Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology - Chapter 1107

Chapter 1107: Complete steam privatisation

The thought of things moving too fast appeared once again in the mind of Vijay, but he forcefully suppressed the thought and left the research institute after giving Anand an idea for the first object that would need electricity to work, the bulb.

“Anand, you’ve shown me the electric arc mechanism before. Tell me, is there a way to connect two wires with some kind of filament, something with high resistance and a high melting point, so that it heats up enough to give off light, but doesn’t melt so that it can be reused?”

” If you can come up with something like this, I think your Dynamo can be put into use very soon, ” He nudged with a bait.

Anand Binoy froze; the image of his dynamo being used to light entire households flashed vividly in his mind. Excitement surged through him as he realised it was actually feasible. “I’ll get it done, Your Majesty,” he promised. Vijay smiled. Anand did not know he was being led by the nose, but it didn’t matter, as he hadn’t worked on any other research topic other than electricity or magnetism or coming up with a device to harness electricity, for the last 25+ years. His entire life, he was researching a single topic, and now, when he got the chance to develop something new, even if it was as simple as finding the right material, he got excited.

Vijay nodded, praised a few words, and left. He could have revealed more details, like it should be in a vacuum, and the figments of bamboo can be used, but there is no hurry. However, what he did realise was that the Bharatiya Empire had left Europe behind by at least several decades in terms of electrification technology, so even if they are now catching up very quickly in steam technologies, they cannot catch up to the Bharatiya Empire, which is already jumping into the second industrial revolution.

Multiple thoughts appeared in his mind, and a clear road map began to form; his directionless eyes slowly regained their clarity, and a slight arc appeared at the corner of his lips.

He went back to the capital and summoned both his son and Bhaskaracharya.

” The manufacturing technology of the Balwaan engine, till the 4th generation, will be made public ”

Agni’s eyes widened, and Bhaskaracharya had his jaw dropped.

Vijay understood the shock, but he did not stop. ” The same goes for the Kesari Engine and the Raya Atmospheric Engine; everything other than the Bhairavi naval engine will be made public, and private manufacturers will be allowed to produce parts and assemble the engine if they are technically capable ”

Their minds went blank as the emperor had just said something so outrageous that they thought it was an illusion.

” What happened, father? ” Agni was shaken.

Why was his father looking to make all the steam technology they had painstakingly built up public? Although he couldn’t help but agree that making the Pragathi engine technology accessible to the public was a great decision, since it spurred the market and made the entire economy more prosperous, he could also see that the Europeans and even some of their own allies in Asia had already begun copying the design.

Now, by making the technology of the Kesari Engine and, most importantly, the Balwan Engine, which powered not only locomotives but also cars, tractors, and countless other machines public, it felt as though they were practically inviting those who wished to steal the technology with open arms.

Vijay could understand the worry and concern in the eyes of Agni and Bhaskaracharya, but he did not change his decision. However, he still had to give a reason; after all, he couldn’t just decide things unilaterally.

He looked around, “A new technology has been invented that is capable of putting the Bharatiya Empire several decades into the future, so we no longer have to be wary of the Europeans catching up,” “Having this lead, we should use our developed industrial market as a base and quickly develop our vassal kingdoms and our allies in Asia and the Middle East.”

“This task is never possible with only the power company manufacturing the engines, as popularising locomotives, cars, tractors and automated factories throughout Asia and the Middle East would require at least ten to twenty thousand units of engines every day. Productivity like this is simply impossible by ourselves.”

“So it is best to let the public participate and let private companies like Parvati Iron and Steel manufacture them and occupy the market.”

“Also…”

He showed a look of smugness, which intrigued Agni and Bhaskaracharya. ‘Is there something else?’

” A new concept for the new generation engine has been put forward by the Takshashila Institute of Human Exploration ”

‘ tap! ‘

Vijay threw a research paper on the table.

All eyes were fixed on it.

