Empire Ascension: The Rise of the Fated One-Chapter 188: Upgrading the village

Purana Qila , Delhi, 8th April 1557.

The next day in Delhi marked a significant date in the history of the Indian subcontinent. It was the day when two prominent empires of India, from the north and the south, made a historic alliance. Princess Meenakshi, after the end of the one-month visitation condition on terms of the trust agreement, finally signed and sealed the deal for a peace alliance between the Vijayanagar Empire and the Bhargav Samrajya.

Under this alliance, both the Vijayanagar Empire and the Bhargav Samrajya would share ambassadors on a permanent basis and engage in various diplomatic affairs.

As royalty, Meenakshi appointed herself as the first official ambassador to the Samrajya to set up the initial groundwork for a month; however, the ambassador to Vijayanagar was yet to be decided.

Moreover, she also signed another deal with Aditya regarding mercenary services. She granted the rights to hold land and recruit soldiers for the war against the Dutch, as she understood the need for modernization that Aditya could provide.

Additionally, their military presence could be helpful in times of defense needs against hostile Deccan Sultanates. The best part of this deal was the end of rivalry with the Gajapati Kingdom in the south, creating another allied kingdom with whom they could increase trade. Though they will lose their claim to occupy it in future but survival comes first.

The agreement was signed in Prime Minister Chandrashekhar’s chambers. Despite the formalities, he remained skeptical of Princess Meenakshi’s true intentions, and her extended stay in Delhi only deepened his suspicions that she might be plotting to manipulate Aditya.

Perhaps that’s why he chose not to reveal the scheme he had orchestrated with Sayantika, opting instead to continue the facade while delving deeper into Meenakshi’s motives.

After the signing, he sent Meenakshi to her quarters, intending to interrogate Aditya. However, before he could do so, a summons from the Samrat interrupted his plans, forcing him to leave Aditya.

In the King’s chamber, Aditya was surprised to find both the Samrat and Mathew present. Mathew’s demeanor in front of the emperor was unusually submissive, treating the Samrat with the utmost respect, almost as if he were his king.

Aditya found this shift in attitude amusing. Mathew offered glowing praise of Aditya’s efforts, which clearly pleased the emperor.

Moments later, a new figure, a 28-year-old man, entered the chamber at the Samrat’s request. He was introduced to Aditya as Abhinav Shrivastava, the son of the royal chief craftsman.

The Samrat informed Aditya that his assistant, Vinayak, had done excellent work in the road and village construction projects and had requested an expert to further support the efforts. Abhinav had been selected for this role, and today marked his official transfer to Hindshakti Company to contribute his specialized skills in construction.

Intrigued by this development, Aditya decided to visit the village to assess the situation firsthand. Mathew, equally interested, volunteered to join him.

As the trio ventured forward in horseback, Mathew couldn’t hide his astonishment at the quality of the road.

Initially, he thought it was a specially built path, meant only to connect the Purana Qila Fort with Khirkee Village, but now, as they made their way further into the kingdom, he realized that this high-quality road was part of a common network linking the entire kingdom. The uniformity of such infrastructure was a truly mind blowing experience for Mathew

Upon reaching Khirkee village, Aditya also couldn’t stop being dumbfounded by the sheer scale of development. Before he left, it was just a small village, but now it looked much bigger than the normal towns from outside.

Outside the perimeter, imperial guards, clad in armor, patrolled the area with vigilance. A few hundred meters away, a cluster of unfamiliar tents caught Aditya and Mathew’s attention. Intrigued by the sight, they approached the entrance and inquired with the guards.

The guards explained that these were outsiders barred from entering the complex, waiting for the restrictions to be lifted. Many had already applied for residence through the public welfare office and were awaiting authorization tokens for entry or exit. The strict security measures reassured Aditya, as they effectively deterred any potential leakage of their valuable technology.

New buildings could be seen sprawled upon the land, and many constructions were still already going on in the village. Since it was first time for Mathew so it was very fascinating to him to apply a paste in between the bricks and put it on the walls and its constructed. It was all thanks to the miraculous powder cement that Aditya had invented.

