Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

Nikolai Sergeyevich saw so many wonderful things moving past him while he travelled in the carriage, but the surprise the Bharatiya Empire gave him at the port was something he could not forget.

'How can any society stand without slaves?' he thought. He was fortunate enough to have travelled to many countries in Europe since he could remember, and in all of them, he had seen slaves working for their masters.

He had never seen anything wrong with it. Isn't it natural that less intelligent, inferior beings work and follow more intelligent, superior ones? Why, then, does the Bharatiya Empire see those black people as equals? Nikolai couldn't understand.

In fact, it was not only Nikolai but every European who had visited the Bharatiya Empire had the same doubt. They did not understand the policy of the Bharatiya Empire. They had grown up in such a society that they wouldn't even know what they were doing was evil.

Unfortunately, the Bharatiya Empire could not do anything about it. It had no say in the matters of European affairs. The best he could do was to ensure that slavery and slaves had nothing to do with the Bharatiya Empire and its region of influence.

More importantly, even if the Bharatiya Empire became the world's hegemon, capable of waging wars in all oceans and reaching a distant country's doorstep within a few days, Vijay did not know if he could do anything about it. All the European economies were being propped up by stepping on the bones of black people after all. Now, if the Bharatiya Empire suddenly demanded that slavery be banned, what were they going to do to build up their nations? Return to the Middle Ages and start making their citizens into serfs? Was such a thing even possible? Of course not. So, it had always been Vijay's policy not to meddle in things he could not change.

The convoy of carriages carrying the European foreign exchange students quickly left Thiruvananthapuram and travelled north towards the state of Vijayanagara.

Butler Yaroslav Dmitriev, seeing how the wilderness was fast approaching, stroked his chest, calming his beating heart. Just before the convoy left the vicinity of Thiruvananthapuram, he saw black men in Bharatiya uniforms holding firearms and looking at them with scrutiny.

When had Yaroslav Dmitriev seen such a thing? He was always used to seeing those black people as lowly servants back home. Not to mention disrespecting him—they would even be afraid to look at him directly. Now, when he came to the Bharatiya Empire, where these black people had status equal to his own, he did not know how to feel, especially since these black people had firearms in their hands.

'Oh, Holy Lord, bless Your children,' he prayed and closed his eyes, going for a quick nap.

---

15th January 1660

Spanish Empire, New Mexico, Acapulco

Governor Don Alonso Sánchez de Figueroa stood on the harbour, looking at the horizon without blinking his eyes. A month ago, His Highness Duke of Albuquerque Fernandez de la Cueva informed him that a shipment would be coming to his port from Manila Bay.

Normally, he wouldn't pay much attention to this matter because it was not the first time he had received shipments from Manila Bay as the Manila galleon had frequent trips to Acapulco under his governance. However, Alonso knew that it was different this time around.

It was not a normal shipment coming from Manila Bay but the first-ever shipment sent by the Bharatiya Empire to the Spanish Empire on their own merchant ship. Once the shipment was successful, it would prove to the Spanish Empire that the Bharatiya Empire was really capable of fulfilling its obligations according to the contract.

"Your Excellency, a large four-mast sailing ship bearing the flag of the Bharatiya Empire is approaching the coast at speeds exceeding 10 knots," a Spanish naval captain informed.

Alonso Sánchez nodded. "Provide an escort and make sure that the hateful English and the Dutch do not try anything."

2/4th of an hour passed, and a ginormous four-masted sailing ship slowly docked in the port.

Looking at the imposing appearance, which was no weaker than their own galleons, Alonso Sánchez could not help but lament the speed at which the Bharatiya Empire grew.

A decade ago, the Bharatiya Empire barely had the capability to control their own seas, and a decade later, they had already reached the point of continental trade, ready to integrate with the world's economy dominated by Europe.

The sailors quickly got to work. They strictly initiated the procedures for which they were trained.

Marc Anthony Lopez, looking at the familiar scenery of Acapulco, couldn't help but lament his fate. When he was in prison, he had thought he would never get to see the light of day again, much less Acapulco, which he previously called home. But now, looking at how things had turned around, he couldn't help but chuckle.

Alonso Sánchez was surprised to see a familiar figure getting down from the ship.

"I haven't seen you in a long time, Anthony. How have you been? I heard that you were captured by the Bharatiyas," he asked, both confused and curious.

"Hehe," Anthony shook his head in amusement. "I was captured, but unfortunately, my family could not afford to pay the compensation to take me back, so I was left in the Bharatiya Empire. But thankfully, the Bharatiya Empire decided to employ me for my expertise. So I'm back to my old job."

Alonso Sánchez smiled awkwardly. He knew what happened with the Lopez family, but being an outsider, he couldn't comment too much about it. "So, what's the ship called?" he asked, pointing towards the ship, trying to change the topic.

Anthony looked at the ship. "It's a four-masted armed merchant ship manufactured by the Bharatiya Empire. It's called the Guwahati class, and this particular one is the container series variant."

"It's named BNV Dhairya, which I believe means courage."

