Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

Chapter 280: Catamaran & Aranmula Kannadi Mirror

10th October 1655

Dakshin Bharatiya Empire, Vijayanagar State, the economic capital Mangaluru.

At eleven o’clock in the morning, Vijay found himself travelling in a carriage with his guards towards the Boswell Design Bureau in Mangaluru. As they approached the outskirts of the city, Vijay glanced out the window, taking in the sights along the way.

The travel has been very enjoyable for Vijay as the carriage produced by his new company, Raya Mobility, has more than exceeded his expectations and greatly improved the comfort of his travel experience.

Vijay would have loved to sell the patents to some of the private carriage manufacturers in the empire, but unfortunately, the war abruptly started, and he had to dedicate these patents to the military industries of the empire in order to improve the mobility of military carriages carrying both men and artillery.

This is one of the drawbacks of the communist system where individual progress is heavily hindered by collectivism. On the other hand, due to its collectivism, the battle or war effectiveness increases manyfold due to readily available resources. So, although Vijay felt it was a pity to give up these patents, he knew the bigger picture, so he had no qualms about giving it up.

Also, it wasn’t a loss for him, as the only reason for him to sell the patents was to spread the technology within the empire, not to earn money as he had plenty of it himself.

Vijay finally entered the main branch of the Boswell Design Bureau in Mangaluru. The main branch of the design bureau was located in Mangaluru due to the close proximity of the Raya Shipyard, which was its main customer and also the place with the most cutting-edge shipbuilding technology in the Empire.

Although this is about to change with the involvement of the Venetians, the foundation of the Raya Shipyard is still strong enough to catch up with the Shivaji Shipyard invested by the Molin family.

It was Vijay’s first time entering the design bureau, as on previous occasions he usually called Danior to the palace or directly assigned the design tasks through post. However, since the war was ongoing, he was travelling himself to ensure everything is running with high efficiency, and he did not want to waste the time of the people who were actually implementing his plans.

Due to it being Vijay’s first time entering the design bureau, he was warmly welcomed by all the junior and senior designers. However, Vijay was taken aback because he could not find Danior Boswell, the founder of the design bureau. The only person he recognized among these people was Vishesh Neeladri, the Second in Command in the design bureau.

"Vishesh, where is Danior?" Vijay inquired.

Vishesh swiftly responded to the question, "Your Majesty, Master Boswell has gone to the Shivaji Shipyard to learn about new shipbuilding techniques from the Venetian designs."

Vijay nodded his head as he understood the reason. Although a little disappointed due to the Chief designer not being here, he could settle for the senior designer this time. Vijay came to the Boswell Design Bureau with an order for a different kind of warship.

Although this was a small vessel, due to it being a new kind of vessel, he would have preferred Danior to design and oversee its construction.

But since he was not available, he could settle for Vishesh Neeladri; after all, Vishesh was the one who designed the Dhana class armed merchant ship, and it is quite popular with the merchants shipping precious items despite having some of its market being taken away by the Bhupathi Shipyard.

Vijay first sat down with Vishesh Neeladri in a private room and explained his vision for the new ship.

"Vishesh, for the new ship, there are unique requirements. This ship will not be used for the purpose of war, at least not directly, but will act as a sailing turret and information node. Here, this is my rough design; you could follow this lead," Vijay said as he took out the outline of a catamaran.

Vishesh Neeladri, seeing the design, was taken aback because the ship Vijay designed had two hulls and two masts. He had never seen anything like it. Would it even work? He thought.

Yes, Vijay wanted to build a catamaran this time, and its purpose was to make it a sailing turret and a naval wall around the coast of the empire, as well as to act as an information node in the upcoming information transmission upgrade for war.

"Your Majesty, but will this kind of ship work?" Vishesh Neeladri asked doubtfully, still not understanding how this ship would be helpful.

"Yes, it will. Do not worry. The reason it has two hulls is that this ship is fully focused on stability and nothing else. The whole purpose of the ship is to stay in a single place and not move. For this purpose, manoeuvrability, speed, and defensive capabilities could be put aside for now. The main aim for the ship is to be easy to operate, easy to build and extreme stability," Vijay explained.

"As for the features I require, it should have the capability of arming one 30kg calibre heavy cannon along with five 6kg calibre swivel guns. And the centre platform which connects these two hulls should be raised to at least 20 feet or 6 meters."

As soon as Vishesh heard about the height requirements, he interjected, "Your Majesty, but such a height would topple the ship. It is not possible for such a high platform to be installed."

Vijay nodded his head as he could clearly understand the difficulty of the young man; this is a new concept after all. "That is exactly why this design came about, with two hulls perpendicular to each other and spread further apart in order to allow for a wider base and greater stability.

