Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

185  The Trouble Of Geese And Planning The Constitution

The next day, the change of the capital spread throughout the Empire like wildfire. The people were shocked as they could not understand what was wrong with their original capital. Why did His Majesty have to move it to some small town and rebuild the capital from scratch?

Despite the doubts, the support for Vijay was unshakable among the common people. However, it was the elite of the old capital who were against this move. Their whole lives were invested in the old capital city, Hampi. As the Empire became stronger, the capital city of Hampi became more prosperous. Now, suddenly, if His Majesty moved the capital to some other place, the contacts and relationships they had built in the capital would be lost.

So, they tried very hard to change the Emperor's decision. Vijay did not believe the saying from his last life that capitalists have a memory span of 3 seconds. But now, he could only laugh bitterly and accept the fact that capitalists, if left unregulated, would not even blink an eye to sell the rope that would eventually be used to strangle them.

The small and medium-sized capitalists in the old capital city, forgetting about the slaughter that took place a few months back, began making covert moves such as bribing the police or civil servants to achieve their goals. Unfortunately, within a day of their attempts, they were invited to the police station after their small tricks were monitored by the Bhartiya Internal Pragya. This incident, leading to the arrests of multiple high-profile figures, marked the first discovery of the BIP.

The revelation of the Bhartiya Internal Pragya surprised the people of the Empire, making them aware of the existence of such a department under the Emperor. It increased the deterrence of the royal family, especially on the elite families who were hesitant to try something regarding the move of the capital. The Bhartiya Internal Pragya swiftly dispelled their ideas.

Despite this, the elite families banded together and made a plea with Vijay for a way out. Understanding the economic importance of these merchants, Vijay decided to sell them some prime land in Bengaluru for a dirt-cheap price.

Hence, the problem was solved in this manner. However, this was not the only issue resolved in the Empire with the construction of the new royal capital.

In the outskirts of Mangaluru, there stands a large jail compound, stationed here for the prisoners.

Today is not a typical day for the prisoners. Since they finished their work in the quarry, they were allowed to stay in the prison. Although the conditions were not great, at least they could rest most of the day. However, that is about to change today, as new work has come looking for them. Upon hearing this news, many prisoners wanted to escape the prison and get out of the hellish place, but all attempts were failures.

Unable to resist their fate of hard manual labour, they could only accept it. However, before leaving the prison, without missing a person, all the prisoners glanced at something that was used to guard them. Looking into the prisoners' eyes, a desire to Devoure the hateful thing could be seen. Surprisingly, what they were seeing was not a person or a monster but a bird that was not much taller than a chicken. Yes, these are geese, used as guard dogs in the outer perimeter of the prison.

It was actually Vijay's idea to use geese as guard dogs for the facility after being inspired by the Americans. He chose the bird for multiple reasons. Firstly, geese are intelligent and known for their problem-solving abilities. They also exhibit social intelligence, forming strong bonds with their flock and displaying cooperative behaviour, such as taking turns leading the formation during a fight. Secondly, geese are highly territorial birds. They fearlessly protect their nesting territory and do not hesitate to use their beaks and wings to fend off intruders when threatened.

Thirdly, geese have excellent eyesight, allowing them to detect potential threats from a considerable distance. Their keen vision and heightened senses, superior to humans, enable them to adapt better at night. Most importantly, geese are vocal communicators, using loud hissing sounds as an alert system signal in the presence of potential danger. This serves as an early warning signal for the prison authorities about a jail escape attempt. Additionally, geese are not easily bribed, unlike dogs, which adds to their effectiveness.

Basically, geese are an infrared-enabled siren, operating as a low-maintenance, automatically operated, artificial intelligence-enabled, low-cost, high-efficiency, autonomous system. So, it's no wonder the prisoners dislike these vigilant birds.

The jobs quickly filled up as the quarry sites were full once again. Just after the reconstruction work on the temple sites ended, they were given two days of rest and then back to work. This time, the intricacy of the work was not too high, but the sheer amount of work was immense.

Vijay, on the other hand, was working on something else — the constitution of the Bharatiya Empire.

The idea of the governance system had been a recurring thought since his rebirth. Ultimately, as a result of the experience from the future and his present, Vijay concluded that the absolute monarchy system wouldn't suit the most diverse country in the world, where one million cultures had one million requirements. Opting for a constitutional monarchy, somewhat similar to the British model but with distinctive features, Vijay aimed to create a unique governance system for Bharat. He planned to incorporate all the knowledge he had gained into the new constitution of the Bharatiya Empire.

First things first, Vijay divided the executive and legislative branches. The executive branch held power but lacked decision-making rights, while the legislative branch had decision-making rights but lacked power. As a result, he decided to split the Department of Justice from the Ministry of Justice, and the Bharatiya Academy of Sciences from the Ministry of Education.

Vijay made this decision because he planned two power structures within the Empire. First, is the Imperial Committee, which has the emperor as the head and soul leader. The Imperial Committee comprises six separate executive branches: the Military, the Bhartiya Internal Pragya, and the new Tax Department, with the authority for taxation by force like the Americans. These three ministries form the trishul of the Imperial Committee. The other three, representing the judicial division, the Academy of Science, and the Swatch Bharath Society, are known as the Brahma of the Imperial Committee.

