Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

Chapter 171  Reaction Of The Elites

The messages Vijay sent through secret channels soon reached Ravichandra Rao. The old butler almost lost his footing after coming to know that His Majesty almost lost his life. However, he was relieved to know that His Majesty was safe in the Udupi palace. However, looking at the instructions sent by His Majesty, Ravi frowned, as he could understand what His Majesty's plan was. He couldn't help but think that the plan was too risky and reckless. However, he chose to believe in Vijay because he believed that the people of the Empire would support Vijay when the time came.

Finally, The rumour, through various channels, reached the ears of various elites of society.

Hey Ram, who was about to spend his first day with Umashree, was stunned when he received an urgent message from a messenger. Hey Ram could not see who the sender was, but upon opening the letterhead, the news about the passing of His Majesty and the queen in the Madikeri forest was written.

Just reading this sentence, Hey Ram couldn't hold on to his body. He stumbled back and fell down; his face still wore an expression of disbelief. He couldn't imagine how His Majesty, who had attended his marriage just a day ago, ended up being dead.

The reality settled in, and tears welled up in his eyes with uncontrollable sadness, tears streaming down his face as he sobbed, "uhaaaa, uhaaaaaaa." It was His Majesty who gave him a chance to shine. It was also His Majesty who provided encouragement and appointed him as the director of the Bhartiya Academy of Military Sciences. Hey Ram did not know what would happen to the kingdom next.

Hearing her husband's heart-wrenching cries, Umashree hurried over with quick steps. As she saw her husband lying down on the ground and crying, she did not know what had happened. She got scared about what could have happened and went closer to check on him. Uma Shree came closer, and seeing her face, Hey Ram hugged her and cried even louder as he handed over the letter to her.

Reading the letter, Uma Shree was also saddened. She, too, was a person of this Empire, enjoying the benefits brought by His Majesty. Remembering the care that the queen gave to her, she couldn't help but drop a few tears for the queen. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

But soon she became scared as she noticed something, face turned pale as she shook Hey Ram's arm and said hurriedly "Husband you have to pack your back quickly we have to leave this Empire "

"What are you talking about?" Hey Ram asked, shocked by what his wife was saying. "Yes, please, let's go quickly."

"But why?" Hey Ram still asked, not moving an inch.

"Look, it says that His Majesty and the queen died in the Madikeri forest. It is most probable that His Majesty and the Queen were ambushed on the way to the capital after they left our marriage. Also, remember how His Majesty ordered for half his guards to stay here and how suddenly the guards ran in a hurry in the direction of the forest yesterday evening. Husband, I think the blame for His Majesty and the queen's death will fall on us."

Taken aback, Hey Ram did not think of all this. dread soon filled him as his face turned white But where else could he go? He could not go to the Mughal Empire now, could he? But he made up his mind, "Let us go to the Bhartiya Academy of Military Sciences. I am a director there, so it should be safe for a period of time. We will think of something else after that."

The news reached the intellectuals as well as Tukaram. The intellectuals were very surprised and saddened by the news. They had never met such a monarch who was so encouraging towards intellectuals and who was so open-minded about the lower caste people.

Now that Vijay Devaraya was no more, they had no reason to stay, as the new Empire would fall into turbulence and be no safer than the Mughal Empire.

Tukaram sat there meditating under the tree in his courtyard. His meditation was disturbed by an intellectual from Bihar, "Tukaram Maharaj, please return with us. His Majesty, the emperor of the Dakshin Bharatiya Empire, Vijay Devaraya, is no more. The situation in the empire with no heir will get more turbulent, with various parties battling for the crown. It is better you also leave with us."

Hearing the words, Tukaram frowned as it was a piece of unpleasant news. Still doubtful, he closed his eyes and meditated for a few moments. The intellectual from Bihar waited for Tukaram's judgment. Many intellectuals were waiting for Tukaram's decision, as he was known as the man who had the deepest spiritual connection with God. Soon, a smile ran across Tukaram's face as he said, "Vittoba said that the emperor of this land has a lot more to achieve. Life runs in a circle, life and death, beginning and end. The emperor is creating an end for himself to pave a new beginning."

Hearing those words, the Bihari intellectual was shocked. "Is he still alive?" he thought with incredulity, but he really hoped that His Majesty Vijay would be alive. He soon went to convey the message of Tukaram to the rest of the scholars. With the comment of Tukaram, most of the intellectuals decided to stay.

