Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology
Chapter 971: Antarwahini class

Chapter 971: Antarwahini class

16th March 1677

Akhand Bahati Empire, Imperial Capital Bengaluru

Nearly a year has passed since Moroi’s Fiend, or by its new name, the Balkan Death, had broken out.

As it was too easy to be infected by the Moroi’s Fiend, and there were limited ways of protection against it, because the people simply wouldn’t cooperate and would always try to do their own thing, the fight against the plague was long and hard.

It was one of the reasons why the plague spread despite the countermeasures.

It was almost as if a war of attrition was taking place between the Bharatiya Empire and another equally advanced country, with both sides losing and gaining ground continuously. In the end, the Empire got an edge over the opponent when the production of the herbal raw materials picked up.

With the supply of raw materials being met, more fumigation powders, more concoctions, and more camphor blends were sent to the western frontier, allowing for the Bharatiya Empire to gain a decisive upper hand and finally suppress the plague, bringing the number to under 4 digits.

The number might look like a lot, especially compared with the deaths not going above a few hundreds caused by pandemics in the future where medical care is far more advanced, in this day and age, this was actually miraculously low, not to mention considering that there were millions of people at the border who were practically a flock of sheep facing against a pack of wolves, it was an even bigger miracle.

Sadly, though, the casualties were not small; civilians, military officers, police, and medical professionals all lost their lives in the fight against the plague. Although the number could not be exactly identified, it was roughly around 100,000 lives or more.

In memory of the lost lives, Vijay called for a national conference. A huge event was held on the parade grounds, Vijay stood along with his royal guards in front of the majestic 100 meters Lord Ram statue, in front of the sacred fire of the civilization that burned for the last two decades, in front of the gigantic Saffron flag of the Ashoka Chakra waving in the wind with its supreme glory, and in front of the thousands of people, hundreds of military and police officers, and dozens of newspaper reporters, and spoke out.

" The battle was long and hard; we lost many brothers and sisters "

" These brothers and sisters had no necessity to put their lives on the line when the mobilisation order was passed, but despite knowing the threat, these brave souls did not hesitate and resolutely marched to the front lines "

" Each and every one of these souls deserves my respect, your respect, and everyone’s respect "

"Stomp!"

Vijay resolutely saluted, and so did the royal guards, who simultaneously fired their guns as a show of respect, wearing ceremonial clothes, only worn during the sending off of the distinguished nobles of the empire, with sombre expressions on their faces.

"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"

The reporters paused the writing for a moment and did the same. Young, elderly, middle-aged, doctors, lawyers, workers, mothers, fathers, sons, people of all ages, of all professions, and of all kinds that were gathered before the Lord’s statue, followed their emperor and gave a salute with a stomp.

"Boom!"

The sound of feet striking the ground echoed like an explosion, and the vibration rippling through the earth like an earthquake. The sounds pierced through the bone and struck the hearts of all who stood there.

Vijay, feeling the sincere emotions of the people, was touched. He knew he had to do something, so he suddenly raised his head, put his hand on his heart, and solemnly swore.

"I, Vijay Devaraya, Emperor of the Akhand Bharatiya Empire, hereby declare that a sum of 10,000 Varaha shall be granted to the families of the deceased as a gesture of relief and honour. Furthermore, these families shall receive an annual pension of 1,000 Varaha from the state for the next fifty years."

"Let this day be remembered henceforth as the Black Day, a solemn day of remembrance and a call for plague awareness."

"From the coming year onward, biological hazard drills shall be conducted on this day across the empire, so that we may be better prepared to face such calamities in the future."

---

After the conference, Vijay left the capital and travelled down south to Coimbatore.

Although the plague has not been eradicated fully, and there is still a chance that the plague could mutate, the chances are very low, so Vijay could finally rest assured after a long time.

All these months, his nerves were extremely tight because the threat of death was looming over his head like a sword of Damocles, but now the threat has long since disappeared. This is one of the reasons he was confident enough to hold the conference and declare the end of the plague and the end of the military administration of medical companies.

Though the emergency is still on, it is only as a precaution until the state of Kalsa Nagari gets rid of the plague and brings the cases to under three digits. Vijay estimates that it wouldn’t take long, so now that he is free, he is going to inspect the first vehicle of transportation using the steam engine in the empire, continent, and even in the whole world.

---

His eldest and youngest, Agni and Vedant, one responsible for manufacturing and the other responsible for the design and implementation, were both working on the ship for the last one and a half years, and finally, the prototype of the ship was completed a month ago. Initial testing was done a few weeks ago, the improvements from the testing had been completed a week ago, and finally, it was the final test before the ship could be mass-produced.

