Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

Chapter 150  Temple Reconstruction Part: 2

Sabarimala, Kerala.

Vishwakarma and his group are putting the finishing touches on the Ayyappa Swamy temple, which they were contracted to renovate and expand. They have been receiving numerous jobs lately as the new king is dedicated to rebuilding ancient temples and transforming them into monuments of cultural significance. Since completing the work for the previous King Shriranga Devaraya, Vishwakarma and his group have gained fame, attracting many talented craftsmen to join them. At 60 years old, Vishwakarma has delegated more of his responsibilities to the disciples he took in. As he and his wife never had children, He adopted an orphan boy as his disciple and son, teaching him all their craftsmanship.

Vishwakarma was packing his belongings, and preparing to return home, as the crucial work in Sabarimala was mostly completed, and the remaining tasks would be handled by his disciple, Vajrakarma.

To his surprise, Vajrakarma entered the room with an excited expression. "Master, master, good news, good news."

Observing his usually calm disciple so elated, Vishwakarma was intrigued. 'What could have stirred his usually composed disciple?' he pondered, a smile playing on his aged face. "What is it, Vajra?" he inquired.

"It's His Majesty, the emperor. He summoned us again. I have inquired, and there is a rumour circulating in the circles that the king is planning to rebuild all the destroyed and damaged temples in the new territories. Apparently, the king has sent many people to inspect these temples, take the necessary measurements, and plan the budget for the reconstruction."

"I was informed that His Majesty was very satisfied with the work you have done and wants you to take charge of the reconstruction of these temples."

Upon hearing the news, Vishwakarma felt immense joy at His Majesty's approval. However, he grappled with uncertainty about whether to take charge of this massive project. Having already decided to retire after the Sabarimala project, he was unsure if he could commit to such an extensive undertaking. Not wanting to disappoint Vajra, who seemed so excited, he decided to meet with His Majesty, express his desire to retire, and inquire if there was a way he could assist Vajra in securing the role.

Vijayanagara Empire, Hampi.

Soon, Vijay received word of the arrival of Vishwakarma and his disciple, Vajrakarma. Delighted to see the old man, Vijay instructed the maid to bring some coffee.

The old man and the young man sat down. Vijay soon passed on the documents he had prepared. The old man took the documents and went through them. Looking at the construction plans, he was very shocked as the demands for construction were immense. All four new territories had at least five construction and restoration projects. He first wanted to plead with the emperor to let him retire and let his disciple take his place. But now, seeing the scale of some of these projects, he felt like even if he was in his prime, he would not be able to complete all these projects, much less his disciple.

His mouth opened in surprise as he looked at Vijay in disbelief, after examining the demanding deadlines. The notion that all these projects had to be completed within 5 years seemed ludicrous to him. He couldn't fathom how many lives this project would require. It seemed implausible that the benevolent emperor everyone perceived would be willing to sacrifice thousands of lives just to expedite the construction process. Despite his hesitation, he decided to speak out, "Your Majesty, if you genuinely aim to complete all these projects in 5 years, it would necessitate hundreds of thousands of people working in the quarries, resulting in thousands of lives lost. Your Majesty, I implore you to reconsider. If you could extend this timeline to 10 years, I am confident that casualties could be minimized."

Vijay shook his head in denial. "No, it should be done in 5 years. As for the manpower, leave that worry to me. I have a solution for that and don't worry, I will not force the civilians to work in the quarries."

Hearing this, Vishwakarma was still uneasy, but he reluctantly agreed. Still pondering the main problem, he asked, "But still, Your Majesty, even if all the materials are available, my group alone won't be capable of completing such a huge project covering the entire Empire, especially with the deadline set at only 5 years. I am old now; there are limits to what I can do. I had hoped Your Majesty would pardon me to retire and choose my disciple as the architect for these temples."

Upon hearing his master's last words, Vajra was taken aback, not understanding why his master planned to retire. He looked at the old face of his master in shock, but Vishwakarma turned his face lightly and shook his head, gesturing for him not to speak. Vishwakarma continued, "Considering the scale of these projects, Your Highness, I believe that even if my disciple and all the architects in our group work together, we could only complete the projects in one state alone and wouldn't be able to fulfil your request."