Alonso Sánchez nodded. "Courage—it's a very fitting name considering its path."

Marc Anthony and Alonso Sánchez proceeded to talk for some more. In the meantime, exclamations of surprise were heard throughout the port.

"Hey, what are they doing? Why are they removing the hull?"

"No, I don't think they are removing it, but I think they are sort of unhooking the latches like a door and letting the top part of the hull fold outward."

"What's the use of this weird design?"

"I'm not sure, but it may be for easier unloading of cargo."

"Pfff, who does such a thing?"

However, soon the tone of doubt, questioning, and ridicule changed into one of confusion.

"Hey, what are those rectangular things? They are so large."

"They look to be made out of metal."

"Oh Lord, there are so many of them."

Alonso Sánchez frowned, his brows wrinkling like a dried-up riverbed as he looked at Anthony with confusion.

With only a glance at the expression, Anthony quickly understood the question.

"Those metal rectangles are called containers. Each of those containers consists the goods."

Alonso nodded in understanding, though he could not, for the love of God, comprehend why it had to be put in a metal container. 'It might be related to how the Bharatiya Empire does things. Maybe it is a taboo to sell goods without putting them in rectangular objects,' he thought.

Soon, the slaves were ordered to unload the ship.

"Hey brother, look at these poor guys. How pitiful."

"Tsk, I knew such a thing existed here, but still, it is really hateful."

The sailors of the Bharatiya Empire commented among themselves as they finally witnessed the brutality of slavery.

Experience tales at empire

The slaves were forced to unload the heavy containers, weighing several tonnes, by themselves without the help of any tools. The sailors felt it was too cruel and wanted to help, but there was nothing they could do about it. There were only so many of them, after all. The best they could do was hand out some beverages and dried food.

Alonso Sánchez looked up at the sky, and feeling the midday sun burning his head, couldn't help but mutter in dissatisfaction.

"If the cargo was not shaped so weirdly like this, things would have moved much faster," he lamented.

Anthony smirked, "True, but if you had port cranes, everything would have been unloaded by now," he said, surprising Alonso.

"Anthony, stop joking. Even without these containers, it would take at least a few more hours to unload everything. But you're saying that even with these containers, everything could be unloaded within two hours? How is this possible?"

Anthony shrugged. "I am not lying. I have seen it with my own eyes in the Bharatiya Empire. In fact, you can ask any merchant who has seen Thiruvananthapuram about this. They would tell you the truth. With those cranes, I could have already unloaded all the containers on the ship, stocked up the goods I require, and been on my way back by now."

Alonso Sánchez looked at Anthony with disbelief but did not continue questioning the matter. "I will mention the matter to His Excellency, the Duke."

A few hours later, all the containers were unloaded, and upon opening them, they found processed iron materials, some machines produced in the Bharatiya Empire, spices, industrial products, and most importantly, second-generation machine tools capable of kick-starting a basic industry.

Alonso Sánchez may have been a little skeptical about the containers after seeing how hard it was to unload them, but after witnessing how easy it was to manage these containers and keep track of their contents, he was overjoyed. Previously, he had to go through a long list and confirm items one at a time, which took ages. But now, with the list provided by the Bharatiya Empire, he simply had to locate the container he was searching for and tick off the items within. It was so easy.

"Anthony, I have confirmed everything is there."

"So, are you going back empty, or is there something you need to buy?"

Anthony took out a list. "Fill the containers with avocado, blueberry, cranberry, papaya, pineapple, strawberry, tomato, allspice, chilli peppers, vanilla beans, chia seeds, corn seeds, peanuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and cacao seeds."

"For those fruits that spoil quickly, pack only the seeds. For those that last longer, pack the whole fruits."

Alonso Sánchez thought for a while and agreed. "Will that be all?"

Anthony looked at his list and nodded. "Yes, that will be it. Pack everything up quickly. I will depart in a week."

"Oh, and arrange living quarters for the technicians from the Bharatiya Empire who will come here to help you set up basic industrial production. I will be coming with them next time around."

"Very good," Alonso Sánchez smiled. "I will see to it that they lack nothing."

A week passed in the blink of an eye, and the ship was finally filled with cargo, the majority consisting of exotic fruits and vegetables from the Americas, along with the remainder of gold. Marc Anthony departed from New Mexico on January 22nd, 1660, embarking on his long journey back to Manila Bay.

In the meantime, news about the Bharatiya Empire sending a merchant ship to New Mexico had spread throughout the Americas.

The Viceroy of New Spain, Francisco Fernández de la Cueva, was overjoyed upon learning the news.

The Governor General of Brazil smiled when he heard about it. "Things are going to get interesting," he muttered.

The Privy Council of the British Empire was in shambles. "Why have the Bharatiyas decided to meddle in the affairs of the Americas?"

"Goddamn, these hateful infidels!"

Pieter van der Heyden, the Governor of Dutch Americas, was fuming as he smashed an antique pottery set to pieces.

"Write a letter to His Majesty William for me!"

P.S. I had Advanced AI&ML today, ill pass