Empire of India: Rise of the Ruthless Prince

Dark clouds loomed over the capital city in the afternoon. The coldness of the breeze indicated the chance of heavy rains. A carriage made its way to the Royal Palace. It was Harsha returning from the port city of Viskhapatnam.

He was pretty dissatisfied by the things that happened in the port that clearly showed a lack of supervision for corrupt nobles. The law and order wasn't strong enough to handle these cases. Harsha needed strict measures to fix this problem.

Time was required to set up a proper judicial framework for the Empire that would be equally just for the commoners, poor, rich, and nobles. He couldn't really form a guide out of thin air and call it a day by issuing an edict. He needed to formulate rules for it.

"Viswa, monitor the shipyards and road building closely. Take strict action if any cases of malpractice are found."

"Understood! Also, we have bought some muskets as ordered from some mercenaries using Alfonso's connection!."

"That's great! I need it right now. We need to make some changes." Harsha leaned back as the carriage entered the palace.

"Did you inform the Royal Army commander to come to the palace?" He inquired as he got out of the carriage and walked to the study room.

"I sent a message before leaving for the port. So he should be in the palace by now." Viswa responded.

"Call him quickly."

Viswa left swiftly to call the Commander of the Royal Army.

After a while, Rajagopala entered the study. He was an imposing figure and held an aura of experience around him. His scars and muscular figure spoke volumes of his ability.

"Finally, I have the honor to meet the commander who protected the border during the civil war." Harsha began with a smile.

The commander didn't attend the coronation, citing some security concerns after the civil war. Harsha did understand the reasoning and didn't mind unless he was dedicated and committed to protecting the Empire.

Rajagopala smiled warmly, giving a curt bow. "Greetings, Your Majesty. This is my first time meeting you in person. I am honored to meet you. I congratulate you for your achievements."

"That's enough. I called you to discuss something serious. Sit down; we need to talk."

Rajagopala sat down on the plush sofa. He looked pretty awkward seated in luxury. He wasn't accustomed to luxury, as he was known to be a very simple and down-to-earth man.

"What did Your Majesty want to discuss?" Rajagopala asked quickly, getting down to the discussion.

"Viswa, bring it."

Viswa brought in the musket. It had a darkened steel barrel with a solid wooden stock; attached to the stock was a serpentine arm—a crooked iron lever that held a slow-burning match in its jaw.

Rajagopala looked at the musket. This one seemed to be a matchlock musket used by Portuguese mercenaries mostly. He had seen it when the former emperor had taken over Goa.

It wasn't widely used in the Empire.

"This is a musket? What about it? Your Majesty." He asked with a curious expression.

Harsha stood up and took the musket to inspect it properly.

"Muskets will shape the future of warfare. These are very destructive and powerful weapons."

"Is that so?"

"Yes, we aren't prepared for it. Our army structure is very outdated, and we don't have training to wield weapons like these." Harsha exclaimed.

"But, Your Majesty. I don't think these muskets can win you a war."

Harsha turned to him and put down the musket on the table.

"You are quite naive. These things can be improved further. The firing rate and destruction can be even better."

Harsha sighed. "Is our army prepared to counter it? How will you defend against the Europeans who have those improved weapons in the future?"

Rajagopala fell silent and went into deep thought. He did understand where Harsha was coming from, but he couldn't get a proper vision of how the muskets could become more powerful over time.

Rajagopala was okay with not understanding and having the vision for the future. He was willing to learn and adapt. This humbleness, coupled with his skill to adapt, had risen him to the position of commander.

"I still don't understand the vision, Your Majesty. I am sorry for my incompetence."

Harsha smirked at him. He liked the attitude of Rajagopala, as he was willing to listen. He vaguely understood why he was the commander of the royal army.

"Let's say we have to use these weapons in the future. So we have to restructure the army training and routines to make soldiers get accustomed to this weapon."

"That's true." Rajagopala nodded, agreeing.

"That's what I am going to have you do for the Royal Army."

Rajagopala stayed silent as Harsha explained the benefits of the restructuring of the army.

The command chain of the army wouldn't be so rigid and clunky under the new structure and would allow better decision-making in battles.

"So you would divide the army into small units and assign leaders?" He asked.

"Exactly, this allows you to relay information quickly to each and every soldier."

"How?"

Harsha further cleared the doubts of Rajagopala by elaborating the transfer of information through the structure. Since the multiple leaders of small units report to another leader and continue the chain till it reaches the topmost leader.

Information can travel fast since it was exchanged between very few people, and the same can be applied for the order directly from the commander.

Rajagopala looked pretty satisfied by Harsha's explanation and smiled warmly.

"This seems promising. We usually struggle with relaying information fast to the soldiers during war. We have suffered some problems in the past due to this issue." He admitted sheepishly

He kept his hands folded and added. "What is the structure that Your Majesty has in mind for the Royal Army?" I could try my best to implement them for you."

"I have the structure, and along with that, some new training methods preparing for the future of the Empire."