Vinod, upon receiving the news, fell down from his chair in his office and started sobbing. He did not eat or drink for the rest of the day, rejecting all requests for meetings out of worry that someone would learn of the news. Raised by the royal family since childhood, now that there was no royal family, he questioned his purpose in life. He wanted to discuss this matter with his master, Ravichandra Rao. Fortunately, he was relieved of his pain when his master came to support him in the work and to inform him that His Majesty was alive. Unfortunately for him, his instructions were to act like a weeping mother for his dead son. Hence, he was told the news late to allow him to convincingly convey the news to the crowd around him.

The news started spreading around the spy organization. People who had escaped the first purge suddenly reappeared, trying to connect with each other and reform the secret society. They attempted to approach various groups in the army, casting their bets on who would win the throne.

Within the army, the news did not spread widely, thanks to the efficient control exercised by Logananda. An old man with seniority and extensive military experience, Logananda managed to maintain discipline and order. Following His Majesty's directive to allow certain moles to develop, provided they didn't jeopardize overall stability, Logananda allowed a few moles within the army to exist and grow unhindered. He noted down who were all the bad fish for a later date.

When pondering the intent behind the instruction, Logananda, an old man with a lot of life experience, despite not being particularly talented in politics, realized that His Majesty was using himself as bait to lure out the poison within the body of the empire.

He did not even inform this matter to his generals and the new martial. Logananda had full trust in his boys, but the test had to be done. This test was kind of like the Agni Pariksha of Mother Sita. Even though Lord Ram knew that Sita was innocent, he had to put her to the test in order to maintain her dignity within the rajya.

The spy from the secret service tried to contact both Kiran Pujari and Ramaiya Senapati at the same time. The intent was to bait the two most probable candidates for the throne, with Ramaiya being the son of the great military general and the old martial of the Empire army, and Kiran Pujari being the new martial of the Empire.

But the result made Logananda laugh out loud. Ramaiya Senapati, as soon as he heard the news that His Majesty had died from the secret service members' mouths and they wanted to work with him to take over the empire, did not think much. He quickly slashed at their necks, cutting it cleanly in half. Then, remembering the news about His Majesty's death, he ran to his father to confirm the news, with a sad expression on his face.

Kiran, on the other hand, as soon as he heard the news, arrested the spies and brought them to Logananda in an uneasy mood. The two generals who were contacted also reacted in the same way as Ramaiya did, bringing the heads of the spies with them.

It was then that Logananda informed them about Vijay's status of being alive and well. They were soon relieved and quickly became excited about the next plan.

Seeing that it was a failure to woo the generals, the agents' eyes fell on the smaller officers. Many captains and lieutenants started to join the cause, and groups were soon formed within the Empire army.

The news of Vijay's death along with the Queen spread among the elite of society, eliciting a range of reactions. Some were shocked and saddened, while others found delight in the news. The Nobles of the new territory, who had already established connections with Mughal spies, began funding secret service agents sympathetic to their cause. Muslim extremists also joined the movement, further strengthening the cause as they utilized their own connections through the masjids. In the following days, the overall atmosphere within the empire deteriorated as the rumour reached more people, and the streets were no longer peaceful.

The ministers were also tested like the generals by the old man Ravichandra Rao. Fortunately, they turned out to be loyal to the Empire. Still, it could not be said the same for their subjects, as they started to embezzle the money of the Empire, forming a bureaucracy faction different from the secret service faction. They also started to fund separatist forces in the army.

The jihadists were going crazy as they were finally left free, So they started to do all kinds of inhuman deeds in private.

In the Kalyan household.

"Patriarch, shouldn't we take this opportunity and choose a side quickly?" Jivan Kalyan, a member of the Kalyan family, said.

"No, that will not be done. We will close our business for a few days until everything returns to normal."

"But, patriarch, how can you say that? Don't you see how the condition is outside? The Muslims are forcing the people to convert left, right, and centre by any means necessary. The army is also being fractionalized. I also heard that the intelligence organization of the emperor is also playing a hand in this. The nobles of the new territories also are playing a huge role in this divide of the cake, and the businessmen of the capital are not left far behind in this partition of benefits."

"Idiot, stupid, pig brain. Don't you realize that since His Majesty started recruiting for the army, 70% of the personnel are common people? The common folk are very loyal to His Highness. Those forming factions in the army are mostly the sons of elites or fallen nobles. Moreover, it's similar to what happened during the time of the Vijayanagar Empire when the nobles joined together to set off a rebellion. And, take note that all the main ministers have been absent for a few days now. Only the vice ministers and lower-ranking officials have joined this group. If the rumours are indeed true, we'll see how it plays out in the coming days."

"Patriarch, you mean?"

"Yes, I am saying that His Majesty is rounding up the sheep again for a slaughter."