Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

Vijay had heard enough and was satisfied with the ships so far, but he had to ask the main question: "Gangadhar, so tell me, what’s the cost of each of these ships for our navy to procure?"

This question immediately drew the attention of the finance minister, the prime minister, the minister of trade, commerce, and industry, and finally the director of the Reserve Bank of Bharat.

Since all four knew that His Majesty had already passed a naval expansion bill, which would involve the empire investing 161,764,705.88 Varaha, or 5.5 tonnes of gold, in order to build the second generation of the Bharatiya Navy, they were keen on ensuring that these resources were not spent wastefully.

They were intent on making sure that the empire would not overspend on the Navy and that they would get what they paid for.

Vinod silently eyed Jagannath Mohan, Rajesh and Dharmendra, reassuring them with a wink.

Vinod, Jagannath Mohan, Rajesh and Dharmendra, although they knew the importance of the Bharatiya Navy to the Bharatiya Empire, none of them actually wanted to see such a large investment go to waste without seeing actual results.

They had already come to a firm decision among themselves that if the cost of these new generation ships was too expensive and not worth the investment, then they would talk to His Majesty to reconsider the naval expansion plan, they would even put their job on the line if they had to.

Gangadhar, who was about to answer the question without much thought, was startled when he noticed the four ministers’ piercing and scrutinizing gazes. His brows immediately furrowed. He did not understand what he had done to upset them, but looking at the encouraging gaze of His Majesty, he simply chose to ignore their expressions.

Vijay naturally knew what was going on but wouldn’t stop the ministers, as it was their duty to be responsible for the empire’s finances.

Instead of being annoyed, he was actually very supportive of their actions, and if Gangadhar quoted a ridiculous price, he would not hesitate to back the ministers and slow down the naval expansion plan immediately and teach the shipyards a lesson if they were truly greedy.

Gangadhar, not knowing the thoughts of the people in the room, simply took out a piece of paper.

"The Kolkata Class Clipper will cost 61,625 Varaha, or 2.10 kilograms of gold, Your Majesty. The Amaravathi Class Frigate will cost 61,177.22 Varaha, or 2.11 kilograms of gold. The Chennai Class Clipper will cost 119,998.62 Varaha, or 4.08 kilograms of gold. The Colombo Class Frigate will cost 124,354.44 Varaha or 4.23 kilograms of gold.

The Pune Class Battleship has come down in manufacturing costs by 40%, so now it will only cost 177,649.2 Varaha or 6.04 kilograms of gold. The Guwahati Class, a military series, armed merchant ship, which is on the list of procurement, would cost 512,285 Varaha, or 17.43 kilograms of gold.

Finally, the masterpiece of the Bharatiya Naval Industries, the Delhi Class Battleship, would cost 524,083.55 Varaha, or 17.82 kilograms of gold."

Everyone was not idle as Gangadhar stated the prices; they kept writing down the cost of each warship on paper, one by one. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Vinod, looking through the list, searched for any inaccuracies or misjudgments in the cost-to-performance ratio. To his surprise, all the warships were fairly priced, with the only exceptions being the Delhi Class Battleship and the Guwahati Class Armed Merchant Ship.

However, he understood that these two ships were a whole new class the Bharatiya Empire had never built, which explained why they cost nearly three times as much as the Pune Class Battleship.

Rajesh also conducted his own examination and agreed that the prices of the Delhi Class and Guwahati Class ships seemed high. However, using his knowledge of supply chain issues, he understood why the costs were elevated.

However, just because Vinod and Rajesh understood the reasoning didn’t mean everyone else would.

Jagannath Mohan immediately questioned with an unhappy expression, "Admiral, why is the cost of the Delhi Class Battleship and Guwahati Class Armed Merchant Ship almost three times that of the Pune Class Battleship? Even if they are twice the tonnage of the Pune Class Battleship, shouldn’t their cost only be around that of two Pune Class Battleships?"

Everyone’s gaze was directly fixed on Gangadhar, including that of Vijay. Though Vijay could guess the reasoning behind the prices, he wouldn’t voice it since he didn’t want to take away the authority of the Finance Minister of the empire.

Gangadhar was momentarily uncomfortable with the scrutinizing gaze of the Finance Minister, but having experienced many battles, he quickly recovered and put on an expressionless face. "The way you calculate is not right, Minister Mohan. The Delhi Class Battleship and Guwahati Class Armed Merchantship are naval vessels with displacements we’ve never manufactured before."

"So, as it’s the first time we are building these ships, it is expected for them to cost a lot more than the material cost alone. We have to account for the cost of technology, labour, trial and error for each new ship being built, and other variables."