After a full four days of journey, Vijay finally arrived at Coimbatore

" Greetings, Father, welcome to my company. " As soon as Vijay set foot in the compound of Bhagat Shipyard, agni was right there to welcome him, along with all his executives.

Vijay smiled cordially and said a few words of hello to the executives and asked his eldest son, " Where’s your brother?"

" Don’t you know about him, Father? He is still fiddling with those machines in the ship "

"Come, I will take you to meet him"

When Vijay finally met his youngest son, he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He looked like a street-side garage worker with his oily clothes, hair filled with grease, and black stain marks all over his face.

After saying hello to his youngest son, Vijay finally diverted his attention and looked at the ship.

It was not a large ship, only slightly bigger than the Hampi-class sloop he had developed for the first time. But unlike ordinary ships, this one had neither a beam nor a sail. There wasn’t even any attachment resembling the traditional masts or rigging used since the dawn of sailing. And on top of that, unlike most ships, there was a large bulge along the middle section, extending to the rear, where a massive paddlewheel was mounted.

"It’s a paddlewheel boat, all right," Vijay thought excitedly. "With this, the age of steam travel can officially begin."

Vedant and Agni both stayed silent and stood to the side, not speaking anything when their father was inspecting the ship without uttering a word.

Finally, Vedant spoke up when Vijay motioned at him to explain about the ship. Vedant knew the habits of his father, so he was not ill-prepared.

" It has been named Antarwahini class, father, as it is designated to be used as a vessel in the inland rivers and canals "

" Its displacement is roughly two hundred tons, and its main purpose is to transport cargo and passengers along the river and canals "

" It operates using the new coal, wood-fired 44-horsepower Kesari K2 engine, rated for 30 RPM and 12,000 Khanda mtrs of torque "

" I have replaced the sun and planet gear system with the crankshaft system I have developed, and the crankshaft is directly connected to the stern-mounted paddle wheel through a proprietary gearbox that Uncle Heyram helped develop "

Seeing as how his father was nodding along, Vedant continued, " It can travel up to 150 kilometres per day, and it can last up to one and a half days at full fuel load "

" It has an upper deck for open cargo and passengers, and a lower deck which contains a boiler, an engine, and fuel "

He took his father around to each and every component and proudly showed it off.

" You see, father, this is the manual wheel and sternwell controls, this is the boiler exhaust stack, and this is the stern-mounted reinforced housing for the paddle wheel. If you can lean over, you can just about see the rudder of the ship that I have developed after realising how fish swim. I have even attached a whistle that is powered by the exhaust steam. I have implemented all the anchoring and passenger facilities according to the Bharatiya Standards Organisation"

" It has even passed the BSO 60,000 ratings for ships and marine industry standards, BSO 20,000 series for assembly safety, BSO 50,000 series for vehicle durability and quality, BSO 28,000 series for security management and supply chain, and even it has passed the newly put forward BSO 12655 to rate the ship as being capable of housing people for a long time. "

" Overall, father, this ship is capable of traversing the whole Great Southern Bharatiya Canal in only three days with a full load of cargo and two refills "

Vijay had heard enough; it was time to start up the machine.

Vedant skillfully operated the steam engine in the lower deck, and steam already began to appear in the chimney.

Looking at how the pressure gauge reached the optimum level, Agni did not hesitate anymore and decisively pulled the lever, sending the power of the steam engine into the paddle wheel.

"Zooop!"

There was a slight jerk and a creaking sound afterwards, but the paddle wheel slowly spun, rotating its half-submerged body and pushing the boat gently forward.

Vijay came to the bow of the vessel and smiled with contentment. He was feeling this feeling for the third time in his life. The first time was when he tested the Hampi Class sloop, the second time was when he tested the 2000 Tonne Indraprastha class battleship (Delhi class), and the third time was now.

The ship began to pick up speed until it eventually reached the speed of 8 knots.

The passing by ships looked at the unusual ship with amazement.

" Hey, Father, look at that over there! "

" Wow, what is that? It doesn’t even have sails! "

" And look at that wheel at the back... It’s spinning and pushing the whole thing forward! "

" I’ve never seen anything like it. Is it moving without wind? "

" Must be one of those steam contraptions the people in the kingdom talked about at the banquet. They said the Bharatiyas are building machines that run on fire and water. But I never heard it could move ships! "

" Fire and water? That sounds like Thantra in the *Harish Puttar* novels. "

" Or genius. Either way, it’s fast. Look, it’s overtaking the river barge already! "

" If these ships become common, we might see river travel change forever. "

" Yeah... and the sails might become useless. I wonder how much one of those costs. "

P.S. This will be the last Volume