” On the feasibility of replacing steam with combustible fuel ”

Bhaskaracharya did not immediately understand what the research paper was about, but Agni immediately did, and a look of astonishment appeared on his face, ” Is it possible, Father? ”

” Replacing steam with a combustible substance which burns and explodes to move the piston, this is what the research is about, isn’t it? ”

Vijay nodded, “Yes”

” I want the mobility labs to concentrate on researching this new type of engine, and let the private enterprises take over the development of the steam engines,” He leaned back with ease, ” Anyway, we have provided a solid foundation for them to build atop of, besides even if the technology is made public it will be in the control of only a handful of people, they are bound to compete with each other and iterate better technologies every year, the pressure on our researchers will drop considerably and they can completely focus on researching this new technology ”

” Besides, our earnings will not go down, am I right…Bhaskaracharya? ”

” You are correct, your majesty. If we collect royalties of a certain percentage of all the engines produced, by your estimates of 10,000 to 20,000 engines per day, we can still make the same amount of money we are currently making or even a little more by simply letting others manufacture it ”

Vijay smiled and looked at Agni, ” Well, there you have it ”

Agni thought about it for a long time and finally spoke out, ” It is feasible, Father, but… ” He hesitated, but still he voiced out his opinions, ” Is it alright to bet everything on a technology that is still on the drawing board? ”

” If it fails, we will incur a huge loss, and we will be giving an opportunity for the Europeans to catch up with us quicker. ”

What Agni said was true, and Vijay knew it. If he hadn’t been reborn in this era, maybe he wouldn’t have taken such a decision so easily. But since he knew combustion engines were feasible, he had no worries. He wasn’t even concerned that Agni would learn the wrong lesson or become complacent because of this “rash” decision to release the steam engine technology up to the last generation.

Agni was, in fact, far more cautious and conservative than him. If the choice were left to Agni alone, Vijay knew he would squeeze every last drop of usefulness out of the steam engine, like squeezing a tube of toothpaste, before even thinking of looking for alternatives.

This is both a good and a bad, the good aspect is he is perfectly capable of preserving the foundation he had built and even take it forward one step at a time, but the bad thing is if something revolutionary comes along he is very likely to not pay too much attention to it until the last moment, like what Blackberry did when Apple came along or like how Nokia pushed aside Android when it came along.

So he had to set an example of diversifying, not to cling to a single piece of technology. All those thoughts were but a moment; he continued to lie down, but did not fail to answer.

“It doesn’t matter, Agni. Steam engine technology is bound to become outdated. No matter how much you advance it, there is always a ceiling to the power steam can generate, not to mention the drawbacks, like the huge fuel storage it requires. This will eventually cause major problems. So it’s best for us to pivot now and open up a new path that promises a brighter future.”

“Besides, we still have the Bhairavi engine, don’t we? We can always rebuild our steam technologies by using them as leverage.”

Agni was left in thought. What his father said did make sense. It is indeed appropriate to prepare for the eventual decline of the steam power systems while they are at its peak, so that the transition can be smoother. He understood.

Suddenly, he got an idea, ‘ Does this apply to other fields as well? ‘ He felt like there was a layer of window paper he had just touched.’ Is it appropriate for Bhagat Shipyard to research a larger all-metal ship before the second-generation Bhairavi engine is developed, so that it is much easier to stay ahead of the competition? ‘

He thought about it in another way, ‘ Or is it feasible to come up with a new method of ocean travel altogether? ‘ He remembered one of the research topics he had seen in the Takshashila Research Institute when he got the position of the emperor briefly, it was about a vessel that is capable of submerging under the water and moving forward.’ Should I direct my company to acquire these technical abilities as well? ‘

‘ Come to think of it, the canning factory has mastered a lot of packing technologies, could it be diversified into other fields as well, like medicines, packing beverages and coming up with new packaging technologies? ‘

As the new world appeared before him, he realised how complacent he had been with the way he ran the companies. He now realised that although he’s making a profit every day, when a new technology is suddenly introduced to the market, he will be on the same starting line along with the competitor instead of having a head start, leaving him fighting hard for every little advantage instead of taking the bulk of the profits and the market. He thought in his heart to go back and make a change in the company’s organisation to annually dedicate 20% profit from all his companies entirely to research or fund research projects of research institutes in diverse fields, not to fall behind the times.

Vijay didn’t know what Agni was thinking for so long, but he had a vague idea that Agni had understood what he was trying to teach, so, without hesitation, he left Agni in charge of making the sale and let them both leave.

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