Empire of India: Rise of the Ruthless Prince

The city of Bidar was the location of the biggest cannon manufacturer in the Empire. The reverse engineering of the Culverin was perfected by the workshop. The manufacturing has been spreading to different parts since. The Empire needed to mass-produce the cannons for the future.

There were workshops opened in various parts, mostly remote areas in huge acres of land. They were quite isolated and heavily guarded. Many of the family members of the workshop staff were living in the quarters made for them in the land.

Horse Omnibus operated by the army was introduced to take the families to the cities once in a while. Production was ramping up in most regions. The Empire was spending a lot of money to make the cannons. Thanks to Pratyush's documentation and training of new talent. The new workshops were quite efficient in making the Culverins cannons.

Pratyush was given another task by the Empire along with the other new cannon makers.

One day, an internal corps member dressed in all black appeared at the workshop in Bidar. The atmosphere was serious. Pratyush knew it was a huge matter as the internal corps wing came personally to him. It was either a project or some mishap happened in the other workshops.

The man handed him a bound book and a letter and then instructed him with a stern voice. "Orders from above, funds have been released. Prepare this."

Before Pratyush could answer. The man just left quickly. He opened the book and read through it. It was a recipe of some sort. The process was quite meticulously documented for future use.

"What's this?" He began to read the whole book.

His eyes widened as he read more. He finally closed the book with a soft thud. Pratyush had a bewildered look. His gripe during the production of the Portuguese cannons was the lack of gunpowder that was produced indigenously.

Relying on the main ingredient to run your cannons was a bad move in his books. They needed to be self-reliant for the cannons to actually help them in warfare. His silent prayers were answered by the book.

It was the recipe of the gunpowder detailed in the book. According to the book, it was much more potent and efficient than the ones that they were buying at a relatively high cost from the European merchants.

Pratyush was given permission to produce this powder alongside his cannons and began testing at the earliest. According to the letter attached, he was ordered to phase out all the European powder and replace it with this powder.

Any mishaps that the powder causes in the cannon shall be accommodated and documented before sending it to the other workshops.

Pratyush's main task was the testing of the powder's efficiency with the cannons and to make improvements in them without finding them later in the mass production phase.

"I think I can do it." He mumbled.

He called his assistant immediately to his room.

"We are going to have a discussion. Call all the officials into the meeting area."

"Alright." The assistant said with a slight bow.

"Say it's an urgent meeting. An important project from the Empire has come once again."

The assistant, seeing the urgency in his voice, nodded and quickly darted to inform the officials to gather.

Meanwhile, at the port of Visakhapatnam, the production of Ashwin's ships and the Dutch galleon was going on rapidly. The other shipbuilders in the Empire were also let in on the documented process of the shipyard.

The documents did wonders as they propelled the other shipyards to succeed in their tests in both ships. Ashwin's ship design was documented safely and officially sent to the Empire before distribution to the other shipyards.

His family was paid a substantial amount of money from the Empire for his contribution in the field. The Empire's mass production scheme gave way to massive funding to the shipyards in all the major ports.

This funding allowed the shipyards to create a new testing area and separate the production from the research and development wing. This was a suggested change from the Empire to ramp up research on the ships and create much more robust and bigger ships for the future.

Ashwin was granted the title of chief in the research and development wing in Visakhapatnam. His funding was much larger than the other development wings of the other shipyard.

The funding rules implied that the focus and funds would be allotted according to the achievements. This created some competition and a sort of rivalry between shipyards to make the better ship and secure more funding for the next session.

Surprisingly, there were no protests for Ashwin's position. Everyone knew he deserved it; he took the risk of making his own design and he succeeded. The man was not satisfied and still kept working on improving the existing design and creating new designs for the Empire.

Ashwin called his assistant into his study room. Papers of new designs were piled up on the table. He was brainstorming ideas for a new, bigger ship than the Dutch Galleon. He wasn't able to make significant strides but he kept trying since his journey had just started.

"Yes, Chief?" His assistant asked.

"Can you contact the nearby cannon manufacturer?"

"Sure! For what purpose?"

"We need to work with them to make some cannons for ships."

His assistant looked puzzled. "But we already ordered for the galleon?"

"Not the galleon, but my ship." Ashwin said. "I believe a smaller cannon would help in coastal patrol very much."

"But I don't see any problem with the current canons." The assistant remarked while noting his words down regardless.

"I have done some inspections." Ashwin replied. "I have found that the cannons we use right now are much heavier and cause problems in the deeper waters."

"But are they even supposed to patrol in deep waters, Chief?"

"Considering the range I had in my mind. It should be able to patrol that point," he shrugged. "But it struggles from the weight."

Ashwin took out the map and showed it to the assistant. "See, if the cannons were a bit smaller and lighter, we could patrol till this point."

"Then, doesn't it make the cannon less deadly? We are sacrificing the power."

"You may be right; that's why I want to discuss it with the cannon makers." He replied. "I want them to make a cannon that can dish out the same destruction but in a light packaging."

"Alright, Chief. I shall send a letter to the nearest cannon-makers to arrange a meeting with us."

Ashwin smiled. He was also making significant strides towards his dream of making a large ship. With this success, Ashwin was sure that the Emperor was a man that rewarded innovation and quality over mediocrity.

'Just wait; I will make a ship that is much bigger than the Dutch ones.'