29th September 1705
The people of Karaevli Village, a small village a few dozen kilotres from Çorlu, were scared out of their wits when one morning their mundane life was disturbed by a gigantic army equipped not only with guns and large artillery pieces, but also the legendary Iron Horses they had only heard about in the bards’ tales.
A little girl who witnessed such a scene froze in place, unable to move an inch. It was only after her mother ca running out of the house with a panic-stricken look on her face and snatched her back inside at such a speed that one would suspect the woman was not pulling back a child but a bag of groceries that the child began to cry loudly, almost choking several tis in the process.
Such a scene was neither unusual nor unique. It happened everywhere throughout the village. n who were simply going about their morning routine were stunned and fled as if they were sheep encountering a pack of wolves. So people did not even run back to their own houses; they simply rushed into a familiar person’s ho and shut both the doors and the windows, their hearts racing like runaway horses.
The won were even more straightforward. They simply took shelter in any ho they could find, the speed of their running almost matching, if not beating, the n.
Lieutenant General Lavanga Sinha witnessed the scene without much expression on his face. He had simply seen too many situations like this for him to care.
It is human nature to fear the unknown, and especially if that unknown is an entire army composed of several regints, one equipped with advanced artillery weapons at that. So the fear was only more intense. For him to take offence at such a small thing would simply be idiotic.
Sadly, however, it did make his job a bit more cumberso because he had planned to trade with this village. How was he going to do that when there was not even a soul in sight?
"Ask around in the village and see if it has a village chief or soone. Bring him to if there is one."
"Yes, sir!"
After stating his orders, he allowed his troops to catch a break. He did not let them set up tents and such since he had not planned to stay in this village overnight. Instead, he simply let them sit for a while or even take a short nap.
But when he saw what they were actually doing, Lavanga Sinha shook his head with a wry expression. Groups of troops had claid small patches of land for themselves, exclaid in joy, pulled out a football, and started kicking it around. In the end, he ignored them and turned his attention toward the fields that had rotten leaves lying everywhere, stretching from the edge of the village far beyond what his sight could see.
If he was not mistaken, the fields had been newly harvested. And if his mory was correct, the crops were radishes, cabbage, spinach, and several other leafy vegetables.
It was exactly because he noticed this detail that he decided to purchase them for the army. Of course, he was not short on food. He still had plenty of dry rations and canned food in his inventory. But he had been heavily influenced by Commander Vaibhav Krishnamurthy, his superior, to pay extra attention to the nutrition and food the army consud, almost to the point of being obsessive about it. So, since he had the opportunity to save the rations for later by using the fresh ingredients right in front of him, he would simply do just that.
A few minutes later, a trembling old man appeared before him. He had the typical Greek facial features, dark hair, pronounced facial structure, light eyes and such. But he stood there as if he were facing a demon.
Lavanga Sinha did not mind the old man’s behaviour and directly stated his objective.
"I see the fields were harvested only a few days ago, so how about it? I want to purchase all the excess produce you have for a good price."
The old man was imdiately stunned for several reasons. For one, the man had brown skin, sothing he had never seen before, well..... not entirely true since he had indeed seen African slaves in so noble manors when he travelled to the large cities. But the man in front of him had facial features not too different from theirs, and his hair was also similar. Only his eyes were darker and his skin tone was more wheat in colour.
Second, the man spoke fluent Greek.
And third, the man had actually said he wanted to purchase the produce for a good price instead of simply taking it.
Looking at the way the human-shaped bears behind him were running at each other with ferocious expressions, chasing a ball as if it had Fu’’’’ their wife, he was quite sure it would not take much effort for them to ransack the entire village. That was what the Slavs had done before. He had assud this new army would be no different.
But it seed he had been mistaken.
Even so, he was not going to take the initiative to reveal the harvest just yet. The produce stored in their hos was what supported their livelihood throughout the winter, so how could he give it up so readily? What if the man in front of him learned that they had a surplus and forced him to sell it at a low price? Wouldn’t that be no different from simply being ransacked?