While there is already a Ministry of Education, Vijay wanted to maintain a balance between the Imperial Committee and the government when it came to the education of future generations. The Academy of Science serves as an institution for the highest research in the Empire, and naturally, intellectuals aspire to join it. The academy conducts bleeding-edge research with state funding, focusing on areas that the private sector may not cover. This separation ensures a distinct and specialized focus on advanced research within the academy. Moreover, it guarantees that the academy has a significant influence on the curriculum of schools, a control Vijay insists on to avoid a repetition of the 21st century where invaders were glorified.

Swachh Bharat Society is another interesting department designed by Vijay. it is an imperial and public-run society, where every citizen in the Empire has the right to join after passing the Civil exam that will be held in the future. Swachh Bharat Society has significant privileges, to the extent that it can scrutinize any ministry or department in the Empire. The primary goal of the Swachh Bharat Society is to minimize corruption within the government and the Imperial Committee. To ensure that there is no corruption within the society itself, Vijay set up a few rules.

1. Any member of the Swachh Bharat Society will not serve in the committee for more than 2 years.

2. Any member of the Swachh Bharat Society will not serve in their home state but will be assigned to a totally new state.

3. No descendant or relative of the selected member of the Swachh Bharat Society will be given a job in the society or any other government department.

4. Swachh Bharat Society members caught being corrupt would be subject to capital punishment, regardless of the scale of corruption.

Rules like these aim to maintain a clean and efficient executive branch within the Imperial Committee. Similar regulations are also applied across various branches of the Imperial Committee, ensuring rotation and preventing concentration of power. For instance, the Director of the Tax Bureau, Chief Justice of the Judicial Department, Chief Scientist of the Academy of Sciences, and top brass in the Intelligence Department are subject to changes at specified intervals, limiting their terms. Additionally, there's a strict prohibition on having their descendants or relatives within the same unit. These measures contribute to the prevention of corruption and the promotion of transparency within the government.

The exception to the term limits rule is applied to the military and the leader of the intelligence department. In these cases, qualifications and experience play a significant role, allowing for flexibility in leadership appointments based on expertise and strategic needs. However, even with this flexibility, there are checks and balances in place. For instance, the head of the military department, currently Kiran Pujari as the Marshal, follows a rotation system where both the Admiral and the Marshal take turns serving as the Minister of War. This ensures a level of scrutiny and shared responsibility within the military leadership. Vijay also strategically places his trusted personnel as direct juniors to the military top dogs and the Chief of Intelligence, Selvan, with the right to override the commands of their bosses in an emergency declared by Vijay.

This was not the only stopgap, as the salaries of all the Imperial Departments were funded directly from the Imperial Treasury, distinct from the Royal Treasury and the national treasury. Vijay, having experienced a small rebellion within the army, decided to tighten control over it. He implemented a 15.1% rule, wherein 15.1% of the fiscal revenue of the Empire would be allocated to the Imperial Treasury. This allocation was used to pay the six departments of the committee. Each department's expenditure was fixed, with the military taking 5%, the intelligence department taking 2%, the tax department taking 2%, the judicial department taking 1%, the Academy of Sciences taking 3%, and the Swachh Bharat Society taking 2%. The remaining 0.1% was allocated as the salary for the Emperor as the head of state. The only time the rule can be changed is either during a Wartime economy, national emergency or financial emergency. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

The allocation may seem substantial, but each department has numerous sub-departments to manage. For example, the military department oversees the army, the navy, the Bharitiya Sainik Pragya (BSP), the Noble Bureau (details to be explained in the next chapter), logistics, and the Bharitiya Academy of Military Sciences. It also manages the military court, headed by a representative of the royal family, the judicial branch of the Brahma, and a member of the Ministry of Justice. With the Imperial Council outlined, the next consideration is the structure of the government. Drawing heavily from the future, Vijay decided to establish three permanent houses in the parliament: Liberals, Conservatives, and Radicals. These houses are not actual political parties but rather designations. Vijay banned the party system, deeming it a waste of resources. In the electoral process, individual members of the public stand for election after declaring all their wealth and that of their direct and close relatives. If elected, the winning member chooses between the Conservatives or Liberals based on their ideology.

The Radicals represent a special concept introduced by Vijay, reserved exclusively for the youth of the Empire. The Radical House consists of individuals aged 20 to 30, elected by the students of the country aged 16 and above, aiming to introduce the world of adults early on. While they may not possess significant legislative power, they have the ability to be heard in the Parliament. This allows the youth to present new and fresh ideas to the older members. Additionally, it is mandatory for the Parliament to implement at least one regulation proposed by the Radical House in a controlled environment.

P.S. I acknowledge it might seem overly idealized. I have more details to share, but delving further might make it resemble a report. Therefore, I'll share an image on Discord. I hope this chapter provides readers with a general understanding.