Vijay, hearing the doubts in the old man's words, explained with a smile, "Old man, I never intended your group to take over all the construction work. What I need you to do is to recruit capable architects in the empire and make sure that all the projects are going correctly. You have been in this field all your life, and you are a senior in this field; you must know many talents in this area. What I need you to do is to form a temple reconstruction committee and have the architects build the temples according to the predetermined design or restore the temple back to its original condition. I need you to make sure that all these projects are going as intended, and that no mistakes are made anywhere. Old man, you have been the leader of the largest architect group in the Empire for so long; I think no one except you is capable of this job."

The old man, upon hearing the reply, had his doubts cleared, fully understanding what His Majesty intended to do. Touched by His Highness's choice, he quickly set aside his intent to retire, feeling compelled to take on this project as the last one in his life.

"I will do it, Your Majesty. Leave it to me; I will bring your vision to reality."

"Good. Now I want you to go through the documents again and estimate how much Varaha it would cost."

Hearing Vijay's question, the old man quickly went through the temples and their data parameters one by one again, jotting down numbers on a paper next to him. By the time the old man went through his calculations, the finance minister, Jagannath Mohan, also arrived. Mohan, as soon as he came, greeted Vijay and waited for his orders.

"Mohan, tell me about the revenue of the Empire in the past years," Vijay asked to make sure.

"Your Highness, the annual revenue in 1650 was 11,764,705 Varaha, and there has been a gradual increase of 10% in the last 3 years. Last year's annual revenue of 1653 was 15,658,823 Varaha. However, the Empire has been in a deficit since the war started, and the projections suggest that it will continue to be in deficit as the taxes are not yet collected in the new territories. Currently, we are subsidizing the money from our own finances. It is worth noting that the revenue is very likely to increase by more than 80% after the tax break period ends and the rest of the new territories are integrated within the Vijayanagar Empire."

Vijay nodded in understanding. Yes, during his rule, there was a gradual 10% increase in finances as he removed the blockages and micro-economies that had been formed in the empire, leading to the gradual rise in finances as the middle class slowly formed. As for the local economy, it prospered a lot during the war, and due to the foreign orders placed by the Portuguese, there was a continuous flow of income. However, the economy slowed down because of Vijayanagara directly subsidizing the new territories. However, Vijay did not mind this because as the people in the new territories were able to stand up on their own, the new market of 20 million more people was likely to make Vijayanagara's industries prosper.

Luckily, he had made a killing in the war. All the nobles' accumulated wealth was confiscated by Vijay, resulting in roughly 20 tons of gold and 53 tons of silver, along with more antiques. If not for this wealth, Vijay would never have had the funds to initiate the construction of such a large scale.

The old man also finished his calculation and replied, "Your Majesty and respected minister, after my calculation, it is roughly estimated that it would take 3,200,000 varahas to complete the projects. But, Your Highness, this is only a rough estimate as it could go even further, depending on the circumstances."

The minister took a breath at the number, even Vijay was surprised, as the money converted to gold is roughly around 11 tons of gold. But soon, he heaved a sigh of relief as he had the wealth from the Mughals. On top of that, the construction will take 5 years, and when spread out, the money required annually is not so high.

So he set his plans into action as the cultural revival bill was passed. The old man, satisfied, left the room, but Mohan was curious about something and asked in a hesitant manner as it was a sensitive topic, "Your Majesty, the manpower?"

Vijay, hearing the question, smiled with a cruel expression as he replied, "Why do you think we are feeding those rebellious nobles and their goons, the lackeys of the Dutch, and the prisoners of war from the Mughals? All of them collected together make up a workforce of 200,000 able-bodied men. It does not matter how many of them die; let them work in the quarries. This is the biggest punishment for them."

Mohan suddenly felt enlightened as he finally got to know His Majesty's plan.Nôv(el)B\\jnn