This brings the advantage of better weight distribution across the two hulls and helps keep the overall centre of gravity a little lower than normal ships. In other words, catamarans could have higher platforms than normal monohull ships."

Although Vishesh Neelathri did not physically test this theory, he could logically conclude that it might be true. So, he felt like his Majesty was right on this point, but still, he could not promise the ship would turn out how his Majesty wanted. "I will try my best, your Majesty, but please forgive me if my designs do not turn out as you intended."

Vijay nodded his head and replied, "Yeah, no problem. Send the designs to me as soon as possible; this is quite an important task."

Vishesh Neeladri nodded his head and replied, "Yes, your Majesty, do not worry. I will get it done."

After handling the matters in Mangalore, Vijay immediately boarded his private ship, which was a reinforced frigate, and travelled to Cheranadu State (Kerala). To be safe, he was escorted by the warships of the Empire’s police.

The reason why he came to Cheranadu was to inspect a clan-run mirror manufacturing private company in the village of Pathanamthitta. The reason why Vijay is searching for a mirror maker? Well, it has to do with the need for the best professionals who have experience in the field of high-quality mirror making and quality testing.

And Vijay was going to Pathanamthitta for precisely this reason - to find a person experienced in the craft of high-quality mirror making. The Aranmula Kannadi is one of the most exquisite mirrors to come out of Bharat in the present era of the 17th century, so vijay was left with no better choice.

As Vijay arrived in the village for the first time, he was happily greeted by the politicians in the area, who were now regional cadres due to the war, and the citizens of the city with flowers and music.

Unfortunately, Vijay had no time to greet the organizers of this event as he directly inquired with the local cadres and met up with the patriarch of the Pillai family in the village of Pathanamthitta.

"Your Majesty, your presence has brightened our humble workshop. I am very sorry that we do not have anything suitable to offer you, but please accept this exquisite delicacy of our Pathanamthitta," the patriarch said. Although the old man changed the name of the workshop to a company, the things being done were still according to the traditional model, and no modern machine tools were used.

This was one of the reasons the Aranmula Kannadi made by the Pillai family was so sought out. But Vijay had a different opinion. He thinks that this way of production is too constraining, and the reason for the demand was because of the low supply and best quality. Still, Vijay felt that it was better to mass-produce in the current situation.

Vijay was served some sweets, which he had tasted before, and some regional specialities like Sadhya. He tested them in front of the old man to make him feel happy and then directly came to the point. "Old man, I will tell you my request directly.

I want to recruit someone from your clan to run an industrialized mirror-making company for the empire, with the product being of the same quality as your handicrafts."

As soon as the old man Pillai heard these words, his face became red, and nerves could be seen popping out on his forehead. It was evident that he was angry, but he was holding back because it was his Majesty who was in front of him, and one word of his Majesty would decide the fate of his family.

However, despite the wariness in his heart for Vijay, he couldn’t help but show his rejection in such a covert manner. ’People say that His Majesty is kind; maybe he will leave his family alone’, the old man thought.

Seeing the clear rejection shown by the old man, Vijay couldn’t help but be disappointed. But unfortunately, now he would have to resort to harder means. If it were before, Vijay would not have threatened the man and would have convinced him with reason. But now, with the quality of mirrors needing to be increased immediately for the purpose of the war, he had no other choice.

The expression in Vijay’s eyes suddenly became serious and distant, almost as if he was looking at a person who was extremely beneath him. However, his mouth presented a stark contrast as he put on a kind smile, which was directly opposite to the deadly seriousness in his eyes.

"Old man, I know you are a traditional person and are very unwilling to let your family’s inherited and secret high-quality mirror-making be mass-produced. But unfortunately, for both you and me, the empire needs the mirror-making experience of your clansmen for the purpose of winning this war. So whether you like it or not, you will have to cooperate.

Or else, who knows what might happen," Vijay said with the same smile on his face.

The old man, who heard the direct warning from the emperor, was taken aback; this was nothing like the rumours he had heard about the monarch. His anger suddenly died down, and he felt a chill run down his spine. Looking at those eyes, he felt like he was facing a predator; a special fear permeated his body.

Suddenly, the burden of leading his family and clan for the last 30 years resurfaced in his mind. This family and the clan were his world; he could not let anything happen to them. So, he couldn’t help but put on a forced smile and replied, "It will be done as you said, your Majesty. I will send my son, Ganapatra Pillai, to oversee the process. He is very talented. Please look after him well."

Saying this, the old man looked 20 years older.

And Vijay, whose task was successful, did not stay any longer and left with a young man around twenty-five years old in tow.

Along the way, he couldn’t help but sigh about what he had to do in order to hasten the progress of the empire. Also, the more he dealt with the empire’s affairs, the more numb he became to these little things. He did not know when he would completely become numb. Vijay wished that by that time, his descendants were grown enough to take over his mantle after defeating their competitors.