"Additionally, I don’t know if you are aware, Minister, but for the construction of these two new 2000-tonne BNVs, a lot of new technologies had to be invented, and many new parts had to be manufactured.

For this reason, the shipyards had to order custom parts from supporting industries, and since the requirements for accuracy and strength were higher, these industries had to install a brand-new production line."

"This naturally increased the cost of the parts, which in turn raised the price of the whole ship."

"The price will eventually come down as we build more of these ships, but for now, the range of 500,000 Varaha is the best we can do for the Delhi Class and Guwahati Class Bharatiya naval vessels."

Jagannath Mohan fell silent, feeling that the admiral’s reasoning was reasonable. He quickly looked at Rajesh to confirm the admiral’s claim.

Rajesh nodded lightly, after which Jagannath Mohan did not question the exorbitant price any further.

The conference room was silent for a few moments. Gangadhar was about to sit back in his chair, feeling like he had answered all the questions, but suddenly a question from Arjun completely disrupted his train of thought.

"Admiral, could you please explain, apart from the 2000-tonne merchant ship, which we have agreed with the Spanish to put on the Manila trade route, is there any reason to build these expensive warships? I mean, we do not have any enemy in close proximity.

So why should we spend so many resources on these 2000-tonne ships instead of building more 1000-tonne Pune Class Battleships, which are more cost-effective and could actually increase the battle capabilities of the Bharatiya Empire in the Indian Ocean when compared to even these 2000-tonne ships?"

This question immediately made Gangadhar embarrassed. It actually contained a lot of truth; for the current Bharatiya Empire, there is no real requirement for a 2000-tonne battleship comparable to the European ocean-going battleships.

But he also knew the real reason why the empire was building this battleship, as it had something to do with His Majesty’s ambition, which was still unknown to these cabinet ministers of the empire. He was hesitant, not knowing whether he should answer the question truthfully according to His Majesty’s idea or simply lie.

Gangadhar looked at the ministers, who knew the truth, with a pleading expression, hoping that they would help him, and thankfully, they did not have to; His Majesty spoke out himself.

Vijay understood the gaze of Gangadhar and didn’t want to stay silent after hearing the question in the first place.

"These 2000-tonne battleships are indeed necessary for the Bharatiya Navy."

Everyone’s attention was immediately caught by Vijay.

"If we only look at the current situation, we indeed do not require these ships, but have you considered the situation of the future?"

"Currently, some of the European countries can build 2500-tonne ocean-going battleships. A few years back, they couldn’t even build a 2000-tonne ship. Do you realize how fast these Europeans are improving in their naval technologies?"

"A few decades ago, these Europeans barely had any involvement with Southeast Asia, but now, until recently, most of the Southeast Asian countries had been colonized by them."

"Isn’t it all because they have improved their naval technology? So if we suddenly stop our own advancement of naval technology and become content with our status quo, maybe these Europeans, who are always fighting with each other and always finding better ways to kill each other, will one day realize that we are not as strong as we used to be and suddenly join forces to point their guns at us?"

Even as he said it, Vijay couldn’t help but get nostalgic, thinking about how many ancient countries fell in such a way, not to mention India and China, which had been ganged up on and divided; even the European hegemon, the Ottoman Empire, ended up being broken into pieces and divided into areas of influence by the Xenophobic and war-hungry Europeans.

Everyone immediately realized the idea of His Majesty, and Arjun, who brought up the question, felt ashamed as he failed to consider the future of the empire. A hint of worship couldn’t help but be revealed in his eyes when he looked at His Majesty; he was absolutely amazed by how His Majesty was able to think at least 100 years ahead of him.

If Arjun knew that Vijay was only thinking a few decades ahead of him, he didn’t know how he would feel.

Vijay continued, "Now, the reason I mentioned previously is in the perspective of safeguarding ourselves, but there is one more perspective that I have not mentioned."

Everyone was intrigued once again, but a few ministers and the admiral immediately realized that His Majesty was about to declare his ambition to everyone present.

"The Navy we are currently building is for the Bharatiya Navy which would eventually be able to be present in the five oceans of the world. I want our navy to be able to safeguard the interests of the empire, no matter in which part of the world."

"Isn’t this reason enough to build a strong foundation for ourselves?" These words were so casual as if he were mentioning them like a man explaining what happened at work, but each and everyone, except a few who already knew, was dumbstruck by the proclamation; they had never expected that His Majesty had ambitions of such a scale.

P.S. I mentioned that it was 15 (441mil) tonnes before, but I realised it was too much so 5.5 Tonnes