So he was determined to persist until the bitter end, he put on a sad expression as if his wife had died and spoke out with a choked voice.
"My Lord, please show rcy on us. All the grain we harvested was taken away by the military a few months ago. The only grain we have left is what we can barely make a living with. The vegetables we just harvested are only enough to supplent the grain. This will be our food until the winter ends. Please, Lord, show so rcy on this poor village."
The old man used all the wisdom he had and begged in every possible way. He cried with a heartbroken expression, he knelt on the ground, he sobbed like a child, and he beat his own chest as if the pain and desperation in his heart were overwhelming him.
For a mont, even Lavanga Sinha was convinced.
Unfortunately for the old man, Lavanga Sinha had been serving under Commander Vaibhav Krishnamurthy for a long ti. His commander was jokingly nicknad the ’Farr Commander’, and Lavanga had even heard a rumour that soone in the empire was writing a novel inspired by him. In any case, the point was that after serving under such a man for so long, Lavanga had developed a keen understanding of everything related to food and farming. So he clearly understood what he had just seen, and he was not going to be fooled by this old man who probably deserved a Kavya Award for his acting performance.
"Alright, alright, stop it, old man. According to the size of your village and the density of the garbage lying around the fields, I can tell that the harvest was pretty good. And if I am not mistaken, your village has a surplus several tis your own consumption. So you do not have to lie to ."
Hearing these words, the old village head was imdiately stunned. His expression froze. For the onlookers, it looked rather comical, because one mont he was crying loudly and the next his face looked like that of a mummy whose blood had been drained away. But for the old man himself, his heart was filled with dread.
’I just tried to fool a lord who actually understands farming. Do I still have a chance to live?’ he thought.
Lavanga Sinha, understanding the old man’s fear, did not make things difficult for him.
"The vegetables will not last very long, so I am guessing your village was planning to sell the surplus to rchants and make so money, am I right?"
The old man’s mouth hung open because it was indeed the truth. Ever since the Slavs had left after taking grain from the village, they had planned to take advantage of their absence and sell everything to make as much money as possible so everyone could survive the coming winter.
But even that had been seen through.
Lavanga Sinha did not even need to hear the answer. Just by looking at the old man’s face, he understood everything he needed to know. So he stopped beating around the bush and ca straight to his proposal.
"So it is best if you simply sell all your surplus to . And do not misunderstand, I will not be lowballing the price. I will purchase it at the market price. If I am not mistaken, the rchants who co to your village usually pay less than the market price, right? And given that war is raging in this realm, the price might even be lower."
The old village chief’s eyes widened, and his face showed a look of disbelief.
"Really?"
One mont it felt like he was in hell, and the next, he felt as if he had been lifted straight into heaven. If what this man said was true and he was really willing to pay the market price, then selling all the surplus would indeed be the best choice. With that money, the entire village would have a much better chance of surviving the winter.
"Yes, really. And we are the Bharatiya military. We are forthright in our dealings. Our reputation is widespread. You should already know this."
’So this is the Bharatiya Army. No wonder they are so strong.’
The old man quickly ca back to his senses and once again dropped to the ground.
"This humble one expresses his utmost gratitude on behalf of this poor village for your magnanimity and unparalleled generosity. Please allow to atone for my sins by convincing all the villagers to make the trade."
’Seriously, it’s such a pity the talent of this old man is wasted in a place like this. If he were back in the empire, he might have already made a na for himself as a great dramatist,’ Lavanga Sinha thought, his lips twitching slightly.
What Lavanga Sinha did not know was that his commander, Vaibhav Krishnamurthy, was also purchasing surplus produce everywhere he went, missing Lavanga quite a lot in the process. He was still unable to find the sa ease of working with his new lieutenant general as he had with him.
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