Intrigued by the speed of the transformation, Mathew couldn’t resist requesting a tour of the village, and Aditya was more than happy to oblige. Their first stop was the cement factory, where they could meet Vinayak who was actually overseeing operations in his absence.

The factory wasn’t a temporary shed, as it had been during Aditya’s last visit, but now a solid one-story building with multiple chimneys, large enough to encompass about 10 to 15 houses. Construction was still ongoing as laborers, buckets in hand, soaked the walls with water to aid in the curing process.

Rows of kilns lined the area, and workers moved systematically in the manufacturing of cement. They spotted Vinayak near the entrance, taking note of the daily cement quota.

He was surprised to meet the prince with a foreigner, and after their formal greeting, he gave the report of the updates in his absence, like adding 8 kilns for cement production, construction of 3 more production houses, with increase of 12 more production lines, as well as the construction of a separate testing ground for experiments with weapons.

He also revealed that the assembly line method not only helped them increase production but also helped them to come up with a system for the division of men in construction.

Thanks to the abundance of people, they are growing at rapid speed; currently, they have taken in almost 8 thousand people for settlement in the compound, and many are still waiting outside to be admitted.

Aditya felt amused as the sheer scale had already reached the state of a growing city, but the name was still a village.

He arranged for a quick tour of the development with the help of Karan Singh, the new security chief appointed by the empire, while Abhinav was given the briefing of the work for the services he would be required.

At first, Karan Singh took him to the village’s new residential quarters where the company families were given quarters. The arrangement was originally made by Aditya before leaving Delhi, keeping in mind to ensure safety and loyalty of company officials if their families were to remain in the complex. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Hundreds of concrete houses had already been built, and many were under construction due to the abundance of manpower they had. Aditya’s chest swelled with pride as this vast barren land, where he first set up few company buildings, now turned into sprawling company complex.

Then they surveyed the ironworks, textile works, warehouses, along with the cafeteria.

The most astonishing change for Mathew was the presence of women not only as laborers but also as soldiers guarding key areas. Women were employed in specialized roles such as textile work and kitchen duties, tasks traditionally seen as suited to them, so the presence of women guards seemed a logical extension.

While this wasn’t entirely unfamiliar to him as he had witnessed similar shifts in Europe. But it was remarkable to see in a conservative society like India. Unaware of the recent events in Delhi, Mathew was certain that Aditya and the rumoured influence of his master played a key role in driving this change.

At the end of the tour, Mathew realized that cement was the driving force behind this rapid transformation. His mind buzzed with possibilities, imagining what he could achieve with such a powerful tool at his disposal.

Feeling excited, he joked, "Brat! I have to hand it to your master, he left you with one hell of a gift before departing this world. If I had this weapon in my arsenal, forget the factory... I’d build a pool of wine with a grand castle around it, in three days!" He grinned mischievously, "Just imagine.. sipping while I swim."

Aditya chuckled, not taking Mathew’s comment seriously at first. But as the thought lingered, he began to contemplate. The rapid pace of development, the strategic position of the village, and the resources available here could actually serve this purpose.

He returned to the cement factory and arranged a meeting, in the afternoon, where Vinayak as the cement and road incharge, Bhaskar as the ironworks incharge, Naveen as the textile incharge, Deewakar as the temporary supplies contractor, along with two more people: Karan Singh as the imperial security head and Abhinav as the newly transferred construction incharge were summoned.

Luckily, he retained the copy of the star fort that he planned with King Rishabh of the Rewari Kingdom and laid plans based on this to make his new fort and upgrade the village as a company private fortress. It can serve as a stronghold that could serve both as a defensive bastion and a hub of innovation.

After a thorough discussion of hours and a few insights from Mathew, he finally decided to name it Adityanagar.

And the start will begin with the construction of the cannon factory of the company, along with the permanent headquarters hosting offices for each official.