinana*.

Above these three castes is the king. When the Bharatiya Empire set foot on the land of Hawaii for the first time, the intention was to see if the king was willing to submit, but it was a pity it did not happen, and the king had to be removed. But then the Bharatiya Empire directly controlled Hawaii through the governor and a battle group, but when that happened, there was a lot of dissatisfaction among the people of Hawaii; they rightfully saw the Bharatiyas as invaders.

Realising the sensitivity of the situation, Vijay decided to only partially implement the laws and regulations of the Bharatiya Empire in Hawaii. He planned to gradually change the society through immigration and other means, rather than enforcing sudden reforms.

He also chose not to disrupt the existing power structure of the islands too much. The chiefs and priests were still allowed to maintain a portion of their authority. Vijay understood that stripping them of all power would push them to desperation, like wounded animals fighting back with everything they had. In that desperation, they might rally the common people against the Bharatiya Empire.

Since the common people were already prejudiced and biased against the Bharatiya, who were their invaders, Vijay did not believe that any words or actions could fully calm them down.

For so many years, his policy worked very well; the common people were beginning to see the merit in the Bharatiya Empire’s systems, but who would have thought that just after the Spanish provided the chiefs and some priests with more benefits, they decisively betrayed the Bharatiya Empire and stabbed them in the back.

" No more! "

" These guys should no longer be tolerated "

Vijay made a determined decision. He would fully implement the policy of the Bharatiya Empire in Hawaii and make it one of the Bharatiya Empire’s overseas territories officially.

As for the possible riots and dissatisfaction that would arise from his decision, he could no longer consider it. Besides, he is actually confident that a full-scale rebellion would not break out because in the letter written by Prakash Varma it mentioned that the tribal people living in the dense jungles and wilderness did not actually participate in the riots, and it was simply the town folk or people living in close proximity to the ports that were more susceptible to the control of the chiefs and the priests who joined the riots.

"By removing these pests, the hidden dangers should be completely solved," he concluded.

Thinking about the aftermath, Vijay decided to be more prepared. He instructed that a few native Hawaiians be absorbed into the governor’s office. Additionally, he ordered that some capable Hawaiians be nurtured and promoted to help ease the restless hearts of the people after the purge.

After sending out the letter, Vijay summoned the commander of the Pacific Fleet, Akhil, and ordered him to station another battle group in Hawaii.

"I can do it, Your Majesty, but are you sure? We will have to spend more resources to constantly transport the logistics supplies."

"Yes, I am sure, and as for the supplies, it can’t be helped."

While Vijay had just set off from the Philippines after handling the matters of Hawaii and the exchange of interests, the economic crisis he had predicted had already started to come true.

---

Kolkata Stock Exchange

Dravid’s mouth was wide open as he looked up at the KSE Board.

He hoped that he was dreaming and repeatedly rubbed his eyes trying to wake himself up, but unfortunately, he was too sober.

" Wha... why? " Words did not come out of his mouth; he was too stunned to speak. He had already invested most of his liquid assets into a bicycle company that he felt was very promising, but now the stock of the company had actually fallen so suddenly by more than 10%, he couldn’t figure out what went wrong.

Other retail investors next to him were in the same situation; they were wailing as they pulled their hair and cried out their grief and sorrow.

"Oh, Shiva, why did this stock fall?"

"God, no!"

"What! How could so many stocks fall at the same time? What is happening?"

"No no no no no no!!!"

A couple of hours later, the stock prices of all the companies were updated, the stocks fell even harder and the cries of the people grew louder.

Dravid realised that something was wrong. In all his years of investment experience, he had never seen such a situation — not even in the Mangalore Stock Exchange, which was older and far more experienced.

With a mindset of better safe than sorry, he rushed to his stockbroker, determined to sell everything he had while he still had the chance.

" Don’t worry, brother, this is simply a small fluctuation in the market. Some large investment firm should have gone bankrupt, leading to the huge fluctuation. Just wait and see, it will recover right away. "

Some people got worried about the unusual fluctuations and immediately went to the stockbrokers to sell all the shares in their hands, while the majority of the people, like a certain younger brother who convinced his elder brother to invest the money he had saved up for marriage, were still in the mindset that the stocks would eventually recover. A few of them were even trying to pick up a bargain when the prices were low.

Dravid frantically ran to his stockbroker, wanting to sell all the stocks he had in his hands.

His profits had completely disappeared, and he was now at a loss of 5%.

"I want to sell all my stocks, please," he said, his voice hoarse.

The stockbroker hesitated. "Are you sure? There is a good chance that the stocks may recover."

"Yes, I am sure. Please liquidate it immediately."

"Just a minute, sir."

"Here, this is the proof of sale. You can forward it to your banking partner, and they will be able to withdraw the money from the stock exchange."

"Thank you!"

Holding the letter of sale in his hand, he let out a huge sigh of relief. He felt like a huge burden had been lifted off his shoulders.

After completing the trade, he did not leave the stock exchange right away. Instead, he went to a nearby tea house and waited, watching how the market developed. He wanted to see whether he had made the right decision or a terrible mistake.

Soon, the stock board was updated for the third time in the day. The expression on his face couldn’t help but freeze

"Nooo!"

"Devi, why do you punish me?"

"No, my money!"

Even though he had acted quickly and liquidated all his stocks, hearing the cries around him made his heart pound. An ominous air hung over the entire KSE square, and he could feel it pressing down on him.

The next moment, his fears came true as the people from the square frantically ran to the stockbrokers and demanded that their stocks be liquidated.

And in order to be the first person to reach the stockbroker, fights broke out.

People even started screaming about their sale, wanting to recover the money as soon as possible.

" I’m selling the PSDE stocks, I have 15 shares in my hand, it’s only 5200 Varaha, is anyone interested? "

Thankfully, the police came at the right time and brought the emotionally unstable people under control, but just then Dravid saw something that he would never forget in all his life.

’ Bang!!!! ’ A scream was heard, and a person fell from the top of the 5th-floor banking building.

The middle-aged man who had invested all the money he had saved for his daughter’s wedding was now lying in a pool of blood.