Vijay could tell that a lot of judgntal gazes were placed on him, and he wouldn’t bla them. After all, blowing 2.9 billion on the upgrade of roads and public buildings of Bengaluru to the sa level as in the epics is beyond luxurious. He agrees, it is simply the work of a rich second-generation king who has too much money and too little ability. He could also tell the people in the conference room were shocked, because he was always so pragmatic, always so considerate of the big picture, so when he put forward sothing that was entirely costic and could be considered a waste of money, the ministers and the directors of various departnts were caught off guard to say the least.
Looking at their expressions, he had a smile on the corner of his lips. It reminded him of the conversation he had with Agni when Vijay made such a decision and told Agni about it.
"Are you sure, Father? " he asked.
Vijay simply nodded, "You rember the Portuguese and the Spanish empires during the ti the silver flooded into their economies and made them filthy rich? "
"Yes!"
"We are in a similar situation, with the resources from all over the world flooding the empire. Additionally, with the financial reforms I’ll be bringing in, everyone in the vicinity will be trading with us and each other using varaha, the currency we printed, giving us further control over the surrounding economies. "
"So what will we do with all this wealth, blow it up in banquets and luxurious lifestyle like the Portuguese or the Spanish? "
"No, hence the capital will be rebuilt, making it look like a city of eternity, leaving behind a lasting legacy. "
Agni was not convinced, " But father, it is simply too much, too wasteful. Would it not be better to use it to enrich the Navy or the Army or even in the research of further sciences? " Agni was confused. His father was always so reasonable. Why was he suddenly like this?
Vijay shook his head, " The empire’s earnings alone are enough to cover all of those things. No need for the money we earned through financial operations to go into that. "
Agni was troubled, but he suddenly got an idea, " How about providing free transportation or sothing similar? "
Vijay’s eyes jumped, and he stared at Agni with a serious expression, "Never do that. "
"Never provide anything for the people for free. "
"The only thing you should work towards is to provide everyone a fair starting point, a point where they could grow to any point from there. "
"Once this free transportation initiative is created, other states will start demanding it, and they will also implent it since Bengaluru has implented it. "
"And since we set a precedent, could free health care be next, or could free education be next, where will it stop, how much should we spend? Do we spend the entire budget of the governnt to fulfil the promises of free services, and even if we maintain the expenditure below 30 or 40% of the budget, what will happen to the private sector when everything is given for free, can private players even compete with the governnt, are we going to kill entire industries, and more importantly, are we going to make people more dependent on the governnt? "
Vijay’s tone was extrely resolute.
"The business of giving away things for free cannot be started, and it cannot chart the empire on the course of governnt dominating everything. Understand this, Agni, governnt is present in order for us to help understand the problems and provide solutions to the people, not because we need the governnt to rule the people for us. The Governnt is the middleman between the people and us; we are not its subjects. "
" I warn you, Agni. " Agni’s expression turned serious. " This providing sothing for free is like an arrow released from a bowstring; it cannot be taken back, so unless absolutely necessary, which now it is not, there is no need to provide free services just because we have money. "
Agni was left in thought, making Vijay happy that he was able to understand what he ant.
As a ruler for so long, in Vijay’s understanding, he had already co up with his own set of insights. For the lower level, for the people who live from salary to salary, socialism is absolutely necessary to give them a buffer, to cut them so slack so that they have a chance to get back up after they fall, and for the people above this, capitalist systems are undoubtedly the best tools of success so that they can earn their keep and keep what they earn.
Of course, this is only during peaceti and when trade is prospering. In terms of war or ergencies, communist systems are much more effective in the middle layer so that the entire nation will be twisted into a rope, and at the top, at the decision-making level, in peaceti, democracy is undoubtedly the best system so that everyone can get representation and there is constant evolution of governance systems, laws, rules, and regulations. But in tis of hardship, and in those tis which are crucial to the entire nation, imperialism or so sort of highly centralised system, where one or a small number of voices can decide the outco of the nation, is much more effective.
Currently, Vijay has already implented the top part and the middle part; only the bottom part is missing, but like he said to Agni, giving social welfare is a bottomless pit; it drains the money out of the country with no regard whatsoever. He will delay implenting the last part as long as possible, and even when it is implented, perhaps in the future, he will avoid making it look like a freebie as much as possible.
Vijay finally ca back to his senses, back to feeling those judgntal gazes.
But he did not explain everything to the ministers as he did with his son; instead, he moved on.
"Jitendra "
"Your majesty!" Jitendra Sehwag, the Minister of Industry, stood up with a hint of expectation. He already knew what he was about to face, and the anticipation excited him. And he wasn’t wrong to feel that way, because the mont the emperor spoke, he was left dumbfounded.
"You’ll be allocated 4.9 billion varaha, use it entirely for the enrichnt of the industrial sector, provide no-interest loans to the manufacturers, support them in their industrial expansion, and use part of the money to help the budding entrepreneurs. "
Jitendra finally ca back to his senses, " I’m sure to fulfil the task, your majesty, leave it to . "
Vijay nodded; he had almost completed allocating all the funds. 54% for the infrastructure, 14% for the industrial expansion, 5% as a reserve, and finally, the only thing that was remaining, the part he had put a lot of thought into, the 27% that will go into trade and finance.
He did not hesitate and declared his decision with a firm voice, "The rest of the 9.45 billion will be invested in trade and finance. "
Hearing these words, Finance Minister Jagannath Mohan and Minister of Trade and Comrce Rajesh smiled inwardly. The directors of the Reserve Bank of Bharat and the Bharatiya Tax Bureau felt the sa. But in the next mont, when they heard the emperor’s following words, they realised things were not so simple. His Majesty had far bigger plans.
"But it will not be invested entirely like the other investnts I have talked about until now. "
"For this money, I have a goal, " Vijay slowly walked to the screen and took off the curtain, revealing the map of the empire and the surrounding countries in the eastern hemisphere. " The capital flow of all these countries should be under our nose, practically under our control, making us economically untouchable. "
"So I have co up with a 5-phase plan. "
Noticing the seriousness of the matter, everyone took out their pens and papers so that they could note it down. The old Panchayati President of Bengaluru was promptly escorted out by the staff.
"The first phase is to make Varaha more dominant in the dostic market than it was before, and in order to do that, the first step is the creation of a centralised commodity exchange, let’s call it the Bharatiya Central Commodity Exchange, BCCE for short. "
"It will handle the trade of iron, copper, gold, and silver in tals, rice, wheat, and cotton in agriculture, and timber, coal, and rubber in industry and energy."
" Data of the trade of all these commodities will be monitored by the Bharatiya Central Commodity Exchange, and it will be responsible for showcasing the price of the specific commodity for the day. "
Rajesh raised a question, " Will it be setting the prices, your majesty? "
" No! " Vijay shook his head, " The price of the commodity is whatever the market thinks the price is. "
" If all the traders in the empire think coal is worthless, then the price is 0. "
"So what the BCCE does is monitor the trade contracts at the major marketplaces across the empire, determine the prices at which large-volu trades are made, and publish those figures to the public. That becos the price for the day, and the next day’s price will be set based on all the high-volu contract trades completed today."
"This organisation will be a governnt organisation, your majesty? " Jagannath Mohan asked.
Vijay thought about it and nodded, " It will, but it will be a semi-governnt organisation, with it having independent financial and accounting, with private players also participating in its managent. "
To be continued...
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